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Chapter 879

Kontroni's words were exactly what Segovani was worried about. Then, when he privately discussed with other Kautini leaders who were close to him, he also encountered strong opposition, so he could only give up.

However, the situation changed so quickly that he did not have time to think of a better way to solve the problem of Naconia's army. He was the one who spread the rumors in Beneventum to achieve the purpose of misleading the public. Although it seemed to be effective, it was only a temporary measure. It was also a temporary measure to disperse the Naconian army in the formation. But if he did not send them out to fight, where would he put the more than 2,000 Naconian warriors? Kautini or Abella? This would only make Segovani even more worried. He firmly believed that only under such an arrangement would the Naconian warriors fight bravely and not dare to act recklessly.

The truth was indeed like this. The reason why Vasonk was anxious was that the Naconian army seemed to be a whole, but in fact, there was no leader who could convince everyone and make them listen to orders. Everyone was elected at the last minute, young people who led troops for the first time. No one had much prestige, including Vasonk. Although they knew that Segovani's order was disadvantageous to them, the Naconian army was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers and surrounded by the warriors of other tribes. No young Naconian commander had the confidence and courage to stand up, wave his arm, and then all the Naconian warriors would obey the order and rebel.

Therefore, although the Naconian generals expressed their opposition, in the end, they reluctantly obeyed the order and led their troops away. Once they were separated, it was impossible for them to communicate with each other during the battle, let alone act as one.

Vasonk saw that things were not going well, so he could only curse the cruel and cunning Segovani in his heart and wait for an opportunity.

Segovani adopted the traditional battle method of the Samonai against the Greek army. The horizontal row of the army was very long, at least three miles long, and the length of the column was not short either. This was because the Samonai army was very loose, and the distance between the warriors was very large, so it was easy for them to pass through each other.

At dusk, when the sun had already set above the western sea and dyed the sky and sea golden, the enemy figures appeared in Segovani's field of vision. Their thick armor shone under the setting sun, emitting a flickering but not glaring light.

This wall of light did not make Segovani and his soldiers feel fear. Instead, they felt relieved because they had defeated such opponents countless times in the past. It was just that the length of the enemy's formation exceeded Segovani's expectations. It stretched to both sides, making it impossible for Segovani to see either end. This was different from the Campanian army's dense and thick phalanx tactics.

Is this the way the Diónia people fight? Segovani muttered to himself. Although he had fought with the Diónia once, it was a chase. The two sides had not officially engaged in a battle.

However, he could see that the enemy's soldiers were still arranged densely, which meant that the enemy's formation was definitely thin. Of course, Segovani could guess why the enemy had arranged their formation before arriving at the battlefield. Clearly, the Campanians had learned their lesson from the past. The clumsy Campanian army would always be attacked from a distance by the swift Cayutini soldiers when they were in formation.

Segovani hesitated for a moment, but he still decided not to rashly adjust his deployment. He would first probe and observe the situation.

The allied Dionians halted their advance when they were less than 400 meters away from the enemy. The army, which was 3.2 miles long but only had three horizontal rows, had become crooked after advancing for a certain distance. It was necessary to straighten the battle line before the battle began.

There were more than 6,000 heavy infantry in the middle of this formation (including about 1,500 soldiers from Diónia's reserve corps), and 3,000 light armor and light infantry, including the Diónia light infantry brigade, connected on both sides. On both sides were 500 light armor soldiers from Diónia. In addition, there were more than 200 Campanian cavalry on the outermost left flank. The total force was about 11400.

Diónia's opponent, Cayutini, had a total force of more than 9,000 soldiers. The formation was three miles long, and most of them were light infantry. These light infantry were also divided into two types: pure javelin throwers and light infantry with long shields. They could throw javelins and fight with spears. They formed the main part of Cayutini's formation. Only the rear of the middle was nearly a thousand armored infantry led by Segovani himself.

Cayutini and the Campanian Alliance had been mortal enemies for decades. Today, at the edge of the eastern plains of Campania, both sides had used all their forces and were about to engage in a battle that would determine their respective fates.

But just as the Diónia coalition army stopped and began to reorganize their formation, Segovani had already given the order. The light infantry in the middle of Cayutini's formation began to advance. As the middle moved, the left and right flanks moved one after another.

