ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 430 Battle of Ramato River ([-])

Trina's messenger galloped on horseback. Because the river in the Ramato River in front of him was too deep to be crossed on foot, he had to make a large circle to the north.

Crossing the Ramato River, by the time he arrived at the battlefield with the roar of murder, the skin on the inside of his legs had been worn out, and the horse's belly was stained with blood. The whole person was shaky on the horse, and when he saw Dionia The scouts came up to him, and he shouted loudly: "I am... I am the messenger of Trina! The Syracuse fleet carrying tens of thousands of soldiers came from the Ramato River for reinforcements... Hurry! Go and report to your commander!..."

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Felicius was in a good mood now. Although the disastrous defeat of the coalition cavalry had made him really worried for a while, the Syracuse mercenary cavalry was busy chasing the defeated troops instead of assisting their infantry to reverse the decline of their right wing.Therefore, while he felt lucky, he also laughed in his heart: Although the Syracuse cavalry was powerful, it lacked battlefield discipline and overall perspective.

Now Dionia's left wing is advancing, the center is advancing, and even the right wing is advancing...

Felicius had already ordered the standard-bearer to move the erected military flag forward, and now it seemed that it would be moved forward again.

Soon!Soon! ...Felicius was thinking in his mind how long the people of Syracuse could resist.At this moment, he has decided that victory is like an apple that is about to ripen, and it is already within easy reach.

But at this moment, the reconnaissance cavalry came from the west at full speed: "Report to the commander! Syracuse reinforcements are landing on the banks of the Ramato River, there may be tens of thousands of them!" They received the Trina messenger After receiving the notice, they rushed to the river bank to confirm. What they saw shocked them.

"What did you say?! Tens of thousands of enemy reinforcements!!" Felicius, who was in high spirits, felt as if he had been splashed with cold water, which chilled him from his skin to his heart.

"Yes, Sir Commander, there are tens of thousands of Syracuse reinforcements! They are landing on the river bank one mile behind our right wing!" the scout shouted anxiously: "We must stop them!"

This astonishing news caught Felicius by surprise. He glanced at the people around him with a little panic, and the people around him were also watching it nervously. He was the commander of the coalition forces, and everyone was waiting for his instructions.

Felicius realized this and coughed twice to calm his panic: "Order! Two light armored brigades and two light infantry brigades immediately rushed to the river bank where the enemy landed and stopped them at all costs. Don’t let them attack our rear!”

"Yes!"

"Blow the bugle again and urge the fourth and fifth legions to step up their attack! Immediately rush to tell the two legion commanders and the three generals Cypros, Acesias, and Askamas about our current dangerous situation, Let them not hold back, and attack the enemy with all their strength!"

Everyone immediately followed the order and carried it out.

After everything was arranged, Felicius had no time to think about it until now: Where did the enemy get tens of thousands of reinforcements from?Could it be Maiderma's troops?But the Trina people said that Medema is just a small town, how could it possibly send tens of thousands of citizen soldiers? …

Felicius had not yet thought about the Syracuse troops besieging the city of Colonia because the coalition scout cavalry had been reporting back: more than 4 Syracuse coalition forces had been preparing to attack the city.

Of course, he couldn't have known that in order to help the South Italian coalition at this time, Lijim's general Feidun even took the risk of leading his army to attack Medema, hoping to force the Syracuse army to return reinforcements and thus disrupt the Syracuse people. plan of.

But from this moment on, the uneasiness in Felicius' heart began to expand...

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From the center of the formation to the coast where Syracuse landed, it was a full six miles. Although the Dionian light armored soldiers and light infantry were traveling fast, it also took some time.By the time they arrived at the river bank, most of the Campanian mercenaries had already landed and began to form a team.

Although there were a large number of enemies, the black mass occupied the entire river beach.Under the guidance of the military flags held high by the team officers, the Dionian soldiers bravely rushed forward according to their usual training routine.

2000 light infantrymen poured arrows and javelins at the enemy, and 2000 light armored soldiers armed with leather shields and short swords walked directly into the loose formation of mercenaries.

The Dionian army's surprise attack was beyond Leptinius's expectations. Based on the past fighting habits of Greek city-states, he thought that at this point in the battle, both sides should have invested all their forces in order to win. Unexpectedly, the South Italian Allied Forces It was even possible to draw out a force to stop Syracuse's reinforcements.

Of course he didn’t know that it wasn’t that Felicius had known Dionysius’s plan in advance, but that the Dionysian Military Law stipulated that “as a commander, you should keep a reserve force during combat so that Enter the battlefield at a critical moment in the battle to change the situation of the battle." Felicius did exactly this. The 2000 light armored soldiers were his reserve team, and the 2000 light infantrymen completed the initial harassment and retreated to the array. The rear also became part of the reserve force.

