ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 766: Landing in the Second Battle

At this moment, the originally silent Dionian army moved, and the light infantry of each legion quickly stepped forward, using javelins and arrows to deal the first round of blows to the advancing Roman soldiers.The cavalry legions on both wings had already begun to advance on horseback, and soon collided with the Roman cavalry...

After a while, the cavalry legions defeated the small number of Roman cavalry and pursued them, while the light infantry also successfully retreated to the rear of the army.

"Prepare the javelin!" the officers' orders rang out one after another in the long military formation.

The Roman soldiers who were already familiar with Dionysian tactics raised their long shields in the face of the rain of javelins...

After two rounds of javelins, the Dionian soldiers charged forward and collided with the rushing Roman soldiers...

The sound of fighting became the only sound in this world.

Clotokatax felt that his breathing seemed to have stopped. He opened his eyes wide. Through the dust and mist, he saw scenes of intense battles in his mind. His expression was a little nervous and mixed with excitement. .

Next to him were the kingdom's staff officer Thormid, the palace secretary Henepolis, the commander of the fourth legion Olivers, the commander of the fifth legion Georgris...etc., these generals who participated in this expedition Everyone is paying close attention to this battle. They all know that Davos attaches great importance to Rome, so they all come to see this battle in advance to understand the fighting power of the Romans in order to make correct judgments in future battles.

The heavy infantry battle on the front of the army formation is still in a fierce stalemate, and scouts have rushed over to report: "Report! The [-]st Cavalry Corps has completed the pursuit and is returning to attack the enemy's right flank!"

"Report! The Second Cavalry Corps is attacking the rear of the left wing of the enemy's formation!"

……

After listening to the report, Davos gently patted the war horse's neck, and then said: "Amintas, after the Romans are defeated, you must boldly pursue them, completely disperse them, and drive them to the south. Go and prevent them from hindering our operations tomorrow. If Lavinium can be captured, the troops you lead will no longer need to build camps. They can spend the night there tonight so that the soldiers can have a good rest."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Amyntas saluted in response.

After Davos returned the favor, he turned his horse's head and galloped towards the beach.

The palace guard followed.

Crotokatax glanced at the battlefield a few more times with some reluctance, and then left.

Olivers, Geogris and others congratulated Amyntas before leaving in a hurry.In their view, the soldiers of the Dionian Legion blocked the enemy's onslaught from the front and had a slight upper hand, while the cavalry detoured back to the enemy's wings. In such a favorable battle situation, even if the battle was still going on, victory was already over. Not far.

Facts were exactly as they expected. After the battle lasted for more than ten minutes, the Roman soldiers began to retreat, which soon turned into a big rout.

The fact that the Roman army was defeated so easily was actually related to the source of the soldiers of this army. Most of its soldiers were born in the Roman civilian class. They were recently assigned to Vilitre, Satnicum, The land of Antium, and they used to fight as light infantry auxiliary. However, in recent years, due to the reform of the Roman military system and the generous assistance from Carthage, the Roman Senate assigned them heavy infantry. equipment, and began heavy infantry training, but it was obvious that they lacked both heavy infantry combat skills and combat experience. However, they encountered a strong enemy for the first time as the main force.

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Just as Amyntas led the first, second, and third legions and two cavalry legions to pursue the defeated troops, King Davos led the fourth, fifth, and sixth legions that had already assembled on the beach. Marching north along the coast, his goal was the port of Ostia that had been set long ago.As Rome's only port for external sea trade and acquisition of important supplies, seizing Ostia will not only cut off Carthage's assistance to Rome, but also gain a foothold for the Dionian expeditionary army in the Latium region, and also It can provide great convenience for the army's logistical supplies and material transportation, which is a good thing that kills several birds with one stone. Davers has already targeted it as the first target before setting off.

Ostia has been a colonial city of Rome for decades, but it has only been in the past ten years that it has received the attention of the Roman Senate.Because of the establishment of a closer alliance with Carthage, in order to protect the various supplies that Carthage provided to Rome, under the advice of the Carthaginians, Ostia began to strengthen the city defense and protect the port. Especially after the war with the Dionia, because they were afraid of the strength of the Dionia fleet, the Senate also sent additional troops to Ostia, but they definitely did not expect that Dionia would lead the army at this moment. attacked, bypassed the Roman defense system on land, and directly attacked Ostia from the sea at the rear.

