Chapter 907
Furthermore, Leotychides took into account that there were many older citizens among the soldiers of Gela (the people of Gela had come out in full force to protect their homeland), so he deliberately thickened the formation so that it would not be easy for the enemy to break through the front.
At the same time, he took into account the weakness of the Greek heavy infantry. If the flanks were attacked, they would be easily defeated. Therefore, Leotychides placed the left wing close to the coast. This would prevent Carthage's army from making a detour from the left and attacking the flanks of their allies.
Another purpose of thickening the formation was to shorten the length of the formation. Although the land to the west of Gela was flat, it was not wide. It was only seven to eight miles from the coast to the mountains. Leotychides needed to leave enough space for the cavalry to gallop outside the right wing. He had pinned the chance of victory on the right wing of the Diónia's army. This was because the 8th Cavalry Regiment, which he trusted, was there. There were also 1,300 cavalrymen (1,000 cavalrymen from the 4th Cavalry Regiment and 300 cavalrymen from Gela and Kamalina) who could attack the flanks of Carthage's army at any time. He learned from the people of Gela that there were no cavalrymen among the Carthage's army that came to attack the city. The scouts of Diónia had also confirmed this news.
After careful consideration, he understood the reason. That was why he dared to fight against Carthage's army so soon. The cavalry was his biggest reliance.
Leotychides and his adjutant, Mukelu, rode in front of the army, watching the situation of Carthage's army on the opposite side. There were also scouts reporting to him about the entire formation of Carthage's army.
Although Diónia's intelligence department did not collect much intelligence on Carthage's army in the Iberian region (This was because in order to protect the source of its precious metal mines, Carthage had clearly stated in the previous peace agreement with Diónia that "Diónia merchant ships were not allowed to trade with Carthage's territory in Iberia". At the same time, Margo's control of his territory was also strict and he was vigilant against outsiders. It was quite difficult for Diónia's intelligence personnel to enter the southern part of Iberia, where Carthage belonged), Leotychides roughly knew that the infantry wearing pointed helmets, white linen breastplates, outer chainmail, and holding spears and shields were Phoenician and Numibian infantry; the infantry wearing flat helmets, white lining with purple edges, outer armor, and holding long shields and short swords were Iberian infantry; and the soldiers wearing black robes, armor, and also holding long shields and short swords might be the rumored Lusitanian warriors …
After roughly understanding the situation of the Carthage army's formation, Leotychides breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He turned to Mukruu and said, "It seems that the Carthage people are really worried about the attack power of our legion soldiers, so they specifically placed their main force in Iberia on the left flank. In this way, we will first set up the formation and use the Eighth Legion to attract the opponent's main force and reduce the pressure on the friendly soldiers."
The reason why he said this was because Mukruu had reminded him before that it was best not to set up the formation before the enemy arrived, because it was mentioned in the "Military Law of Diónia" that it was best not to let the enemy know their own formation deployment before the battle, so as not to have the opportunity to make targeted arrangements.
At this time, Mukruu did not blindly agree. He reminded, "Sir Commander, the Carthage people have placed those Lusitanians on their right flank!"
"In the past, it was rumored that the Mesapi, the Lucanians, and the Samonians were very fierce … But they did not pose much of a threat to Diónia. Now, it is rumored that the Lusitanians are very fierce. I think we should not blindly listen to these rumors. Let's see how the battle goes first." There was a hint of disdain in Leotychides's calm tone. He reminded Mukruu in turn, "The biggest advantage of the Greek heavy infantry is that their frontal defense is very strong, and their attack power is not weak either. This is precisely the area in which our coalition army is superior to them other than the cavalry. Therefore, as long as it is a frontal battle, we will not be at a disadvantage."
At this time, the messenger of the Eighth Legion rushed over and reported to him that the legion had finished setting up the formation.
Leotychides immediately looked back to the left. The noise was still incessant, and he could not help but feel a little dissatisfied, "Immediately send someone to urge the Jelans and Kamalina people to speed up the formation!"
After saying that, he turned his horse around, passed through the gap in the formation, and returned to the back of the middle road.
"Woo!" More than ten minutes later, the Diónia coalition army blew the horn to attack.
The entire army began to move forward slowly, and the fastest was the light infantry of the Eighth Legion. They passed through the gap in the chessboard formation of the Eighth Legion, and rushed towards the enemy in a loose formation. They wanted to use arrows and javelins to give the enemy the first wave of attacks, to disrupt the enemy's formation, and to pave the way for the subsequent attack of the heavy infantry.
