Because Leotychides had once again received an urgent plea for aid from Minoa, the Carthaginian army had been fiercely attacking for days. The siege equipment they had created was causing great casualties to the Minoa defenders, and Minoa was on the verge of collapse. At the same time, he also received news from Selinus that his departure with the army from the port of Selinus could not be hidden from the Carthaginian sentries patrolling the coast, and the Carthaginians launched an attack on the city of Selinus the next day.
All of this made Leotychides eager to resolve the Carthaginian army's presence at Gela as soon as possible. Therefore, after discussing with the people of Gela and the Camarina reinforcements, he decided to engage the Carthaginians in a decisive battle.
At dawn, Leotychides led the Eighth Legion with 8,000 soldiers, the Fourth Cavalry Legion with 1,000 cavalry, 5,000 Gela soldiers, and 3,000 Camarina reinforcements, totaling 17,000 men, out of the city of Gela. After marching four miles west, they faced the Carthaginian camp and formed their battle array.
The arrival of a large transport fleet into the port of Gela could not be concealed from the Carthaginian army, which had built its camp near the coast. Therefore, for the past two days, the Carthaginian army had not attacked the city. Instead, under the repeated persuasion of Kisgo, Hasdrubal summoned approximately 2,000 soldiers stationed at Echinus, leaving only a few hundred men behind. In addition, he also issued orders to the Carthaginian army under his command that was besieging Enna, causing 1,500 soldiers to trek through the mountains and travel day and night to arrive.
Kisgo had said something that moved Hasdrubal: "...According to the observations of the sentries, there are no fewer than 200 Daonian transport ships, so at least 10,000 Daonian soldiers have entered Gela. In this way, the number of defenders in the city is about the same as our soldiers. Therefore, the Daonians would never just want to defend the city, but want to defeat us. Compared to the large army led by Lord Mago, we are fewer in number and closest to the Daonian territory, posing a great threat to them. As long as we can defeat the Daonian army, we will be able to quickly complete the goal that Lord Mago promised to the Senate to drive the Daonians out of Sicily, and Hasdrubal, you will also be praised by the Carthaginian people!…"
So, upon learning that the Daonian army had left the city of Gela, Hasdrubal eagerly began to assemble his troops in the camp.
While the Daonian allied forces were forming their ranks, Hasdrubal also led his army out of the camp and came to face the Daonian allied forces, also beginning to form ranks.
Hasdrubal's army consisted of 10,000 mixed Phoenician and Numidian troops, 4,000 Iberian soldiers, 2,500 Lusitanian warriors, 600 Celtic warriors, and over 1,000 special troops, totaling approximately 18,500 soldiers.
Since the location where the two sides were about to engage was a flat meadow, with a clear view for several miles, the Daonian allied forces began to form their ranks first, giving Hasdrubal and Kisgo an opportunity to observe.
The battle formation being arranged by the Daonian allied forces was about three miles long, consisting entirely of heavily armored infantry, overlapping each other, like a long iron wall.
Due to the unique black helmets and black armor of the Daonian legions, which were particularly conspicuous in the battle formation, they first attracted Hasdrubal's attention. He noticed that the Daonian army was mainly concentrated on the right side of the battle formation (the left flank of the Daonian allied forces). Therefore, after a brief discussion with Kisgo, he began to arrange his formation: 7,000 mixed Phoenician and Numidian troops on the left flank, facing the Daonian legion soldiers.
This army was specially formed by the Magonid family for development in Iberia. For various reasons, Carthaginians were not recruited at the time. Instead, many poor people and vagrants were recruited from the Numidian region and the Phoenician allied states along the North African coast.
Initially, there were 20,000 people, reaching 40,000 at its peak. They were the main force for the Magonid family to gain a foothold and expand their territory in Iberia. Under the leadership of Mago and Hasdrubal for more than a decade, they had fought countless battles with the fierce indigenous people of Iberia, and were the most relied upon force by the Magonid family. This time, Mago brought 20,000 people to invade Sicily, with another 10,000 soldiers remaining to defend southern Iberia.
In the center, Hasdrubal planned to have the remaining 3,000 Phoenician and Numidian soldiers guard the area with 2,000 Iberian infantry.
The Iberian infantry consisted of indigenous people living in southern Iberia. Although they were not as fierce as their distant relatives, the Lusitanians, they were more numerous and more united. They had caused great trouble for the Magonid family's conquest of southern Iberia, taking about six or seven years to bring most of the tribes to submit to Mago.
Therefore, Mago did not dare to enslave the southern Iberian tribes like Carthage enslaved the Numidians. Instead, he listened to the advice of his nephew Hanno: as long as they submitted, their territories would not be seized, they would be allowed to live freely within their jurisdiction, they would not be taxed, and the internal affairs of the tribes would not be interfered with. Daily necessities would also be traded with these tribes at lower prices…
But these tribes also had obligations to abide by: not to violate the laws of the colony (this law was not Carthaginian law, but a law formulated by Hanno based on the situation in southern Iberia). When the Magonid family launched wars against foreign powers, they needed to provide soldiers. Of course, after the victory, they would also receive generous spoils of war in return. In addition, wars were not allowed between tribes. Once there were conflicts, they would be handed over to the Magonid family for coordination and resolution. This was equivalent to making the Magonid family the great leader of the tribes in southern Iberia. The interests of the tribes were not harmed, but they received many benefits. The resistance to Mago naturally decreased greatly.
As a result, Mago's territory in southern Iberia not only remained largely stable, but also had a large source of free soldiers, greatly reducing the military expenses for maintaining the security of the territory, and also reducing the number of hired soldiers (mainly referring to Phoenician and Numidian troops). In this landing, Mago brought 15,000 Iberian infantry.
The right flank was composed of 2,500 Lusitanian warriors and 2,000 Libyan soldiers. The right flank had the fewest soldiers, but Hasdrubal placed his hopes for victory on the right flank because of the presence of the Lusitanian warriors.
The Lusitanians were actually a branch of the Celts. They were tall and strong, ran quickly and powerfully, and were good at using large shields and falcata short swords. In terms of weapon use, they were similar to their relatives, the Iberian infantry, but the Iberian infantry were steady, while they were more violent in battle and more suitable for attack. Therefore, Hasdrubal placed them on the far right, hoping to use them to open the road to victory.
As for the 600 Celtic warriors, Hasdrubal left them in the rear of the center, not because he already had the habit of keeping a reserve force, but because he had just vaguely observed that there were many cavalry in the Daonian allied forces.
Hasdrubal was not like Monte Adrano. He and his uncle Mago had carefully studied the past battles of the Daonians and found that cavalry played a very important role in them. They even applied this to the war to conquer southern Iberia, repeatedly using cavalry to defeat the enemy and reverse the battle. After all, Carthage had very rich cavalry resources: Carthaginian cavalry, Numidian cavalry, Mauritanian allied cavalry, and even many Lusitanians had cavalry. This time, Mago's army included more than 7,000 cavalry.
However, because Hasdrubal had to lead his army over the mountains, raid the Sicani, and then attack the rear of the Daonian army, the cavalry became a burden instead, so there was no cavalry in the current army. Therefore, he had to leave the Celts to protect another unit and jointly defend against the Daonian cavalry's attack on the flanks of the battle formation.
Of course, the Celts were unruly and difficult to coordinate with other units in the battle formation, which would hinder the attack. This was also the reason for singling them out. For this reason, Hasdrubal also had Kisgo stationed in the rear of the center, one of whose tasks was to restrain this Celtic force.
After making these deployments, Hasdrubal ran to the right flank. He wanted to personally launch an attack on the enemy with the Lusitanians. The head of a Carthaginian army actually lined up with a group of indigenous people, and was even located in the front row of the battle formation. This was indeed unique for the Carthaginian aristocracy, even Mago could not do it, but Hasdrubal won the respect of the Iberians, Lusitanians, and even the Celts with this, and everyone was willing to listen to his command.
