Novels online

Chapter 86

Although Sinsinag, who was at the rear of the phalanx, could not understand the situation in detail, it was an indisputable fact that the troops were retreating. Screams could be heard continuously. Looking to both sides, there were even soldiers in the distance who had begun to flee … Sinsinag was anxious and angry. At this moment, he had no time to think about why such a terrible situation had occurred. The most important thing now was to stop the decline, or else the right wing would be defeated, which would lead to the defeat of the entire Lucania Alliance Army! Although Akepiru was related by marriage, Sinsinag did not think that the overbearing great leader of the Grumentum would easily forgive Picossis for what he had done. Now that Picossis's soldiers were engaged in battle, he could no longer command them. The only ones he could command were the Bruti soldiers who had yet to engage in battle.

"Quick, call the people from Vigo City at the back to help! Tell their leader that if this battle fails, the Lucarians will not forgive Vigo City! "Sinsinag hurriedly shouted to the guards around him.

… …

"Great leader, the Lucanians have gone too far! It was Sinsinag who thought that he could easily defeat the Greeks and did not let us intervene. Now he's saying that it's our fault if we fail! "The young Sarroux said angrily.

Sedorum looked at the battle not far away and did not respond.

"These Greeks are really powerful. They are obviously outnumbered, but they are actually about to defeat the Lucarians!" Sarroux looked ahead and said with excitement and hesitation, "Great leader, the Lucanians are about to lose! Why don't we … stop fighting and leave! Maybe … maybe we can take the opportunity to leave their alliance! "

At this moment, Sedorum spoke, "Even if the Lucanians are defeated, how many of them can die? Do the Greeks dare to enter the mountains? … Sarroux, as long as the Lucanians' strength is still there, the mountains in the west will still be theirs! Unless we follow the example of our people in Cosenza and move south, and are forced to fight with Clotho for land … "Sedorum sighed," Order the soldiers to close the formation and press forward from the right! "

Two thousand Bruti wore leather armor and held wooden shields and spears, but they formed a phalanx that was even tighter than the Lucanians. When the right end of Picossis's formation was about to collapse, they stuck to its rear.

Instead, they were pushed forward by Bruti. In order to survive, most of the Lucanian warriors had to turn around and fight. After all, the Lucanian formation was solid. It was panic that caused them to flee, and it was not the mercenaries that broke through their formation. Once the reinforcements arrived, they gradually stabilized their position. The emotions of the defeated soldiers gradually calmed down, and the organization of the formation began to recover …

The casualties of the Lucanians were still increasing, but the mercenaries were gradually retreating. The pushing force produced by the super thick formation of the Lucanians and the Bruti was obviously not something the thin formation of the mercenaries could compare to. Once the gap between the two armies became narrow, superb combat skills would not be of much use. Fortunately, the experienced mercenaries took the initiative to slowly retreat to relieve the pressure exerted by the opponent, thus maintaining the tenacity of the front line …

Unlike other generals, Devers did not participate in the battle personally. Once the battle started, he would completely let the situation develop. He rode his horse and closely observed the progress of the battle from left to right, then from right to left, and then from right to left. He would give orders to the messengers at any time. Previously, when the right end of the Lucanian formation was about to collapse, he was excited. Who knew that the situation would be reversed, and one could imagine the disappointment in his heart. However, he did not urge the soldiers to attack again, because he knew that other than the arrival of the enemy's reinforcements, it was also related to the soldiers' physical strength. Such a fierce attack could not last for too long. As long as they were human, there was a limit to their physical strength, not to mention they were heavy infantry. Even at the critical moment, Devers even ordered the light shield soldiers to join the attack on the right end of the enemy's formation. Unfortunately …

If the two thousand mercenaries and two hundred cavalrymen were under his command, the soldiers would now be chasing after the routed army! He could only blame himself for being too confident. He did not pester the Turís and insisted on asking for more troops … Just as the thought of regret appeared in his mind, Devers extinguished it. Any unexpected situation could happen in a war, and it was impossible for the commander to foresee everything. At this moment, the only thing he could do was to maintain a calm mind and try not to let excessive emotions affect his judgment.