Hasdrubal and Kisego knew about the past battles of Diónia, and naturally knew about this set of heavy infantry tactics of Diónia. When they saw the black helmets and black armor of the Eighth Legion on the opposite side of their left flank, they were prepared. Therefore, when the light infantry of the Eighth Legion rushed out of the formation, Kisego also responded by sending out the army that had been waiting at the rear of the left flank.
There were about 1,700 men in this army, and 500 of them were Lusitanian harpooneers dressed in black robes. They held a kind of javelin with a hook. This kind of javelin was difficult to pull out after piercing into the human body. Therefore, the Lusitanian harpooneers were feared in Iberia.
The 1,200 soldiers behind them were dressed in unlined white clothes, with a heavy sack tied around their waist and a dagger. They did not wear helmets or armor, and were even barefoot. They only held a catapult made of wool and linen in their hands … Yes, they were catapults, catapults from the Balearic Islands.
The Balearic Islands were a series of islands in the western Mediterranean near the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The inhabitants of the islands had a tradition of training catapults. Children were trained as soldiers from an early age, and their mothers did not even give their children bread in the beginning, until they hit a distant target with a catapult for the first time. The Balearic people, who lacked resources and materials, used a large number of cheap catapults to defend the security of the island, and residents with superb catapult skills often used this skill to obtain meat and improve their lives, such as using catapults to hit birds.
Margo occupied the southern part of Iberia (mainly the southeast), which was adjacent to the Balearic Islands. He obtained the loyalty of the Balearic people by providing them with sufficient food. In the process of conquering Iberia, the Balearic catapults played a big role. This time, Margo brought 1,500 Balearic catapults to the expedition to Sicily.
After the Balearic people walked out of the army, they stopped moving forward. They put their hands into the sack around their waist. The sack was divided into three compartments, each containing three types of lead shot. They took out the lightest lead shot, put it into the bag of the catapult, and then began to swing it.
Because the Diónia coalition forces had just begun to advance, after the Eighth Legion's light infantry rushed out of the army, they were still more than 400 meters away from the opposite enemy, so they were moving forward quickly. Before the formation had completely dispersed, they suddenly saw a dark cloud flying in the sky in front of them.
"Watch out for flying stones! Protect your head! "The captain of the light infantry shouted hoarsely, and his face changed a little.
With the reminder of the team officers, the light infantry, who had never been attacked by the catapults, lowered their heads and covered their necks with their hands. Although the Diónia light infantry wore unlined clothes, they were all equipped with leather helmets. After the lead shot fell, there was a loud groan, but there were not many casualties.
"Hurry up! Close in on the enemy! " With the reminder of the team officers, the light infantry, whose bodies were aching from the flying stones, sped up.
In the process, they were hit by a few more rounds of lead shot. Due to the shortening of the distance, the Balearic catapults had replaced the small lead shot with the medium, and finally with the large.
Since the Lusitanian Harpoon Gunners had rushed up, and the Diónia light infantry, of course, had also begun to attack, it was impossible for them to cover their faces with their hands. This caused their injuries to skyrocket, especially the archers. Due to their long range, they became the main targets of the Balearic catapults.
Archery was a delicate sport that required a lot of physical strength. It required most of the muscles of the archer's upper body to work together in order to pull the bowstring and shoot a precise and powerful arrow. Even if the lead shot did not hit the head, it would still damage the muscles and tendons of other parts of the body, which would seriously affect the archer's combat effectiveness.
The opposite Carthage had catapults?! Leotychides was slightly shocked after listening to the urgent report of the cavalry scout.
"Sir Commander, this may be the Balearic catapults mentioned in the intelligence!" Mukruger reminded.
The Ministry of Military Affairs had previously mentioned that there were Balearic catapults in Margo's Numibian army. But this time, after the army led by Margo landed in Sicily, whether it was the siege of Serinus, the sneak attack on the Sikells, the siege of Enna, and the siege of Gela, they did not use this unit. Therefore, Leotychides had neglected their existence for a while.
At this time, he immediately issued an order, "Let the bugler blow the bugle horn on the right flank to speed up the advance. Let the soldiers of the Eighth Legion engage the enemy as soon as possible to prevent the catapults from disrupting our formation!"
"Woo woo woo …" The bugle horn sounded hurriedly from the rear. Upon hearing the bugle, the officers of the Eighth Legion of all levels immediately ordered the companies and platoon flag-bearers to wave the raised military flags forward. The soldiers of the entire right flank gradually advanced forward.
The light infantry brigade was at a disadvantage in the long-range contest with the enemy, but they still gritted their teeth and held on. As a member of the entire legion, the light infantry officers knew very well that they had to buy time for their heavy infantry comrades in the rear. They could not allow the enemy catapults to attack the phalanx of the legion.
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