Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 207

[Chapter 5 Battle of the Trionto River (3)]

On Dionia’s side, there are 3000 light infantry in the middle and right flank, including archers, slingers, and javelinmen. Most of them are free people from the port of Turii. Veterans of the light infantry brigade served as officers.

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The more than 400 cavalry

on the left wing have always used soy sauce. According to the plan, this time has become the key to winning this battle. No wonder the always stable Ryders is a little bit unbearable, and repeatedly told each cavalry squad leader to wait for the battle. Things to pay attention to after launching.

“I said Captain, we are all clear, don’t worry!” Thorikos said.

The large group of coachmen financed by the loan of Cristoia Bank not only increased the tax of the alliance, but also all of them could ride well and have enough horses, so they became the focus of recruitment of the cavalry team. As citizens, they are all duty-bound. out.

Solikos’ age is just above the upper limit of the conscription age. He is very active personally. At the age of 50, it is definitely not enough to be an infantryman, but he believes that with his experience, it is more than enough to be a captain.

“Okay, then prepare to fight.” Ryders nodded.

“We are clear, but are the people behind us clear? Don’t screw it up!” a young cavalry squad leader interjected.

Ryders looked back at him with a smile and said, “Don’t worry, Kutchius, they have fought more battles than you have ever eaten, and they have faced more cavalry in Persia than this. “The

young cavalry captain was not convinced and wanted to say more.

At this time, someone shouted: “Look, our slingers are attacking!”

Without attacking horns or shouting loudly, the slingers quietly left the formation under the leadership of the veterans, and quickly ran to the enemy’s line, at a distance of two hundred A few meters away, the slings began to be waved, and the Crotone soldiers who were still lining up immediately enjoyed the baptism of the “stone rain”. Many soldiers were too late to raise their shields for protection, and many had their heads broken and bloodied.

“Shameless Dionysians! Cunning Dionysians! Apollo will punish you!” Philadelphus didn’t expect the enemy to do this, so he was caught off guard and immediately cursed.

“Attack! Attack! Attack now!” he shouted in exasperation.

“Woo!…Woo!…” The high-pitched attack horn sounded.

Alisosis, who couldn’t wait for a long time, immediately pointed his spear forward: “The cavalry!” The

800 Crotone cavalry formed an inverted fan shape. All of them clamped their legs on the horse’s belly, shook the

reins, and the war horse began to move away.

Four hoofs, trotting forward.

Ryders’ cavalry formed a loose wedge, topped by two seasoned cavalrymen, each holding a red flag fluttering in the wind.

Seeing that the enemy had begun to move, Ryders took a deep breath, restrained his excitement, patted the neck of his sniffing horse, watched the enemy horses have reached a certain distance, and then shouted: “Go forward. !”

“Drive! Drive!…” The crowd shouted, urging the horses to move forward.

Different from the offensive posture of the Crotone cavalry, who controlled the rein with their left hand and the spear with their right hand, the Dionian cavalry controlled the rein with both hands, and the spear was still hung on the hook. They run as fast as possible, otherwise they will easily fall off their horses before they come into contact with the enemy.

The sun at noon in spring is not hot, but the war horses are jetting like clouds, raising their hoofs, and the grass and mud are splashing, dust is flying, and the distance of 500 meters is almost there.

When the distance was only fifty or sixty meters, Ryders, who was behind the flag bearer, shouted: “Turn right!!!”

Solikos, who was parallel to his left, immediately shouted: “Turn left!!!”

Two people in front of him shouted.

The famous flag-bearers quickly separated to the left and right sides.

In cavalry combat, due to the high speed, the cavalry in the rear may leave the formation if they are not careful.

The characteristic of the wedge-shaped formation is that the head is small and the tail is big, so the cavalry in the back can see the direction of the cavalry in front of the formation, plus the two red flags fluttering in the wind, even if the battlefield is full of dust and fog, the Dionysian cavalry has basically done it. Acting in unison, they successfully divided the wedge-shaped formation in two and divided them into two groups, bypassing the oncoming enemy from the front and outside.

The cavalry in the front row of Crotone did not expect the Dionians to make such a move at all, and they were completely dumbfounded, but they did not dare to stop, and made any move rashly without prior planning and coordination. , will not only disrupt the formation, but will also be knocked down by the cavalry behind them, trampled into mud, and can only sprint to the end, then turn around and come back.

But after passing by the Dionian cavalry, and moving forward, what they saw impressively were countless sharp spears sticking out from the morning mist, showing them a ferocious cold glow.

