Chapter 695
After thinking about it again and again, Camillus finally made up his mind to repel the enemy in front of him before retreating!
Since the decision had been made, Camillus immediately took action. He sent out a messenger to convey his order, asking the Rome army to immediately line up in a three-line formation when facing the incoming enemy. There were a total of ten Rome squadrons made up of young soldiers, forming the front line. There were 1,200 soldiers in total. Behind them, there were six Rome squadrons made up of young soldiers, a total of 660 soldiers. The last line was made up of six veteran squadrons, also 660 soldiers. In total, there were more than 2,500 heavy infantry soldiers in the middle line. He also lined up in the same way on the left and right flanks.
The Rome army had been fighting the war with new tactics for the past ten years, so they were very familiar with it. In addition to the squadrons that were arranged to meet the enemy, they only needed to intersperse the small phalanxes formed by each squadron with each other. It didn't take long for them to form a huge three-line formation that stretched for a mile.
Camillus brought a total of 9,000 soldiers, all of whom were heavy infantry soldiers. There were a total of 75 squadrons. Together with the three squadrons that were trapped, there were a total of 78 squadrons. Among them, there were 40 squadrons of young soldiers, 25 squadrons of young soldiers, and 13 squadrons of veterans. In the formation, there were not enough squadrons of veterans, so he replaced them with squadrons of young soldiers. When the formation was completed, there were a total of 7,600 heavy infantry soldiers in Rome.
At this time, there were 12 squadrons under his command, and most of them were composed of young soldiers. He arranged them in the fourth line behind him as a reserve force. While protecting the wounded soldiers, they also took care of the Diónia cavalry and light infantry that were patrolling in the rear.
He also arranged the remaining 500 Rome cavalry on both sides of the formation, and more than 1,500 light infantry soldiers were scattered between the fourth line of reserves. This was mainly to guard against the enemy's cavalry and light infantry.
While the Rome army was in formation, the advance of the First Legion of Diónia was slowing down. When they were 200 meters away from the enemy, the entire army stopped moving forward and quickly adjusted according to the enemy's formation.
Amyntas placed the first, second, and third brigades in the front, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth brigades in the back. The length of the entire formation was almost the same as the Rome army.
Both sides were in formation almost at the same time.
At a distance of 200 meters, the soldiers on both sides were looking at each other curiously.
The soldiers of Rome were also wearing a helmet that covered their cheeks. There were two colorful feathers on both sides of the helmet, and there was a red horsehair tassel in the middle of the helmet. The soldiers of Rome were wearing red short-sleeved shirts and chainmail. Only the captain of the platoon wore a bronze breastplate, bronze shin armor, and leather sandals. He held a long shield that was half the height of a man in his left hand, and a two-meter-long spear in his right hand.
In the Rome army, there were no other flags except for the flag bearers of the left, middle, and right wings. Each of them was holding a red military flag embroidered with an eagle spreading its wings. In the Diónia army, the sub-team flags, company flags, and battalion flags were distributed in each small square formation in an orderly manner. They surrounded the legion flag in the center and fluttered in the wind. The statue of the god on top of the flag was shining in a golden light, like the stars in the night sky. It was a beautiful scene.
After both sides were in formation, half of the battlefield was black, and the other half was red. The soldiers of both sides stood like mighty statues. The spears in their hands were arranged like a dense forest, and the shields were erected like towering walls.
Both sides remained silent, but the thick murderous aura that permeated the battlefield was dispelling the dust.
Amyntas, who had always been aggressive, did not immediately give the order to attack. On the one hand, he wanted to let the soldiers who had rushed all the way here take a breather and recover their strength. On the other hand, he wanted to buy more time and wait for the Volsi soldiers to arrive. After all, compared to the other side, the First Legion had fewer heavy infantry soldiers. The other side could quickly form a formation similar to that of Diónia. He felt that this opponent was very different from the previous enemies, so he acted more cautiously.
However, he could wait, but Camillus could not. He could roughly guess the reason why the Dionysian Army had stopped advancing after chasing them all the way here. Therefore, he waited for the soldiers of Rome to form a formation and stabilize themselves before he immediately gave the order, "Everyone, attack!"
"Woo!" The bugles of the army sounded.
The soldiers of Rome held their spears and shields as they advanced slowly. The four lines maintained a relatively neat formation, pressing against the Diónia army.
