Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 735: Theonia v Carthage (V)

But this was a relatively easy task for the reserves blocking the flow in the rear. Although they accidentally injured a few allied soldiers and were cursed by the other side, they only received a few casualties.

But the situation was relatively difficult for the various platoons of the Eighth Legion at the front. After all, once they had cut off the tide, the Carthaginians, caught between the phalanx formation and realising their situation had deteriorated, would launch an attack on the nearby Theonian soldiers, resulting in all the phalanxes of the Eighth Legion getting attacked from all sides.

Thus the legionaries had to hide behind their long shields and stay close together, making the already compact formation even more compact due to the pressure around them. Unfortunately, the confined space made it difficult for them to wield their spears, so the soldiers in the two outermost columns of the small phalanx threw down their long weapons. Then they drew their short swords since they gave them an advantage over the enemy in such a tight and crowded space.

Then the officers of the small phalanxes kept shouting, “Brothers, hold on! Hold on! We are about to counterattack!…” Indeed, although the Sacred Band soldiers attacked the Theonia's small phalanxes from all sides, Theonia’s small phalanxes could also attack the Sacred Band soldiers trapped in the gap from all sides.

Theonia had its unique units and military system that gave them full control of every soldier under them, while the Carthaginian’s Sacred Band still practised the traditional Greek phalanx formation. So unlike the prepared Eighth Legion, the Sacred Band soldiers were completely disorganised since the pursuit until now and were like scattered sand. And even though they sensed something was wrong and deliberately launched a fierce attack on the Eighth Legion, their attacks were disorderly and could not effectively damage Theonia's orderly defence. On the contrary, their casualties were far greater than those of the Eighth Legion since they could not cooperate effectively, resulting in the enemy blocking their attack while failing to defend against the short swords and spears coming from the flank and rear.

To make matters worse for them, Leotychides began implementing his second plan. The salpinx rang out again.

Then the entire Eighth Legion of Theonia began to close forward and inwards. At the same time, the reserve at the rear started to press forward, turning the whole of Theonian formation like a wet cloth getting wrung to squeeze out the liquid in the fabric. But it was difficult to squeeze out the Sacred Band soldiers crowded into the gap between the Theonian phalanxes, as more Sacred Band soldiers crowded outside, fighting the Theonian soldiers while also blocking the retreat of their comrades unless they retreated as a whole. But the current situation made it almost impossible since the Theonian army had yet to attack them*. Secondly, they didn’t have someone to command them to make a full-out retreat. (The Theonian platoon phalanxes at the forefront were still in a defensive position and hadn't yet engaged the enemy.)

On the other hand, if the Eighth Legion wants to change from a checkerboard formation to a complete phalanx, they must first eliminate the Carthaginian soldiers inside the formation.

So the sound of the salpinx was like the sound of death, as the battle on the plain suddenly became either you die, or I die…

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

Muntebaal, who liked to command from the rear, rode over the Platani and slowly followed the pursuing Sacred Band. After all, he needed to pay more attention to the Sacred Band, as their status among the Carthaginians was different from that of the ordinary Carthaginian army and much more than a mere Phoenician army, mercenaries and Numidian army.

Not long after sending out the cavalry scout to check on the war situation, the scout returned and reported, “Milord, the Theonian army has intercepted the Sacred Band!”

“The Theonian army?!” Muntebaal was surprised to hear this, as he had previously thought that the routed enemy included several Theonian soldiers, “How could the Theonians organise reinforcements so quickly?! And aren't they afraid that the routed soldiers will break their formation?!”

“Yes, Milord! They are indeed the Theonian army, all wearing full black armour and arranged in many small phalanx formations…”

Muntebaal hadn't studied the Theonian army in detail, so he was even more puzzled when he heard the scout's report, ‘Did the speed of the situation prevent them from forming up? Or did they do it deliberately to make it easier for the soldiers to escape?’

But the doubt in his mind began to turn to unease as the scouts reported back one after another. For the Theonians to set up similar formations over an area more than a kilometre wide, completely blocking the whole plain, means they didn't do it in a hurry. ‘But, aren't the Theonians afraid of the Sacred Band destroying their loose and strange formation?’

Then he understood the terrain here from the scouts' information, and after some more thought, he began to understand their plan a little: With the Sacred Band going deep into the plains and the Theonian Alliance army on top of the hills on either side, the Greeks could come down from the hill and attack the rear of the Sacred Band!

