This was an easy task for the reserve soldiers who intercepted the rear, and although they had to injure some of the allied soldiers by mistake and receive scolding and curses from the other side, few of them paid for the casualties.

But for the detachments of the Eighth Army Corps, which were at the forefront, their situation was relatively difficult. Because once the torrent was cut off, the Carthaginians stayed between the gaps in the phalanx, and when they realized that the situation was not good, they would attack the nearby Ionian legionnaires, and the detachments of the Eighth Legion, which were at the forefront, would naturally be attacked from all sides.

The legionnaires had to hide behind the long shield, shoulder to shoulder, back to back tightly together, the originally tight array became more compact because of the pressure around them, but they were not easy to be washed away, but the narrow space made it difficult for them to even wield the bayonet, so the soldiers in the outermost two columns of the small phalanx threw away their long weapons and drew their short swords, in such a narrow and crowded space, they had a more advantage than the enemy.

The captain of the detachment in the center of the small phalanx kept shouting: "Brothers, hold on!" Hold on! Our counterattack will soon begin! ……”

Yes, while the small phalanx of Dionya was attacked from all sides, the soldiers of the Holy Order in the gaps were also attacked from all sides, but compared to the premeditated and prepared defense of the Eighth Legion and the unique detachment formation of the Dionian military system, he commanded every soldier under his command with great strength.

The Carthaginian Holy Legion has always practiced a tactic similar to the traditional Greek phalanx, from the pursuit to the present, the formation has been completely scattered, and the soldiers of the Holy Order who have lost their organization are like a plate of scattered sand, although they found that something was wrong, and consciously launched a ferocious attack on the Eighth Legion, but this attack was disorderly, and could not cause effective damage to the Ionian detachment that was unified into a whole, on the contrary, they could not form an effective coordination after blocking the attack of the opponent in front of them, Unable to defend against short swords and bayonets stabbed from the side and back, the casualty rate was much greater than that of the Eighth Army.

To make matters worse, Leoticides' second-step plan had already begun to be implemented.

The trumpet sounded again.

The various detachments of the Dionian Eighth Legion also began to close forward and inward, while the reserve array in the rear slowly pressed forward, and the entire Dionian military formation was like twisting a wet cloth, trying to squeeze out the moisture contained in the cloth, but it was difficult for the Templar soldiers crowded in the gap of the Dionian array to be squeezed out, because there were more Templar soldiers crowded outside, and while they were fighting with the Dionian soldiers, they also blocked the retreat of their comrades who were trapped in the formation, unless they retreated as a whole. But in the current situation, this is almost impossible. Because, they had not yet been subjected to a fierce attack by the Ionian army (the phalanx of the Ionian detachments, which were at the forefront of contact with the enemy, was still on the defensive); Secondly, they lacked a unified command and could not retreat on their own initiative.

Therefore, for the Eighth Legion to transform from a checkerboard array into a complete phalanx, it would mean that the Carthaginian Orders soldiers in the array would have to be wiped out.

Since then, the sound of the military horn is the footsteps of the Grim Reaper, and the battle in the low ground has suddenly entered a white-hot state of either you die or I live......

……………………………………

Monteadeno, who had always liked to manipulate and command behind the scenes, rode across the Platani River and slowly followed behind the pursuing Sacred Order, after all, the status and status of the Holy Legion among the Carthaginians was different from that of the ordinary Carthaginian army, and it was incomparable to the Phoenician army, mercenary army, and Numibian army, and he had to pay more attention.

Not long after, the scout cavalry he sent out to reconnoiter the battle turned back from the front: "My lord, the troops of the Holy Order have been intercepted by the Dionian army! ”

"Dionian Army?!" Monteadeno was surprised, he had thought that there were many Ionian soldiers among the retreating enemy troops: "It's impossible for the Dioonians to organize reinforcements so quickly?!" And aren't they afraid of being broken up by a rout?! ”

"Yes, my lord, it is indeed the Dionian army! They were dressed in full black armor and arranged in small phalanxes......"

Monte Adno had not studied the Ionian army in detail before, and after listening to the account of the scout, he was even more puzzled: the Dioonians were in a hurry and failed to form a large phalanx? Or is it because it is convenient for the rout to escape, deliberately?

But as the scouts returned, the doubts in his heart began to turn into uneasiness: after all, the Dioonians were able to expel similar arrays over an area more than two miles wide and completely jam the entire lowlands, which was obviously not something that could be done in a hurry, weren't the Dionians afraid that their loose and strange array would be overwhelmed by the Holy Order army?!

