Chapter 432
Effyart quickly withdrew his dagger and hid his body under his long shield, dodging the spears and sabers of the enemies in front and behind him. His teammate on the right also seized the opportunity when the enemy fell to the ground and squeezed forward to his side. While fighting side by side with him, they also shattered the enemy's shield wall.
In that split second, Effyart had injured two people in a row.
In close combat, the combination of the long shield and dagger of the Legion of Dionysia was obviously more dangerous than the combination of the round shield and saber of the Syracuse heavy infantry. After all, the Greek saber had a certain degree of curvature and was more suitable for slashing than stabbing. The round shield did not provide as much protection as the long shield. The Syracuse people had to be more focused because the sharp tip of the sword would occasionally pierce through the gap between the shield and the shield. If they were not careful, they would be injured.
… …
On the left flank of the Coalition Army, the Crotone citizen soldiers, known for their wrestling and boxing skills, continued to unleash their violent power.
Although Phoebidas had strengthened the formation of the right flank of Syracuse, he could not increase the number of soldiers he led. Therefore, under the pressure of the Crotone people, the right flank of Syracuse slowly retreated as a whole, causing the arc of the formation to become more and more crooked.
However, Phoebidas was following the tradition of the Sparta people. He was standing at the front of the phalanx to fight the enemy. Even if he felt that the situation was a little bad, he could not leave the formation to make some arrangements to change the situation on the battlefield. He could only hope that the mercenary cavalry could faithfully carry out the plan before the battle. In fact, the mercenaries and cavalry of Syracuse had already begun to move.
In the face of such an exciting battle, the more belligerent Numibian and Celtic cavalry had long been eager to go.
Akhilita whistled, and about 2,000 Numibian cavalrymen charged out with him on horseback.
They gradually formed a thin column as they galloped past the Coalition Army cavalry. They let out strange roars and threw javelins at the Coalition Army cavalry.
The Coalition Army light infantry immediately fired arrows at the enemy cavalry.
Because the Numibian cavalry was charging forward in a single row, their formation was loose, and they were moving quickly, there were not many who fell off their horses. However, there were many Coalition Army cavalry who were pierced by javelins at the same time.
The allied cavalry began to get restless, and Soberkos repeatedly called for them to remain calm.
When Akhilita led the Numibian cavalry in a big circle and turned back from the dust, ready to carry out another round of javelin throwing, many of the coalition cavalry finally could not hold back and rushed head-on.
With them taking the lead, the other cavalrymen followed suit.
Soberkos could not stop them at all. Although he was the temporary commander of the Allied Cavalry, the Diónia Cavalry did not make up the majority of the Allied Cavalry. There were only 500 of them. Moreover, in the eyes of the Greeks, the cavalry was the privilege of the nobility, a stage to display one's bravery. The organization of the cavalry had always been loose, so how could they obey the orders of Sobiesox?
Soon, Soberkos discovered that only the Diónia cavalry and the allied army's 4,000 light infantry soldiers were left standing.
Akili Rita smiled when he saw the coalition cavalry pouncing on them.
He nimbly manipulated the reins and quickly turned the charging War Horse into a diagonal gallop. Then, he turned east and sped up his retreat. Because he was at the head of the team, the Numibian cavalry behind him could see his movements clearly and immediately followed suit. The entire Numibian cavalry turned around and ran east.
The coalition cavalry thought that the enemy was fleeing and urged their horses to give chase.
Soberkos was in a dilemma: should he chase after them? Or should he stay behind?
There seemed to be enemy cavalry watching from a few hundred meters away in the dust, but as the commander of the coalition cavalry, if Soberkos did not act with the cavalry of other cities, it would be a disgrace to Diónia's magnanimity as the leader of the Southern Alliance. He would be suspected of sitting back and watching the coalition cavalry fail without rescuing them.
Soberkos thought about it again and again and finally made a painful decision. He first briefed the light infantry commander and told them to pay attention to the remaining cavalry on the opposite side. Then, he led 500 Diónia cavalry and rushed in the direction of the coalition cavalry's pursuit.
Not long after the Dionysian cavalry left, the light infantry of the Allied Army heard the rumbling of hooves, accompanied by a soul-stirring roar. It was as if thousands of drums were beating ferociously, causing the entire ground to tremble.
"Shoot! Shoot!! " The coalition light infantry commander was scared out of his wits and shouted anxiously.
The light infantrymen had never seen cavalry charge at such a high speed on such uneven ground. They charged out of the dust and fog without a care for anything else. The pursuit of extreme speed and the momentum of not fearing death scared them so much that their hands and feet turned numb. They hurriedly shot their arrows and turned to flee.
The Celtic Cavalry that was active in the Po River Valley of Northern Italy was like a sharp blade that sliced through the scattered light infantry of the allied army.
