Chapter 97 Battle of Lamato River (6)

Trina's messengers galloped on fast horses, and he had to make a large circle north because the Lamato River that lay ahead of him was too deep to walk.

Crossing the Lamato River, when he arrived at this deadly battlefield, he had already torn the inner skin of his legs and dyed the horse's belly blood red. The scout came up to him, and he hissed: "I am... I am the messenger of Trina! The Syracuse fleet, carrying tens of thousands of soldiers, came to reinforce from the Ramato River... Quick! Go and report to your commander!..."

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Felixius is in a good mood now. Although the previous coalition cavalry suffered a fiasco, he was really worried for a while, but the Syracuse mercenary cavalry was busy chasing the routed soldiers, rather than assisting their infantry to pull back the decline of their right flank. Therefore, while feeling lucky, he still laughed in his heart: although the cavalry of the Syracuses was strong, they lacked the discipline and overall situation of the battlefield.

Now Dionia's left wing is advancing, the middle is advancing, and even the right wing is advancing...

Felixius had already ordered the flag-bearer to move the erected flag forward, and now it seems to be moving forward again.

almost! almost! ... Felixus was thinking in his heart how long the Syracuses could resist. At this moment, he has already decided that victory is like an apple that is about to ripen, and it is already within reach.

But at this moment, the reconnaissance cavalry rushed from the west: "Report Commander! Syracuse reinforcements are landing on the banks of the Ramato River, there may be tens of thousands!" After the notice, they rushed to the river bank to confirm, and the sight they saw shocked them.

"What did you say?! Tens of thousands of enemy reinforcements!!" Felixius, who was in a hurry, seemed to have been splashed with cold water, from his skin to his heart.

"Yes, Lord Commander, the tens of thousands of Syracuse reinforcements! They are landing on the river bank one mile behind our right wing!" The scout shouted anxiously: "We must stop them!"

This amazing news caught Felixius by surprise. He glanced at the people around him with slightly panicked eyes, and the people around were also watching it nervously. He was the commander of the coalition, and everyone was waiting for his instructions.

Felixius realized this, he coughed dryly and eased his panic: "Order! Two light armoured battalions and two light infantry battalions immediately rushed to the river bank where the enemy landed, blocking them at all costs, Don't let them attack our rear!"

"Yes!"

"Blow the bugle again and urge the Fourth and Fifth Legions to step up their attack! Immediately rush to tell the two army commanders and the three generals Cypros, Assias, and Askamas of our current dangerous situation.

Let them not hold back and attack the enemy with all their strength! "

Everyone immediately followed the order.

After everything was arranged, Felixius had no time to think until this moment: Where did the enemy come from with tens of thousands of reinforcements? Could it be Madame's troops? But the Trina people said that Madame is only a small town, how could it be possible to send tens of thousands of civic soldiers? ...

At this time, Philisius hadn't thought about the Syracuse troops that besieged the city of Coulonia, because the coalition reconnaissance cavalry had been reporting back: more than 40,000 Silo coalition troops had been preparing to attack the city.

Of course, he could not have known that at this time, in order to help the South-Italian coalition, Lijim commander General Feidun even ventured to lead an army to attack Medema, hoping to force the Syracuse army to return to help, thus disrupting the Syracuse people. s plan.

But from this moment on, the unease in Felixius' heart began to expand...

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From the middle of the formation to the coast where Syracuse landed, there was a full six miles. Although the speed of the Dionysian light armor and light infantry was fast, it also took some time. By the time they reached the river bank, most of the Campania mercenaries had already come ashore and started to form a team.

Although the number of enemies is large, a black one occupies the entire river beach. Under the guidance of the military flag held high by the team officers, the Dionian soldiers rushed forward bravely according to the inertia of their usual training.

The 2,000 light infantrymen poured arrows and javelins at the enemy, and the 2,000 light-armored soldiers, armed with leather shields and short swords, ran straight into the loose formation of mercenaries.

The raid of Dionia's army was beyond what Leputines expected. According to the previous Greek city-states' habit of fighting, he thought that at this point in the battle, both sides should have devoted all their forces to victory. Unexpectedly, the southern Italian coalition forces It was even possible to draw an army to stop the reinforcements from Syracuse.

Of course he did not know that it was not that Felixius had known Dionysius' plan in advance, but that the Dionysian Military Law stipulated that "as the commander, you should keep a reserve in battle, so that Throwing into the battlefield at a critical moment in the battle will change the tide of the battle." Felixius did exactly this, with 2,000 light armoured troops as his reserve, and 2,000 light infantrymen who had completed the initial harassment and retreated to the formation. The rear also became part of the reserves.

