Chapter 736: Theonia v Carthage (VI)

When Theonia’s allies built their camp, Leotychides asked them to make it according to Theonia’s military camp’s requirements, resulting in the Carthaginian army having difficulty attacking them. Especially the Numidian army, who had suffered many losses in their previous attack on the city of Minoa, which demoralised them and made them act cautiously despite their large numbers, so the southern military camp didn’t have much pressure.

But the situation of the northern camp was much worse because their hill was smaller and shorter; naturally, their camp was smaller and easier to attack. The twelve thousand Carthaginian soldiers responsible for attacking the northern camp were mainly Carthaginian citizens, with some from their Phoenician allies who bordered Carthage, such as Utica. And compared to the low-morale Numidians, this army was much more enthusiastic and well-equipped, most of them heavy infantry.

And with most of the defenders of the northern camp, the Agrigentines, out of camp, they didn’t have enough troops to send out to attack the Carthaginians, who were doing their best to dismantle the traps. Hence they had to ask the Theonian light infantry, who had gone up the hill to prepare to attack the Sacred Band, to withdraw and join them. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough javelins and arrows to attack the Carthaginian army surrounding the camp.

Seeing the Carthaginian army approaching the trench, the thousands of Sikeloi warriors burst out of the mountains in the north and rained javelins down on Carthage’s rear force. Although the Carthaginians had expected the Sikeloi to appear and had made some preparations, they hadn’t expected the number of Sikeloi coming to attack them, which caught them off guard…

“What did you say?! About five thousand Sikeloi have appeared from the north?!” Muntebaal was startled.

“Yes, my lord. These Sikeloi’s attack inflicted massive casualties on Lord Resheph’s army, making it impossible for them to attack the Theonian camps fully,” the scout reported.

“Bloody savages!” Muntebaal cursed angrily. After thinking momentarily, he looked at his adjutant and said, “Tell those idle Numidian cavalry to head north at once and drive those Sikeloi back into the mountains so that Resheph can focus on attacking the enemy camp! And… you personally go to the south and call back the six thousand Numidians!”

Then the adjutant was ordered to leave.

Soon, three thousand of the Numidian cavalry kicked up a cloud of dust as they made their way north.

But Muntebaal didn’t pay attention to them as he turned his gaze to the front. Though his scouts hadn’t been able to penetrate deep into the battlefield to ascertain and understand the actual situation, he guessed that it must have been quite fierce, judging by the sounds of clashing weapons and the never-ending screams. But what worried Muntebaal even more was although the battle had been going on for more than half an hour, the Sacred Band was still unable to make an inch of progress.

He wished he could swap the Numidians with the Sacred Band, but that was impossible, so he could only send the Numidians to thicken the formation of the Sacred Band, giving it more strength and support.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

As the small phalanxes of Theonia’s Eighth Legion drew closer together, the Sacred Band’s stranglehold on the formation tightened, and the Sacred Band soldiers found themselves facing enemies from all sides…

But once the formation of the Eighth Legion finally closed, the sounds of battle within the formation gradually faded. And even the Sacred Band soldiers’ screams became silent as countless feet trampled on those who had fallen to the ground…

Although Theokases’ four phalanxes had finally merged, he still felt uneasy since each of his phalanxes had lost some soldiers, especially the two phalanxes at the front, which had suffered the heaviest losses. And those who fell in such a gruesome melee would either be seriously wounded or dead by the time they cleared the battlefield, and they could save only a few, so how could he feel happy? But it was not the time for them to be sad since they still had an enemy to fight.

At the start of the battle, the lack of effective command made the Carthaginian attack to be disorganised. But things got even more chaotic as many soldiers who had escaped the enemy formation lost the will to fight and simply wanted to run. Although they bravely fought inside the formation earlier, it was all for survival. As the sons of the Carthaginian nobles who grew up with luxury, although they had usually gone through strict training, they still never experienced such a gruesome battle and the sight of their comrades around them falling to the ground wounded one after another and then getting trampled into mush…frightened them and made them want to escape from this hellish place. Thus they pushed, shoved and even clashed with the other Sacred Band soldiers who blocked their way…

“Brothers, attack! Attack! Completely defeat the Carthaginians!” Theokases shouted, encouraging the soldiers to continue fighting.

As the shouts of the officers echoed through the formation, Leotychides, watching the battle from the hill, did not want to miss this great opportunity, so the high-pitched salpinx sounded again across the battlefield.

