ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 906 Battle of Jela ([-])

When the captain shouted "Retreat" in a hissing voice, the light infantry quickly retreated backwards with relief, passing through the gaps in the phalanx and reaching the rear.By this time, there were still about 700 of them, and almost everyone was injured to one degree or another.

When the Eighth Army was 50 meters away from the Carthaginian army, it slowed down its advance and quickly transformed the checkerboard array into a tight phalanx.

The Balearic slingers and Lusitanian harpooneers also took the opportunity to withdraw from the small space between the two armies. They suffered nearly 200 casualties and had a slight advantage.

After seeing the opponent's light infantry withdraw, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion slowed down their forward pace and at the same time drew out their javelins and made preparations.

At this time, the Phoenician-Numibian infantry who were still stationary on the opposite side suddenly began to stride forward under the orders of the team officers, preparing to charge towards the Eighth Army.

This move by the Phenin infantry disrupted the offensive rhythm of the Eighth Army. After throwing the first round of javelins, the soldiers had to charge and fight with the enemy.

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Compared with the violent advance of the right wing, the center and left wing of the Dionysian coalition are still advancing slowly, while the center and right wing of the Carthaginian army are still stationary, and are even still in formation, and well-trained Compared with the Phoenician infantry, both the Iberian infantry and the Lusitanian warriors seemed a bit delayed. Fortunately, Hasdrubal was in the formation on the right wing. Under his loud shouts and command, the right wing's The Iberians and Lusitalians couldn't wait to move forward after forming their formation.

Especially the Lusitalians on the far right, they run very fast.

At this time, the two sides were [-] meters apart, and the coalition's left wing was still advancing unhurriedly. However, through the narrow eyeholes of the Corinthian helmet, the soldiers of Camalina suddenly discovered that the opponent was rushing forward in the blink of an eye. The team officer Only then did they hurriedly order to charge, but the Lusitania fighters bumped into them before they could fully increase their speed.

The strong force was transmitted to the body through the round shield. If it were not for the support of the thick array behind him, the Kamanlina soldiers at the forefront would have been knocked away.But even so, they were knocked around and lost their best posture for defense.

Of course, the Lusitanian warrior would not miss this great opportunity, and stabbed fiercely with the sharp Fakata dagger in his hand.

The Kamanlina soldiers screamed and fell down one after another, and the soldiers who defended themselves from the attack were still frightened and had a hint of fear towards the tall, burly, and ferocious-looking enemies in front of them.

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When the two sides in the middle finally got closer, the battle between the Dionysian coalition army and the Carthaginian army had entered a full-scale battle. The fighting formation of both sides was completely a large diagonal line. The army in the north was farthest to the west, and the army in the south was Most east.

The more than three-mile-long front line was shrouded in dust and mist constantly stirred up by soldiers fighting on both sides. Shouts, fights, and screams were heard everywhere... In such a noisy and confusing vast battlefield, Leotizides even Even the spying leopard couldn't do it. The only thing he could rely on was the reconnaissance cavalry distributed at the back of the battle formation. They would report the battle situation of their position to Leotizides at the back of the center from time to time.

Are the soldiers advancing or retreating?Did our side suffer more casualties or did the other side suffer more casualties?The former problem is easy to observe, while the latter problem requires more reliance on the scout's own judgment.These situations reported by the scouts were eventually recorded by Muklu on the wooden board he carried, and he used this to judge the pros and cons of the battle.

"Commander, look -" Muklu raised the board in front of Leotizides with a serious expression: "This is the situation when we first started fighting! This is the situation now! Our left wing has retreated. A large section, the center has retreated slightly, and the right wing of our Eighth Army has not made much progress forward!”

Leotizides stared at the wooden board full of data. In fact, he had heard everything reported by the detectives, and he had a rough idea of ​​it, but the drawing on this wooden board was more intuitive and clear.

Leotizides' already cold face became even more gloomy: it can be said that at the beginning of the battle, he was still in a relaxed mood, because his original plan was realized, and the Carthaginians were indeed targeting him. The military formations that were set up first were deployed step by step, and the two sides turned into a face-to-face heavy infantry contest.He believed that with the super defensive power of the Greek heavy infantry, a long-term stalemate could be formed, which would consume the opponent's soldiers' physical strength even more, which would be beneficial to the implementation of his next plan.What he never expected was that after only half an hour of fighting, the left wing would be at a disadvantage.

He felt that he had attached great importance to this Carthaginian army, but the enemy's performance still exceeded his expectations.

"Let the cavalry regiment attack." He pondered for a while and gave the order.

Muklu was slightly shocked. He knew that the original battle plan was not like this. It was to wait until both sides were tired after fighting for a long time. Even the Eighth Army on the right had a clear upper hand. The 4th Cavalry Army had Attacking will be the final step to establish victory, but now it is used early.

