Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 510

[Chapter 177 The Battle of Crotone (3)]

Looking at the churning dust mist in front of him, and listening to the sound of hooves approaching like rolling thunder, Capps’ heart was also beating violently, because he knew that the key to the victory or defeat of the two sides in this battle was the spear team he led. .

Victory will destroy the biggest advantage of the Syracuses, and then open the door to victory for the entire army’s attack; defeat may make the enemy’s already strong right wing, with the help of cavalry, even more powerful, and the entire army will fall into predicament.

Capps felt deeply responsible, but at this time there was no time for him to be nervous and uneasy. His own cavalry had already entered his field of vision…

“Raise the spear!!” He roared to vent the fear in his heart.

“Raise the spear!” the officers shouted in a trembling voice.

“Advance is alive, back is dead!!! Those who advance are alive, those who are back are dead!!!…” Tapirus, the company captain, heard the neat shouts coming from the rear, and he and the soldiers beside him knew , that was 2,000 light armored soldiers who were lined up behind the spear brigade and assigned to each legion. They not only prevented the enemy cavalry from chasing the spear brigade and played the role of the last line of defense, but also killed those who escaped. The power of the spearmen. During these days of drills, King Davos has very seriously reminded all the soldiers of the spear brigade.

But even if there were threats and reminders from light armored soldiers behind him, Tapirus and his teammates were still shaking with their hands holding the spears, although the Dionysian cavalry had been charged as enemy cavalry many times in advance, so that these recruits could adapt , but it was an exercise after all, and few people died, and now it was a real battlefield, and the huge momentum created by thousands of enemy cavalry was far more terrifying than during training.

The body of each spearman trembled with the tremors of the ground, causing the slanted spears to keep shaking, colliding with each other and making a “crashing” sound…

At this moment, a neat shout came from behind again: “For Citizenship!!! For the Land!!! To be the hero who saves Dionia!!!…”

That cry passed through the noisy battlefield, penetrated into the hearts of every spearman, and aroused the greatest desire in their hearts. The power generated by this desire gradually made their teeth stop fighting, their tongues stopped shaking, and they could follow The light armoured soldiers shouted together.

Each time they shouted, their volume increased a little, and the hands that held the spear became stronger.

When their shouts turned into roars, almost overshadowing the sound of horses’ hooves, spears were already pointed firmly in the direction of the incoming enemy.

At this time, Capps was just in the mood, and while secretly praising the spiritual victory method taught by His Majesty Davos, he paid close attention to the situation ahead.

Nearly 2,000 Dionian cavalry had to be completely withdrawn from both sides. It would take time for the spear brigade to clear the battlefield in a radius of one mile, but Capps knew that he did not have the time to wait, and the enemy was likely to He retreated or avoided the front after he noticed an abnormality in front, so he couldn’t wait for his cavalry to completely withdraw before taking action.

“Attack!” He waved his arms resolutely.

The entire spear battalion had to meet them and face the galloping enemy cavalry, instead of standing still as in the battle of the Trionto River. This was what Capps was most worried about.

This is also what Ryders is worried about. He is afraid that his cavalry will directly collide with his own spear formation because he is nervous or not moving quickly enough, causing unnecessary losses.

“Go forward!” Tapirus, the company captain, just like other team officers, his voice trembled slightly when he reminded his soldiers.

And the soldiers were still shouting the slogans that made them excited, and started to move forward steadily with small steps.

The soldiers in the rear row were close to the backs of the soldiers in the front row, one by one, and the spears protruded from the right shoulders of the soldiers in the front.

Viewed from the side, the spears of the 15 soldiers in a row form a continuous “spear wall” with little inclination from front to back.

This gleaming, heart-throbbing “spear wall” remained tight, although it began to curve as it moved forward faster.

And this closeness makes every soldier in the formation become more and more calm because he feels the collective strength; at the same time, this closeness makes every soldier unable to escape the battlefield even if he is afraid, he can’t even turn around To, the only thing to do is to move forward!

Keep moving forward!

Until the enemy is stabbed!

……….

_ It was an exciting fight, but I didn’t expect the enemy to turn around and run away. Many people screamed in anger. They repeatedly urged the horses, vowing to catch up with these enemies who were afraid of death, cut them under the horse, and strip them away to look good. armor, robbed their horses, cut off their heads and hung them.

Even the mercenary cavalry running on the far left and the Crotone-Trina reinforcements staggered past, and a few overly excited alien cavalry stepped forward to attack and throw javelins, and the Dionysian light infantry who was driven later. repel.

