Chapter 909
Thus, when the two brigades arrived, Asitemis took out the battle plan that he had already thought of. After discussing and perfecting it with the two captains, they began to execute the plan.
The Light Armor Battalion was at the front, and the Light Infantry Battalion was behind them after distancing themselves from them. As for the cavalry, they stayed where they were, waiting for the two battalions to entangle the enemy. Then, they would circle around the enemy's flank and attack.
The soldiers of the Eighth Legion's light armor brigade raised their leather shields diagonally above their heads to defend against the enemy's flying stones. They charged at the enemy with a wide front.
The light armor brigade, which was mostly made up of Sikells who had become citizens of Diónia, advanced quickly. The Balearic Catapults had just thrown two rounds of large lead pellets when the light armor brigade, which had suffered light casualties, had already reached the enemy.
Most of the Lusitanian harpooneers did not seize this opportunity to throw the javelins in their hands. Because this kind of heavy hooked javelin was not easy to make, each of them only carried three javelins, which had been used up in the previous battle with the light infantry. They only had one left in their hands, and they wanted to use it as a weapon to deal with the next battle.
The Lusitanian harpooneers did not move, but the Celtic warriors could not hold themselves back. They roared in anger, holding wooden shields in their left hands and greatswords in their right as they swarmed forward.
When the Diónia harpooneers saw a group of fierce-looking, half-naked men with unkempt hair charging towards them, they could not help but feel apprehensive. They ran like horses, roared like thunder, and raised their greatswords high in the air. According to the training of the light armor brigade, they should take the initiative to approach the enemy and unleash the power of their short swords. However, many of the light armor brigade were intimidated by the enemy's aura and hesitated, not daring to approach them.
In the blink of an eye, the Celtic warriors arrived in front of them, their greatswords whistling through the air as they slashed down.
The light armor brigade raised their leather shields to block.
"Bang!" It was as if a large rock had smashed into their shields. Their entire left arm felt a jolt of pain, and the numbness made it impossible for them to muster any strength. They could only use their shields to block and retreat.
Some of the Celtic warriors' greatswords even slashed into the leather shields, almost injuring the arms of the light armor brigade.
One could imagine the shock in the hearts of the Light Armor Soldiers. They could not help but retreat.
The Celtic warriors relied on their height and long legs, and they were like maggots attached to bones. The greatswords in their hands chased and slashed continuously, breaking the leather shields of some of the lightly armored soldiers. Some of the lightly armored soldiers were even injured. As the greatswords used by the Celtic warriors were extremely powerful, the wounds they caused were extremely terrifying. The injured soldiers lay on the ground and wailed in pain, which affected the morale of the lightly armored soldiers. If it were not for the strict military laws of Diónia, some of the soldiers would have already fled.
The light armor captain was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, complaining about the scout's mistake. "How are these light infantry? They're even scarier than heavy infantry!" He racked his brains for a countermeasure. "Disperse! Start running! Lure the enemy away! … "
The role of Diónia's light armored soldiers was never to fight in formation, but to use their light footwork to attack the enemy's weakness and chase after the defeated soldiers. Therefore, speed training was the focus of military training, and armed long-distance running was one of the most common events.
Just as the officer began to relay the order, the lightly armored soldiers who were barely holding on under the pressure of the Celtic warriors immediately turned around and ran.
However, they did not expect the Celtic warriors to be as strong as them. Even though the greatswords and wooden shields in their hands were heavier than theirs, their running ability was not any weaker than theirs. Even when they ran at full speed, they could not pull apart the distance between them.
Of course, the lightly armored soldiers who were still in shock did not know that these Celtic warriors lived in the mountains of northern Liberia. They mainly hunted and looted for a living. Long periods of chasing prey in the mountains had given them great stamina and stamina.
However, the combative and easily angered Celtic warriors obviously did not have a sense of the bigger picture. Most of the warriors were in a hurry to chase after the Diónia light armored soldiers, forgetting the mission they were supposed to carry out.
The Balearic Stone Throwers had lost their protection, and the Eighth Legion's Light Infantry Brigade was already in front of them. The battle between the Stone Throwers and Light Infantry began once again, but this time, the distance between the two parties was much closer. Some of the Diónia javelin throwers saw that the Balearic Stone Throwers only had a dagger with them, so they simply held their javelins and braved the rain of stones to rush forward and engage in close combat.
Fortunately, there were still nearly 300 Lusitanian javelin throwers mixed in with the Balearic Stone Throwers. They rushed out in time and used their javelins as spears. The Lusitanians were obviously much stronger. Relying on their height and strength, they had the upper hand in the battle.
