Chapter 485
In fact, although these foreign merchants who had auctioned their land in Amendola and started producing and selling specialty goods had benefited greatly from the Alliance's preferential policies, apart from a few such as Dikopolis and Dikopolis who had joined the Alliance, most of them were still hesitant. Especially after the war with Syracuse broke out, the defeat of the Southern Italian Coalition Army and the destruction of the Tarantum Cavalry to the handicraft manufacturing district, they were even more pessimistic about the future of the Alliance. If it wasn't for Syracuse and the Tarantum Fleet's blockade of the Taranto Bay, they would have fled long ago.
However, the return of the Devers, who had wiped out the Tarantum Navy and land forces within a day and defeated the powerful navy of Syracuse, had created a miracle in the midst of the impossible. The foreign merchants were shocked. Infected by the fanatical people of Diónia, they began to believe that Diónia was indeed under the protection of Hades. As foreign merchants who did business in the Mediterranean Sea and dared to invest in Diónia, they were not lacking in adventurous spirit and foresight. When they began to hold hope for Diónia's future in the war, they suddenly realized that if Diónia really won the war, Diónia's influence would definitely expand as quickly as it did after the previous wars. Diónia would enter Southern Greece, and even Eastern Sicily. The main trade circle of the Western Mediterranean would then be under the control of Diónia. To anyone who did business in the region, what did this mean?
That was why, under the instigation of Dikopolis and Dikopolis, the merchants made a bold investment and entrusted Dikopolis to deliver the list of goods to the new King of Diónia, the Devers, whom they confirmed to be the descendant of Hades.
The Devers carefully read the huge amount of goods recorded on the papyrus. The sincerity of the foreign merchants was clear to see, and of course, the Devers knew what they desired. He said, "Dikopolis, thank them on my behalf. Tell them that the Alliance will never forget the traitors who stabbed us in the back when we were in trouble! But even more so, we will never forget the friends who helped us in our most difficult times! There's an old saying in the East that goes, 'The favor of a drop of water must be repaid with a pool of spring water!' "
After sending Dios off, the Devers arrived at the training ground of the military camp. Here, the free people Capus recruited were currently training.
When Capus saw the Devers arrive, he rushed to the sidelines.
"Have you gathered all the soldiers?" The Devers looked at the field. The training field that could hold over thirty thousand people was occupied by the free people's troops, but it still seemed extremely spacious.
"Only 2,570." Capus explained, "As for the others, they have to go to the Victory Square to donate, so they can only rush over tomorrow morning."
The Devers expressed their understanding. Then, they looked at the rather orderly formation on the field and asked, "Are they all free citizens who have received more than a year of military training?"
"Your Majesty, there aren't that many free citizens at the port who have received our training. I've transferred the personnel from the supply team, and only managed to gather six thousand people," Capus said truthfully.
"Then, will there be any problems with the transportation of the goods?" The Devers asked again.
"I've retained the managers and officers of the supply team, and recruited free citizens from the port to make up for the numbers. Now that Syracuse's naval superiority has been broken, there shouldn't be any more enemies landing at our rear and attacking our supply team. Completing the transportation task shouldn't be a problem, "Capus explained.
"Sigh, we're robbing Peter to pay Paul!" The Devers sighed. This war had shown him that Diónia still had a shortage of resources, and he didn't have a better solution in the short term. "Distribute the spears. Let them practice their formation first. I'll take a look."
… …
Tapirus used to be a slave in Cristoya's restaurant. After more than four years, he had freed himself from slavery and became a free citizen. He was also one of the people in charge of the restaurant in the city of Turín. When Capus went to the supply team to recruit personnel, he volunteered to participate. This was because it would take too long to become a citizen of the Alliance through normal means. Only by participating in battle could he shorten the time limit. Therefore, Tapirus believed that this was a rare opportunity. Even though it was life-threatening, it was worth the risk. This was because the King of the Devers had returned, and this army was formed at his request!
Many free citizens joined the army with this thought in mind.
Because of Tapirus' high military quality (he had participated in military training for a year and a half), and because he could count and read (skills he had learned in a restaurant), he was appointed as a squad leader. However, he was now standing at the left front of a squad. This was the position of a squad leader. Because the veterans who were supposed to be transferred from the various corps to serve as the officers of this new squad had been dismissed and would only return tomorrow, they were temporarily replaced by the new recruits.
