Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 253: The Battle of Gela (3)

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When the captain hissed and shouted "Retreat", the light infantry quickly retreated back in relief, through the gap of the phalanx, and reached the rear. By this time, their number was about 700, and almost all of them were more or less injured.

When the Eighth Army was 50 meters away from the Carthage army, it slowed down and quickly transformed the checkerboard array into a tight square.

The Balearic slingers and Lusitania javelinmen also took the opportunity to withdraw from the narrow space between the two armies. They had nearly 200 casualties, and they had the upper hand.

When the Eighth Army soldiers saw the opposing light infantry withdraw, their forward pace slowed down, and at the same time they drew their javelins in preparation.

At this moment, the Phoenician-Numibian infantry who was still in a static state on the opposite side, under the orders of the team officers, suddenly began to stride forward, preparing to launch an assault on the Eighth Army.

This action of the Phoenu infantry disrupted the rhythm of the Eighth Army's offensive. After the soldiers threw the first round of the javelin, they had to charge and fight with the enemy.

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Compared with the hurricane advance of the right wing, the center and left wing of the Dionian allied forces are still advancing slowly, while the center and right wing of the Carthaginian army are still standing still, even in formation, and Compared to the well-trained Phoenu infantry, both the Iberian infantry and the Lusitania fighters seem to be a little procrastinated. Fortunately, Hasdruba is on the right wing, under his loud shouting and command. , After the right-wing Iberians and Lusitarians lined up, they couldn’t wait to move forward.

Especially the Lusitalia at the far right, they run very fast.

At this time, the two sides are a hundred meters apart, and the left wing of the coalition is still advancing unhurriedly, but the soldiers of Kamanlina, through the narrow eyeholes of the Corinthian helmet, noticed that the opponent rushed to the front in the blink of an eye. , The team officials hurriedly ordered a charge, but the Lusitania fighters ran into it before the speed was up.

The strong power is transmitted to the body through the round shield. If it were not supported by the thick array behind him, the Kamenlina soldiers in the front row would probably be knocked out. But because of this, they were also knocked to each other and lost the best posture for defense.

Of course, the Lusitania warrior would not let go of this great opportunity, and the sharp Wakata dagger in his hand stabbed fiercely.

The soldiers of Kamanlina screamed and fell, and the soldiers who prevented the attack also had lingering fears, and had a trace of fear for the tall, burly, and fierce enemies in front of them.

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When the two sides in the middle are finally close, the battle between the Dionian forces and the Carthage army has entered a full-scale battle. The fighting position between the two sides is completely a big diagonal line, and the army in the north is the most to the west. The army in the south is closest to the east.

The three-mile-long front was shrouded in dust and fog that was constantly stirred up by the soldiers fighting on both sides. There were shouts, screams, and screams everywhere... In such a big, noisy and blurred battlefield, Leotizi Dess can't even watch the leopard in his eyes. The only thing he can rely on is the scouts distributed behind the battle formation. They will report the battle situation of their position to Leotizides behind the center from time to time.

Are the soldiers advancing or retreating? Is there more casualties on your own side or more casualties on the other side? The former question is easy to make observations, while the latter question depends more on the judgement ability of the scout. The situation reported by the scouts was eventually recorded by Mukru on the plank he carried to judge the pros and cons of the battle.

"Your Excellency Commander, look at—" Mukru lifted the plank up to Leottizides' eyes with a serious expression: "This is the situation when we first entered the war! This is the situation now! Our left wing It has already retreated a lot, the center has retreated a little, and the right wing of our Eighth Army has not moved forward much!"

Leotizides stared at the wooden board filled with data. In fact, he listened to the situation reported by the scout, and he had a general idea, but the drawing on the wooden board was more intuitive and clear.

Leotizides’s indifferent face became more gloomy: It can be said that at the beginning of the battle, his mood was relaxed, because his original plan was realized, the Carthaginians Indeed, the formation of the army that he had set up first followed suit, and the two sides became a face-to-face heavy infantry contest. He believes that relying on the strong defense of the Greek heavy infantry can completely form a long-term stalemate, which will consume the physical strength of the opponent's soldiers even more, which is conducive 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 consciously has attached great importance to this Carthage army, but the enemy's performance still exceeded his expectations.