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After Leotychides received the report from the scouts that the Carthaginian army had left the camp, his heart settled down: today's battle would definitely continue.
He began a more detailed deployment: 6,000 heavy infantry of the Eighth Legion were arranged from the right flank to the center, with only 8 ranks, so that the Eighth Legion occupied half the length of the entire battle formation; connected to the Eighth Legion were the heavy infantry of Gela, who increased the ranks to 14; to the left of the Gela people were the heavy infantry of Camarina, also with 14 ranks…
The formation of the Daonian allied forces was like a woodcutter's axe, with a thinner handle on the right and a thicker blade on the left. Leotychides' arrangement was also a last resort: the Daonian legions and the allied forces of the southern coast had fought together for several months, and he had a deeper understanding of these Greek city-state armies. Most of them had relatively skilled heavy infantry combat skills and were brave in battle, but their discipline was loose, the battle could not be sustained, and they were prone to collapse when encountering setbacks.
Out of concern for them, he thickened their ranks. In this way, even if the front-row soldiers wearing thick Greek heavy infantry armor and inconvenient to move were timid and wanted to retreat, they would have to struggle forward under the push of the soldiers behind them, otherwise they would be more likely to die from the enemy's attack and the trampling of their own comrades.
Moreover, Leotychides, considering that many of Gela's soldiers were older citizens (the people of Gela had turned out in full force to defend their homeland this time), deliberately thickened the ranks so that they would not be easily breached by the enemy's frontal assault.
At the same time, considering the weakness of Greek hoplites—their flanks being vulnerable to attack and prone to collapse—Leotychides positioned his left flank close to the coast, thus preventing the Carthaginians from flanking them on the left and attacking the allied forces' rear.
In addition, he thickened the ranks to shorten the battle line. Although the land west of Gela was flat, it wasn't wide, only 7-8 miles from the coast to the mountains. Leotychides needed to leave enough space outside the right flank for the cavalry to maneuver, as he pinned the Daonian allied forces' hopes on the right flank. Here he had his trusted 8th Legion, as well as 1,300 cavalrymen (1,000 from the 4th Cavalry Legion plus 300 cavalry from Gela and Camarina) ready to flank the Carthaginian army and attack from the side and rear. He had learned from the people of Gela that no cavalry had been spotted in the Carthaginian army that came to attack the city, and Daonian scouts had confirmed this news in the past two days.
After careful consideration, he understood the reason, which is why he dared to engage the Carthaginians in battle so quickly. The cavalry was his greatest asset.
Leotychides and his adjutant, Mucro, stood on horseback in front of the army, observing the Carthaginian formation and receiving constant updates from scouts about the entire Carthaginian army's formation.
Although the Daonian intelligence department didn't have much information on the Carthaginian army in the Iberian Peninsula (because Carthage, in order to protect its source of precious metal mines, had explicitly stated in previous peace agreements with Daonia that "Daonian merchant ships were not allowed to trade in Carthaginian territories in Iberia," and Mago also had strict control over his territory, being wary of outsiders, making it quite difficult for Daonian intelligence personnel to enter Carthaginian-controlled southern Iberia), Leotychides roughly knew that those wearing pointed helmets, white linen cuirasses, chainmail over them, and wielding spears and long shields were Phoenician and Numidian infantry; those wearing flat-topped helmets, white tunics with purple trim, armor over them, and wielding long shields and short swords were Iberian infantry; and those wearing black robes, armor, and wielding long shields and short swords were likely the rumored Lusitanian warriors...
After roughly understanding the Carthaginian army's formation, Leotychides breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Mucro, saying, "It seems the Carthaginians are indeed worried about our legionnaires' attack power, and have deliberately placed their main force in Iberia on the left flank. In that case... our goal of first forming our ranks and using the 8th Legion to attract the enemy's main force and reduce the pressure on the allied soldiers has been achieved."
He said this because Mucro had previously reminded him that it was best not to deploy the formation before the enemy arrived, as the Daonian Military Law mentioned that it was best not to let the enemy know one's own formation deployment before the battle, lest they have the opportunity to make targeted arrangements.
At this time, Mucro did not blindly agree, and he reminded him, "Commander, the Carthaginians have placed those Lusitanians on their right flank!"
"In the past, there were rumors that the Messapians were fierce, the Lucanians were fierce, the Samnites were fierce... but they didn't pose much of a threat to Daonia. Now there are rumors that the Lusitanians are fierce, and I don't think we should blindly believe these rumors. Let's see how the battle goes first," Leotychides said calmly, with a hint of disdain. He turned to remind Mucro, "The greatest advantage of Greek hoplites is their strong frontal defense and not weak attack power.
This is precisely where our allied forces, apart from the cavalry, are superior to the enemy. Therefore, as long as it is a frontal battle, we will not be at a disadvantage."
At this moment, a messenger from the 8th Legion arrived and reported to him that the legion had completed its formation.
Leotychides immediately looked back to the left, where the clamor was still constant, and he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied. "Immediately send someone to urge the people of Gela and Camarina to speed up the formation!"
After speaking, he turned his horse around, passed through the gaps in the army, and returned to the rear of the center.
"Woo!..." More than ten minutes later, the Daonian allied forces sounded the horn for attack.
The entire army began to slowly move forward, and the fastest was the light infantry battalion of the 8th Legion. They passed through the gaps in the 8th Legion's checkerboard formation and charged towards the enemy in a loose formation. They were to use bows and javelins to inflict the first wave of attacks on the enemy, disrupting the enemy's formation and paving the way for the hoplites' attack.
Hasdrubal and Kisgo had learned about Daonia's past victories, and naturally knew about Daonia's hoplite tactics. When they saw the black-helmeted, black-armored 8th Legion facing their left flank, they were prepared. So when the 8th Legion's light infantry battalion rushed out of the army, Kisgo also ordered the troops waiting behind the left flank to move out in response.
This army numbered about 1,700 men, of whom 500 were Lusitanian javelin throwers in black robes. They wielded a hooked javelin that was difficult to remove once it pierced the human body, making Lusitanian javelin throwers feared in Iberia.
The 1,200 soldiers behind them wore white tunics, with a heavy cloth bag tied around their waists, a dagger hanging from it, no helmets, no armor, and even barefoot, holding only a sling woven from a mixture of wool and linen... Yes, they were slingers, slingers from the Balearic Islands.
The Balearic Islands are a series of islands in the western Mediterranean Sea, close to the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The inhabitants of these islands have always had a tradition of training slingers. Children receive soldier training from an early age, and their mothers even initially withhold bread from their children until they hit a distant target with a sling for the first time. The resource-poor and materially impoverished Balearic people use a large number of cheap slingers to defend the safety of the islands, and the residents with superb slinging skills also often use this skill to obtain meat and improve their lives, such as using slings to hunt birds.
Mago occupied southern Iberia (mainly the southeast), which was adjacent to the Balearic Islands. He gained the allegiance of the Balearic people by providing them with ample food, and the Balearic slingers played a significant role in the conquest of Iberia. This time, Mago brought 1,500 Balearic slingers to conquer Sicily.
After the Balearic people came out of the army, they stopped advancing. They reached into the cloth bags around their waists, which were divided into three compartments, each containing three sizes of lead bullets. They took out the lightest lead bullet, placed it in the sling's pouch, and began to swing it.
Since the Daonian allied forces had just begun to advance, and the 8th Legion's light infantry battalion was still more than 400 meters away from the enemy after rushing out of the army, they were advancing rapidly, and their formation had not yet fully dispersed when they suddenly saw a cloud flying in the sky diagonally ahead.
"Beware of flying stones! Protect your heads!" the light infantry battalion commander shouted, his face changing slightly.
