Chapter 908
When the captain shouted "retreat", the light infantry quickly retreated as if relieved of a heavy burden, reaching the rear through the gaps in the phalanx. At this time, they still had about 700 people, and almost all of them were more or less injured.
When the Eighth Legion was 50 meters away from the Carthage army, they slowed down and quickly changed their chessboard formation into a tight phalanx.
The Balearic stone throwers and Lusitanian harpooneers also took the opportunity to withdraw from the narrow space between the two armies. They had suffered nearly 200 casualties and had a slight upper hand.
When the soldiers of the Eighth Legion saw the enemy light infantry retreat, they slowed down and drew their javelins at the same time, getting ready.
At this time, the Phoenician and Numibian infantry on the opposite side, under the orders of the team officers, suddenly began to move forward, ready to charge at the Eighth Legion.
This action of the Phoenician infantry disrupted the offensive rhythm of the Eighth Legion. After throwing the first round of javelins, the soldiers had no choice but to charge and fight the enemy.
… …
Compared to the frenzied advance of the right flank, the middle and left flank of the Diónia coalition army were still advancing slowly, while the middle and right flank of the Carthage army were still motionless and even in formation. Compared to the well-trained Phoenician infantry, both the Iberian infantry and the Lusitanian warriors seemed a little slow. Fortunately, Hasdrubal was in the right flank. Under his loud shouts and commands, the Iberians and Lusitanians on the right flank could not wait to advance after getting into formation.
This was especially true for the Lusitarians on the far right. They were running very fast.
At this time, the two sides were 100 meters apart. The left flank of the coalition army was still advancing at a steady pace, but through the narrow eye holes of the Corinth helmet, the Kamanlina soldiers found that the enemy had rushed up to them in the blink of an eye. Only then did the team officers hurriedly give the order to charge, but before they could fully accelerate, the Lusitanian warriors crashed into them.
The powerful force passed through the round shields to their bodies. If not for the thick formation behind them as support, the Kamanlina soldiers at the front would have been knocked away. But even so, they were knocked to the ground and lost their best defensive posture.
Of course, the Lusitanian warrior would not let go of this great opportunity. The sharp Fakata dagger in his hand stabbed forward fiercely.
The Kamanlina soldiers screamed and fell one after another, and the soldiers who had defended against this attack were still fearful of the tall, burly, and fierce-looking enemies in front of them.
… …
When the two sides in the middle finally approached each other, the battle between the Diónia coalition army and Carthage's army had entered a full-scale battle. The battle formation of the two sides was completely diagonal, with the army in the north facing the west and the army in the south facing the east.
The battle line, which was more than three miles long, was shrouded by the dust stirred up by the soldiers of both sides. Shouts, sounds of fighting, and screams could be heard everywhere … In such a vast and noisy battlefield, Leotizides could not even catch a glimpse of the situation. The only thing he could rely on was the scouts at the rear of the formation. They would report the situation of the battle to Leotizides who was at the rear of the middle from time to time.
Are the soldiers advancing or retreating? Are there more casualties on our side or on the other side? The first problem was easily observable, while the second problem required the scout's own judgment. Mukelu would record the information reported by the scouts on a wooden board he carried with him to judge the outcome of the battle.
"Lord Commander, look," Mukelu raised the wooden board to Leotychides's eyes with a serious expression, "This is the situation at the beginning of the battle! This is the situation now! Our left flank has retreated a lot, the middle has retreated a little, and our right flank of the Eighth Legion has not advanced much! "
Leotychides stared at the wooden board full of data. In fact, he had heard the reports of the scouts and had a rough idea of the situation, but the drawing on the wooden board was more intuitive and clear.
Leotychides's already cold face became even more gloomy. At the beginning of the battle, he was quite relaxed, because his initial plan had been realized. Carthage's men had indeed followed the formation that he had set up, and both sides were facing off against each other with heavy infantry. He thought that with the Greek heavy infantry's superior defensive capabilities, they would be able to maintain a stalemate for a long time, and thus consume more of the enemy's stamina, which would be beneficial to the next step of his plan. What he did not expect was that after only half an hour of battle, the left flank was at a disadvantage.
He felt that he had taken Carthage's army very seriously, but the enemy's performance was still beyond his expectations.
"Let the cavalry attack." He thought for a while, and gave the order.
Mukelu was slightly surprised. He knew that the original plan was not like this, but to wait until both sides had fought for a long time and were a little tired. Moreover, the Eighth Legion on the right flank still had a clear upper hand, and the 4th Cavalry Regiment's attack was the final step that would decide the outcome of the battle. But now, it was used prematurely.
