ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1025 The decisive battle with Selinus (End)

The soldiers tightened their spears and rekindled their desire to fight.

"Lord Mago, the Dionians have accelerated their advance and seem to be preparing to attack us first!" Kisgo rushed over to remind us.

"Just in time, let the soldiers speed up!" After Mago finished speaking, he turned over and dismounted, and slapped the horse's butt hard.

The war horse neighed and ran away.

Mago then said to the guard behind him: "Bring me a shield and a spear."

Jisgo stepped forward to stop him: "Sir, you should be directing from behind, not——"

Mago interrupted him loudly: "Stop talking, I want to fight with the soldiers today!"

At this moment, the people around were also deeply touched. Bomirka, the adjutant, and the young nobles of Carthage who had been ridiculed by Mago as dandy children also dismounted, picked up shields and spears, and stood beside Mago. beside.

Mago looked at them, smiled, and said proudly: "Let us fight for Carthage together today!"

There were more than 6000 Phoenician allied soldiers who were hurriedly taken out of the camp by Kisgo. In addition, before Mago learned that the Dionian army appeared outside the camp, he urgently asked Stikamo to mobilize 4000 Carthage soldiers. The citizen soldiers were affected by the defeat. At this time, there were more than 3000 people following Mago... The number of troops that Carthage can fight is close to 10000, which seems to be quite different from the number of the Dionian army on the opposite side. , and the huge cavalry that Davos had always been afraid of before now only has more than 100 cavalry. Due to the single type of troops, the formation speed is very fast.

And since Mago, Pomilka, Kisgo and other generals were all holding shields and spears and walking at the forefront of the formation, the soldiers naturally followed them with firm steps and strode forward, while the frightened soldiers ran and shouted behind them. It is not possible to shake their fighting spirit for the time being.

On the Dionia side, the Roman reserve brigade is located in the middle, with Potentia and Samnite reinforcements at the rear, and cavalry on both wings. Davos leads more than 200 palace guards to follow behind the center of the army. .The nearly 1 temporarily formed soldiers were evenly divided into two parts, located behind the cavalry on both wings, but 200 meters apart.

After the attack bugle sounded, all the soldiers accelerated their advance, especially the cavalry on both wings. They quickly approached the Carthaginian army. Hundreds of short javelins flew into the Carthaginian formation, causing screams.

There were only a small number of light infantry in this Carthaginian army, and they were unable to attack the Dionian cavalry from a distance. The heavy infantry could only move forward quickly, trying to close the distance with the enemy and engage in close combat.

But the well-trained Dionian cavalry quickly turned their horses and ran back in order to regain the distance and throw the javelin in their hands.

The running heavy infantry couldn't protect themselves well, and many people were hit by javelins, which forced them to slow down their progress and hide behind the round shield.

As a result, only the center of the Carthaginian army, which was not attacked, continued to stride forward without slowing down.

"Javelin ready!" the team officers shouted loudly.

This was the first time that the soldiers of the Roman reserve group threw javelins in actual combat, but they did not look unfamiliar at all.

The javelin rain that covered the sky came, and Mago only had time to shout: "Be careful to defend!" before he hurriedly hid himself behind the buckler.

Then he heard a shrill scream beside him, and his adjutant fell to the grass.

Mago's heart was burning with anger. He raised his spear and shouted back: "Follow me, charge forward!"

He raised his buckler at an angle and charged forward.

The soldiers also roared and followed closely behind.

Seeing that there was not enough time to throw the second round of javelins, the soldiers of the Roman reserve brigade also immediately launched a charge.

Soon, the two sides collided.One side fights for survival and the other side fights for honor. Both sides tried their best from the beginning and the battle was fierce.

A few minutes later, the Dionian cavalry finished throwing their javelins and galloped towards the outside. The Carthaginian troops on both wings left behind hundreds of injured and wailing soldiers, resumed their forward speed, and soon met the Dionysian troops who came up. The Onian army fought.

Most of these people who temporarily became Dionian soldiers were composed of preparatory citizens or free people who aspired to become Dionian citizens. Although they lacked military training and heavy infantry combat skills, their desire to win was not Weaker than the Roman soldiers, because as long as they were rewarded for meritorious service, they would be a big step closer to becoming real citizens of the Kingdom of Dionia, so their battles were very heroic, coupled with the large number of people, and the Carthaginian army soldiers on both sides They had just been hit by the cavalry's javelin, resulting in considerable casualties and a decline in morale. Therefore, at the beginning of the battle, the Dionian recruits actually had some upper hand.

At this time, the Dionysia cavalry also quickly adjusted their formation to assist the recruits in launching direct attacks on both wings.

