Chapter 606
Alexis looked at them and said solemnly, "So I've decided to slow down the formation of the legions tomorrow morning. We'll wait for the Donnies to reach the other side of the Orfanto River, then we'll fight them on the way and defeat them in one fell swoop."
"I agree with Alai … Commander's plan. I've crossed this river many times in the past two days. Although it's a bit wide, the water isn't deep. It's at most knee-deep. The current isn't too fast, and the bottom of the river is relatively solid. Even if the Donnies block us in the river, it'll be enough for our heavy infantry to do their best." Amyntas expressed his agreement. The other commanders also agreed.
Alexis continued, "Commanders, take a look. This is the place where we'll cross the river tomorrow."
The commanders quickly gathered around and looked at the map on the table. The place that Alexis was pointing at was less than a mile away from the barracks. They had all surveyed the terrain and knew that the two banks of the river three or four miles east of that place were low and flat, mostly mudflats. Because of the hot summer sun, the silt on the banks had long dried up and solidified, which was very beneficial for the army to march in formation.
"Commander Amyntas, your First Legion will be in formation here." Alexis moved her finger to the east and said, "Since your First Legion is the strongest and has the most veterans, I'll arrange for you to be in the middle. I hope that the First Legion won't advance too quickly. You have to stay in contact with the military on the left and right flanks …"
The troops that Amyntas had led were known for their ferocious attacks. However, as an experienced general of Diónia, he knew what was important and immediately nodded.
"Commander Olivers, your Legio IV will be on the left flank of the First Legion. Commander Giogris, your Legio V will be on the right flank of the First Legion. There are too many new soldiers in your army. I hope that during the crossing of the river, the commanders at all levels will be able to keep the emotions of the soldiers under control and not cause any chaos … "Alexis pointed at the map as she reminded them.
"Don't worry, Lord Commander. Although many of the soldiers have just joined the army from the reserve team, they have gone through river crossing training many times in the training camp. Also, the lowest-ranking team officer (i.e., squad leader) is a veteran who has participated in more than four battles. There won't be any problems." Olivers immediately guaranteed.
Giogris also chimed in from the side. Although the Fifth Legion that he led was mainly made up of Bruti people, the Bruti civil strife during the Southern Italian War and the clean-up after the war had wiped out the dissident Bruti people. After ten years, the Bruti people had basically integrated into the kingdom. Moreover, the recruits in the legion had spent their childhood in Diónia after the Bruti was integrated into Diónia. Most of them had studied in the schools established by Diónia in the various towns of the Bruti. They were deeply influenced by the culture of Diónia. Other than their appearance, they were not much different from the main ethnic group of Diónia, the Greeks.
As for why there were so many new recruits in the army? This question had to be answered after the Southern Italian War.
At that time, the biggest achievement of Diónia after the victory was to occupy all of Greece and the eastern coast of Sicily. After recruiting the civil militia and settling the citizens of the city-states that had merged into the kingdom, there was still a large amount of empty land left. At that time, the Senate had even passed a number of temporary bills, allowing the preparatory citizens and registered freedmen to be allocated land first (only the amount of tax they had to pay was different), and after they had reached the age limit, they would be granted official citizenship.
At that time, there was a Corinth War in Greece, and in Asia Minor, Sparta was still leading the coalition army to fight with Persia. The continuation of the war caused the number of refugees in the Greek world to increase. Under the deliberate guidance of Diónia, most of the refugees flocked to Greece, so there was enough manpower. However, most of the laws of Diónia were for official citizens, but during that period, the number of registered freedmen increased rapidly, and most of them needed six or seven years to become official citizens, which brought a lot of trouble to the governance.
Due to practical needs, as well as Dyvers' strategic planning for the kingdom, he launched a war against the Mesapi and Puchetti in the autumn of the fourth year of Dionysia. After the Battle of Brindisi, he replaced the legions with a large number of reserve citizens and freedmen recruits. This was to shorten the length of time they had to become citizens through military exploits. At the same time, it was also to prevent the older generation of citizens from becoming big landlords due to their excessive military exploits. This would cause the gap between the rich and the poor in the kingdom to widen after the establishment of the kingdom.
