In the end, the Tegea soldiers couldn't even swing their spears, while the soldiers of the First Legion, who were hiding behind the shield walls of the various phalanxes, were able to stab with their short swords. The continuous screams made the Tegea soldiers even more panicked, and with their retreat cut off, they began to rush towards their allies, the Spartans, without a care for anything else.
… …
The soldiers kept using their shields to block the external impact and stabbing with their short swords. Their shoulders and arms were sore and numb.
Márquez kept shouting encouragement until his voice was hoarse … After an unknown amount of time, the enemy's attacks on the tortoiseshell formation suddenly weakened.
Could it be that our reinforcements have really arrived? Márquez saw hope and was instantly overjoyed.
The soldiers peeked through the gaps in their shields and vaguely saw the Sparta soldiers retreating. They breathed a sigh of relief and lightly moved their sore arms.
At this moment, a loud "Bang! Bang! " Two loud sounds rang out. The soldiers who were holding their shields above their heads felt as if a boulder had smashed into the surface of their shields. Their arms that were holding the shields were almost broken. They could not help but cry out in pain.
At this moment, two figures fell from above. Before the Legion of Dionysia soldiers could react, they pushed the soldiers beside them out of the formation.
The Diónia soldiers were all defending against the enemy's attacks from the outside. They did not expect the tortoiseshell formation to be broken from the inside. Caught off guard, several soldiers were pushed out of the formation.
Márquez's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He shouted, "Tighten the formation!" While pouncing on the enemy closest to him. His short sword pierced through the enemy's throat. However, the enemy's hideous smile before he died sent a chill down his spine.
The Sparta soldiers were already prepared. They swarmed in from all directions, and Márquez's squad had no time to regroup. They were all scattered and had no choice but to fight on their own.
It turned out that after the Sparta soldiers rushed into the Diónia's scattered formation, they found that the Diónia soldiers did not scatter. Instead, they gathered into small phalanxes and resisted tenaciously. The Sparta warriors kept attacking, but they still couldn't break through the enemy's defense. Instead, many of them were injured.
Sparta, who were very good at tactics, had to find another way to break the enemy's formation. Soon, they came up with an idea: the defense around these small Diónia phalanxes was very strong, but there might be a breakthrough point above them.
As a result, two brave soldiers jumped onto the tortoiseshell formation under the escort of many of their comrades, smashing open the entire formation.
Facing the overwhelming numbers of the Sparta soldiers, the resistance of the soldiers was quickly crushed. Márquez, who had his thigh pierced through, did not stop fighting. He used his shield to protect his upper body, and used his short sword to slash at the enemy's legs. It was only when a spear pierced through his right hand that the short sword that was full of holes finally slipped out of his hand …
The Sparta soldiers used the same method to destroy a few small phalanxes at the front. Just as they were about to continue, the warriors at the front were pushed back by the terrified Diónia soldiers. Not only were they unable to continue attacking the Diónia phalanxes, but they were also in danger. After being unable to rebuke the terrified Tigeans, they stabbed their spears at their former allies, and the situation became chaotic.
Not long after, the rear of the Sparta army also began to stir. The marching speed of the Diónia light infantry was naturally faster than that of the heavy infantry. After the three light infantry regiments quickly bypassed the entire left flank of the Sparta army, without any rest, they immediately launched an attack on the flank of the Sparta army. The ferocious attack just happened to hit the weak spot of the Sparta army.
This time, among the 7,000 soldiers dispatched from Sparta's territory, there were only about 1,500 true Sparta soldiers, more than 1,000 elderly Sparta citizens, nearly 2,000 Piriasis, and more than 2,000 Black Rogues. In order to ensure that Agesilaus' plan could be carried out smoothly, Archidamus arranged the Sparta soldiers at the front, followed by the Piriasis, and then the mix of old Sparta soldiers and Black Rogues.
At the beginning of the battle, the mixed army of old Sparta soldiers and Black Rogues did not participate in the battle, but kept a certain distance from the fighting troops, because Agesilaus was worried that these Black Rogues, who had never received training in feigning defeat tactics, would instead become a hindrance. It was only when the Sparta soldiers returned that the old Sparta soldiers led the Black Rogues to follow closely behind to increase the intensity and thickness of the attack, thus defeating the left flank of Diónia in one fell swoop.
But the reality was that the left flank of Diónia was not defeated, and the Black Rogues were still following closely behind the entire Sparta army. As a result, they became the target of the attack of the Diónia light infantry battalion.
