Chapter 67

1 The cunning Messapi cavalry quickly swept forward diagonally, exposing the infantry phalanx behind them.

Then, Messapi's army stopped advancing and confronted Archita's army again 100 meters away.

Archita couldn't wait any longer. He had twice as many troops as the enemy, and his sense of unease prompted him to immediately order: Sound the trumpet of the attack!

There are quite a few people in Tarantum who are jealous or look down on the Dionysian League, but not Archita. He not only had a good relationship with Dionysian Archon Davos, but also carefully studied Dionia's military tactics, and absorbed some of it and applied it to his own troops. Increasing the number of light infantry, grouping them individually, and giving full play to its long-range attack is a major change in the army he led.

When the light infantry attacked the enemy first, Archita sat behind the right flank where the length of the array was much longer than the enemy's phalanx, and directed the heavy infantry on the right flank to advance, preparing to outflank the enemy's left flank.

The Messapi phalanx remained motionless, and the Messapi cavalry surrounding the Tarantum array was in action. They pressed forward from all sides and threw javelins at the Tarantum soldiers in an attempt to disrupt and hinder the advance of the enemy.

Archita was unmoved, the attack trumpet continued to play, and the heavy infantry would soon enter a distance where they could charge.

"Woo!...Woo!..." The majestic and long horn horn suddenly sounded on the battlefield.

Archita was taken aback: the voice came from the rear? ! !

"There are enemies behind! There are enemies behind!!..." Some soldiers at the rear of the right flank of the phalanx began to shout in panic, and behind the side and rear can already see the shadowy figures in the distant morning mist, and heard the sound of rumbling footsteps .

Counted! The Messapies have an ambush here! Achita's heart "cracked", and this thought quickly flashed in his mind: should we continue to move forward or retreat? He had to make a decision now.

Fortunately, he learned the practice of the Dionian army, and the commander did not take the lead in the phalanx, but outside the phalanx. Because of this, someone in the Senate accused him of: practicing a rotten aristocratic style in battle and not fighting side by side with the citizens is an act of greed for life and fear of death.

He did not change his approach because of the criticism, so now he was able to make adjustments before the engagement: "Stop the advance of the whole army! Immediately retreat to the left rear in full formation!" Archita immediately gave orders to the messengers and trumpeters, He hoped that by retreating, the bad situation of front and rear pincers would be turned into a frontal attack on these two enemies.

The bugle blew. The messengers galloped behind the phalanx, shouting loudly.

For the usual Greek city-state army,

Retreat to the left and back was a complicated tactical maneuver, difficult to do in training, let alone on the battlefield, but Archita believed that the army he led had been fighting for half a year and, like the Dionysian army, An army trained by him could do it.

In the many battles with the Mesapis, he learned the bravery and tenacity of this race. He did not have the confidence to defeat the enemy in the west, which was twice as strong as him, in a very short period of time. In the dangerous situation of front and rear pinch attack, the only way is to immediately leave the current battlefield and rearrange the attack. Since the main force of the Mesapi people is attacking Mandulia, he believes that the number of enemies here is not much more than his army, and he is confident to defeat them in a head-on battle!

The phalanx stopped advancing and began to retreat slowly, but the Tarantum army did not advance, but the Messapi infantry began to charge. At the same time, the Messapi cavalry began to intensify their attack, howling and even driving their horses into the phalanx in an attempt to disrupt the Tarantum retreat.

This desperate style of play by the Messapi cavalry shocked Achieta. He felt the determination of the Messapis to annihilate his army here, and it was difficult to maintain the calmness in his heart.

Is it to continue to retreat or to strengthen the defense? Archita was once again caught in a difficult choice.

But time was running out, the Messapi cavalry had already rushed in front of them, and the light infantry hurriedly retreated to both sides. Obstructed by the Messapi cavalry, the Tarantum heavy infantry, who could not retreat fully, had to turn around to face the battle. in passive.

Archita had no time to regret. Facing such a predicament, on the one hand, he let the light infantry use arrows to disperse the Messapi cavalry, and informed the officers to shorten the length of the heavy infantry phalanx and thicken the columns; The soldiers at the rear of the formation quickly turned back, facing the approaching enemy, and marched forward for more than ten meters, so that the entire array changed from the original "one-character snake formation" to a "two-character formation". Protect the opponent's rear.

Archita believes that even if his troops are temporarily passive, they can repel the Mesapis with a solid defense!

