Chapter 697
Amyntas paused for a moment, and Printos reminded him in time, "Don't forget about the Rome soldiers who have just retreated!"
Aristos, the adjutant, said with slight disdain, "Do those defeated soldiers still have the courage to fight?"
"Don't underestimate the enemy." Although that was what he said, Amyntas did not think that the defeated Rome soldiers could regroup so quickly, but he was still cautious. "Let the third platoon be in the middle!"
After giving the order, he looked back at the soldiers of the eighth platoon, who were resting not far behind him.
It would be great if they were also heavy infantry! At this time, Amyntas actually had such a thought in his mind, which showed the psychological pressure caused by the Rome soldiers' attack.
"Immediately send someone to urge the Woersi soldiers to speed up!" Amyntas was no longer in a relaxed mood.
After Stefos led the company to retreat from the front line, they basically maintained the original formation, but most of the soldiers were sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.
As soon as the soldiers recovered a little, Captain Ctessus ordered, "Brothers of the first platoon, according to the current formation order, immediately turn to the left and face the incoming enemy!"
While cursing, the soldiers propped up their sore and swollen legs with their spears and picked up their long shields that were already feeling heavy. Under the command of the Company Captain Stefos and the Division Leader, they followed the other soldiers of the Company and spun the formation of the entire First Battalion to the left before marching forward with large strides.
As soon as they arrived at the edge of the left flank, the soldiers saw that the Rome soldiers were not far from them.
When the Rome soldiers saw that the enemy's reinforcements had arrived, they did not stop to regroup. Instead, they lined up in a large phalanx to fight. Instead, they formed small phalanxes and charged at the formation of the first platoon of the Diónia.
This kind of offensive method that was often seen in the Legion of Dionysia's training was actually used by the enemy. Stefos felt that it was ridiculous and nervous.
"Shield formation!" He gave the order because he had no other choice. His soldiers were already exhausted and did not have the strength to launch a charge to counteract the opponent's charge.
At the same time, the Diónia soldiers at the frontline raised their shields with their left arms and steadied themselves in a horse stance. The squad leaders were also reminding them loudly, "Change to your short swords! He switched to a short sword! … "
When the soldiers were tired and their muscles were sore, using a stinger would not only reduce the accuracy of their stabs, but it would also cause the stinger to slip backward when the opponent collided fiercely, scratching the palms of the soldiers and affecting the use of the weapon. On the other hand, short swords were easier to control, especially when the enemy wanted to use their strength to close in and crush them. This was the experience summed up in countless battles, which was compiled into the "Military Law" by the Diónia Ministry of Military Affairs, so the team officers could use it in a timely manner.
The six Rome platoons were all made up of young soldiers. They ran with strength and roared like thunder.
In fact, most of the soldiers of the First Legion were twenty-five or twenty-six years old, which was also the period of peak physical strength in their lives. It was just that they had not rested much since they set off from Selce in the morning and had consumed too much physical strength. Naturally, they could not compare with the opponent now.
The Rome platoons hit the Diónia's shield formation one after another. It was like a boulder bombarding the city wall, causing the shield formation to sink one after another.
The Rome soldiers used the strong momentum of the charge to break the opponent's shield formation, and stabbed the enemy who staggered back with the spears in their hands.
The Diónia soldiers used all their strength to resist the enemy's charge first, and then slowly retreated with the soldiers at the back to ease the opponent's strong offensive. While protecting their whole body with the long shield, the short sword in their right hand stabbed out from the gap from time to time, killing and injuring the enemy who dared to approach and attack fiercely.
The Rome soldiers attacked fiercely. When the soldiers at the front were stabbed down, the soldiers at the back stepped over the wounded and continued to attack.
The Diónia soldiers were also tenacious in defense, constantly stepping forward to fill the gap, trying to maintain the integrity of the front line of defense.
The battle had entered a white-hot stage from the beginning.
… …
At this time, Amyntas received another piece of bad news from the scout, "Reporting to the commander, there are more than 2,000 Rome heavy infantry moving quickly to our right flank!"
Hearing this news, Amyntas's face was very ugly. The Rome soldiers still have so many troops?! Did they regroup the defeated soldiers so quickly?!
Time did not allow him to think anymore. He looked back at the light armored soldiers who were still resting and ordered, "Let the Third Battalion quickly rush to the right flank to organize the defense. After receiving the enemy, let the Eighth Battalion quickly circle around the enemy's flank and attack from both sides!"
