ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 905 Battle of Jela ([-])

Moreover, Leotizides took into account that there were many older citizens among Jela's soldiers (the Jela people came out in full force this time to defend their homeland), and deliberately thickened the array to prevent it from being The enemy easily breaks through the front.

At the same time, considering the weakness of the Greek heavy infantry-the flanks were attacked and easily defeated, Leotizides moved the left wing close to the coast, thus preventing the Carthaginians from detouring from the left and attacking the flanks of friendly forces.

In addition, another purpose of thickening the array was to shorten the length of the battle array, because although the land to the west of Jela is flat, it is not wide. There are only 7-8 miles from the coast to the mountains. Leotizide Si needs to leave enough space outside the right wing for the cavalry to gallop, because he has determined the victory of the Dionysian coalition on the right wing, because there is his trusted 8th Army here, and he can go around to the opposite side at any time. The 1300 cavalrymen of the Carthaginian army attacked from the rear (4 cavalrymen from the 1000th Cavalry Legion plus 300 cavalrymen from Gera and Camanlina).He learned from Jela's mouth that no cavalry was found in the Carthaginian army that came to attack the city. The Dionysia reconnaissance cavalry also confirmed this news in the past two days.

After thinking carefully, he figured out the reason why he dared to fight the Carthaginians so quickly. The cavalry was his biggest reliance.

Leotizides and his adjutant Muklu stood in front of the military formation on horseback, watching the Carthaginian formation on the opposite side. There were also scouts who reported to him the entire formation of the Carthaginian army at any time.

Although the Dionian intelligence department did not collect much intelligence on the Carthaginian army in the Iberia region (this is because Carthage, in order to protect the source of its precious metal mines, had entered into a previous peace agreement with Dionia It clearly stated the clause that "Dionian merchant ships are not allowed to trade in the Carthage territory of Iberia". At the same time, Mago also had strict control over its territory and was wary of outsiders. Dionian intelligence personnel It is quite difficult to enter the southern part of Iberia where Carthage belongs), Leotizides still roughly knows: wearing a pointed helmet, wearing a white linen breastplate, coat of chain mail, holding a spear and a long shield. Phoenician and Numibian infantry; those wearing flat helmets, wearing white lining with purple piping, coat armor, holding long shields and short swords are Iberian infantry; while those wearing black robes and armor , the soldiers also holding long shields and short swords may be the rumored Lusitanian warriors...

After roughly understanding the formation of the Carthaginian army, Leotizides breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Muklu and said: "It seems that the Carthaginians are indeed worried about the attack power of our legionnaires, so they specially sent Their main force in Iberia was placed on the left wing. In this way...we formed the formation first and used the Eighth Army to attract the opponent's main force and reduce the pressure on friendly soldiers."

The reason why he said this was because Muklu reminded him before: It is best not to set up the formation before the enemy arrives, because it was mentioned in the "Dionysian Military Law" that it is best not to let go before the battle. The enemy needs to know his own array deployment first to avoid having the opportunity to make targeted arrangements.

At this time, Muklu did not blindly agree. He reminded: "Commander, the Carthaginians have arranged those Lusitanians on their right wing!"

"It used to be rumored that the Messapians were very fierce, the Lucanians were very fierce, the Samnites were very fierce... but they did not pose much of a threat to Dionia, and now it is rumored that the Lusitanians are very fierce. , I think we shouldn’t blindly believe these rumors, let’s take a look at the battle situation first.” There was a hint of disdain in Leotizides’ calm tone, and he in turn reminded Muklu: “The largest Greek heavy infantry The advantage is that their frontal defense is very strong and their attack power is not weak. This is exactly where our coalition forces are superior to their opponents except for the cavalry, so as long as it is a frontal fight, we will not be at a disadvantage."

At this time, the messenger of the Eighth Army arrived and reported to him: the army had completed its formation.

Leotizides immediately looked back to the left. The noise continued, and he was somewhat dissatisfied: "Immediately send someone to urge the Gera and Camanlina people to speed up the formation!"

After speaking, he turned his horse's head, passed through the gap in the military formation, and returned to the rear of the center.

"Woo!..." More than ten minutes later, the Dionia coalition sounded the horn of attack.

The entire military formation began to move forward slowly, and the fastest was the light infantry brigade of the Eighth Army. They passed through the gaps in the checkerboard military formation of the Eighth Army and rushed towards the enemy on the opposite side in a loose formation. They wanted to Use bows, arrows and javelins to deal the first wave of blows to the enemy, disrupt the enemy's formation, and pave the way for victory in the subsequent heavy infantry attack.

