ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 908 Battle of Jela (End)

The four squadrons under company captain Diocasis were stacked one behind the other, forming a section about 4 meters long in the right-wing array. He, who was in the center, had been paying close attention to the battle of the frontline soldiers.

Compared with the original battle in Minoa, the danger level is far less. The enemy on the opposite side does not look very tall or strong, the attack is not fierce, and the impact on the array is not very strong. The impact given to the soldiers The pressure wasn't too great...but after Diocasis' long period of close observation, he knew that his soldiers had encountered a formidable enemy.

Because first of all, the enemies on the opposite side have strong defenses. They are very good at using shields to defend and cooperate well with each other. Secondly, they are very experienced in dealing with the soldiers' dagger attacks, which makes the Dionian legion infantry take advantage of them. They were proud of their close combat with short swords, but the effect was not obvious; again, they had rich combat experience and a good grasp of the rhythm of the attack. They did not wave the spears in their hands easily, but first concentrated on using their long shields to defend the soldiers. Attack bravely, use appropriate retreat to buffer the impact, and when its strength slows down, immediately strike back with a spear, forcing the opponent back or even stabbing... Therefore, what Diocasis said The company under his command is always in a state of taking three steps forward and two steps back, making slow progress.

Of course he would not know that the reason why the Magonid family recruited refugees from Phoenicia and Numbia was because they were cheap to hire, able to endure hardships and stand hard work, and were not affiliated with any city-state or tribe, making it easy to cultivate loyalty. .After rigorous training, the Phoenician infantry indeed became the main force of the Magonid family in the Iberian Peninsula. Since the enemies they have faced for more than ten years have been fierce indigenous people, the Phoenician soldiers have no advantage in strength or speed. It relies on tough defense and tacit cooperation to wear down the enemy in a protracted confrontation, or to stick the enemy's main force, and then let the swift Numibian cavalry or Mauritanian cavalry go around the enemy's rear to attack, and finally defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. , this has become a common tactic used by generals such as Mago and Hasdrubal to deal with the Iberian natives.Since most of the Iberian natives use Fakata daggers, the Philou infantry naturally has rich experience in dealing with dagger attacks.

As the senior officer of the legion, Diocasis was anxious. Before the battle, Leotizides had briefly told them his combat intentions. The Eighth Legion was the victory of the Dionysian coalition in this battle. However, Diocasis looked at the soldiers who were fighting hard in the front. He guessed that the situation of other companies would be the same. Since the beginning of the war, the Eighth Army not only failed to open the door to victory, but instead fell into fierce fighting. Among them, I am afraid that we will not see the dawn of victory in a short time...

Just as Diocasis was thinking about it, a familiar shout came from behind: "Warriors of the Eighth Legion, I am your legion commander! I order you to strengthen your attack and defeat the enemy in front of you. Win honors and rewards for yourselves! Warriors of the Eighth Legion..."

This is indeed the voice of the head of the Prosaus Legion!Diocasis was surprised at first, and then felt uneasy. In his impression, Proseus had a cold personality and lacked passion. He had never encouraged the soldiers loudly, whether in training or in previous battles. The situation suddenly changed this time. Could it be that the entire war situation is not good for us?
Some officers as sensitive as Diocasis also felt the same uneasiness, but most of the ordinary soldiers of the Eighth Legion heard that this man who had been with them for 10 years, had strict requirements on them, but gave them The voice of the legion commander who brought victory and glory was all exciting, and his morale was high again. His shouts were met with a flood of roars: "Hades!! Hades!! Fight!! Fight!" !!!…”

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While the soldiers of the Eighth Legion were motivated by Leotizides and strengthened their attack, behind the left wing of Carthage, the Dionysian cavalry was rapidly rushing towards the Balearic slingers from both sides.

Although the Balearic slingers were conducting long-range attacks with the Dionian light infantry, they were always wary of the Dionian cavalry. Therefore, as soon as they discovered that the enemy cavalry was moving towards them, they immediately ignored the light infantry in front and concentrated on Use all your strength against the cavalry.At this time, there were still more than 1000 slingers. They were divided into two parts, and dense lead pellets flew towards the charging cavalry in an attempt to shoot them down one after another.

For a moment, the horses neighed and the cavalry continued to fall to the ground.

However, since the Fourth Cavalry Corps has launched a charge, it is impossible to stop, otherwise it will bring greater losses. They roared, drove their horses, passed over their comrades who were whining on the ground, and killed not far away. Enemies who are constantly slinging their slings.

Infected by the courage of the Fourth Cavalry Regiment, friendly cavalry followed suit.

Seeing the enemy cavalry emerging from the dust and mist in the sky, charging towards them with an intimidating momentum, getting closer and closer, the Balearic slingers finally felt panic, and they began to run back one after another.

