Chapter 264: Drawing fire from the bottom of the cauldron

The Pannoni cavalry stopped for a moment a hundred meters away, waiting for their comrades behind to arrive, and at the same time expanded their formation.

Then the leaders shouted "Attack!", and the cavalry urged their horses forward. The horses began to trot on the uneven grass. The horse's back was a little bumpy, but the cavalry held the reins with their left hands, and the four-cornered saddles hugged the waist and hips, clamping them tightly. With the legs on the horse's belly as support, they were sitting fairly securely. The bright long sword in their right hand was also raised high. Once they got close to the enemy, they would swing it down violently. Following the momentum of the horse, they were fully confident to split the opponent's thick shield. .

Unfortunately, as soon as this excitement arose, they saw someone in the row of "enemy slaves" waving red flags in front of them. Countless arrows flew towards them in an instant. The cavalrymen screamed when they were hit by arrows, and the war horses screamed when they were hit by arrows. Almost all of the cavalrymen at the front could not escape their fate. They also shocked the cavalrymen who followed, and some of the horses sprained their hooves.

The cavalry that had already started charging could not easily stop charging. They bypassed their injured comrades and continued to move forward.

As a result, rounds of arrows were fired at the Pannoni cavalry at short intervals.

Since the lowland between the valleys is not wide, it is difficult for the cavalry to spread out a wide front. The cavalry formation is slightly compact, almost all within the range of the crossbow unit. When the four rounds of crossbow arrows come down, the screams and the neighing of the horses can be heard. There was no break, the fallen cavalry struggled on the dry grass, and even more dust and mist filled the sky.

The Pannoni cavalry stopped advancing, but in a short period of time hundreds of their comrades fell to the ground, which quickly weakened their fighting spirit.

The Pannoni cavalry began to retreat, then turned towards the nearby hills...

At this time, the first brigade of the Third Army had completely wiped out the enemy, and faced hundreds of enemy cavalry on the hills to the south and re-opened their formation.

Valerius also took the opportunity to lead the crossbow troops to the rear of the infantry formation.

Aeolochus took the initiative to find Valerius and asked eagerly: "Are there any crossbow arrows left?"

"At least three more rounds can be fired," Valerius replied.

"That's enough." Aeolochus first looked at the enemy cavalry patrolling the hills to the south, and then turned to point at the enemies in the fierce battle: "Captain Valerius, I hope your crossbow unit will The remaining crossbow arrows will be fired at them, and then I will send five centurions to attack them. The remaining soldiers will keep an eye on the cavalry and try to defeat the enemy as soon as possible! "

"I will do as you say!" Valerius agreed without hesitation.

After the crossbowmen and ballistae team defeated the enemy in front of them, ten centurions of the Second Army detoured to the flank of Broch's army to carry out a pincer attack.

The Broch soldiers resisted tenaciously, and the neighboring tribal leaders instinctively realized the danger and led their tribesmen to rush for reinforcements. The number of soldiers on the far left of Broch's army increased sharply to nearly 2,000, as if they were an expanding giant. Although the soldiers of the Second Legion surrounded the meat ball, it was difficult to swallow it for a while.

But in this way, the neighboring Broch's army became thin, and the attack on the Knicks' army on the hill was also significantly weakened. However, the other centurions of the Second Army continued to pursue a defense-oriented strategy. , so the two sides are still in a stalemate.

However, the significant input of the Knicks' army immediately broke this temporary balance of power.

The crossbowmen fired three rounds of rapid fire at the rear of Broch's army, with almost every arrow causing damage. Then the charge launched by 500 vigorous soldiers of the Third Army of the Knicks made Broch's soldiers even more frightened.

To make matters worse, Torrelugo, who saw this change from a high position, immediately asked the trumpeter to blow the brass bugle for the attack.

The soldiers of the Second Legion, who had already exhausted their energy on the hill, launched a swift counterattack, which became the last straw for Broch's soldiers.

The Broch warriors who were first shot by the crossbowmen and then flanked by soldiers from the Second and Third Legions fled, immediately affecting the leftmost Broch warriors who had been struggling to support themselves and were flanked by the Third Legion. They quickly collapsed, but what was even more unfortunate was that their only escape route was blocked due to the defeat of neighboring tribesmen. Most of the desperate Broch warriors chose to surrender in the face of the ferocious Nix soldiers.

The defeat of Broch's army spread rapidly from west to east like an avalanche. The driving of the defeated army eastward by the Knicks' army was an important reason for this result.