They lined up in a long single file, straightened their spears, accelerated their horses, and passed behind the two wings of Carthage. When the enemy blocked the spears with their round shields, the cavalrymen would quickly release their hold on them. At the same time, the other hand hugged the horse's neck tightly to prevent the recoil force from causing the horse to fall.

Even if the Carthaginian army soldier used a round shield to block the spear charge of the Dionian cavalry, the strong momentum would make him stagger, his arms would be sore, and he would not even be able to grasp the round shield, and the second spear would follow. It would be easier to stab his body...

The Delnian cavalry's attacks were continuous, like peeling an apple with a dagger. It didn't look violent, but it was actually quite lethal.

As time went by, the array on both wings of Carthage, which was locked in a bitter battle, was crumbling, the morale of the soldiers dropped sharply, and they began to flee.

The balance of power is still maintained in the middle.

By now, Mago felt exhausted. He panted and looked at the enemies on the opposite side. The faces that were different from the Greeks made him feel familiar, and also made him feel confused and angry: Romans?It turned out to be Romans!Carthage was involved in this war just to help Rome. However, these former allies stopped here to take away his only hope of victory. Have they forgotten that Dionia destroyed Rome? !How can they become Dionia's lackeys!

Mago roared angrily, regrouped his strength, slammed forward with his round shield, and then thrust out the spear, hitting the enemy's chest. Unexpectedly, it broke with a "click", and Mago, who was caught off guard, immediately fell forward. .

"Lord Mago!" The soldiers on both sides desperately rescued him from the enemy's spear.

Mago struggled to stand up. Due to the loss of strength, his arms were sore and his vision was blurred.

He raised his head with difficulty: the Dionian flag raised high behind the enemy was so dazzling and so close to him!Why?Why are we working so hard? !But it was impossible to break through the array of the Romans and kill King Dionia!If my Iberian army is here, sure!We must be able to catch that damned King Dionia! …

At this time, there was a sudden commotion behind Mago, and it was rapidly expanding, and the panicked shouts of soldiers reached his ears: "Oh my god, it's the Numibian cavalry!"

In a daze, he turned around subconsciously, only to see a hail of arrows flying from the sky, followed by severe pain on his cheek...

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

There are routs everywhere outside the Carthage camp, and the soldiers of the Dionian Legion are chasing after them, coupled with the sweeping back and forth of thousands of cavalry. The scattered Dionian army posed a threat, and many Carthaginian soldiers surrendered because there was no hope of escape.

This time, Davos did not let the army chase after the victory. When the time entered dusk, he quickly issued an order: withdraw the troops and return to the city.

In the battle of Selinus on this day, the Dionian army and the Numibian cavalry deliberately retreated in the city, attracting the main force of the Carthaginian army to continue the attack, and then cooperated inside and outside to launch a fierce counterattack, only paying 2000 casualties. At the cost of many people, the Carthaginian army was completely defeated.

On the Carthage side, more than 3 Numibian soldiers and the Numibian army rebelled one after another. The remaining troops went through siege and two battles, with a total of more than 6000 casualties, and were captured during the escape. Nearly 8000 people were killed. The remaining A, B and C either fled westward into the city of Mazara or northward into Segesta. A small number of soldiers fled in the wrong direction in panic and endured hunger and cold in the mountains to the east. After spending one night, he voluntarily returned to the city of Serinus on the second day and asked the Dionian army to take him in.

At dusk, Davos led the palace guards to the city of Selinus, and he decided to hold a rare banquet.

Due to the long-term siege battle, the two sides fought repeatedly in the city, resulting in ruins. The venue for the banquet was set at the temporary residence where the captain of the Sicilian Fleet lived in the port area.

After intense preparations, food and drinks were put on the table in the evening. The commanders of each legion and two staff officers arrived one after another. As a result, they were surprised to find that the specific location of the banquet was not in the hall, but behind the door. In the courtyard, there were dozens of dining tables in this relatively spacious open space, and their king was sitting at the central dining table. This made it impossible for them to sit down according to the previous practice, and they could only sit under Martius' table. Under the guidance, he sat in a circle around Davos.

Davos did not order the banquet to start immediately, but first asked about the course of today's battle and the casualties of the army.

Except for the first legion and the second legion, which caused heavy casualties when they first defended the inner city wall against the fierce attack of the Carthaginian army, the other legions basically suffered light casualties, but captured a lot. In addition to capturing nearly 2000 soldiers, It even completely took down the baggage camp of the Carthage camp. The piles of food and the huge amount of ordnance made the baggage officers who went to check it laugh from ear to ear, not to mention that they also captured more than [-] soldiers. A war horse... Therefore, every legion commander looks relaxed and talks and laughs.

(End of this chapter)