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

Mukru was slightly surprised. He knew that the original battle plan was not like this. Instead, he had to wait until the two sides had been fighting for a long time and were a little tired. Even the right-wing Eighth Army still had a clear upper hand. The attack of the Cavalry Corps will be the final step to establish the victory, but now it has been used early.

Of course, Mukru did not dissuade him. He knew that the situation was a little unfavorable for the coalition forces.

"Wait a minute." Leotizides hesitated for a while and said decisively again: "Let the light armoured brigade and the light infantry brigade follow the cavalry and attack the left side of the Carthaginians together!"

Mukru was taken aback, this time he couldn't help but reminded: "Commander, the light armoured brigade is our only reserve team!"

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

Mukru did not speak any more. When sending the messenger to inform the three troops, he felt a little uneasy. After all, Leotizides would be the few winning chips to press on Gatai. Since then, the left wing of the Ji people has lost the ability to intervene in the entire battle.

The 4th Cavalry Corps and the friendly cavalry who had been waiting for half an hour behind the right flank were already impatient. Therefore, after receiving the order to attack, the captain took the lead, and the other cavalry followed closely, the 4th Cavalry Corps. The 1,000 cavalrymen formed a long column of 4 cavalry, followed by 300 friendly cavalry.

The 4th Cavalry Regiment of Dionia is the weakest of the four great cavalry regiments in the kingdom. In the territory of Great Greece, Bruti, Mesapi, and Puchetti are all races that are good at raising horses. , Has the ability to provide cavalry, but the Sicilian territory does not have such conditions. Moreover, raising war horses is different from ordinary horses. It not only requires a lot of fodder, but also rich legumes to ensure sufficient strength to carry the cavalry, and at the same time to frequently control the war horses, whether in battle or training. Both are extremely vulnerable to injuries, so often cavalry must keep at least two horses in their homes to basically guarantee the needs of training and combat. It can be seen that raising war horses is not a small burden even for the wealthy citizens of Dionia and the citizens who specialize in breeding and buying and selling horses.

The Sicilian Territories did not have a tradition of raising horses, and the people in these territories were mostly refugees who had been persecuted by Syracuse many times. There were not many wealthy people. They were citizens who signed up when the 4th Cavalry Regiment was first established. rare. After these years of development, the lives of the people in the Sicilian Territory have been greatly improved. In addition, the Royal Senate has passed many preferential bills for citizens who become cavalry. Each cavalry is given a certain amount of subsidy...It can be said that the cavalry is the only army that receives a fixed salary among the various branches of Dionian. Stimulated by these favorable factors, the number of the 4th Cavalry Corps has just passed 1,000, which is far from full.

For these years, the 4th Cavalry Regiment has been in the barracks and has not experienced war. From the beginning of this war to the present, they only acted as supporting roles and did not make too much merit. The cavalry were eager to prove themselves, so they bypassed the right wing of the army formation and were hundreds of meters behind the left wing of the enemy. After drawing a long arc, legion commander Asitmis deliberately ignored Leonid’s instructions and did not wait in place under the influence of the extremely excited belligerence of the surrounding soldiers. The arrival of the light armoured brigade and the light infantry brigade decided to attack first.

After the cavalry got the offensive order, they began to drive their horses and jog at small steps. Before they could raise their speed, they were first attacked by flying rocks from the Balearic slings, even though they were a few hundred meters away. The flying stones of the Ali people still have considerable accuracy, and they deliberately focus on the horses. Compared with the cavalry in leather helmets and leather armors, a sensitive animal like a war horse touches a lead shot and immediately called it again. He jumped again, threw down the soldiers riding on the horse, and ran around in panic.

For a time, horses neighed everywhere, and the cavalry who fell to the ground rushed to chase their horses. The scene was chaotic, and the attack was forced to stop.

Asitmis finally reunited with the cavalry. After rough statistics, he lost more than 90 cavalry, which reached 1/10 of the army’s number. It is waiting for the helper to arrive.

More than 10 minutes later, the two brigade arrived.

During the waiting time, the cavalry were not idle. Asitmis sent a small group of cavalry to investigate. After paying some casualties, he brought back the general arrangement of the Carthaginians behind the left wing. Situation: The enemy's slingers arranged a loose linear array facing the Fourth Cavalry Corps 100 meters away from the enemy battle formation; in front of them there were hundreds of javelinmen, and hundreds of foreign light infantry guards. (Since the Celtics are mostly naked and no armor, the Dionian cavalry consider them light infantry)……