Chapter 910
The company captain Diocassis's four squads were stacked in front and behind, forming a section of the right wing formation that was about 26 or 27 meters long. Located in the center, he had been paying close attention to the battle of the soldiers at the front.
Compared to the battle in Minoa, the level of danger was far less. The enemy on the other side did not look tall or strong, and their attacks were not fierce. The impact of the formation was not very strong, and the pressure on the soldiers was not too great. But after a long period of close observation, Diocassis knew that the soldiers under his command had encountered a strong enemy.
First of all, the enemy on the other side had a strong defense. They were very good at using shields for defense and cooperated well with each other. Second, they were very experienced in dealing with the soldiers' dagger attacks, so the close-range dagger fight that the Legion of Dionysia's infantry was proud of was not very effective. Third, they were experienced in combat and had a good grasp of the rhythm of the attack. They did not easily wave the spears in their hands, but first focused on using long shields to defend against the soldiers' fierce attacks, and used appropriate retreat to cushion the impact. When the enemy's momentum slowed down, they would immediately counterattack with their spears, forcing the enemy to retreat or even stab them. Therefore, the company commanded by Diocassis had always been in a state of advancing three steps and retreating two steps. Their progress was slow.
Of course, he would not know that the reason why the Magonid family recruited the Phoenician and Numibian refugees was that they were cheap to hire and could endure hardships. Moreover, they did not belong to any city-state or tribe, so it was easy to cultivate loyalty. After undergoing rigorous training, the Feino infantry had indeed become the main force of the Magonid family's campaign on the Iberian Peninsula. Because the enemies they faced for more than a decade were fierce indigenous people, the Feino soldiers, who did not have the advantage in strength and speed, relied on tenacious defense and tacit cooperation to wear down the enemy in a protracted confrontation, or to tie down the enemy's main force. Then, the swift Numibian cavalry or Mauritanian cavalry would circle around the enemy's rear to attack, and finally defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. This had become a common tactic used by generals such as Mago and Hasdrubal to deal with the Iberian indigenous people. Since the Iberian natives mostly used fakata daggers, the Firu infantry naturally had a lot of experience in dealing with dagger attacks.
As the high-ranking officer of the legion, Diocassis was anxious. Before the battle, Leotychides had already briefly explained his intentions to them. The Eighth Legion was the key to victory for Diónia's allied forces in this battle. However, when Diocassis looked at the soldiers who were fighting hard in front of him, he guessed that the situation of the other companies would be the same. Since the beginning of the battle, not only had the Eighth Legion not opened the door to victory, but they had also fallen into a fierce battle. It was likely that they would not be able to see the light of victory in a short period of time …
Just as Diokassis was lost in his thoughts, a familiar shout came from behind him, "Warriors of the Eighth Legion, I am your Legion Commander! I order you to intensify your attacks, defeat the enemies in front of you, and win glory and rewards for yourselves! Warriors of the Eighth Legion … "
This was indeed the voice of the Legion Commander Prososus! Diocassis was surprised at first, but then he felt uneasy. In his impression, Prososus's personality was relatively cold and lacked passion. Whether it was during training or in previous battles, he had never loudly encouraged the soldiers. But this time, he had suddenly changed his attitude. Could it be that the entire battle situation was disadvantageous to us?
Some of the officers who were as sensitive as Diocassis also felt the same uneasiness. However, when the majority of the ordinary soldiers of the Eighth Legion heard the voice of the Legion Commander who had been with them for 10 years, who had strict requirements for them, but had brought them victory and glory, they were all excited and their morale was raised once again. His shouts were met with roars like a tidal wave, "Hades!! Hades!! Fight!! Fight!!! … "
… … …
While the soldiers of the Eighth Legion were encouraged by Leotychides to intensify their attacks, behind Carthage's left flank, the Diónia Cavalry was rushing towards the Balearic Stonecutters from both sides.
Although the Balearic Stonecutters were engaged in long-range attacks with the Diónia Light Infantry, they were constantly on guard against the Diónia Cavalry. Therefore, when they noticed that the enemy cavalry was moving towards them, they immediately ignored the Light Infantry in front of them and concentrated on dealing with the cavalry. At this time, there were still more than 1,000 Stonecutters. They were divided into two groups, and dense lead pellets flew towards the charging cavalry in a futile attempt to shoot them down.
For a moment, the sound of horses neighing and men screaming could be heard. Cavalrymen kept rolling on the ground.
However, since the Fourth Cavalry Legion had already launched their attack, it was impossible for them to stop. Otherwise, it would bring about greater losses. They roared and rode on their War Horses. They swept past their comrades who were wailing on the ground and charged towards the enemy who was still swinging their catapults.