Under the reminder of the officers, the light infantrymen, who had never been attacked by slingers, lowered their heads and held their necks with their hands. Although the Daonian light infantry wore tunics, they were equipped with leather helmets. After the lead bullets fell, there was a chorus of groans, but not many casualties were caused.
"Speed up! Approach the enemy!" Under the reminder of the officers, the light infantrymen, whose bodies were faintly aching from the flying stones, accelerated their advance.
In this process, they were hit by several more rounds of lead bullets. As the distance closed, the Balearic slingers had already replaced the small lead bullets with medium ones, and finally with large ones.
Since the Lusitanian javelin throwers had already rushed up, and the Daonian light infantry also had to start attacking, it was impossible to cover their faces with their hands, which led to a sharp increase in their injuries, especially the archers, because their range was long, making them the primary target of the Balearic slingers.
Archery is a delicate sport that requires a lot of physical strength. It requires most of the muscles in the upper body to work together to fully draw the bowstring and shoot accurate and powerful arrows. Even if the lead bullets did not hit the head, injuring the muscles and tendons in other parts of the body would seriously affect the archer's combat effectiveness.
The Carthaginians on the opposite side have slingers?! Leotychides was slightly shocked after hearing the scout's urgent report.
"Commander, this may be the Balearic slingers mentioned in the intelligence!" Mucro reminded.
The military department had previously received intelligence mentioning that "Mago's Numidian army had slingers from the Balearic Islands serving." However, after Mago led his army to land in Sicily this time, whether it was the siege of Selinus, the sneak attack on the Sicels, or the siege of Enna and Gela, this type of soldier had not been used, so Leotychides temporarily overlooked its existence.
At this moment, he immediately issued an order: "Let the bugler on the right flank sound the horn to accelerate the advance, so that the soldiers of the 8th Legion can engage the enemy as soon as possible and avoid our formation being disrupted by the slingers!"
"Woo woo woo..." The horn sounded urgently in the rear. Upon hearing the horn, the officers of the 8th Legion immediately instructed the company and battalion standard bearers to frequently wave the raised army flags forward, and the soldiers on the entire right flank gradually accelerated their speed of advance.
The light infantry battalion was at a disadvantage in the ranged contest with the enemy, but they were still gritting their teeth and supporting. As members of the entire legion, the light infantry officers were well aware that they had to buy time for the hoplite comrades in the rear and not allow the enemy slingers to free up their hands to wantonly attack the legion's phalanx.
When the brigade commander hoarsely shouted "Retreat!", the light infantrymen quickly retreated, as if relieved of a heavy burden, passing through the gaps in the formation to reach the rear. By this time, their numbers were still around 700, almost all of them bearing some kind of injury.
The Eighth Legion slowed its advance when it was 50 meters away from the Carthaginian battle formation, and quickly transformed the checkerboard grid array into a tight square formation.
Meanwhile, the Balearic slingers and Lusitanian javelin throwers also took the opportunity to withdraw from the narrow space between the two armies. They suffered nearly 200 casualties, gaining a slight advantage.
Seeing the opposing light infantry withdraw, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion slowed their advance and simultaneously drew their javelins, preparing for action.
At this moment, the Phoenician Numidian infantry, who had been stationary, suddenly began to advance rapidly under the orders of their officers, preparing to launch a charge against the Eighth Legion.
This action by the Phoenician infantry disrupted the Eighth Legion's offensive rhythm, and after throwing their first volley of javelins, the soldiers had to charge and engage the enemy in close combat.
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Compared to the rapid advance on the right wing, the Daonian Allied Forces' center and left wing were still advancing slowly, while the Carthaginian army's center and right wing remained stationary, still arranging their formations. Compared to the well-trained Phoenician infantry, both the Iberian infantry and the Lusitanian warriors seemed somewhat sluggish. Fortunately, Hasdrubal was present in the ranks on the right wing, and under his loud shouts and commands, the Iberians and Lusitanians on the right wing actually began to advance eagerly after forming their ranks.
Especially the Lusitanians on the far right, they ran very fast.
At this time, the two sides were a hundred meters apart, and the Allied left wing was still advancing unhurriedly. However, the Camarina soldiers, through the narrow eye slits of their Corinthian helmets, were shocked to find that the enemy had rushed close in the blink of an eye. Only then did the officers hurriedly order a charge, but before they could fully gain speed, the Lusitanian warriors crashed into them.
The powerful force transmitted through the round shields to their bodies. If it weren't for the solid ranks behind them providing support, the Camarina soldiers in the front row would probably have been knocked flying. But even so, they were staggered and lost their best defensive posture.
The Lusitanian warriors, of course, would not miss this great opportunity, and the sharp falcata short swords in their hands fiercely stabbed forward.
Camarina soldiers fell one after another with miserable cries, and the soldiers who defended against this attack were also frightened, developing a trace of fear towards these tall, burly, and ferocious-looking enemies in front of them.
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When the two sides in the center finally closed in, the battle between the Daonian Allied Forces and the Carthaginian army had entered a full-scale engagement. The battle formation of the two sides was completely a large diagonal line, with the northern army being the furthest west and the southern army being the furthest east.
The three-mile-long battle line was shrouded in the dust and mist constantly stirred up by the fighting soldiers, and shouts, clashes, and screams echoed everywhere... In such a vast, noisy, and confusing battlefield, Leotychides couldn't even get a glimpse of the whole picture. The only thing he could rely on was the scouting cavalry distributed behind the battle lines, who would periodically report the battle situation in their respective locations to Leotychides in the rear of the center.
Were the soldiers advancing or retreating? Were there more casualties on our side or the enemy's side? The former question was easy to observe, while the latter required the scouts to rely more on their own judgment. All of these situations reported by the scouts were ultimately recorded by Mucro on the wooden tablet he carried,
to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the battle situation.
"Commander, look," Mucro said solemnly, holding the wooden tablet in front of Leotychides: "This is the situation at the beginning of the engagement! This is the current situation! Our left wing has retreated a lot, the center has retreated slightly, and our Eighth Legion's right wing hasn't made much progress!"
Leotychides stared at the wooden tablet filled with data. In fact, he had heard the situations reported by the scouts and had a general idea in his mind, but the drawings on the wooden tablet were more intuitive and clear.
Leotychides' already indifferent face became even more gloomy: It could be said that at the beginning of the battle, he was still relaxed, because his initial plan had been realized. The Carthaginians did indeed follow his initial military arrangements step by step, and the two sides turned into a head-to-head contest of heavy infantry. He believed that with the super defensive power of the Greek heavy infantry, they could form a long-term stalemate, thereby further exhausting the enemy soldiers' physical strength, which would be conducive to the implementation of his next plan. What he never expected was that after only half an hour of fighting, the left wing was at a disadvantage.
He felt that he had already paid great attention to this Carthaginian army, but the enemy's performance still exceeded his expectations.
"Let the cavalry legion attack," he pondered for a while and issued the order.
Mucro was slightly shocked. He knew that the original battle plan was not like this, but to wait until the two sides had been fighting for a long time and were somewhat exhausted, and even the Eighth Legion on the right wing had a clear advantage. The Fourth Cavalry Legion's attack would be the final step in securing victory, but now it was being used prematurely.
Of course, Mucro did not dissuade him. He knew that the situation was slightly unfavorable to the Allied forces.
"Wait a moment," Leotychides hesitated slightly, then said decisively again: "Let the light armor battalion and the light infantry battalion follow the cavalry and attack the Carthaginian left wing's flank and rear!"
Mucro was stunned. This time, he couldn't help but remind him: "Commander, the light armor battalion is our only reserve!"
"The Carthaginians have slingers, which are a great threat to the cavalry," Leotychides said calmly: "The reserve is to be used at a critical moment, and now the critical moment has arrived."
Mucro didn't say anything more. As he sent messengers to notify these three units, he felt a little uneasy in his heart. After all, Leotychides had placed his few winning chips on the Carthaginian left wing, and thus lost the ability to intervene in the overall battle situation.
