Chapter 84
The Lucanian Allied Army stopped advancing when they were two miles away from the Hope army. They also began to get into formation.
The Hope army just waited quietly and did not take the opportunity to attack. This was not surprising because the Turís hoped to change their passive situation with this battle, and the Lucanians also hoped to use this battle to completely destroy the remaining Turís forces. Therefore, a battle was the common wish of both sides.
If the Hope army attacked at this time, the Lucanian Allied Army could only retreat under the circumstances that they had not finished getting into formation, and it would be difficult for the infantry to chase the infantry at a distance of a thousand meters. In the end, it would only cause the time of the battle to be delayed. This was unacceptable to the Turís generals who had already made meticulous preparations. The citizens could not accept it either because it meant that they would have to live in fear for a longer period of time.
The Hope army gave the Lucanian Allied Army enough time to get into formation, and the Lucanians made full use of this time. As the scouts had reported the general situation of the Hope army's formation to the leaders of the Allied Army, the leaders of the Allied Army had an urgent discussion and quickly decided on the positions of the troops in the formation: the great leader of the Grumentum City, Akepiru, led 6,000 tribal warriors in the middle; the two cities of Neutum and Laos, a total of 4,500 warriors in the left wing; and the main ally of the Grumentum City, another powerful tribe in Lucania City, led 4,000 warriors in the Union Picossis City, plus 1,500 warriors from the Bruti City of Vigo, a total of 5,500 people, were on the right wing. The total strength of the Lucanian Allied Army was 16,000 people, without cavalry.
The city of Grumentum had been at war for the past two years, and its great leader, Akepiru, was considered experienced in military affairs. Before the war, he had sent a lot of spies in disguise to enter the port of Turís City (this was the place with the most free people, where it was difficult to be discovered) and obtained a lot of information. Combined with the reports of today's spies, he already had a plan in mind. Although many of the Turís soldiers in the middle of the Hope army were slightly older, they were large in number and could not be underestimated. He would personally deal with them. The Hope army's right wing was the reinforcements from Tarantum. It was said that the troops had defeated the Mesapi many times in Tarantum, so their fighting strength was not bad. Neutum and Laos were sister cities, so cooperation was not a problem. 4,500 people were more than enough to deal with them. The Hope army's left wing had the least number of people. The scouts could almost see the difference in the number of people between it and the other two lines at a glance because it had too few people. It was said that this Greek mercenary army had once gone on an expedition to Persia, but after hearing the stories about them, Akepiru thought that the rumors about this army were exaggerated. They had only lost a battle in Persia and fled back. The Greeks who were doing business always liked to brag about themselves. He had no concept of the distant eastern country of Persia. He thought that the strength of a troop of 2,000 people was limited. The bravery of the Picossis soldiers was not weaker than that of Grumentum. Its great leader, Sinsinag, was not weak either. Moreover, his son, Gneinath (who was also Akepiru's son-in-law), was the most valiant of the tribe. With 4,000 warriors and 1,500 Bruti warriors, it was almost three times the strength of the opponent. It was completely possible to defeat the Hope army's left wing in one fell swoop. Therefore, he locked the chance of victory on his right wing.
The Lucanians' formation was faster because their formation was not as tight as that of the Hope army. The loose formation made the already large team even larger.
Following a few long and drawn-out horn sounds, an astonishing number of troops slowly pressed towards Xi's army like they could topple the mountains and overturn the seas …
The battle was about to begin! His cloudy old eyes could already see the shadows of the enemies in front of him. He took a deep breath, puffed up his somewhat shriveled chest, and dismounted. He ordered his slaves, "Bring me my weapon and helmet!"
Just then, he heard a commotion from the soldiers in front of him.
"What happened?" he asked, puzzled. The people around him were equally puzzled. He could only get on his horse again and look forward. There was no change in front of him. But following the direction of the commotion, he saw hundreds of soldiers on the left wing rushing out of the square formation and running towards the Lucanians …
What are they doing? Are they surrendering to the enemy? … The moment he thought of this possibility, a chill ran down his spine. Could it be that, as some people said, 'mercenaries without a sense of belonging are unreliable'?
