The Rise Of An Empire In Ancient Europe

The Dionysian freemen were different. Coming from all over, they struggled to make a living, developing selfish habits. Even before becoming Dionysian reserve citizens, most had never received heavy infantry training or seen combat. Over six months of intensive training couldn't completely eliminate these long-established habits.

When the enemy's lance pierced his right chest, he should have let his teammates defend while he retaliated with his own lance, forcing the enemy to retreat and relieving pressure on his own side. However, out of instinct, he retracted his shield, exposing half of his teammate's body to the enemy's lance. This vicious cycle left everyone concerned for themselves, weakening the line and preventing an effective joint advance. It also allowed the Crotonians to squeeze through the gaps and use their individual abilities to further disrupt the Dionysian line.

The Dionysian First Legion was the most veteran and combat-ready. Originally comprising four cohorts of veterans, it had been plucked from the ranks to serve as officers across three legions. Furthermore, Davos had drafted another 300 veterans into the reserve, forcing a massive influx of new recruits, leading to a sharp decline in combat effectiveness.

Despite occupying advantageous terrain and having seized the initiative from the outset, not only did no one seize the opportunity to drive the enemy into the river, but after a prolonged stalemate, they began to slowly retreat under the frenzied Crotonian counterattack.

Alcinous's squad was in the second line, and several of the frontline soldiers had fallen. He shouted, commanding his men to drive back the incoming enemy and re-fill the gap. The long battle had left his arms aching, and commanding these clueless recruits was exhausting. But the fierce glares from the enemy's helmets reminded him constantly: Fight! Keep fighting! Otherwise, defeat and death await him!

"Leading your men to fight bravely and achieve victory is a captain's duty!" This was the advice his former squad leader, now a squad leader, Cetippus, had given him when congratulating him on his appointment. He never forgot it.

He called out each soldier's name, leading by example with his fierce yet agile fighting style, reminding and teaching his men how to apply the skills learned in training to life-or-death combat.

During the most difficult moments of the battle, Dionysia's junior officers played a crucial role as the backbone.

Against heavy infantry, Dionysia was at a disadvantage; against light infantry, Dionysia held a firm advantage. Not only did they outnumber their light infantry by a thousand, but more than half were veterans from Asia Minor. Their three light infantry units—slingers, archers, and peltasts—all came from the renowned Mediterranean light infantry-producing regions of Rhodes, Crete, and Thrace.

How could Crotone, which neglected the use of light infantry, stand up to them? Even with the heavy infantry between them, Crotone's light infantry suffered heavy casualties from the well-aimed arrows and rocks, forcing them to retreat.

Once the light infantry's protection weakened, the rear of the Crotone heavy infantry phalanx came under attack from the Dionysian light infantry. These soldiers at the rear of the phalanx, having been shielded from the fighting, should have been fresh and energetic. Instead, most of them had been immersed in the river for an extended period. The icy early spring water robbed them of their energy, leaving them hungry and exhausted. Consequently, their reaction to the enemy's long-range attacks had been somewhat slowed. Had it not been for the heavy infantry's effective protection, their casualties would have been devastating.

Because each side faced its own challenges and advantages, the battle remained stalemated, resulting in a bitter struggle.

Myron remained calm in this situation, believing that the ability to maintain a stalemate had already achieved his goal. The key to Crotone's victory lay in the 7,000-strong force that had made its way downstream along the Trivento River. He firmly believed that ultimate victory would be for Crotone.

The Dionysian Archon Davos held the same idea, but he had already received good news from the cavalry of Ledes: the Crotone troops in the lower reaches of the Trivento River were either annihilated or surrendered and no longer existed.

Ledes, Epithenes and others would lead their troops to rest for a while, then cross the Trivento River and attack the Crotone army from behind.

Davos was completely relieved. Looking at Martonis next to him scratching his head with a frustrated expression, he couldn't help but joke:

"Martonis, is your scalp itchy?"

"Commander!" Matonis complained loudly. "The last time we captured Niutum, our entire legion failed to fight and missed the triumphal ceremony! This time you caught me and asked me to be the reserve captain. We are about to win, and I am still idle here. It's too unfair!"

