ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1311 The Battle of Taposakus ([-])

Davos perked up and immediately asked, "Great! Where are they?!"

Felicius handed the board over knowingly.

Izam gasped, took the wooden board, carefully looked at the diagram of the Persian military formation drawn on it, then pointed to the center front row of its right wing, and said excitedly: "It's right here! Remy made the agreement before I left. The secret code asked the people to use the copper shields equipped by the Persians to swing up and down regularly against the sun, so that they were clearly different from other Persian armies. Even if I stand here, I can see clearly. I think back then When we captured the city of Asprostum, our mountain reconnaissance brigade also used a similar method——"

"Very good! You have done a great job!" Davos interrupted his ramblings, and then asked: "Which army are we facing?"

"The third battalion and the fourth battalion of the No. 11 Legion." Yizam replied immediately.

"Your Majesty, you can send the No. 18 legion as a reserve, so that when the troops of the second brother Yizam retreat, we can make full use of this opportunity to increase the attack on this section of the Persian army!" Feili Hughes also suggested excitedly.

"One legion is not enough!" Davos shook his head, lit the wooden board hard, and said firmly: "Send the No. 19 legion there as well. This will be the breakthrough point for our infantry!"

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Just as the two legions of Dionia were quietly mobilizing behind the array, Mardonius had already rushed to the carriage of the King of Persia on horseback and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, all the troops have already been lined up. Why? Haven't given the order to attack yet?!"

Artaxerxes said hesitantly: "...Should we wait for the Dionians to attack first?"

"Dionia has few soldiers and it is impossible to attack us first!" Mardonius endured the dissatisfaction in his heart and turned to look at Trebasus not far away, venting his anger on him: " Aren't you the most resourceful minister in the kingdom? How did you advise the king on military matters? Since the attack plan has been formulated before the war, you should assist the king in executing it! It has been almost half an hour since the army formation was completed, and the soldiers are still standing still. Just waiting, do you know that when I came here from the left wing, I saw that many of the affiliated troops were already a little unstable, and even the formation of the Eastern Uxians began to appear chaotic!"

Tribasus remained silent and did not refute. He had urged the King of Persia several times before, but the King of Persia seemed to have some concerns and never made a decision, so he delayed again and again.

Artaxerxes' expression changed. Of course he could hear that Mardonius was criticizing him, but he couldn't get angry and reprimand him on the spot. On the one hand, he was facing a powerful enemy, which would affect his morale, and on the other hand, he felt guilty.Before the war, he did formulate offensive-focused tactics after repeated discussions with several important ministers. However, when he saw the concise and quick formation of the Dionian army on the opposite side, the soldiers in the array stood silently, as calm as a mountain. Compared with his own chaotic and noisy army, he suddenly felt a strong uneasiness in his heart. Several past failures came to mind, which inevitably made him worry about gains and losses again.

But when he heard what Mardonios said later, he was startled.

Trebassus, who was good at observing people's words, immediately said: "Your Majesty, those auxiliary troops are not our well-trained Persian army. Although they have been strictly trained during this period, it is difficult for them to maintain their formation for a long time. We We must launch an attack as soon as possible!”

Artaxerxes looked at Trebasus and then at Mardonius: "Then give the order to attack?"

Mardonios said anxiously: "Your Majesty, don't hesitate, give an order quickly!"

Artaxerxes clenched the armrests of the carriage and glanced at the majestic undead army in front of him, the Greek mercenaries like iron walls, the huge war elephants, the terrifying murder weapon chariots, the well-trained archers... Finally Looking at the silent Dionian army on the opposite side, after a moment of silence, he took a deep breath and said loudly: "Get ready to attack!"

Mardonius looked happy and galloped back.

Trebasus then shouted: "Prepare to attack! Prepare to attack!..."

"Woo... Wu..." While the Persian bugle was blowing, Trebassus continued to issue orders for the Persian king: "Archers attack!"

A flag embroidered with bows and arrows was raised high in front of Artaxerxes' carriage, but the only people who could see the flag waving were the archers in the center of the middle road. The entire army formation was more than ten miles long, let alone Even when the flag is raised, the soldiers at both ends of the wings may not be able to hear the bugle blowing, but the Persian army has its own way.

Two teams of Persian messengers in bright military uniforms galloped out from both sides of the carriage, passed through the gap between the teams, rushed to the front, and then ran wildly along the military formation to both sides while shouting: "Archers attack! Archers attack!" Attack!..."

The bow and arrow in the middle is activated!The bows and arrows on the left wing were activated!The bow and arrow on the right wing were activated!The archers, who were at the forefront of the Persian military formation and lined up in a loose formation for more than ten miles, were like a long snake that had just woken up from hibernation and began to slowly advance towards the Dionian military formation.