The formation of the mercenaries was originally an "arc" with an upturned tail, but now it was gradually flattened. As the phalanx moved back step by step, Devers realized that the soldiers had to contend with the enemy's powerful pushing force while preventing the thin formation from being broken. They also had to kill as many enemies as possible during the battle. The consumption of physical strength and energy was considerable, and it was already very good that they could maintain this state! Unless there was a major accident, the left wing of the Turís coalition army would not improve. As for the middle, the Asistes's return was not optimistic, even worse than the left wing. The only advantage was on the right wing, but it was not much (This was the judgment of the Asistes who rode forward to scout, based on the fact that Tarantum's formation had only advanced a little). After understanding that the overall situation of the battlefield was unfavorable, Devers got rid of the remaining hope in their hearts, and had to consider the issue of the retreat of the troops if they lost the battle …

On the land of ten miles around the Xubari Plain, nearly thirty thousand soldiers were engaged in a battle of life and death here. Dust flew everywhere, the sounds of killing shook the sky, and blood splattered everywhere … After more than an hour of fierce battle, the Greek army gradually began to feel exhausted …

The Lucanian tribal coalition army outnumbered the Turís by 6,500 people. According to the observations of the Turís and Devers's scouts, they originally estimated that there were about 13,000 Lucanians. In fact, the cunning Akepiru had hidden some of his troops in the mountains behind the camp, and the 2,000 from Vigo City only joined at the last moment, thus causing an error in the Greek army's judgment. On the other hand, Felix's impression of the Lucanians was still that of a few years ago (he did not participate in the battle last year). In fact, in recent years, the Lucanians had developed rapidly, especially the Grumentum, which had begun to break away from the tribal alliance and develop into a kingdom. In the recent two years of tribal annexation wars, the warriors of the Grumentum had become braver and more tenacious under the frequent baptism of blood.

In the old ideas of the Turís generals, as long as they fought head-on, the loosely organized Lucanians would definitely be crushed by the power of the Greek heavy infantry. But reality proved that their ideas were laughable, especially in the middle of the Greek army. The mercenaries at the front, the Turís in the middle, and the freedmen at the back, the three forces could not effectively combine into one. Under the fierce attack of the Grumentum warriors, the Greek army in the middle began to retreat. As the battle continued, the soldiers who were born with different backgrounds began to have different ideas: the mercenaries were fighting for money, and in a situation where there was no hope of victory, of course, they would first think of saving their own lives; the Turís were indeed fighting with all their might, but half of them were middle-aged men, and their physical strength was already at its limit. They were still holding on because the Turís was their homeland, and they could not let the barbarians trample on it. The freedmen, on the other hand, were originally fighting with an attitude of trying their luck. If they won, they would obtain citizenship, and if they lost, they would flee from Turís to find a new life in another city.

As the Greek army retreated faster and faster, the gap between them and the left and right flanks widened. When the Grumentum warriors rushed into the gap on both sides and attacked the Greek army from the side, the entire formation in the middle collapsed, and the soldiers fled in all directions.

The Devers, who had been watching the situation closely, sighed. They suppressed their extreme disappointment and decisively ordered a retreat. The retreat signal designed by the Devers was more special, and it was very different from the general Greek army. It started with a long note, followed by the melody of the charge horn. The bugler blew it three times, and most of the Lucanian soldiers thought that the mercenaries were going to charge again. While they were still in a daze, the mercenaries pulled away a little, and the light shieldbearers at the back threw their javelins again. (This was really a bold move. Without strict training, it was easy to accidentally hurt your own comrades.) While the Lucarians were busy defending themselves, the mercenaries quickly completed a series of retreating movements such as turning around, running, and so on.