Chapter 284: Battle of Anlen Hills (I)

Solikos was relieved from hearing this, as he knew the power of the peltast of the 7th brigade of the first legion, especially in a narrow mountain path where there is not enough room to dodge, it would be difficult to avoid the javelin throw of the peltast.

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

Pasimeus, archon of Rudiae, led the soldiers of the city-state alliance of Messapi to rush down the hills on both sides and attack the Tarantines in the mountain path.

While the Peucetians and the Alytian soldiers did not join the battle after finding out that the Theonians had entered the Anlen Hills as well.

Telemani hopes to see them rush to reinforce the Tarantines so that even if they had more soldiers than the Peucetians, a second ambush would still be able to wipe them out.

But the report of the scouts that have returned dashed his hopes.

“What?! The Theonians didn’t enter that mountain path and had instead disappeared?!” Telemani sprang to his feet and yelled, “And you have the nerve to say that you don’t know? Don’t think that just because you are a Messapian, I would not dare punish you! You must go find out where the Theonians have gone!”

“King of Peuceti, the Theonians had suddenly sent hundreds of cavalries to encircle our scouts, and it’s already their luck to escape.” Timogeras, the archon of Alytia, came forward and calmed him, “The Theonians will certainly come to rescue the Tarantines. The main point is for us to find out the direction they would appear, and it is only in that way we would be able to intercept them in time. Otherwise, the situation would become more dangerous.”

“Send out all the cavalries and search for them as quickly as you can! I don’t believe they can hide an army of tens of thousands of men!” Telemani shouted indignantly, the cunning Theonians had clearly come prepared and made all of Telemani’s arrangements go down the drain while thinking about the fact that the Theonian army had ignored the temptation of the Messapi-Peuceti and marched straight to Brindisi earlier and made Telemani realise that he had underestimated the commander of Theonia.

“What’s the name of the young commander of Theonia?” Telemani asked with seriousness.

“It seems…it is Davos.” Replied Timogeras.

Telemani repeated the name a few times, with his eyes lighting up with excitement.

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

With the place where the Tarantines were ambushed as the centre of the circle, the cavalries fought on every mountain path and on the lower slopes of every hill in a half fan area to the south, while Davos seize the opportunity to spread the mountain reconnaissance brigade to scout ahead and lead the army to the place where the sound of battle is.

However, Davos had not expected that although the hills here are not too high, they covered a large area and that sometimes the hills were so connected that there was no path through them, besides passing through the low places between the hills. Their original plan was to make a slight detour to the east to avoid the ambush of the Messapi-Peuceti and rush to the rear of the enemy and rescue the Tarantine soldiers. However, that slight detour has instead become longer.

With the increasing distance, the soldiers of Heraclea and Metapontum complained endlessly. And the soldiers of Theonia also had some discontent in their hearts, but few people spoke it out.

While Umakas was extremely anxious due to the scouts’ report and the distant sound of fighting has shattered his wishful thinking, ‘The Messapians had indeed set up an ambush!’

As soon as he thought of the warning of Davos, remorse filled his heart as he tasted the bitter fruit of his failure to trust Davos more firmly and prevent Diaomilas from acting arbitrarily.

At this moment, he pinned all his hopes on Davos, but he did not urge him so as not to annoy the young military genius and affect their rescuing of the Tarantine army.

Davos was also anxious, and he was also irritated due to the long march in the mountains and seeing the soldiers’ exhaustion. From hearing the sounds of fighting and screaming becoming clearer, the battlefield should be not far ahead, but he was unsure if there were any more difficult hills they needed to pass that would force them to take a long detour.

“Lord commander, Izam has returned!” Shouted Tolmides.

“Quick! Bring him here quickly!” Davos hurried forward to greet him.

“Lord commander, ahead…there is no need to take a detour, and we can go straight through…” Izam panted heavily. After giving a military salute, he said eagerly, “There are only two more hills to pass before we reach the battlefield. However, my subordinates have spotted the enemy rushing here as well!”

Davos calmed down, after all, with so much time passing, it’s natural that the Messapi-Peuceti alliance discovered the movement of his army, and since they were already on the inner circle, they no longer feel it is a pity. Besides, the other side is in a hurry, so they surely do not have any defensive measures, and an ambush is even more unlikely. As long as they do not have to take another detour, the Theonian army fears no one in a frontal confrontation!

At his request, Izam drew a simple map on the ground using a branch.