The Messapi cavalry in the rear had withdrawn to both sides, and the rumbling footsteps and the thunderous shouts came clearly from the morning fog...

As the dark enemy approached, the Tarantum soldiers were astonished: not only were the number of enemies staggering, but they were not Messapi soldiers, armed with wooden shields and spears, and wearing rudimentary helmets and breastplates.

"Lord Archita, it's Puchetti! It's Puchetti!!" Upon receiving the report from the scout, Archita was equally shocked: Messapi and Puchetti are united! For decades, Messapi and Puchetti, who have been bitter and often at war, are united! !

Seeing more and more Puchetti warriors rushing over, Archita was shaking all over, not only worried about the safety of this unit, but also about the situation of Tarantum...

………………

"Congratulations, King Puchetti! The Tarantums have been surrounded by us!" Timogras, the governor of Iglatia, shouted complimentably.

"Yes, the Archita, who made you lose a lot of battles, was surrounded by my heroic warriors. Hurry up and destroy them! Then go to attack Brindisi!" With a happy face, he did not forget to mock the Mesapi people.

However, half an hour later, the Tarantum flag in the encirclement was still standing. The Maple coalition did not make substantial progress except to compress the encirclement. Instead, because of the concentration of Tarantum soldiers, they attacked encountered greater resistance.

King Puchetti personally went to the army and brought more than 10,000 soldiers, plus the soldiers of Igratia, the strength was more than double the number of Achta's army.

The battle was so difficult when the opponent was already surrounded.

King Puchetti, the consul of Igratia, and the generals of Puchetti all stared at the dusty battlefield with solemn expressions.

"Fight! Tarantum fight! Children of the hero Taras don't stop swinging your spears! Remember, every time you kill an enemy, your parents, wives, and children get a piece of safety!  …" In the center of the encirclement, Archita drove his horse back and forth, dodging the arrows and javelins that were constantly flying, and shouting loudly to boost his morale.

His voice was hoarse, his warhorse was steaming continuously, but he didn't even notice it. He knew that this time he was afraid of the worst, but even if he died in battle, he would let the enemy suffer heavy losses and reduce the threat to his mother country.

Tarantum's formation has changed from "two" to a circle. Inspired by him, the light infantry in the center kept shooting arrows in their hands, ignoring that their fingers were cut by the bowstring and their arm muscles were strained. The heavy infantrymen were close to each other, working together to resist the enemy's powerful squeezing, and at the same time raising the spears in their hands, jabbing and retracting from the top of the closely arranged shield wall without stopping. Once the spears broke, they immediately drew out their swords. Continue to stimulate the hacking and slashing... They know that the only way out is to fight to the death, so the comrades around them continue to fall, and their fighting spirit has not been shaken.

………………

An hour passed, and King Puchetti's face was ashen because Tarantum's flag was still standing, but his generals asked to suspend the attack because the soldiers were tired and the casualties were not small.

"Trash, a bunch of trash! Are you still the descendants of the heroic Arcadian king Lycaon! Look at the Greeks who are surrounded by you, they are not taller than us, and they are not as numerous as us, if so you will be afraid , I can only replace you and let the real warriors lead my warriors!..." Tremoney scolded, waving his arms, and almost swept the spear in his hand to the face of the general in front of the horse.

"Respected King Puchetti, Archita is indeed a famous general of Tarantum, and the army under his command is indeed powerful! We still have to retake Brindisi, and we shouldn't waste too much of our troops here!" Timorglass suppressed his schadenfreude and persuaded.

"You mean to stop fighting?" Tremoney gave him a sideways glance and said contemptuously.

"The reason why the Tarantums are fighting desperately is because they have no way to escape. If our encirclement can open a passage..." A mysterious smile appeared on Timorglass' face.

"You mean—" Tremoney was not a king with mediocre talents. He led his army to fight for Puchetti's strength when he was young. At this time, he was just too obsessed with victory, reminded by Timoglass. , He immediately woke up and turned his attention to the Messapi and Puchetti cavalry waiting on both sides of the battlefield. They united, there were nearly a thousand cavalry, but they lost their usefulness because the enemy was surrounded.

"I think the same way!" Tremoney raised his chest and exclaimed to hide his previous gaffe. He drove his horse forward, pointing his spear at the Tarantum flag standing in the middle of the chaotic battlefield: "Just don't let Archita go!"

Because Puchetti had a large number of soldiers, and Messapi was in urgent need of their help, after deliberation, the Maple coalition chose to give way to the Igratia infantry surrounded by the west.