Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 252: The Battle of Gela (2)

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Furthermore, Leotizides took into consideration that among the soldiers of Gela there were young and older citizens (the Gela people came out in order to defend their homeland this time), and deliberately thickened the array to make It is not easily broken through the front by the enemy.

At the same time, considering the weakness of the Greek heavy infantry-the flanks are attacked and easily defeated, so Leontizides moved the left flank closer to the coast, which prevented the Carthaginians from turning around from the left and attacking the side of the friendly army. .

In addition, another purpose of his thickened array is to shorten the length of the battlefield, because although the land on the west side of Gela is flat, it is not wide. It is only 7-8 miles from the coast to the mountains, Leo Tizides needs to leave enough space outside the right wing for the cavalry to gallop, because he determined the victory of the Dionian Allied Forces on the right wing, because there is the 8th Army that he trusts, and he can always 1300 cavalrymen (1000 cavalrymen of the 4th Cavalry Corps plus 300 cavalrymen of Gela and Kamenlina) who went around to the opposite side of the Carthage Army to attack. He learned from the population of Gela that no cavalry was found in the Carthage army that came to attack the city. The Dionian scouts also confirmed this news in the past two days.

After thinking carefully, he figured out the reason, so he dared to want to fight with the Carthaginians so quickly, and the cavalry was his greatest dependence.

Leotizides and Adjutant Mukru stood on horseback in front of the army, watching the formation of the Carthaginians on the opposite side, and there were scouts reporting the entire formation of the Carthaginian army to him at any time. condition.

Although Dionian’s intelligence department did not collect much intelligence on the Carthage army in the Iberian region (this is because Carthage had previously cooperated with Dionian in order to protect the source of its precious metal mines. The peace agreement clearly stated that "Dionian merchant ships are not allowed to trade in the Carthage territory of Iberia." At the same time, Margo also has strict control over his territory. Outsiders are full of vigilance, Dioni It is quite difficult for Asian intelligence personnel to enter southern Iberia, where Carthage belongs.) Leotizides still roughly knows: wearing a pointed helmet, wearing a white linen breastplate, coat and chain armor, holding a spear and a long The shields were Phoenician and Numibian infantry; those wearing flat helmets, white lining with purple piping, coat armor, holding long shields and short swords were Iberian infantry; and those wearing black robes, The soldier wearing armor and also holding a long shield and short sword may be the rumored Lusitania soldier...

After getting a general understanding of the Carthage’s formation, Leontizides sighed with relief, turned his head and said to Mukru: “It seems that the Carthaginians are really worried about the attack power of our soldiers. , Specially put their main force in Iberia to the left flank. In this way... we lined up first and used the Eighth Army to attract the other main force and reduce the pressure on friendly soldiers."

The reason why he said this is because Mucru reminded him: It’s best not to lay out before the enemy arrives, because it is mentioned in the "Dionian Military Law" that the It's good not to let the enemy know the deployment of your own array first, so as not to have the opportunity to make targeted arrangements.

At this time, Mukru did not blindly agree, he reminded: "Commander, the Carthaginians have placed the Lusitania on their right flank!"

"It used to be rumored that the Mesapis were fierce, the Lucanians were fierce, and the Samoneites were fierce... But they did not pose much threat to Dionia. Now it is rumored that Lusitania People are very fierce. I think we shouldn’t blindly listen to these rumors, and let’s see the battle first.” Leontizides’ calm tone was with a trace of disdain, and he in turn reminded Mukru: “Greece is important. The biggest advantage of infantry is that their frontal defense is very strong, and their offensive power is not weak. This is precisely where our coalition is superior to each other except for the cavalry. Therefore, as long as it is a frontal fight, we will not be at a disadvantage."

At this time, the messenger of the Eighth Legion came and reported to him: The Legion has been lined up.

Leotizides immediately looked back to the left, and the noise was still constant, unavoidably a little dissatisfied: "Immediately send someone to urge the Gerans and Kamanlinas to speed up the formation!"

After speaking, he turned his horse's head, passed through the gap of the army formation, and returned to the back of the middle road.

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

The entire army formation began to move forward slowly, and the fastest was the light infantry brigade of the Eighth Army. They passed through the gaps of the Eighth Army’s checkerboard array and rushed towards the opposite enemy in a loose formation. , They will use bows and arrows and javelins to give the enemy the first wave of blows, disrupt the enemy’s formation, and pave the way for victory in the next heavy infantry attack.