The sudden impact of these 4000 Dionian soldiers plunged the newly landed Campanian mercenaries into chaos.

At the critical moment, Leptinius quickly directed the remaining ships to dock quickly.As the commander of the Syracuse Navy, his original task was to transport reinforcements to land. It was the task of the mercenary leader En Amenas to lead the reinforcements to attack the enemy. But now En Amenas is in chaos among the soldiers, and it is still unclear whether he will live or die. Knowing that, Leptinius had to take on the important task of rescue.

He jumped off the ship and ordered the remaining mercenaries to land immediately.

The mercenaries on the boat had seen what happened to their companions, and they were all very anxious. Some of them jumped directly onto the beach before the boat docked.

After Leptinius hurriedly organized the team, he led them to bypass the mercenary front team that was forced to retreat continuously and almost collapsed. Braving the arrow rain of the Dionian light infantry, he attacked the Dionian light armored troops. flank.

The fierce offensive of the light armored soldiers was forced to suspend.In fact, the long-distance march and the previous rapid attack had consumed a lot of their physical strength.

The chaotic mercenary front team finally recovered and began to take advantage of their large numbers and heavy armor. The casualties of the Dionian light armor soldiers increased sharply.If the light armored soldiers of the first and second legions of Dionia are here, they should be able to persist longer, but the vast majority of the light armored soldiers of the fourth and fifth legions are from Bruti and Lucania, and are mountain people. The combat education they received since childhood is to know how to avoid the enemy when they are weak rather than fighting head-on. Although they have been restrained by Dionia's military training and discipline in the alliance for several years, they still have the idea of ​​​​saving their lives in adversity. Just gained the upper hand...

The Dionian light armored soldiers retreated, and of course the light infantry without the barrier also retreated...

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At this time, the battle had lasted for nearly an hour. The soldiers had weakened both fighting and shouting due to physical exertion, but suddenly both sides sounded bugles almost simultaneously, and the drums were loud, urging the attack.

Soldiers on both sides had to use their last strength to speed up attack and defense.

For Dionysius, he only had one idea at the moment: to withstand the enemy's attack before reinforcements arrived!
For Felicius, he only had one belief: to break the enemy's formation before the enemy's reinforcements arrived and establish victory!

Both sides have reached a critical moment that determines victory or defeat.

Effialt, who had several stab wounds on his arms and thighs, was now so tired that he couldn't even lift his shield. The hand holding the dagger was shaking slightly due to excessive exertion for a long time, and he was breathing loudly. Like a dying patient.The enemy on the opposite side was even more vulnerable than him. Because the armor was too heavy, he had thrown away his buckler, holding a spear in both hands, and his whole body was shaking.

Effialt did not despise them in his heart. In the previous battles, no one in the Dionysian Army had used the unique characteristics of its formation (that is, the exchange of rear formations and front formations). He believed that it was because of the oppression given by the opponent. It was too strong and stuck too tightly, making the legion commander dare not change the array easily.

In fact, another main reason why this change of formation was not implemented is that the fourth and fifth legions participated in the battle for the first time and faced strong enemies. However, there were alliance troops on the left and right sides. It was also the first time to fight together. Felicius was afraid that A rash change of formation, the soldiers making mistakes under strong pressure, coupled with the alliance army's lack of understanding and lack of cooperation. After all, changing the rear formation to the front requires the entire formation to gradually retreat, which may lead to the entire army falling into chaos.

The high-pitched bugles not only urged the soldiers fighting on both sides, but also urged other troops, such as the Syracuse mercenary cavalry who were leisurely returning after chasing the coalition cavalry, and of course two Syracuse mercenary cavalry rushing to the battlefield. Send reinforcements.

If he had followed the past habits of Ascamas, the general of the Crotone army, he would have lined up at the front of the array and fought face to face with the enemy. However, before the battle, Felicius asked the federal army generals to sit in the rear and not Participate in the war to facilitate communication. At that time, Ascamas also laughed at the Dionysian people who were greedy for life and afraid of death. Now he should thank Philisius for this request, because he heard the sound of the bugle that was different from the one coming from the opposite side.

The sound of bugles came from the outside of the Crotone army, high and harsh, getting closer and closer... Then in his field of vision, countless soldiers with bright armor suddenly appeared...

Reinforcements from Syracuse? !Askamas was so panicked that he fell from his horse and watched helplessly as they roared like a tide and rushed towards the rear of the Crotone soldiers.

At that terrible moment, Ascamas had only one thought in his dull mind: Didn't Felicius say that the enemy's reinforcements were on the right bank of the river? ! …

(End of this chapter)