The bugle sounded.

"Barr. Harmon Blessing!! ......" the soldiers chanted the name of the protector of Carthage.

This elite Carthaginian army, known as the "Hammer of Baal", crossed into the Pletara River in a dense formation, and slaughtered the Greeks on the opposite bank with great vigour......

………………………………………

"What do you say?! The Templar army is already at war with the Greeks?! Monteadeno was taken aback, and he immediately took the case and said angrily: "This Millefio, do not obey my orders!" I told him a long time ago not to enter into a battle with the Greeks at this time! ……”

"My lord, the battle was initiated by the Greeks, and General Minerfio was still in your tent, and by the time he reached the Pletara River, the battle had already expanded......," the herald defended.

"I don't care what the situation is now, you immediately rush to tell him and ask him to withdraw the troops immediately!" Monte Adno snapped.

"I can't convince him!" The reason why this herald dared to speak to a commander of the Carthaginian army was because he was the cousin of Millefio, who was also born into a prominent Carthaginian family.

In a fit of rage, Monteadeno decided to call back Millefio himself, but before leaving, he cautiously sent someone to inform the other generals, summon the soldiers back to the camp, assemble, and wait for orders.

Monte Adno was on his way to the upper reaches of the lower reaches of the Pletara River when he heard deafening shouts of killing.

When he reached his destination, he stood on the west bank and looked east, only to see that all the troops of the Holy Order had already rushed across the east bank, and the speed of their advance was gradually accelerating. After all, after discovering the Carthaginians' attempt to attack, the Greeks hastily gathered soldiers and organized a force in a vain attempt to block the Carthaginian attack, but they lacked unified command, and the soldiers came from different city-states, and lacked tacit cooperation, plus the number was less than the other side, so under the onslaught of the Holy Order soldiers, they gradually could not resist.

Just as Monte Adeno was hesitating about "whether to recall the Holy Order troops under such a favorable fighter", the battlefield ahead suddenly erupted into even more noisy sounds.

The Greeks were defeated!

They fled east in a hurry, and then a louder voice sounded behind them: "Follow us and flee this way!" Follow us and run this way!! ……”

The Templars began to stride in pursuit, and the cavalry units on the right flank, which had been hiding behind the phalanx, rushed out and stabbed the fleeing rout with their long lances, and the tall Iberian horses trampled the fallen Greeks with their mighty hooves......

Looking at the Templar troops in front of him, who were taking advantage of the victory, Monteadeno finally did not hesitate anymore, and he immediately asked the herald to inform the Phoenician troops, Lumibian troops, and Lumibian cavalry who were waiting in the large camp to hurry here and cooperate with the Holy Order troops to completely defeat the Dionian coalition forces on the other side of the river.

………………………………………………

Where were the soldiers of Dionya at this critical time? It all started when the Dionian coalition set up camp next to the city of Minoa.

The eastern bank of the lower reaches of the Pletara River does not have flat land as the western bank, but rather undulating hills. The Ionian coalition chose to base their camp on the north side of the city of Minoa, where there were three large hills, all over 100 meters above sea level, and each of them was about a mile apart, facing the river bank in an "inverted zigzag". Considering that the Carthaginian army was much larger than the allied army, in order to be able to defend against the enemy's attack, Leotizides and the allied generals decided after deliberation that the military camp should be built on these three hills.

Since Dionyas had the largest number of soldiers and the most combat-ready soldiers, their camp was located on the largest hill in the middle, while the northern hill was garrisoned by the soldiers of Agrigento and Ekonomus, and the southern hill was garrisoned by the soldiers of Gera and Carmanlina and Pacinus.

At the foot of the hill to the north of the hill where the Dionian army was stationed was a relatively large, almost rectangular lake, the Gorgo. While the Allies ran to the Pletara River in search of coolness, the Dionian soldiers certainly had the same need. Leotizides, for safety, let the soldiers cool off at Lake Gog, which was closer to the camp.

Leotizides was not Monte Adeno, and although he was also in the camp, his mountain reconnaissance team and scouts were constantly monitoring the surrounding area and reporting him on unusual movements.

When Agrigento's soldiers clashed with the Carthaginians at the Pletara River, he quickly received the news, and keenly sensing that the situation was not right, immediately sent heralds down the hill and ordered the Dionian soldiers to quickly return to the main camp.

At the same time, he sent messengers to other camps to tell the Allied generals to immediately withdraw their soldiers on the banks of the river, especially the Agligentos.

But the situation developed rapidly, and after the soldiers of the allied armies, who themselves lacked discipline, were beaten out of real fire, how could they be restrained by the allied generals who had no authority in the first place.