Maximus, who was resting in the middle of the Nixian formation with his eyes closed, heard the bugle sound coming from the west. He immediately opened his eyes and heard Frontinus say excitedly: "Second Legion The call to attack has been sounded, and our right wing must have the absolute upper hand, and I believe they will win soon!"

"Chief, do you want to wait until Torrelugo's messengers arrive and understand the battle situation clearly before making a decision?" Quintus reminded from the side.

"No need to wait any longer, let the First Army begin the attack!" Maximus decisively gave the order, and then said to Quintus teasingly: "Didn't you tell me before, whether it is Toleru Brother, Aeolochus, and the new crossbow captain Valerius are all very trustworthy, why are you worried at the critical moment? "

Quintus replied seriously: "It is my staff officer's duty to make different suggestions for your reference."

Maximus nodded, suddenly remembered something, and said: "According to the information that Hagux just found out from the population of Aldi, this Pannonian army stored most of its food and baggage east of the Korana River. In a village on the shore that originally belonged to the Aldie tribe, they left thousands of warriors to guard it. There were also thousands of Skodisci slaves in the village...

This stockade is only five or six miles away from us. After we win this victory, should we immediately divide our troops to attack, in order to prevent Pannoni's defeated troops from fleeing into this stockade in large numbers and holding on to it, which will prevent us from ending this situation quickly? During the battle on the other side, they returned to aid Aulus and Pequot in time. "

"Chief, what you are talking about is very important. We should indeed take action in advance." Quintus said thoughtfully: "Why don't you... send people to the right wing now and inform Tolerugo that once the Third Army obtains In order to win, let him withdraw some of his troops, go south along the Korana River, rush to the stronghold, and capture it as soon as possible... This Pannonian army was defeated by us and lost its food, but it completely collapsed. "

"You are right. The Second Army is closest to the Korana River. They may also end the battle earliest. They are indeed the best candidates to attack that village. However, this credit falls to the Second Army again. The other legions are afraid It's time to complain, and your Ministry of War can comfort him afterwards." Maximus acknowledged Quintus' proposal and reminded him jokingly.

"There is no way around it. The Second Legion is very lucky this time and is in a favorable position." Quintus shrugged.

Maximus looked around, and finally his eyes fell on a half-grown boy: "Akgo, did you hear what we just said?"

"I heard you, Chief."

"Then you will act as my messenger and quickly find the commander of the Toreligo Corps and convey my order to him. Can you do that?"

"Chief, I promise to complete the mission!" Akguo gave a military salute excitedly, turned around and ran towards the west.

"Wait a minute." Frantenus interjected: "Chief, it would be best for the troops sent by Tolerugo to bring the flag of the captured Pannonian army, or a captured tribal leader, and the Some Scotish recruits..."

"Good idea!" Maximus immediately understood his intention: if the Pannoni soldiers stationed in the stronghold learned that the army had suffered a defeat, they would probably lose their fighting spirit. Shouting, triggering thousands of Skodisci slaves included to launch a riot. Attacking from both inside and outside, it is easy to capture the stronghold...

Maximus looked at Akago: "Do you remember everything?"

"Remember them all!" Akguo repeated at a very fast speed: "Tell the commander of the Tolerugo Army to allocate some troops. Some of the soldiers transferred must include some Skodisqi recruits. Take the captured Pannoni flags or captured tribal leaders, go south along the Korana River, and capture the stockade where the Pannoni army stores food as soon as possible."

"That's right, go quickly." Maximus waved his hand, and Akago turned around and ran away.

Maximus turned around and gave another order to his attendants: "Go and tell Hagux and ask him to send cavalry who are familiar with the enemy's situation to act as guides for the troops of the Second Army attacking the stronghold."

"yes!"

"Go and notify Captain Gaius. Their engineering team will immediately rush to the Second Legion and follow the troops attacking the stockade, ready to build siege equipment for them at any time."

"yes!"

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Seeing their own people giving up fighting the enemy, throwing away their weapons, turning around and running away in horror, even crying and screaming during the escape, mercilessly pushing down and trampling on the compatriots who stood in the way... And those vicious enemies Just like experienced herdsmen, chasing them is like driving away stupid cattle and sheep, making them obediently run eastward along the lowlands between valleys, causing more and more fleeing warriors to spread all over the valleys...

Standing on the hill opposite, Brix saw the scene of his army's defeat. He felt severe pain in his chest and his mind went blank.

He once laughed at Andres for being a fool. He had an absolute advantage in military strength and suffered miserable defeats several times. However, when such an encounter happened to him, he would not even try to save the defeat or lead his entourage to kill or block it. He didn't even think about chasing troops or rescuing a few more tribesmen. When he saw a small group of enemies approaching him, he immediately turned around and ran away with his followers.