The Fourth Cavalry Legion and the allied cavalry, who had been waiting in the rear of the right wing for half an hour, were already impatient. Therefore, after receiving the order to attack, the legion commander took the lead, followed closely by the other cavalry. The 1,000 cavalry of the Fourth Cavalry Legion formed a long column with four cavalrymen abreast, followed by 300 allied cavalry.
The Daonian Fourth Cavalry Legion was the weakest of the kingdom's four major cavalry legions. In the territories of Magna Graecia, the Bruttii, Messapians, and Peucetii were all races known for raising horses and had the ability to provide cavalry, while the territory of Sicily did not have such conditions. Moreover, raising warhorses was different from raising ordinary horses. It not only required a large amount of fodder but also rich legume foods to ensure sufficient strength to carry the cavalry. At the same time, frequent riding of warhorses, whether in battle or training, made the horses extremely prone to injury. Therefore, cavalry families often had to raise at least two horses to basically ensure the needs of training and combat. It can be seen that raising warhorses was not a small burden even for wealthy Daonian citizens and citizens who specialized in raising and selling horses.
The territory of Sicily did not have a tradition of raising horses, and most of the people in these territories were refugees who had been persecuted by Syracuse many times, and there were not many wealthy people. When the Fourth Cavalry Legion was first established, very few citizens signed up. After these years of development, the lives of the people in the territory of Sicily have greatly improved. In addition, the Kingdom's Senate has repeatedly passed many preferential laws for citizens who become cavalrymen. For example, cavalry families do not have to pay land tax, and the Ministry of Military Affairs pays each cavalryman a certain amount of subsidy every month... It can be said that the cavalry is the only army in Daonia that receives a fixed salary in various military services. Under the stimulus of these favorable factors, the number of the Fourth Cavalry Legion has just exceeded 1,000, far from being full.
In recent years, the Fourth Cavalry Legion has been in the barracks and has not experienced war. From the beginning to the present, this war has only played a supporting role and has not made great achievements. The cavalrymen are eager to prove themselves, so after bypassing the right wing of the army and drawing a long arc several hundred meters behind the enemy's left wing, the legion commander Asitemis intentionally ignored Leotychides's instructions under the influence of the extremely excited and bellicose emotions of the surrounding soldiers, and did not wait for the arrival of the light armored battalion and the light infantry battalion, but decided to launch a tentative attack first.
After receiving the attack order, the cavalrymen began to ride their horses and trot slowly. As a result, before they could pick up speed, they were attacked by the Balearic slingers' flying stones. Even though the distance was several hundred meters away, the Balearic people's flying stones still had considerable accuracy, and they intentionally focused their targets on the horses. Compared to the cavalrymen with leather helmets and leather armor, the warhorses, which were sensitive animals, would immediately scream and jump when hit by a lead bullet, throwing the soldiers riding on them and running around in panic.
For a time, the neighing of horses rose everywhere, and the cavalrymen who fell to the ground were anxiously chasing their warhorses, and the scene was chaotic. The attack was forced to stop.
Asitemis managed to regroup the cavalry. After a rough count, he lost more than 90 cavalrymen, reaching 1/10 of the legion's number, and he felt distressed. He did not dare to act rashly again but waited for the arrival of the helpers.
More than 10 minutes later, the two battalions arrived.
During the waiting time, the cavalrymen were not idle. Asitemis sent out a small team of cavalry to investigate. After paying some casualties, they brought back information about the general arrangement of the Carthaginians in the rear of the left wing: the enemy's slingers were arranged in a loose linear array 100 meters away from the enemy's battle formation, facing the Fourth Cavalry Legion; in front of them were hundreds of javelin throwers and hundreds of foreign light infantry guards.
Therefore, after the two detachments arrived, Asistemis presented the battle plan he had already conceived. After discussing and refining it with the two detachment commanders, they began to execute it.
The light infantry detachment charged ahead, followed by the light infantry detachment at a distance. The cavalry remained in place, waiting for the two detachments to engage the enemy before flanking them from the rear in a pincer attack.
The soldiers of the Eighth Legion's light armor detachment raised their leather shields diagonally above their heads to defend against the enemy's thrown stones, charging towards the enemy with a wide front.
The light armor detachment, mostly composed of Sikel people who had become citizens of Daonia, advanced rapidly. The Balearic slingers had only launched two volleys of lead bullets when the light armor detachment, with minimal casualties, reached close range.
Most of the Lusitanian javelin throwers did not seize the opportunity to throw their javelins, because these hooked heavy javelins were difficult to manufacture. They each carried only three, and had already used most of them in the previous skirmish with the light infantry. They would use the last one as a weapon in the upcoming battle.
The Lusitanian javelin throwers remained still, but the Celtic warriors could no longer restrain themselves. They roared, holding wooden shields in their left hands and raising their greatswords in their right hands, charging forward in a swarm.
When the Daonian light infantry saw a group of disheveled, fierce-looking, bare-chested men charging towards them, galloping like horses, roaring like thunder, and brandishing gleaming greatswords, they couldn't help but feel apprehensive. According to the tactics they had practiced in training, they should actively meet the enemy, close in, and unleash the power of their short swords. However, many light infantrymen, intimidated by the enemy's momentum, hesitated and dared not get close.
In that split second, the Celtic warriors charged in, their greatswords whistling as they swung down.
The light infantry raised their leather shields to defend.
"Thud!" It felt as if a large stone had struck the shield. Their entire left arm immediately felt a jolt of pain, and the momentary numbness made them unable to muster the strength to defend with their leather shields again, forcing them to retreat.
Some Celtic warriors even managed to cleave their greatswords into the leather shields, nearly injuring the light infantry's arms.
The light infantrymen's shock was unimaginable. They involuntarily retreated. The Celtic warriors, relying on their height and long legs, relentlessly pursued with their greatswords, like maggots clinging to a bone. They even shattered some of the light infantry's leather shields. Some light infantrymen were wounded, and the wounds inflicted by the Celtic warriors' surprisingly powerful greatswords were extremely gruesome. The wounded soldiers lying on the ground wailed incessantly, further affecting the morale of the light infantry. If it weren't for the strict Daonian military law, some soldiers would have probably already fled.
The light infantry detachment commander was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, inwardly blaming the scouts for their mistake. "These aren't light infantry, they're more terrifying than heavy infantry!" He racked his brains for a countermeasure: "Scatter! Run! Lure the enemy away!"
The Daonian light infantry's role was never to fight in formation, but to use their agility to raid the enemy's weak points and pursue fleeing soldiers. Therefore, speed training was a key part of their military training, and armed long-distance running was a common exercise.
As the officers began to relay the orders, the light infantrymen, barely holding on under the pressure of the Celtic warriors' attack, immediately turned and ran.
But what they didn't expect was that the Celts, though tall and burly, wielding greatswords and wooden shields that were heavier than their own, were not inferior to them in running ability. Even when they ran at full speed, they couldn't widen the distance between them.
The light infantrymen, still in shock, of course didn't know that these Celtic warriors lived in the northern Liberian mountains, mainly subsisting on hunting and raiding. Their long-term pursuit of prey in the mountains had given them excellent footwork and endurance.
However, the combative and easily angered Celtic warriors clearly lacked a sense of the bigger picture. Most of the warriors were eager to pursue the Daonian light infantry, forgetting the task they were supposed to be performing.
The Balearic slingers lost their protection, and the Eighth Legion's light infantry detachment had already closed in. The battle between the slingers and the light infantry was re-enacted, but this time the distance between the two sides was much closer. Some Daonian javelin throwers, seeing that the Balearic slingers only carried daggers, simply charged forward with their javelins, braving the hail of stones, wanting to engage in close combat.
Fortunately, there were still nearly 300 Lusitanian javelin throwers mixed in with the Balearic slingers. They rushed out in time, also using their javelins as spears. The Lusitanians were clearly much stronger. Relying on their height and strength, they gained the upper hand in the melee.
