Chapter 859
Not long after, figures entered the range illuminated by the torches on the wooden fence of the camp. They wore thin clothes, and most of them did not have armor to protect them. They were holding javelins or bows as they waded into the water … At a glance, there were at least a hundred of them, and there were still enemies entering the fire.
Lakeleisis did not dare to delay and immediately sent soldiers to inform the main tent.
Alexis was not asleep at all. After receiving the news of the enemy attack, she immediately sent two light infantry battalions as reinforcements.
When they gathered and rushed to the south of the camp, Lakeleisis was leading the soldiers under his command to protect themselves with long shields, and then they fought back with javelins with some difficulty. Many of the soldiers' long shields were pierced with several javelins.
Due to the lack of time, the army did not have time to dig trenches and build earthen walls. A simple wooden fence could only serve as a barrier and could not provide the soldiers with defensive height. Therefore, when the Sammonae people approached within 20 meters of the camp and both sides launched mid-range attacks, the soldiers lost their defensive advantage. On the contrary, the Sammonae people used their numbers to suppress Lakeleisis and the others with javelins, and the Sammonae archers behind them took the opportunity to fire arrows into the camp.
According to the "Military Law of Diónia", "In the construction of a field camp, the tent area must be more than 20 meters away from the wall." This could ensure that the soldiers could pass smoothly while defending, and also avoid being easily attacked by the enemy from long range.
Considering that the camp had not built a wall, Alexis also increased the distance between the tent area and the wooden fence to 30 meters. However, the Sammonae archers were too close to the wooden fence, and the arrows fired still ignited several tents, causing some chaos in the camp. The soldiers had to get up to put out the fire.
After the arrival of 2000 Diónia light infantry, they quickly changed the situation. The Sammonae people retreated with dozens of dead and injured people, but they did not go far. Instead, they circled around the Diónia camp and let out strange roars. From time to time, they would attack the sentries with javelins or fire arrows into the camp, causing no peace in the camp for the whole night.
But by the next morning, they had all disappeared without a trace.
The soldiers of the legion had been tossed around for the whole night, and many of them did not rest well. In view of this, Alexis ordered all the soldiers to continue building the camp. Before dusk, they must dig trenches, build solid earthen walls, and erect a few more sentry towers … At the same time, the captains should arrange for the soldiers' rest to ensure that they were full of energy.
In this regard, the adjutant, Mattheus, was puzzled. "Commander, why don't we attack Aquilonia immediately? Every day that we delay here will consume one more day of rations, and it will also give the Aquilonians time to prepare for defense, which will make it more difficult for us to attack … "
"Even if we let Aquilonia prepare for another day, I'm afraid it will not affect our attack too much." Alexis looked at the vast mountains on the other side of the Orfanto River, and her eyes flashed with a deep light. "Compared to a hasty attack, I am more concerned about the condition of the soldiers. They are all from the Apulia region. Although they have been trained to fight in the mountains in the military camp, they have never had the experience of living in the mountains. They need some time to adapt quickly and maintain their physical strength and energy for the upcoming difficult battle."
"A tough battle …" Mattheus carefully pondered over this ambiguous sentence.
At dusk, under the joint efforts of more than 6000 soldiers, a three-meter-high earthen wall and a trench outside the wall were built outside the camp. Therefore, although there were still attacks from the Sammonae that night, the threat to the camp was almost negligible, and the soldiers slept relatively well.
After dawn, Alexis left 500 heavy infantry to guard the camp, and took 5,500 soldiers and some support personnel with five days of rations, crossed the Orfanto River, and set out for the city of Aquilonia.
Although they were marching on the low ground between the mountains, this low ground was not low, and the further north they went, the higher the terrain became. The soldiers trudged on the rugged mountain road, and when they looked up, they could see the narrow blue sky separated by the mountains on both sides.
In order to prevent ambushes or sneak attacks from the Sammonae, Alexis sent all 100 soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance team to the mountains on both sides of the mountain opposite to the main army, and at the same time, to investigate the abnormalities in the surroundings.
Except for the 1,500 heavy infantry who did not wear armor, but carried their weapons on their backs, the other soldiers were fully armed (of course, they did not have many layers of protection on their bodies). Even so, most of them began to pant before they even reached the halfway point of the journey.
Fortunately, this mountain road was not untraveled. On the contrary, the Aquilonians often used this road to fish, bathe, draw water, graze cattle and sheep … Therefore, there were almost no headaches on the mountain road, and there were almost no thorns on the road.
