Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 37: Dionia vs Rome (6)

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The slingers put the lead shot into the leather pocket in the center of the sling, and began to rotate their right arm, listening to the sound of the wind, the sling turned faster and faster.

The Romans also saw a new enemy a few hundred meters away through the misty dust. Although they were a little nervous, they had no choice but to move forward.

At this moment, hundreds of lead pellets fell from the sky like hail, and they were accurately sprinkled in the dense formation of the Romans, and suddenly screamed.

Except for the slight injury to the heavy infantry in the center, the light infantry with almost no protection was smashed to the ground. The Roman cavalry on both sides were also affected. The horses hit by the lead shot called again Jumping, throwing the cavalry caught off guard under the horse, almost smashed the Roman array.

The Romans were attacked by slingers for the first time and were beaten unpreparedly.

However, the Dionian cavalry had been prepared for a while. When the Romans were in chaos, they immediately drove their horses towards the enemy and threw the few short javelins left. There was another screaming sound. The soldiers who had dropped off were far from scratching their scalp.

When the Roman light infantry picked up bows and arrows and javelins, preparing to attack the Dionian cavalry who was moving away, another shot of lead came.

The continuous blows made the Roman light infantry complain. These soldiers, mainly from the Latin League, fell into chaos and low morale.

The Roman heavy infantry in the center of the team remained calm, shouting in unison: "Come on! Kill them!!"

The first to take action was the Roman cavalry. They gathered hundreds of horses in a hurry and sprinted forward desperately. The horse's four hooves flew like flying, and rumbling against the solid ground, as if the earth was trembling.

Satirus remained calm and raised his right hand again: "The second company is ready!"

The archers on the two wings of the geese formation pull the bow and draw the arrow, and the Dionian cavalry is also following these desperate Roman cavalry in parallel.

When Rome was less than 100 meters away from the Seventh Battalion, 350 Dionian archers all let out their arrows.

The arrows fired almost horizontally from the two wings to the center, forming cross firepower. Although the fast-moving Roman cavalry was holding a shield high, it was difficult to defend. They called horses and rolled to the ground one after another, which also hindered the cavalry behind. Of the march.

At this moment, the second round of arrows hit again, giving the Roman cavalry more damage.

A small number of Roman cavalry who rushed ahead and escaped the bow and arrow attack saw that they were approaching the Dionian slingers, but they were attacked by the javelin from the third company that rushed out of the team. As a result, the survivors were left. Not much.

The Diorian cavalry also took the opportunity to assault the Roman cavalry who had fallen into chaos due to bow and arrow attacks on the way from both sides.

This combination of skillful continuous blows almost completely lost the Roman cavalry who charged.

At this time, the Roman heavy infantry was still guarding the light infantry forward. Seeing the tragedy ahead, all of them felt sad. At this time, they heard the sound of unfamiliar bugles from a remote place.

The enemy's reinforcements are here again! The morale of the Romans fell to the bottom.

At this moment, "Woo! Woo!!! Woo!!!..." A louder and higher-pitched bugle sounded from afar.

"Our reinforcements are here! Our reinforcements are here!!..." Hearing this familiar bugle sound, the Romans finally got excited.

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"Report to the commander of the legion that the Roman army in the camp has been dispatched! There are about eight or nine thousand people!" The scout hurried over and reported to Amintas.

"So fast?!" The Romans' quick response surprised Amintas. He originally wanted to keep the Seventh Battalion, the Eighth Battalion and the cavalry under siege without destroying this part of the enemy in order to achieve seduction. The purpose of the Roman camp was to allow the six heavy infantry battalions that had just arrived to rest for a while and recover some physical strength. I didn’t expect the Roman army to come so quickly. The eight or nine thousand troops were obviously not Dio. The Nya light infantry, light armor and cavalry can stop.

Amintas looked at the sweaty Dionian soldiers in front of them. Although they were tired, few people were sitting or lying down. Instead, they put down their weapons, got together in twos and threes, and walked and chatted slowly, because they Knowing that there will be a fight next, if lying down will increase the muscle soreness, it will make their body lazy and don't want to exercise.

Amintas immediately called six heavy infantry captains, and said with a serious expression: "Our plan to lure the enemy has been successful, and the enemy's large forces have already left the camp. I hope you can overcome your fatigue and catch them. , Defeat them!"

"Legion captain, don't worry! The Romans come out, don't even think about running back!" The words of the first captain, Ktisus, were approved by the other captains.

"Then get ready to go!" Amintas ordered immediately.

