ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 207 The Battle of Trionto River ([-])
On the Dionia side, there are 3000 light infantry in the center and on the right wing, including archers, slingers, and javelin soldiers. Most of them are free people from the port of Thurii. Hundreds of them were drawn from the first and second armies. A veteran of the light infantry brigade served as team officer.

The more than 400 cavalrymen on the left wing have always been a soy saucer. According to the plan, this time it turned out to be the key to winning this battle. No wonder Ledes, who has always been steady, lost his composure and repeatedly told the cavalry squad leaders to wait until the battle started. Things to note.

"Captain, we all know it well, don't worry!" Solikos said.This large group of coachmen financed by Kristoya's bank loan not only increased the alliance's tax revenue, but also each of them was good at riding and had enough horses. Therefore, they became the focus of recruitment for the cavalry. As citizens, they were all duty-bound to carry the cavalry. out.Solikos's age is just at the upper limit of the age limit for conscription. He is personally very active. Being an infantryman at the age of 50 is definitely not enough, but for the cavalry, he thinks that based on his experience, it is more than enough to serve as a captain.

"Okay, then prepare to fight." Ryders nodded.

"We understand it, but do those people behind us understand it? Don't screw it up when the time comes!" A young cavalry squad leader interjected.

Ledes looked back at him with a smile and said: "Don't worry, Cuccius, they have fought more battles than you have eaten salt, and they faced many more cavalry in Persia than this. "

The young cavalry captain was not convinced and wanted to say more.

At this time, someone shouted: "Look, our slingers are attacking!"

There was no attack horn or loud shouting. The slingers quietly broke away from the array under the leadership of the veterans, quickly ran to the enemy's position, and started waving the slings more than 200 meters away. The Crotone soldiers who were still arranging their formation immediately Enjoying the baptism of "stone rain", many soldiers had no time to raise their shields for protection, and many of them had their heads smashed and bleeding.

"Shameless Dionians! Cunning Dionians! Apollo will definitely punish you!" Philadephos did not expect that the enemy would come to this attack. He was caught off guard and suddenly cursed.

"Attack! Attack! Attack immediately!" he shouted angrily.

"Woo!...Woo!..." A high-pitched attack horn sounded.

Alithosis, who had been impatient for a long time, immediately pointed his spear forward: "Cavalry advance!"

The 800 Crotone cavalry formed an inverted fan shape. They all clamped their legs on the horse's belly, shook their reins, and the war horses began to move forward with four hooves and a slow trot.

Ledes's cavalry formed a loose wedge formation, with two experienced cavalry at the top, each holding a red flag waving in the wind.Seeing that the enemy had begun to move, Leders took a deep breath, suppressed his excitement, patted the neck of his snorting horse, and after watching that the enemy's horse had reached a certain distance, he shouted: "Forward" !”

"Drive! Drive!..." The crowd shouted, urging the horses to move forward.Different from the Crotone cavalry's offensive posture of controlling the reins with their left hand and holding their spears with their right hand, the Dionysian cavalry controlled the reins with both hands and the spears were still hanging on the hooks. They accelerated from the trot. The cavalry controlled the horse speed and did not dare to let go. They run as fast as they can, otherwise they will easily fall off their horses before they come into contact with the enemy.

The sunshine at noon in spring is not hot, but the horses are puffing like clouds and marching forward with high hooves, grass and mud are splashing, dust is flying, and the distance of 500 meters is approaching in an instant.

When the distance was only five or sixty meters, Leders, who was behind the flag bearer, shouted: "Turn right!!!"

Solikos, who was parallel to his left, immediately shouted: "Turn left!!!"

The two flag bearers in front quickly separated to the left and right.

In cavalry combat, because the speed is too fast, the cavalry behind may fall out of formation if they are not careful.The characteristic of the wedge formation is that the head is small and the tail is large, so the cavalry behind can see the direction of the cavalry in front of the formation. Coupled with the two red flags waving in the wind, the Dionian cavalry can basically do it even on the battlefield shrouded in dust and fog. Acting in unison, they successfully divided the wedge formation into two groups, bypassing the oncoming enemy from the front and outside.

The cavalry in the front line of Crotone did not expect that the Dionysians would make such a move and were completely dumbfounded. However, they did not dare to stop and made any rash move without prior planning and coordination. , not only will they disrupt the formation, but they will also be knocked down by the cavalry behind them and trampled into pulp. They can only sprint to the end and then turn back.

But after passing by the Dionian cavalry, moving forward, they suddenly saw countless sharp stabbing spears sticking out from the morning mist, showing them a ferocious cold light.