However, the situation was slightly different this time around. This was because many of the new recruits had grown up in the Alliance of Diónia ever since the establishment of the Alliance of Diónia. This batch of new citizens of Diónia had received military training since they were young, and although they were new recruits, their military skills were not low. This was also where the confidence of the commanders of the army came from.
"Ledes, your cavalry division will be divided equally between the two sides of the formation. You will be responsible for driving away and defeating the cavalry of the Daunians." Alexis continued to arrange her attack plan.
"Understood." Ledes nodded in response.
There were currently four cavalry divisions in the Kingdom of Diónia: the headquarters of the first cavalry division was located in Turií; the headquarters of the second cavalry division was located in Grumentum; the headquarters of the Legio III division was located in Cattanay; and the headquarters of the Legio IV division was located in Brindisi. In terms of the quality of the cavalry, the fourth cavalry division should be the strongest, because most of them were made up of Puchetti and Mesapi people. However, these two territories had only been incorporated into the Kingdom of Diónia for six years. With the rebellious and unruly nature of these two races, and the fact that they were cavalry, if they disobeyed orders in battle, they would be punished according to military law. The most severe punishment would be beheading, and the lightest punishment would be flogging. This would probably cause a lot of trouble for the two territories that had just been stabilized. After much consideration, the Devers decided to send the first cavalry division to participate in the battle. Therefore, the cavalry division had the least number of new recruits, so Alexis didn't say anything else.
"When the entire formation starts to cross the river, I will gather all the cannons and crossbows behind you to bombard the Daunians on the other side of the river. This will disrupt their formation, and for your attack …" Alexis's words made the commanders feel completely relieved.
"What if the Daunians don't even fight and stop us from crossing the river?" Giogris asked.
"Then we can easily cross the river and take down their cities one by one!" Amyntas answered for Alexis.
Back then, the Devers forcefully detained nearly two thousand engineers and craftsmen under Dionysius. Later on, they forced Syracuse to send their families to Diónia. In the end, they left them in Turií. Because of this, Diónia's metalsmithing, construction, woodworking … and other crafts suddenly improved by a lot. Later on, during the conquest of Mesapi and Puchetti, with their help, the Legion of Dionysia successfully took down cities one after another. Therefore, when it came to sieging a city, the Legion of Dionysia was now very confident.
… …
The newly built Diónia barracks near Canusian were made up of the barracks of several legions. There was a main road that ran from west to east through the barracks.
After the commanders returned to their respective barracks, they immediately gathered their captains for a discussion.
The captains of the First Legion were heading towards the Legion Commander's tent through the main road. In front of them, groups of soldiers who were returning to their barracks walked past. When they saw the senior officers, they all stopped and saluted to show their respect. Only one soldier saluted, but his gaze was evasive. He didn't make a sound and hurriedly left after saluting.
The captains of the First Legion acted as if they didn't see anything. Only when the soldiers were far away did the First Battalion Captain Ctessus turn around and say with a mischievous smile, "Patroclus, you sure are impressive. Even our Diónia's prince is afraid of you! Look at him just now, he doesn't even dare to look you in the eye. "
"I say, Ctessus, our Diónia's prince is the descendant of Hades. Why would he be afraid of Patroclus? He's acting out of respect for his future brother-in-law!" Another battalion captain joked.
"You're mistaken. Prince Adoris is only the adopted son of His Majesty the Devers. The same goes for his sister. However, His Majesty treats them like his own children." Ctessus quickly corrected him.
"Is that so?!"
"The older generation of Diónia citizens know about this. If you don't believe me, you can ask this kid. He knows these things the best." Ctessus pointed at Patroclus.
"Brothers, Legion Commander Amyntas has urgently summoned us for a discussion. We're just chatting here. If we're late, he'll beat us up!" Patroclus quickly changed the topic.
"It's fine. We're not afraid of Sir Amyntas' roar." Ctessus looked indifferent.
"Ctessus, you might not be afraid, but we are!" cried the captain next to him.
Ctessus chuckled and said to the youngest among the eight, "Patroclus, you're going to have a different identity after marrying His Majesty's daughter. Don't forget to help us brothers."
The others agreed with his words.
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