Chapter 120 Pre-Battle Reconnaissance of the Battle of Punat River

Davos had no plans to fight with the Bruti Alliance at this moment, so he chose to camp here. At the same time, he believed that the Bruti League had experienced the failure of the siege the day before yesterday. I would be more cautious, abandon the geographical advantage, and it is not very likely that the challenge will come after marching for dozens of miles, but I did not expect that the enemy will really come. Since it's here, let's fight!

The strength of the two sides was equal, and although half of Dionian's troops might have been a little tired from building the camp, that was no reason to avoid the battle. The enemy came out, and Davos was getting what he wanted. He stood up suddenly and asked, "How is the camp building?"

"The trench has been dug, and the earthen fort is being built." Tolmead replied, and then asked again: "Do you need to let the soldiers retreat behind the trench?"

Davers waved his hand in denial. The Dionysian Legion has always been mainly offensive. Although the trenches can increase the difficulty of the enemy's attack, they also limit their own offensive capabilities, so that the morale of the soldiers cannot be fully utilized. He will not do this unless there are special circumstances. .

"Blow the rallying bugle, and then call the two legion commanders Kapus and Drakes, as well as the cavalry captain Ryders... By the way, and also call Epithenes and Tspit. ' Davers ordered.

"Yes." Thormed hurried to summon the order.

"We're going to fight the Brutus here?" Triphias was a little nervous.

"Yes, it seems that the war with Bruti will end sooner!" Davos smiled confidently. Triphias was infected by his smile, relaxed and gave a Greek military salute: " Then allow me to go and gather my soldiers first."

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Pian Lun led the army towards the Punat River, over a high slope, down to a broad and flat meadow. On the grass, countless Greeks were gathering and lining up. From a height, it looked like a pile of ants whose nests had been dug out.

"Stop advancing, prepare for formation!" He immediately ordered.

Although the formation of the Greeks did not yet have a prototype, he stood on a high slope and overlooked, and he also had a general impression: the right side of the Dionysian was the confluence of the Punat River and the Krati River, all the way to the left. It is a flat grass without any terrain obstacles, and behind them are the mud pits that they dug in a mess.

After watching for a while, he made a decision in his heart: due to the difficulty of walking on the side of the river and little room for attack and maneuver, he would put the 5,000 tribal warriors forcibly recruited from various tribes on the left wing; the middle road was Ambalia And the more than 5,000 fighters of the city of Vig; the right flank is the 12,000 fighters of Cosenza.

Obviously,

He wanted to secure victory on the right flank with his most numerous and most effective Cosenza fighters.

What Pian Lun originally thought was: Take advantage of the chaos in the enemy's organization, and hurry up and attack!

However, the troops of more than 20,000 people are from different tribes. In order to form a formation in a very short time, what is needed is a complete command system, long-term military training and very disciplined soldiers. These points The Brutians couldn't meet the requirements, so the entire army began to slowly deploy in a state of extreme chaos with horns, snare drums, people shouting horses neighing, you pushed me, and noisy.

Pian Lun had a good time watching the enemy's movements while waiting for his own formation to be completed. But after a while, his face was a little ugly.

Because the Dionysians, who were still messy just now, quickly formed "small squares" one by one, and then these countless small squares moved to fixed positions quickly and without interfering with each other like building blocks. Soon, Dionia's formation took shape.

It was a formation that Pian Lun had never seen before. The "small squares" were not close together, but there were quite a few gaps. From the top down, it looked like patches of green and white woolen blankets (because the linen breastplate was white). Although Pian Lun did not know how powerful such a strange formation was, the speed of the Dionian formation still made him uneasy.

He said loudly to Petaru beside him: "Go and urge Bergam to make them move faster!"

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The chaos of the Dionysian Array that Pianlon first saw was the moment when the soldiers of the First Legion hurriedly crawled out of the hot camp, put on each other's armor, and returned to their team. But now that the formation has begun to unfold, Davos' slightly nervous mood has also settled down.

"Lord Commander, our right wing is still in formation and has not yet been deployed!" Tormid rushed to report anxiously.

"Don't worry, there are allied troops and legion reserves on the right flank, and the sources of soldiers are the most mixed." Davos rode on his horse and looked to the left: In the late autumn, it hasn't rained for more than ten days, the land is dry, and the The movement of Wan Soldier has already stirred up the dust, and there is still a little bit of the situation on the right wing.

Davos said with a rather leisurely expression: "Trifias did not rush to line up, but reorganized the troops first, which made me feel at ease."

His finger pointed forward: "Look at the Bruti people who didn't move on the grassy slope, and they are probably also forming an array, which just gave us time for the soldiers of the First Army to rest and recover a little bit of physical strength."