Although it was already June, and the temperature had begun to rise, marching in the mountains not only did not feel very hot, but the further they went, the cooler it became. But for the soldiers of Puchetti and Downey who grew up in the Apulian plains, this part of the mountain road made them feel like suffering. The high and low, and the winding mountain road made them have to walk carefully, and it was very exhausting. Mosquito bites, and the constant scratching of the trees and weeds soon made them feel itchy all over … The soldiers began to complain.
Lakelessis, on the other hand, was very focused on moving forward. There was a fire in his heart. In the attack of the Sammonae the night before yesterday, five people in his company died, 12 were injured, and several tents were burned … He had been blaming himself, thinking that it was because he called for reinforcements too late, which led to such a terrible result. In the previous two battles in Askurum and Venosa, the Dionysian Army easily won, giving him the illusion that the Sammonae were easy to deal with.
But in the attack the night before yesterday, the heavy javelins thrown by the Sammonae were fierce and accurate. When the long shields were hit head-on, they could sometimes cause penetration, which was the main reason for the soldiers' deaths and injuries. Although Alexis did not criticize him, he secretly made up his mind: I must take Aquilonia and avenge the deaths of my brothers!
So, along the way, he constantly cheered the soldiers on, encouraging them to move forward. Even when some soldiers were tired and fell behind, he would take the initiative to help them carry their armor.
Aquilonia was only ten miles away from the new Diónia camp, but the Dionysian Army trekked for nearly four hours before they finally walked out of the long and narrow lowland and entered a small semi-circular valley. There was a mountain on the east side of the valley that was relatively short, and the mountain facing the west had a gentle slope. Unlike the other lush and green mountains, there were very few trees on the hillside, but some houses were scattered among the mountains, and dozens of sheep could be seen leisurely grazing on the mountain.
Some of the sharp-eyed soldiers looked up and could vaguely see the wooden wall at the top of the mountain. That was the city of Aquilonia. Although the mountain it was located on was shorter than the other mountains and not as steep, it was still a few hundred meters high! Just looking at this height made the soldiers a little nervous, not to mention the fact that they were going to attack the city.
Alexis first looked at the mountain where the city of Aquilonia was located for a long time, then carefully observed the valley.
The engineer came over and told him that the ground of the valley was mixed with gravel, but it was still soft.
"Then let's build the camp," Alexis said calmly.
But when the order was passed on to the whole army, the soldiers sighed one after another.
But before building the camp, the soldiers first had to eat their dry rations and rest for a while to replenish their physical strength. Then, under the command of the team officers, they reluctantly picked up the tools and began to dig the ground.
At this time, the captain of the mountain reconnaissance team ran in front of Alexis, panting. "Commander, our scouts on the mountain saw thousands of Samonians rushing here from the west!"
When Alexis heard the news, not only was he not shocked, but he seemed a little relieved. He asked unhurriedly, "How many are there? How far are they from here? "
"Because of the cover of the mountain, I can't see the full picture of the enemy. I think … there are no less than five thousand people. When I came over, they were at least three miles away," the captain estimated and replied.
Alexis turned to look at the west side of the valley: the mountain there was not only relatively low and easy to cross, but there was also a mountain road between the mountains leading to the west.
"Commander!" His adjutant reminded, "If the Aquilonian reinforcements arrive, we will be attacked from both sides. We should immediately retreat to the camp to avoid fighting with the same number of Samonians in the mountains!"
"The Samonians really did hide an army in the mountains to lure us into the trap!" Alexis smiled coldly and said to her adjutant, "Mattheseus, do you know why I've been communicating with Zantiparis, Boret, and Gherni these past few days?"
Mattheus' mind flashed, and he exclaimed, "Could it be —"
"Immediately inform the soldiers to stop building the camp, put on their armor, take up their weapons, and prepare for battle!"
… …
In fact, the Samonian Coalition Army's decision to give up on the Downey area and attack the Campania Alliance was not only to avoid the strong and attack the weak, but also because the leaders of the several tribes deeply realized that they could no longer fight the Dionysian Army on the plains, even if it was just to harass them. They should use the Samonians' advantage to fight them in the mountains.
However, the Dionysian Army was very cautious and did not march into the mountains. Therefore, after some discussion, they decided to let the Coalition Army attack Campania. They also wanted to achieve another goal: to give the Dionysian Army in Downey the illusion that the main force of the Samonians was in Campania, and the mountains were defenseless, to lure the Dionysian Army into the mountains.
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