For the Balearic Stone Throwers, their advantage was not only in long-range attacks, but also in close-range accurate throws. On the battlefield where both parties were fighting, the Balearic Stone Throwers split up and searched for their own targets. They used large lead pellets to throw at the Diónia archers and javelin throwers who were only thirty to forty meters away, increasing their lethality by several times.
Therefore, when Asitemis, the commander of the 4th Cavalry Legion, saw that the light armored soldiers were being chased by the foreign warriors and that the Light Infantry were at a disadvantage, with soldiers falling one after another, he became very anxious. He immediately urged the cavalry to speed up, and while the attention of the Balearic Stone Throwers was distracted by the Light Infantry Brigade, they circled behind them and defeated them.
… …
"The Carthage left a few hundred foreign warriors at the back to protect their Balearic Stone Throwers. Our Light Infantry Brigade was actually forced to retreat!" When the adjutant, Mukhru, heard the news from the scout, he could not help but feel shocked. He quickly looked at Leotychides and said, "Lord Commander, the Carthage have actually learned to use reserve troops! Now that the Kamalinas are obviously unable to hold on, what should we do?! "
Leotychides did not seem to hear it. He sat on his horse like a statue, but his eyes were fixed on his right front. That was the Eighth Legion that he had high hopes for. However, the surging black tide had encountered a reef, causing the speed of their advance to slow down. It was very likely that the Eighth Legion had suffered a lot of casualties after the Battle of Minoa, and they had to replenish a lot of reserve troops, causing their combat effectiveness to drop. Of course, this also showed that the mixed Phoenician and Numibian infantry that they were facing was not a weak army … It was all because of the weak performance of the Carthage army in the Battle of Minoa that caused him to subconsciously misjudge the combat effectiveness of the Carthage army this time …
At such a critical juncture, Leotychides could not help but search for various reasons that caused his misjudgment. Ever since he had participated in battles as an adult (including the battles in Sparta), he had not experienced defeat so far, so it was inevitable that he would lose his composure.
He gripped the reins tightly with both hands and suddenly turned around and shouted, "Get me a long shield and a spear!"
The guard behind him immediately handed him his own.
He reached out and took it, jumped off the horse, and waved it a few times. Then he raised his spear and shouted, "Soldiers, follow me to kill the enemy!"
According to the "Military Law of Diónia", the Commander of the Legion had 50 guards, and the Regional Commander had 100 guards.
As the Commander, Leotychides should have 100 guards, but in fact, he only had one legion. In order to let his soldiers participate in the battle as much as possible, he did not increase the size of his guards. These 50 guards immediately responded to Leotychides's call.
He raised his shield and spear and led the way forward. With every step he took, his body became more familiar with the shield and spear. That's right, he was not just a general, he was also an excellent warrior. He was the only one in the Sparta royal family who had participated in the cruel Agog training since he was young. He was also the one who amazed the Senior Squad Officers of Diónia with his excellent skills during the new recruit training camp of Diónia!
Just as his blood began to boil, a War Horse rushed out from the side and blocked his way. Mukru shouted from the horse, "Lord Prososus, you are the Commander. Please stay in your post and command the army. Don't leave without permission!"
Leotychides looked at him coldly, "I can no longer command the army. The only thing I can do now is to join the battle and increase our chances of victory! Don't waste my time, get out of my way! "
"Lord Prososus!" Mukru did not move, but his tone was firm, "It's written clearly on the first page of the" Military Law of Diónia ": 'A leader cannot be arrogant because of victory, cannot be discouraged because of failure, cannot be blinded by anger, cannot be weakened by sorrow … Eliminate all external interference like a god, and calmly analyze the situation of the battle. This is the quality that a great general must have!'
Lord Prososus, you are the Commander of the Kingdom of Sicily. Your responsibility is to protect the entire territory of Sicily. You should not be too concerned about losing one or two battles! If you abandon your duty, if the battle really fails, who will command our soldiers to retreat safely?! Who will minimize the casualties of our soldiers?! If the Eighth Legion suffers heavy losses, will we still have the strength to defend Sicily?! … "
Mukru's words were like the morning bell, causing Leotychides to be stunned on the spot, his expression uncertain …
After a while, he silently returned the shield and spear to the guard, then flipped over the horse and shook the reins.
Under his control, the War Horse began to trot to the right.
"Lord, you are going to …" Mukru was shocked, thinking that his advice did not work.
"I am going to the right flank to supervise the battle. The outcome of the battle is still uncertain until the last moment." Leotychides said with a cold face as he rode the War Horse to the north.
Mukru relaxed a little and urged his horse to catch up.
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