Of course, Muklu did not dissuade him. He knew that the current situation was slightly unfavorable to the coalition forces.

"Wait a minute." Leotizides hesitated for a moment and said decisively again: "Let the light armored brigade and the light infantry brigade follow the cavalry and attack the rear of the Carthaginian left wing together!"

Muklu was stunned, and this time he couldn't help but remind him: "Sir Commander, the light armored brigade is our only reserve force!"

"The Carthaginians have slingers, which pose a great threat to the cavalry." Leotizides said calmly: "The reserve team is used at critical moments, and now the critical moment has been reached."

Muklu said no more. When he sent messengers to inform the three armies, he felt a little uneasy. After all, Leotizides placed all his few winning chips on the Carthaginians. The left wing has since lost the ability to interfere in the entire battle.

The 4th Cavalry Regiment and friendly cavalry who had been waiting in the rear of the right wing for half an hour were already impatient, so after receiving the order to attack, the regiment commander took the lead, followed by other cavalry. The 4 troops of the 1000th Cavalry Regiment The cavalry formed a long column of 4 cavalry, followed by 300 friendly cavalry.

The 4th Dionysian Cavalry Legion is the weakest among the four major cavalry legions of the Kingdom. In the territory of Magna Graecia, Bruti, Messape, and Pucetti are all races that are good at raising horses and have the ability to provide The ability of cavalry, but such conditions are not available in the Sicilian territory.Moreover, raising war horses is different from ordinary horses. It not only requires a large amount of forage, but also rich legumes to ensure that it has sufficient strength to carry the cavalry, and at the same time frequently controls the war horses, whether in battle or during training. They are all extremely vulnerable to injury, so cavalrymen often have to keep at least two at home to basically meet their training and combat needs.It can be seen that raising war horses is a big burden even for wealthy citizens of Dionia and citizens who specialize in breeding and buying and selling horses.

There is no tradition of raising horses in the Sicilian territories, and most of the people in these territories were refugees who had been persecuted by Syracuse many times. There were not many wealthy people, and few citizens signed up when the 4th Cavalry Legion was first established.After these years of development, the lives of the people in the Sicilian territory have been greatly improved. In addition, the Kingdom Senate has passed many preferential bills for citizens who become cavalrymen. Each cavalryman is given a certain amount of subsidy... It can be said that the cavalry is the only army among the various military services in Dionia that receives a fixed salary.Stimulated by these favorable factors, the number of the 4th Cavalry Corps was just over 1000, which was far from full.

The [-]th Cavalry had spent all these years in barracks and had not experienced war.From the beginning to the present of this war, they have only played supporting roles and have not made any great achievements. The cavalry are eager to prove themselves, so they bypass the right wing of the military formation and stand a few hundred meters behind the enemy's left wing. After drawing a long arc, legion commander Acethemis, influenced by the extremely excited warlike mood of the surrounding soldiers, deliberately ignored Leotizides's instructions and did not wait where he was. With the arrival of the light armored brigade and the light infantry brigade, they decided to conduct a tentative attack first.

After the cavalry received the order to attack, they began to control the horses and jog at small steps. As a result, before they could increase their speed, they were attacked by flying stones from the Balearic slingers. Even if the distance was several hundred meters away, the Balearic slingers The flying stones are still quite accurate, and they intentionally focus on the horses. Compared with cavalry in leather helmets and leather armor, war horses are sensitive animals that are hit by a lead shot, and immediately bark and jump. He threw the soldiers off their horses and ran around in panic.

For a moment, the horses neighed, and the cavalrymen who fell to the ground rushed to catch up with their horses. The scene was chaotic and the attack was suspended.

Acethemis finally reunited the cavalry. After rough statistics, he lost more than 90 cavalry, which actually reached 1/10 of the legion. He couldn't help feeling heartbroken. He never dared to act rashly again, but waited quietly. Helpers arrive.

More than 10 minutes later, the two teams arrived.

During the waiting time, the cavalry were not idle. Acethemis sent a small team of cavalry to investigate. After paying some casualties, he brought back the general arrangement of the Carthaginians behind the left wing: the enemy The slingers were arranged in a loose linear array a hundred meters away from the enemy's battle formation, facing the [-]th Cavalry Corps; in front of them were hundreds of harpooneers, and hundreds of foreign light infantry escorts (due to Kai's Most of the Ertes were shirtless and did not wear armor, so the Dionian cavalry thought they were light infantry)...

　Thanks to Al Fasil’s hero, Guangshan Hot Dry Noodles for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !
　　Finally home!I've been drinking so much these past few days. I have wine with every meal. My friends in the north are so enthusiastic!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)