"Heavy infantry! There are heavy -" the Crotone cavalry exclaimed, trying to rein in the horses. However, the strong inertia caused them to collide with the horses and men. In an instant, the horses neighed and the spears were bleeding. splash……

Some heavy infantrymen were directly knocked away by the powerful momentum, but other soldiers seemed not to have seen them. They held the spears holding the ground with their motionless hands. In front of them, dozens of horses and people lay scattered in a pool of blood. struggle……

There was no real heavy cavalry in this era. Not only the Greek cavalry, but also the cavalry of any Mediterranean country had never dared to charge directly in the face of a closely arranged spear formation.The cavalry behind were frightened and wanted to control their horses to prevent them from colliding with each other, but the sensitive and timid horses screamed and suddenly stopped their rapidly advancing bodies. The cavalry on the horses were pushed by inertia and flew out, crashing into Spear forest, being pierced through...

Arissosis, who was in the center of the cavalry team, finally stopped the advancing horse. However, he saw that some of his comrades around him fell down, some were spinning in circles, and some of the horses refused to move no matter how they yelled. There were whines, shouts, The horses neighed together, and the entire cavalry team was in chaos...

Arissosis knew that he had fallen into the Dionian's trick and his situation was critical. He could no longer think about it: "Turn left! Turn left! Go out from the side!"

He shouted loudly, and the guards around him also shouted. The chaotic Crotone cavalry had a backbone and order soon came into being.

Just when they turned their horses and wanted to bypass the spear phalanx in front, the two groups of cavalry that Dionia had bypassed before suddenly closed together like human arms.

Cries of killing rang out from all around Alithosis, and he suddenly understood that his cavalry was surrounded: the cavalry was actually surrounded by infantry and cavalry. This was simply impossible, but now it is becoming a reality!
"Fight to the left together! Fight out together!!" Alisosis shouted angrily.

But a louder and more powerful voice from the front blocked his shout, and the heavy infantry's charge horn sounded.

"Brothers, kill all these Crotones and avenge Timasone and the others!!" Zantiparis took off his helmet and was the first to rush forward with a bayonet.

More than 1000 mercenaries roared and charged forward after him. The soldiers who were knocked down before also struggled to get up, drew their sabers, and went forward to fight.

The previously solid "spear wall" turned into a pervasive stream of water, quickly penetrating into the chaotic Crotone cavalry.Killing stationary cavalry couldn't be easier for these battle-experienced mercenaries.Most of them even let go of the valuable target of horses, and adopted the method of two mercenaries dealing with one cavalry at the same time: one is responsible for attracting the opponent's attention, while the other sees the opportunity and quickly approaches from the side and rear with precision. He thrust his spear upwards at an angle, and the tip of the spear penetrated the lungs through the gap in the leather armor under the ribs, reaching straight to the heart, killing him with one blow.If the stabbing was avoided, the mercenary would swipe the stabbing spear downwards and knock the cavalry off the horse. Before he could get up, he would be kicked hard on the head and his neck would be broken.

The mercenaries are very efficient in killing people. Even the Dionysian cavalry subconsciously stayed away from these evil spirits when they saw them.

The battle ended quickly. Except for dozens of Crotone cavalry who escaped and more than 100 cavalry who surrendered, all the others died in the battle, including Alithosis.The Dionysians also obtained more than 400 war horses, and only suffered casualties of more than 50 cavalry and more than 20 mercenaries. This was a complete victory!The tactics invented by Davers succeeded!Leders smiled as he listened to the results reported by his men, but he knew that the entire battle was not over yet.

He dispatched 70 cavalry to continue chasing the remnants of the enemy, and urged the rest of the cavalry to rush to the city of Castellon not far away: "Hurry back and get the javelin!"

"Ledes, let's go with you." Zantiparis and many mercenaries came riding on the captured horses.

"You..." Rydes instinctively wanted to refuse, but after all, the mercenaries played a decisive role in this battle, so it was difficult to speak directly.

Zantiparis saw his thoughts and said: "You don't have many cavalry now. Although our riding skills are worse, we are better at throwing javelins than you. More people can put more pressure on Crotone." End the battle here as soon as possible so that we can reinforce Davos as soon as possible!"

Zantiparis's words reminded Ledes that he no longer struggled with the question of whether he was a cavalry member: "I hope you can keep up with our speed. I will not stop and wait for you."

"Don't worry." Zantiparis smiled.

...........................

Philadephos still didn't know that his cavalry was almost completely wiped out, and now the light armor in the center he led was in trouble.

When the attack horn sounded, the light armored soldiers rushed forward.

The enemy's slingers retreated hastily.

Then rush forward, then the arrows rained down...and then the javelins...

After the light armored soldiers suffered some casualties, they were very close to the enemy.

At this moment, the enemy's light infantry in the center retreated as a whole.

The light armored soldiers pursue again, and the enemy retreats again.The faster the lightly armored soldiers chase, the faster the enemy will retreat; the slower the light armored soldiers chase, the slower the enemy will retreat... The two sides always maintain a distance of tens of meters.

　Thanks to Wan Songzhichen, book friend 161212140639474, Bloody Swastika, and book friend 161227165256780 for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)