Chapter 252 The Battle of Jera (2)

Moreover, considering that there are quite a few older citizens among Gera's soldiers (the Gera people are all out to defend their homeland this time), Leotizides deliberately thickened the array so that they would not be attacked. The enemy can easily attack the front.

At the same time, considering the weakness of the Greek heavy infantry-the flank was attacked and easily defeated, so Leotizides moved his left flank closer to the coast, thus preventing the Carthaginians from detouring from the left and attacking the side and rear of the friendly army.

In addition, another purpose of his thickening the array is to shorten the length of the battle array, because although the land west of Gera is flat, it is not wide, and it is only 7-8 miles from the coast to the mountains. S need to leave enough space outside the right flank for the cavalry to gallop, because he has determined the victory of the Dionian coalition on the right flank, because there is his trusted 8th Army here, and he can go around at any time. 1,300 cavalry (1,000 cavalry of the 4th Cavalry Corps plus 300 cavalry of Gera and Camanlina) attacked from the side of the Carthaginian army. He learned from Jera's mouth that no cavalry was found in the Carthaginian army that came to siege the city, and the Dionysian scout also confirmed the news in the past two days.

After thinking about it carefully, he wanted to understand the reason, so he dared to fight with the Carthaginians so quickly, and the cavalry was his greatest reliance.

Leotidas and his adjutant Mukru stood in front of the army formation on horseback, watching the formation of the Carthaginians on the opposite side, and there were also scouts reporting to him the situation of the entire formation of the Carthaginian army at any time.

Although the Dionysian intelligence service did not collect much intelligence on the Carthaginian army in the Iberian region (this is because Carthage, in order to protect its source of precious metal mines, had a peace agreement with Dionia in the past The article clearly states that "Dionysian merchant ships are not allowed to trade in the Carthaginian territory of Iberia". At the same time, Margo has strict control over his territory and is full of vigilance against outsiders. Dionysian intelligence officers It was quite difficult to enter southern Iberia, to which Carthage belonged), and Leotides still knew roughly that the man wearing a pointed helmet, a white linen breastplate, a coat of chain mail, a spear and a shield Phoenician and Numibian infantry; those with flat helmets, white linings with purple piping, overcoat armor, and long shields and short swords were the Iberian infantry; those with black robes and armor , The soldier who also holds a long shield and a short sword may be the rumored Lusitania warrior...

After getting a general understanding of the formation of the Carthaginian army, Leotizides breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head and said to Mukru: "It seems that the Carthaginians are indeed worried about the attack power of our legionnaires, and they specially Their main force in Iberia has been placed on the left flank, so... we have achieved our goal of lining up first and using the Eighth Corps to attract the other's main force and reduce the pressure on the friendly soldiers."

The reason why he said this is because Muklu reminded him before: it is best not to set up the formation before the enemy arrives, because it is mentioned in the "Dionysian Military Law" that it is best not to let the enemy arrive before the battle. The enemy should know his own array deployment first, so as not to have the opportunity to make targeted arrangements.

At this time, Mukru did not blindly agree, he reminded: "Lord Commander, the Carthaginians have placed those Lusitanias on their right flank!"

"It used to be rumored that the Mesapis were fierce, the Lucanians were fierce, the Samonei were fierce...but they didn't pose much of a threat to Dionysians, and now there are rumors that the Lusitanias were fierce , I don’t think we should blindly listen to these rumors, let’s look at the battle situation first.” Leotides’ calm tone with a trace of disdain, he in turn reminded Mukru: “The largest Greek heavy infantry The advantage is that their frontal defense is very strong, and their attack is not weak.

This is precisely where our coalition forces are superior to each other in addition to cavalry, so as long as it is a frontal fight, we will not be at a disadvantage. "

At this time, the messenger of the Eighth Legion came and reported to him that the legion had been lined up.

Leotidides immediately looked back to the left, and the clamor continued, and he couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied: "Immediately send someone to urge the Jera and the Kamanlinas to speed up the formation!"

After speaking, he turned his horse's head, passed through the gap in the army formation, and returned to the rear of the middle road.

"Wow!..." After more than ten minutes, the Dionysian coalition blew the horn of the attack.

The entire army began to move forward slowly, and the fastest was the light infantry brigade of the Eighth Army. They passed through the gaps in the Eighth Army's checkerboard army formation and rushed to the opposite enemy in a loose formation. Use bows and javelins to strike the enemy's first wave, disrupting the enemy's formation and laying the groundwork for the next heavy infantry attack.