Has Druba and Kisgo have learned about Dionian’s past tactics, and they naturally know Dionian’s heavy infantry tactics. When they see black helmets and black armors, When the Eighth Army was on the opposite side of their left wing, they were prepared, so when the Eighth Army Light Infantry Brigade rushed out of the army, Kisgol responded by sending out the army that had been waiting behind the left wing.

There are about 1,700 people in this army. 500 of them are Lusitania javelinmen wearing black robes. Pulled out, so the Lusitania Javelinman is quite talkative in Iberia.

The 1,200 soldiers following them were wearing white singles, with a heavy cloth bag tied around their waists, and a dagger hanging from them. They were not wearing helmets or armor. They were even barefoot, just hands. There is a sling made of wool and linen woven in it... Yes, they are 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 inhabitants of the islands have a long tradition of training slingers. The children have been trained as soldiers and their mothers He didn't even give the child bread at first until he hit a distant target with a sling for the first time. The Balearic people, lacking in resources and materials, used a large number of cheap slingers to defend the safety of the island, and residents with superb slinging skills often use this skill to obtain meat and improve their lives, such as slinging stones to beat birds.

Marco occupies the southern part of Iberia (mainly the southeast), just adjacent to the Balearic Islands. By providing sufficient food for the Balearic people, he obtained the allegiance of the Balearic people and was fighting for Iberian In the process of Asia, the Balearic slingers played a significant role. This time in Sicily, Margot brought 1,500 Balearic slingers.

After the Balearic people stepped out of the army, they stopped advancing. They put their hands into the cloth bag around their waists. The cloth bag was divided into three compartments and placed three types of lead pellets. They took out the lightest one. Put the lead shot into the cloth pocket of the sling, and then start to wave it.

Because the Dionian coalition forces have just begun to advance, after the Eighth Army Light Infantry Brigade rushed out of the army, they were still more than 400 meters away from the enemy on the opposite side, so they were advancing quickly, and the formation had not completely dispersed. Suddenly I saw a dark cloud flying in the sky diagonally ahead.

"Watch out for flying rocks! Protect your head!" The light infantry captain hissed, his face changed a little.

At the reminder of the team officers, the light infantry who had never been attacked by the slingers bowed their heads and wrapped their hands around their necks. Although the Dionian light infantry were wearing single clothes, they were all equipped with a leather helmet. After the lead shot fell, a grunt sounded, but it did not cause many casualties.

"Speed ​​up! Get closer to the enemy!" At the reminder of the team officers, the light infantry, whose bodies were achingly beaten by the flying stone, accelerated their advance.

In the process, they suffered several rounds of lead shots. Due to the closer distance, the Balearic slingers have changed the small lead shots to medium ones first, and finally to large ones.

Since the Lusitania Javelinmen have rushed up, and the Dionian light infantry will of course also start to attack, it is impossible to cover their faces with their hands, which causes their injuries to rise, especially bows and arrows. The hands, because of their long range, became the key targets of the Balearic slingers.

Archery is a fine sport that requires physical strength. It requires most of the muscles of the archer's hand and half of the body to work together to stretch the bowstring and shoot precise and powerful arrows. Even if the lead shot does not hit the head, it hurts. Muscles and tendons in other parts of the body will also seriously affect the combat effectiveness of archers.

There are slingers on the opposite side of the Carthaginian? ! After listening to the scout's emergency report, Leontizides was slightly surprised.

"Your commander, this may be the Balearic slinger mentioned in the intelligence!" Mukru reminded.

The Ministry of Military Affairs had previously reported that "Margo's Numibian army is served by slingers from the Balearic Islands". But this time after the army led by Margo landed in Sicily, neither in the siege of Silinus or the sneak attack on the Sikers, nor in the siege of Enna or Gela, this unit was used. Therefore, Leotizides ignored its existence for a while.

At this time, he immediately issued an order: "Let the trumpeters sound the bugles on the right flank to accelerate the advancement, so that the soldiers of the Eighth Army can engage the enemy as soon as possible, so as not to be disturbed by the slingers!" /

"Woo woo woo..." The bugle sounded hurriedly in the rear, and the eighth army officers at all levels who heard the trumpet immediately instructed the company and brigade flag bearers to wave the flag held high, and the entire right wing The soldiers gradually accelerated their advancement.

The light infantry brigade is at a disadvantage in the long-range contest with the opponent, but they are still gritting their teeth. As a member of the entire army, the light infantry brigade officers know very well that they must buy time for the heavy infantry comrades in the rear. Don't let the opponent's slingers free up to attack the legion's phalanx.