ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 857 The Night Raid of the Samnites

Not long after, a figure entered the range illuminated by the torches on the wooden fence of the camp. They were wearing thin clothes, most of them without armor protection, holding javelins or bows and arrows, and wading towards the camp... roughly At first glance, there were hundreds of people, and enemies kept coming into the fire.

Rachaelesis did not dare to neglect and immediately sent soldiers to inform the Chinese army's main account.

Alexis was not asleep at all. After receiving the news of the enemy attack, he immediately sent two light infantry brigades to reinforce.

When they gathered together and rushed to the south of the camp, Rachaelesis was leading his detachment of soldiers to protect themselves with long shields, and then fought back with javelins with some difficulty. Many soldiers had spears inserted into their long shields. Holding several javelins.

Because time was too hasty, the army did not have time to dig trenches and build earthen walls. A simple wooden fence could only act as a barrier and could not give the legionnaires a defensive height. Therefore, when the Samnite people approached the camp within 20 meters, After both sides carried out medium and long-range attacks, the legionnaires lost their defensive advantage. On the contrary, the Samnites relied on their large number of people and used javelins to suppress Lachaelesis and the others. The Samnites archers behind took the opportunity to attack. Rockets were fired from the camp.

According to the provisions of the "Dionia Military Law", "Field camps should be constructed in accordance with requirements, and the tent area must be more than 20 meters away from the wall." This can not only ensure smooth passage for soldiers during defense, but also avoid being easily attacked by the enemy from a distance.

Taking into account that the camp did not have a wall, Alexis also increased the distance between the tent area and the wooden fence to 30 meters. However, the Samnite archers were too close to the wooden fence, and the rockets they fired still ignited several tents, causing damage to the camp. There was inevitably some chaos and the soldiers had to get up to put out the fire.

After 2000 Dionian light infantry arrived, the situation quickly changed. The Samoni retreated back with dozens of dead and wounded tribesmen, but they did not stay away, but circled the Dionian camp. , making weird roars, attacking sentries with javelins from time to time, or firing rockets into the camp, disturbing the camp all night.

But early the next morning, they all disappeared without a trace.

The legionnaires were tortured all night, and many of them did not have a good rest. In view of this, Alexis issued an order: All soldiers in the army continued to build the camp. They must dig trenches and build solid earth walls before dusk. Several sentry towers were erected... At the same time, the captains of each group should arrange the rest of the soldiers reasonably to ensure that they have sufficient energy.

In this regard, the adjutant Umattheus was confused: "Commander, why don't we attack Aquilonia immediately? One more day of delay here will consume one more day's rations, and it will also cause Aquilonia The Nians have time to prepare for defense and increase the difficulty of our attack..."

"Even if Aquilonia is given one more day to prepare, I'm afraid it won't have much impact on our attack." Alexis looked at the vast mountains on the other side of the Ofanto River, with a deep light shining in his eyes: Compared to the hasty attack, I am more concerned about the status of the soldiers. They are all from the Apulian region. Although they have been trained in mountain warfare in the military camp, they have never had the experience of living in the mountains. They need a little Time to adapt quickly and maintain their physical strength and energy to cope with the tough battles they may encounter next. "

"Hard fighting..." Umattheus pondered over these words of unclear meaning.

At dusk, with the joint efforts of more than 6000 soldiers, a three-meter-high earthen wall and a trench outside the wall were built around the camp, so even though there were still Samonites attacking and harassing the camp that night, there was no impact on the camp. The threat was almost negligible, and the soldiers slept more peacefully.

After daybreak, Alexis left 500 heavy infantrymen to garrison the camp, took 5500 soldiers and some auxiliary personnel, and carried five days of rations, crossed the Ofanto River, and headed for the city of Aquilonia.

Although we are marching in the lowland between mountains, this lowland is not low, and the farther north we go, the higher the terrain becomes.As the soldiers trudged along the rugged mountain road, what they could see when they looked up was the narrow strip of blue sky cut off by the mountains on both sides.

In order to prevent being ambushed or attacked by the Samnites, Alexis spread out all 100 soldiers from the mountain reconnaissance team and walked towards the large troops on the mountains on both sides while detecting any abnormalities around them.

Except for the 1500 heavy infantry who did not wear armor and were carried forward on their backs, the other soldiers were fully armed (of course they did not have multiple layers of protection). Even so, most of them started to cry before they were halfway through the journey. Out of breath.

Fortunately, this mountain road is not untraveled. On the contrary, Aquilonians often take this road to the river bend to fish, bathe, draw water, and graze cattle and sheep... Therefore, there are almost no roads on the mountain road. There are no thorny bushes or rocks that can cause headaches.

