ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 209 Battle of the Trionto River ([-])
The free people of Dionia are different. They come from various places, run around for a living, and develop self-interested habits. Even before becoming prepared citizens of Dionia, most of them have not received heavy infantry training since they were young. He has never been on the battlefield, and more than half a year of intensive training cannot completely eliminate the habits he has developed for a long time.When the enemy's stabbing spear stabbed his right chest, he should have left it to his teammates to defend and used the stabbing spear to fight back, forcing the opponent to defend and reduce the pressure on his own side. However, out of instinctive reaction, he retracted his shield and blocked it. As a result, Exposing half of the body of the teammate next to him to the enemy's spear... Such a vicious cycle leads to everyone having to look after themselves, thus making the line no longer close. Not only is it impossible to advance effectively together, but it also makes it difficult for the enemy to advance together effectively. The Rotones squeezed in through the gaps and used their personal abilities to further disrupt Dionia's front.

The First Legion of Dionia was originally the legion with the most veterans and the strongest combat effectiveness. It originally had veterans from four brigades, but a large number of veterans were transferred to serve as team officers at all levels of the three legions, and Daves also transferred 300 veterans were recruited as reserves, and thus had to recruit a large number of new soldiers, resulting in a sharp decline in combat effectiveness. After occupying a favorable terrain and taking the lead as soon as the war started, not only did no one take the opportunity to drive all the enemies on the opposite side into the river, but on the contrary After a long stalemate, they actually began to slowly retreat under the crazy counterattack of the Crotones...

Alsinis's team was in the second line of the front line. Several soldiers in the front line had fallen. He shouted loudly and directed his soldiers to work together to drive out the enemies who rushed in and fill the gap again.The long battle made his arms swollen and uncomfortable, and commanding these ignorant recruits made him physically and mentally exhausted, but the fierce eyes from the enemy's helmets on the opposite side always reminded him: Fight!Continue fighting!Otherwise, he will only be greeted by failure and death!
"It is the responsibility of a captain to lead your soldiers to fight bravely and win!" This was the advice given to him by his former squad leader, now a squad leader, Ctipes, when he congratulated him on becoming a squad leader. , he always kept it in mind.He shouted the name of each soldier loudly, and set an example by using brave but flexible fighting to remind and teach his men how to apply the skills learned on the training field to life-or-death battles.

During the most difficult moments of the battle, these low-level team officers in Dionia played an important role as the mainstay.

In a battle with heavy infantry, Dionia is at a disadvantage; in a battle with light infantry, Dionia has the upper hand.Not only did the number of light infantry exceed [-], but more than half of them were veterans from Asia Minor. The three light infantry arms they had: slingers, archers, and peltasts all came from the famous light infantry producing areas of Rhodes and Crested in the Mediterranean. Rite Island and Thrace cannot be fought by Crotone who does not pay attention to the use of light infantry.Even though there were heavy infantry from both sides in the middle, Crotone's light infantry was killed a lot by accurately thrown arrows and stones, and was forced to retreat.

Once the protection of the light infantry weakened, the rear of the Crotone heavy infantry phalanx was attacked by the Dionian light infantry.It stands to reason that these soldiers at the back of the phalanx have not participated in the fighting and should be full of energy.But on the contrary, most of them were soaked in the river for a long time. The cold and biting river water in early spring took away a lot of heat from their bodies, making them hungry and exhausted.Therefore, in the face of the enemy's long-range strikes, their reaction has become somewhat slow. If the heavy infantry's protection was not good enough, their casualties would be absolutely heavy.

Just because both sides have their own difficulties and advantages, they have always been at a stalemate and locked in a bitter battle.

Milon was not in a hurry when facing this situation. Being able to hold on to the situation had achieved his goal.The key to Crotone's victory came from the more than 7000 people who meandered down the Trijunto River. He firmly believed that the final victory must belong to Crotone.

The one who had the same idea was Daves, the governor of Dionysia, but he had already received good news from the Ledes cavalry: the troops in Crotone on the lower reaches of the Trivento River were either annihilated or surrendered, and they were no longer able to recover. existence, Ledes and Epithenes will lead their army to rest for a while, then cross the Tricento River and attack behind the Crotone army.

Davos was completely relieved. Looking at Martores scratching his head and scratching his head with a frustrated expression, he couldn't help but joked: "Matonis, is your scalp itchy?"

"Commander!" Matonis complained loudly: "The last time we captured Niutum, our first legion failed to fight and missed the triumphal ceremony! This time I was captured by you to serve as the reserve captain. We’re about to win, and it’s so unfair that I’m still sitting here idle!”

