Chapter 45
"Reporting, the Persia are out of the canyon. They're chasing us!"
"Very good. How many are there? "
"About six to seven thousand. I think they're all archers and cavalry archers!"
"Those damned Persia! They must be thinking of defeating us with their bows and arrows! "
"That's great! The more they come, the more we can kill! "
"Can the Devers hold them off?"
"That's why our attack must be fast and fierce!" Keristhorpes said firmly, "Everyone, please return to your commanding positions immediately and spread out into formation. We'll press forward!"
"Roar!!" The leaders rubbed their palms together and began to move.
… …
Once Altauzus exited the canyon, he eagerly spread out into battle formation. Just like the day before yesterday, the archers were in the middle and the cavalry on both sides.
Just as they were two miles out of the canyon, a scout came back and reported, "The Greeks are coming towards us!"
Although Altauzus was excited, he was, after all, experienced in battle. This kind of harassment tactic required space to maneuver, and he did not want to be confined to the canyon entrance. Therefore, he immediately ordered the entire team to move to the left.
Cavalry archers and archers were considered highly mobile troops, but when a team of seven thousand was already in battle formation, it would take time to change their formation, and the Greeks did not give him the time.
Not long after Altauzus gave the order, the Greeks appeared in his field of vision. He immediately tensed up. He knew very well that changing the formation when the enemy was advancing was undoubtedly courting death.
He ordered them to return to battle formation again, and his mind quickly calculated. In a while, after shooting two rounds of arrows and disrupting the enemy's advance, he would immediately move quickly to the left, away from contact with the Greeks, and look for another opportunity.
However, his expression quickly changed, because the Greeks' battle formation was very long, far longer than his two flanks, and as they advanced, they continued to extend to the two flanks.
Altauzus understood the traditional Greek phalanx formation. They would often stack their formation very thickly, usually seven or eight rows or more, and use the powerful impact to crush the enemy. Right now, the enemy's formation was probably only two or three rows. Why would they dare to do this? Artazus immediately understood: because his side was full of light cavalry and archers, the Greeks did not need to rely on numbers to crush them. They could still win.
The Greeks were trying to surround him! I was too careless! Altauzus was a little flustered, and his expression kept changing. He wanted to retreat immediately, but he felt that the formation was already in place. If he returned with his tail between his legs, not only would his morale be affected, but he would also be delayed.
He had promised that he would at least let him shoot a round of arrows. He thought to himself: Seven thousand arrows can disrupt their formation, maybe even cause confusion, even if they can't, there will still be time to retreat.
Thinking about this, Altauzus decided to take a risk. He quickly summoned his generals and reminded them to remember the order of retreat.
When everything had been arranged, he felt much more at ease, and as he watched the Greeks approach, he decided that when the distance between the two sides was about a hundred metres, he would give the order to fire.
Come, Greek barbarians, die! He smiled evilly. However, when they were about two hundred metres away, the sound of a bronze horn sounded from the opposite side, and the Greeks actually stopped advancing! He was anxious, but he did not want his troops to advance. Immediately changing from an attack to a retreat could easily cause chaos, and Altauzus only wanted to retreat smoothly. It was better for him to continue waiting for the Greeks to attack. He now felt that having a large number of troops had its drawbacks.
Then, he was shocked to see countless arms stretch out from the back of the Greek heavy infantry and start to circle above their heads.
Stone throwers! Altauzus was shocked. He remembered that there were no stone throwers in the Greek mercenary army. How did they suddenly appear?!
At this moment, there was no time for him to think carefully. Countless fist-sized rocks smashed down like hailstones. In the middle of the Persian army, these Persian archers who were waiting to shoot their arrows were instantly hit by this attack. Without the protection of armor, they were smashed until their heads were bleeding, and some of them even fainted …
The middle of the Persia army was instantly in chaos.
The stone throwers fired very quickly, and in an instant, the enemy formation threw out another wave of flying stones, covering the sky.
