Cipros thought thoughtfully.

Milon, a native of Krotone, reminded: "The Tarchinadi River can be crossed, and be careful that the Syracuse people are not only attacking the left flank. ”

Tolmid laughed, "We've already done a rigorous survey beforehand. As far as we know, it is still difficult to cross the upper part of the middle reaches of the Tachina River, so His Majesty Davers has ordered that the marching position of the Seventh Army, at the far right end of the formation, must not cross the middle end of the middle reaches of the Tachina River. ”

Thormid's explanation made Milon and Sipros' faces even more solemn.

"The heavy infantry of Syracuse is not weak, but numerous, and they will certainly place those alien cavalry in this direction to attack us. Although we Crotonens are not afraid of death, but—" Milon looked embarrassed, although he did not take part in the Battle of the Ramato, but in the siege of Crotone, he witnessed the destruction of the city by the infantry of Syracuse in one day. And from the soldiers, he also learned about the power of those mercenary cavalry: "Once we can't resist the all-out attack of Syracuse from the left flank, it will inevitably affect the success or failure of the entire battle!" ”

At this time, Sipros answered: "Since King Davers has deliberately set up such a formation in advance to guide the Syracuse to focus on attacking the left flank, there must be a corresponding countermeasure. ”

"That's right." "The most powerful 1st and 2nd legions of Dionya will support the entire left flank with you, and I believe that no matter how many the enemy is, they will not easily crush you!" On your left side there are more than 1,500 cavalry regiments of Dionys, blocking the enemy's cavalry from attacking our flanks. And most importantly—" A strange look appeared on Tolmid's face, "Behind you will be a spear brigade, and they will be responsible for crushing the enemy's cavalry and counterattacking the enemy!" ”

A brigade of no more than a thousand people actually wants to decide the victory or defeat of the left flank?! Both Milon and Sipros were confused, because they both knew Dionya better, and knew that the Dionian army was relatively fixed, unlike the general Greek city-states, where the number and composition of the army assembled each time they sent troops to fight were very similar, so they could be sure that they had not heard of the formation of spear brigades in all the legions of the Dionian alliance before: could it be that it was a force that had just been formed after the outbreak of war, and if so, would it have great combat effectiveness?!

The two looked at each other, their eyes full of doubt.

Tolmid smiled mysteriously, "You'll know before the battle begins." ”

……………………………………

As the Dionian army steadily advanced, the Syracuse mercenaries began to retreat rapidly.

The two armies of Dioonia and Syracuse were only nine miles apart, and after more than an hour's march, they were getting closer and closer to the Syracuse army.

When the sun in the middle of the sky began to turn west, Dionysius, who was in front of the center of the great array, heard "Whoa!" Crash! The sound of ......" came from the front, getting louder and louder, and even the ground shook slightly......

The horse under its crotch began to agitate and neigh, and Dionysius slapped its neck in some irritation, signaling it to calm down.

The attendant next to him saw it and hurriedly came over to appease the war horse.

"The Dioones are coming......," he whispered to his attendants with a solemn expression.

After a while, they saw a gray dust mist rising from the far distance of their eyes, slowly drifting towards them. As the dust and fog advances, it becomes more and more huge, and extends infinitely to the east and west ends, and there is no end in sight, just like the dark clouds in the sky before the storm that are getting thicker and thicker, and the pressure is getting lower and lower......

Although Syracuse had more troops, the soldiers who had hurriedly completed the formation had not yet had time to experience and integrate into this huge phalanx, so they were all nervous in the face of the Ionian army that was pressed like mountains and sea tides.

Dionysius frowned and said urgently: "Go to the right flank and urge Phoebidas, hurry up and complete his plan, I'm afraid the enemy is about to attack!" ”

"Yes, sir!" The herald galloped away.

Dionysius stared solemnly ahead.

The huge dust and mist had stopped advancing six or seven hundred meters away, and then one could hear the sound of short military bugles, snare drums, shouts, and the sound of small footsteps, armor, shields, and spears clashing from the opposite side......

Dionysius knew that it was the Dioonians who were reorganizing the array, so he was very anxious, and although the herald had only left for a while, he felt as if he had been gone for a long time.

Time went on, and the sound from the opposite side gradually became smaller and louder from the first noisy and deafening volume, until it disappeared, and finally it was quiet as if the sound just now was from an auditory hallucination, as if it had not existed from the beginning, only the dust and fog in the sky were gradually drifting away......