Davos smiled and said: "Don't worry, it's your turn to play soon."

As he spoke, he gave the order: "Blow the order to change the formation, let the soldiers on the front line retreat, and the soldiers on the second line step up!"

"Commander, we are already about to win, so why bother to make a very difficult formation change! Most of them are new recruits. If something goes wrong and the entire phalanx -" Although Matonis is eager to fight, he He didn't want to see the alliance fail.

"The formation we have trained for so long has never been used in actual combat. Now we are about to win. If we don't accumulate experience now, how long will we have to wait!" Davers said seriously: "What's more, if we retreat, Just in time to lure all the enemies to the river bank, it will be more difficult for them to escape. Matonis, you have been a recruit instructor, you must have full confidence in the results of the long-term training of the soldiers and the command of the team officers!"

"You are the commander, you have the final say! Next, is it our turn to go to the battlefield?!" Matonis no longer dwelled on this issue, but took the initiative to ask for a fight.

"Lead your men and rush to the right wing of the phalanx, right at the junction of the Second Army Corps and the three reserve brigades. If the enemy's sudden advance causes them confusion, you need to rush forward in time to block the enemy's attack and provide a safe place for the soldiers. Let’s reorganize our formation and gain time!”

"Understood, I'm going now! Brothers!——" Matonis cheered up and began to shout loudly.

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

Alcinius and his soldiers were still fighting hard against the enemy.

At this time, the bugle sounded from the rear, which cheered him up.When it sounded for the second time, he recognized it as the "formation change" bugle.

"Brothers, hold on! We will be able to rest soon!" The frontline officers, like Alsinis, reminded the soldiers loudly.

At this time, the second-line array quickly moved into company units. One company remained stationary while its adjacent companies retreated... After a while, the entire square array changed from a dense long snake array to one company after another. A well-proportioned "checkerboard" formation formed by small square formations (i.e. fish scale formation).Since part of the frontline soldiers in the entire phalanx did not have the support of the rear soldiers, they began to retreat under the pressure of the enemy and under the command of the company's drums and military flags... and finally quickly retreated through the gaps in the "checkerboard" at the rear. rear.

When the drums of Alcinis' company did not sound, he knew that his company was not very lucky. The company in the rear did not withdraw first, so they could not retreat for the time being.

At this time, Captain Ctipes shouted loudly: "Brothers, protect our flanks!"

As the neighboring companies retreated, the enemy took advantage of the situation and poured in. Since the front line of the Dionysian phalanx did not retreat as a whole, Crotone's offensive array became uneven, and the lines of both sides formed a staggered trend.Alsinis's company was under the pressure of being surrounded on three sides, but the enemies pouring into the gap were also in the same situation, but the Dionysian troops were prepared to retreat, and every small square formation in close contact with the enemy was in a Under the strong control of the company captain, Crotone was unprepared and disorderly. As a result, although Dionia was retreating, Crotone did not seize such an opportunity, causing greater damage to Dionia. of destruction and chaos.

At this time, the company's drums sounded, and the 20×10 square formed by the four squadrons began to slowly retreat backwards as the central military flag began to wave rhythmically to the rear... Alsinis and the others used shields and spears while To defend against the enemy's attack, as the rear company retreated, the company they belonged to also began to retreat in an orderly manner.When the rear company stopped, Alsinis and the others were able to withdraw from the gaps between the scattered company formations... After several turns of retreat, the soldiers on the front line successfully retreated to the rear, and the soldiers on the second line returned to the rear. Arrange in a dense formation and become the forefront of the entire chat formation.

The reason why the formation was switched so smoothly without major chaos and that Davers' worries did not come true was mainly because the Crotones had never seen an army dare to carry out such a fierce battle. The bold and peculiar array switching back and forth failed to take effective countermeasures in time; secondly, when fighting in a dense formation, the Crotone army was stronger than Dionia, which had mostly recruits, but once the array was switched, both sides' When all the intensive formations were split into small squares, Dionia's long-term targeted training with squadrons and companies as tactical units came into play. Their command was more efficient and their actions were more flexible. On the other hand, Crotone's operations and training were based on large square formations, and the command system was originally rough. After the soldiers poured into the gaps, they lost effective command and fell into chaos. They could only fight on their own. On the contrary, In bad situation.

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

Milon, who was soaked in the river, first heard the sound of the enemy's trumpets and drums. He was still wondering in his heart, and then the array, which had been deadlocked for a long time, began to move forward...

　Thanks to 111 Old Driver, Traceless Moon, Destined, and Book Friends 161227165256780 for their rewards!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)