Chapter 428: Battle of Allaro River (IV)
Appian quickly drew back his short sword and his body under his long shield, evading the stabs and slashes of the enemies. On the other hand, his comrades on his right seize the moment when the enemy fell to the ground to squeeze forward to Appian’s side, fighting alongside him and causing the shield wall of the enemy to collapse even more.
At this chaotic moment, Appian still manages to wound two people.
In such close-ranged fighting, the danger created by the combination of long shields and short swords of the Theonian is obviously much more than that of the round shield and sword of the Syracusan heavy infantry. After all, the Greek kopis has a certain degree of curved, which is more suitable for slashing rather than stabbing, while the round shield does not provide as much protection for the whole body as the long shield. Thus the Syracusans had to pay more attention because the sharp sword tip would occasionally pierce through the gaps between the shields, wounding them if they were not careful.
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On the alliance’s left flank, the Crotonian soldiers, known for their wrestling and boxing in all of Greece, unleash their wildness.
Although Phidias thickened the Syracusan formation on the right flank, he still could not increase the number of soldiers he led. Therefore, under the pressure of the Crotonians, the right flank of Syracuse retreated slowly as a whole, making the formation’s arc more curved.
But it just happened that Phidias is a traditional Spartan who fought the enemy at the frontline. Therefore, even if he felt that something was amiss, he wouldn’t be able to make some arrangements to change the situation on the field. The only thing he could do was to hope that the mercenary cavalries could faithfully implement the plan they made before the battle. In fact, the mercenaries were already on the move.
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The more aggressive Numidian and Celtic cavalry was already itching for a battle with such an intense battle.
With a shout from Acilita, about 2,000 Numidian cavalries rushed out with him.
The mercenaries gradually formed a slender column as they galloped, passing quickly from the outside of the allied cavalry and letting a strange roar as they threw javelins at the enemy.
The allied light infantry immediately fired arrows at the enemy cavalries.
With the Numidian cavalries moving forward in a single oblique line and loose formation at such a fast speed, few of them were struck and fell. On the other hand, they managed to hit many allied cavalries with their javelins.
The allied cavalries started to get agitated, causing Solikos to ask them to calm down repeatedly.
But when Acilita led the Numidian cavalry in a huge detour, appearing again from the dust and were about to throw another round of javelins, many allied cavalries could no longer bear it as they rushed towards them.
Due to them taking the lead, the other cavalries also rushed forward.
Solikos couldn’t stop them at all. Although he was the temporary commander of the allied cavalry, the Theonian cavalry did not occupy the majority of the allied cavalry as they only had 500 cavalries. Furthermore, in the minds of the Greeks, cavalry is a nobility’s privilege, a place to demonstrate their bravery. Thus it is an organisation that has always been loose, so how could they obey the orders of Solikos?
Soon, Solikos realised that only the Theonian cavalries and the nearly 4,000 allied light infantry remained in place.
Seeing the allied cavalries rushing towards them, Acilita smiled.
Acilita nimbly manoeuvred his horse’s reins, turning the forward charge into a quick diagonal gallop before turning east and speeding up their withdrawal. As he was at the lead, the Numidian cavalry behind him could see his movements, so they immediately followed him as all of them turned around and ran east.
The allied cavalry thought the enemy was fleeing, so they urged their horse to chase them faster.
But now, Solikos is in a dilemma, ‘To chase? or to stay?’
A hundred metres away, he could see enemies watching across the dusty field. However, if Solikos, as the commander of the allied cavalry, does not act together with the other city-state cavalries, he would feel ashamed just sitting in the back and watching as the allied cavalry gets defeated without coming to their rescue.
Solikos pondered repeatedly. Finally, he made a painful decision. After explaining to the commander of the light infantry to pay attention to the remaining enemy cavalries, he then led the 500 Theonian cavalries towards the allied cavalries.
But shortly after the Theonian cavalry left, the allied light infantry heard the rumbling sound of horse hoofs, accompanied by a loud roar, as if thousands of drumsticks were beating a huge drum, causing the whole ground to shake.
“Release the arrow! Release the arrow quickly!!…” Shouted the anxious commander of the allied light infantry.
The light infantry had never seen dense cavalries rushing out of the dust at such a high speed on such uneven ground. Their pursuit of extreme speed and disregard of life and death had frightened them, so much so that they hurriedly shot their arrows and turned to run away even when their hands had gotten sore and their feet had numbed.
The Celtic cavalry active in the northern Italia cut straight into the loose allied light infantry like a sharp knife through butter.