The expansion of the conflict and the presence of heavily armed Carthaginian soldiers meant that it had turned into a battle.

Leotizides was anxious when he learned from the scout's report that "the Templar army of Carthage had moved all its forces and was rushing to the riverbank."

While informing the troops to prepare and go to the rescue, he stared at the map around the camp that had just been drawn up, and conceived a battle plan for the rescue.

At this time, the adjutant beside him said: "Commander, in fact, we don't have to rescue them at all, they are defeated, and they can flee directly into the barracks, anyway, the camp is only two miles away from them." ”

Leotizides shook his head and said, "The Carthaginians will pursue, and in this way, they may lose even the camp!" ”

The adjutant thought for a moment and said, "Then don't let them escape into the camp, guide them to escape from here." As he spoke, he gestured a few times with his hand on the map.

Leotizides looked at the place where the adjutant had swiped with his hand, and it was the lowland between the two camps to the north and south!

The three camps of the Ionian coalition army are in the shape of an "inverted zigzag", the two camps in the south and north are closer to the riverbank, and the camp in the middle is closer to the east, between the three camps is the lowland, the length of this lowland close to the river bank is about two miles, just opposite the river bank where the conflict occurred, the coalition soldiers turned around and fled directly, they could quickly pass through the lowland, and then bypass the hill where the Dionian camp was located, and run into the mountains, the Carthaginians may not dare to chase anymore, this is only three or four miles in total, But most of the routs will instinctively flee to their barracks first, so the adjutant will say that they need guidance.

But the adjutant's words flashed through Leotizides' mind like a bright light, and he suddenly bent down, staring at the arrangement of the three camps on the map and the section of the river in front of him, and asked, "How many are the troops of the Holy Order in Carthage?" ”

"According to intelligence, it is about 10,000 people."

"Has this force been fully mobilized?"

"That's what the news of the Scout's report says."

"How many coalition soldiers are fighting with the Carthaginians on the river now?"

"The scene there was too noisy and chaotic for the Scouts to give a detailed number, but their approximate judgment was that there were no less than two thousand, and that number was constantly increasing......

Leotizides pondered for a moment, tapped his hand the map, and said loudly: "Order! The six heavy infantry battalions of the Eighth Army Corps and the first, second, third, and fourth heavy infantry battalions of the reserve immediately went to the foot of the hill in front of the barracks, facing the river bank and lined up! Let the Eighth Brigade (i.e., the Light Armor Brigade) rush to the riverbank, disperse to the rear of the array formed by the coalition soldiers, and once they are defeated, immediately guide them and flee in the direction where our main forces are!

Have the Fifth Heavy Infantry Brigade in the reserve rush to the camp to the north to assist them in defending against enemy attacks. (This was due to the fact that the northern camp was garrisoned by Agrigento and Economus soldiers, and more than half of the fighting on the banks of the river was now occupied by Agrigento, so Leotizides was concerned that the northern camp was underfortified). Let the 7th Brigade (i.e., the Light Infantry Brigade) also go to the North Camp, and the Light Infantry in the Reserve Brigade go to the South Camp, facing the low ground, condescendingly, and when you find the enemy, do not attack them first, let them go, and wait for the heavy infantry to start engagement, and then attack their flanks and rear.

In addition, you send someone to inform the Allied generals in the two camps, and say that I, the Dionian army, are ready to fight the Carthaginians, and that they must defend their camps no matter what! ”

The adjutant, who had been trained in the staff headquarters, picked up the wooden plank that had just been recorded, repeated Leotizides' order quickly and accurately, and then asked curiously: "Your Excellency, are you going to lure the Carthaginian Templars deep into front of our camp, and then wait for the rest of your time to completely defeat them?" ”

Leotizides nodded slightly and said, "Go and inform immediately." ”

The adjutant was about to go out excitedly, but Leotizides remembered something again and stopped him again: "Wait a minute! One more thing, you send someone to inform the Sichaels in the mountains at once, so that they can attack the rear of the Carthaginian army after the battle, and relieve the pressure on our defenses! ”

"Yes!"

"By the way, what's your name?" Leotizides suddenly asked, since his original adjutant Stephorus left, there have been more than ten adjutants of the Eighth Army in the past two years, on the one hand, the adjutants felt that Leotizides usually had an odd temperament and was difficult to get along with, so they took the initiative to transfer; On the other hand, Leotizides was very demanding, and always felt that those young people were not capable enough, so the adjutant would change things like a marquee. Before preparing for this war, he specially asked the Ministry of Military Affairs: in view of the scale and difficulty of this war, he hoped to send a capable adjutant. ()

.。 m.