Chapter 431
The experienced Syracuse soldiers stared coldly at the front through the narrow eye holes of their helmets. Although they had yet to face the Diónia soldiers head-on, they knew that a bigger attack was coming. Hence, they quickened their pace.
The Diónia light infantry quickly retreated through the passageway between the phalanxes. The infantry at the back quickly moved forward and soon, the entire Diónia formation was connected.
At that moment, the enemy was within 50 meters of them. Without the need for orders from their commanders, Efyarte and the other heavy infantry soldiers stepped forward, raised their arms, and hurled their javelins …
Tens of thousands of javelins flew out from the two-kilometer long frontline of the Coalition Army. The Syracuse phalanxes covered the sky as they flew towards the Syracuse phalanxes. The Syracuse soldiers were prepared for this. They placed their shields above their heads and formed a long bronze wall. The death whirlwind caused by the rain of javelins could no longer be covered by the screams of the Syracuse soldiers. Hence, the Syracuse soldiers began to run faster.
Efyarte and his comrades who were at the frontline did not have enough time to throw another javelin. Without hesitation, they threw away another javelin, held the shield in front of them with their left hand, and the spear in their right hand as they charged forward. They had to run as fast as they could within the short distance of 30 meters.
On one side was a golden wall, and on the other was a black wave.
"Apollo!!!" "Hades!!!
"Hades! "Hades!!!"
Amidst the deafening battle cries, both sides collided with each other. At that moment, even the earth trembled.
At that moment, Efyarte felt a huge force colliding with his shield. It almost broke his hand that was holding the shield, causing his body to involuntarily lean back. At that moment, an equally powerful force came from behind and pushed him back. His spear was blocked by the round shield of the enemy, and his shield blocked the spear of the enemy. Due to the huge force from both sides, both spears were broken.
Ephialte endured the pain in his right hand and pulled out the short sword at his waist.
The soldiers of both sides squeezed together, leaving little space for each soldier to move around. The Diónia soldiers at the forefront tossed away their spears regardless of whether they were broken or not, and switched to short swords. On the other hand, many Syracuse soldiers picked up their curved sabers, and the close combat began …
… …
In the middle of the Legion of Dionysia, the Diónia had the upper hand in the battle of light infantry, but the Syracuse light infantry had the upper hand in the other battle lines.
Because the Crotone, Siletans and Triene did not have the habit of harassing the light infantry in front of the heavy infantry phalanx, they suffered many losses. Their solution was to increase their speed and engage in direct combat with the Syracuse heavy infantry as soon as possible.
Apart from Diónia, the light infantry of the Allied Forces were all concentrated at the left end of the entire left wing of the formation, behind the cavalry. When both sides were engaged in close combat, only this area remained peaceful.
Felicius knew that in terms of cavalry, the Allied Forces' cavalry was far inferior to the Syracuse cavalry, both in terms of quantity and ability. Therefore, he gathered the 500 cavalrymen led by Soberkos and the cavalrymen of other cities together, forming a group of 1500 cavalrymen to guard the flank of the Allied Forces' left wing and prevent the enemy cavalry from making a detour (because the outside of the Allied Forces' right wing was the Ramato River, Felicius believed that the Syracuse cavalry would not be stationed there). He also warned them not to move out easily. Once the enemy cavalry attacked, they were to let the 4000 light infantry behind them use long-range firepower to disperse the enemy. With the help of the cavalry's charge, they should be able to resist the fierce Syracuse cavalry.
Felicius' real killer move was on the left wing. The formation he arranged was similar to the strategy used by the Devers to defeat the Bruti on the Cosenza Plateau. That was, the weaker troops were arranged on the right wing, relying on the river to ensure the safety of the flanks, and using the strengthened left wing to win. However, unlike the battle at Punat, the Allied Forces' left wing at this time had weak cavalry and strong infantry. 17000 Crotone infantrymen and tens of thousands of Silesian infantrymen (a small number of Silesian infantrymen were close to the middle) formed the left wing. The thickness of the formation alone was more than 40 rows.
After Phoebidas arrived at the right wing of Syracuse, although he did not know the details of the enemy's arrangement, he stood in front of the formation and watched. Just by looking at the densely packed spears that extended backward, the experienced him immediately realized that once the bugle was blown, the enemy's attack would be very shocking!
He quickly made a decision: Similarly, thicken the formation on his side!
However, this way, the length of the formation on the right wing, which had fewer troops than the enemy, would inevitably be shorter than the enemy, and it would be easy for the enemy to surround them from the flank.
