Chapter 512
Cypross was deep in thought.
Myron, a native of Crotone, reminded, "The Tachinadi River can be crossed by foot. Be careful. The Syracuse will not only focus their attack on the left flank."
Tormid smiled. "We have done a thorough reconnaissance beforehand. As far as we know, the upper part of the Tachinadi River is difficult to cross by foot. Hence, His Majesty the Devers has ordered that the Seventh Legion, which is at the far right of the formation, must not cross the middle of the Tachinadi River. "
Tormid's explanation made Myron and Cypross even more solemn.
"Syracuse's heavy infantry is not weak, and they have a large number of them. They will definitely arrange the foreign cavalry to attack us from this side. Although we Crotone are not afraid of death, but — "Myron looked troubled. Although he did not participate in the Battle of the Ramator River, he had witnessed with his own eyes how Syracuse's infantry broke through the city in one day during the siege of Crotone. He had also learned from the soldiers how powerful the mercenary cavalry was. "If we can't stop Syracuse's attack from the left flank, it will affect the outcome of the battle!"
At this time, Cypross continued, "Since His Majesty the Devers had purposely set up this formation to guide Syracuse to focus their attack on the left flank, he must have a countermeasure."
"That's right." Tormid said with a straight face. "Diónia's strongest First and Second Legion will support the entire left flank with you. I believe that no matter how many enemies there are, they will not be able to defeat you easily! On your left, there are more than 1500 cavalrymen from Diónia to stop the enemy cavalry from attacking our flank. Most importantly — "Tormid had a strange expression on his face." Behind you, there will be a Brigade of Lances. They will be responsible for defeating the enemy cavalry and counterattacking! "
A company of less than a thousand people wanted to decide the victory of the left wing?! Both Myron and Cypross were puzzled because they both knew Diónia better. They knew that the Dionysian Army was relatively fixed, unlike the general Greek city-states, where the number of troops and the organization of the army were very different every time they went to war. So they were sure that they had never heard of the Spear Brigade in all the legions of the Diónia Alliance before. Was it a newly formed army after the outbreak of the war? If so, would it be so powerful?
The two of them looked at each other with doubt in their eyes.
Tormid smiled mysteriously. "You will know before the battle begins."
… …
As the Diónia army advanced steadily, the Syracuse Mercenary Cavalry began to retreat rapidly.
The distance between the two armies of Diónia and Syracuse was only nine miles. After more than an hour of marching, they were getting closer to the army of Syracuse.
When the sun in the middle of the sky began to move to the west, Dionysius, who was in the center of the formation, heard a loud crash. Crash! The sound came from the front, getting louder and louder. Even the ground began to tremble slightly.
The War Horse under him began to become restless, neighing non-stop. Dionysius patted its neck angrily, signaling it to calm down.
The attendant next to him saw this and hurried over to calm the War Horse down.
"The people of Diónia are coming …" he whispered to the attendant with a solemn look.
After a while, they saw a gray cloud of dust rising from afar, slowly drifting towards them. As the dust cloud advanced, it became larger and larger, extending endlessly to the east and west. It was as if a storm was coming, and the clouds were getting thicker and thicker in the sky. It was suffocating, and people could not help but think about how terrifying the power it was brewing and was about to explode …
Although Syracuse had more troops, the soldiers who had hastily completed the formation had not yet had the time to experience and integrate into the huge phalanx. Therefore, they were all nervous as they faced the mountain-like and tide-like Diónia army.
Dionysius frowned and said anxiously, "Hurry to the right flank and urge Phoebidas to complete his plan as soon as possible. I'm afraid that the enemy is about to attack!"
"Yes, sir!" The messenger galloped away.
Dionysius stared ahead with a solemn expression.
The enormous belt of dust had already stopped advancing six to seven hundred meters away. Then, they could hear the rising and falling sounds of bugles, military drums, shouts, as well as the sound of fragmented footsteps and the clashing of armors, shields, and spears … …
Dionysius knew that the Diónia army was reorganizing their formation, which was why he was very anxious. Although the messenger had only left for a short while, it felt like he had been gone for a long time.
As time continued to pass, the noise coming from the other side gradually became softer and softer until it disappeared. In the end, it was so quiet that it was as if the noise from before was just an auditory hallucination, as if it had never existed in the first place. Only the dust that filled the sky gradually dissipated …
"Sir, General Phoebidas has completed his formation. He hopes that you can buy some time so that the soldiers can catch their breaths." The messenger hurried back and reported while panting.
