Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 510: Battle of Crotone (III)

Kapus' heart violently beat when he looked at the swirling dust and the thundering sound of approaching hooves because he knew that the key to their victory or defeat was in the hands of the sarissa brigade he led. If they win, they would remove Syracuse's greatest advantage and open the door to victory for the whole army's offence; But if they were defeated, it may allow the enemy's already powerful right-wing to become even more powerful with the help of cavalry, resulting the whole army to fall into a predicament.

Kapus felt deeply responsible, but he didn't have the time to be nervous and uneasy as their own cavalry had already entered his field of vision…

“Raise the sarissa!!” Kapus roared to vent the nervousness he felt.

“Raise the sarissa!” The officers also trembled while shouting.

“Those who advance lives, those who retreat die!!! Those who advance lives, those who retreat die!!!” Hearing a neat shouting from the rear, Tapirus and the soldiers beside him knew that it was the 2,000 light-armoured soldiers that were transferred from each legion. Their duty was not only to prevent the enemy from rushing into the sarissa brigade and play the role of the last line of defence but also had the responsibility to kill those who tried to flee. After all, King Davos had reminded all the soldiers of the sarissa brigade of the consequences during the military training the past few days.

But even with the threats and reminders from the light-armoured soldiers behind them, Tapirus and his comrades' hands still shook while holding the sarissa. Although the Theonian cavalry acted as the enemy cavalry many times in advance so that these recruits could adapt, it was still, after all, just a drill. But now, it is a real battlefield where people could die, and the huge momentum created by thousands of enemy cavalry is much more terrifying than the one in their training.

Each soldier of the sarissa brigade shook with the tremor of the earth, causing their tilted spears to shake and collide with each other, making a “clattering” sound.

Suddenly, a neat cry came from behind, “For our citizenship!!! For the land!!! Let's become the hero that saves Theonia!!!…”

The shout resounded through the noisy battlefield, penetrating the hearts of each soldier of the sarissa brigade and arousing their greatest desire. The power generated by this longing gradually made them no longer tremble as they shouted together with the light-armoured soldiers, and each shouting increased their volume by a few point and their hands holding the sarissa became stronger and firmer. By the time their shouts turned into a roar, it almost overwhelmed the sound of horses' hooves, with their sarissa firmly pointed in the direction of the approaching enemy.

At this time, Kapus composed himself while secretly praising his majesty Davos' method while paying close attention to the situation.

For the nearly two thousand Theonian cavalries to withdraw on the 500 metres battlefield, it would take time for the sarissa brigade to make way. But Kapus knew that the enemy would likely retreat or bypass the front when they found something unusual ahead.

“Attack!” Kapus resolutely swung his arm downward.

However, Kapus’ greatest concern remained. He is concerned that the sarissa brigade had to clash with the galloping enemy cavalry while advancing, unlike when they only needed to stand still like in the Battle of Trionto River.

That was also what worried Ledes: He was afraid that his cavalry would directly crash into the sarissa due to nervousness or didn't move quickly enough, causing unnecessary losses.

“Forward!” Tapirus' voice slightly trembled when reminding his soldiers like the other officers.

While marching forward with small and firm steps, the soldiers kept shouting the slogans that excited them. In their formation, the soldiers behind the other soldiers would get closer to the other soldiers’ backs, with their sarissas sticking out from the right shoulders of the soldiers in front of them. Thus when viewed from the side, the sarissa phalanx formed a continuous “wall of spears” with a bit of inclination from front to back.

Even when they accelerated forward, the cold, shiny, quivering “wall of spears” remained taut. And this closeness calmed the soldiers in the formation because they felt the power coming from their collective strength. Yet, at the same time, this closeness made them unable to escape the battlefield even when they were afraid and cowering as they couldn't even turn around, so the only thing they could do was to move forward! Keep moving forward until they stab the enemy!

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

When one gallops fast on a horse, it easily excites the rider, especially these rugged Celtic cavalries, who were long ready to clash with the enemy. Yet their enemy unexpectedly turned around and fled, causing them to angrily scream and vow to catch these enemies who are afraid of death, cut them down, strip them of their good-looking armour, take away their horses, cut off their heads and hang them. But as the mercenary cavalries galloped, they crossed paths with the Crotone-Terina reinforcements on the far left path, resulting in a few over-excited mercenary cavalries attacking them, but were repulsed by the just-arrived Theonian light infantry.