Camillus rode at the back of the center of the formation. From time to time, he would look back at the Diónia cavalry that was cruising behind the flank of the Roman army.
At this time, Ledes had already rushed to Amyntas' side.
"You've worked hard, old friend!" Amyntas nodded and thanked him.
"In order to stop the Roman army, my legion has paid the price of more than 300 casualties!" Ledes said with a solemn expression.
Amyntas was silent for a moment and asked, "Can your cavalry fight again?"
Ledes shook his head. "The horses have been running back and forth, and they are very tired. Moreover, the cavalry has used up their javelins. Now they need to recover their horsepower. They can only be used when the Roman army retreats. However, the enemy you are facing is not easy to deal with! "
"Don't worry. If the Roman army wants to use the tactics that they stole from us to defeat our teacher, it will only be a joke!" Amyntas said confidently while paying attention to the battle situation in front of him. If the Devers heard this, they might feel a little ashamed.
Ledes glanced at the reserve team of light armored soldiers behind him. He felt a little uneasy, but he did not say anything.
The captain of the company in front, Stefos (Amyntas' adopted son), clearly saw that the Roman soldiers in front of him stopped when they were about 50 meters away. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he shouted, "Brothers, prepare the javelins!"
"Prepare the javelins!" The shouts of the Dionysian army's officers rose and fell one after another.
The soldiers had already held the javelins in their hands.
"Mars!!!" There was an earth-shattering roar from the Roman army. Even though the young Roman soldiers in their twenties had just been running around, they were still full of energy. They strode forward and charged forward.
Stefos saw clearly that the Roman soldiers did not tilt their shields above them. Obviously, they did not understand the characteristics of the heavy infantry of Diónia. He sneered.
As they moved forward, the speed of the Roman soldiers' charge increased rapidly, creating an indomitable and powerful momentum.
The soldiers of the First Legion of Diónia stood still like a mountain.
They did not move until the Roman army was about 30 meters away. "Javelins!" As the officers shouted, the front and back rows of Dionia threw the javelins in their hands at the same time. It was as if a hurricane was blowing on the battlefield. The charging young Roman soldiers stopped abruptly. The dense heavy javelins flew more than 20 meters and fell into the ten rows of young Roman soldiers. The javelins easily penetrated their chainmail armor and pinned them to the ground. Dionia's eyes were filled with shock. Dionia's eyes were filled with shock. The heavy javelins that hit the wooden shields were deeply embedded in the surface of the shields. The javelins were bent and dragged to the ground.
At this time, most of the inexperienced young Roman soldiers did not continue to charge forward. Instead, they subconsciously pulled up their teammates who were struggling on the ground or tried to pull out the javelins on their shields. This provided enough time for the Diónia soldiers to prepare for the second round of javelins. Therefore, when the second round of javelins was thrown, more Roman soldiers fell to the ground.
Camillus, who had always been able to remain calm and wise during the battle, cried out in distress when he saw the scene on the battlefield. He did not expect the Diónia heavy infantry to be able to throw javelins. The young Roman soldiers were caught off guard and suffered a big blow. Of course, what he did not know was that "heavy infantry with javelins" was the characteristic tactic of the Roman Legion. However, in the history of his previous life, this tactic was established because of the war between the Romans and the Samonians. The Samonians, who were good at using javelins, caused the Romans to suffer a lot. That was why the Romans began to learn from their opponents and improved their tactics. This allowed the Roman heavy infantry, which was almost a single unit, to have a mid-range attack capability.
Just when the Roman soldiers were suddenly attacked and temporarily fell into chaos, all the flags in the Diónia army pointed forward. The soldiers shouted the name "Hades" and fiercely pounced on the enemy.
"Fight! Fight! " The platoon jarls and squad jarls of the Roman soldiers who were not injured shouted as they took the lead to rush to the front to fill the gap in the broken battle line. The young soldiers in the back also rushed to the front without hesitation. They wanted to avenge their injured comrades.
However, before the Roman soldiers could fill the gap in the front line, the Diónia soldiers had already charged forward.
The left, middle, and right frontline troops of both sides collided with each other. Although the frontline troops of both sides were ten rows thick, compared to the fully equipped First, Second, and Third Brigades of the First Legion of Diónia, the Roman young soldiers who had just been hit by the javelins were obviously no match for them in terms of strength.
。
Comments