Chapter 6: The Tactic of Surprise
Hilde led the way, the spear in his hand was like a razor, and the light infantry who dared to stop him were directly pierced through the body. Within a few seconds, these spears pierced hundreds of light infantry. The light infantry who tried to stop the cavalry were skewered on the spears like barbecue. If the spears in their hands broke, the soldiers would drop the spears, pull out the Persian knives they were wearing, and start slashing back and forth. These sabers, which had been repeatedly forged and were extremely sharp, easily cut through the soldiers' clothes and flesh, chopped off the soldiers' heads, and the flying horses' hooves crushed the infantry's bodies.
Under such an impact, the two light infantry regiments of the coalition forces immediately began to collapse.
This is an obvious result.
At the same time, Hilde's cavalry did not linger in the battle. All the cavalry rushed out from the enemy's light infantry and then went around the back of the battlefield. At the same time, the Byzantine heavy infantry also pressed forward. These Thracian barbarians equipped with battle axes and hook swords were the most terrifying existence for the light infantry.
"Turn! Turn! Heavy infantry protect the left wing!"
The commanders shouted at the top of their lungs.
Try to allow the heavy infantry on the far left to withstand the enemy's attack.
But at this time, the heavy infantry had already rushed over, and then entangled with the opponent's severely damaged light infantry regiment and the coalition phalanx. For a while, a melee occurred on the left wing of the coalition. At this time, the phalanxes of both sides finally entered the attack range. The densely packed coalition heavy infantry arranged this dense phalanx and slowly pressed towards the Byzantine phalanx infantry. However, the Byzantine phalanx infantry's spears were three meters longer than those of the opponent.
Now, a problem arose for the phalanx infantry on both sides.
They couldn't get close to the enemy's phalanx infantry at all.
Although the enemy's phalanx infantry was unable to cause effective damage to the coalition heavy infantry, the middle troops of both sides were caught in a strange and bitter battle.
However, the breakthrough point has been found.
"My Lord! The left wing has collapsed!!!"
At this time, Doplos received the bad news.
"What!?"
"The enemy gathered all their cavalry forces and launched a fierce attack, and the left wing collapsed directly!"
"It's only been a short time since the war started!"
Dopulos said angrily: "Aeneas, you idiot! Now, everyone listen up, attack!"
Although the left wing on my side collapsed, it was not a big problem.
Now, Hild's left wing only had a light infantry regiment, while his side had an elite heavy infantry unit called Poseidon Warriors, the elite of Samos. Therefore, the opponent's light infantry regiment would be easily defeated and would not have any reaction ability at all, and then the opponent's left wing would also collapse. After that, it would be the fairest duel. Although the opponent's phalanx infantry strangely used super spears, they were not enough to be feared.
"Poseidon warriors! Poseidon will bless you! Kill all the enemies!"
Doplos drew his sword and shouted to the soldiers in front of him:
"Rush!!!"
"kill!"
These well-equipped Poseidon warriors launched an attack directly on the light infantry regiment on the opposite side. However, what greeted the Poseidon warriors was a sudden oncoming barrage of arrows, javelins, and crossbows. Hilde's auxiliary corps also began to attack, and a large number of arrows rained down on the heads of the Poseidon warriors, forcing the Poseidon warriors to raise their shields to defend against the arrows that could arrive at any time and anywhere. In this way, the opponent's speed had to be greatly slowed down.
This buys Hield some very important time.
The purpose of this battle is actually to capture the leader first.
You have to know that the Byzantine and Samos coalition forces are all Greeks.
Since they were Greeks, Hilde's goal was to convert them all into part of the Byzantine Kingdom, so that the strength of the Byzantine Kingdom would be further improved. However, if almost all of the enemy's troops were annihilated in this battle, then in the end, he would only get some useless territories and people, and would not be able to get enough soldiers from these city-states. Therefore, Hilde's goal was to quickly resolve this battle.
Now the opponent's left wing has completely collapsed.
The heavy infantry regiment led by Sitalses also completely clamped down on the enemy's left wing.
Now, Hilde's cavalry troops went around the enemy's back and then headed directly to the south, where the enemy's right wing was located.
If the enemy's right wing is also defeated and the enemy's main general is captured, the war will be over.
