Chapter 94
The Greeks also stopped their pursuit, began to gather their troops, and slowly moved forward.
Apart from the Picossis and Vigo warriors, as well as the injured warriors from the other three cities, there were more than 9,000 troops in formation. From south to north, the formation was about a few miles long. They belonged to the tribes under Grumentum, Neutum, and Laos, so the formation was slow.
In front of the behemoth of the Lucaria tribal coalition, the Greek mercenaries of only two thousand people appeared too weak. However, when they slowly moved to a hundred meters away from the enemy's formation, they suddenly accelerated to the left.
Before the Lucanian leaders could react, the Greek army had already approached the right flank of the allied army. The Lucanian soldiers who were still in a disorderly formation watched in horror as the Greek army threw javelins at them, and then launched a fierce attack on them … ….
In the blink of an eye, the right side of the Lucanian coalition army collapsed …
"The despicable Greeks betrayed their trust and attacked without waiting for us to finish our formation!" Sevilla cursed angrily.
Akepiru realized that he had made a mistake. Sending a huge army to face the small and capable Greek army was like a fierce bull facing a nimble mouse, bloated and not efficient.
"Sound the horn, let the soldiers attack immediately!" While the Greek army continued to attack the left side along the right side of the right, Akepiru quickly gave an order: "Surround them! Don't let them escape! "
At the same time, the other leaders also gave similar orders.
The Lucanian warriors, who were freed from their restraints, quickly rushed toward the Greek army like hounds that had let loose. They wanted to tear this group of Greeks, who had repeatedly made fun of them, humiliated them, and made them hate the most, into pieces.
The Greek army immediately turned and ran east. As they ran, they threw away their shields, bayonets, and swords to ensure that they would not be caught by the Lucarians who ran like crazy.
The Greeks ran desperately in front, and the Lucanian coalition army chased after them. Gradually, they formed a dense line of several miles long …
The Greeks turned over the ridge, and followed the gradual descent of the mountain to the east. After they had run about ten leagues, the soldiers were a little out of breath, and when they looked back, the Lucarians were still at their heels.
At this time, the Greeks left the mountain road and approached the Tino River. Then, they ran down the gentle slope and came to the large riverbank on the other side of the famous hot spring swamp. Although the soil here was moist and soft, and a foot could pick up a piece of soil, the terrain was flat. Compared to the uneven, rocky mountain road, it was easier to run, and faster. The Lucarians, of course, followed them down the river, or they would have lost the Greeks.
"Brothers, hold on a little longer. We're almost there!" Felicius, who was running at the front, was panting as he encouraged the soldiers around him with a hoarse voice. In fact, he was also encouraging himself. As a veteran who was over forty years old, this long run had exhausted all of his energy.
When the Greeks had reached the end of the river and were crossing the gentle slope, the Lucanians were hot on their heels, but just as they were about to set foot on the top of the slope, they saw above them rows of heavily armed Greek infantry, already in position, advancing to meet them.
"There's an ambush —" Before the soldier at the front could shout, the spear of the Greek army pierced through his chest.
The Lucanian soldiers, who were already exhausted from running, had completely lost the ability to dodge. Under the countless spears of the Greek heavy infantry, they fell down one by one like dumplings falling into a pot. The soldiers at the back did not know what was happening in front of them and were still running forward …
At this time, behind the Tarantum reinforcements who were in charge of the frontal interception, the Devers mercenaries who were in charge of baiting the enemy were eating warm bread and drinking hot water. The women and slaves of the supply camp brought new round shields, spears, and swords, and quickly equipped each soldier. The mercenaries knew that their time was tight. They had to replenish their food and water as soon as possible and then rush forward as fast as possible to complete the encirclement.
Mercies also knew that his time was tight. After completing the replenishment of the mercenaries, he had to bring the fully armed guards of the supply camp, the slaves, the slaves from the city of Turís, and dozens of slave captains who were in charge of commanding them. There were about a thousand people in total, including more than a dozen pack-carts, to the narrow area in front of the mountain path to establish a defensive line and block the reinforcements of the Lucanian army.
Drax, Adrianx, and Sesta led about a thousand and five hundred mercenaries to lie in ambush on the side of the river that was more than two miles long. Their defensive line was relatively weak. Fortunately, there were about seven hundred light shieldbearers and light infantrymen behind them. There were also seven hundred armed mine slaves behind them. And in between the two teams were the Devers and their guards.
"Leader!" Asistes rushed over on horseback and said excitedly, "Our team has begun to move quickly towards the mountain path to the west!"
The Devers nodded and tried to suppress the excitement and nervousness in his heart. The initial operation of luring the enemy could be said to be effective. Looking at the densely packed enemy below, there were at least eight to nine thousand people. More than half of the Lucanian army's forces were gathered here. Excluding the warriors who were injured yesterday, the enemy camp was estimated to have no more than five thousand people. After wiping out the enemy in front of them, the Lucarians would no longer have the ability to stir up trouble in the Xubari Plain. They should take advantage of the fact that the enemy on the river bank was disorganized to launch an attack and take them down as soon as possible.
"Light infantrymen, attack!" The Devers ordered decisively.
After receiving the order, Epthenis and Cspit led the light shieldbearers to pass through the mercenaries in front of them. Alpines ordered the stone throwers and archers to start loading the ammunition.
The front was blocked, but the Lucanian warriors behind were still rushing forward due to inertia. Soon, countless Lucaria warriors crowded together, gathering at the bottom of the river bank that was about half a mile wide and two miles long. Many of them had already sensed that something was wrong, and were shouting at each other anxiously …
At this time, countless Greek soldiers appeared on the side slope.
"Enemy!"
"We've fallen into an ambush!"
…
Accompanied by the panicked shouts of the warriors, javelins, arrows, and flying stones poured down …
The soldiers were crowded, and most of them had thrown away their shields, helmets, and even their breastplates to make it easier for them to chase after the enemy. In the absence of protection, the light infantrymen of the mercenary army didn't need to aim. Every javelin, every stone, and every arrow could hit their target easily.
"Retreat!" The terrified warriors wanted to escape. However, there were more than nine thousand people in the crowded and narrow space. Some of them were dodging arrows and flying stones, some wanted to retreat, and some wanted to kill the Greeks in front of them in anger. They wanted to kill their way out … Everyone had their own ideas. They were like headless flies bumping into each other. However, the entire troop was in chaos and disorganized. It was quite difficult for them to complete a smooth retreat. On the contrary, it was easier to cause a disaster of being trampled on. In the face of death, the terrified warriors unconsciously pushed down the clansmen in front of them, and in the blink of an eye, they died silently under the feet of countless people …
The leaders and warriors of the various tribes were extremely anxious when they saw this situation. However, in the turbulent and noisy crowd, any shouts or attempts to stop them were futile. Unfortunately, the buglers of the allied forces were far behind the troops, and they could not reach them.
"Kill! Follow me and kill! " Seville squeezed through the panicked clansmen with his strong body. With a spear in hand, he roared and glared angrily at the gentle slope on the side of the river bank …
His risky action attracted the attention of both sides, and reminded the panicked warriors who were dodging the rain of arrows. Some of the warriors began to follow him, braving the enemy's long-range attacks and running up the slope.
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