ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 508 The Battle of Crotone ([-])

Sipulos mused.

Milon, a native of Crotone, reminded: "The Tachinadi River can be crossed. Be careful that the Syracuseans are not just focusing on attacking the left wing."

Tormid smiled and said: "We have conducted a rigorous survey beforehand. As far as we know, it is still difficult to ford the upper section of the middle reaches of the Tachinadi River, so His Majesty Davos has ordered the formation to The seventh corps on the far right must not march beyond the middle of the middle reaches of the Tachinadi River."

Thormid's explanation made Mylon and Sipulos' expressions become more solemn.

"Syracuse's heavy infantry is not weak and has a large number, and they will definitely deploy the foreign cavalry here to attack us. Although we Crotones are not afraid of death, but -" Milon looked embarrassed Although he did not participate in the Battle of the Ramato River, he witnessed with his own eyes how the Syracuse infantry destroyed the city in one day during the siege of Crotone.And from the soldiers' mouths, he also learned about the power of those mercenary cavalry: "Once we cannot withstand Syracuse's full attack from the left wing, it will inevitably affect the success or failure of the entire battle!"

At this time, Sipulos answered: "Since King Daves has deliberately set up such a formation in advance to guide the Syracuseans to focus on attacking the left wing, there must be corresponding countermeasures."

"That's right." Tormid said seriously: "The most powerful first and second legions of Dionia will support the entire left wing with you. I believe that no matter how many enemies there are, they will not easily defeat you! And on your left side there are more than 1500 cavalrymen from Dionysia to prevent the enemy's cavalry from attacking our flanks. The most important thing is-" A strange color appeared on Tormid's face: "In There will be a spear brigade behind you, and they will be responsible for defeating the enemy's cavalry and counterattacking the enemy!"

There are no more than a thousand people in a large group, and they actually want to decide the outcome of the left wing? !Both Milon and Sipulos were confused because they both knew Dionia better and knew that Dionia's army formations were relatively fixed, unlike ordinary Greek city-states, where the number and organization of the troops assembled each time they sent out troops were large. The same, so they can be sure that they have not heard of the formation of the spear brigade among all the legions of the Dionia Alliance before: Could it be a force that was just formed after the war broke out? If so, it would be powerful combat effectiveness? !
The two looked at each other with confusion in their eyes.

Tormid smiled mysteriously: "You will know before the battle begins."

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As the Dionian army moved forward steadily, the Syracuse mercenary cavalry also began to retreat rapidly.

The two armies of Dionia and Syracuse are only nine miles apart. After more than an hour of marching, they are getting closer and closer to the Syracuse army.

When the sun in the middle of the sky began to turn westward, Dionysius, who was in the center of the formation, heard the sound of "Crash! Crash!..." coming from the front, getting louder and louder, and even the ground shook slightly. shock……

The war horse began to restless and neighed non-stop. Dionysius slapped its neck angrily to signal it to quiet down.

The attendant next to him saw it and hurriedly came over to calm the war horse.

"The Dionians are coming..." He whispered to the attendants with a solemn expression.

After a while, I saw a gray cloud of dust rising in the far distance of my line of sight, slowly drifting towards them.As the dust mist advances, it becomes larger and larger, extending infinitely to the east and west ends, with no end in sight. It is like the dark clouds that are getting thicker and heavier in the sky before a storm. It is overwhelming and suffocating. It will make people unable to stop thinking about how terrifying the power that it breeds and is about to explode...

Although Syracuse has more troops, the soldiers who hastily completed the formation layout have not had time to experience and integrate into this huge phalanx. Therefore, facing the Dionian army pressing like mountains and waves, all feel nervous.

Dionysius frowned and said urgently: "Go to the right wing to urge Phoebidas to complete his plan quickly. I'm afraid the enemy is about to attack!"

"Yes, sir!" The messenger galloped away.

Dionysius stared ahead with a solemn expression.

The huge dust mist belt has stopped advancing at a distance of 700 meters, and then one can hear the sound of short bugles, drums, shouts, tiny footsteps, and the clash of armor, shields and spears coming from the opposite side...

Dionysius knew that it was the Dionians reorganizing their array, so he was very anxious. Although the messenger had just left for a while, he felt as if he had left for a long time.

As time continues to pass, the sound coming from the other side gradually decreases from the noisy and ear-splitting volume at the beginning, until it disappears. Finally, it is quiet, as if the sound just now is an auditory hallucination, as if it did not exist from the beginning, and there is only the sky. The dust mist is gradually dispersing...