With the foremost Celtic cavalry getting closer to the enemy, many Celts had already drawn their long swords. Suddenly, they were startled by the faint and neat cry from the dusty front, ‘There is an enemy ambush ahead?!’

Just as they became suspicious, the enemy cavalry in front suddenly moved aside, causing some of the Celtic cavalries to choose to continue their pursuit while the others began to slow their galloping horses down. However, the excited shouting of their companions and the “thundering” sound of the horses' hooves caused the cavalries in the rear to not notice the situation ahead.

Tapirus, who was in the centre of the spear wall, could already see the enemy cavalries in front of them: Some of them had messy hair, some wore pointed leather helmets and dark striped cloth, some wielded long swords, and some were screaming, and some were driving their horses straight at them…

“O Hades!” Tapirus couldn't help but pray to Hades, causing the soldiers around him to copy him. On the other hand, some even closed their eyes in fear, only to instinctively grasp the sarissa tighter. After all, this weapon is the only thing that can protect them, giving them psychological comfort on this terrifying and inescapable battlefield.

They are afraid, and so is the enemy.

Once the Celts noticed the enemy cavalry moving to the side, some Celts managed to follow in time, but some were still trying to slow down their horses. Suddenly, a shadowy “human wall” appeared on the dusty and empty battlefield ahead, but once their charging horses got closer, they could now clearly see that it was not a “human wall” but a “wall of spears”!

Those long sharp spears were stretched outwards towards them, which not only made them feel horrified but even their horses were terrified. Still, the inertia made the Celts and their horses crash towards it…

Then the people screamed, the horses neighed, the blood splashed, and the sarissa broke…

Fortunately for the spearmen, the dense wall of spears formed by the four-metre-long sarissa stabbed the enemy cavalries before they could get closer. Furthermore, due to the Celtic cavalries hearing the shouts of the sarissa brigade before, they had already started slowing down, so the force transmitted to the soldiers after the cavalry crashed into them weakened. In addition, most of the soldiers at the forefront relied on the support of the soldiers behind them to offset the momentum, while only a few staggered back together with the soldiers behind them. Thus the Celtic cavalry crashed into the sarissa formation one after another, causing some confusion, but it still did not break the formation.

Naturally, if the succeeding cavalries continued their attack, Theonia's sarissa phalanx would collapse, and the soldiers would be routed. But in this era, there was no specially trained heavy cavalry to charge into the dense infantry phalanx. Hence even the fierce Celtic cavalry would only dare to attack the rear of the infantry phalanx or rely on their horse's power and speed to attack the loose light infantry and would not be foolish enough to use their own lives to charge in front of a phalanx of heavy infantry, let alone the fearful sarissa phalanx in front of them. Besides, unless they blindfolded their horses, no matter how daring the rider was, their horses would instead jump back and neighed to throw off their rider and run away.

After the Celts noticed the situation ahead, they panicked and frantically pulled their horses' reigns, causing extreme discomfort on the horse and resulting in some of them going into a frenzy, while some fell forward due to the sudden pressure on their necks and lack of oxygen, resulting in the inertia to throw their riders into the approaching wall of spears and pierced their bodies…

Gaba, who was in the rear, and several Celts had managed to stop their horses. However, Gaba couldn't care about the tragic death of his men and anger at this moment as the approaching dense wall of spears caused him to panic, “Retreat! Retreat!!…”

There isn't even a need for him to shout as every surviving Celt wishes they could grow wings on their backs and immediately fly away from the rapidly approaching dreadful spear formation. But just as they pulled their horses back, the second wave of attackers came; Although the Numidian cavalry spotted the Celtic cavalries turning around in the dust, they couldn't quickly stop the nearly 2,000 galloping horses and make an evasive move.

For a while, the two cavalry groups collided as the riders screamed and the horses neighed…

Some of the riders fell off their horses and died before they could even get up; Some riders, together with their horse, were pushed back to the front and directly crashed into the advancing wall of spears…

As the more than 2,000 Numidian and Celtic cavalries tangled up, their horses stopped as if they were stuck in a quagmire. The riders who are aware of the danger want to escape this completely chaotic battlefield immediately, but they are so entangled and squeezed with each other that there is no spare space for the horses to move. Obviously, it is impossible to rectify the order to allow a smooth retreat in such a short time.