For the Balearic slingers, their advantage was not only long-range covering fire, but also their signature skill of accurate short-range throwing. On the battlefield where the two sides were fighting together, they dispersed, each searching for a target to attack, using large lead bullets to hurl at the Daonian archers and javelin throwers only thirty or forty meters away, increasing their lethality several times over.
Therefore, when Asistemis, the commander of the 4th Cavalry Legion in the distance, saw the light infantry being chased by the foreign warriors, the light infantry at a disadvantage, and soldiers constantly falling to the ground, he was very anxious. He immediately urged the cavalry to speed up and advance, taking advantage of the Balearic slingers' attention being drawn to the light infantry detachment, to flank them from the rear and defeat them.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Carthage has also kept a few hundred foreign warriors behind the battle line to protect their Balearic slingers. Our light infantry detachment has actually been repelled!" When Adjutant Mucro learned of this news from the scouts, he couldn't help but feel alarmed. He hurriedly looked at Leotychides: "Commander, the Carmanians are clearly struggling. What should we do?!"
Leotychides seemed not to hear, sitting on his horse like a statue, but his gaze was fixed on his right front: that was the Eighth Legion he had high hopes for, but the surging black tide had encountered a reef, causing the speed of advance to slow down. It was likely related to the fact that the Eighth Legion had suffered considerable casualties after the battle of Minoia, and had replenished a lot of reserve troops, leading to a decline in combat power. Of course, it also showed that the Phoenician-Numidian mixed infantry facing them was not a weak army... It was the weak performance of the Carthaginian army in the battle of Minoia that led him to subconsciously misjudge the combat power of the Carthaginian army this time...
At such a critical juncture, Leotychides couldn't help but involuntarily look for various reasons that led to his misjudgment. Since he participated in battles after adulthood (including those in Sparta), he had never experienced failure until now, so he inevitably lost his composure.
He gripped the reins tightly, suddenly turned around and shouted: "Bring me a long shield and a spear!"
The guard behind him immediately handed his over.
He reached out to take it, jumped off his horse, waved it a few times vigorously, then raised his spear and shouted loudly: "Soldiers, follow me to kill the enemy!"
According to the "Daonian Military Law": the legion commander has a 50-man guard, and the regional commander has a 100-man guard.
As the commander, Leotychides should have a 100-man guard, but in reality, he only had one legion under his command. In order to put as many soldiers as possible into the battle, he did not increase his guard's establishment. These 50 guards immediately responded to Leotychides' call.
He raised his shield and held his spear, taking the lead and striding forward. With each step, his familiarity with the shield and spear increased: That's right, he was not just a military commander, he was also an excellent warrior. He was the only member of the Spartan royal family who had participated in the brutal Agoge training since childhood. He was also the one who amazed the Daonian senior officers at the Daonian recruit training camp with his excellent skills!
Just as he was getting excited, a warhorse darted out diagonally, blocking his path. Mucro shouted loudly from his horse: "Prothous, you are the commander, please stay at your post and command the entire army, do not leave without authorization!"
Leotychides looked at him coldly: "I can no longer command the entire army. The only thing I can do now is to join the battle and add a bit of hope for victory! Don't waste my time, get out of the way!"
"Prothous!" Mucro did not move, his tone firm: "The first page of the "Daonian Military Law" clearly states, 'The commander should not be proud of victory, nor should he be discouraged by failure. Do not let anger cloud your reason, do not let sorrow weaken your fighting spirit... Like a god, eliminate all external interference and calmly analyze the battle situation. This is the quality that a great general must possess!'
Prothous, you are the Kingdom's Sicilian commander. Your responsibility is to protect the safety of the entire Sicilian territory, and you should not be overly concerned about the loss of one or two battles! If you abandon your duty, who will command our soldiers to retreat safely if the battle really fails?! Who will minimize the casualties of the soldiers?! If the Eighth Legion suffers heavy losses, will we still have the strength to defend Sicily?!..."
Mucro's words were like the morning bell and evening drum, stunning Leotychides on the spot, his face uncertain...
After a moment, he silently handed the shield and spear back to the guard, then turned over and mounted his horse, shaking the reins.
The warhorse, under his control, began to trot forward to the right.
"Lord, what are you going to do?" Mucro was shocked, thinking that his advice had not worked.
"I'm going to supervise the battle on the right wing. Until the last moment, who wins and who loses is still uncertain." Leotychides said with a cold face, then drove his warhorse northward.
Mucro's mood relaxed slightly, and he urged his horse to catch up.
Diocas, the company commander, had his four platoons stacked one after another, forming a section about twenty-six or twenty-seven meters long in the right-wing formation. Located in the center, he was closely observing the battle of the soldiers in the front ranks.
Compared to the battle in Minoan, the danger was far less. The enemies opposite did not appear tall or very strong, their attacks were not fierce, their impact on the formation was not very strong, and the pressure on the soldiers was not too great... However, after a long period of close observation, Diocas knew that his soldiers had met a formidable opponent.
First, the enemies opposite had very strong defenses; they were skilled at using shields for defense and coordinated very well with each other. Second, they were experienced in dealing with the soldiers' short sword attacks, which made the close-quarters short sword combat, a source of pride for the Daonian legion's infantry, not very effective. Third, they were rich in combat experience and had a good grasp of the rhythm of attack. They did not easily swing their thrusting spears but instead focused on using their long shields to defend against the soldiers' fierce attacks, using appropriate retreats to buffer the impact. When the force of the attack waned, they immediately counterattacked with long spears, forcing the opponent back or even injuring them... Therefore, the company commanded by Diocas was always in a state of advancing three steps and retreating two, making slow progress.
He certainly wouldn't have known that the Magonid family initially recruited Phoenician and Numidian refugees because their employment costs were low, they were hardworking, and they were not affiliated with any city-states or tribes, making it easy to cultivate loyalty. After rigorous training, the Phoenician-Numidian infantry indeed became the main force for the Magonid family's campaigns on the Iberian Peninsula. For over a decade, the enemies they faced were fierce natives. The Phoenician-Numidian soldiers, who were not superior in strength or speed, relied on tenacious defense and tacit cooperation to wear down enemies in prolonged confrontations or to pin down the main enemy force, allowing swift Numidian or Mauretanian cavalry to attack from the rear, ultimately crushing the enemy. This had become a common tactic for generals like Mago and Hasdrubal against the Iberian natives. Since most Iberian natives used falcata short swords, the Phoenician-Numidian infantry naturally had extensive experience in dealing with short sword attacks.
As a senior officer of the legion, Diocas was anxious. Before the battle, Leotychides had briefly explained his tactical intentions to them. The Eighth Legion was the key to victory for the Daonian allied forces in this battle. However, Diocas looked at the soldiers fighting hard in front of him, and he guessed that the situation in other companies would probably be the same. Since the start of the battle, the Eighth Legion had not only failed to open the door to victory but had instead fallen into a fierce struggle. It seemed unlikely that the dawn of victory would appear anytime soon…
Just as Diocas was lost in thought, a familiar shout came from behind him: "Warriors of the Eighth Legion, I am your legion commander! I order you to intensify your attack, defeat the enemies before you, and win honor and rewards for yourselves! Warriors of the Eighth Legion…"
It was indeed the voice of Commander Prosos! Diocas was first surprised, then uneasy. In his impression, Prosos had a rather cold personality, lacking passion. Whether in training or in previous battles, he had never loudly encouraged the soldiers. This sudden change from his usual demeanor—could it be that the overall battle situation was unfavorable to them?