Infected by the courage of the Fourth Cavalry Legion, the allied cavalry followed closely behind.
Looking at the enemy cavalry that appeared from the dust cloud and charged towards them with a threatening momentum, the Balearic Stonecutters finally panicked and began to retreat.
The Diónia Cavalry rushed to the front and used their spears and horses to completely disperse the Stonecutters. Then, they purposely drove the Stonecutters to flee towards Carthage's battle formation.
Hundreds of routed soldiers were forced to charge at the rear of Carthage's left flank, which was in the midst of a battle. The Philo infantry at the rear had no choice but to turn around and kill these routed soldiers to prevent them from disrupting the battle formation. At the same time, they had to carefully deal with the javelins thrown by the Diónia Cavalry. This inevitably distracted them from facing the Eighth Legion's attack head-on.
At this time, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion were doing their best to launch a new wave of attacks under the encouragement of Leotychides.
Originally, the Philo infantry were not afraid of this. Instead, they were secretly delighted because the enemy had exhausted their remaining strength too early. It was their turn to counterattack. But now, they were somewhat unable to resist and had no choice but to retreat.
… …
On the right flank of Carthage's army, it was the Diónia Coalition Army that was retreating.
The number of soldiers in Carthage's army was greater than that of the Diónia Coalition Army, and their formation was the same length as the opponent's. This meant that the formation of Carthage's army on the right flank was even thicker than the opponent's. The soldiers of the Diónia Coalition Army were weaker than the Lusitanian soldiers in terms of individual combat strength. They were also inferior to the opponent in terms of overall strength. Therefore, after more than an hour of fierce battle, the advantage that the Lusitanian soldiers had at the beginning of the battle had become extremely obvious.
Although the attacks of the Lusitanian soldiers were much weaker than at the beginning, the resistance and counterattack of the Kamanlina and Jela soldiers were much weaker. From time to time, the screams of their comrades falling increased the panic in their hearts. Therefore, the left flank of the Diónia Coalition Army kept retreating under the pressure of the Lusitanians' attack. During the retreat, the originally dense formation became more and more sparse.
The Lusitanian soldiers took the opportunity to squeeze into these gaps and attack the enemy from the side. They kept widening the gap, and the flames of war spread to the rear of the Kamanlina and Jela formation.
Finally, fear overwhelmed their will to fight. Some of the Kamanlina soldiers at the back of the formation began to turn and run. Their escape immediately affected the morale of their comrades, who were similarly shaken. Everyone followed suit and ran. Defeat was inevitable …
… …
The left flank began to retreat?! Although Leotychides was mentally prepared, he was still a little absent-minded when he heard the news.
After a moment, he pulled himself together and looked forward. In order to better understand the situation of the battle, he was now at the rear of the formation of the Eighth Legion. Riding on his horse, he could even see the faces of the enemies fighting with the soldiers. Although the enemies were retreating with large strides due to his supervision and the attacks of the Fourth Cavalry Regiment that he sent out from the rear, they did not show any excessive panic on their faces. The Eighth Legion's thin formation could not seize this opportunity to push forward and carry out a more effective breakthrough … Therefore, judging from the current situation of the battle, the stalemate on the right flank would continue for some time, and what the Eighth Legion lacked now was time.
Having stayed in Sparta for more than 20 years, he knew very well that once the traditional Greek heavy infantry soldiers on the left flank started to flee, it would not take long before the entire left flank completely collapsed, and then the middle would be affected …
Leotychides made a prompt decision, "Order the entire army … to retreat!"
Although Leotychides was still expressionless, the volume of his voice revealed the change in his mood.
Beside him, Mukelu had mixed feelings as well. When he repeated the order again, even his voice was a little shaky, "Quick … Blow the bugle for retreat!"
Since the bugle sound for retreat from Diónia was different from that of the Greek city-states, the buglers had to blow it twice.
When the bugle sounded, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion couldn't believe it. The enemy hadn't retreated yet, and the bugle sounded at this time. Did it mean … we lost?!
Although it was hard to accept, the strict military discipline that they had developed over the years made them obey the order. After the sudden attack, the soldiers quickly turned around and retreated …
"Order the soldiers to retreat faster. Enter the city from the north and east gates of Gela!" Leotizides continued to give the order. He did not lose his mind because of the failure. He knew very well that once the allied forces were completely defeated, most of the panicked soldiers would instinctively rush to the west gate of Jela, which was the closest to them. This would inevitably cause congestion, and they would become easy targets for the enemies to kill. Although the north gate was far away, it would allow the soldiers to enter the city faster because the road was clear. Most of the soldiers of the Eighth Legion were on the right flank, which was closer to the north gate than the middle and left flank.
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