The front Celtic cavalry was getting closer and closer to the enemy, and many Celts had already drawn their long swords.

At this moment, a vague and neat shout came from the dust-filled front, which shocked them: Is there an enemy ambush ahead?

!

Just when they started to be a little bit suspicious, the enemy cavalry in front suddenly turned to the side, causing some cavalry to continue to pursue, while others began to slow down the galloping horses.

The cavalry in the rear was enveloped by the excited shouts of their companions and the sound of “boom” horses’ hoofs, and did not notice the strangeness in front.

Tapirus, who is located in the center of the spear formation, can already see the enemy cavalry in front: some of them have disheveled hair, some wear pointed leather helmets, and wear dark striped cloth. The strange screams of “woo woo

…”, one by one, drove the high-headed horses to come straight to them…

“Hades bless!” Tapirus couldn’t help praying to Hades, which attracted the surrounding soldiers to shout, and some The soldier even closed his eyes in fear, but his hands instinctively pulled the spear tighter, which was a weapon that could protect him and give him psychological comfort in this terrifying and inescapable battlefield.

They are afraid, and the enemy is also afraid.

When they found the enemy cavalry turning, some Celtic cavalry followed in time, and some were still trying to slow down their horses. On the vacant battlefield in front of them, a shadowy “human wall” suddenly appeared in the diffuse dust and fog, rushing forward. The war horse made them see clearly: it was not a “Wall of People”, but a “Wall of Spears”!

Those long sharp spears stretched out to them, not only making them feel horrified, but the war horses under their crotch kept neighing, but the inertia still made the Celts hit the horses together

… Screaming, horse neighing, blood splashing, spears broken…

Fortunately for the spearmen, the dense spear wall formed by the four-meter-long spears prevented the enemy from sprinting to the front of the soldiers. stab wound.

And because they heard the shouts of the spear brigade in advance, most of the Celtic cavalry had consciously slowed down, and the length of the spear also weakened the force transmitted to the soldiers after the cavalry collided, so most of the front row The soldiers relied on the strength of the soldiers in the rear to offset the momentum, and only a few staggered back together with the soldiers in the rear.

Therefore, the Celtic cavalry collided with the spear formation, which caused some confusion in the formation, but did not break the formation.

Of course, if the subsequent cavalry continued to charge, Dionia’s phalanx of spears would inevitably be breached, causing the soldiers to retreat.

However, in this era, there was no heavy cavalry specially trained to smash the dense infantry phalanx frontally. Even the fierce Celtic cavalry only dared to attack the rear of the infantry phalanx or rely on horsepower and speed to attack loose The troop of light infantry would not be so foolish as to take their own lives to rush into the front of the heavy infantry phalanx, not to mention the terrifying phalanx of spears in front of them. Cover up, or it will surely jump and bark, throw the cavalry off, and then turn around and run away.

After the Celts discovered the strangeness in front of them, they hurriedly restrained the running horse, and the reins suddenly tightened, making the horse feel extremely uncomfortable.

Some of them fell into a frenzy and threw their masters off the horse; a few fell forward due to the sudden compression of their necks and lack of oxygen, and the riders were thrown towards the approaching spear wall due to inertia, and were pierced by sharp spear points. …

The leader Gaba and many Celts in the rear finally stopped the rushing horses. At this moment, Gaba could no longer care about being angry at the tragic death of his subordinates, and looked at the approaching front. The dense spear wall, he shouted in panic: “Retreat! Retreat!…”

There was no need for him to shout. Every surviving Celtic cavalry wished to have wings under their ribs and immediately flew away from the rapidly approaching terror. Square of spears.

But just as they pulled their horses back, the second wave of attack—Numibian cavalry galloped, and found the Celtic cavalry turning around in the dust and mist, if they wanted to stop nearly 2,000 running horses immediately It is not so easy to make the tactical action of avoiding the war horse.

For a time, the cavalry exclaimed, the horses neighed, and the two sides collided together…

Some riders fell off their horses, and before they could get up, they were trampled by countless horses’ hooves, and they died without even making a scream; Even the people and

horses were rammed and retreated forward, directly crashing into the advancing spear wall…

More than 2,000 Numibian cavalry and Celtic cavalry were mixed together, and the war horses stopped as if they were stuck in a quagmire. .

The riders who were aware of the danger wanted to flee this completely chaotic battlefield immediately, but the riders were entangled and squeezed with each other, and there was no extra space for the horses to start. The cavalry retreated smoothly.