Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 857

[Chapter 204 Night Attack of the Samonei]

It didn’t take long for a figure to enter the range reflected by the torches inserted on the wooden fence of the camp. They were wearing thin clothes and most of them had no armor protection. They were wading towards the camp with javelins or bows and arrows… Roughly There are hundreds of people at a glance, and there are constantly enemies entering the fire.

Lakelesis did not dare to neglect, and immediately sent soldiers to inform the big tent of the Chinese army.

Alexis didn’t fall asleep at all. After hearing the news of the enemy’s attack, he immediately sent two light infantry battalions to reinforce him.

When they gathered and rushed to the south of the camp, Lakelesis was taking the soldiers under his command to protect himself with long shields, and then returned fire with javelins with some difficulty. With several javelins.

Due to the rush of time, the army did not have time to dig trenches and build earth walls. A simple wooden fence can only play a blocking role and cannot give the legionnaires a height of defense. Therefore, when the Samonais approached the camp within 20 meters After the two sides carried out mid-range and long-range attacks, the legionnaires lost their defensive advantage. On the contrary, the Samonei used javelins to suppress Lakelesis and the others, and the Samonei archers took the opportunity to attack. Rockets are fired inside the camp.

According to the “Dionysian Military Law”, “the field camp is constructed according to the requirements, and the tent area should be more than 20 meters away from the wall.” This can not only ensure the smooth passage of the soldiers during defense, but also avoid being easily attacked by the enemy from a long distance.

Considering that no walls were built in the camp, Alexis also increased the distance between the tent area and the wooden fence to 30 meters, but the Samonai archer was too close to the wooden fence, and the rockets fired still ignited several tents, causing the camp Inevitably there was some confusion, and the soldiers had to get up and put out the fire.

After 2,000 Dionysian light infantry arrived, the situation quickly changed. The Samonai retreated with dozens of dead and wounded tribesmen, but they did not move away, but circled the Dionysian camp. , issued a strange roar, occasionally attacked the sentries with javelins, or fired rockets into the camp, disturbing the peace in the camp all night.

But the next morning, they all disappeared without a trace.

The legionnaires were tossed all night, and many people did not rest well. In view of this, Alexis issued an order: the soldiers of the whole army continue to build the camp, and be sure to dig trenches and build solid earth walls before dusk, no more Set up a few outposts… At the same time, the captains should arrange the rest of the soldiers reasonably and ensure that they have plenty of energy.

In this regard, the adjutant Eumatius had doubts: “Lord Commander, why don’t we go to attack Aquironia immediately? If you delay here for another day, it will consume an extra day’s ration, and it will also make Aguero. The Nias have time to prepare for the defense, making it more difficult for us to attack…”

“Even if Aquironia is given one more day to prepare,

it probably won’t have much impact on our attack.” Alexis Looking at the vast mountains on the other side of the Ovanto River, there is a deep light in his eyes: Compared with the hasty attack, I am more concerned about the state of the soldiers. They are all from the Apulia region, although they have fought on the mountains in the military camp. Although they have never had the experience of living in the mountains, they need a little time to adapt quickly and maintain their physical strength and energy in order to cope with the tough battles that may be encountered next.

”

Fighting hard…” Eumatius pondered the meaningless words carefully.

At dusk, with the joint efforts of more than 6,000 soldiers, a three-meter-high earth wall was built around the camp and outside the wall. Therefore, although there were still Samonais harassing the camp that night, the threat to the camp was almost negligible, and the soldiers slept more peacefully.

After dawn, Alexis left 500 heavy infantry to garrison .

The camp, with 5,500 soldiers and some auxiliary personnel, carrying five days’ rations, crossed the Ofanto River and headed for the city of Aquironia.

Although it was marching in the lowland among the mountains, this lowland was not low, and The further north you go, the higher the terrain. Soldiers trudge through the rugged mountain roads, and what they can see when they look up is the long and narrow blue sky cut off by the mountains on both sides.

In order to prevent being ambushed or attacked by the Samonites, Alexis scattered all 100 soldiers of the mountain reconnaissance team, and walked towards the large troops on the mountains on both sides, while scouting out the surrounding anomalies.

Except for the 1,500 heavy infantrymen who were not wearing armor, but carried on their backs, the other soldiers were fully armed (of course they did not have multiple protections on their bodies), and even so, most of them began to whimper before halfway through the journey. Breathing.

Fortunately, no one has walked this mountain road. On the contrary, Aquironians often take this road to go to the river bay to fish, bathe, draw water, and herd cattle and sheep… Therefore, the mountain road is almost No head-scratching thorns, no rocky clumps.

