ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 428 Battle of Ramato River ([-])

Effialt quickly withdrew his dagger and hid his body under the long shield, avoiding the spear thrusts and saber slashes of the enemies in the front and rear rows. The teammates on the right also caught the enemy when he fell to the ground. Squeezing forward to his side, fighting side by side with him also shattered the enemy's front-line shield wall even more.

Just at the moment when the rabbit was rising and the falcon was about to fall, Ephialt injured two people in a row.

In close combat, the combination of the long shield and the short sword of the Dionian legion infantry creates a significantly greater danger than the combination of the round shield and the saber of the Syracuse heavy infantry. After all, the Greek saber has a certain degree of bending, and more It is suitable for slashing rather than stabbing, and the round shield does not protect the whole body as well as the long shield.The people of Syracuse had to be more attentive, because the sharp sword points would pierce through the gaps between the shields from time to time, and they would be injured if they were not careful.

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On the left wing of the coalition forces, the Crotone citizen soldiers, known throughout Greece for their wrestling and boxing, continued to unleash their violent power.

Although Phoebidas thickened the array of Syracuse's right wing, he was unable to increase the number of soldiers he led. Therefore, under the pressure of the Crotones, Syracuse's right wing slowly retreated as a whole, causing The arc of the formation becomes more and more curved.

However, in accordance with the tradition of the Spiespartans, Phoebe Das was standing at the front of the phalanx to fight against the enemy. Even if he felt that the situation was not good, he couldn't leave the formation to make some arrangements to change the situation on the field. One can hope that the mercenary cavalry can faithfully implement the plan before the battle. In fact, the mercenaries of Syracuse, the mercenary cavalry, have already begun to act.

Faced with such an exciting battle, the more militant Numibian and Celtic cavalry were already eager to try.

Akilita roared, and about 2000 Numibian cavalry followed him and galloped out.

They gradually formed a slender column while running, quickly passing by the outside of the coalition cavalry, making strange roars, and throwing javelins at the coalition cavalry.

The allied light infantry immediately fired arrows at the enemy cavalry.

Because the Numibian cavalry charged forward diagonally in a single file, in a loose formation, and in rapid movement, not many were hit by arrows and fell off their horses, while many coalition cavalry were stabbed by javelins at the same time.

The coalition cavalry began to become restless, and Sobokos repeatedly waved them to stay calm.

When Axilita led the Numibian cavalry in a big circle, turned back from the dust and fog, and prepared for another round of javelin throwing, many coalition cavalry finally couldn't hold it anymore and rushed forward.

They took the lead, and the other cavalry also rushed forward.

Sobokos couldn't stop it at all. Although he was the temporary commander of the coalition cavalry, the Dionian cavalry did not account for the majority of the entire coalition cavalry, only 500 cavalry.Moreover, in the minds of the Greeks, the cavalry is the privilege of the nobles, and it is a stage for personal bravery.

Soon Sobocos discovered that only the Dionysian cavalry and nearly 4000 coalition light infantry were still standing.

When Axilita saw the coalition cavalry rushing towards him, a smile appeared on his face.

He flexibly manipulated the horse's reins to quickly turn the charging horse into galloping diagonally forward, then turned east and accelerated his retreat.Because he was at the head of the team, the Numibian cavalry behind him could clearly see his movements, and immediately followed his example. The entire Numibian cavalry turned around and ran eastward.

The allied cavalry thought the enemy was fleeing and urged their horses to pursue them.

Sobox was in a dilemma: should he catch up?Or stay behind?

It seems that there are enemy cavalry on the opposite side hundreds of meters away filled with dust and mist, but as the commander of the coalition cavalry, if Sobokos does not act with the cavalry of other city-states, then he is worthy of Dionysia as the leader of the Southern Italian alliance. He was so courageous that he was suspected of sitting back and watching the defeat of the coalition cavalry without going to the rescue.

Sobokos thought about it again and again, and finally made a painful decision.He first informed the light infantry commanders and told them to pay attention to the remaining cavalry on the opposite side.Then he led 500 Dionysian cavalry and rushed in the direction of the coalition cavalry pursuit.

Shortly after the Dionian cavalry left, the coalition light infantry heard the rumble of horse hooves, accompanied by a soul-stirring roar, as if thousands of drum hammers were violently beating the drum, and the entire ground was shaking. .

"Fire the arrow! Fire the arrow quickly!!..." The allied light infantry commander shouted anxiously with his soul in his eyes.

The light infantry had never seen cavalry charge at them on such uneven ground with such a high speed, a relatively dense front, and desperate efforts to break out of the dust and mist.The pursuit of extreme speed and the fearless momentum of life and death scared them so much that they shot arrows in a hurry, turned around and ran away.

The Celtic cavalry active in the Po River Valley in northern Italy cut straight into the loose coalition light infantry like a sharp sword.