Although it is already June and the temperature has begun to rise, when marching in the mountains, not only does it not feel very hot, but the further you go, the cooler it gets.But for the Pucetti and Dauni soldiers who had lived in the Apulian plains since childhood, marching on this mountain road made them feel like they were suffering: the high, low, and winding mountain roads forced them to walk carefully. , which was very draining of physical energy; and the bites of mosquitoes and the constant scratching of trees and weeds soon made them feel itchy all over... The soldiers began to complain.

However, Lachaelesis was moving forward very focused, holding a fire in his heart. During the Samnite attack the night before yesterday, five of his company died, 12 were injured, and several tents were burned... …He has been blaming himself, thinking that he was too late to call for reinforcements, which led to such a bad result.In the two previous battles between Asculum and Vinosa, the Dionian army easily won great victories, which gave him the illusion that the Samnites were easy to deal with.

But in the attack the night before, the heavy javelins thrown by the Samnites were hard and accurate. When the long shield was hit from the front, it could penetrate from time to time. This was the main reason for the death and injury of the soldiers. Although Alexis He did not criticize him, but he secretly made up his mind: he must capture Aquilonia and avenge the dead and injured brothers!
Therefore, he kept cheering for the soldiers along the way and encouraged them to move forward. He even saw some soldiers falling behind due to fatigue, and he would take the initiative to help them carry their armor.

Aquilonia is only ten miles away from Dionia's new camp, but the Dionia army trekked for nearly four hours before finally walking out of the narrow lowlands and entering a small semi-circular valley: on the east side One of the mountains is shorter, and the slope of the west-facing mountain is gentle. Different from other lush and lush mountains, there are few trees on the hillside, but there are some houses scattered among the mountains, and dozens of sheep can be seen. Grazing leisurely on the mountain.

The sharp-eyed soldiers looked up and could vaguely see the wooden wall on the top of the mountain, which was the city of Aquilonia. Although the mountain it was located on was shorter and not steep enough than other mountains, it was still several hundred meters high!The soldiers felt a little scared just looking at this height, let alone attacking the city.

Alexis first looked at the mountains where the city of Aquilonia was located for a while, and then carefully observed the valley.

The engineer came over and told him that the floor of the valley was mixed with gravel, but it was still soft.

"Then let's build a camp." Alexis said lightly.

But the order was conveyed to the whole army, and the soldiers lamented one after another.

However, before building the camp, the soldiers had to eat dry food and take a short rest to replenish the energy consumed by the march. Then, under the orders of the team officers, they reluctantly picked up the tools and started digging.

At this time, the captain of the mountain reconnaissance team ran up to Alexis panting: "Commander, our reconnaissance soldiers saw thousands of Samonites running here from the west on the mountain ridge!"

When Alexis heard the news, not only was he not shocked, but he seemed a little relieved. He asked calmly: "How many people are there specifically? How far are they from here?"

"Because of the cover of the mountains, we can't see the enemy team clearly. It is estimated that... there will be no less than 5000 people. When I came over, they were at least three miles away from here." The reconnaissance team leader estimated and replied.

Alexis turned around and looked towards the west of the valley: the mountains there were not only relatively low and easy to climb, but there was also a mountain road leading to the west between the mountains.

"Your Majesty Commander!" Adjutant Umattheus reminded: "If reinforcements from the Aquilonians arrive, we will be attacked from both sides. We should withdraw to the camp immediately to avoid fighting with an equal number of Samnites in the mountains. !”

"The Samnites really hid an army in the mountains to lure us into taking the bait!" Alexis showed a sneer and said to his adjutant: "Umattheus, you know that I have been What is the purpose of communicating with Zantiparis, Pollet, and Gairni?"

Umattheus had an idea flash in his mind and exclaimed: "Could it be——"

"Immediately tell the soldiers to stop building camps, put on armor, grab weapons, and prepare to fight!"

.............................................

In fact, the Samonei coalition forces gave up their raids on the Dauni area and turned to attack the Campania Alliance, not only to avoid the strong and attack the weak, but also to continue to increase troubles for Dionia, but also for several tribal leaders. He realized that he could no longer fight the Dionian army on the plains, even if it was just harassment, but should use the advantages of the Samonites themselves to fight against them in the mountains.

However, the Dionian army was very cautious and never marched into the mountains.Therefore, after discussion, they decided to let the coalition forces attack Campania on a large scale, and also wanted to achieve another goal: to cause "the main force of Samonite is in Campania, and the defense in the mountainous area is empty" to the Dionian army in Dauni. "The illusion lured the Dionian army into the mountains.

　Thanks to Lamperucci and Sniper No. 11 for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　
　
(End of this chapter)