Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 210

[Chapter 8 The Battle of the Trionto River (End)]

Did you break through?

Philadelphia and the others have arrived?

!

Miron, who couldn’t wait to go ashore with the soldiers, felt a burst of excitement in his heart.

But after a while, the troops stopped advancing, and were then forced to retreat little by little…

“Hold on, soldiers! Just keep working harder, the enemy is about to die!” Miron, who didn’t know what to do, thought it was because the troops were weak in attack. Knowing that his shouting wouldn’t have much effect, he couldn’t help shouting loudly. , want to arouse their fighting spirit.

But the Crotone army was never able to go any further.

The front ranks of the Dionian army who have completed the transformation of the array are the newly replaced soldiers of the original second line. Their physical strength is still sufficient, which makes up for their lack of heavy infantry experience. After fighting for more than three hours, he was already exhausted and struggling to protect himself, so he was naturally powerless to attack.

Just as they were struggling to support, the Crotone light infantry behind them who had retreated to the other side of the Trionto River suddenly shouted in panic: “The enemy! The enemy is coming!!…”

Although Miron, who was in the center and rear of the formation, couldn’t quite hear what they were shouting, the frightened voice made him turn his head to look back subconsciously. He was stunned when he saw: I saw hundreds of people appearing on the river beach behind. The cavalry rushed towards the Crotone light infantry who fled in panic, and behind the cavalry were countless unarmored soldiers, who quickly dispersed the formation, drew bows and arrows, and held javelins. own direction.

Where did so many enemies come from?

!

Philadelphia and his troops?

!

!

… At this moment, countless thoughts flashed through his mind in horror, and in the end there was only one sentence in his heart: We lost!

!

!

In fact, not only did he see the scene of the river bank behind, but many Crotone soldiers also saw it, and the Dionysian scout standing on the opposite bank also saw it. When the hearts of the soldiers were fluctuating, Davos gave an order full of pride: “All troops attack!!!”

The bugle of the attack sounded, and then the same trumpet sounded on the other side.

Just as the Dionysian heavy infantry began to attack bravely, the Dionysian light infantry, composed of nearly 6,000 freemen, fired the first round of arrows and the first round of flying stones at the rear of the Crotone soldiers on the right flank. , the first round of the javelin…

The front is the heavy infantry who are still fierce after a long battle, the cold river is under their feet, and the arrows and javelins that have taken their lives away from the rear are different. The tired Crotone soldiers can no longer hold on, first the right wing. The rout, followed by the middle, and then the left wing. Crotone’s line of more than two miles and more than a dozen columns collapsed quickly like an avalanche. The soldiers rushed to the south bank. It accelerated their rout, and the charge launched by the Dionysian heavy infantry made this large-scale rout even more chaotic. Nearly 20,000 people were attacked from both sides. What a miserable retreat across the river was. picture?

Zantiparis, who had witnessed the entire passage on the South Bank, could not bear to look back when he later spoke to Ancitanos, who wrote the Great History of Greece, about Crotone’s defeat, recalling: “… Crotone Everyone shouted in horror, ‘Run for your life! We are defeated! . . . The volume even overshadowed the sound of our bugle. In order to escape, the Crotone people who were chased by the soldiers frantically knocked down the people in front with shields and stabbed them with spears… Alas… The Trionto River is not deep, but almost no one fell in the river. He can get up again, because once he falls, not only will there be no one to help him, but because of the heavy equipment on his body and the constant squeezing and collision of others, he will only drown in the river in the end… In fact, whether it is the pursuit of heavy infantry, or The long-range attacks of our light infantry did not make up for the damage that the river did to the Crotones…that must be Poseidon’s wrath! It reminded me of the expedition in Kentley. The scene of the battle between the River Te and the Persians… Well, when the battle is over,

When I returned, I saw the Triminto River covered with Crotone corpses, as if the river was blocked, and it made my scalp go numb!

It is said that there were more than 3,500 corpses recovered later, not counting the ones that floated into the sea…”

……………………

The Crotone soldiers who fled back to the south bank had no time to breathe.

Although the Dionysian heavy infantry were tired, they were still attacking under the urging of Davos, and continued to put psychological pressure on the routed soldiers; while the large number of freemen light infantry did not have the burden of heavy armor and pursued The main force, they swooped up from the flank, almost dumping the entire Crotone right flank, and the Crotones who lost their fighting spirit were intercepted in front and chasing troops in the back, and they surrendered one after another.

