Aeneas' words made everyone pay attention.
"Yes, if Hilde's entire army is deployed, Byzantium will indeed be an empty city. So... if we send the navy to attack Byzantium, it is very likely that we can occupy Byzantium while Hilde's army is out and cut off the enemy's retreat!" Tilica clapped his hands when he said this, "Great, great, this is really a good idea! Our navy now has an absolute advantage, and Hilde has no naval forces to defend us!"
"It will take Hilde a few days to get here."
Dolops asked calmly.
"Five more days, sir."
"Five days... How about this? We have a lot of warships in Samos, and can deploy a maximum of 1,000 heavy infantry at a time. If Hilde mobilizes the entire city, the defense inside the city will be empty. If we attack the city through the port, the Byzantine city will definitely fall. At that time, Hilde's retreat will be cut off, and she will have no choice but to lead her troops back for support. We will then take advantage of the victory and pursue them, and we will definitely be able to defeat the Byzantine army completely!"
Doplos' words were like a shot in the arm.
Tilika, who was a little depressed, also became energetic.
"Okay! Just do it!"
"Then there is no time to lose, let's start preparing now!"
Chapter 2: When the War Begins
After determining the next square array.
The coalition forces assembled outside the city of Selimbria, gathering a force of 20,000 men.
The coalition forces had a total of 15,000 heavy infantry, 3,000 light infantry and auxiliary soldiers, 1,000 Thracian mercenaries and 1,500 cavalry. Such a large formation was rare in the entire Thracian region. The colonies formed by the Greeks were unprecedentedly united at this moment. They were full of confidence and were ready to defeat the army from the Byzantine Kingdom in one fell swoop in the next war. However, what they may not have expected was that the enemy they would face next was not an ordinary enemy.
a few days later.
Aeneas, the archon of Perintus, was standing on a high ground at the edge of the battlefield.
At this moment, he was leading two thousand heavy infantry, responsible for protecting the left wing of the army.
Now, the coalition forces deployed a huge force of 20,000 people on the front battlefield. On the right wing of the army, the most elite soldiers led by Doplos, the Poseidon Warriors from Samos. Most of these soldiers were sailors from Samos. Although they were good at fighting at sea, they were also good at fighting on land. Equipped with gorgeous shields and wearing blue cloaks representing the sea, the Poseidon Warriors firmly guarded the right wing of the army.
The heavy infantry of ancient Greece usually held a gun in the right hand and a shield in the left hand. Therefore, the right side of the soldier was unprotected. Therefore, the soldiers in the heavy infantry phalanx would instinctively move to the right, hoping that their comrades on the right could use the shield in their left hand to provide protection for themselves. Therefore, it is obvious that the soldiers on the far right of a phalanx lack any protection, and they do not have the shield of their teammates to cover themselves. Therefore, if the phalanx breaks out, it usually starts from the right.
Therefore, in order to prevent the phalanx from collapsing.
The right wing of the army is usually the most elite troops.
At the same time, the left wing of the army is usually the weakest unit, mainly composed of light infantry.
So when these Greek states fought, they would often circle around to see who could use their right wing to attack the opponent's left wing. So, the right wings of both armies would chase the opponent's left wing, but the troops had to maintain a linear formation, and the final result was that they kept circling around and finally turned into a melee. This tactical method was not a problem in the eyes of Aeneas and his men.
"Lord Aeneas."
At this time, Tilika of Selimbria came over.
"Today is a good day for fighting."
"It's sunny, which is good for us."
Aeneas couldn't help laughing.
He must have been full of confidence as he looked at the densely packed 20,000-strong army on the battlefield.
Now, there is almost no wind on the battlefield. Today is a calm day. However, it is a waste to use such weather to fight a war. Aeneas also felt dazed. He had met Hilde before, and they were even allies of each other and had reached some consensus. Why are they suddenly going to fight now? Thinking of this, Aeneas couldn't help but say, "It would be great if such a war could be against the Thracians."
"I also wanted to fight the Thracians, but it was Hilde who initiated the invasion."
Tilika sighed.
"I hope Hilde can turn back from his wrong path."
"impossible……"
Aeneas still remembered what happened in Perintus.
Hilde was not a good person to talk to. Although Hilde said nothing on the surface, Aeneas could see that if Hilde was really determined, no one could stop her. Therefore, this war was doomed to break out and it was unavoidable anyway. Now, Aeneas could only pray that the losses caused by this war could be controlled within a reasonable range.
It would be best if there were not too many casualties.
With these thoughts in mind, Aeneas looked into the distance.
"Ah, here they come."
At this time, something strange happened on the eastern horizon.
A gray wave suddenly appeared from afar, with a strong pressure, and appeared at the end of the horizon, like a dark cloud. In the middle of the wave in the distance, there were countless spears pointing straight to the sky. The densely packed soldiers lined up in neat rows and slowly moved forward. These soldiers were completely different from the Greek heavy infantry. The spears in their hands were four or five meters long, and the shields had become small shields, not held in the hands, but hung on the chest.