Although it is already June, the temperature has begun to rise, but marching in the mountains, not only does not feel very hot, but the more you go, the cooler you go.

But for the Puchetti and Downey soldiers who lived in the Apulian plains since childhood, the march on this section of the mountain road made them feel guilty: the high and low, winding mountain roads made them have to walk carefully , very exhausting physical strength; and the mosquito bites, the constant scratching of the trees and weeds quickly made them feel itchy all over… The soldiers began to complain.

Rachelesis was moving forward intently. There was a fire in his heart. During the harassment of the Samonei the night before, five of his company were killed, 12 were injured, and several tents were burnt down… … He kept berating himself, believing that he had called the reinforcements too late for such a bad outcome.

The easy victories of the Dionian army in the previous two battles at Ascurum and Venosa gave him the illusion that the Samonais were easy to deal with.

But in the attack the night before, the heavy javelins thrown by the Samonais were ruthless and accurate. When the long shields were hit in the front, they could penetrate from time to time. This was the main cause of casualties among the soldiers, although Alexis He did not criticize him, but he made up his own mind: he must take Aquironia and avenge his dead and wounded brothers!

Therefore, along the way, he kept cheering the soldiers up, encouraging them to move forward, and even seeing some soldiers fall behind due to exhaustion, he would take the initiative to help them carry their armor.

Aquironia was only ten miles away from Dionia’s new camp, but after nearly four hours of trek, the Dionysian army finally got out of the long and narrow lowland and entered a small semi-circular valley: on the east side of the One of the mountains is relatively short, and the slope of the west-facing mountain is gentle. Unlike other mountains with lush and lush trees, there are few trees on the hillside, but some houses are scattered among the mountains, and dozens of sheep can also be seen. Leisurely grazing on the mountain.

The sharp-eyed soldiers looked up and could vaguely see the wooden wall on the top of the mountain. That was the city of Aquilonia. Although the mountain where it was located was shorter than other mountains and not steep enough, it was still several hundred meters high!

The soldiers felt a little anxious just looking at this height, let alone attacking the city.

Alexis first looked at the mountain where the city of Aquilonia was located for a while, and then carefully observed the valley.

The engineer came over and told him that the ground in the valley was mixed with gravel, but it was still soft.

“Then build the camp.” Alexis said lightly.

The order can be conveyed to the whole army, and the soldiers’ laments are heard one after another.

However, before building the camp, the soldiers had to eat dry food and rest for a while to replenish the physical strength consumed by the march. Then, under the orders of the team officers, they reluctantly picked up tools and began to dig the ground.

At this time, the captain of the mountain reconnaissance team rushed to Alexis out of breath: “Lord Commander, our reconnaissance soldiers saw thousands of Samonais on the mountain rushing towards here from the west!”

Alek When Sith heard the news, instead of being shocked, he seemed relieved. He asked calmly, “How many people are there? How far is it from here?

” It is estimated that… there will be no less than 5,000 people, and when I came, they were at least three miles away from here.” The investigation captain estimated and replied.

Alexis turned and looked to the west of the valley: not only were the mountains there relatively low and easy to climb, but there was also a mountain road between them that led to the west.

“Lord Commander!” Adjutant Eumatius reminded: “If the reinforcements of the Aquilonians arrive, we will face the enemy on both sides, and we should immediately withdraw to the camp to avoid fighting with the same number of Samonais in the mountains. ”

The Samones really hid an army in the mountains to lure us into the bait!” Alexis showed a sneer and said to his adjutant: “Yu Mattheus, you know what I’m doing! What is the reason why Tian has been communicating with Zantiparis, Polert, Gellney and the others?” A

flash of light flashed in Eumatius’ mind, and UU Reading www.sonicmtl.com exclaimed: “Could it be—”

“Immediately Go and tell the soldiers to stop building their camp, put on their armor, get their weapons, and get ready to fight!”

…………………………………

In fact, the Samonay coalition gave up the harassment of the Downey area, The move to attack the Campania Alliance is not only to avoid the strong and the weak, and continue to add trouble to Dionia, but also to the deep realization of several tribal leaders: it is no longer possible to join the Dionysian army on the plain. When the battle is over, even if it is only a harassment, it should take advantage of the Samonei themselves to fight against them in the mountains.

However, the Dionysian army was very cautious and never marched into the mountains.

Therefore, after deliberation, they decided to let the coalition attack Campania on a large scale, and also wanted to achieve another purpose: to cause the Dionysian army in Dawney to cause “the main force of Samona is in Campania, and the defense in the mountains is empty. ‘, lured the Dionian army into the mountains.

.