Horses neighed and people screamed. Many Celts fell from the War Horse that had come to a sudden stop, while the coalition light infantry were either stabbed by spears or sent flying by the War Horse. Most of them fled in all directions.
How could the bloodthirsty Celts let them go so easily? They urged their horses to chase after them and stabbed the fleeing enemies one by one. Then, they jumped off their horses and, according to the Celts' battle custom, cut off the heads of the stabbed soldiers and hung them on the backs of their horses …
Soberkos never imagined that the 4,000 coalition light infantry he had high hopes for would be defeated so quickly by only 800 Celtic cavalry. However, at this moment, he did not have the time to consider the situation of the remaining light infantry.
Felicius had originally chosen this place to fight to limit the performance of Syracuse's cavalry. Now, due to the rash attack of the coalition cavalry, the terrain had become a hindrance to them. It was not a big problem for them to slow down and fall off their horses. The most dangerous thing was that the Numibian cavalry was much more agile in riding on the War Horse. They were even like toying with children, choosing to ride on the uneven areas and throwing javelins at the coalition cavalry that was chasing them from time to time.
Their comrades who fell off their horses from time to time caused the coalition cavalry's formation to become thinner and began to shrink back.
However, when the Numibian cavalry saw that the coalition cavalry was not chasing after them, they took the initiative to stick close to them.
Soberkos, who was chasing from behind, used his calmer mind to notice the dust rising on both sides of the coalition cavalry's chaotic pursuit formation. He immediately felt nervous. The enemy was trying to outflank the coalition cavalry!
"Get them to retreat! Get them to retreat!! "Soberkos immediately urged the messenger beside him.
Before the messengers could speed up, the Allied Cavalry had already begun to retreat in panic.
They finally realized that compared to the mercenary cavalry of Syracuse, their horsemanship was far inferior. If they continued to chase, they would be in danger of being annihilated.
However, how could the Numibians let their prey that had fallen into their trap escape so easily? Although the big net had not been fully spread, Akhilita still blew the horn.
The Numibian cavalry with disheveled hair, wearing only simple cloth robes, and riding on the back of the War Horse so smooth that there was not even a cushion, immediately outflanked the coalition cavalry from three directions at the same time.
The coalition cavalry ran back in panic like birds that had been caught in a net. Some even fell off their horses out of fear and were trampled into meat paste by the running War Horse.
This time, the Diónia cavalry ran at the forefront of the entire retreating and pursuing team.
When Soberkos led them back to their original garrison, hoping that the 4,000 coalition light infantry stationed there could stop the enemy's pursuit, the scene that fell into their eyes shocked the Diónia cavalry. The coalition light infantry that was originally arranged in a swan-shaped formation was no longer there, only human and horse corpses, and groaning wounded soldiers everywhere. Some bare-chested indigenous people (that is, the Celts) were rummaging through the corpses. From time to time, they would stab the wounded soldiers who were still alive, and even cut off their heads...
Seeing such a tragic scene, even the experienced Diónia cavalry felt their hearts palpitate.
When the Celts saw the cavalry coming, they quickly mounted their horses and prepared to intercept them.
At such a critical moment, Soberkos had no time to think too much.
"Go north! Go north! " Soberkos waved his spear and pointed forward. There was only one thought in his mind: to lead these terrible foreign cavalry away, lest they bring trouble to the entire battle.
Soberkos took the lead, and the Diónia cavalry led the frightened coalition cavalry to retreat to the Colache River.
The upper reaches of the Colache River were neither wide nor deep, but when Soberkos urged his horse to run down the sloping embankment, the front hooves of the War Horse suddenly slipped. He was too tired to hold the horse's neck and was thrown to the ground by the frightened War Horse.
"Bang!" Soberkos fell heavily to the ground. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his leg. The pain almost made him faint. He was already old and screamed, "Oh no, my leg is broken!"
He put his hands on the ground and tried to stand up, but it was futile. It only made the pain worse.
"Captain! Captain! " When the Diónia cavalry saw Soberkos fall from his horse, they immediately rushed towards him anxiously.
Their change in direction immediately hindered the advance of the cavalry behind them. The Diónia cavalry and the coalition cavalry were crowded together on the riverbank, causing the retreat of the cavalry in this area to almost come to a halt. Men shouted and horses neighed. It was a mess, and the enemy was rapidly approaching …
Soberkos endured the pain and shouted, "Don't worry about me! Go quickly! Go quickly! Don't let the flag … the flag fall into the hands of the enemy! This is an order! "
As he shouted, he sat on the ground and solemnly placed his right fist on the left side of his chest.
Most of the Diónia cavalry returned the military salute with tears in their eyes. They then turned their horses around and rushed into the Colache River.
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