After pointing out the main points and asking them in detail, Davos already thought up a plan in his mind, “Order the whole army to go through behind the hill quickly and then form up. The first legion would be on the left, the second on the right, and the rest are to be in reserve!”

“Yes!” Tolmides replied excitedly.

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

In fact, the Theonian reinforcements have made a big detour as they were already approaching the exit of the Anlen Hills, which is equivalent to reaching the rear of the Messapi-Peuceti alliance, where the terrain gradually levelled off.

Endless hills lay in front of the Theonian army after crossing the mountain path. Fortunately, these hills were no more than 30 meters in height and easy to climb.

After going over it, they would reach the battlefield! The Theonian soldiers listened to the sound of battle coming from the other side of the hill and watched as more and more foreign enemies appear on the hill as their combativeness began to boil…

‘We finally caught up!’ The king of the Peuceti climbed the hills and let out a long exhale. He then looked at the Greek soldiers who were pouring out of the path in front of him.

“My king, look there!” A Peucetian general pointed down the hill. Several Greeks, wearing brightly coloured helmets, were galloping along the path in front of the hills, stopping from time to time to point and discuss something while being followed by a group of soldiers, one of whom was holding a shining golden military banner.

“DA-V-OS!” Telemani murmured the name, which he found a bit awkward to pronounce, and took a few steps forward, subconsciously trying to get a better look at his opponent.

“My king, do you want me to send some archers to shoot them?” Asked the Peucetian general.

“Of course not!” Telemani refused without even thinking about it. He looked at his men and said with a slightly excited appearance, “Let’s have a real battle with the young Greek strategos and the Greek Hoplite!”

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

Davos carefully controlled his horse and galloped back and forth along the road to observe the whole terrain of the battlefield.

“Where do you think would be the easiest place for us to break through?” Asked Davos suddenly.

“There!” Kapus and Drakos pointed to the same place at the same time.

It was the lowest point between the endless hills, only four meters high. It is not only gentle but also wide enough.

Davos nodded but reminded, “The easiest place to break through is often the place where the enemy defends the most tightly!”

He stared at both of them with a gleaming gaze, “Now, the Tarantine army is under siege, and time is of the essence, so I am going to have Amintas’ brigade attack there and try to break through the enemy line in the shortest possible time!” Antonios’ first brigade has the strongest comprehensive combat strength, but the brigade led by the brave Amintas did have a stronger impact, and what Davos needed most at this time was time.

Kapus nodded to show his understanding, while Drakos wanted to say something, but he did not say anything after hearing Davos.

“When the legions are ready, you will launch the attack on your own!” Davos gave the order decisively.

After Kapus and Drakos gave their military salute, they hurriedly returned to their legion.

“Let the armies of Heraclea and Metapontum spread out on the right side of the second legion as far as possible so that they can attack immediately once the second legion launches their attack.” Davos continued to give orders.

“Understood, lord commander!” Tolmides and two heralds immediately went back to the path behind them.

When Davos finished all the arrangements, Umakas asked with suspicion, “Why did lord Davos put Teriphias and Taudeles on the right? Wouldn’t this make the enemy’s formation on our left longer than ours?”

“We should arrange our formation according to the actual situation so that we can have the initiative in every battle. Our aim now is to break through the enemy’s obstruction and rescue the Tarantine army, while the enemy’s aim is to stop us from advancing. The reason why we have more soldiers on the right-wing than the enemy is to have an easier time making a breakthrough on the right-wing. Therefore, even if the enemy manages to block our left-wing, the right-wing would be able to break through, which would be equal to defeating the enemy’s attempt to intercept us…” After giving his orders, Davos had some free time, so he patiently explained to Umakas, “Besides, don’t you see that the further you go to the right, the more gentle the hill becomes(because it’s close to the edge of the hill), allowing the slightly weaker Heraclea and Metapontum troops to give full play to their strength.”

“But the enemy can see our formation on the top of the hill, and they will certainly make a change.” Reminded Umakas.

Davos smiled confidently, “They don’t have time.”

Umakas was curious and wanted to ask why they do not have enough time when he heard Davos shouting, “Matonis, why aren’t you leading your troops?!”

“Davos…oh, lord commander!” Seeing that Davos looked seriously, Matonis suddenly became nervous, “I…I request…that my brigade attack there.” Matonis pointed his finger in the distance to the breakthrough that they have discussed earlier.

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