The Dionian cavalry rushed forward, stabbing with spears and ramming horses, completely dispersing the slingers, and then deliberately drove them to flee towards the Carthaginian army in front.

Several hundred broken troops were forced to attack the rear of the fighting Carthaginian left wing. The Phoenician infantry in the rear had to turn around and kill these broken troops to prevent them from disrupting the battle formation. At the same time, they had to deal with them carefully. The javelins thrown by the Dionian cavalry must have dispersed their ability to resist the attack of the Eighth Legion soldiers head-on.

At this time, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion, inspired by Leotizides, were doing their best to launch a new wave of offensive.

Originally, the Phenin infantry were not afraid of this, but were secretly happy because the enemy had exhausted its remaining strength prematurely and it was their turn to counterattack.But now, they couldn't resist it and had to retreat continuously.

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On the right wing of the Carthaginian army, it was the Dionysian coalition that was retreating continuously.

The number of soldiers in the Carthaginian army was already larger than that of the Dionian coalition army, and they formed an army array of the same length as the opponent, which meant that the thickness of the array on the right wing of the Carthaginian army even exceeded that of the opponent.The soldiers of the Dionia coalition army are weaker than the Lusitania fighters in terms of personal combat power, and they are not as good as the opponent in terms of overall force pushing, so after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the little advantage of the Lusitania fighters when they started the war has become extremely obvious.

Although the attack of the Lusitanian soldiers was much weaker than at the beginning, the resistance and counterattack of the Kamanlina and Jela soldiers were even more obviously weakened. From time to time, the sound of their comrades falling down and screaming increased the panic in their hearts. , so Dionia's left-wing array continued to retreat under the offensive pressure of the Lusitanians, and the originally dense formation became more and more sparse during the retreat.

The Lusitanian warriors took the opportunity to squeeze into these gaps, attack the enemy from the side, continuously widen the gaps, and burn the battle to the rear of the Camanlina and Gela arrays.

Finally, fear overwhelmed the fighting spirit, and some Camanlina soldiers at the back of the military formation began to turn around and flee. Their escape immediately affected the surrounding teammates who were also mentally unstable. Everyone also fled, and a rout was inevitable...

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Is the left starting to retreat? !Although Leotizides was mentally prepared, he was still a little distracted after hearing the news.

After a moment, he picked up his energy and looked forward.In order to better understand the battle situation, he was already close to the rear of the Eighth Army array at this time, riding on a horse, and could even see the faces of the enemies fighting with the soldiers clearly: although due to his supervision and the first troops he sent, The Four Cavalry Corps attacked from the side and rear. The enemy was already retreating in large strides, but there was no excessive panic on their faces. The thin rows of the Eighth Army were unable to seize this opportunity to increase their forward momentum. Push the force and implement a more effective breakthrough... So judging from the current combat situation, the stalemate on the right wing will continue for some time, and what the Eighth Army lacks now is time.

Having stayed in Sparta for more than 20 years, he knew very well: once the traditional Greek heavy infantry on the left wing fled, it would not take long for the entire left wing to completely collapse, and then it would spread to the center...

Leotizides made a prompt decision: "Order the entire army...to retreat!"

Although Leotizides remained expressionless, the volume of his words still revealed the change in his mood.

Muklu on the side was also in a complicated mood. When he repeated the order again, even his voice was trembling: "Quickly... blow... the retreat bugle!"

Since the sound of the retreat of Dionia was different from the sound of the Greek city-state army, the buglers needed to blow it twice.

When the trumpet sound similar to that of the Greek army's attack sounded, the soldiers of the Eighth Army could not believe it, because the enemy on the opposite side had not yet retreated. The sound of this trumpet sound at this time meant:...we have been defeated? !

Although it was hard to accept, the habit of strictly observing military disciplines they had developed over the years made them choose to obey. After a sudden fierce attack forced the enemy in front of them to retreat, the soldiers quickly turned around and retreated...

"Order the soldiers to speed up the retreat and enter the city through the north and east gates of Gela!" Leotizides went on to order, he was not dizzy because of the failure, and he knew very well: once the coalition forces were completely defeated, they would panic Most of the soldiers will instinctively flock to the gate of Gela, the west gate, which is the closest to them. This will inevitably cause congestion, and they will easily become the targets of massacres by the pursuing enemies.Although the north gate is farther away, it will allow soldiers to enter the city faster because of the smooth road.And because most of the soldiers of the Eighth Army were on the right wing during the formation, they were closer to the north gate than those in the center and left wing.

　Thanks to Sniper No. 11 and Crazy Music for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write! !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)