“Heavy infantry! Heavy–” the Crotone cavalry exclaimed, trying to restrain the horses, but the strong inertia made them slam into the horses, and the horses neighed and the spears broke blood. Splash…

Some heavy infantrymen were directly knocked out by the powerful force, but other soldiers seemed to have not seen it. They held the stab gun at the end of the ground with their motionless hands, and in front of them, dozens of horses and people were lying on the ground. Struggling in a pool of blood…

There is no real heavy cavalry in this era, not only the Greek cavalry, but also the cavalry of any Mediterranean country has never faced a closely arranged spear formation and dared to face a charge.

The cavalry in the back wanted to control the horses in horror to prevent them from colliding, but the sensitive and timid horses neighed one step ahead, and suddenly stopped the body that was advancing rapidly. The cavalry on the horse was pushed by inertia and flew out and crashed into. The spear forest was pinned to the opposite side…

Alisosis, who was in the center of the cavalry team, finally stopped the advancing warhorse, but he saw that the surrounding comrades fell down, spun in place, shouted, and the horse did not As

they walked, the screams, shouts, and the neighs of the horses were intertwined, and the entire cavalry team was in chaos…

Alisocis knew that he was caught in the tricks of the Dionysians, and the situation was so critical that he could no longer think about it: “Turn left! Turn left! Get out on the side!”

He shouted loudly, and the guards around him also shouted. The chaotic Crotone cavalry had the backbone and soon had order.

Just as they turned their horses around and tried to bypass the lance formation in front of them, the two cavalry troops that Dionia had bypassed before suddenly folded together like human arms.

There were shouts of killing all around Alisosis, and he suddenly realized that his cavalry was surrounded: the cavalry was surrounded by infantry and cavalry, which was impossible, but now it is becoming a reality!

“Go out to the left together! Go out together!!” Alisosis shouted in exasperation.

But a higher-pitched voice in front of him covered his shout, and the charge horn of the heavy infantry sounded.

“Brothers, kill all these Crotones and avenge them for Timasson!!” Zantiparis took off his helmet and rushed forward with a stab gun.

More than a thousand mercenaries roared and charged forward with him. The soldiers who had been knocked down before also struggled to get up, pulled out their sabers, and stepped forward to fight.

The previously sturdy “spear wall” turned into a pervasive stream of water that quickly penetrated into the chaotic Crotone cavalry.

Killing cavalry in a static state is the easiest for these battle-hardened mercenaries.

Even most of them let go of the expensive target of horses, and adopted the method of two mercenaries to deal with one cavalry at the same time: one is responsible for diverting and attracting the attention of the other party, the other is looking for opportunities, quickly approaching from the side and rear, precise He stabbed the spear diagonally upward, and the tip of the spear pierced into the lungs from the gap between the leather armor under the ribs, reaching the heart, killing him with one blow.

If the mercenary escaped the stab, the mercenary would swipe down the lance and knock the cavalry off the horse. Before he could get up, he was hit hard on the head and his neck was kicked off.

The killing efficiency of mercenaries is very high, and even the Dionysian cavalry will subconsciously stay away from these evil spirits.

The battle ended quickly. Except for dozens of Crotone cavalry who escaped, more than a hundred cavalry surrendered, and the rest were all killed, and Alisosis was not in the battle.

The Dionysians also got more than 400 war horses, only casualties of more than 50 cavalry and more than 20 mercenaries, this is a complete victory!

The tactic Davers invented succeeded!

Ryders listened to the results reported by his subordinates and smiled, but he knew that the whole battle was not over yet.

He separated 70 cavalrymen to continue chasing the remaining enemy, urging the rest of the cavalry to rush to Castellon City not far away: “Hurry back and get the javelin!”

“Rydes, let’s go with you.” Zantiparis He came with many mercenaries riding the captured warhorses.

“You…” Ryders instinctively wanted to refuse, but after all, the mercenaries played a decisive role in this battle, so it was not easy to speak directly.

Zantiparis saw what he was thinking and said, “You don’t have many cavalry soldiers now. Although our riding skills are poor, we are better at throwing javelins than you. More people can put more pressure on Crotone. End the battle here early, and reinforce Davos as soon as possible!”

Zantiparis’ words reminded Ryders, he no longer struggled with the question of whether it was a cavalry: “I hope you can follow Get

up to our speed, I won’t stop and wait for you.”

“Don’t worry.” Zantiparis laughed.

……………………

Philadelphus didn’t know that his cavalry was almost wiped out, and now the light armour he led in the middle was in trouble.

When the horn of attack sounded, the light armoured soldiers rushed forward.

The enemy slingers hurriedly retreated.

Then they dashed forward, and then the rain of arrows came… and then the javelin…

After the light armored soldiers paid some casualties, they were very close to the enemy.

At this moment, the light infantry in the middle of the enemy retreated as a whole.

The light armoured soldiers chased again, and the enemy retreated again.

The faster the light armored soldiers chased, the faster the enemy retreated; the slower the light armored soldiers chased, the slower the enemy retreated… The two sides always kept a distance of tens of meters.