Some sensitive officers like Diocas also felt the same unease, but most of the ordinary soldiers of the Eighth Legion, upon hearing the voice of their legion commander who had been with them for 10 years, was strict with them, yet brought them victory and glory, were filled with emotion. Their morale soared again. His repeated shouts were met with waves of roaring cries: "Hades!! Hades!! Fight!! Fight!!!…"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
While the soldiers of the Eighth Legion were being spurred on by Leotychides and intensifying their attack,
behind the Carthaginian left flank, Daonian cavalry were rapidly charging towards the Balearic slingers from both sides.
Although the Balearic slingers were exchanging long-range attacks with the Daonian light infantry, they had also been wary of the Daonian cavalry. So, as soon as they spotted enemy cavalry moving towards them, they immediately ignored the light infantry in front and concentrated all their efforts on dealing with the cavalry. At this point, there were still over 1,000 slingers. They divided into two groups, and dense lead shot flew towards the charging cavalry, attempting to strike them down one by one.
For a moment, horses neighed and people cried out, with cavalry constantly falling to the ground and rolling.
However, since the Fourth Cavalry Legion had already launched their charge, there was no turning back, otherwise, it would lead to even greater losses. They roared, driving their warhorses, sweeping past their wailing comrades on the ground, and charging towards the enemy not far away who were still swinging their slings.
Inspired by the courage of the Fourth Cavalry Legion, the allied cavalry followed closely behind.
Watching the enemy cavalry emerge from the swirling dust, approaching them with an imposing momentum, and getting closer and closer, the Balearic slingers finally felt panic. They began to flee backward one after another.
The Daonian cavalry charged forward, using spears to stab and horses to ram, completely scattering the slingers, and then deliberately herded them to flee towards the Carthaginian formation in front.
Several hundred routed soldiers were forced to impact the rear of the Carthaginian left flank, which was already engaged in battle. The Phoenician-Numidian infantry in the rear had no choice but to turn around and slaughter these routed soldiers to prevent them from disrupting the formation, while also having to carefully deal with the javelins thrown by the Daonian cavalry. This inevitably diverted their strength from resisting the Eighth Legion's frontal assault.
At this moment, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion, encouraged by Leotychides, were launching a new offensive with all their might.
Originally, the Phoenician-Numidian infantry were not afraid of this and would even secretly rejoice, because if the enemy exhausted their strength too early, it would be their turn to counterattack. But now, they were somewhat unable to resist and had to retreat repeatedly.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the right flank of the Carthaginian army, it was the Daonian allied forces that were repeatedly retreating.
The Carthaginian army had more soldiers than the Daonian allied forces, and they had deployed a formation of the same length as the enemy, which meant that the Carthaginian army's formation depth on the right flank even exceeded that of the enemy. The Daonian allied soldiers were individually weaker than the Lusitanian warriors, and also inferior in overall pushing strength. Therefore, after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the initial advantage of the Lusitanian warriors at the start of the battle had become extremely obvious.
Although the Lusitanian warriors' attack had weakened considerably compared to the beginning, the resistance and counterattack of the Camarinan and Geloan soldiers had weakened even more significantly. The occasional sounds of comrades falling and screaming further increased their panic, so the Daonian left flank formation continuously retreated under the pressure of the Lusitanian attack, and the originally dense formation became increasingly sparse during the retreat.
The Lusitanian warriors seized the opportunity to squeeze into these gaps, attacking the enemy from the flanks, constantly widening the gaps, and spreading the fighting to the rear of the Camarinan and Geloan formations.
Finally, fear overcame fighting spirit. Some Camarinan soldiers in the rear of the formation began to turn and flee. Their flight immediately affected their equally unstable teammates around them, and everyone followed suit, leading to an inevitable rout…
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The left flank is starting to rout?! Although Leotychides was mentally prepared, he was still somewhat dazed after hearing the news.
A moment later, he collected himself and looked forward. To better understand the battle situation, he was now positioned close to the rear of the Eighth Legion's formation, mounted on his horse, and could even clearly see the faces of the enemies fighting the soldiers: although due to his supervision and the attack of the Fourth Cavalry Legion he had dispatched on the flank and rear, the enemy was already retreating significantly, there was no excessive panic on their faces. Furthermore, the thin horizontal line of the Eighth Legion was unable to seize this opportunity to increase its forward pushing power and achieve a more effective breakthrough… So, from the current state of the battle, the stalemate on the right flank would continue for some time, and what the Eighth Legion lacked now was time.
Having spent over twenty years in Sparta, he clearly understood that once the traditional Greek hoplites on the left flank began to rout, it wouldn't be long before the entire left flank completely collapsed, which would then affect the center…
Leotychides made a decisive decision: "Order the entire army… retreat!"
Although Leotychides remained expressionless, the volume of his voice still revealed the change in his mood.
Mucro, standing beside him, also had mixed feelings. When he repeated the order, even his voice trembled: "Quick… quickly blow… the retreat bugle!"
Since the Daonian retreat signal was different from that of the Greek city-state armies, the buglers needed to blow it twice.
When the bugle call, similar to a Greek army attack, sounded, the soldiers of the Eighth Legion were somewhat incredulous, because the enemy opposite had not yet routed. This signal at this moment meant: …we have lost?!
Although it was difficult to accept, years of strict adherence to military discipline led them to obey. After a sudden fierce assault forced the enemy in front to retreat, the soldiers quickly turned and withdrew…
"Order the soldiers to speed up their retreat and enter the city through Gela's north and east gates!" Leotychides then ordered. He had not lost his head due to defeat and clearly understood that once the allied forces completely collapsed, the panicked soldiers would instinctively rush to the closest city gate, Gela's west gate, which would inevitably cause congestion and easily make them targets for slaughter by the pursuing enemy. Although the north gate was further away, it would allow soldiers to enter the city faster due to an unobstructed path. Furthermore, since most of the Eighth Legion soldiers were positioned on the right flank during formation, they were closer to the north gate compared to the center and left flank.
"Yes!" Mucro directed the messengers to rush to various locations, loudly shouting orders to the retreating legion soldiers.
Meanwhile, Leotychides, with his personal guard, hurried towards the North Gate, needing to return to the city ahead of the retreating soldiers to quickly coordinate with the Geloans, arranging defenses to receive the routed troops and prevent the enemy from exploiting the chaos to attack the city.
The standard-bearer in the guard held the legion's banner high, billowing in the wind, indicating the direction for the retreating Eighth Legion soldiers.
The enemy's rout seemed to inject vitality into Hasdrubal's weary body, and he pursued the fleeing enemies alongside the Lusitanian warriors.
At this moment, the Lusitanians' talent for running was fully utilized, while the heavy armor of the Greek hoplites made them easy prey for the pursuing enemy.
Hasdrubal led his warriors in a relentless slaughter, until everyone was covered in blood.
When they pursued to the city walls, hoping to seize the opportunity to enter the city, javelins and arrows rained down from above, causing considerable casualties to the unprepared troops.
Seeing the numerous black-helmeted and black-armored defenders on the city walls, Hasdrubal dared not continue attacking the routed troops crowded below, and instead turned to pursue the fleeing soldiers in other directions…
The Carthaginian army only withdrew to their camp at dusk.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
In this battle, the Daonian Fourth Cavalry Legion lost half its cavalry, the Eighth Legion suffered approximately 1,300 casualties, with the light armor and light infantry battalions losing more than half their strength. The Geloan army suffered over 2,000 casualties, with Camarina suffering the most; of the original 3,000 soldiers who went into battle, only 300 or so escaped. The entire allied force suffered nearly 7,000 casualties. On the Carthaginian side, there were over 2,000 casualties, with the Balearic slingers suffering the most, exceeding half their number.
Due to the Daonian allied forces' rout, most of the wounded allied soldiers failed to escape.
The Battle of Gela severely weakened the citizen armies of Gela and Camarina, leaving Leotychides with even fewer troops to command. More importantly, the news that "the Carthaginians had defeated the previously victorious Daonian army" was like a stone thrown into the seemingly calm political situation in Sicily, creating ripples in certain city-states.