Hasdrubal and Kisgo knew about Dionia's past battles, and naturally knew Dionia's heavy infantry tactics. When they saw the black-helmeted and black-armored Eighth Legion Opposite their left wing, they were on guard, so when the Eighth Army's light infantry group rushed out of the military formation, Kisgo also dispatched the troops that had been waiting behind the left wing.

There are about 1700 people in this army, 500 of whom are Lusitanian harpooneers wearing black robes. They hold a hooked javelin. After this javelin pierces the human body, it is difficult to pull it out. Therefore, the Lusitanian harpooneer is the most talked about in Iberia.

The 1200 soldiers following them were wearing white single clothes, with a heavy cloth bag tied around their waists and a dagger hanging on them. They were not wearing helmets or armor, and they were even barefoot, just holding a knife in their hands. A sling woven from a mixture of wool and linen... Yes, they were slingers, slingers from the Balearic Islands.

The Balearic Islands are a series of islands in the Western Mediterranean near the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The residents of the islands have always had a tradition of training slingers. Children are trained as soldiers from an early age. Their mothers even started No bread is given to the child until he hits a distant target with his first sling.The Balearic people, who lack resources and have poor supplies, use a large number of cheap slingers to defend the security of the island. Residents with superb slinging skills often use this skill to obtain meat and improve their lives, such as using slinging to kill birds.

Mago occupied the southern part of Iberia (mainly the southeast), which happened to be adjacent to the Balearic Islands. He obtained the allegiance of the Balearic people by providing sufficient food for the Balearic people. In the process of conquering Iberia , the Balearic slingers played a big role.This time during the expedition to Sicily, Mago brought 1500 Balearic slingers.

After the Balearic people walked out of the military formation, they stopped advancing. They put their hands into the cloth bags on their waists. The cloth bags were divided into three compartments, and three types of lead shot were placed respectively. They took out the lightest lead shot. Put it in the cloth pocket of the sling, and start swinging it.

Since the Dionysian coalition had just begun to advance, after the Eighth Army light infantry brigade rushed out of the military formation, it was still more than 400 meters away from the enemy on the opposite side, so they were advancing rapidly, and the formation had not completely dispersed, and suddenly they saw diagonal A dark cloud flew in the sky ahead.

"Be careful of flying rocks! Protect your head!" the light infantry captain shouted, his face changing a bit.

At the reminder of the team officers, the light infantrymen who had never been attacked by slingers lowered their heads and hugged their necks with their hands.Although the Dionian light infantry wore single clothes, they were all equipped with a leather helmet. After the lead shot fell, there was a roar, but it did not cause many casualties.

"Speed ​​up! Approach the enemy!" At the reminder of the team officers, the light infantrymen, who were hurt by flying rocks, accelerated their advance.

In the process, they were hit by several more rounds of lead pellets. Due to the shortening of the distance, the Balearic slingers had replaced the small lead pellets first with medium ones and finally with large ones.

Since the Lusitania harpooneers have already charged up, and the Dionysian light infantry will of course start to attack, it is no longer possible to cover their faces with both hands. This causes their injuries to skyrocket, especially to the archers. Because of their long range, they became the target of Balearic slingers.

Archery is a delicate sport that requires a lot of physical strength. It requires most of the muscles in the archer's hand and body to work together to fully draw the bow string and shoot accurate and powerful arrows. Even if the lead shot misses the head, it will damage other parts of the body. The muscles and tendons will also seriously affect the archer's combat effectiveness.

The Carthaginians opposite had slingers? !After listening to the urgent report from the scout, Leotizides was slightly shocked.

"Commander, this may be the Balearic slinger mentioned in the intelligence!" Muklu reminded.

The Ministry of Military Affairs has previously reported that "Mago's Numibian army has slingers from the Balearic Islands."But this time after the army led by Mago landed in Sicily, this unit was never used in the siege of Selinus, the sneak attack on the Sikels, the siege of Enna, and the siege of Gela. Therefore Leotizides ignored its existence for a while.

At this time, he immediately issued an order: "Let the trumpeter blow the bugle on the right wing to speed up the advance, and let the soldiers of the Eighth Army engage the enemy as soon as possible to avoid being disrupted by slingers to disrupt our formation!"

"Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... ..." bugles sounded rapidly from the rear. The officers of the Eighth Army at all levels who heard the bugles immediately instructed the company and brigade flagbearers to wave the high military flags forward frequently. The soldiers on the entire right wing gradually sped up. the forward speed.

The light infantry brigade is at a disadvantage in the long-range competition with the opponent, but they are still gritting their teeth and supporting them. As a member of the entire regiment, the light infantry officers know very well that they must buy time for their heavy infantry comrades in the rear and cannot let the opponent The slingers can free their hands to attack the legion's square formation wantonly.

(End of this chapter)