Many Celts fell off their horses that suddenly stopped. On the other hand, the allied light infantry was either stabbed by the spears or knocked down by the horses, while most fled in all directions.
But how can the bloodthirsty Celts easily let them go? So they urged their horses to chase them, stabbing the fleeing enemies one after another. Afterwards, they jumped off their horses and cut off the soldiers’ heads that they stabbed one by one, hanging them on the back of their horses according to the Celt’s customs…
Solikos could never have imagined that the 4,000 light infantry, on which he had placed so much hope, would be defeated so quickly by the Celtic cavalries with only 800 men. But at this moment, he didn’t have the time to think about the light infantry that he left behind.
Philesius originally chose this place to meet the enemy is to limit the Syracusan cavalries. But now, due to the recklessness of the allied cavalries, the terrain has become their shackles. However, their biggest problem is not about them slowing down or someone falling off their horses. The most dangerous thing is the Numidian cavalries, who are much more nimble in manoeuvring their horses on this terrain. They are like children playing around, picking rough areas to gallop and occasionally turning around to throw their javelins at the allied cavalries chasing them.
From time to time, someone from the allied cavalries would be struck and fell from their horses, thinning out the pursuing line and making them quiver.
But when the Numidian cavalries saw that the allied cavalry was not catching up, they instead took the initiative to remain close to them.
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With his calm head, Solikos, who was hurrying in the rear, noticed dust rising on either side of the chaotic formation of the allied cavalries, making him nervous, ‘The enemy is trying to outflank the allied cavalries!’
“Have them retreat! Go and have them retreat!!” Solikos immediately urged the herald beside him.
But before the herald could speed up, the allied cavalries began to retreat in panic.
They finally realised that their horsemanship was far worse than those of the mercenaries. So if they continued to pursue them, they would instead be the ones to be wiped out.
But how could the Numidian just let the prey that fell into their trap run away easily? Although they still haven’t fully closed the net, Acilita still blew the horn.
With dishevelled hair and wearing only simple clothes, the Numidian cavalries immediately surrounded the allied cavalries from three directions at a faster gallop than them.
The allied cavalries ran back in panic like birds in a net; some even fell off their horses because they were too scared and were trampled into mush by the running warhorses.
This time, the Theonian cavalries instead ran at the forefront of the entire retreating column.
Solikos then led them back to their original position, hoping that the 4,000 allied light infantry that remained there would be able to stop the pursuing enemies. However, the Theonian cavalries were shocked by what they saw, ‘The allied light infantry, which was in a wild geese formation, no longer exist. The only thing that remains are human and horse corpses, moaning wounded soldiers, and some naked aborigines (i.e. Celts) that are picking up something among the piles of corpses and even cutting off the heads of any living wounded allied soldiers…’
Seeing such tragic sights made the experienced Theonian cavalries feel their hearts tremble.
When the Celts saw the cavalries returning, they turned their horses around and prepared to intercept.
At such a critical moment, Solikos didn’t even have the time to think too much.
“Go north! Go north!…” Solikos waved his spear and pointed forward. The only thing on his head is to lead these cavalries of different races away so that they would not cause trouble to the whole battlefield.
Solikos took the lead as the Theonian cavalries led the frightened allied cavalries to retreat to the Corace river.
The upper reaches of the Corace river was neither wide nor deep, but when Solikos urged his horse to run down the inclined riverbank, the front hooves of his horse suddenly slipped. As Solikos was too tired, he could not hold on to his horse’s neck and was thrown to the ground by the frightened horse.
“Bam!” Solikos fell heavily to the ground and immediately felt a sharp pain in his legs, making him almost faint. And he, who was already old, shouted, ‘Crap, my leg broke!’
He then put his hands on the ground as he tried to get himself up, but it was in vain as it just made the pain much worse.
“Strategos! Strategos!…” The Theonian cavalry rushed to Solikos anxiously after seeing him fall.
But their change of direction immediately hindered the advance of the cavalries at the rear, causing the Theonian cavalries and the allied cavalries to entangle as they crowded the riverbank and made the cavalries’ retreat to almost come to a halt. As the people shouted and the horses neighed, the enemy was rapidly approaching…
Solikos endured the severe pain and shouted, “Leave me! Go! Go! Don’t let the banner…fall into the enemy’s hand! This is an order!!” After shouting, he simply sat on the ground and solemnly placed his right fist on his left chest.
Most of the Theonian cavalries, with tears in their eyes, returned the salute. They then turned their horses around and rushed into the river.
But a small number of cavalries still insisted on rushing over. But at this moment, the javelins of the Numidian cavalries flew, and the leading cavalries immediately fell off their horses.