But when he thought about it, he understood a little in his heart, after all, the information that the scouts kept bringing back made him quickly understand the terrain here: the Manifestion army was deep into the lowlands, and there were hills on both sides, and there were the camps of the Ionian coalition army on them, and the Greeks could completely come down from the mountains and attack the flank and rear of the Manifestary army!

As soon as he thought of this, Monte Adno became nervous, and he turned around to look behind him, only the 3,000 Numibian cavalry who had just arrived, and immediately asked the adjutant: "Where are the other troops?" ”

"My lord, they're on their way."

"Let them speed up!" Monte Adno shouted.

"Yes!"

"Wait! You immediately go and inform the Numibian troops that they don't need to rush over, just cross the river and attack the Dionian camp with all your might! Monteadeno pointed to the hill on his right and said in a resolute tone, then to the slightly smaller hill on his left: "Let the citizen militia led by Reguca attack this enemy camp!" ”

Monte Adno made this choice because the coalition camp to the south was very close to the city of Minoa, in fact, at the north and south ends of the same hill, and it was more difficult to attack it, because he also had to guard against the surprise attack of the army in the city of Minoa, so he entrusted this difficult task to the Numibians. According to the information just obtained, the area of the hill to the north was much smaller, and the corresponding military camp above was also small, and there were certainly not many Greek soldiers stationed in it, so Monte Adeno handed over this relatively easy target to his own people.

The adjutant rode away with the herald.

Monteadeno divided the Numibian cavalry into two parts, flanked by the lowland entrance, and formed in formation, and as soon as they found the enemy coming down from the hill, they would rush up and attack them with javelins and horse rams, slowing down their attack on the Templar army and buying time for reinforcements to arrive.

After making these deployments, Monte Adeno was still a little uneasy.

After a while, the adjutant rushed back and reported: "The Numibian troops have begun to attack the enemy camp!" ”

After another moment, twelve thousand fighters of the Carthaginian militia ran behind him, and the camps on either side of the enemy showed no obvious signs of attack, except for the enemy's light infantry throwing arrows and javelins down the hill. While he was relieved, he also sternly demanded that all troops speed up their attacks on the enemy's camp and discourage any attempt by the enemy to besiege the Order's troops.

All deployments were already intensifying, and Monteadeno waited for the Holy Legion to crush the Ionian army in front of them.

But for such a long time, the Holy Order troops in front of them have been stagnant in place, without taking a single step forward......

………………………………………

On the battlefield, which was about two miles long and dozens of meters thick, neither the Carthaginian Order nor the Dionian legionnaires had ever encountered such a battle before, just like a kind of stuffed bread in Christoia's restaurant, the front and back ends were clearly divided between the enemy and the enemy, but the two sides in the middle were intertwined and completely mixed. However, the Dionian soldiers intended to do so, and the soldiers of the Holy Order were forced to do so.

In the sound of the military horn, as the Dionian array continued to move forward and tighten inward, the space of the soldiers on both sides was further compressed, so that it became a little difficult to even turn around and wave their arms, the bayonet spear and spear were definitely unusable, the soldiers of the Holy Order had to draw out their matching swords, and some of them thought that the matching swords were too long, so they simply picked up their fists, and at such a close distance between the two shields, the soldiers of the Holy Order even hit their opponents with their heads, and tore the enemy with their hands, they stared at their teeth and roared, The arrogance and elegance of being a child of nobility have long disappeared, and the reason why he shows such bloodiness is just a struggle for survival in a desperate situation from which there is no way out.

At this time, it was difficult for the small Dionian detachment to maintain its integrity, and the desperate efforts of the soldiers of the Holy Order caused the array to be broken a lot, but the shelves of the small phalanx were still there, and the core of the team organization was still there, and the soldiers could still unite around, cooperate with each other, and continue to carry out the plan.

The Eighth Legionnaires hid their entire bodies behind their shields, observing their opponents almost completely without their eyes, and the short swords in their right hands only kept stabbing out, but almost every stab did not miss. If the short sword hits a hard object and it is difficult to move an inch, it must have touched the opponent's round shield; If the dagger hits an obstacle, the opponent makes a muffled grunt, and can pierce again, it is a stab to the breastplate; If the short sword is slightly hindered, but can continue to pierce smoothly, and the opponent screams, it must have pierced the arm, thigh, or other unsuspecting parts.

When the opponent screams and falls, the legionnaires carefully squeeze forward to avoid tripping over the enemy on the ground, otherwise if their teammates fail to pull them up in time, they will be seriously injured or killed in the crowd of people due to repeated trampling, which is the most terrible thing in this melee.

The convergence of the detachments of the Eighth Army Corps, though difficult, was still slowly advancing...... ()

.。 m.