At the same time, Phoebidas made a surprising decision. He ordered the soldiers on the right wing to immediately form an arc-shaped formation, protruding outwards. This way, during the battle, the soldiers of Syracuse would be in the inner circle, naturally making up for the lack of length of the formation.
… …
When the bugle was blown, nearly 30,000 infantrymen on the right wing of the Southern Italian Allied Forces marched forward majestically towards the enemy.
Among the soldiers of Crotone, there were many citizens like Colombs who had been captured by Diónia twice. They bore the guilt of being defeated, experienced the decline of Crotone from glory, and watched helplessly as their former enemy, Diónia, rose rapidly. Their hearts had always been intertwined with loss and confusion.
Therefore, today, like their general, Ascamas, they would use a victory to prove themselves, to prove the glory of Crotone! Even though the strength of Crotone was far inferior to that of the City Alliance of Diónia, this was the pride of the people of Crotone, the nature of the citizens of a country of movement!
Therefore, even if the arrows rained down from the sky, they could not slow down the speed of their advance. Under the situation where they tried their best to maintain their formation, they gradually increased their pace …
The huge formation let out a terrifying roar, and the soldiers of Crotone began to charge …
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the approaching enemy, their faces a mixture of nervousness and excitement, only looking forward to the arrival of that terrifying and enchanting moment!
"Apollo!!!" They roared unbridledly, and suddenly collided with the soldiers of Syracuse.
… …
Generally speaking, when the heavy infantry of both sides came into contact with each other, the entire formation from the back would begin to push forward. In order to prevent the enemy from pushing them back step by step, which would eventually lead to the collapse of the formation, the infantry of both sides would not only stick close to their comrades in the front, but they would also try their best to push forward with their spears, hoping to increase the threat of the soldiers in the front. At the same time, they would push forward with all their might, causing the space occupied by the soldiers in the front to become smaller and smaller.
Effyart was not worried. Like usual, he lunged forward, squatted slightly, and leaned forward. The half-length shield almost covered his entire leg, torso, and neck. From time to time, he would borrow the force from his back to push the shield forward. The force was concentrated on the bronze semicircular ram in the center of the curved shield. The force was considerable, and if it collided with an unprotected enemy, it would be enough to cause a fracture in the enemy's chest. When it collided with an enemy's round shield, it would also cause a dent in the sturdy bronze shield.
On the other hand, when the round shield of the Syracuse soldier collided with the shield, the circular ram of the shield would cause the round shield to slip, causing it to hit the wrong spot. Furthermore, the force transmitted by the round shield would spread to the entire curved shield through the ram, and when it reached Effyart, the force would be much smaller. This gave Effyart enough time to catch his breath.
While Effyart tried to disrupt the enemy's defense with his shield, his right hand tightly gripped the half-meter long double-edged short sword, waiting for an opportunity. From time to time, he would stab and pull it out from the gap between him and the enemy. It was a pity that the two Syracuse soldiers next to him seemed to be very experienced, as they dodged his attacks many times.
The thickness of the troops in the middle of the Legion of Dionysia and Syracuse was about the same. Since their strength was almost equal, the pressure in the middle was even more severe.
Ophyalte was getting closer and closer to the enemy, and he could even feel the hot breath coming out of the tiny slit in the middle of Collins' helmet, just below the middle nosepiece.
When he saw the pair of cold eyes suddenly light up, he instinctively lowered his head and raised his shield.
Bang! The enemy's kukri knife slashed at the shield. When he lowered his head, he suddenly saw something, and his heart was instantly filled with excitement.
It was the enemy's foot! Although the Greek round shield was large, it was not as long as the long shield. The enemy's foot, which was wearing leather sandals, was exposed under the round shield. If Effyart had not raised his shield, he would not have been able to see through the gap.
He immediately used his shield to block the enemy's round shield, lowered his head and bent his waist (if he was wearing Corinth's helmet, he would not have been able to make such a large bend), and stabbed the short sword in his right hand diagonally downwards. The sharp tip of the sword pierced through the back of the enemy's right foot without any resistance.
Hearing the enemy's shrill scream, Effyart did not bother to look at the outcome of the battle and quickly pulled back his short sword. As he pushed his shield forward, he took a step forward with his left foot. When the enemy screamed and fell to the ground, and the enemy behind him was about to take his place, Effyart squeezed into a small gap in the enemy's shield wall.
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