The movement of Cayutini's formation was different from the heavy and slow movement of the Greek army. It was very fast.

Aialos was well aware of this. As the commander of the Neapolitan army, he stood at the front of the formation. Zantiparis had advised him to "not personally go to the front line, but to command the overall situation from the rear," but he had tactfully refused. Most of the generals elected by the Greek city-states often went to the front line during battles to show that there was no difference in status between them and the soldiers. This was to avoid being criticized by the citizens after the battle. Naples was no exception, especially at such an important moment.

At this moment, he did not hesitate to take off his Corinth helmet and throw it on the ground. The other Campanian heavy infantry followed Aialos's example and took off their Corinth helmets according to the plan. Everyone felt their vision widen and their bodies become much more relaxed. Only the Diónia heavy infantry did not take off their helmets because they were wearing open helmets.

Aialos looked around, raised the spear in his hand, and shouted, "Apollo bless us! We must pursue them courageously and never stop! "

The surrounding soldiers and officers also shouted, "Pursue them courageously and never stop! … "

When Cayutini's army was about 50 meters away, all the soldiers of the Diónia Coalition Army were shouting, and their fighting spirit was very high.

Zantiparis, who was riding in the rear, heard the thunderous roar and calmed down a lot.

"Attack!" he said loudly.

"Woo!" The sonorous sound of the bugle made the entire long line of soldiers, whether it was heavy infantry, light infantry, light armored soldiers, or cavalry, start to march forward.

The sudden movement of the Diónia Coalition Army did not affect the frontmost soldiers of Cayutini's army. As usual, they stopped at a suitable distance, threw the javelins in their hands, and then prepared to retreat through the gap. This way, the soldiers at the back would be in the front, and they would continue to throw the javelins … This repeated, so that even if the enemy was advancing, they would always keep a distance from the enemy, and the javelins would continue to be thrown, causing great damage to the enemy's dense phalanx.

In the past, the Campanian Coalition Army had not gone through special training, and neither did they have light infantry that could compete with them, nor did they have special tactics designed for independent light infantry. The temporarily recruited civilian light infantry could not fight against the powerful Cayutini Javelin Gunners, so after three or four rounds of throwing, the Campanian Coalition Army had to stop moving forward.

Then, the Cayutini warriors immediately turned from retreat to attack, throwing wave after wave of javelins. By the time they ran out of javelins, the Campanians had basically fallen into chaos due to the large number of casualties. Then, the armored infantry of Cayutini and the lightly armed infantry with spears would make the final charge, and they would usually be routed at the first touch and win the battle.

But now, the Cayutini soldiers were surprised to see that the heavy infantry on the opposite side had quickened their pace, and they were getting faster and faster.

Are they going to charge?! Don't they know that it's impossible for us to fight them head-on, and with their cumbersome speed, they can't possibly catch up to us! Although the Cayutini warriors were surprised, as the distance closed, they had no choice but to move to the rear. Their first round of javelins, according to their habit, were thrown slightly upwards due to the distance (more than 30 meters). This way, the javelins could fly a longer distance and land in the middle and rear of the enemy's formation. This would cause chaos in the entire formation and cause the front and rear to fall apart, making it easier for the next attack. However, the sudden increase in speed and the thinness of the enemy's formation caused most of the javelins to miss.

The heavy infantry of the allied army, who had dodged the javelins, became even more confident. They raised their shields diagonally to protect their heads, and their footsteps became stronger and faster. This quickly shortened the distance between the two sides to less than 20 meters, and the Cayutini soldiers who threw the javelins did not even have time to fully prepare. They hurriedly threw the javelins in their hands.

The 500 Naconian soldiers led by Vasson were part of the second wave of attack. They had all received a hint from Vasson beforehand, so most of the soldiers simply threw the javelins into the air and immediately retreated.

However, the momentum of the Greek heavy infantry's desperate charge made Vasson's mind spin.

Even though the Cayutini warriors hurriedly threw the javelins, their rich experience allowed them to throw the javelins in a straight line. Countless heavy javelins were thrown by the powerful arm strength of the warriors, and with the help of the leather ropes, they spun as they flew, stabbing straight at the shields of the heavy infantry. Many of the javelins directly penetrated the shields, causing some of the heavy infantry to be injured.