Chapter 224 The Battle of Lola (2)

Contruni's remarks were exactly what Segovani was worried about, and when he discussed with other Cautini leaders in private, he was also strongly opposed, so he could only give up. .

But the tide of battle was changing so fast that it was too late for him to come up with a better solution to Nakonia's army. Those rumors in Beneventum City were released by him to confuse the public. Although it seems that the effect is not bad, it is only a stopgap measure. It was also expedient to disperse the Nakonia tribes in the army. But where would these 2,000+ Nakonian fighters be placed if they were not sent into battle? Cautem or Abella? This will only make Segovani more uneasy, and he firmly believes that only under such an arrangement will the Nakonian warriors fight bravely and not dare to mess up.

This is indeed the case. The reason why Vasunk is anxious is because the Nakonia army seems to be a whole. In fact, there is no leader who can convince everyone and make them obey orders. Everyone is temporarily elected and leads the army for the first time. Young people, no one has much prestige, including Vasunk. Although they knew that Segovani's order was not good for them, none of the young Nakonian leaders had the confidence and courage to stand up when the Nakonia army was outnumbered and surrounded by other tribal warriors. , raise their arms, and then all the Nakonian warriors will obey the order and launch a mutiny.

Therefore, although the generals of Nakonia expressed their opposition, they finally obeyed the order unwillingly and led their troops away. And this dispersion, it is impossible to connect with each other during the battle, and it is even more impossible to achieve unified action.

Vasunk couldn't do anything, he could only curse the cruel and cunning Segovani in his heart, forbearing and waiting for the opportunity.

Segovani adopted the traditional fighting method of the Samonaites against the Greek army. The array of the army was very long, three miles long, and the length of the column was not small. It is very loose, and the distance between the soldiers is large, which is convenient for interspersed with each other.

At dusk, when the sun had already set over the sea to the west, and the sky and the sea were dyed golden yellow, the figure of the enemy appeared in Segovani's field of vision. Their thick armor was slanted by the sunset light, emitting a A shimmering but not harsh light.

The wall of light on the opposite side did not frighten Segovani and the soldiers. On the contrary, they felt relieved, because they had defeated such opponents countless times in the past, but the length of the opponent's army exceeded Segovani's expectations. , it extended to both sides, so that Segovani could not even see its two ends, which was somewhat different from the dense and thick large phalanx tactics of the Campania army in the past.

Could this be how the Dionians fought? Segovani murmured in his heart that although he and the Dionysus had fought once, it was a chase, and the two sides had not yet had a formal battle.

But he could see that the soldiers of the other side were still densely arranged, so that the column of the other side was bound to be thin. Of course, Segovani could guess why the enemy had formed the army before reaching the battlefield. Obviously, the Campanias have learned from the past, because the clumsy Campanian army is always in In slow formation, they are attacked from a distance by the fast-moving Kautini warriors.

Segovani hesitated for a while, but decided not to adjust the deployment easily, but to test it out for a while to see the situation.

The Dionysian coalition army stopped advancing when it was less than 400 meters away from the opponent. The army formation, which was 3.2 miles long but only had three rows, had become crooked after advancing for a certain distance. Before the battle, re-level the battle lines.

This army formation has more than 6,000 heavy infantry in the middle (including about 1,500 Dionysian reserve legionnaires), and then has 3,000 mixed light and light infantry troops including the Dionysian light infantry brigade on both sides. Connected, there are 500 Dionian light armoured soldiers at each end, and there are more than 200 Campania cavalry on the outermost left flank, with a total strength of about 11,400 troops.

And Dionia's opponent, Cautini's army, has a total strength of more than 9,000 people, and the array is three miles long. Most of his army is light infantry. These light infantry are also divided into two types, one is pure harpooneer, The other is light infantry with long shields, who can both bid and fight with spears. They constitute the main part of the Kautini army formation. Segovani himself led.

Cautini and the Campania Confederation, two mortal enemies for decades, today, on the edge of the eastern plains of Campania, each with their full strength, are about to engage in a battle that will decide their own destiny. .