Hasdruba and Kisgow knew about Dionysian's previous battles, and naturally they knew about Dionysian's heavy infantry tactics. When they were on the opposite side of their left flank, they were prepared, so when the Eighth Army Light Infantry Brigade rushed out of the army, Kisgow also dispatched the army that had been waiting behind the left flank.

There were about 1,700 troops in this army, of which 500 were Lusitania javelinmen in black robes. So Lusitania's javelin throws in Iberia.

The 1,200 soldiers who followed behind them were dressed in white singles, with a heavy cloth bag tied around their waists and a dagger. They were not wearing helmets or armor. They were even barefoot, but held in their hands. A sling woven from a mix of wool and linen... yes, they are slingers, slingers from the Balearic Islands.

The Balearic Islands are a series of islands in the Western Mediterranean near the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The inhabitants of the islands have always had a tradition of raising slingers. Children have been trained as soldiers since childhood, and their mothers even started No bread is given to the child until he hits a distant target with his sling for the first time. The Balearic people, who lacked resources and lacked materials, used a large number of cheap slingers to defend the safety of the island, and residents with superb slinging skills often used this skill to obtain meat and improve their lives, such as using slings to shoot birds.

Margo occupies the southern part of Iberia (mainly the southeast), just adjacent to the Balearic Islands. He obtained the allegiance of the Balearic people by providing sufficient food for the Balearic people. During the expedition to Iberia Among them, the Balearic slingers played a significant role. This time to fight in Sicily, Marco brought 1,500 Balearic slingers.

After the Balearic walked out of the army, they stopped advancing. They put their hands into the cloth bags around their waists. The cloth bags were divided into three compartments and placed three types of lead shot. They took out the lightest lead shot, Put it in the sling's cloth pocket and start swinging it.

Since the Dionysian coalition had just begun to advance, the Eighth Army Light Infantry Brigade was still more than 400 meters away from the enemy on the opposite side after rushing out of the army formation, so they were advancing rapidly, and the formation had not completely dispersed, and suddenly saw the diagonal A dark cloud flew up in the sky ahead.

"Be careful of flying stones! Be careful to protect your head!" The captain of the light infantry team hissed, his face changed a bit.

Under the reminder of the team officers, the light infantrymen who had never been attacked by the slingers lowered their heads and put their hands around their necks. Although the Dionysian light infantry wore a single coat, they were all equipped with a leather helmet. After the lead shot fell, there was a humming sound, but it did not cause many casualties.

"Speed ​​up! Approach the enemy!" Under the reminder of the team officers, the light infantrymen who were hit by the flying stones and their bodies throbbed increased their speed.

In the process, they endured a few more rounds of lead shots. Due to the closer distance, the Balearic slingers had first replaced the small lead shots with medium ones, and finally replaced them with large ones.

Since the Lusitania javelinmen had already rushed up, and the Dionysian light infantry had of course started to attack, it was impossible to cover their faces with their hands, which caused their injuries to skyrocket, especially the archers, Because of their long range, they became the main target of the Balearic slingers.

Archery is a delicate exercise that requires great physical strength. It requires most of the muscles of the upper body of the archer to work together to fully pull the bowstring and shoot precise and powerful arrows. Even if the lead shot does not hit the head, it will injure other parts of the body. The muscles and tendons will also seriously affect the combat effectiveness of the archer.

The Carthaginians on the opposite side have slingers? ! After listening to the urgent report of the scout cavalry, Leotizides was slightly startled.

"Lord Commander, this may be the Balearic slinger mentioned in the intelligence!" Mukru reminded.

The Ministry of Military Affairs has previously reported that "Margo's Numibian army includes the Balearic slingers". But this time, after the army led by Margo landed in Sicily, whether it was in the siege of Serinus, or the sneak attack on the Sikelians, the siege of Enna and Jera did not use this kind of troops. So Leotidides ignored its existence for a while.

At this time, he immediately gave an order: "Let the trumpeters sound the bugle to accelerate the advance on the right flank, and let the soldiers of the Eighth Corps engage the enemy as soon as possible to avoid being disturbed by the slingers!"

"Woooooo..." The bugle rang hurriedly at the rear, and the officers at all levels of the Eighth Corps who heard the trumpet immediately instructed the company and brigade flag bearers to wave the flag held high forward frequently, and the soldiers on the entire right flank gradually accelerated. forward speed.

The Light Infantry Brigade was at a disadvantage in the long-range battle with the opponent, but they were still gritting their teeth to support. As a member of the entire Legion, the Light Infantry officers knew very well that they had to buy time for the heavy infantry comrades in the rear, and could not let the other side The slingers can free their hands to attack the phalanx of the legion at will.