Soon, Hilde's cavalry bypassed the enemy's phalanx and approached the coalition's right wing from behind. These cavalry were still in high spirits, and after ruthlessly slaughtering the enemy's light infantry, their desire for battle and victory became even stronger. At this time, Doplos was anxiously directing the battle in the army, and was completely unaware of the impending danger.
The results of the victory in the second part of the seventh chapter
The spear in Hilde's hand was already stained with blood.
"kill!"
When Hilde's cavalry appeared behind Doplos.
Even Samos' most elite Poseidon warriors showed obvious signs of wavering.
The enemy's elite cavalry suddenly appeared in the last row of their own troops. This kind of thing can directly destroy a person's fighting spirit. Hilde's cavalry, with a powerful pressure that seemed to be able to destroy everything, charged towards the vulnerable back of the Poseidon Warrior like a tidal wave. These high-quality war horses from Thrace and Persia had begun to accelerate fatally at this moment, and they accelerated to a terrifying speed with the knights on their backs.
"Back attack!!!"
The centurions tried to turn their men around to meet the cavalry attack.
However, the formation of these heavy infantry was completely disrupted.
The enemy's light infantry was harassing them from the front, and the enemy's cavalry was charging at them from behind. Under such a pincer attack, even an elite unit like the Poseidon Warriors could hardly withstand such oppression. However, Doplos did not give up. Although the light infantry was annoying, their threat was far less than that of the cavalry. Therefore, Doplos immediately asked the Poseidon Warriors in the back row to turn around and prepare to use the phalanx to deal with the enemy's cavalry attack.
But the speed is still too slow.
In a blink of an eye, hundreds of meters of distance were gone.
The guards cavalry rushing in the front smashed the enemy's line like a hammer.
The Poseidon warriors in the front row were killed by the cavalry before they could even thrust their spears into the enemy's body. This time, Hilde's goal was no longer to pass through quickly, but to use the fastest speed and the most powerful offensive to completely defeat the enemy's elite troops.
"Dopulos!"
At this time, Hilde waved his spear, killed three or four soldiers, and rode directly towards Doplos.
"Hilde..."
Doplios drew his sword.
Duel with the hero?
This is destined to be an act of seeking death.
However, Doplos was a very traditional soldier, and his honor did not allow him to give up his weapon. As a warrior, he had to hold his weapon and fight to the last second. So, facing Hilde, who was also known as a hero, Doplos was not afraid at all, but raised his sword and rushed forward.
And the result is obvious.
Hilde raised the spear and smashed the heavy steel spearhead directly on Doplos' shoulder. The huge impact made him kneel on the ground, and his shoulder blade was completely smashed. Doplos felt pain for a moment, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground. Hilde looked at Doplos who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "I won't kill you, you are still useful to me."
"Hilde!"
Dopulos held his shoulder with his left hand.
"Don't you dare insult me!"
"Insult? That's not it."
At this time, Hilde turned over and dismounted, raised his spear, and stabbed to death a coalition soldier who rushed over.
The soldier tried to attack Hilde, but was pierced through the chest by the spear. He looked at the spear in his chest in disbelief. After all, the spear had pierced through the bronze breastplate that he was so proud of. Hilde walked up to the soldier, kicked him away, and then swung the spear in his hand hard, spilling the blood on the ground.
"I have no interest in your dignity."
"then you……"
"My target is Samos."
Hilde smiled coldly and looked towards the battlefield.
The war is almost over.
When the right wing of the coalition army was completely breached, the coalition army began to waver. The strong Poseidon warriors were thrown into disarray by the cavalry's charge and completely lost their ability to fight. These warriors, who were the pride of Samos, now abandoned their weapons and shields and either fled or fought desperately, but to little avail. At the same time, after breaking through the enemy's right wing, Hilde's light infantry regiment began to attack the coalition army's middle force.
Because the right wing is the most vulnerable point of the phalanx.
When the right flank was exposed to enemy fire.
The square formation began to waver.
Just like dominoes, the collapse of the phalanx began to spread rapidly.
Soon, the coalition soldiers began to collapse in an organized manner, and the Byzantine army immediately took advantage of the victory and directly expanded the victory to the entire battlefield. However, Hilde's order was in advance, and she did not allow too many coalition soldiers to be slaughtered. Therefore, the follow-up of this battle became an act of capturing prisoners. Anyway, the merits and so on will be arranged according to whoever captures more prisoners will get more rewards.
