Chapter 83
The bugles to attack and retreat were more or less the same, and the Turís' military deployment was basically unchanged, except for the two hundred cavalrymen assigned to Archita. This made Archita even more fond of the Devers, and he thanked him profusely.
Burcos stood not far away and watched everyone discuss. He also had a good impression of the Devers, but he didn't understand. Why would the Devers sing praises for the Pythagorean School of Thought at this time? He hadn't mentioned it before! Didn't he know that in Greece, other than Tarantum, no city would have a good impression of the Pythagorean School of Thought, making it difficult for this mysterious group to survive in Greece? His attitude would probably affect Felix and Cunogorata's impression of him!
Just as Burcos was worrying for the Devers, the meeting before the battle ended quickly. The Devers jumped onto his horse and slowly walked towards his troops while observing the two troops that were about to fight side by side. The Tarantum reinforcements led by Archita were all strong young men in their twenties or thirties. They carried a round shield on their left shoulder, a bayonet on their right shoulder, and a helmet on their shoulder. As they marched, they chatted with their companions and looked relaxed. On the other hand, the Turís' militiamen looked solemn, and many of them had white hair and slightly hunched bodies …
As he watched, the Devers frowned. Suddenly, he felt that something was wrong. He pointed to the back of the troops and asked Burcos, who was following beside him, "What's going on? Why are there still soldiers wearing leather armor? Wait … Some of them are even half-naked, and there are quite a number of such soldiers … No, there are more than four thousand of you! "
Burcos continued, "Those are all freedmen and foreigners living in Turís. After discussion, the Turís Assembly passed a resolution that all freedmen and foreigners who participate in this war will become Turís citizens after the war is won. Speaking of which, it was your suggestion that reminded us. Now, the Turís have about six thousand people. "Burcos was slightly pleased with himself.
This slightly eased the uneasiness in the Devers' heart. He sighed and said, "I didn't expect there to be so many free people in Turín!"
"In fact, this is only a small portion. More than half of the freedmen are still observing and have not joined in the battle." Burcos' words surprised the Devers, but at the same time, it also made him ponder.
The Turií army was divided into three columns on the left, center and right. They formed a long line on the plain of Sibari and advanced slowly westward along the Krati River. The scouts kept coming back and forth to report on the Lucanians' movements.
… …
The messenger hurried over and said to the leader of the Devers, "General Felix has ordered you to stop advancing and form up here!"
"Got it." The Devers nodded in response, then said to the bugler beside him, "Sound the horn, stop advancing!"
The bugle sounded, and the mercenaries quickly stopped moving forward.
"Order, get into formation!" The Devers ordered again.
The bugler blew the bronze horn again.
Immediately, the front of the mercenary column moved to the right, and the back moved forward. The Devers' army used squads as their basic combat units (squads were only used for management and couldn't fight independently). When they lined up, they lined up according to the order of four squads. Therefore, when the entire 'long line' of the mercenary column moved to the west, the formation was basically complete. It was very fast.
The Devers lined up the 1st Heavy Infantry Company on the right side. Since this side was connected to the middle of the Turií army, the steady Commander of the 1st Heavy Infantry Company, Capus, controlled the pace of the troops' attack and retreat to prevent them from getting separated from the middle. On the left side was the 3rd Heavy Infantry Company led by Amyntas. Considering the large number of enemies, the left flank might be surrounded, and a brave and courageous company commander would keep the morale of the soldiers high. In fact, the Devers felt that Hieronymus, who was also brave and had more combat experience, was more suitable for this task. However, this ex-expeditionary general had too many new recruits under his command (those who joined the Devers in the Byzantine Empire), and the Devers were still worried. The good thing was that Amyntas had the support of two companies of light shield soldiers, and they believed that it would be no problem for them to stabilize the defensive line. Traditionally, the Greek phalanx formation had at least eight rows, but the Devers' army only had four rows. This was because they had fewer soldiers, and they had to ensure the length of the defensive line. Therefore, they had to be thinner in terms of thickness. However, the Devers believed that the experienced mercenaries could completely block the large number of enemies.
The formation on the left side had been completed, and the middle side was still slowly unfolding. The shouts of the officers, the orders of the messengers, and the reminders of the soldiers to each other intertwined with each other. It was like a noisy market … Ferris placed the 1,000 mercenaries of Dracos at the front of the line, the Turií citizen soldiers in the middle, and the free civilians behind them. The thickness of the formation was more than ten rows …
The formation on the right side was also faster. Archita placed the Tarantum militia at the front, the mercenaries at the back, and the 200 cavalrymen at the far right. His phalanx formation was also eight rows thick.
Finally, the formation on the middle side was completed, and the formations on the left, center, and right were connected into a line. The Turií priests carried the statue of the Sun God Apollo, the protector of the Turií. They came to the front of the phalanx and began to chant hymns, offer blood, and pray for victory in the war. The soldiers of Tarantum also began to pray to Apollo for his protection. The soldiers of Tarantum were also praying, but not to the Sun God. Their city-state had its own patron god, Poseidon, and even the legendary demigod, Frantus. Most of the mercenaries believed in Ares, the god of war, and Zeus, the main god. However, the soldiers of the Devers were different. They used to believe in Ares, but after the Devers led them to victory after victory and created many miracles, they began to believe in Hades …
While the entire army was immersed in praying to the gods, the scouts came back one after another, bringing the news that the Lucanian army was about to arrive. The Lucanian scouts also appeared in front of the Greek army, but they were quickly forced back by the overwhelming numbers of the Greek cavalry.
"The Lucanians are less than three miles away from us … We should get the entire army ready!" Cunogorata said nervously.
Ferris waved his hand and said, "There's no rush. The Lucanians won't attack so quickly. Their army hasn't appeared yet. Even if they do, it will take some time to set up the battle formation. "
Cunogorata retreated angrily.
After a while, he saw a patch of golden light in the distant plains. It covered the entire mountains and plains, like a golden torrent rolling towards the east.
Cunogorata gasped and said nervously, "Just like the young leader of the mercenaries said, the Lucanians have changed into our weapons and armor. This is going to be troublesome!"
"Don't worry. Even if the Lucanians changed their equipment, they won't be able to learn our battle formation in such a short time. They've also abandoned their own strengths, which might be a good thing," Ferris comforted him calmly. Then he turned to the herald and said, "Go inform the officers and tell them not to worry. Let the soldiers continue to rest."
… …
"Damn it, we're behind the sun. It's hurting my eyes when the sun shines on them. When the battle starts, it'll affect Epitenis and Cspit's javelin throwing! "Martoris felt uneasy.
"What can we do? We're in the east. Isn't Apollo the guardian of Turií? Why don't we ask them to pray to Apollo and not come out today? "Olivers joked.
"Why don't we ask our Devers leader to directly ask Hades to turn day into night? Then we won't have to fight this battle," Epitenis also joked.
…
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