Chapter 179 Battle of Crotone (5)

As a result, the clumsy Keter reinforcements slammed into each other, clamoring, and the array became quite chaotic.

However, at this moment, Miron and Cypros were determined to complete the turn of the array, because as the enemy approached, the two of them on horses had already seen the enemy's attack direction. If the formation of the Second Corps remains the same, then the flanks of the Ket reinforcements standing out in front of the array are completely exposed to the frontal attack of the enemy, and all that awaits them is their demise.

So the two of them took the escort of the brigade and quickly rode around to the front of the formation. One by one, they shot the thorns horizontally, shouted loudly, and kept moving forward, forcing the soldiers to retreat and turn...

On the way forward, Phoebe Das noticed that the Dionysian army in front had stopped advancing. When he was puzzled, the Dionysian left-wing array that had been diagonally facing him gradually began to face him...

Phoebe Das was taken aback: Enemy array steering? ! The enemy dared to turn the array during the battle! !

There is a reason for Phoebe Das to be so surprised: once the Greek heavy infantry battle of this era begins, the enemy and the enemy will move towards each other according to the previous plan, and it is difficult to make major tactical changes. This is because firstly, the heavy infantry with heavy armor and heavy armor is clumsy, and it is difficult for them to make more flexible maneuvers; secondly, the lack of training characteristics of the city-state civic soldiers also makes them afraid to do complicated maneuvers. Tactical maneuvering so that the array is not cluttered and vulnerable instead.

This is also one of the reasons why Spartans have an advantage in battles. It can be regarded as a professional soldier Spartans can achieve tactical maneuvers in battles that other city-state armies cannot. But even the Spartans only used the characteristics of the heavy infantry on the march to perform the left-handed tactics to the extreme in large battles. As the Dionians did, this was because Sparta, like most Greek city-states, had Spartan officers and generals who commanded the various armies, according to the Spartan city-state tradition, to be in the presence of the soldiers. In the array, fight with the enemy (the Spartan king does not need, he can sit in command, but his generals are all in the array, and his commanding effectiveness is greatly weakened). And democratic city-states even require generals to be at the forefront of the army and play a leading role, so as not to be blamed in the citizens' assembly. Therefore, when the horn of attack for the battle was sounded and the army marched, the generals almost lost their command of the entire army, and the army formation would conduct the battle according to the pre-established tactics.

The apparent improvisation of Dionysian's left flank against the attack on Syracuse's right flank really shocked Phoebedas, and of course he saw the chaos in Dionysian's formation (mainly Kerte reinforcements) , which more or less made up for his loss of possibly being unable to attack the enemy's flank.

"Hurry up! Faster!!..." Phoebe Das shouted loudly, speeding up his steps. It's a pity that his cry can only drive a small group of soldiers around him. For the huge phalanx of 25,000 people, it is like throwing stones into a galloping river, and it has no effect.

Syracuse's right flank is still moving according to the previous plan,

But as the soldiers strode forward, the distance between it and Dionia's left flank was rapidly closing...

The Syracuse light infantry fighting in the middle has begun to withdraw, while the 7th Battalion of the 1st Army led by Tspit and the 7th Battalion of the 2nd Army of Alpuins are still in front of the phalanx, not only because of Dionia The checkerboard phalanx left them with enough retreat channels, and it was because they wanted to stop the advance speed of the right flank of Syracuse as much as possible, so as to buy time for the Kerte reinforcements to complete the turn of the array.

The Syracuse army that was so close at hand made the Kerte reinforcements nervous, but also forced them to speed up their evolution.

The efforts of the light infantry of the First and Second Corps could not stop the progress of the Syracuses. They only threw one more round of javelins and shot one more arrow, and had to be forced by the Syracuse array. Retreat to the rear.

At this time, the distance between the two armies was only about 60 meters, and the formation of the Kerte reinforcements barely completed the turn. When Miron and Cypros rushed back to the rear of the phalanx, they were sweating profusely, but their hearts were relieved.

Miron said with a sigh: "Now I know how big the gap between Crotone's army and Dionysian Legion is!"

And Cypros said with a lingering fear: "Fortunately, Lord Davos has repeatedly asked us to break away from the phalanx and stand at the back of the queue to facilitate command. Otherwise, even if we saw the cunning actions of the Syracuses, There is no way to change it, and it will definitely suffer a big loss!"

"Yeah! Without the persistence of the Dionians, we would not dare to change the formation because of the fear of difficulties!" Miron exclaimed again.

