Chapter 37 Dionia vs Rome (6)

The slingers put the lead shot into the leather pocket in the center of the sling, and began to rotate their right arm, only to hear the sound of "woo woo", and the sling turned faster and faster.

The Romans also saw the new enemy a few hundred meters away through the misty dust mist. Although they were a little nervous, they had no other choice but to move forward.

At this moment, hundreds of lead pellets fell from the sky like hail, accurately sprinkled on the dense formation of the Romans, and suddenly screamed.

Except for the heavy infantry in the center who were slightly injured, the light infantry, who had little protection, were smashed and bloodied, and the Roman cavalry on both sides were also affected. The horses hit by the lead shot screamed and jumped. The cavalry, who was caught off guard, was thrown off the horse and almost smashed the Roman array.

For the first time, the Romans were attacked by slingers, and they were beaten unprepared.

The Dionysian cavalry, however, was well prepared. When the Romans were in chaos, they immediately drove their horses to approach the enemy, and threw the few short javelins left. There was another scream, and the fallen soldiers rang out. But it is far from a minor injury like scratching the scalp.

When the Roman light infantry took up bows, arrows and javelins, and prepared to attack the departing Dionian cavalry, another bullet of lead fell.

The continuous blows caused the Roman light infantry to complain, and these soldiers, mainly from the Latin Confederation, were thrown into confusion and demoralized.

The Roman heavy infantry in the center of the team remained calm and shouted in unison: "Come over! Kill them!!"

The first to act was the Roman cavalry, who hurriedly gathered hundreds of cavalry and rushed forward desperately. The hooves of the warhorse were flying, hitting the solid ground and rumbled, as if the earth was shaking.

Satirus still looked calm, raised his right hand again: "Second company prepare!"

The archers on the two wings of the geese drew their bows and arrows, and the Dionian cavalry also followed these desperate Roman cavalry in parallel.

When Rome was less than 100 meters away from the seventh brigade, 350 Dionian archers shot their arrows in unison.

The almost flat arrows shot from the two wings to the center, forming a crossed firepower. Although the Roman cavalry was holding up their shields, it was difficult to defend.

At this moment, the second round of arrows hit again, causing even greater damage to the Roman cavalry.

A small number of Roman cavalrymen who rushed ahead and avoided the bow and arrow attack saw that they were already approaching the Dionysian slingers.

However, it was attacked by a javelin from the 3rd company that rushed out of the team, and there were few survivors left.

The Diorian cavalry also took the opportunity to attack the Roman cavalry, who had been thrown into chaos by the bow and arrow attack from both sides.

This combined with the skillful repeated blows almost wiped out the Roman cavalry that charged.

At this time, the Roman heavy infantry was still escorting the light infantry to move forward with difficulty. Seeing the tragic phenomenon in front of them, everyone felt sad, but at this time, there was an unfamiliar bugle sound in the distance.

The enemy reinforcements are here again! The morale of the Romans plummeted.

At this moment, "Woo! Woo!! Woo!!!..." A louder and higher-pitched bugle sound came from afar.

"Our reinforcements are here! Our reinforcements are here!!..." Hearing the familiar sound of bugles, the Romans finally got excited.

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"Report to the commander of the army, the Roman army in the camp is dispatched! There are about eight or nine thousand people!" The scout hurried over and reported to Amintas.

"So fast?!" Amyntas was a little surprised by the quick response of the Romans. He originally wanted to keep the 7th, 8th and cavalry under siege instead of annihilating this part of the enemy, so as to lure the Romans in the camp. At the same time, the six heavy infantry battalions that have just arrived can rest for a while and recover some physical strength. I did not expect the Roman army to come so quickly. What infantry, light armour and cavalry can stop.

Armintas looked at the sweaty Dionian soldiers in front of them. Although they were tired, few of them sat or lay down. Instead, they put down their weapons and gathered together in twos and threes, walking slowly and chatting, because they knew what was going to happen next. There will be fights, and if lying down will make the muscle soreness worse and make their body sluggish and not wanting to exercise.

Amintas immediately called the six heavy infantry captains and said with a serious expression: "Our plan to lure the enemy has been successful, and the enemy's large troops have already left the camp. I hope you can overcome fatigue, catch them, and defeat them. !"

"Don't worry, commander! When the Romans come out, don't even think about running back!" The words of the first team leader, Ketisus, were recognized by the other team leaders.

"Then get ready to go!" Amintas ordered immediately.