But just when the Dionysian coalition stopped and began to rearrange the formation, Segovani had already given an order first, and the light infantry in the middle of the Kautini army began to move forward. It also moved with it.

The movement of Kautini's army is different from that of the Greek army, which is thick and slow, and its speed is very fast.

Aeolos knew this very well. As the general of Naples, he stood in the front row of the array. Zantiparis once advised him to "don't go to the front in person, but command the overall situation from the rear", but he politely refused. The generals elected by most Greek city-states are often on the front lines during battles to show that there is no difference in status with the soldiers, so as not to be criticized by citizens after the war, and Naples is no exception, especially in such an important situation. time.

At this moment, he took off the Corinthian helmet without hesitation and threw it on the ground. The other Campania heavy infantrymen also followed Aeos and took off the Corinthian helmet according to the previous plan. Open and relaxed. Only the Dionian heavy infantry did not take off because it was an open helmet.

Aeos looked around, raised the spear in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Bless Apollo! We will pursue it bravely and never stop!"

The surrounding soldiers and team officers also shouted: "Pursue bravely, never stop!!..."

When Kautini's army was approaching 50 meters, almost all the Dionian coalition soldiers were shouting, and their fighting spirit was very high.

Hearing the thunderous roar, Zantiparis, who was in the back and riding on a horse, also calmed his nervousness a lot.

"Attack!" he exclaimed.

"Wow!..." The high-pitched bugle sound made the entire long army line, whether it be heavy infantry, light infantry, light armor, or cavalry, all began to advance.

The sudden forward movement of the Dionian coalition had no effect on the soldiers at the forefront of Kautini's army. They stopped at a suitable distance, threw their javelins, and then fought as usual. Just prepare to retreat through the gap, so that the soldiers behind him are in the front row, and they continue to throw javelins... Repeat this, so that even if the opponent is advancing, they always keep a distance from the opponent, The throwing of the javelin continued, giving the opponent a great deal of damage to the dense phalanx.

In the past, the Campania League had not been specially trained, neither had light infantry that could compete with it, nor did it design tactics for independent light infantry. He was a powerful Cautini javelin thrower, so often after three or four throws, the Campania army had to stop advancing.

Then, the Kautini fighters immediately turned from retreating to attacking, and they were still throwing javelins one after another. When they came down, Kautini's armored infantry and lightly armored spear-armed infantry made the final attack, often a one-touch defeat, and the victory was established.

But now, the Kautini warriors were amazed to see the heavy infantry on the opposite side picking up their pace and getting faster and faster.

Are they going to charge? ! Don't they know that we can't hedge against them, and with their cumbersome speed, they can't catch up with us! ...Although the Kautini warriors were surprised, as the distance got closer, they also had to back side, and their first round of javelin, as is customary, because the distance was still far (more than 30 meters), so they took Throwing it slightly upward can make the javelin fly longer, and the landing position is often the middle and rear of the opponent's army formation, thus causing confusion in the entire army formation, making it out of line and facilitating the next attack. However, the opponent's sudden acceleration and the thin column made most of the javelins thrown out.

The coalition heavy infantry who escaped the javelin attack became more confident. They raised their round shields diagonally, half covering their heads, and their steps were stronger and faster. This caused the distance between the two sides to be quickly shortened to within 20 meters, and also made the Kautini warrior who threw the javelin hurriedly throw the javelin in his hand before he could be more fully prepared.

The 500 Nakonian fighters led by Vasunk were part of this second wave of attacks. They had all been hinted by Vasunk in advance. Most of the fighters threw their javelins into the sky at will, and then immediately followed. withdraw.

The momentum of the Greek heavy infantry's desperate charge made Vasunk's mind turn sharply.

Even though the Kautini fighters threw in a hurry, they were experienced in this round of javelin throwing with a direct shot. Countless heavy javelins were thrown by the fighters' strong arms, and driven by Piso, they flew in the air. With some rotation, he stabbed straight at the shield of the heavy infantry's bodyguard. Many javelins directly penetrated the shield, causing some heavy infantry to be injured.