At the edge of the square, there was a special drummer beating the drum. The soldiers adjusted their pace according to the drum sound and continued to press forward. Their steps were uniform and their military appearance carried a terrifying sense of oppression.
Chapter 2, Section 4: The Beginning of the War of Conquest
On the right wing of such an army was a well-equipped cavalry unit. These cavalrymen were in high spirits, equipped with more than one meter long spears, and fully equipped with armor. Their weapons and equipment were the best. It can be seen that the most powerful existence in the Hild army was this cavalry unit. At the same time, behind these cavalry units were 1,500 heavy infantry. And this heavy infantry regiment was composed entirely of Thracian barbarians.
They were armed with axes, Thracian long swords, leather round shields, and simple armor. Although their equipment was relatively simple, their combat power was very terrifying, and they were particularly suitable for being thrown into melee. Especially now that these barbarians were equipped with steel weapons, their attack power was even stronger.
The army of the Byzantine Empire has arrived at the battlefield.
The main force of the Byzantine Kingdom was the three phalanx infantry regiments. These soldiers were equipped with four or five meter long spears and were the absolute main force in the war. The left wing of the Byzantine Kingdom was a relatively weak but more flexible light infantry regiment. The right wing was the absolute main force of the Byzantine Empire. The troops composed of 1,920 cavalry and 1,536 barbarians must be the most terrifying elite force of the Byzantine king.
The Byzantine archers and crossbowmen were ready at the front of the phalanx.
At this time, Hilde was riding on a white horse, watching the main force from afar.
This was Hilde's first major battle.
Woo——!
The officer blew the aphrodisiac.
This is a primitive orchestral instrument that was often used as a military bugle during this era.
"Array!!!"
Hilde raised his spear and gave the order.
The number of the Byzantine First Legion was half that of the enemy. Therefore, what the Byzantine Kingdom had to do was to continuously dilute the reserve forces of the phalanx to extend its own front line. The coalition forces' heavy infantry phalanx also had 128 people in each company. They kept 16 people in each row, and a company had a total of eight rows, that is, eight people in each column. In this way, the coalition forces had a total of 1,875 people in each row.
In order to achieve the same length, the Byzantine army had to extend its own troops to a similar length. However, the Byzantine phalanx infantry only had 4,608 people in total. After such an extension, there were only 3 people in each row, which was 5 less than the coalition forces. If this were an ordinary battlefield, the Byzantine phalanx, which was too thin, would definitely become a breakthrough for the enemy. But Hilde was not worried. Even if there were only three people in each row, the phalanx infantry could still hold their position.
"Hahaha, the other side actually only has so few heavy infantry."
At this time, Dolops smiled happily.
The situation is now very clear.
Dolops originally thought that the density of the square formation should be two to one, but he didn't expect it to be eight to three. You know, there are only three people in each row, and it's even impossible to fully play the role of the square formation.
In his opinion, this was all just Hilde fooling around.
I'm afraid this Hilde doesn't know anything about military affairs.
"All troops, move out--!"
"Yes!"
Dolops also gave the order to set off.
At this moment, the distance between the two armies was only two kilometers.
Looking at her thin front, Hilde did not feel panicked. On the contrary, she and her cavalry had already prepared for the battle. The more than 300 guards and more than 1,500 companion cavalry behind her would become a sharp knife and pierce directly into the heart of the enemy.
"His Majesty!"
At this time, Sitalses came running over.
"When...attack!"
"Don't be anxious, wait for the enemy to come over."
Hilde lowered her head and looked at Sitalses.
"Remember, after the cavalry launches an attack, they will pierce the enemy's left wing as quickly as possible, and then defeat the enemy's left wing troops. What you have to do is to immediately catch up with the follow-up troops and attack the enemy's unprotected left wing! You must not let the enemy hinder the cavalry's actions!" Hilde looked at the dense enemy troops in the distance, and his heartbeat accelerated. "We will definitely win this battle!!!"
"Roar--!"
The soldiers also cheered wildly.
The soldiers of both sides were getting closer and closer, and the battle was about to begin.
"Crossbowmen, prepare——!!!"
At this time, the auxiliary soldiers of both armies also rushed to the front of the square. They would be responsible for using crossbows to kill the enemy remotely. However, the coalition forces suddenly discovered that there was a group of soldiers holding huge tower shields in Hilde's army. They rushed to the front and built tower shields directly on the ground to form a wall. At the same time, the archers of the Byzantine Kingdom hid behind the tower shields and began to shoot.
The arrows flew out from behind the tower shield and landed in the coalition camp. Many coalition archers were hit by arrows and fell to the ground. But at this time, the arrows of the coalition archers basically hit behind the tower shield. But the most terrifying thing was not this. They found that arrows had been exposed through the shooting holes of the tower shield.