"Sir, General Phoebus has completed the formation. He hopes that you can delay for a while so that the soldiers can take a breath." The messenger hurried back and gasped.

Dionysius understood.

He looked ahead. At this time, the dust and fog had dissipated. What appeared in his field of vision was a large Dionysian army. Under the sunlight, the armor and shields of the closely arranged soldiers reflected the dazzling light. The cold light is like an endless steel city wall.

But unlike the last battle on the Ramato River, what Dionysius saw was not only black, but also yellow and cyan. Several colors intertwined in the huge phalanx. This just shows that Dionysius Although a staggering number of troops were assembled, there was no guarantee that every soldier would be able to obtain what they called "standard equipment." This gave Dionysius a little more confidence. He said to the attendant beside him : "Go tell the Dionians that I want to talk to their new king!"

The attendant nodded to express his understanding, rode out on horseback, and ran towards the opposite military formation. At a distance of 50 meters from the Dionians, he reined in his horse and shouted loudly: "King Davos of Dionia, Sir Dionysius, the plenipotentiary general of Syracuse, wants to talk to you in front of the battle! King Davos of Dionia..."

The messenger had already informed Daves, who was in the center and rear of the military formation, of the Syracuseans' cry.

Davos pondered for a moment and said to Tormid next to him: "Why do you think Dionysius wants to talk to me?"

"Your Majesty." Tormid thought for a while and said, "... Dionysius may be curious about what the opponent who gives him a headache looks like."

Davos laughed at Tormid's implicit flattery: "I don't have time to play such childish games with him."

Davos paused and asked, "Is the spear brigade fully in place?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. And as you commanded, they did not raise their spears," replied Tormid.

"That's because they are afraid that the wandering Syracuse mercenary cavalry will find something unusual. Don't underestimate the Sicilian tyrant, he is very alert!" Davos did not dare to underestimate the enemy, but he was also full of confidence, since the enemy did concentrate heavy troops on them On the right wing, I hope the Spear Brigade can surprise them.

Davos stared at the dark enemy line ahead with piercing eyes, and said impassionedly: "Tormid, you go and tell the commanders of the armies, let them tell their brothers, for the sacrifice of the leader of the Drakos army, for the soldiers who died in the battle. Warriors, it’s time to avenge the massacred people of Dionia! Let them sing the Hades hymn and prepare to attack!”

"Yes!" Tormid responded loudly.

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

Myron finally saw the spear brigade he had always been curious about.

In the military establishment of ordinary Greek city-states, a brigade ranges from about 1000 people, and the spear brigade lined up behind their array has a full 6000 people, which is not wrong enough to be unique to Dionia. A legion was organized.

Moreover, when Davos first said the term "Spear Brigade", Myron was surprised by this name. Except for the light infantry, almost all Greek infantrymen were armed with spears (a spear is a kind of spear). Is it necessary to emphasize it in particular?When he saw the weapons in the hands of the soldiers, he finally understood why it was called a "spear". Although the soldiers did not lift it up, but held it flat, he could clearly see that its style was similar to that of a spear. Very similar, but significantly longer!Moreover, the soldiers were not wearing armor and were wearing single clothes. The 6000 people were located behind the Crotone and Trina soldiers. However, they did not thicken the front array, but adopted a column array to connect with the front.

Extra-long bayonet, soldiers without armor, column formation... Milon was full of curiosity and doubts, and couldn't help but think: What is Daves planning to do with such a strange army?
Just as he was guessing, Hades's hymn rang out from Dionia's array: "I devoutly praise you, Hades with black hair and black eyes!

You are the King of Hades, the Lord of the Night!
You are a fair judge and a strict supervisor!
......"

Each soldier sang intently and devoutly in the hope of receiving blessings from the powerful Pluto.Countless voices gathered over the Dionian military formation, and gradually became uniform in rhythm, echoing on the battlefield dozens of miles around, echoing the sound of wind and water, extremely solemn and grand!
Dionysius actually heard it very clearly in front of his own formation, and his face changed drastically: "Damn the Dionians, they are about to attack! Quick! Go and inform the soldiers in each unit to pray to Apollo immediately and prepare. attack!"

After saying that, he pulled his horse back, passed through the gaps reserved between the phalanxes, and reached the rear.

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The singing on the Dionia side has ended, and the prayer on the Syracuse side has just begun.

　Thanks to Note Yi and Zhan Bi for the reward!Your support is my biggest motivation for writing! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)