Chapter 389 Crossbow Cavalry

Especially, the chief of Desitiatae, Temagis, rejected Brochi's request for help on the grounds that "the tribe had signed a truce agreement with Nix". Although he also knew that peace with Nix could not be maintained for a long time and there would be a war in the future, the biggest enemy of Desitiatae was the Boii.

The two chiefs of Disione and Perustai also sent messengers to Desitiatae to persuade them for the purpose of maintaining the tribal alliance so as to get more help from the southern tribes in the future, and finally forced Temagis to nod and agree to send reinforcements.

The three tribes sent a total of 3,000 infantry, but the number of cavalry reached 600.

While asking for help, Brix also carried out emergency military mobilization of the tribes in the territory, but the Nix army successively conquered Brochi's riverside camps where many troops were stationed, so that Brix could summon less than 5,000 troops (including some of the famous Segestica who were taken in). For this reason, he had to recruit older tribesmen into the team and put together 7,000 people.

With the arrival of reinforcements from various tribes, the Pannonian coalition forces eventually reached 23,000 soldiers, with 800 cavalry.

When Maximus learned that reinforcements from other large Pannonian tribes had arrived at the Brochi main camp, he was overjoyed. In order to ensure that the best plan formulated before the war could be implemented, he deliberately slowed down the march.

On December 5, 67 BC (the sixth year of the establishment of the Nix tribe), the Nix army was still a short distance away from the Brochi main camp, and the Pannonian coalition took the initiative to meet them, because Brix did not want to give the Nix people any time to rest, so that the Nix soldiers could fully recover their physical strength and have time to create those terrible and huge siege weapons.

Maximus chose to fight without hesitation, so the two sides set up their battle formations on the east bank of the Sava River.

Considering the strong navy of the Nix army, in order to prevent it from carrying soldiers through the river and detouring to the rear, the Pannonian coalition lined up in the southeast, with its back to the Brochi main camp and away from the Sava River bank.

Because the last defeat left a shadow on Brix, this time he led the Brochi army to sit in the middle, Andy's army on the left wing, Mazi's army on the right wing, and the reinforcements of the other three tribes were organized into the middle and right wings. The cavalry was located on the outside of the right wing of the army because there was enough space on this side for them to gallop.

The Nix army was located in the northwest, with the Isava River behind it. From left to right, there were 500 cavalry, the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth legions.

Because Maximus had left some troops in each captured camp before, the Nix soldiers participating in this battle were less than 25,000, and the strength of both sides was not much different.

In the afternoon, the sun began to set, the two sides finished their array, the noise stopped, and the tense atmosphere began to spread.

In the eyes of the Pannoni warriors: the Nix soldiers on the opposite side were wearing iron helmets and armor, holding large shields and short swords, their bodies were as hard and straight as iron statues, flashing cold light, and their faces showed a similar crazy smile, like bloodthirsty demons...

The eyes of the Pannoni warriors were intertwined with determination and fear. They held the spears and wooden shields tightly in their hands, sweat began to seep out of their palms, and their breathing became heavy, but they all understood that in order to protect their loved ones and their homes, they must fight to the death!

In the eyes of the Nix soldiers: the Pannoni warriors on the opposite side were not only enemies, but also military merits that allowed them to obtain more land and be promoted to tribal nobles! They have been holding back for three years. In these three years, craftsmen were promoted, officials were promoted, engineers, teachers, medical staff, farmers... People in other industries have been promoted, and their merits as soldiers have remained unchanged.

The war finally came, but the first battle was too easy, and was only rated as the fourth level by the Ministry of War. Half of the credit was obtained by the engineering battalion, and there was not much left for their ordinary soldiers. The same was true for the subsequent attacks on the camp.

But this battle was different. Before the battle formation, the captains of each legion announced to the soldiers: Since this battle will determine the life and death of Brochi and the decline of the remaining Pannoni tribe’s vitality, it is extremely important for the subsequent expansion of Nix. Therefore, the leader Maximus determined this battle as the second level. After defeating the enemy, the soldiers can not only get greater credit, but it will also determine the continuation of this war and add more credit to them...

Therefore, every Nix soldier is now extremely excited, and they all look forward to the bugle blowing immediately.

The Nix army launched the attack first, but did not blow the bugle. The crossbow battalions of each legion passed through the gaps between the army formations, and quickly approached the enemy formation 80 meters away in a loose horizontal formation, firing crossbow arrows.

The arrows were like locusts, covering the front row of the Pannoni army formation.

Since the Brochi warriors all changed to thick square shields and had been prepared for the crossbowmen of the Nix army, there were almost no casualties in the middle, but there were some casualties on the left and right wings, especially the Andizeti army on the left wing. They had been fighting with the Skodischi tribe for a long time, and their weapons and equipment had been greatly damaged. Because most of them were in an offensive advantage, they did not pay much attention to the shields of protective equipment. Even the tribal leaders were holding simple wooden shields. As a result, they suffered a great loss before the battle.