… …
Epthenis and Cspit led more than 600 light infantry out of the formation and charged towards the dark mass of the Lucanian army's right wing. Of course, they weren't going to surrender. Instead, they were executing a new tactic that the Devers Leader had been practicing. Before the two armies clashed, they would use light infantry to attack the enemy from afar. This would break the enemy's spirit and disrupt their formation.
In the face of such a large number of enemies, the hundreds of lonely soldiers were like small trees in the wind, in danger of being blown away at any time. This kind of psychological pressure and fear would cause the timid to collapse, but these soldiers had been tempered by hundreds and thousands of battles during the Persian expedition, and their spirits were extremely tough. Their formation was scattered but not disorderly, and the speed at which they were charging forward was even faster.
When they were less than 400 metres away from the enemy, Epthenis and Cspit shouted almost at the same time, "Stone throwers, get ready!"
The stone throwers stopped in their tracks and began to untie the catapults around their waists. The rest of the soldiers continued to advance. When they were almost 100 metres away from the enemy, the archers stopped in their tracks. The 400 light shieldbearers were still running forward …
The reason why Greillat of Picosis was loved and respected by the warriors of the tribe was because he always took the lead in every battle and fought on the frontlines. Seeing the Greeks in leather armour line up in two loose lines and charging straight at him, he was a little confused at first. To the north of Picossis was the Greek city-state of Ilia. Picossis had invaded its territory many times, and both sides fought frequently. Gneinath was more familiar with the Greeks' fighting style, but he had never seen such a strange move. But soon, when the Greek raised the gleaming spearhead, took a big step, and prepared to throw it, he was shocked. "Watch out for the javelin!! Defend! "
Hundreds of javelins whistled through the air, bringing with them the sound of the wind. The experienced light shieldbearers did not throw them in a straight line, but diagonally forward. Although the Lucanians were fully equipped with Greek heavy infantry equipment, they did not learn the Greek heavy infantry principle of "I protect others, others protect me". They hurriedly used their round shields to protect themselves, causing a large gap to appear in the originally slightly loose battle line. These javelins, which Dyvers had deliberately increased the weight of the spearheads, passed through the gap between the shields, and most of them pierced into the ribs of the tribal warriors who were covered by multiple layers of linen armor. Screams rang out, and a large number of people fell.
Gneinath reacted quickly and blocked the javelin with his shield. The javelin actually pierced through the copper coating of the shield and nailed itself on it. Just as he was about to pull the javelin out, someone beside him shouted, "Watch out for the arrows!"
Arrows and stones rained down on the ground.
Gneinath took a hit on the head. Although he had a helmet to protect him, it still made him dizzy and almost fall.
The Lucanians did not suffer many losses from this wave of arrows and stones, but it caused chaos in the first few lines of the Lucanians' right wing. However, the Greek light shieldbearers took the opportunity to throw a second round of javelins, which greatly increased the damage of the javelins …
… …
Felix and Cunogorata were dumbfounded when they saw this scene. They had guessed the fighting power of the Devers' mercenaries, but they never expected them to use such a novel tactic, and the effect was so shocking!
Seeing that part of the enemy's front line on the right wing was almost broken, Cunogorata said excitedly, "If we knew that these mercenaries were so powerful, we should have learned from them and used this tactic!"
Felix shook his head. "Our light infantry wouldn't be so bold as to leave their formation and attack a large number of enemies from a few hundred meters away. Only these experienced mercenaries would dare to do this. I'm afraid this is a tactic they learned from Persia." Although Felix said that, he still felt a little regretful. The fighting power of the Devers' mercenaries had exceeded his expectations before the battle had even started. Perhaps he should have listened to the young mercenary leader's suggestion and given him the other two thousand mercenaries …
Felix suppressed the thought. Since the initial plan had already been executed, it was best to carry it through to the end! This was the experience he had gained after many years in the army.
Comments