Therefore, when Davos's army arrived outside the city of Ostia, there were only 3000 defenders in the city. They had received news of the enemy's attack in advance. When they sent messengers to Rome for help, the soldiers also They were prepared for defense, but when they saw the huge Dionian army outside the city, they couldn't help but feel frightened.

The garrison general encouraged them loudly: "Citizens, it's getting late. The enemy's attack will not last long. Use your courage to repel the enemy's attack. Roman reinforcements will arrive tomorrow!... …”

His words gave the Roman soldiers greater encouragement, because it was already the afternoon, and there was indeed not enough time left for the Dionysians to attack the city.

So after the three Dionian legions each entered their predetermined positions and deployed quickly, Daves issued the attack order without any delay.

Although Davos brought a team of more than 500 engineers on this expedition, due to the rush of time, he did not have time to build large-scale siege equipment. The ready-made siege equipment was only dozens of ballistas and countless ballistas brought with the ship. After the ladders were quickly assembled by the engineers, these ballistae were pushed to the front of the formation and blasted against the city wall.

For a moment, stone bullets roared in the air non-stop, the city wall roared continuously, and stone fragments flew randomly.

The Roman soldiers, who had never experienced such a Hittite formation, hid behind the battlements in fear, barely daring to move, and their morale was devastated.

After more than ten minutes of continuous bombardment, a high-pitched bugle sounded and the ballista attack stopped.

The Roman soldiers just breathed a sigh of relief and cautiously poked their heads out of the city wall. They saw the dark Dionian siege team a hundred meters away from the city. Accompanied by thundering roars, like a raging and roaring sea tide, they came from the east and south. Two sides roared towards the city of Ostia.

"Citizens, if the enemy attacks, their catapults will stop throwing stones, cheer up your spirit, pick up your weapons, teach them a lesson, and let them taste the power of our Romans!..." Guards The generals kept encouraging the soldiers loudly, and the ballista of the Dionians did not fire any more stone bullets, which made them feel a little bit more at ease.

"Archers! Archers, prepare to shoot!..." The Roman officers also began to give orders.

The reason why the ballistae troops did not increase the elevation angle of the ballistae brackets so that the stone bullets could go higher than the city wall and bombard the city was because there were many port warehouses in Ostia, and Davers was worried that they would be damaged and affected. usage of.

Davos sat firmly in the back and watched the battle unfold calmly.

Clotokatax couldn't sit still. After getting his father's permission, he rode forward and got closer to the battlefield so that he could see it more clearly.Of course, Martius followed him with some of the palace guards to ensure his safety.

Siege warfare is different from positional battles. Although the battle is grand in scale and the sound of killing is loud, due to the obstruction of the line of sight, it is difficult to see the casualties of both sides in the fierce battle. Siege warfare is different. One's own soldiers fall from the top of the city and climb ladders. Soldiers fell down after being hit by javelins or stones, and even the entire ladder was pushed down... These pictures could clearly be seen in Crotokatax's eyes, and the constant appearance of these scenes also made him feel heartbroken. Clenching his fists, he kept muttering in a low voice: "Charge up! Attack up quickly! Hades, please protect them and occupy the city head quickly!..."

But Hades obviously did not respond to the prayers of his descendant. Crotokartax was frightened for a while, and he actually didn't dare to look. He turned back to look at Dave who was sitting still under the military flag in the distance. Si, then his eyes glanced at the Fourth Army Corps, which was still resting in formation not far away, and he couldn't help but asked doubtfully: "Why not send the Fourth Army Army up immediately to increase the intensity of the siege?"

Martius explained from the side: "Ostia is a small city and cannot accommodate too many soldiers to attack the city. If we send them all, it will cause crowding and increase casualties."

Clotokatax is a soldier in the legion reserve and has also worked in the Ministry of Military Affairs for a year. Of course he knows that the Fourth Legion is called the most capable siege legion in Dionia. At this time, he can only He stamped his feet anxiously: "If I had known earlier, I should have sent the Fourth Army to attack the city first!"

Clotokatax could question his father's military arrangements. Of course, Martius, who was loyal to his duty, could not go on. He could only comfort him softly: "Sieging a city is very time-consuming, and the battle has just begun. The Romans' defense is still very tenacious, we can't be too anxious, I believe that His Majesty will have clear tactical arrangements for the Fourth Army..."

"Really?!" Clotokatax's eyes lit up.

"Of course, Your Majesty never fights an uncertain battle!" Although Martius did not know the specific battle plan, he obviously had full confidence in King Davos.

　Thanks to Minnan Qingfeng for the tip!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)