Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 471

[Chapter 138 Continued Combat (3)]

“Headers! Heralds!”

“General, what’s the matter?”

“You hurry up and inform Eumacus, let him lead those soldiers who are still carrying food into the warships and return to the camp immediately, and cooperate with the defenders in the camp first. Repel the enemy and talk about it!” After Diomilas finished speaking, he felt uneasy again, and ordered again: “Let the troops stop crossing the river, unload their luggage, and return to the camp to fight!

” The soldiers of Mu were a little reluctant: why can others stay on the other side leisurely, and they have to go back to fight to the death?

!

With this kind of mentality, they move lazily and gather very slowly.

Diomilas was very anxious. Although he left 4,000 people to defend the outer camp, he heard the screaming and killing became more and more intense. He was not only worried about the remaining troops. Xinsheng finally made up his mind not to hesitate to offend these citizens, but also to issue strict orders to let them go back to defend.

Just as he led the escort to the pontoon bridge, a fast boat shuttled through the Agri River, which was almost blocked by three-tier oars, and stopped on the bank of the river. The captain jumped off the boat and stumbled towards Diomilas. While running, he shouted: “General, it’s not good! Dionia’s fleet is coming! There are many troop carriers behind them, full of soldiers!…” Diomilas’s

mind suddenly buzzed There was a chaotic sound, and I didn’t have time to think in an instant: Why didn’t the Dionysian fleet rest after the war?

At this time, Diomilas had only one thought in his mind: the Dionysians wanted to surround us!

The soldiers who were crossing the river around heard the captain’s shout, and suddenly there was an uproar, “Cross the river! Hurry up!…” The soldiers shouted in panic, you pushed me, and the team started to riot…

Diomeira Si calmed down, seeing this chaotic scene, he immediately canceled the decision to return to the camp for defense, and he was still a little hesitant: Do you want to abandon the 4,000 soldiers and retreat immediately?

!

But soon he didn’t have to think about it.

“The Dionysians are coming in!!”

“Let’s run!!”

“The main camp is broken!!”

…

There were terrified and chaotic shouts from the east of the camp, the voices getting louder and louder, even Diomilas could see the rout when he turned around,

which surprised him: how easily the camp was breached?

!

!

In fact, the reason for the rapid collapse of the Tarantum garrison is very simple: Dionysian VII Corps had carefully prepared in advance, and when attacking, Matonis, as the army commander, charged forward, and the soldiers who had been stimulated by him before. None of us wanted to be left behind. Their quick and violent attack made the remaining Tarantum soldiers feel very difficult to defend. At this time, their fighting spirit had already been taken away by the retreating troops, and there was no sufficient mental preparation at all. The first thought that pops up in my heart when I encounter a setback is: Why are they all retreating, and we are still fighting hard here?

!

So when the Heraclea army that followed closely flanked the soldiers garrisoned from both sides of the camp, the Tarantum soldiers almost collapsed at a touch.

“Retreat! Fast retreat!!…” Diomilas had only this only option at the moment.

In fact, there was no need for him to order at all. The soldiers had already seen that the situation was not good, and they were already retreating…

………………………………

Midorades led 70 three-tier oars, rushing When they reached the sea near Heraclea, they received a report from the Clippers: Tarantum’s warships were gathering at the mouth of the Agri River.

Midorades was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately ordered the fleet to fan out, ready to wipe out Tarantum’s warships.

The Tarantum warship tried to leave the river bank in a panic, and even squeezed and collided in the river because of the panic, and even a small warship capsized in the river, and the fleet that fled in a hurry had no intention of salvaging the drowning companions. They have only one thought: to escape the siege of the Dionian fleet and return to the port of Tarantum!

However, many Tarantum warships have too much food stacked in the cabins, which greatly affects the flexibility and speed of the warships. Compared with the installation of the “Raven Suspension Bridge” and the loading of heavy infantry, Dio is a bit cumbersome. As far as the Nia fleet is concerned, there is not much advantage.

But as the Dionysian fleet was rapidly approaching, the sailors of Tarantum couldn’t even draw any manpower, throwing away the grains that were like a burden, waiting for their fate to be captured.

Davos’s ship did not participate in the battle between the fleets, and it landed on the coast not far north of the mouth of the Agri River with the subsequent troop convoys.

As soon as Amyntas jumped off the boat, he immediately ordered the trumpeter to sound the horn of attack. Then he did not wait for all the soldiers to arrive and rearrange the formation before attacking. Instead, he directly led 50 soldiers from the same boat towards a short distance. Kill the retreating Tarantum army.