The battle lasted only a few hours.
It has been declared over.
The power of the city-states on the eastern coast of Thrace was completely disintegrated by the Byzantine Empire.
They no longer had any ability to resist.
The pride of total victory
In this battle, the coalition forces lost more than 2,000 people, which was a very high death toll on the battlefields of ancient Greece. These dead soldiers were composed of the citizens of the city-states. Once a large-scale death occurred, it would cause a great blow to the city-states themselves. Among them, more than 600 Megara reinforcements died, 1,000 Samos reinforcements died, and city-states like Perintus lost more than 400 people in total.
The rest of the coalition forces had surrendered. After Hilde assured them that they would not be harmed, he arranged for his troops to settle the prisoners, and Hilde himself took a troop and directly occupied Selimbulia. When Hilde's army walked on the streets of Selimbulia with their heads held high, the residents looked at Hilde with horror, not knowing what would happen next.
And Hilde, after entering the city, immediately emphasized one point.
"The residents here must not be harmed."
"Yes!"
Hilde especially stressed that with those Thracians.
The Thracians were not as disciplined as the Byzantines, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Although Hilde had very strict military laws, some Thracians were always willing to commit suicide. After killing many offending Thracians, the Thracian soldiers became more honest. Now, after a great victory, some people would inevitably get carried away, so Hilde needed to repeatedly knock them down, lest some people quickly forget their names.
At this time, a man was caught in front of Hilde.
"Your Majesty, bring it here!"
"Well, you go down first."
Holding a torch, Hilde walked up to the tied-up guy.
“Tilika, we meet again?”
"..." The Archon of Selimbria, Tilika, now turned his head away and ignored Hilde.
"I know you're upset now, but a loss is a loss. My goal is actually very simple. I want to establish a Greek nation far to the east. The decentralized city-state system cannot help us face the pressure from the Thracians. Therefore, a unified kingdom is a necessity. You can see that more than 20,000 of you are no match for our 11,000 people! This is where you failed."
"What do you want to say?"
Tilika looked up.
"I won't kill you, but from now on, Selimbria will be a city of the Byzantine Empire."
“Hahaha…” At this time, Tilika suddenly laughed, “Hilde, oh Hilde, you did defeat us, but you will have to pay a price for it! Let me tell you, the powerful navy of Samos has already carried its army to Byzantium. You are so arrogant in front of me, but now Byzantium must have been engulfed in a sea of fire! This is the gods, our punishment for your atrocities!”
"Ah, I know."
Hilde smiled and said:
"Do you think I'm unprepared?"
"What……"
"You really underestimate me."
Hilde's contemptuous words made Tilika confused.
In fact, although Hilde didn't know that they would send troops to attack Byzantium, Hilde analyzed it carefully and felt that they would definitely do so, so he made preparations in advance. This preparation was a great gift for the soldiers who were going to attack Byzantium. That was the two thousand Immortal Army soldiers from Persia.
For the Immortal Army.
These one thousand heavy infantrymen are just for fun.
These soldiers then sneaked onto the beach of Byzantium at dusk, but were blocked on the beach by the Immortal Army.
The battle was extremely brutal. The heavy infantry had not even had time to form a formation before they were chopped down by the Immortal Army like watermelons, leaving them powerless to fight back. The blood had already dyed the beach red. After all, Hilde's order was to kill all the sneak attacking troops without sparing a single one. So, in the end, after making sure that all the sneak attackers were dead, the Immortal Army soldiers returned to the city. The Samos naval fleet had no way to provide any support and could only watch the landing troops being hacked to death by the Immortal Army.
Tilika certainly could not have imagined such a result.
"me……"
"So, Tilika, from today on, you are an ordinary citizen. I will spare your life. Of course, if you have talent, ideas, and intend to be loyal to me, I can provide you with some positions to let you shine. Now, I will give you a chance. The residents of Selimbria are innocent. I hope that no problems will arise during our rule. So, how do you feel about giving this job to you?"
Hilde looked at Tilika with interest.
This is a very dangerous proposition.
In other words, Hilde wanted Tilica to choose to join Hilde.
Then let Tilika take charge.