Dionysius understood what he meant.
He looked ahead. At this time, the cloud of dust had dissipated, revealing a huge Dionysian Army in his field of vision. Under the sun, the tightly arranged armors, shields, and spears on the soldiers reflected a dazzling cold light, like an endless steel wall.
However, unlike the previous battle at the Ramator River, Dionysius saw not only black, but also yellow, green, and several other colors intertwined in the huge phalanx. This showed that although Diónia had put together a shocking number of troops, they could not guarantee that every soldier would be equipped with their so-called "standard equipment". This gave Dionysius a little more confidence. He said to the attendant beside him, "Go tell the Diónia that I want to speak to their new king!"
The attendant nodded to show that he understood. He galloped out on his horse and galloped towards the opposite army. When he was about 50 meters away from the Diónia, he reined in his horse and shouted, "The King of the Devers of Diónia, Lord Dionysius, the Plenipotentiary General of Syracuse, wants to speak to you in front of the army! The King of the Devers of Diónia … "
A messenger had already reported the Syracuse people's shouts to Dyvers, who was at the rear of the army formation.
The Devers pondered for a moment and said to Tormid, "Why do you think Dionysius wants to speak to me?"
"Your Majesty." Tolmid thought for a moment and said, "… Dionysius was probably curious about the appearance of the opponent that gave him such a headache."
The Devers could not help but laugh at Tormid's subtle flattery. "I don't have time to play such childish games with him."
Dyvers paused for a moment before asking, "Is the spear brigade in position?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. And according to your orders, they did not raise their spears, "Tormid replied.
"That's because they are afraid that the roaming Syracuse mercenaries will notice something unusual. Don't underestimate the tyrant of Sicily, he is very vigilant! " The Devers did not dare to underestimate the enemy, but he was also full of confidence. Since the enemy had indeed gathered a large number of soldiers on their right flank, he hoped that the Lance Brigade would give them a surprise.
The Devers stared at the dark mass of enemies in front of them and said passionately, "Tormid, go and tell the commanders to tell their brothers that the time has come to avenge the sacrifice of Commander Dracos, the warriors who died in battle, and the people of Diónia who were tortured to death! Let them sing the song of Hades and prepare to attack! "
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Tormid replied loudly.
… …
Myron finally saw the Lance Brigade that he had been curious about.
In the military establishment of a Greek city-state, the size of a brigade ranged from about a thousand soldiers. The Lance Brigade that was lined up behind them had a total of six thousand soldiers, which was almost the size of a legion unique to Diónia.
When the Devers first mentioned the term "Lance Brigade", Myron felt that it was strange. Apart from light infantry, almost all Greek infantrymen were armed with spears (a bayonet was a type of spear). Was there a need to emphasize it? When he saw the weapons in the hands of the soldiers, he finally understood why they were called 'spears'. Although the soldiers did not lift them up but held them horizontally, he could clearly see that although the shape of the spear was similar to that of a bayonet, it was obviously much longer! And the soldiers were not wearing armor, only unlined shirts. The six thousand soldiers were positioned behind the Crotone and Triene soldiers, but they did not thicken the formation in front of them. Instead, they formed a column formation to connect with the front.
Super long bayonets, soldiers without armor, column formation … Myron was full of curiosity and doubt. He could not help but wonder what the Devers were going to do with such a strange army.
Just as he was guessing, the hymn of Hades rang out from the formation of Diónia, "I sincerely praise you, black-haired and black-eyed Hades!
You are the king of Underworld, the ruler of the night!
You are the fair judge, the strict supervisor!
… "
Every soldier sang attentively and devoutly, hoping to receive the blessing of the divine power of the great Hades. Countless voices gathered in the sky above the formation of Diónia, gradually becoming uniform, echoing on the battlefield within a radius of dozens of miles, echoing with the sound of wind and water, extremely solemn and grand!
Dionysius, who was in front of his own formation, heard it very clearly. His expression changed drastically, "Damn Diónia, they are going to attack! Quick! Inform the soldiers to immediately pray to Apollo and prepare to attack! "
After that, he turned his horse back, passed through the gap between the phalanx, and went to the rear.
… …
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