Chapter 475
"Messengers! Messengers! "
"General, what's the matter?"
"Quickly inform Umarcas and ask him to lead the soldiers who are still transporting food to the warships to return to the camp immediately. Cooperate with the garrison in the camp to repel the enemy first!" After Diomiras finished speaking, he felt uneasy and ordered again, "Tell the troops to stop crossing the river, unload their luggage, and return to the camp to fight!"
With the ever-changing order, the Tarantum soldiers who were walking to the pontoon bridge were a little reluctant. Why can others stay leisurely on the other side while we have to go back and fight to the death?!
With this mentality, they moved lazily, and the speed at which they assembled was very slow.
Diomiras was extremely anxious. Although he left 4,000 soldiers in the outer camp to defend, he heard the shouts of killing getting more and more intense. Not only was he worried for the remaining troops, but he was also angry when he saw that the troops in front of him were moving so slowly. Finally, he made up his mind to issue a strict order for them to go back and defend, even if it meant offending these citizens.
As soon as he led the guards to the pontoon bridge, a speedboat shuttled through the Agri River, which was almost blocked by the triple-oared warships, and docked on the riverbank. The captain jumped off the boat and stumbled toward Diomiras, shouting as he ran, "General, bad news! The Diónia fleet is here! There are many transport ships behind them, full of soldiers! … "
Diomiras' mind was suddenly buzzing, and he did not have time to think about why the Dionysian fleet did not rest after the battle?
At this time, there was only one thought in Diomiras' mind: The Diónia people want to surround us!
The surrounding soldiers who were crossing the river heard the captain's shout, and there was an immediate uproar. "Quickly cross the river! Quickly cross the river! " The soldiers shouted in panic. They pushed and shoved each other, and the troops began to become restless.
Diomiras calmed down. Seeing the chaotic scene, he immediately dispelled the decision to return to the camp to defend. He was still a little hesitant. Should I abandon the 4,000 soldiers and retreat immediately?!
But soon, he did not have to think about this problem.
"The Diónia people are here!"
"Let's run!"
"The camp has been breached!"
…
Panicked and chaotic shouts came from the east of the camp. The shouts were getting louder and louder. Even when Diomiras turned around, he could see the defeated soldiers. This surprised him. How could the camp be breached so easily?!
In fact, the reason for the rapid defeat of the Tarantum garrison was very simple: the Seventh Legion of Diónia was well prepared in advance, and when they attacked, Martonis, as the Legion Commander, led the charge. None of the soldiers who had been provoked by him wanted to fall behind. His swift and fierce attack made the defending soldiers of Tarantum very difficult to defend. At this time, their fighting spirit had long been taken away by the retreating troops, and they were not mentally prepared at all. When they encountered a setback, the first thought that came to their minds was: Why are we still fighting here when they have retreated?!
So when the Heraclea army followed closely behind and outflanked the garrison soldiers from both sides of the camp, the Tarantum soldiers almost collapsed at the first touch.
"Retreat! Retreat! This was Diomiras' only choice at this moment.
In fact, there was no need for him to give the order. The soldiers had already realized that the situation was not good and were already retreating …
… …
When Midolades led 70 three-oared warships to the sea near Heraclea, he received a report from a clipper: the warships of Tarantum were gathered at the mouth of the Agri River.
Midolades was overjoyed when he heard the news. He immediately ordered the fleet to fan out, ready to capture all the Tarantum warships in one fell swoop.
The Tarantum warships panicked and wanted to sail away from the river bank. Due to the panic, they even collided and squeezed in the river. Some small warships even capsized in the river. The fleets that fled in a hurry did not have the mind to salvage their fallen companions. They only had one thought: escape from the encirclement of the Dionysian fleet and escape back to the port of Tarantum!
But many of the Tarantum warships had too much food in their cabins, which greatly affected the flexibility and speed of the warships. Compared to the Dionysian fleet that was installed with the 'Crow Suspension Bridge' and loaded with heavy infantry, they did not have much of an advantage. But with the Dionysian fleet rapidly approaching, the Tarantum sailors did not even have the manpower to throw away the cumbersome grains. The only fate that awaited them was to be captured.
The Devers's ship did not participate in the battle between the fleets. It followed the following troop transport fleet and landed on the coast not far north of the Agri River.