Altauzus was so anxious that his eyes were red, and he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Retreat! Retreat! … "
Just as the trumpeter was about to blow the horn, a loud bronze horn sounded from the other side. The Greek heavy infantry that had been standing quietly roared, "Ares!!!" They started to take large strides towards the Persia army. The entire line of the Greeks was like a surging tide, fearless of the reefs and shoals in front of them. They swore to engulf the land. It was a powerful momentum that was enough to crush the morale of the Persia army, which was not strong to begin with. They even opened up a path in the middle of the Greek army, and dozens of cavalry surged out. They took the lead and charged towards the enemy Persia army.
The Persia army completely collapsed! They did not listen to their general's orders at all. They even carried the general and ran back. The previously arranged order of retreat could not be carried out at all. The cavalry, archers, right wing, left wing, and middle swarmed towards the mouth of the canyon. They only had one thought in their mind: Get away from those terrifying Greeks!
Defeated! Defeated! Defeated without even firing a single arrow! Altauzus had participated in the Battle of Kunasak. As a teammate, he cheered for the Greeks when they easily defeated the army of the king of Persia. But now, when he personally faced the charge of the Greeks, he finally realized how terrifying the Greek heavy infantry was. At that moment, his mind was blank. He could only hug the neck of his horse tightly, and he was surrounded by his attendants as they rushed towards the mouth of the canyon. Because he was at the back of the middle team and was closest to the mouth of the canyon, he and his attendants were almost at the front of the Persia army.
The mouth of the canyon was right in front of them. The wide space suddenly narrowed, and the steep and continuous mountains caused the air to only flow at the mouth of the canyon. Altauzus, who had just entered the mouth of the canyon, was almost unable to open his eyes due to the strong mountain wind.
"Go!" He clamped his horse's abdomen. He knew very well that the faster they rushed through the canyon, the fewer people they would lose!
The path in the canyon was not a straight line, but a curved'S 'shape. For the Persia cavalry, who had been on the battlefield all year round, this was not a problem. They controlled their War Horses very well. Even though there was a turn in front of them, they did not slow down their horses too much.
Just as they quickly turned around the foot of the mountain, a wall made of stones and wood suddenly appeared in front of them. It was half the height of a person. Altauzus and his attendants could not rein in their horses in time and crashed straight into the wall. Screams of pain could be heard everywhere.
Altauzus was flung away, and the last thing he saw was the rapidly enlarging mountain wall in front of him.
The defeated soldiers of Persia rushed into the canyon like a mountain torrent, filling up the canyon and pushing forward.
The remaining cavalrymen at the front stopped in shock, but the soldiers at the back were still running forward.
Therefore, an even more tragic scene happened. The soldiers at the front were pushed down. Before they could get up, they were trampled by the soldiers at the back. As they struggled, they tripped over the advancing soldiers. The defeated soldiers at the back were still rushing forward in a frenzy in order to escape from the slaughter of the Greeks.
People kept falling, being trampled, falling, and trampled in the canyon. Behind the stone wall, the Persia soldiers were piled up in layers, all the way to the mouth of the canyon. Some of the soldiers had been trampled into minced meat, while others were still struggling and wailing in the stream of blood. It was like hell on earth!
"Raise the shield wall!"
"Prepare the javelins!"
Seeing the Persia soldiers crowded in front of the stone wall, the Devers were a little nervous, but their minds were still clear, and they gave the order clearly.
The Persia soldiers who struggled to climb over the stone wall were first shot by the javelins of the light shieldbearers led by Epithenis. Then, the Greek heavy infantrymen formed a shield wall to block their way. The first four rows of soldiers stuck close to each other, providing support to the first row of soldiers. Their spears could also reach in front of the first row of soldiers. Together, they formed a spear wall that blocked the way and easily stabbed the fleeing and disorganized Persia soldiers.
The Devers asked the soldiers to carry stones and wood to build a simple stone wall. Their original intention was to prevent the charge of the Persia cavalry. Once the horses started galloping, the heavy infantrymen might not be able to stop them no matter how many rows they formed, and they would suffer heavy losses. Therefore, the roadblock was used to slow down the Persia cavalry. However, the effect of the stone wall was far beyond imagination. It blocked the canyon with the piles of corpses, preventing the defeated soldiers from gathering their strength to attack the defensive line of the Devers organization.
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