Davos smiled and said, "Don't worry, it's your turn to play soon."

As he said, he gave an order: "Blow the order to change the formation, let the soldiers on the front line retreat, and the soldiers on the second line take over!"

"Commander, we are about to win, why bother to make such a difficult formation change! Most of them are recruits. If something goes wrong and causes the entire phalanx—" Although Matonis was eager to fight, he didn't want to see the alliance fail.

"We've been training this formation for so long, but we've never used it in actual combat. Victory is so imminent. If we don't accumulate experience now, when will we?" Davos said seriously.

"Besides, if we retreat, we'll lure the enemy to the riverbank, making it even harder for them to escape. Matonis, you've been a recruit instructor. You must have complete confidence in the soldiers' long training and your command of the officers!"

"You're the commander, you have the final say! Is it our turn to fight next?" Matonis stopped dwelling on the question and volunteered.

"Lead your men to the right flank of the phalanx, at the junction of the Second Legion and the three reserve battalions. If the enemy's advance throws them into disarray, you'll need to rush in and stop the attack, buying time for the soldiers to regroup!"

"Understood, I'll go! Brothers!" Matonis cheered up.

Alcinous and his men were still fighting hard against the enemy.

Then, a bugle call sounded from the rear, lifting their spirits. When the second call sounded, he recognized it as the "Change Formation" bugle call.

"Brothers, hold on! We'll be able to rest soon!" Like Alcinous, the officers on the front line shouted a warning.

Meanwhile, the second-line formation quickly divided into company units. Each company remained stationary, while its neighboring company retreated.

After a while, the entire square formation transformed from a dense, long snake formation into a staggered, "checkerboard" formation (also known as a fish-scale formation) composed of smaller company-level squares.

Without the support of those behind them, some of the frontline soldiers, under enemy pressure and guided by the company drums and flags, began to retreat. Finally, they quickly retreated to the rear through the gaps in the "checkerboard" formation.

Since Alcinous's company's drums didn't sound, he realized his company was unlucky. The companies behind them hadn't retreated first, so they couldn't retreat for the time being.

At this moment, the squad leader, Cetippus, shouted: "Brothers, protect our flanks!"

As the neighboring companies retreated, the enemy surged in. Because the Dionysian front line didn't retreat as a whole, Crotone's attacking formation became uneven, creating a jagged pattern between the two sides.

Alcinous' company was under pressure from being surrounded on three sides, and the enemy pouring into the gap faced the same predicament. However, the Dionysian troops retreated with preparation, and each small phalanx engaging the enemy was under the firm control of the company leader. In contrast, the Crotonians were unprepared and disorganized.

As a result, despite the Dionysian retreat, Crotone failed to seize this opportunity, causing even greater casualties and confusion for the Dionysians.

At this moment, the company drums sounded, and the four squads, forming a 20x10 square formation, began to slowly retreat as the central flag began to wave rhythmically to the rear.

Alcinous and his men defended themselves with shields and spears, and as the rear company withdrew, their own company also began to withdraw in an orderly manner.

When the rear company came to a standstill, Alcinous and his men were able to withdraw through the gaps between the scattered company squares.

After several rounds of retreat, the frontline soldiers retreated smoothly to the rear, and the second-line soldiers rearranged themselves into a dense formation, becoming the forefront of the entire square formation.

The reason why the formation was changed so smoothly without any major chaos and Davos's worries did not become a reality was mainly because the Crotonians had never seen an army dare to make such a bold and peculiar formation switch in the fierce fighting, and failed to take effective countermeasures in time.

Secondly, when fighting in a dense formation, the Crotone army was stronger than the Dionysian army, which had a large number of recruits. However, once the dense formations of both sides were split into small squares due to the formation conversion, Dionysia's long-term targeted training with squads and companies as tactical units came into play.

Their command was more efficient and their actions were more flexible. In contrast, Crotone's combat and training were based on large squares, and the command system was originally rough. After the soldiers poured into the gaps, they lost effective command and fell into chaos. They could only fight on their own and were at a disadvantage.