After the Battle of Gela, despite repeated requests for aid from Minoa, Leotychides continued to stay in Gela, resting his troops while resisting the Carthaginian siege. With his command dwindling, he was even more reluctant to divide his forces and garrison them in various city-states, as this would only allow the Carthaginian army to defeat them one by one. Moreover, he believed that Gela's strategic location was more important than Minoa's.
Of course, he couldn't ignore Minoa's plight, so he sent a messenger, along with a Minoan messenger, to Pachynus for reinforcements.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
On the fourth day after the Battle of Gela, Cypros, the Daonian governor in Catana, received an urgent report from Xylophanes, the head of the kingdom's intelligence department in Sicily: Syracuse was conducting a military mobilization, with unclear motives.
Out of caution, Cypros immediately sent a messenger to notify the Seventh Legion, which had arrived in Catana and was ordered to proceed to Henna, to quickly return and garrison the new military camp near Leontini, to prevent any unexpected events.
But the unexpected still occurred. Pachynus agreed to aid Minoa, sending 3,000 reinforcements. Not long after they set sail from the port, they were suddenly attacked by the Syracusan fleet.
For years, the eastern waters of Sicily had been dominated by the Daonian Second Fleet.
The Syracusan navy, which had once dominated Sicily, was no longer what it used to be, having shrunk into a small fleet of only 30 triremes and a total of 50 warships, usually patrolling only the waters near its own city-state. However, it suddenly appeared near Pachynus, launching an attack on the troop transport fleet.
Because the Daonian Sicilian fleet had been stationed in Selinus for some time, guarding the western waters and concerned about the war in Selinus, it hadn't sent warships to escort the troops. Of course, the Pachynians hadn't requested assistance from Catana either, as they were far from the battlefield, the nearby waters had always been safe, and their relationship with Daonia was close. They also had amicable relations with their neighbor, Syracuse, and believed that the voyage from their city-state to Minoa should be safe. Therefore, the Pachynians only sent their city-state's five triremes as escorts, as a mere formality.
As a result, after being suddenly attacked by the Syracusan fleet, the Pachynian warships fought bravely, but were outnumbered. Except for four troop transports that escaped back to port, all the others were sunk.
At the same time, Syracuse sent an army of 12,000 men. Instead of marching north to attack Tauromenium, which was close to them, they turned south and quickly headed towards Camarina, claiming that they were "going to help the Camarinans resist the Carthaginian invasion."
After the Camarinans refused the Syracusan army's request to enter the city, the Syracusan army immediately changed its tune, surrounding Camarina and pretending to prepare for an attack while sending envoys into the city to threaten the Camarinans: Syracuse had allied with Carthage, and they could either rejoin Syracuse to be protected when the Carthaginian army arrived, or choose to refuse, and Syracuse would attack the city. After the city fell, the citizens would be handed over to the Carthaginians.
Because Camarina had already sent most of its citizen soldiers to aid Gela, only about 500 Camarinan citizen soldiers remained in the city, and they were weak and outnumbered. They could only reluctantly stall for time, saying that they needed time to consider.
The Syracusan envoys arrogantly gave them only one day.
After the envoys returned, the Syracusan army not only immediately blocked the road from Camarina to Gela, but also the Syracusan warships blockaded its port.
Meanwhile, the Carthaginian army, victorious in the battle, had moved its camp eastward, increasing the siege on Gela, so Leotychides was busy dealing with the Carthaginian siege and knew nothing about the changes in Camarina.
Only half a day later did a Daonian merchant ship, risking entry into the port, bring news: The Syracusan fleet had attacked Pachynus's troop transport fleet and blockaded the ports of Pachynus and Camarina.
Leotychides was shocked to learn this: Syracuse had finally joined the war!
Syracuse's entry undoubtedly worsened Daonia's plight in Sicily, especially on the southern coast, where the Daonian allied forces were not only at a greater disadvantage in numbers, but also found themselves in a dangerous situation of being attacked from both sides.
Even if Leotychides wanted to reinforce Camarina, he was powerless to do so for the time being. The land route was threatened by the Carthaginian army, and the sea route was blocked by the Syracusan fleet. Without a fleet to escort them, the ships would probably not even be able to enter the port of Camarina and would be food for the fish and shrimp.
Leotychides sent a Daonian fast ship, docked in the port of Gela, to immediately notify Siculus in Selinus.
A day later, the Camarinans, at a loss and helpless, saw Syracusan soldiers carrying siege ladders and pushing tall siege weapons towards the city walls, which made them tremble with fear. Fearing the tragic fate of Agrigentum, the Camarinans finally chose to surrender.
For more than ten years, due to the strength of the Daonian kingdom and the long-term friendly relations with the Camarinans, there were almost no pro-Syracusan citizens in the city of Camarina. As a result, the Syracusans, who had occupied the city, were temporarily unable to establish a government close to them. To prevent rebellion, they demanded that the Camarinans hand over many hostages, and that 3,000 Syracusan soldiers be stationed in the city, ostensibly to effectively prevent the Carthaginians from destroying Camarina once the Carthaginian army arrived.
In addition, the Syracusans also demanded that the remaining 500 Camarinan soldiers be transferred to the Syracusan army to cooperate in combat.
Now that the Camarinans were at the mercy of others, they finally agreed to these conditions.
After the Syracusan army gained Camarina's allegiance, it did not lead its troops west to join the Carthaginian army besieging Gela, but entered the city of Camarina, leaving 3,000 soldiers to garrison it. The remaining soldiers sailed to the coast of Pachynus and landed, immediately surrounding the city of Pachynus and sending envoys into the city to demand its allegiance to Syracuse.
The Syracusan envoys threatened that if Pachynus refused this request, Syracuse would immediately execute the 2,000 Pachynian citizens (after the Syracusan fleet sank the Pachynian troop transport fleet, it did not leave, but rescued the Pachynian citizen soldiers who had fallen into the water and captured them), and then lead its army to attack the city of Pachynus. After the city fell, all the citizens would be sold to the Carthaginians as slaves.
The Syracusan threat frightened the people of Pachynus. Their city was surrounded by the Syracusan army, and the port was blockaded by the Syracusan warships. The people on the city walls looked with tearful eyes at the thousands of relatives who were kneeling and bound on the ground, looking haggard and dejected. The Pachynians, in a state of panic, urgently held a citizens' assembly and quickly reached a consensus: Pachynus, which had been a tributary city of Syracuse before the Daonians entered Sicily, once again became affiliated with Syracuse.
In a matter of days, Syracuse had successively brought Pachynus and Camarina into its alliance. In the blink of an eye, the entire southeastern corner of Sicily had once again become Syracuse's sphere of influence, and the citizens who had always dreamed of reliving Syracuse's glory were all overjoyed.
The Syracusan chief general, Theagenes, who had proposed this plan and strongly promoted it despite the opposition of his colleagues, was highly praised by the people and his prestige greatly increased.
But at the same time, some people were dissatisfied with Theagenes's actions, such as General Hicetas, who openly questioned: "Just to obtain two small city-states, Syracuse is taking a huge risk to anger the powerful Daonia, which is very dangerous! Theagenes, don't forget that the Carthaginians are far away in Africa, while we Syracuse are right next to Daonia!"
But Theagenes responded with perfect composure, "This great war between Daonia and Carthage in Sicily has drawn in all the Sicilian city-states. Can Syracuse be an exception? No! The Carthaginian army has already advanced to Gela, while the Dionysian army is stationed in Leontini. We must make a choice, or we will be crushed by the forces of both sides.
However, we will not become true allies with the Carthaginians, who have been our mortal enemies for decades, nor will we rashly challenge the Daonians, who have taken away our hegemony. What we must do is seize every favorable opportunity in this fierce war and regain Syracuse's former glory!"
Theagenes said this, and he also did it.