As soon as he heard the bugle sound coming from the opposite side, Alsinis, like other team officers, immediately perked up and shouted to his soldiers: "Attention, brothers, the Persians are about to attack!"

While shouting, he saw that some soldiers in the unit were too excited and eager to try, and immediately reminded: "Everyone must strictly follow the pre-war arrangements and be prepared for defense! If anyone dares to violate military orders, You will be severely punished!"

The soldiers' hearts trembled, and their expressions became solemn.

"Captain, the Persian archers are coming!" the soldiers in the first column shouted.

"Prepare to defend!" Alsinis' heart tightened and he stared ahead.

The Persian archers advanced very slowly, because the Persian generals who led the army knew the details of the battle in Asia Minor and knew that the Dionysian army also had a large number of light infantry with strong combat effectiveness, so they were careful Be prepared for the appearance of opponents.

However, they were less than 250 meters away from the Dionian army formation, and the opponent's light infantry still did not appear in front of the formation. Although the generals were confused, they did not stop the soldiers from advancing.

When approaching a hundred meters from the Dionian army, the archers consciously stopped advancing.

"Fire the arrow!" Amid the shouts of the generals, the archers nocked their arrows and raised their bows high at a high angle of elevation.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!..." Thousands of originally very light bowstring sounds gathered together, and they could be heard extremely clearly by the Dionian soldiers a hundred meters away.

"Turtle shell formation!" Alsinis shouted.

The soldiers who were originally lined up in a dense formation quickly retracted inward, and at the same time blocked the outside and top of the small square formation with their long shields. In the blink of an eye, it was as if a layer of black iron was added to the 50-man team. , protect them tightly.

Alsinis, who was in the middle of the phalanx, looked up through the small gap between the long shields, and saw the sky-blocking arrows pouring down like a torrential rain. Even with the protection of the thick long shields, He couldn't help but feel his heart tightening.

"Peng! Peng! Dang! Dang! Peng!..." The arrows continued to hit different parts of the long shield, making different sounds, as if they were playing a melody of death.

The Dionian soldiers in the turtle shell formation all looked nervous, but when the melody disappeared, no one was injured.

Before they could take a breath, the melody sounded again.

After three or four repetitions, there was finally a long pause.

This is because the generals of the Persian archer mixed force discovered that the front lines of the Dionian army had adopted this strange formation, so that their projectiles caused almost no damage, so they urged the soldiers to continue moving forward, using closer missiles. distance to increase the penetration of arrows.

Approaching to a distance of 50 meters, the Persian archers did not dare to move forward because they had heard that the heavy infantry of Dionia could throw javelins and were too close to the enemy. When they shot arrows, the Dionia on the opposite side The soldiers charged suddenly, and it was difficult for them to escape.It is precisely because of this danger that not all archers are willing to continue to approach the Dionian army. Some archers of other races are still shrinking even if the Persian generals urge them repeatedly.

The front-line soldiers of the Persian archery troops used direct fire, and the rear-line soldiers used projectiles, and they shot more concentratedly at each turtle shell formation, rather than a large-scale attack, which resulted in inefficiency, because Dionia's checkerboard array made the entire army The formation was relatively scattered, causing many of the thrown arrows to land in the open space.

More dense sounds resounded outside the tortoise shell formation formed by Alsinis's unit, like heavy rain hitting lotus leaves. Each long shield was studded with arrows like a hedgehog, and the soldiers also let out painful groans from time to time. , the sharp arrow tip penetrated the shield and touched the exposed arms or thighs of the Dionian soldiers. Occasionally, arrows passed through the gaps in the shield formation, and because they were blocked by thick helmets and breastplates, Didn't cause much damage.

The Dionian soldiers gritted their teeth motionlessly and persisted. Of course, they were almost shoulder to shoulder, back to chest, and even if they were injured, they could not dodge or retreat.

As the squad leader, Alsinis not only has to peek at the enemy's movements in front from time to time, but also listens to the frequency of arrows hitting the long shield.

Suddenly, he said in a deep voice: "Brothers, if you hold on a little longer, the Persians will not have many arrows left!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sounds outside the array began to become sparse and disappeared soon after.

The Persian archers still had three or four arrows in their quivers, but they chose to retreat at this time. On the one hand, their arms were sore and they needed to rest due to the continuous drawing of the bow. This is a traditional Persian tactic to provide support for the infantry in close combat. Of course, all the arrows cannot be consumed at this time.

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(End of this chapter)