Just as the captains gathered their soldiers, Amintas ordered the messengers: "Immediately notify Setia and the Wolsi in the city of Plefornum. The main Romans has been Get out of the camp and invite them to join the battle."

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Camelus did not hesitate after guessing the intentions of the Dionians, and immediately summoned 9,000 heavy infantry, leaving only more than 3,000 to defend the camp.

Originally, Frius asked to lead his troops to let the elderly Camilos guard the camp.

But Camilos refused. He sent troops only to rescue the soldiers who were blocked. He did not intend to fight the Dionians desperately. But if the young and energetic Frius leads the soldiers, It is very likely to lead to such a result.

Camillos led more than 70 Roman heavy infantry squadrons to the west that was detected by the scouts, because he knew that Dionian’s army would also come in this direction, and he must take them out as soon as possible. The trapped soldiers then quickly returned to the camp.

Camillos didn’t know much about the Dionian army. In his impression, the surrounding forces and even the Greeks in Campania were fighting in a bloated phalanx, except that he took the lead in restructuring. Because the Roman army used the squadron as the main combat force, it became more flexible in both formation and combat. Therefore, he believes that even if the Dionian troops arrive, they need to rearrange their formation and he will have plenty of time to go. Organization retreat.

When Camillos arrived on the battlefield, Dionian’s seventh and eighth battalions and cavalry had already retreated. The sight in front of him surprised him: the ground was full of dead bodies and horses. There were also groaning and struggling wounded soldiers. The nearly 3,000 people (cavalry and light infantry) who were originally ordered to rescue lost nearly one-third, and the living soldiers were disheveled and depressed, and some had blue noses and broken heads. Blood flow...

Through the brief narration of the trapped team officer Comus, Camilos understood the entire battle and was surprised by the lethality of the Dionian light infantry and cavalry, as well as the close cooperation between them. .

This is a well-trained army! Camillos set a label for the Dionians in his heart, so he urged the soldiers to take the wounded and retreat immediately.

"What about our citizens who died in battle?" The light infantry generals from allied states demanded that the bodies be brought back.

Camillos, who has always loved soldiers like a child, said hard-heartedly at this moment: "I put it here for the time being and will deal with it later. Now we must hurry up and return immediately!"

Allied generals are dissatisfied with this decision and want to say more.

At this time, the scout hurriedly came: "Camillos military officer, there are about six to seven thousand black soldiers coming from the south!"

Camillos felt tight and galloped out of the team. (According to Roman military traditions, Roman leaders must walk like soldiers, to show that there is no difference between the two. Mulhouse is too old and has limited physical strength, so the Roman Senate specially approved him to ride a horse), and looking south, I saw dust and fog churning in the distance...

According to his experience, the enemy is already one mile away.

He immediately returned to the team and issued an order: "Line up according to the array before the enemy, and start to retreat!"

The array he referred to before the enemy was a small square of 120 Roman squadrons arranged staggered into a large formation like fish scales. Since the squadrons have a large interval between them, they are flexible and move quickly and retreat relatively quickly. , And once unable to retreat, he can switch to an offensive formation at any time. Because of some anxiety in his heart, Camillos took this prudent approach.

However, how could the Dionian light infantry around the periphery make it easy for the Romans to complete the retreat? The slingers once again flicked the slings and threw lead shots at the Romans, while the archers even boldly approached Rome. On the outside of the army, put on a shooting posture...

Camillos had to move the Roman light infantry to this side as a defense.

However, the Dionian cavalry were galloping on the periphery of the Roman army in groups, and from time to time they rushed inward to less than 20 meters away from the Roman soldiers, posing a state of assault.

Although the messengers sent by Camillos repeatedly warned the Roman soldiers to ignore the harassment of the Dionians, the speed of the Roman soldiers was obviously disturbed.

At this time, Dionian’s army was marching fast, and it was approaching to a position less than 300 meters away from the Roman army. The Roman soldiers could already see the golden light held high in the dusty fog. Flag, you can hear the strong rhythm of the snare drum, and rows of black soldiers who seem to be overwhelming to press them at a relatively neat pace...

While the soldiers were attracted and stunned by the momentum of the Dionian army, Camillos was even more surprised. He found that the formation of the Dionian army was the same as that of the Roman army after the reform. The tactical formations are very similar, which made him suddenly realize that the Dionians may not have to spend a lot of time in arranging formations, and they may directly attack themselves. If he retreats here forcibly, he may be chased by the opponent. This led to chaos in the team and a disastrous defeat.