As soon as Amyntas jumped off the ship, he immediately ordered the bugler to blow the horn to attack. He did not wait for all the soldiers to arrive and regroup before attacking. Instead, he directly led the 50 soldiers on the same ship to kill the retreating Tarantum army not far away.
With the help of the First Legion, the Dionysian fleet under the command of Theklian had achieved a great victory, but the Second Legion had yet to show any performance. How could Amyntas, who had always been competitive, tolerate this?
The ferocious momentum of the soldiers led by Amyntas frightened the already panicked Tarantum soldiers on the north bank of the Agri River, causing them to forget that they outnumbered the enemy. Just as they were organizing resistance in a panic, the other soldiers of the Second Legion of Diónia also arrived one after another. Like sharp daggers, they stabbed into the weak bodies of the Tarantum troops crossing the river on the north bank of Tarantum. The Tarantum soldiers collapsed and fled in all directions. Some of the soldiers even tried to cross the river and escape to the south in a panic.
Amyntas commanded the troops to chase south, and there were constantly Tarantum soldiers being pushed into the river.
Panic would only lead to more panic. When a pontoon bridge could not bear the load and broke, causing the entire pontoon bridge to fall apart, hundreds of people panicked and fell into the river, bobbing up and down. All the Tarantum soldiers who saw the tragic scene were completely disheartened.
On the south bank, the Seventh Legion and the Heraclea army composed of 12000 soldiers continued to pursue the fleeing Tarantum soldiers to the north.
The Tarantum soldiers, who had completely lost their fighting spirit, fled for their lives, and the entire army was in complete chaos. Even if the two consuls shouted in the crowded crowd, it was difficult to organize them again to stop the attack of the Diónia coalition forces. Therefore, they retreated again and again, and were finally driven to the bank of the Agri River.
With the pontoon bridges completely blocked and the fierce pursuit of the Dionian Coalition Army behind them, some of the Tarantum soldiers even took off their armor and jumped into the river in desperation. For a moment, the river was filled with human heads bobbing up and down, as if they were a giant ant nest thrown into a small puddle. It was a ghastly sight.
And when the soldiers who had yet to enter the river saw their panicking comrades on the other side, and the black army that was gradually lining up and surrounding them, the people of Tarantum despaired. Hot tears streamed down their faces, they dropped their weapons dejectedly and turned to surrender to the Dionysian coalition that was attacking them just as fearsome …
At dusk, the Tarantum army was chased by the two bravest generals of the Dionysian Army and was finally surrounded on both sides of the pontoon bridge of the Agri River. In addition to nearly a thousand people who initially crossed the river and ran away, a total of more than 12000 people were captured. More than 2,000 people were killed by shields and spears, or died from trampling each other, and more than 2,000 people drowned in the river.
In addition, the Dionysian fleet also captured more than 50 Tarantum warships, including 35 three-oared warships. Due to the Tarantum fleet's lack of fighting spirit and weak resistance, their sailors did not suffer many casualties, and nearly 7,500 sailors were captured.
At the same time, the Dionysian Army also seized a large number of supplies, including dozens of tons of grain.
On the other hand, the Dionysian Army did not suffer many losses in this battle. It could be said that it was another great victory.
Therefore, after understanding the situation of the battle, Devers was in a very good mood. When he saw the chief general of Heraclea, Triphias, he had a sincere smile on his face and said, "Lord Triphias, on behalf of all the people of Diónia, I thank you! If it wasn't for Heraclea bravely blocking the attack of Tarantum, I'm afraid that the Tarantum army would have rushed into Turií territory! "
Triphias quickly replied humbly, "Lord Devers, Heraclea was only defending itself. Instead, we should be thanking Dionia from the bottom of our hearts. You managed to send reinforcements in such a difficult situation. In order to protect Heraclea, you caused the destruction of Amendarra's land. I really don't know … how can we … "
At this time, Devers could only comfort him. "We are allies, and we should help each other. Fortunately, Hades protected us. The Tarantum army has basically been annihilated, and we didn't suffer any major losses. This is the happiest thing!"
"Yes, I didn't expect victory to come so quickly!" Triphias looked at Devers with admiration and exclaimed, "Lord Devers, I also didn't expect Diónia to defeat the navy of Syracuse. This is amazing!"
Devers smiled and said in a relaxed tone, "If Syracuse dares to attack again, we will defeat them again! From now on, Taranto Bay will have a new master! "
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