Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

"Release!" At the command of the team officers, the Balearic soldiers obediently threw the lead pellets in the rope with great effort.

Immediately after that, they put the smallest type of lead pellets (according to the repeated tests of the Ministry of Military Affairs, a good Balearic stone thrower could throw this type of lead pellets to a distance of about 400 meters) into the pocket of the rope, waved the rope once more, threw the lead pellets once more, and so on without stopping.

A lead pellet the size of a red date could not cause much damage even if it hit a person, but when such a lead pellet fell from mid-air, it caused a lot of trouble to the Persian mixed cavalry who were starting to speed up, whether it hit a cavalryman or landed on a horse, it would easily make them fall over and even die under the hooves of the rear cavalry.

The Persian mixed odd soldiers on both flanks were already in loose formation, and after the attack, their formation became even more fluffy, each with a two-mile-long and nearly one-mile-thick line. 4,000 lead pellets fell down separately, which actually did not cause too many casualties to the entire Persian cavalry, but it kept falling as if it was raining hailstones, from 450 meters to 150 meters, the Barriali stone throwers actually threw five rounds, continuously causing casualties to the Persian cavalry, which not only made the Persian cavalry's formation thinner, but also forced their overall advance to slow down and lower their morale.

"150 meters! 150 meters! ......" When the observer's voice reached the light infantry in front of the stone throwers, nearly 10,000 archers on both sides of the entire Dionysian army formation shot out their arrows almost simultaneously.

At the same time, Cuchius said loudly, "It's our cavalry's turn next!"

Hearing this, the flag bearer beside him immediately waved his fluttering banner and pointed forward with force.

The Dionysian cavalrymen drove their horses and began to jog forward.

The formation of the Dionysian cavalry was the opposite of the Persian mixed cavalry, with the horses close to each other, and the formation was only two horizontal columns, so its length was nearly two miles. The Numibian light cavalry, which had been in their rear and in loose formation, received the order to attack and, armed with bows and arrows and javelins, moved quickly across to the outermost flank, revealing the thousands of light armor that were concealed in their rear.

Armed with leather shields and short swords, these lightly armored soldiers quickly followed the cavalry corps in front.

To avoid accidentally injuring their own cavalry, the Dionysian archers on both flanks only fired two rounds, but since they were more than three times as many as the stone throwers and the bows were more lethal than lead pellets, they killed the Persian cavalry more.

The cunning Dionysians had not expected to ambush the light infantry behind the cavalry. Since he started to lead the cavalry forward, there was a steady rain of stones in mid-air, followed by a blinding hail of arrows, which gradually thinned out the cavalry guarding him.

With his heart palpitating, he desperately pushed his horse's speed, with only one thought in mind: engage the Dionysian cavalry as soon as possible, crush them, and everything would be safe!

However, when he saw the Dionysian cavalry approaching, he was stunned: the Dionysian cavalry were one by one, like a long, fast-moving wall, and he had never seen such a cavalry charge in his decades of military career.

In fact, such a wall charge was occasionally practiced in the usual Dionysian military training, but it was the first time it was used in actual combat, and in the middle of such an important battle, so Cuchius, who led the cavalry forward, had sweaty hands.

The young Dionysian cavalrymen didn't think so much of it, holding their spears in one hand, tugging at the reins with the other, leaning forward and applying pressure to their horses with their legs: "Heave! Heave! ......" The rapid increase in speed of the horses made their blood boil, and their comrades next to them made them feel at ease, so they were fearless in the face of the approaching enemy horses.

In a short distance of 100 meters, the rapid increase in horse speed made it difficult to keep the formation of the Dionysian cavalry compact, but the two armies were already close.

In an instant, cavalry collided, blood splashed, spears broke, soldiers fell to the ground, and horses cried out in grief. ...... Dionysian's curved cavalry line ceased to exist in a flash, but at the same time the momentum of the Persian cavalry's furious advance was curbed, and the cavalry battlefield was largely stilled.

The fallen Mardonios staggered to his feet with the help of his guards. He drew his sword from his waist and was about to lead his guards to kill the enemy who had also fallen, when he was horrified to see countless Dionysian soldiers with black helmets, black armor and leather shields and short swords coming out of the gaps between the cavalry and killing them.

The cunning Dionysians had actually hidden their infantry behind the cavalry! ...... Seeing this situation, Mardonios' whole body trembled and his brain went blank.

"My lord, go quickly!" The guards hastily picked up Mardonios on their backs and fled back in a hurry.

