ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1181 Battle of Tegea ([-])
In the end, the Taigean soldiers could not even swing their spears, but the soldiers of the First Legion hiding behind the shield walls of each detachment's phalanx were able to stab out the daggers freely, and screamed continuously. This made the Tegean soldiers even more panicked. With their back road cut off, they began to desperately rush into the Spartans, their allies in the front.

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The soldiers kept using their long shields to resist the impact of external forces, and kept stabbing outwards with their short swords. Their shoulders and arms were already numb.

Max kept shouting and cheering, and his voice was almost hoarse... I don't know how long it took, but the enemy's attack on the turtle formation suddenly weakened.

Are our reinforcements really coming? ...Max saw hope and felt happy.

The soldiers peeped out through the seams of their shields, and vaguely saw the Spartans retreating.They also breathed a sigh of relief temporarily, and slightly moved their sore arms.

At this moment, two loud sounds of "Peng! Peng!" came from above the head. The soldiers in the back row holding the long shields above their heads felt as if huge rocks were hitting the shields, and the entire arms holding the shields were almost broken. When it broke off, they couldn't help but scream in pain.

At this time, two figures fell from above, and before the Dionian Legion soldiers could react, they pushed the soldiers around them outward.

The Dionian soldiers were guarding against the enemy's attack from outside. They did not expect that the turtle shell array would be breached from the inside, and several soldiers were pushed out of the array without any precautions.

Max's eyes were splitting, and he shouted: "Tighten the formation!" while he rushed towards the enemy closest to him, and the dagger pierced the enemy's throat. However, the ferocious smile of the enemy before death made his heart freeze.

They were already prepared for the Spartans to swarm from all directions, leaving Max's detachment of soldiers with no time to regroup before they were knocked to pieces and had to fight on their own.

It turned out that after the Spartan warriors rushed into the dispersed formation of Dionia, they found that the Dionia were not scattered. They gathered into strange small square formations and were resisting tenaciously.The Spartans continued to attack, but were still unable to break through the opponent's defense. Instead, many people were injured.

The Spartans, who had strong tactical ability, had to find another way to defeat the enemy. Soon they thought: the defenses around these small Dionysian phalanxes were very strong, but there might be a breakthrough above them.

So two volunteers who volunteered jumped on top of the turtle shell formation and smashed open the entire formation under the support of many comrades.

Facing the overwhelming number of Spartan warriors, the resistance of the detachment soldiers was quickly crushed. Max, who was pierced through the thigh and fell to the ground, did not stop fighting. He protected his upper body with a long shield and slashed the enemy with a short sword. It was not until a stabbing spear pierced his right hand that the dagger, which had been filled with gaps, finally slipped from his hand...

The Spartan warriors used the same method to destroy several small Dionian phalanxes at the front. Just when they were about to continue their efforts, the warriors at the front were first pushed desperately by the frightened Tegeans. , not only could they not continue to attack the Dionian phalanx, but they were also in danger. After being unable to scold the frightened Tegeans, they poked their spears at their former allies, and the situation began to become chaotic.

Then, not long after, commotion began in the rear of the Spartan army.The forced march speed of the Dionian light armored soldiers was naturally faster than that of the heavy infantry. After the three legion light armored soldiers quickly bypassed the left wing of the entire military formation, without making any modifications, they immediately launched an attack on the flank of the Spartan army. The ferocious attack hit the Spartan army's weak spot.

Among the 7000 soldiers sent from Spartan territory this time, there were only about 1500 real Spartan warriors, more than 1000 elderly Spartan citizens, nearly 2000 Piliasians, and more than 2000 Helots.In order to ensure that Agesilaus' plan could be executed smoothly, Archidamus ranked the Spartans at the forefront, followed by the Piliasians, and then the old Spartans and Helots. the mix of.

At the beginning of the battle, the mixed troops of old Spartans and Helots did not enter the battle, but kept a certain distance from the fighting troops, because Agesilaus was worried that these troops had never accepted a false defeat. Tactically trained helots would be a hindrance.Only after the Spartan warriors returned to fight again, the old Spartan warriors led the Helots to rush behind to increase the intensity and thickness of the attack, thus defeating Dionia's left wing in one fell swoop.

But the reality is that Dionia's left wing has not been defeated, and the Helots are still following closely behind the entire Spartan team. As a result, they become the target of the attack by the Dionia light armor brigade.