Muntebaal immediately became nervous once he thought of this, so he immediately turned and looked at his rear. But seeing only the three thousand Numidian cavalries had arrived, Muntebaal immediately asked his adjutant, “Where are the rest?”

“Milord, they are on their way.”

“Tell them to hurry!” Muntebaal shouted angrily.

“Yes!”

“Wait! Immediately go, but also inform the Numidian troops that they don't need to come here. Instead, have them cross the river and launch an all-out attack on the Theonian camp!” Muntebaal determinedly said while pointing to the hill on his far right. Then he pointed to the slightly smaller hill on the far left, “Have Resheph led the citizen soldiers to attack that enemy camp!”

Muntebaal chose this approach because the enemy's camp in the south was close to Minoa, making it challenging to attack since they would also have to prepare for a sudden attack by the soldiers inside Minoa. Thus he left this difficult task to the Numidians. And from the information he had just received, not only was the northern hill much smaller, but even the camp on it was small, so there must be fewer Greek soldiers stationed inside. Hence Muntebaal gave the easier task to his men.

After the adjutant left with the herald, Muntebaal split the Numidian cavalry in two and sent them to the entrance of the plain. He then had them spread out in formation so that as soon as they spotted the enemy coming down the hill, they would charge up and attack them with spears and trample them with their horses, slowing the enemy's attack on the Sacred Band and buying time for their reinforcements to arrive.

After all these deployments, Muntebaal still felt uneasy.

After a while, the adjutant rushed back to report, “The Numidians have begun to attack the enemy camp!”

A moment later, the twelve thousand Carthaginian citizen soldiers arrived. However, the enemy camp still showed no apparent signs of attack, except for their light infantry, who began firing arrows and throwing javelins down the hill. Having regained his composure, Muntebaal sternly ordered all his troops to quickly attack the enemy camp and prevent enemy attempts to lay siege to the Sacred Band.

With all their deployments intensifying, Muntebaal can only wait for the Sacred Band to crush the Theonian army before them.

But even after a long time had passed, the Sacred Band in front of them hadn't made any progress…

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

On a battlefield about a kilometre long and tens of metres thick, neither the soldiers of the Carthaginian Sacred Band nor the Theonian army had ever seen such a battle, like a kind of sandwich in Cheiristoya's restaurant, where the top and bottom ends were distinguishable, while the middle was intertwined and completely chaotic. But unlike the Theonian soldiers, who did this on purpose, the soldiers of the Sacred Band were forced into it.

Accompanied by the sound of the salpinx, the Theonian formation continued to shrink, compressing the space between the soldiers on either side to the point where it was difficult even to turn and swing their arms, rendering their spears useless. So the Sacred Band soldiers drew their swords, but some thought their swords were still too long, so they just swung their fists. Then, when only their shields separated their distance, the Sacred Band soldiers even began to headbutt their enemy, with some using their hands to tear at the enemy, glaring, baring their teeth and hissing, making their arrogance and elegance as sons of nobility long to disappear. But the reason they showed such an unsightly battle was just to fight for their survival in such a desperate situation.

At the same time, Theonia's small phalanx struggled to maintain their formation as the Sacred Band soldiers' reckless desperation caused several breaches in their formation. But with the structure of the small phalanx still in place and the core officers continuing to organise them orderly, the legionaries continued to unite and cooperate and continue carrying out their strategy.

The soldiers of the Eighth Legion hid their bodies behind their long shields and simply thrust their short swords blindly, but almost all of their attacks never missed. If their short sword struck a hard object and struggled to push forward, then they must have hit a round shield. But if the short sword hit an obstacle and the enemy grunted, and if they pushed hard and continued to penetrate, then they must have hit the armour. And if the short sword was slightly hindered but could still penetrate easily, and the enemy let out a scream, then they must have hit an unprotected part, such as an arm, thigh, and so on.

Then once the enemy screams and falls, the legionaries would carefully push forward, taking care not to be tripped by the enemy on the ground. Otherwise, they would be repeatedly trampled by the crowd, resulting in them being seriously injured or even dead, which is the most terrible thing in this melee.

Although it was difficult for the platoons of the Eighth Legion to converge, they are still slowly pushing forward…