At this time, the city's slaves were carrying bundles of pikes and distributing them to each free citizen.
This is the weapon we're going to use?! Tapirus looked at the pike in his hand in amazement. It was much longer than the bayonet he usually used in training.
The free citizens were a little excited after receiving their own weapons. Some even waved them, but the free citizens who were not proficient in using this kind of pike either had their spearheads connected with other pikes or the butt end of their pikes touched the teammates next to them. For a moment, the formation was in chaos, and there was a lot of noise.
Hurried bugles immediately sounded in the training field. The free citizens hurriedly got into position. Even though spears were still colliding with each other, there were very few who made any noise. They, who had experienced military training for a long period of time, knew that if they didn't obey orders, the officers would drag the violator out and beat him in public. That would be too damaging to their dignity!
"All of you, pay attention!" A few drill instructors shouted at the front of the formation. "When standing, hold the pike like this …"
Tapirus followed the drill instructor's posture and stuck the pike to his left side. The butt end of the pike touched the ground, and his left arm extended downwards to hold the pike shaft. His right hand crossed his left shoulder to support the pike.
The soldiers did the same, and the pikes no longer collided with each other. Instead, they stood straight like a neat and dense forest.
Devers was satisfied that the free citizens on the field were able to follow orders so quickly and grasp the essentials of holding a pike so quickly.
"Looks like their military training for more than a year was not in vain!" he said, gratified.
At this moment, the long bugles sounded again, and the flag bearers of each division immediately pointed their black flags forward.
"Advance!" Tapirus shouted. The drummers beat the military drums rhythmically, and the soldiers began to advance with their pikes in hand.
As they advanced, the originally neat formation became more and more uneven, and the formation became a little messy. The originally straight pikes swayed left and right as their bodies moved, and the pikes clashed with each other. Clatter! Clatter! "
Capus saw the Devers frown, so he explained, "Your Majesty, because the veteran officers have been dismissed and returned home, their control over the entire team, the maintenance of the formation, and the execution of orders are much weaker."
"I understand," the Devers said, his gaze fixed on the performance of the free citizens on the field.
The bugles changed again.
"Defend!" Tapirus shouted.
The advancing soldiers of the division stopped and began to gather in the middle. After the first row of soldiers laid down their pikes horizontally, the next few rows of soldiers who were close to the front raised their pikes diagonally. Even when the pikes of the sixth row could still reach the shoulders of the first row of soldiers, they formed a part of the spear wall. At this moment, the originally messy formation became a dense and thick pike square formation.
The Devers' brows were still furrowed. He turned to Capus and said, "Do you know why I transferred the free citizens to use these extended pikes?"
"Because we have to deal with the Syracuse cavalry." Capus said without hesitation. It was obvious that he had seriously considered the Devers' decision.
"That's right. Our cavalry can't defend against the Numibians and Celts who grew up on horseback. I designed these long pikes to deal with the hired cavalry of Syracuse. However, I don't want to use this rigid defensive formation to stop the cavalry's attack. I want to use offense to crush the enemy cavalry's attack! "The Devers stared at Capus with bright eyes.
Capus was a little surprised. "You want them to attack the Syracuse cavalry with four-meter-long pikes?!"
"Yes." The Devers said with certainty, "Also, I want them to attack at the speed of a charge, and try to maintain a more compact formation during the attack. Therefore, I don't plan to equip them with armor. They only need to hold the pikes with both hands to advance and run. This should be lighter and more agile. "
The Devers's idea of the long pike square formation was not to learn from the Macedonian pike square formation in his previous life. He was not interested in that kind of clumsy formation. Diónia already had its own heavy infantry square formation, and its combat effectiveness was not inferior to the Macedonian square formation. He wanted to learn from the famous Swiss pike soldiers in the Middle Ages of Western Europe. These fierce mountain people could even hold four-meter-long pikes and charge as a whole square formation against the heavily armored medieval heavy cavalry. They had defeated the French heavy cavalry many times, and became famous in Western Europe. They became an important means of livelihood for the Swiss in the Middle Ages. Even the French royal family and the Vatican hired them as palace guards.
Your Majesty, if you don't equip them with armor — "As the commander of the army, Capus had to remind him," I'm afraid they will suffer heavy casualties under the attack of arrows and javelins! "
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