At this time, Dionia's left flank and Syracuse's right flank array almost became two parallel lines, but they were almost perpendicular to Dionia's central troops that were still advancing south.

The Syracuse right wing army was getting closer and closer to the Dionysian left wing, but the Syracuse soldiers began to clench the round shields in their hands. After fighting the Dionias once, the Dionias were unique The tactical style of play impresses them deeply.

When the Dionian soldiers on the opposite side raised the javelins in their hands, they squatted slightly and covered their heads with their round shields. The rain of javelins that covered the sky hit the Syracuse army formation, splashing flowers. The flowers of death, the screams one after another did not affect their determination to move forward, but made them speed up their progress, forcing the Dionian soldiers to hurriedly throw the second round of javelins, and their killing effect was much worse. .

Now the two armies are less than 20 meters apart, and even Phoebe Das is a little out of breath. He can hear the rapid breathing of the soldiers around him. This is not only because of the previous transition from retreating to attacking, hasty formations, and quick walks. The physical exhaustion caused by running a few hundred meters, but also the extreme excitement generated by the imminent killing moment.

Through the narrow eyes of his helmet, Phoebe Das could see the densely packed long shields, spears and armor of the opposing army gleaming. The deep black unique to Dionysian army made people feel cold even in the daytime. dark night. He knew that the enemy was the main force of Dionia's army, but he was not afraid, but excited, and he was convinced that the soldiers of Syracuse would not be afraid, not only because they were also the elite of the Syracuse army, And before the war Dionysius had told every Sicilian soldier, 'They can only return to their homeland successfully if they win, otherwise they can only be buried in a foreign land! ’

Without the urging of the bugle, the Syracuse soldiers shouted "Apollo!!", took big strides, and began to charge at a faster speed. The entire Syracuse right-wing phalanx was like a golden mountain rolling towards the enemy. Press away.

At the same time, the neat roar of Dionysian soldiers "Hades!!!" also sounded in the opposing army, and they also began to charge. They were like the Kuroshio surging in a storm at sea, one wave, another wave, Eventually it converged into a huge wave crest, rushing towards the Syracuse people.

The Kerte reinforcements, holding the hatred of the country and the family, roared furiously, wanting to turn their anger into infinite power, vowing to kill all the enemies of life and death.

The feet of tens of thousands of people stepped on the ground forcefully, and the rumbling sound was like thunder, and the earth trembled.

With a loud bang, the battle of the heavy infantry began...

…………………………

"Your Majesty, the left wing has fully engaged the enemy!" Thormed loudly replied the news of the scout's report.

Davos nodded, but his eyes kept looking straight ahead. At this time, he pointed to the enemy's army formation in the distance, sneered a few times, and said, "The Syracuses are moving very slowly. It seems that Dionysius wants to wait for his right flank to win first!"

Tormide laughed jokingly: "But he never imagined that the cavalry he was expecting had been trapped by the wonderful tactics you formulated, Your Majesty!"

Davos didn't have the heart to mock the enemy at this time. He said with a serious expression: "Don't let Dionysius be too easy! Order all the troops to speed up and catch the enemy as soon as possible!"

Thormid did not immediately accept the order, but reminded: "Your Majesty, if our right flank advances too fast, I am afraid that we will reach the reach of the Tachnadi River, and the enemy may send troops to cross it. Tachnadi, attack the flank of our right flank!"

Davos had already considered this question, and he immediately replied: "From the current situation, Dionysius has invested enough power on the right flank of Syracuse, and it can be seen that his offensive focus is on our left flank. I don't think Dionysius can draw enough troops to attack my right flank, not to mention I have enough reserves to deal with his detour." Indeed, behind Davos there was The 2,000 light-armored soldiers from each regiment and the 1,000-strong mountain reconnaissance brigade led by Izam, a total of 3,000 people, had not come in handy yet.

"I understand, Your Majesty." Thormed turned to go.

"Wait a minute!" Davos stopped him again: "Go and tell each legion commander that the spear brigade, led by Capps, has gained an advantage over the Syracuse cavalry, so it's up to them. !"

Thormid smiled, he understood Davos' intention: the spear brigade that had been formed for less than ten days had achieved impressive results, how could other legions fall behind him?

Sure enough, after Davos's order was conveyed to the various troops, the speed of the phalanx suddenly increased. Whether it was the right flank composed of the sixth and seventh legions, or the middle road composed of the fourth and fifth legions and the Bruti warriors, they were all in the legion. Encouraged and urged by the captain and the team officers, they accelerated forward.