With the help of the First Army, the Dionysian fleet commanded by Cykrian has won a great victory, while the Second Army has not shown any performance so far, which makes Amyntas, who has always been competitive, bear it.

The ferocious momentum of the detachment of soldiers led by Amintas actually frightened the already panicked Tarantum soldiers on the north bank of the Agri River, and made them forget that their number was much larger than the oncoming enemy. .

Just as they were scrambling to organize resistance, other detachments of the Dionian II Corps arrived one after another, stabbing a sharp dagger on the weak body of the river-crossing force on the north bank of Tarantum. The soldiers of Tum collapsed and fled in all directions. Some soldiers were desperate to cross the river and flee south.

Amintas commanded the troops to chase southwards, and the soldiers of Tarantum were constantly being squeezed into the river… The

panic will only lead to more panic. When the deck of a pontoon bridge was overwhelmed, the bridge was broken, causing the entire pontoon bridge. It fell apart, and hundreds of people fell into the river in panic.

The 12,000-strong coalition of the 7th Army and the Heraclean Army on the south bank continued to pursue the fleeing Tarantum northwards.

The Tarantum soldiers, who had completely lost their fighting spirit, scrambled for their lives, and the entire army was in complete chaos.

Even if the two consuls shouted in the crowd, it was difficult to organize them to stop the attack of the Dionian coalition.

Therefore, after retreating again and again, they were finally driven to the bank of the Agri River.

When several pontoon bridges were completely blocked, they faced the fierce pursuit of the Dionysian coalition behind them. Some Tarantum soldiers even took off their armor and jumped into the river. It’s a head that floats up and down, like a big ant’s nest thrown into a small puddle, which is shocking.

When the soldiers who had not yet entered the river saw the panicked teammates on the other side, and the black army behind them gradually lined up and surrounded them, the Tarantum people were completely desperate. They shed hot tears and threw down their weapons. , turned and surrendered to the equally feared Dionian coalition who were attacking them… By

dusk, Tarantum’s army was being pursued by a legion led by two of Dionian’s most valiant generals. In the end, they were encircled on both sides of the pontoon bridge of the Agri River. In addition to the fact that nearly 1,000 people ran away in the initial team crossing the river, a total of more than 12,000 people were captured, and more than 2,000 people were killed or injured by the spear or trampled on each other. More than 2,000 people drowned in the river.

In addition, the Dionysian fleet captured more than 50 warships of Tarantum, including 35 three-tiered oars.

Since Tarantum’s fleet was unwilling to fight and the resistance was weak, its sailors did not suffer heavy casualties, and the number of captured sailors was close to 7,500.

At the same time, the Dionysian army also seized a large amount of materials, including dozens of tons of grain.

The Dionysian army did not lose much in this battle, and it can be said that it was a hearty victory.

Therefore, Davos was very happy after learning about the situation of the battle. When he saw Triphias, the chief general of Heraclea, he had a sincere smile on his face and said: “Triphias Sir, I thank you on behalf of all the people of Dionia! If it wasn’t for your Heraclea bravery to block Tarantum’s attack, I’m afraid Tarantum’s army would have stormed into Turii’s territory!”

Triphias hurriedly said modestly: “Lord Davos, we Heraclea are just defending ourselves. On the contrary, we should sincerely thank Dionia, you are in such a difficult situation. , and sent reinforcements in time, in order to defend Heraclea, the land of Amendolara was destroyed, I really don’t know… How can I…”

Davos had to comfort him again at this time: ” We are allies, and we should help each other. Fortunately, Hades blessed, the Tarantum people have been basically annihilated, and we have not suffered major losses, which is the most gratifying thing!”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect victory. It will come so fast!” Triphias looked at Davos with admiration, and exclaimed: “Lord Davos, I never thought that your Dionysus actually defeated the Syracuse Navy, This is amazing!”

Davos smiled slightly and said in a relaxed tone: “If the Syracuse fleet dares to attack again, we will defeat it! From now on, Taranto Bay should also change its owner. Davos

‘

domineering words made Triphias completely at ease about the safety of the sea: “Lord Davos, when are you going to attack Tarantum?” Triphias asked politely. In a word, he actually wanted to know the general battle plan of Davos in the future.

Only two days after Davos returned to Turii, the war situation in Great Greece had undergone such a big change, which restored the confidence of Dionia’s allies.