There was a sound of horses neighing, and many Celts fell from their horses that stopped suddenly. The coalition light infantry were either stabbed by spears or knocked away by their horses, and more of them fled in all directions.

How could the bloodthirsty Celts let them go so easily? They chased them on horseback and stabbed down the fleeing enemies one by one. Then they jumped off their horses and killed the stabbed soldiers one by one in their heads according to Celtic fighting customs. Cut it off and hang it on the horse...

Sobokos never expected that the 4000 coalition light infantry he had high hopes for would be defeated so quickly by the Celtic cavalry with only 800 horsemen.But at this moment, he had no intention of thinking about the situation of the light infantry left behind.

Felicius originally chose to fight here in order to limit the performance of Syracuse's cavalry. Now, due to the rash attack of the coalition cavalry, the terrain has become a shackles for them. Slowing down or someone falling off the horse is not a big problem. In the end, What's dangerous is that the Numibian cavalry are much more flexible than they are in driving their horses on such terrain. They even ride in rough areas like playing with children, and from time to time they look back and throw javelins at the coalition cavalry that drives them away. .

Teammates who were shot and killed from time to time made the pursuit queue of the coalition cavalry become sparse and began to make them cower.

However, after seeing that the coalition cavalry did not pursue them, the Numibian cavalry took the initiative to follow them.

Sobokos, who was rushing behind, used his calmer mind to discover the dust and mist rising on both sides of the chaotic pursuit formation of the coalition cavalry, and suddenly felt nervous: the enemy attempted to outflank the coalition cavalry!
"Let them retreat quickly! Go let them retreat!!" Sobokos immediately urged the messenger beside him.

Before the messengers could accelerate forward, the coalition cavalry began to retreat in panic.

They finally realized that compared with the mercenary cavalry of Syracuse, their riding skills were far inferior, and if they continued to pursue them, the entire army would be in danger of being destroyed.

But how could the Numibians let the prey that was about to fall into the trap escape easily? Although the big net had not been fully opened, Axilita still blew the horn.

The Numibian cavalry, with disheveled hair, wearing only simple cloth robes, and their horses were so smooth that there were no cushions, immediately outflanked them from three directions at the same time at a riding speed faster than the coalition cavalry.

The coalition cavalry ran back in panic like trapped birds. Some even fell off their horses out of fear and were trampled into a pulp by the running horses.

This time, the Dionian cavalry ran at the forefront of the entire retreat and pursuit team.

When Sobokos led them back to the original garrison location, hoping that the 4000 coalition light infantry remaining there could stop the enemy's pursuit, the sight that fell into their eyes surprised the Dionysian cavalry: they had originally been arranged in a flying goose shape. The allied light infantry no longer existed. There were only human corpses, horse corpses, and groaning wounded soldiers everywhere. Some bare-chested indigenous people (ie Celts) were digging something into the pile of corpses, and they were still alive from time to time. The wounded coalition soldiers were stabbed in the barrel, and even their heads were cut off...

Seeing such a tragic scene, the Dionian cavalry, who was also experienced in combat, felt palpitated.

When the Celtics saw the cavalry coming, they got on their horses and prepared to step forward to intercept.

At such a critical moment, Sobox had no time to think too much.

"Go north! Go north!..." Sobox waved his spear and pointed forward. He had only one thought in his mind: to lure these terrifying alien cavalry away, lest they cause trouble to the entire battle. .

Sobokos took the lead, and the Dionysian cavalry led the frightened coalition cavalry to retreat towards the Colache River.

The upper reaches of the Colache River were neither wide nor deep, but when Sobokos urged his horse to run down the sloping river embankment, the front hooves of the horse suddenly slipped under his crotches. He was already tired and could not hold the horse's neck tightly. He was frightened. The war horse fell to the ground.

"Boom!" Sobekos fell heavily to the ground, and he immediately felt severe pain in his leg, which made him almost faint. The old man screamed: Oops, his leg is broken!

He put his hands on the ground and tried to stand up, but it was all in vain and only made the pain worse.

"Captain! Captain!..." When the Dionian cavalry saw Sobokos falling from his horse, they immediately rushed toward him anxiously.

Their change of direction immediately hindered the advancement of the rear cavalry. The Dionysian cavalry and the coalition cavalry were entangled and crowded together on the river bank, causing the cavalry's retreat in this area to almost come to a standstill. People screamed and horses neighed, and they became a mess. The enemy is rapidly approaching...

Sobocos endured the severe pain and shouted: "Leave me alone! Go quickly! Go quickly!! Don't let the military flag...the military flag fall into the hands of the enemy! This is an order!!"

While shouting, he sat on the ground and solemnly placed his right fist on his left chest.

With tears in their eyes, most of the Dionian cavalry responded with military salutes, then turned their horses and rushed into the Colache River.

There were still a small number of cavalry who insisted on charging over, but at this moment, the javelins of the Numibian cavalry flew towards them, and the leading cavalrymen immediately fell off their horses.

(End of this chapter)