After the light infantry handed over the prisoners to the heavy infantry, they continued to pursue.

At this time, the cavalry became the main force of the pursuit. Nearly 300 cavalry spread out under the leadership of Ryders, crushing the soldiers back and forth. The Crotone people were not injured by the running horses. It was forced to change the escape route, and was eventually captured by the light infantry who caught up.

The Crotone soldiers who escaped were trembling along the way, and finally fell down on the road because of exhaustion. The Dionysian light infantry did all the work of escorting the prisoners.

In the end, the Crotone people fled into the swamp area, and many people rushed into the dangerous area in a panic.

The Dionian cavalry also followed into the swamp, but because of the unfamiliar terrain, horses fell into the mud many times, and because the sky was getting dark, they finally had to give up their pursuit.

The battle to decide the fate of Dionia and Crotone is over.

The Crotone side invested about 27,000 people, and finally 7,000 casualties (because it was defeated, it was almost impossible for wounded soldiers to escape), about 12,000 people were captured, and 8,000 people fled the battlefield. Only those who really escaped back to Crimea Less than 5,000 people, more than 3,000 lost in forests and swamps, some escaped after a few days, and some never got out again.

Under the desperate protection of the guards, Miron was lucky to escape back to Crimea.

Dionia’s side also invested about 24,000 people, and in the end only more than 4,000 casualties were obtained, and they won a brilliant victory.

………………

On this day, the chief general of Castellon City, Ameklis, has been closely watching the development of the entire battle. Arrows and javelins, so Amicris is also responsible for organizing and delivering army materials to the battlefield.

When the Crotone troops that were walking downstream were wiped out, he got the news even earlier than Davos, when he excitedly told the members of the Castellon Council that Dionysian’s victory had been won. Certainly.

Everyone will be skeptical. After all, Crotone has been tyrannical in Great Greece for many years. The city-states are deeply afraid of it. In addition, its main force is not damaged. Who knows if it will make a comeback.

It was not until an hour later that countless corpses floated down the upper Trionto River, attracting the whole city to watch at the port. After the guards checked them one by one, it was determined that they were all Crotones.

When the news came out, the uneasy hearts of the Castrons finally fell: there is no doubt that the Dionysian Alliance has won!

Our Dionian League has won!

!

When cheers resounded throughout the city, the shadow of the threat of Crotone in the hearts of the Castrons was finally removed.

The generals and council members looked at each other and smiled reassuringly: they had endured the threat of the Crotones, and the decision to take the risk of supporting Dionia was indeed the right one!

When Davos led his army back to Castellon, the whole city was illuminated by candles.

Amicklis led the members of the council and the people out of the city to greet them. The momentum was so great that it was somewhat unexpected by Davos.

sonicmtl.com He hurriedly dismounted and walked.

“Wan Sheng, the Dionysian Alliance!!!” The crowd erupted in cheers like a landslide and tsunami, which was deafening.

“Congratulations, Lord Davos! It’s unbelievable, you have achieved a brilliant victory!!” Amy Kris sincerely congratulated Davos.

“It all depends on Hades’ blessing! And you — the full help of the Castrons!” Davos replied modestly.

“After the failure of this battle, Crotone may no longer be able to attack.” Amicris tactfully wanted to know Davos’s next plan.

Davos, of course, heard what he meant, and smiled slightly: “If the injured lion doesn’t take the opportunity to hunt and kill it, won’t it wait for it to recover and then come to avenge it! Tomorrow we will attack Crimea, take it down, and then fight against Ke. Rotone!”

Amikolis was relieved, and reminded: “I think Crotone may ask for peace talks as last time, in order to release these captives.”

“Peace talk?” Davos sneered a few times, looking at the 12,000 prisoners who were being escorted past in front of him. He initially wanted to force these prisoners to be the vanguard tomorrow, attacking Crimea, and even attacking Croto. If you want to come to the Crotone people to face the attack of their compatriots, they will inevitably shrink back, so that Dionia can easily capture these two cities. This is one of the common tactics used by the Mongols and Jurchens to seize the world.

However, Davos, who has lived in this era for a year and a half, thought about it and chose to give up.

Because he knows that the Greeks of this era still retain some of the characteristics of the ancient times, respecting heroes, advocating strength, and like to fight head-on.

Killing the enemy in battle is understandable, but using captives to siege a city and gain victory is undoubtedly disgusting and contemptuous.

So in the previous city-state war, no one has ever done it.