When Cypross of Catania sent an envoy who angrily questioned at the Syracuse council: "Your Syracuse fleet attacked the convoy of Pachynus and led troops to occupy Camarina. This is a provocation against Daonia! You must immediately stop this dangerous behavior, withdraw your troops from Camarina, and compensate Pachynus, and guarantee that you will not take similar actions in the future, otherwise Daonia will not sit idly by!"
Theagenes responded calmly, "May I ask, are Daonia and Pachynus, Camarina allies? Of course not. You have no alliance or even an agreement with these two city-states, but we do, and it is a comprehensive military alliance."
As he spoke of Camarina, he also had people bring the newly signed alliance treaty to show to the Dionysian envoy, and said with a slight mockery: "Thank you very much for Daonia's concern for the recent events, but this is an internal matter between us and our allies, and we can resolve it ourselves. We don't need outsiders like Daonia to worry about it."
The Dionysian envoy was momentarily speechless. After a moment, he said resentfully: "Is Syracuse preparing to join forces with the Carthaginians?!"
"How could we Syracusans join forces with our mortal enemies, the Carthaginians!" Theagenes said with a serious expression: "We just want to protect ourselves on this war-torn island of Sicily."
The Dionysian envoy understood. He said coldly: "So Syracuse wants to be a crow, stealing corpses after beasts fight. But no matter how much carrion the crow eats, it is still a crow. I hope that the peace and tranquility of Syracuse today, bought with the blood of heroes like Herolys who resisted the tyranny of Dionysius more than a decade ago, will not be lost in your hands!"
The conversation between Theagenes and the Dionysian envoy at the council was spread, and many people praised their chief general's toughness and wit when speaking to the Dionysian envoy, while a few people worried about the warning given by the Dionysian envoy.
Just as the Dionysian envoy was leaving Syracuse, many Syracusans rushed over to insult and humiliate him, venting their dissatisfaction with Daonia.
Theagenes had anticipated this. He did not want to openly break with Daonia for the time being, so he specially sent a patrol to escort him.
The Dionysian envoy left Syracuse with a bruised nose and a swollen face, his clothes torn, which he regarded as a great humiliation.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
When Secnian led the fleet to Gela, Leotychides already knew that Camarina and Pachynus had surrendered to Syracuse, which forced him to cancel his original plan. The successive changes also shook his confidence in continuing to hold the southern coast.
So, as soon as he saw Secnian, who had just arrived,
he said bluntly: "Camarina and Pachynus have surrendered to Syracuse. It is estimated that Minoa will not be able to hold on for long. Now we are completely at a disadvantage, but my army is scattered in Selinus and here, and it cannot play any role in the overall situation. Therefore, I have decided to withdraw all the troops in the southern coastal city-states. If the Minoans and Gela people are willing to follow us, then return to Catania together, reunite with the Seventh Legion, strengthen our forces again, and look for opportunities to continue to resist the Carthaginians and even the Syracuse's attack."
Secnian looked at Leotychides' serious expression, thought carefully, and said in a deep voice: "All other places can be evacuated, but Selinus must be retained!"
"All the troops in other places have been evacuated. Selinus has completely become an isolated city. How many days can Calciydes hold on?" Leotychides seemed not to have confidence in this.
Secnian was very confident about this: "The Carthaginians have launched several sieges against Selinus these days, but they have all been repelled, and our garrison's losses have not been too great. I think Calciydes has the demeanor of a great general. He is not in a hurry and has a good way to defend the city. Selinus should be able to hold on."
"Calciydes is certainly very capable." Leotychides shook his head slightly: "Unfortunately, he has too few troops under his command. Once we leave, Selinus will become the focus of the Carthaginian attack and will not be able to hold on for long."
Secnian said anxiously: "With the help of our navy, how can Calciydes have few soldiers under his command! As long as he holds on for a few more days, after the Catania farmland is harvested in September, I will transport several thousand or tens of thousands of crew members without warships in the naval base over there. Although these crew members do not have the ability to directly fight the Carthaginian soldiers, they can still assist in defending the city.
Selinus is too important! As long as we still have it in our hands, our warships and crew members will have a foothold in western Sicily, and the fleet can go to the western waters to hunt with more peace of mind, and their Carthaginian ships will not dare to easily transport soldiers and supplies on the southern coast…"
Secnian was in the middle of his excitement when Leotychides interrupted him and said very bluntly: "Okay, let's do as you said. Your Sicilian fleet will provide reinforcements to hold Selinus, and all the other city-states and troops will be evacuated from the southern coast."
Secnian was stunned, and immediately reacted: "Did you have this plan long ago and just wanted to trick me into helping you defend the city?!"
Leotychides said expressionlessly: "Now I am going to persuade the generals of Gela to leave here and go to Catania for refuge, and the matter of persuading the Minoans must be handed over to Lord Secnian. Gela is guarded by our Eighth Legion and there is no major problem for the time being, but Minoa is already in danger. I hope you can seize the time."
"Uh… I said, Prothous, you are not His Majesty Devers, what right do you have to assign me tasks! This matter should be decided after we discuss it first…" Secnian expressed his dissatisfaction loudly, but Leotychides had already strode out of the hall…
A day later, a fleet full of Minoan people, under the protection of the Dionysian fleet, sailed east along the southern coast. When passing through the southeastern corner of Sicily, Secnian was nervous and excited. He sent out all the fast ships and ordered all the lookouts on the warships to open their eyes wide and carefully observe the abnormalities on the sea.
But to his disappointment, the Syracuse fleet did not appear, and the entire fleet smoothly arrived at the port of Catania.
At the same time, the city of Minoa was captured by Bomilcar, and all the remaining Minoan citizen soldiers were killed in battle.
The Gela people also agreed to evacuate to Catania, not because Leotychides had strong persuasive powers, but because their ideas were the same as those of the Minoans: if it were the Syracuse people who were besieging them, the people who were reluctant to leave their homeland might consider whether to surrender, but outside the city were the Carthaginians, as well as those fierce and barbaric natives. The Agrigentum people had been massacred, and the Gela people did not want to follow in their footsteps.
The Sicilian fleet quickly returned from the Catania naval base to the southern coast, escorting this large fleet, which not only carried grain and supplies, but also sixteen thousand sailors. He was here to fulfill his promise to Leotychides.
Originally, Secnian was preparing to do this after the autumn harvest, but after a conversation with Cypross, Cypross suggested to him: "After you all withdraw from the southern coast, the Selinus garrison will inevitably face greater offensive pressure. Since this city is so important, don't delay it, send the crew members over as soon as possible. You don't have to worry about the harvesting of their family's farmland, I will help them solve it."
Secnian accepted Cypross's suggestion.
The fleet arrived safely at Selinus.
Secnian first unloaded the grain and weapons from the fleet to the dock, and let 10,000 sailors stay in the port, managing and defending the port while assisting Calciydes in defending the city to make up for the lack of defense.
After resting for one night, he had the remaining 6,000 sailors drive more than 30 Phoenician warships (captured earlier in the battle with the Eastern Phoenician fleet from Persia), which had been simply repaired in the port, and followed the Sicilian fleet and the convoy to Gela together.
According to the prior notice from the fast ship, Leotychides, with the soldiers of the Eighth Legion, the cavalry of the Fourth Cavalry Legion, a large number of Gela people, and the Agrigentum people who had previously fled to Gela, had prepared and were waiting in an orderly queue at the various docks.
So as soon as the fleet entered the port and docked, everyone boarded the ship quickly in turn.
When the Carthaginian scout told Hasdrubal the news that "a large fleet had arrived at the port of Gela", he did not realize at first that the entire city of Gela was preparing to retreat, because after the victory in the battle, the Carthaginian army's several sieges had failed. Even in the siege the day before, the Dionysian soldiers had launched a sortie, catching Hasdrubal off guard, causing the Carthaginian siege force to collapse. It was clear that the morale of the garrison in the city was high, and Hasdrubal had to let the defeated soldiers rest for the past two days.