The second and fifth chapters of the battle have begun
Hilde's crossbowmen.
It has always been the trump card of the Byzantine Empire.
Powerful crossbow arrows were shot directly from behind the tower shields. These crossbow arrows crossed the battlefield and ruthlessly harvested the enemy archers. The archers, without any armor protection, suffered heavy casualties under such attacks. With their morale shaken, these archers began to retreat, thus directly exposing the enemy's follow-up troops. At the same time, the noble cavalry on the right wing of the coalition army began to prepare to attack the left wing of the Byzantine army.
"Crossbowmen! Javelinmen! Intercept the enemy cavalry!"
At this time, the commander of the auxiliary troops immediately began to give new orders.
Hilde's auxiliary corps was located on the left side of the entire front line, mainly to protect the slightly vulnerable left wing.
The enemy cavalry began to charge, and at this time, the crossbowmen used their bows and arrows to shoot at the enemy cavalry. Unlike what many people expected, the crossbowmen were actually very restrained against the cavalry. The citizen cavalry of this era had limited armor, no high-bridge saddles and stirrups, and the cavalry almost controlled the horses with their legs. Such cavalry had very limited impact and combat capabilities.
In addition, the Byzantine army's auxiliary legions included crossbowmen.
The cavalryman and the horse are one, and the target is huge. Whether you shoot the cavalryman or the horse, the result is the same.
"put--!"
Even when facing cavalry.
The auxiliary corps still used the volley method.
More than a thousand arrows fell into the enemy cavalry formation, causing people and horses to fall to the ground.
The crossbows with steel arrows directly pierced the linen armor of the cavalry, or shot the horses. The horses without armor protection fell to the ground, throwing the cavalry on their backs. With the cavalry's charge, the distance between the two armies was only a few dozen steps. At this time, the auxiliary corps fired three rounds in a row, leaving the tower shield in place and evacuating quickly.
These tower shields supported by sturdy brackets became the best obstacles. The cavalrymen who rushed over could only slow down when facing the tower shields that were more than one person tall, so as to avoid crashing into the tower shields and causing huge casualties. After the cavalrymen slowed down, the cavalrymen without high-bridge saddles became a group of targets. The Byzantine light infantry regiment on the left wing immediately threw the prepared javelins at the coalition cavalry troops not far away. The dense javelins directly pierced the immobile cavalrymen.
"what--!!!"
The cavalrymen screamed and fell to the ground.
The light infantry that followed rushed forward waving their spears.
At this time, Hilde saw that the time was almost up.
She raised her spear high in the air and gave the order: "All cavalry, follow me and charge!"
"Go ahead——!!!"
At Hilde's command, he led the cavalry unit on the right wing to launch an attack.
Nearly 2,000 cavalrymen rushed towards the left wing of the coalition army like a wave. At the same time, the Thracian barbarians, led by Sitalses, also began to attack. The task of these barbarians was to clamp down on the enemy's heavy infantry from the enemy's left wing to prevent the enemy's heavy infantry from reacting and threatening Hilde's cavalry. So, on the coalition side, they finally saw Hilde's right wing launching an attack.
"Hilde's cavalry appeared."
At this time, Aeneas, who was on the left wing, couldn't help but frown.
"Damn it, Dolops won't give us some cavalry."
"Let our light infantry hold the line. The enemy's left wing won't be able to hold out for long." Tilika said confidently.
On the left wing of the coalition army were two light infantry regiments. These light infantry were all farmers from various city-states, equipped with round wooden shields and a spear, lacking armor, and only wearing a Thracian helmet. At this time, surging waves suddenly appeared in front of them, and in the waves were countless cavalrymen, coming with murderous intent.
The cavalry's attack was completely deadly.
These light infantrymen began to waver.
On the battlefield, the left wing was the easiest to be breached, but the left wing was not the weakest point of the phalanx. Because the left side of the phalanx was well protected, and the phalanx's oblique attack tactics could provide strong protection on the left side, so Hilde's cavalry did not dare to directly attack the left wing of the opponent's heavy infantry, otherwise, the dense array of heavy infantry would cause heavy casualties to the Byzantine cavalry.
Hilde was at the front.
The role she plays is that of a benchmark and a role model.
It is also faith.
Hilde, wearing gorgeous armor, is like the sharpest arrowhead.
At this time, the light infantry regiment had begun to waver, but even if they wavered, there was nothing they could do. The Byzantine cavalry had already hit the enemy army like waves. The Byzantine guards cavalry rushed to the front. These heavy cavalry in horse and horse gear easily tore through the light infantry formation, and the spears in their hands directly pierced into the bodies of the enemy infantry. The strong horses were not afraid of obstacles and forcibly knocked a path through the enemy formation.