The Persian cavalry, which had lost its speed advantage, was no match for the well-trained Dionysian light armor in close combat, and the Persian light cavalry, such as the Scythian cavalry, which did not participate in the charge, was restrained by the Numibian light cavalry and could not provide support.

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Seeing the enemy on the opposite side, armed with round shields and bayonets, approaching cautiously, Alcinous knew that these were the Greek soldiers employed by Persia as mentioned by the army chief.

"Traitors!" He spat contemptuously, then shouted, "Javelins!"

The soldiers, who had been prepared, threw the only javelin they had left with great effort.

This did not cause much damage to the Greek mercenaries who had been prepared, but it stopped them temporarily.

"Charge!" Alcinous shouted again.

"Hades!!!" The soldiers roared in unison and charged toward the enemy 30 meters away.

Infantry from both sides began to fight one after another in the middle, on the left flank, and on the long dozen-mile front on the right flank, and the battle was finally in full swing.

Even though the Dionysian army had a considerable advantage in close combat, the infantry was not a match that could be seen in a short time, not to mention that the Persians knew the weakness of their own army and made some changes on purpose. In addition to the Greek mercenaries and undead troops who were already not weak in close combat, they also equipped the tough mountain races such as Kardan and Dukia with iron helmets, chain armor, bronze shields and one-handed hammers, hoping that They also equipped the tough Caldan, Dukia and other mountain races with iron helmets, chain armor, bronze shields and one-handed hammers, hoping that they could stand up to the Dionysian legionaries.

It was only a pity that soon after the battle began, the Dukeyak Socomte tribal warriors suddenly retreated under the command of the great chief Remy and the chiefs, while shouting from their mouths, "Defeat, we are defeated!!! ......"

The Persian general in the rear, who was overseeing the unit, panicked at this turn of events and tried to send his law enforcement team to cut down the Dukeya warriors who were leading the escape in order to force them to stop running and return to the battle.

However, the Kesokant tribal warriors were prepared to retreat, so how could the law enforcement team's small number of men stand up to the attack of several thousand Dukkah warriors, and they were soon all defeated, and even the Persian general was cut down.

The retreat of the Kesokant forces was the result of a steep gap of nearly 200 meters in the infantry line on the right flank of the Persian army, into which the soldiers of the 11th Dionysian Corps, fighting close behind the Dukeya soldiers, poured, and moved forward quickly under the command of their team officers, instead of immediately starting to attack the enemy on both sides of the gap to facilitate the continued influx of the 18th and 19th Corps, who were in reserve behind them.

The sudden retreat of the Kesokant tribal warriors also severely affected the Dukeya warriors on both sides, especially when they saw a steady stream of Dionysian soldiers rushing through the gap and appearing behind their flanks, the panic in their hearts could be imagined, and their fighting spirit was in a sharp decline.

Not far behind the array formed by the Dukkah warriors were the Persian archers, who followed their own infantry array and were prepared to attack the rear of the Dionysian infantry array with their few remaining arrows at long range to support the troops in front, a traditional tactic of the Persian army. Now they were shocked to see that the Dukeya warriors in front of them had been defeated as soon as the battle was fought, and they had also attacked and killed the supervisors.

At this moment of crisis, the commander of this archery unit resolutely ordered the archers to draw their short daggers and go forward to meet the enemy in order to block the gap and prevent the collapse of the line.

It was a joke to let the light infantry take on the Dukkah warriors and Dionysian legionaries equipped with fine weapons, but the archers showed their Persian blood and gathered from all sides to fight the enemy in a fierce battle, trying to maintain the line, and at the same time sent messengers to rush back to the home front for help.

After Artaxerxes learned of the bad situation on the right flank, he turned pale with fear.

"Trebassus, now we ...... what should we do?" He asked his most trusted strategist in panic.

Trebassus was equally panicked, but he forced himself to stay calm: "Your Majesty ...... the archers led by General Artaios cannot hold off the enemy for long, we must get the reserve troops to press up as soon as possible! We have a strong force, as long as we can re-establish the Dukeya's line, the advantage is still on our side!"

Artaxerxes, who had regained some confidence by his words, not only gave orders immediately, but also cursed bitterly, "Cursed Dukeyas, why did I trust these shameless villains before, when I gain victory in the battle, I will definitely wipe them out completely!"

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"Your Majesty, the Persian reserve troops are moving!" Felicius, who got the news, reported to Davos.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Tormid excitedly shouted, "Look! The Persian king is coming up too!"