At the sound of the salpinx, the reserves immediately advance so that the entire rear formation merges with the phalanx of the Eighth Legion in front. As a result, the forward momentum created by tens of thousands of people was beyond the ability of the Sacred Band, who had lost nearly half their numbers and broken formation, to fight. Thus they eventually retreated and scattered in disarray…

Milkpilles, who was originally in the rear of the Sacred Band, could only run back and forth in the rear, trying to find the officers he knew among the confused soldiers and encouraging them to reorganise. After doing his best, some order finally returned to the fighting Sacred Band soldiers, but it suddenly became even more disorganised and quickly turned into a rout.

Baffled by the rout while fleeing back, Milkpilles’ mind went blank as he could not comprehend how the elite Sacred Band could be so inexplicably defeated.

On the other hand, the soldiers of the Theonian legion, who had been fighting for nearly an hour, continued pursuing the enemy regardless of their fatigue, without giving the defeated Carthaginian army any chance to breathe and reorganise.

Leotychides also dispatched the Fourth Cavalry Legion and the Light Armoured Brigade, both of which quickly and forcefully shot out from the path reserved on either side of the Theonian formation, soon reaching the front of the heavy infantry and leading a fierce and continuous pursuit of the Sacred Band.

The newly transferred six thousand Numidians had just entered the plain when they were surprised to see that the Carthaginians, who usually strutted about in their authority and fancy armour, had now discarded their pretty shields, good-looking helmets, and their hair dishevelled. Then they heard them shout in panic, “Help! Help! The Theonians are coming! Hurry! Hurry! Hold them off! Hurry up!…”

With thousands of people rushing towards them like homeless dogs, the Numidians, whose morale was already low, acted the same way – they turned and ran…

As a result, tens of thousands of defeated soldiers rushed out from the plain with terrifying momentum, leaving Muntebaal stunned by such a sight.

Then the adjutant advised him, “Milord, we are…defeated; we should return to the camp first-”

Before the adjutant could finish, Muntebaal had already turned the horse around and clamped his legs onto its belly, causing the warhorse to neigh as it carried him swiftly across the Platani…

The Numidians were running too, but they weren’t panicking because they still had the Sacred Band behind them. But when some of the cavalries of the Fourth Cavalry Legion charged into their rear from an oblique angle, panic quickly spread throughout the unit, forcing the Numidians to run faster in fear.

But the biggest obstacle to their escape was the shallow and narrow Platani: Some of them slipped on the silt at the bottom of the river, and in their panic, they grabbed and dragged anyone close to them, which in turn blocked the escape of the soldiers of the Sacred Band behind them, who could only push and shove them in anger….

And once the pursuing Theonian cavalry and infantry caught up with them, they began to stab them with their spears and javelins, causing them to scream repeatedly and the river to be covered with floating corpses and blood, which stained the Platani River.

Meanwhile, the defeated soldiers, who managed to flee across the river, ran straight to their camp, but the Theonian soldiers followed close behind. And since Muntebaal had called almost all the soldiers because of the battle, only a few were left there. Thus how would these defeated soldiers dare to stay in the camp? So they continued to flee to the west.

The sudden rout of the Sacred Band surprised two Carthaginian armies attacking Theonia’s allied camp. And upon hearing about it, the Numidian army to the south immediately turned, ran wildly down the hill, and began to flee. While the Numidian cavalry to the north, hearing of the rout in the centre, immediately stopped fighting the Sikeloi, turned and ran to the west, where they took up the forefront.

On the other hand, when Resheph, the general in charge of the Carthaginian citizen-soldiers, heard of the retreat in the centre, he was shocked. But after immediately withdrawing the troops attacking the camps, he reorganised their formation, intending to lead them in an attack on the Theonian army pursuing their rear in an attempt to reverse the war situation and rescue the soldiers who had been driven back.

But many of the Carthaginian soldiers, seeing the furious momentum of the Theonian army following them on the right, became frightened and urged Resheph, “General, we’d better retreat! The Sacred Band has been defeated, the Numidian cavalry has fled, and these Numidians are even less likely to stay and fight! If we don’t run, the Greeks will probably surround us!”

Yet Resheph still hesitated.

Suddenly, a salpinx sounded from the camps on the hill. Then Theonia’s reserve heavy infantry brigade, which Leotychides had sent to the allied camps, and the Agrigentine soldiers who had returned to their camp after regrouping, over three thousand men in all, rushed out of the camp together and charged towards the Carthaginian army at the foot of the hill. At the same time, the thousands of Sikeloi warriors also rushed towards the Carthaginian army from the north.

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