"Commander." Printos reminded him, "Since the tactics of the Rome soldiers are similar to ours, I am afraid they will not be afraid of being attacked from the flank. On the contrary, when the enemy's morale is high, let the light armored soldiers fight with the heavy infantry. I am afraid they will not be able to defeat the enemy … Uh, we are not going to defeat the enemy now, but to defend and delay time …
Printos' reminder made Amyntas ponder for a while. Indeed, since the Rome soldiers fight with a platoon of more than 100 soldiers, when the light armored soldiers move to the rear of their formation, the platoon at the back only needs to turn around flexibly, and they can fight face-to-face …
Soon, he changed his order, "Let the Third Battalion reduce the thickness of the formation, extend the length of the formation, and completely block the enemy's attack! Let the Eighth Battalion rush to the rear of the Third Battalion and increase the thickness of the entire formation to resist the enemy's attack! "
"Yes!" The messenger ran away.
At this time, Amyntas was no longer as calm as before, and so was Printos. The atmosphere became a little heavy.
Ledes hesitated and said, "Well, do you want my cavalry to attack the enemy from the flank to relieve some pressure for the First Legion?"
Amyntas' eyes lit up, but then he shook his head, "Thank you, Ledes! My First Legion can resist the enemy's attack. Let your cavalry have a good rest. I don't want to wait for the enemy to retreat, and the cavalry can't chase after them because of exhaustion. "
"Okay." Although Ledes looked regretful, Amyntas' words made him feel relieved.
"Send the messengers to urge the Walsi to hurry up!" Then, Amyntas' impatient words made everyone around him understand that the legion commander was not as confident as he said.
… …
In fact, Camillus did not send all the heavy infantry out. He left three new platoons at the rear to protect the light infantry and cavalry from being attacked by the enemy's cavalry.
Although the light infantry of the Roman allies outnumbered the Diónia light infantry, they did not dare to attack the Diónia light infantry because they were afraid of the stone throwers.
In fact, the Diónia's stone throwers were running out of lead pellets, but they were ready to attack at any time, so the two sides were in a stalemate.
Camillus paid close attention to the progress of the battle in front of him.
The new front line formed by the old soldiers and the young soldiers not only blocked the enemy's attack, but also began to force the enemy to retreat. But their advance was very slow, which did not satisfy Camillus. He knew very well that the Diónia heavy infantry had fewer soldiers than them, and after a long march, their physical strength was not as good as theirs. Yet, after defeating his first line, they could still maintain a stalemate with the second line of soldiers, which was more powerful. This surprised him.
Therefore, in order to defeat the enemy as soon as possible, Camillus did not keep the third line of reserves. He threw almost all of them into attacking the enemy's flank. Now that all the available measures had been used up, and all the available troops were pressed forward, all he could do was wait anxiously and pray to God.
… …
Patroclus, who was at the rear of the Sixth Legion, was also surprised. This was the first time he had encountered such a difficult enemy since he joined the army.
These Roman soldiers used continuous shield attacks and stabs to consume the physical strength of the Diónia soldiers, but they rarely used brute force to crash into the shield formation to avoid going too deep into the enemy's line. Therefore, they could basically maintain a relatively continuous line of attack.
In such a situation, it was difficult for the Diónia soldiers to exert the power of their daggers, because taking the initiative to get close to the enemy would undoubtedly consume more of their exhausted physical strength.
Therefore, under the steady and continuous attack of the Roman soldiers, the Diónia's line of defense was forced to retreat slowly.
But on the flank of the army, the attacks of the young Roman soldiers were much more violent, especially the more than 2,000 young Roman soldiers who were sent to fight at the end. In order to wash away the shame of their previous defeat, they did not need to use their physical strength at all. Some of them even fought with their lives on the line. This put the Third Battalion of the First Legion of Diónia under great pressure.
Cammuse was one of the 2,000 young soldiers. His platoon was attacked by the Diónia cavalry before being defeated by the javelin attack of the Diónia heavy infantry. The soldiers had been holding back their anger for a long time. After regrouping, they were sent to attack the enemy's flank and rushed to the front.
At the rear of the platoon, Cammuse witnessed several soldiers being stabbed in the chest by the enemy's dagger. However, he did not fall immediately. Instead, he used the last of his strength to hold on to the enemy's dagger, providing opportunities for his teammates behind him to kill the enemy.
The valiant performance of the soldiers made Camus, who had been a veteran for many years, feel his blood boiling. The tall and burly Camus saw a general with a white tassel on his head shouting at the back of the enemy's formation. Without a second thought, he threw the spear in his hand, and the general fell to the ground. However, the enemy's formation did not fall into chaos. It was as though nothing had happened. The Dionians were still tenaciously defending against the attacks of the soldiers.
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