"Your Excellency, General Phoebidas has finished the formation, and he wants you to delay for a moment so that the soldiers can breathe a sigh of relief." The herald hurried back, gasping for breath.

Dionysius understood.

He looked ahead, and by this time the dust and mist had cleared, revealing a large number of Dionian troops, and in the sunlight, the armor and shields and spears of the closely lined soldiers reflected a dazzling cold light, like an endless steel wall.

But unlike the last battle of the Ramato, Dionysius saw not only black, but also yellow and cyan, several colors intertwined in the huge phalanx, which just shows that although Dionysia cobbled together an army of incredible numbers, he could not guarantee that every soldier would receive what they called "standard equipment", which made Dionysius a little more confident, and he said to the attendant beside him: "Go and tell the Dionians that I want to talk to their new king!" ”

The attendant nodded in understanding, rode out of his horse, ran to the opposite army, and at a distance of 50 meters from the Dionians, he reined in his horse and shouted: "King Davers of Dionia, Lord Dionysius, the plenipotentiary general of Syracuse, wants to talk to you in front of the battle!" King Davers of Dionya ......"

The heralds had already told the shouts of the Syracuse people to Davers in the rear of the center of the formation.

Davos groaned slightly, and said to Tolmide next to him, "What do you think Dionysius is talking to me for?" ”

"Your Majesty." Tolmide thought for a moment and said, "...... Perhaps Dionysius was curious about what his opponent looked like. ”

Davers laughed dumbly at Tolmid's subtle flattery: "I don't have time to play childlike games with him. ”

Davers paused and asked, "Is the spear brigade fully in place?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. And as you commanded, they did not raise their spears. Tolmid replied.

"That's for fear that those wandering Syracuse mercenaries will find something unusual. Don't underestimate the Sicilian tyrant, he's very alert! Davers did not dare to underestimate the enemy, but he was equally confident that since the enemy was indeed heavily concentrated on their right flank, he hoped that the spear brigade would surprise them.

Davers stared at the black and oppressive enemy formation in front of him with blazing eyes, and said impassionedly: "Tormid, you go and tell the commanders of the legions, and let them tell their brothers that the time has come to avenge the sacrificed Dracos Legion, the warriors who died in battle, and the people of Dioonia who were tortured and killed!" Let them sing the Hades carol and prepare to attack! ”

"Yes!" Tolmid responded loudly.

…………………………………

Milon finally met the spear brigade he had always been curious about.

In the general Greek city-states, the size of a brigade ranged from about 1,000 men, and the spear brigade that was lining up behind their array was 6,000 men, which was not enough for a legion unique to Dionia.

And when Davers first uttered the term "spear brigade", Milon was surprised by the name, except for the light infantry, almost all the Greek infantry were armed with spears (the bayonet is a kind of spear), is it necessary to emphasize it in particular! When he saw the weapons in the hands of the soldiers, he finally understood why it was called "spear", although the soldiers did not hold it up, but held it flat, but he could clearly see that although it was similar to the bayonet, it was much longer in length! And the soldiers were not wearing armor, wearing single clothes, and 6,000 people were located behind the soldiers of Crotone and Trina, but they did not go to thicken the array in front, but took the array of columns to connect with the front.

Extra-long bayonets, unarmored soldiers, column formations...... Miron was full of curiosity and doubt, and couldn't help but wonder: What is Davers going to do with such a strange force?

Just as he was guessing, the array of Dionyas resounded with the Hades chant: "I praise you reverently, black-haired and black-eyed Hades!"

You are the king of hell, the lord of the night!

You are a fair judge, a strict overseer!

……”

Each soldier sang intently and reverently, hoping to be blessed by the great power of Hades. Countless voices converged in the sky above the Dionian military formation, gradually becoming neat and consistent, echoing on the battlefield within a radius of dozens of miles, echoing with the sound of the wind and water, extremely solemn and grand!

Dionysius heard very clearly in front of his phalanx, and his face changed drastically: "Damn the Dionians, they are attacking!" Fast! Hurry up and inform the soldiers of all units to pray to Apollo at once and prepare to attack! ”

With that, he pulled his horse back, passed through the gap reserved between the phalanx, and reached the rear.

…………………………

The singing on the Dionian side has ended, and the prayers on the Syracuse side have just begun.