Just as the captains were going to gather their soldiers, Amyntas ordered the messengers: "Immediately go and inform Setia and the Volsci people in Bolefnum that the main force of the Romans has left the camp, Invite them to join the fight."

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Camelus, after guessing the intention of the Dionians, did not hesitate, and immediately summoned 9,000 heavy infantry, leaving only 3,000 people to defend the camp.

Originally, Frius asked to lead the troops and let the aged Camillous guard the camp.

But he was rejected by Camillous. He sent troops only to rescue the blocked soldiers. He had no intention of fighting the Dionysians to the death. will lead to this result.

Camelus led more than 70 squadrons of Roman heavy infantry toward the west, which was detected by the scout, at a high speed, because he knew that Dionia's army would also come in this direction, and he must pick up the trapped people as soon as possible. Soldiers, then quickly return to camp.

Camillous didn't know much about the Dionian army. In his impression, the surrounding forces and even the Greeks in Campania fought in a bloated phalanx, except for the Roman army that he led and restructured. Because the squadron is the main force of the battle, both the formation and the battle have become more flexible, so he believes that even if the Dionysian army arrives, the formation needs to be rearranged, and he will have sufficient time to organize the retreat.

When Camelus arrived at the battlefield, Dionia's 7th and 8th battalions and cavalry had already retreated voluntarily, and the sight in front of him surprised him: the ground was full of dead bodies, dead horses, and moans. The struggling wounded soldiers lost nearly a third of the nearly 3,000 people (cavalry and light infantry) who were originally ordered to come to the rescue, and the living soldiers were disheveled and depressed. …

Through the brief account of the trapped officer Commus, Camillous understood the whole battle, and couldn't help being surprised by the lethality of the Dionysian light infantry and cavalry, and the close cooperation between them.

This is a well-trained army! Camelus marked the Dionians in his mind, so he urged the soldiers to take the wounded and retreat immediately.

"What about our dead citizens?" The light infantry generals from the allies demanded that the corpses be brought back as well.

Camelus, who has always loved soldiers like a son, said hard-heartedly at the moment: "Leave it here for now and deal with it later. Now we must hurry up and return immediately!"

Allied generals were dissatisfied with the decision and wanted to say more.

At this time, the reconnaissance cavalry hurried over: "Camilus military officer, there are about six or seven thousand black soldiers attacking from the south!"

Camelus tensed up and galloped out of the team (according to Roman military tradition, the leading Roman generals had to walk just like the soldiers, to show that there was no difference between the two and that they shared weal and woe. He is too old and his physical strength is limited, so the Roman Senate approved him to ride a horse.

Judging from his experience, the enemy was already a mile away.

He immediately returned to the team and gave the order: "Line up according to the array before the enemy, and start retreating!"

What he said about the formation before the enemy attack was a large formation with 120 Roman squadrons scattered in a scaly formation. Due to the large interval between squadrons, the movement was flexible and the retreat was quicker. When unable to retreat, he can switch to an offensive formation at any time. With a little unease in his heart, Camillous took this prudent course.

However, how could the Dionysian light infantry surrounding the periphery allow the Romans to easily complete their retreat? The slingers threw the slings again and threw lead pellets at the Romans, and the archers even boldly approached the outside of the Roman army. , in a shooting stance...

Camillous had to move the Roman light infantry to this side as a precaution.

However, the Dionysian cavalry galloped around the periphery of the Roman army in groups, dashing inwards from time to time to a distance of less than 20 meters from the Roman soldiers, posing a state of assault.

Although the messengers sent by Camelus repeatedly warned the Roman soldiers to ignore the harassment of the Dionians, the speed of the Roman soldiers was obviously disturbed.

At this time, Dionia's army was moving fast, approaching a position less than 300 meters away from the Roman army. The Roman soldiers could already see the golden flags held high in the gray and dusty fog. Hearing the strong rhythm of the snare drums, and the seemingly overwhelming rows of black soldiers pressing on them at a relatively neat pace...

While the soldiers were attracted and frightened by the momentum of the Dionysian army, Camillous was even more surprised. He found that the formation of the Dionysian army advancing was very similar to the tactical formation of the Roman army. Similar, this made him suddenly realize: the Dionysian might not need to spend a lot of time arranging the formation, and he might attack him directly. If he forcibly retreats here, he is likely to be pursued by the other side, which will lead to the loss of the team. Chaos, resulting in fiasco.

( = )