Although the Council of Elders had made a promise to the helots who participated in the war: after the war was won, they would become free citizens of Sparta.

However, the Helots, who vaguely knew that the Spartans were now in a difficult situation, were not very enthusiastic about it. However, out of fear of the Spartans, they pretended to be more obedient and hard-working, but in the face of Dionis Under the ferocious attack of the sub-soldiers, these Helots, who had no armor protection, only wore single clothes, and held a simple spear, began to retreat within a moment of fighting, and also took down some old Spartan warriors who were still fighting. .

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Agesilaus was looking forward to news of victory from the right wing. However, the guards sent out several times received news that the Spartans on the right wing were still fighting.

Agesilaus felt that he already knew the Dionysian army very well, but he never expected that the Dionysian soldiers would be affected by Sparta's false defeat tactics and then be attacked fiercely from both sides. To be able to keep fighting for so long!

While he was astonished by the tenacity of the Dionian soldiers' fighting spirit, he also regretted that he had only collected information through oral rumors, or that he did not have a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the Dionian army.

Now he has begun to stand uneasy, because he knows that if the Dionian left wing cannot be defeated quickly, the weaknesses of the Spartan coalition will be exposed over time, mainly the Tegea army, because the Dionian army is Reserves are always kept during battles, and they will inevitably send reserves to attack the Tegeans in order to rescue the left wing.

Therefore, Agesilaus quickly sent messengers to stop the Thracians who were rushing south, preparing to let them rush north, bypass the Spartan army, and reinforce the Tegeans.

However, just as the thousands of Thracian peltasts ran past his rear, the guards who were inquiring about the news hurried back and shouted: "King Agesilaus, it's not good! Our flank is under attack. Dionian attack!!”

Agesilaus was shocked. He had always thought that the commander of Dionysia would first send a reserve team to attack the Tegeans closest to them at this time, so as to achieve the purpose of rescuing the left wing, but at this time Dionia The army actually bypassed the left wing and attacked the flank of the Spartan army. If the Dionian commander was not dizzy, it can only explain one problem. The Dionians have a considerable number of reserves and can attack both ends at the same time. Attack.

Agesilaus was still laughing secretly at the young commander of Dionysia for his lack of experience and easily falling into the trap. Now he had to marvel at the other party's boldness.

However, the situation was very critical and he did not allow him to think too much. He immediately issued an order: "Hurry up and notify the Thracians, let them rush to the right wing quickly, repel the Dionian attack, and protect the flanks of the Spartan army." !”

The Thracian ranks were not far from Agesilaus, and the order was passed on quickly.However, these Thracians who came from the north of the Macedonian territory and did not know much about the reputation of Agesilaus had always been known for their bravery and bad temper. They had accepted the order and marched south in a hurry, and they were almost reaching their destination. , but was called back urgently to execute another order.After running back and forth in vain, they were already suffocating in their hearts. Now the order was changed again. Although it was still in the same direction and the distance was closer, the Thracians finally couldn't help cursing and complaining, and even their curses The sound reached Agesilaus' ears: "Will that lame old Spartan man know how to command? He gave orders indiscriminately, and he lost his head!"

"I think the Spartans are in trouble. They actually sent a dying old man as the commander!"

"Let's just finish this battle, get the commission and leave as soon as possible. I don't want to be angry anymore!"

……

If Agesilaus had heard these words that violated his taboos in normal times, he would have been furious, but now he could only endure it, and hoped that these Thracians would speed up after they relieved themselves. speed.

Finally seeing the Thracians disappear from his sight, the worry in his heart not only did not disappear, but actually increased.

At this time, he no longer had any hope of winning this battle. He only hoped to fight a draw with the Dionysian army, and the casualties of the Spartan soldiers were not large. He had decided to change his next battle. Plan: When this battle is over, he will immediately disband the mercenaries, bring the Spartan warriors back to the territory as soon as possible, defend the Dionian attack for as long as possible, protect the security of the Spartan territory, and wait for the situation. The change.

However, at this moment, guards rushed from the south: "Nearly a thousand Dionian soldiers appeared behind the right wing, and they launched an attack on the mercenary's flank!"

Hearing this, Agesilaus felt as if he had been hit hard, and his whole body instantly went cold.

The guard next to him saw Agesilaus standing blankly like a clay sculpture, and immediately asked with concern: "King Agesilaus, are you okay?!"

(End of this chapter)