Of course, Mukelu did not dissuade them. He knew that the situation was slightly disadvantageous to the allied forces.
"Wait a minute." Leotychides hesitated for a while, and then said decisively again, "Let the light armor brigade and the light infantry brigade follow the cavalry and attack the flanks of Carthage's left flank together!"
Mukelu was stunned. This time, he could not help but remind the commander, "Commander, the light armor brigade is our only reserve force!"
"The Carthage's men have stone throwers, and they are a great threat to the cavalry." Leotychides said calmly, "The reserve force is used at the crucial moment, and now is the crucial moment."
Mukelu did not say anything else. When he sent the messengers to inform the three troops, he felt a little uneasy. After all, Leotychides had bet all his chips on the left flank of Carthage's army, and from then on, he had lost the ability to interfere with the overall situation of the battle.
The 4th Cavalry Regiment and their allies, who had been waiting for half an hour at the rear of the right flank, could not wait any longer. Therefore, when they received the order to attack, the regiment commander took the lead, and the other cavalrymen followed closely behind. The 1000 cavalrymen of the 4th Cavalry Regiment formed a long column of 4 horses, followed by 300 of their allies.
The 4th Cavalry Regiment of Diónia was the weakest of the four major cavalry regiments in the kingdom. In the territory of Greece, Bruti, Mesapi, and Pucchetti were considered races that were good at raising horses, and had the ability to provide cavalry. However, the territory of Sicily did not have such conditions. Moreover, raising a War Horse was different from an ordinary horse. Not only did it need a lot of fodder, but it also needed a lot of beans to ensure that it had enough strength to carry the cavalry. At the same time, frequently riding a War Horse, whether it was in battle or during training, it was extremely easy for a horse to get injured. Therefore, usually, a family of cavalrymen would raise at least two horses to meet the basic needs of training and battle. Obviously, raising a War Horse was a huge burden even for the wealthy citizens of Diónia and those who specialized in raising and selling horses.
There was no tradition of raising horses in the territory of Sicily. Moreover, most of the people in the territory were refugees who had been persecuted by Syracuse many times. There were not many rich people, so when the 4th Cavalry Regiment was first established, there were very few citizens who signed up. After years of development, the lives of the people in the territory of Sicily had greatly improved. In addition, the Kingdom's Senate had passed many preferential bills for the citizens who became cavalrymen. For example, the families of cavalrymen did not have to pay land tax, and every month, the Ministry of Military Affairs would give a certain amount of subsidies to each cavalryman. It could be said that the cavalry was the only army in Diónia that had a fixed salary. Under the stimulation of these favorable factors, the 4th Cavalry Regiment only had a little more than 1000 people, far from being full.
All these years, the 4th Cavalry Regiment had been living in the barracks and had not experienced any war. Since the beginning of this war, they had only played a supporting role and had not made any significant contributions. The cavalrymen were eager to prove themselves, so they bypassed the right flank of the enemy's formation and drew a long arc a few hundred meters behind the enemy's left flank. Under the influence of the extremely excited soldiers around him, Asitemis deliberately ignored Leotizides's warning. Instead of waiting for the arrival of the light armor brigade and the light infantry brigade, he decided to launch a tentative attack first.
After receiving the order to attack, the cavalrymen began to move their horses at a slow pace. However, before they could pick up their pace, they were attacked by the Balearic Stone Throwers. Even from a few hundred meters away, the Balearic Stone Throwers were still quite accurate. Moreover, they deliberately focused on the horses. Compared to the cavalrymen in leather helmets and armor, the War Horse was a sensitive animal. As soon as it was hit by a lead pellet, it immediately neighed and jumped, abandoning the soldiers riding on it and running in all directions in a panic.
In an instant, the sound of horses neighing could be heard everywhere. The cavalrymen who fell to the ground hurriedly chased after their War Horses. The scene was chaotic, and the attack was forced to stop.
After a rough calculation, Asitemis found that he had lost more than 90 cavalrymen, which amounted to 1/10 of the total number of cavalrymen in the regiment. He could not help but feel a great pain in his heart. He no longer dared to act rashly, and instead waited for the arrival of reinforcements.
More than ten minutes later, the two brigades arrived.
While they were waiting, the cavalrymen did not slack off. Asitemis sent out a small team of cavalrymen to investigate. After paying a price of some casualties, they returned with the general situation of Carthage's left flank. The enemy's Stone Throwers were arranged in a loose linear formation a hundred meters away from the enemy's formation, facing the 4th Cavalry Regiment. In front of them were hundreds of javelin throwers and hundreds of light infantry guards (as most of the Celts were bare-chested and did not wear armor, the Diónia cavalry thought that they were light infantry) …
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