Therefore, the great leader Antossis had to blow the horn first, asking the warriors who were standing and being shot to quickly launch an attack.

In a flash, the Pannonian coalition attacked on all fronts. The Nix crossbowmen only fired two rounds and had to retreat in time to allow the infantry formation to close smoothly.

The infantry began to charge, but the cavalry was the first to engage in battle.

After the horn sounded, the Pannoni cavalry began to spur their horses, striding forward with four hooves.

Compared with the weakness of the infantry, the Pannoni cavalry had a psychological advantage, especially the cavalry from the three northern tribes, who were able to not be at an absolute disadvantage in the long-term competition with the Boyi cavalry, and their combat effectiveness was indeed not weak.

On the other hand, the Nix cavalry was just established in the past few years, never participated in a major battle, and had no record. Moreover, the Pannoni cavalry had 300 more people than their opponents, and the Pannoni cavalry had an absolute advantage.

Therefore, Brix placed the chance of winning this battle mainly on the cavalry, and the cavalry was also full of confidence in this.

In the last war, due to the drag of the infantry and the restrictions of the terrain, the Pannoni cavalry suffered a disastrous defeat without actually fighting, and now the terrain is flat and open, which is suitable for them to exert their power and avenge their previous shame.

The Pannoni cavalry looked at the approaching opponent, and their fighting spirit was high. They even felt sorry for the opponent's thin and wide horizontal formation when they were confronting each other, because the weak cavalry was better to adopt a dense and thick vertical formation, so as not to be easily pierced and lead to a rapid defeat. Regretful or not, the Pannoni cavalry also deployed in a goose shape.

The Pannoni cavalry's horses began to accelerate, but the Nix cavalry continued to move forward steadily.

Eight hundred Pannoni cavalry galloped forward in an arc fan, raising dust and fog, and the horses' hooves hit the ground, like rolling thunder, with a powerful momentum.

The cavalry captain Hagux, who was at the front of the queue, tried to control the excitement of the warhorse under his crotch so as to closely stare at the enemy in front. He took a deep breath to calm down his emotions, and then stretched his right hand to the right saddle...

The saddle of the Nix cavalry is unique. It not only inherits the characteristics of the Celtic cavalry, but also has a four-cornered saddle, which allows the rider to sit firmly on the horse and is easy to operate and exert force. The seat of the saddle also extends backward to the horse's buttocks, and two cloth pockets are made on both sides, each of which can hold two crossbows.

The crossbow, as the name suggests, is a "crossbow used by cavalry". It was specially made for the Nix cavalry by Maximus at the iron workshop. It is smaller in shape and lighter in weight than the arm crossbow used by infantry, which is convenient for cavalry to use on horseback. Naturally, the range is shorter and the lethality is weaker.

Hagux drew out the crossbow on his right side. Before the attack began, he had already drawn the string and loaded the arrows. He first raised the crossbow in the air and waved it twice, which was a signal to other cavalrymen. Then he held the crossbow arm with his right hand, hooked the trigger with his left hand, stared at Wangshan, and clamped his legs against the horse's belly... This set of movements was as smooth as flowing water, which was the result of hard training in the military drill ground for more than a year.

Aiming at the enemy in front, he pulled the trigger with his finger, and the crossbow arrow shot out, shooting at the warhorse under the enemy's crotch, because it was a large target and easy to hit.

While Hagux was shooting the crossbow, other Nix cavalrymen were not far behind, and countless crossbow arrows cut through the air and whistled towards the enemy.

In an instant, the wailing of the warhorse was accompanied by the exclamation of the Pannoni cavalry, and both the people and the horses fell forward, and at the same time hindered the charge of the teammates behind.

The Nix cavalry quickly put the crossbow back on the saddle after shooting the arrows, and took out another crossbow on the left side and fired at the enemy cavalry again.

So the scene of people falling and horses falling appeared again.

As both sides were fanned out, the crossbows exerted their maximum power, and more than half of the Pannoni cavalry fell down. Although most of the injured were horses, the cavalry was almost completely scrapped without horses. Moreover, the remaining Pannoni cavalry faced the sudden attack, shocked and confused, and forcibly reined in their horses, not knowing what to do for a while, because the leaders who led them to charge had already fallen to the ground.

After shooting the crossbows, Hagux drew his long sword without hesitation, increased the speed of his horse and launched the charge first.

A few of the Nix Cavalry Brigade were old men from the original rebel army, and most of them were tribesmen from Skodischi and Segestica. Although they were all good at riding, they did lack experience in horse warfare. However, their morale was greatly boosted by the effectiveness of their tactics, and they remembered that Captain Hagux specifically reminded them before the attack that "if you can defeat the enemy cavalry first and win the first merit, you will get more rewards", so they all bravely took the lead.