Thormid looked intently: 500 meters away, the front was also filled with dust and fog...

"Go and inform Ryders." Davos ordered again: "Let him send seven or eight cavalry detachments to harass the enemy's left, center, and right three lanes, slow down their formation speed, and observe their response. Come back and report to me."

"Yes."

"Wait a minute. You tell Ryders, I'm talking about harassment, not reckless fight. If the enemy's cavalry comes after, immediately retreat, don't let the cavalry be damaged!" Davers repeatedly urged.

"Understood, my lord."

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"Boys, keep up!"

"Uncle, we can run faster than you without riding a horse."

"Stinky boy, your skin is itchy, right? Go back and look good on you."

"Captain, you should have done this a long time ago!"

With a burst of laughter, the cavalry detachment led by Solikos had crossed the entire battlefield and arrived at the Pounat River.

"Stop!" Thorikos tapped the spear, and the entire squad stopped.

"Get off your horses!"

"Why, Captain?! We are not yet in front of the enemy!" cried the cavalry.

"Obey orders!" Thorikos yelled.

Although the cavalry were reluctant, they had to do it because of the military regulations, but they shouted in dissatisfaction: "Captain, the other detachments have already thrown javelins at the enemy, do you want us to be deserters?!"

"Shut up! Our detachment was ordered to harass the enemy's leftmost flank, the running distance is the longest, and the horses are a little tired. Let them rest for a while so that they can better complete the task! I will bring you out, and I will take you smoothly. go back!"

"Okay, Captain, we'll listen to you. But how long will it take?!"

"Wait for my order."

The cavalry had no choice but to pat the restless warhorse, while observing the gray battlefield ahead, watching their teammates in the distance sometimes rush into the dust and fog, and sometimes retreat on their horses... The screams and screams reached In their ears, it made their hearts itch.

Time passed so slowly, just when they were a little impatient, "Get on the horse!" Solikos's voice was like a rain of rain after a long drought, which lifted their spirits.

The 50 steeds spread their hooves and began to trot, gradually forming a wedge as they advanced.

Thorikos was at the forefront, and he raised his spear and swung forward twice: "Accelerate!"

In front is a 30-meter-high grassy slope. Although it is not steep, it is necessary to prevent the cavalry from slowing down when going up the slope and being attacked by the enemy.

The hooves of the war horse flew, and the cavalrymen hugged the horse's neck tightly and leaned forward to speed up the speed of the war horse's slope.

Solikos was the first to jump on the grassy slope. A few dozen meters away, there were dense Brutians extending from the bank of the Punat River. I don't know how far it was. One row, two rows, three rows... in a hurry It is also difficult to count how thick their phalanx is.

Thorikos felt that he was standing in front of the enemy, like an ant standing in front of an elephant, and the invisible huge pressure accumulated in his chest, making him feel a little breathless. He took a deep breath, pulled out a short javelin, put his legs on the horse's belly, and the warhorse accelerated again.

The cavalry followed.

50 meters, 40 meters, 30 meters... The raised horse's hooves fell on the dry and cracked soil, as if a drumstick was hitting the drum surface, making a sound of "Da Da! Da Da!", coupled with the rapid advance of the cavalry unit , actually caused a lot of momentum, causing waves of riots in the just-placed Bruti array.

Just as the Brutite warriors pushed each other and exclaimed, Thorikos threw the javelin in his hand, and then dozens of javelins plunged into the enemy's line, and screams sounded one after another.

The Brutians were even more chaotic, some retreated in panic, and some rushed up in anger...

Solikos swung his spear to the left, and led the cavalry detachment to quickly turn left at a distance of more than 20 meters from the enemy line, and galloped forward along the front of the Bruti array. Wherever he went, it was like a stone smashed into calm water, but the ripples that appeared would not be able to subside for a while. At the same time, the panic and confusion of the enemy were all reflected in the eyes of Thorikos. He felt that his mission had been accomplished. Decisively ordered: "Turn left!"

As soon as the cavalry turned around and returned, the Bruty cavalry arrived and chased.

The Dionysian light infantry arrived in time to respond, using javelins to frighten back several hundred Brutian cavalry.

Davos skillfully used the "fire reconnaissance" of the cavalry to make the response of the various units of the Bruty array on the opposite side. Through Ryders' report, he had a general understanding of the Bruty array. Judging from the performance of dealing with cavalry harassment, Bruti's left flank was the worst, while the right flank was the strongest, costing Dionysian cavalry more than a dozen cavalry casualties. Obviously, the idea of ​​the Brutians is the same as that of Davos. They arrange the weakest troops on the side of the river and the strongest troops on the outside. After all, this is in line with the principles of the art of war.