Although the Council of Elders had promised the Black Rogues who participated in the battle that after the victory of the war, they would become free citizens of Sparta.
However, the Black Rogues who vaguely knew that Sparta was now in a difficult situation were not too enthusiastic about this, but out of fear of Sparta, they pretended to be more obedient. But in the face of the ferocious attack of the Diónia soldiers, these Black Rogues, who only wore thin clothes and held simple spears, began to retreat after a short while, and along with them, some of the old Sparta soldiers who were still fighting began to retreat.
… …
Agesilaus looked forward to the news of victory from the right flank, but the news that the guards sent out several times was that the Sparta soldiers on the right flank were still fighting.
Agesilaus felt that he already understood the Diónia army very well, but he never expected that the Diónia soldiers could still fight for so long under the influence of Sparta's tactics of feigning defeat, and then being attacked from both sides!
While he was amazed at the tenacity of the Diónia soldiers, he also regretted that he only gathered information through oral rumors, or that his understanding of the Dionysian Army was not comprehensive enough.
Now, he began to feel uneasy, because he knew that if they could not quickly defeat the left flank of Diónia, the weakness of the Sparta allied army would be exposed after a long time. The main weakness was the Tegea army, because the Dionysian Army always had reserve troops during battles, and they would inevitably send their reserve troops to attack the Tegea army in order to achieve the goal of rescuing the left flank.
Therefore, Agesilaus hurriedly sent a messenger to stop the Thracians who were rushing to the south, preparing to rush to the north, bypass the Sparta army, and reinforce the Tegea army.
However, just as these thousands of Thracian light shieldmen ran past his back, the scout hurriedly rushed back and shouted anxiously, "King Agesilaus, it's bad! Our flank is being attacked by the Diónia army!! "
Agesilaus was taken aback. He always thought that the Diónia commander would first send their reserve troops to attack the Tegea army closest to them, so as to achieve the goal of rescuing the left flank. However, at this time, the Diónia army actually bypassed the left flank and attacked the flank of the Sparta army. If the Diónia commander did not lose his mind, it could only mean one thing: the Diónia army had a considerable number of reserve troops, and could attack from both sides at the same time.
Agesilaus was secretly laughing at the young Diónia commander's lack of experience and easily falling into the trap. Now, he could not help but marvel at the other party's boldness.
However, the situation was very critical, and he did not have much time to think. He immediately ordered, "Hurry up and inform the Thracians to quickly rush to the right flank and repel the attack of the Diónia army. Protect the flank of the Sparta army!"
The Thracian troops were not far from Agesilaus, and the order was quickly passed down. However, these Thracians who came from the north of the Macedonian territory and did not know much about Agesilaus' reputation had always been known for their bravery and bad temper. Previously, they had received the order to march south hurriedly, and were about to reach their destination when they were urgently called back to carry out another order. They had run back and forth for nothing, and now the order was changed again. Although it was still in the same direction, and the distance was even closer, the Thracians could not help but curse and complain. Even their curses reached Agesilaus' ears. "Does that crippled old Sparta know how to command? He must have lost his mind by giving random orders!"
"I think the Sparta people are not doing well. They actually sent an old man who is about to die to be the commander!"
"Let's just finish this battle, take the commission, and leave quickly. I don't want to suffer anymore!"
…
If it was any other time, Agesilaus would have flown into a rage when he heard these words that specifically violated his taboo. However, he could only endure it now, and hope that these Thracians would speed up after venting their anger.
Finally, when he saw the Thracians disappear from his sight, the worry in his heart did not disappear. Instead, it increased.
At this time, he no longer had any hope of winning this battle. He only hoped that he could fight the Dionysian Army to a draw, and that the Sparta warriors did not suffer many casualties. He had already decided to change his next battle plan. After this battle, he would immediately disband the mercenary army and bring the Sparta warriors back to the territory as soon as possible. He would try his best to defend against the attacks of the Diónia, protect the safety of the Sparta territory, and wait for the situation to change.
However, at this moment, a guard rushed over from the south. "Nearly a thousand Diónia soldiers have appeared at the rear of the right flank. They are attacking the flank of the mercenaries!"
Hearing this, Agesilaus felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow, and his entire body instantly turned cold.
When the guard saw Agesilaus standing there like a statue, he immediately asked with concern, "King Agesilaus, are you alright?!"
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