The sudden onslaught of the 4,000 Dionysian soldiers put the newly landed Campania mercenaries into chaos for a while.

At the critical moment, Leputines was busy commanding the remaining ships to dock quickly. As the commander of the Syracuse navy, his original mission was to transport reinforcements to land and lead the reinforcements to attack the enemy. It was the task of the mercenary leader En'Amenas, but now En'Amenas is in chaos among the soldiers. Knowing that, Leptines had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of rescue.

He jumped off the boat and directed the remaining mercenaries to land immediately.

The mercenaries had seen what happened to their companions on the boat, and they were all very anxious. Some jumped onto the beach without waiting for the boat to dock.

After Leptines hurriedly assembled the team, he led them around the front line of mercenaries that had been forced to retreat and nearly collapsed, and braved the arrows of the Dionian light infantry to attack the Dionian light armour. flank.

The fierce offensive of the light armour was forced to stop. In fact, the long-distance rapid march and the previous rapid attack had consumed a lot of their physical strength.

The chaotic mercenary front team finally recovered and began to take advantage of their large numbers and heavy armor, and the casualties of the Dionysian light armor increased sharply. If the light armoured soldiers of Dionysian 1st and 2nd Corps are here, they should be able to persist for a longer time, but most of the light armoured soldiers of the 4th and 5th corps are from Bruti and Lucania, from mountain people. The combat education they have received since childhood is to know how to avoid the enemy rather than face the battle when they are weak. Although they have received Dionia's military training and discipline in the alliance for a few years, they have the idea of ​​saving their lives in times of adversity. prevailed...

The Dionysian light armor retreated, and of course the light infantry without a barrier also retreated...

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At this time, the battle had lasted for nearly an hour. The soldiers had weakened in both fighting and roaring due to physical exhaustion, but suddenly both sides sounded bugles and drums at almost the same time, urging them to attack.

The soldiers on both sides had to fight their last strength to speed up the attack and defense.

For Dionysius, he has only one thought at the moment: to withstand the enemy's attack before the reinforcements arrive!

For Felixius, he also has only one belief: before the enemy reinforcements arrive, break through the enemy's line and establish a victory!

Both sides have come to a critical moment to decide the outcome.

Effieart, who had several stab wounds on his arms and thighs, was so tired that he couldn't even lift his long shield. His hand holding the dagger trembled slightly due to the excessive force for a long time. His breathing sounded loud enough. Like a critically ill patient. The enemy on the opposite side is even more unbearable than him, because the armor is too heavy, he has thrown away the round shield, and holds the spear in both hands, and the whole person is shaking.

Effieart did not despise them in his heart. The Dionysian Legion had never used the unique characteristics of its formation in the previous battles (that is, the rear formation and the front formation were swapped), and he thought it was because of the oppression given by the opponent. Too strong and too tight, making the legion commander not dare to switch the array easily.

In fact, another main reason for not implementing this evolution is that the fourth and fifth armies are both participating in the battle for the first time, facing a strong enemy, but the left and right sides are all alliance troops, and it is also the first time to fight together. Felixius is afraid The soldiers made mistakes under strong pressure, and the alliance army did not understand and did not cooperate. After all, changing from the back to the front requires the entire formation to gradually retreat, which may cause the entire army to fall into chaos.

The high-pitched bugle sound is not only urging the soldiers on both sides to fight, but also urging other troops, such as the Syracuse mercenary cavalry who are returning leisurely after chasing the coalition cavalry, and of course there are two more Syracuse rushing to the battlefield. Raise reinforcements.

If according to the previous habits of Crotone commander general Ascamas, he would definitely line up in front of the array and fight face to face with the enemy, but before the battle Felixus asked the federal commanders to sit in the rear, not to Participate in the war to facilitate contact. At that time, Askamas was still mocking the Dionysians for being greedy for life. Now he should thank Felixius for this request, because he heard a different bugle sound from the opposite side.

The bugle sound came from the outside of the Crotone army, it was loud and piercing, and it was getting closer... Then, in his field of vision, countless soldiers with bright armor appeared...

Syracuse's reinforcements? ! Askamas panicked and fell off his horse, watching them roaring like a tide towards the rear of the Crotone soldiers.

At that terrifying moment, Aschamas had only one thought in his mind: didn't Felixius say that the enemy's reinforcements were on the right bank of the river? ! ...