Chapter 414 \nDue to the number of Samnites attacking in the north being the largest, Alexius concentrated the ballistae and most light infantry on that side.\n
When Tolek temporarily led his team to retreat, 7,000 Caudini warriors in the west, led by Kinduk, began climbing the wall.
On this side, the first and second brigades are in charge of the defence, Seeing the surging enemy under the wall and in the trenches, even Litom, who loves fighting, froze.
âDonât panic, just focus on a spot and stab when an enemy shows up! Even though there are more enemies, they wouldnât all be able to climb up!âŠâ Litom, carrying his shield and spear, walked back and forth behind the soldiers, encouraging them while observing the enemyâs situation.
âStrategos, be careful!â The guard behind him suddenly exclaimed.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Litom caught a glimpse of a dark figure. The dark figure ignored the stabbing of the soldiers and jumped down from the top of the long ladder and rushed straight to Litom.
Due to the unexpected situation, Litom had no time to wield his spear, so he could only quickly throw away his shield and spear and tried to pull out his short sword, but the enemy pinned him on the ground.
The enemy pressed on him, twisting both his limbs on both sides. In such a narrow distance, Litom arduously pushed his short sword forward, but he instead hit a hard object and couldnât pierce the enemyâs chest.
At this time, the shadowâs powerful hands pressed hard on his eyes, with Litom experiencing a stinging pain. At this critical moment of life and death, Litom didnât panic. Instead, he twisted his right wrist, tilted his short sword against the hard object and pushed upward.
With a muffled grunt, the short sword pierced the dark shadowâs jaw. Afterwards, the dark shadow fell.
Litom pushed him away and immediately stood up.\n
The soldiers then came and stabbed the struggling enemy with their spears.
Litom shook his dizzy head, gently rubbed his swollen and pained eyes. He then squinted and saw the man wearing silver armour and silver greaves.
From what Litom knew, there are about four types of Samnite warriors: Light infantry with spears and javelins, having no protection; Infantry with spears, shields, javelins and helmets but no armour; Medium infantry with long shields, spears, helmet and a golden-ish armour; There are also heavy infantry wearing colourful plumes on their helmets, with silver armour and greaves. However, this kind of heavy infantry is not a lot among the Samnites, and its position in the tribe is not low.
Litom carefully inspected the dead man on the ground. He bent down, pulled his short sword and waved it hard, removing the bloodstains on the sword. At this time, he became alarmed when he recalled the thing that happened just now. If he were still wearing their previous weapons and equipment and used their curved military sword (a curved sword that was more suitable for cutting), he would have difficulty fighting in close combat. Although he would still be able to wave his sword and cut the enemyâs neck, the enemy would have blinded him.
Litom, with a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left hand, stood up and looked forward.
Due to numerous enemies having climbed up the wall, most of the soldiers just stood behind the wall and no longer poked their heads down. Instead, they erected their long shields and pushed outward to deflect the thrusting spears while knocking the enemy down into the trench. Once the enemy became unstable, spears and short swords would then pierce through the gap between the shields.
Behind the soldiers who are fighting with all their strength at the forefront, the second-line soldiers were ready to reinforce them at any time, surrounding the incoming enemies at the same timeâŠ
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Over the years, even though the Samnites have always looted Campania, they rarely attack sturdy cities. In fact, they lack experience in sieging, so Tolek, who had never commanded so many warriors, was complacent at wanting to destroy the camp in one fell swoop. However, he didnât expect that this small camp has made his army stumble. The wall of fire alone killed hundreds of Pentri warriors, causing unwillingness and anger to pile up in his heart. Thus he could only retreat and reorganise his army. After the fire weakened, he once again sounded the horn that signals attack.
The Samnites charged in front with vengeful anger while their light infantry followed behind half-naked. All of them took off their short linen and used it to wrap large handfuls of dirt, carrying the javelins in one hand and earthen sacks in the other, ready to rescue their tribesmen who were still on the fire.\nThe defending Theonians no longer threw their oil jars even when the Samnites jumped into the trench. The Samnites then erected long ladders and continued climbing even under the constant rain of stones, arrows, and javelins.
Under the protection of the guards, Tolek, who was anxiously urging his men to attack, nearly tripped over the earthen sack placed by the light infantry in front of the trench, which gave him inspiration. He then shouted, âDrop the sack! Drop the sack quickly!âŠâ
Under the leadership of their chieftain, the light infantry who were throwing their javelins into the enemyâs camp braved the arrow rain as they quickly threw down the earthen sacks at one spot into the trench. Seeing this, the Samnites became more excited and continued adding more sacks until it was the same height as the campâs wall.
On the other hand, the Theonian soldiers kept stabbing at the earthen sacks with their spears, trying to destroy the enemyâs attempt.
After the Samnite warriors steadily piled up the earthen sacks and built a ramp in an attempt to occupy the top of the wall. The shields of both sides collided; spears and spears fought back as a fierce melee erupted.
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âLegatus, strategos Lacydes (the strategos of Eleaâs army) is asking for help!â Alexius was paying close attention to the battle when his adjutant rushed to the north of the camp and reported to Alexius.
âHe couldnât hold it anymore?!â Alexius frowned. He ordered the Elean army and gave them half of a heavy infantry brigade to defend the south of the camp as there shouldnât be too many Samnites coming out of Poseidonia.
âThe Eleans didnât understand the tactics of the Samnites and were hit by javelins. Now, they seemedâŠfrightened by the Samniteâs momentum!â The adjutant explained.
âOur alliesâ army is reallyâŠâ Alexius muttered half of what he wanted to say but swallowed the word âunreliableâ. After all, he couldnât say anything that would undermine their unity.
\nAt this moment, Alexius began to anxiously look forward to the early arrival of Davosâ reinforcementsâŠ
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In fact, on the hill a kilometre east of the camp of the third legion of Theonia, Davos, Tolmides, and a group of guards were watching the battlefield: Nearly 30,000 Samnite warriors were besieging the camp from the east, west, south and north, making the small camp looks like a broken boat, which is in danger of being swallowed by huge wavesâŠ
Tolmides express his admiration, âThe third legion are really tenacious that they could last so long!â
âYes, it is not easy for them!â Davos nodded approvingly, âBut they are not alone! Have all the troops reached their predetermined positions?â
âYes, milord!â The herald â Tolmides, finished his military salute and excitedly reported, âThe first legion has reached the northeast of the camp, about a kilometre and a half away; The second legion is now at the southeast of the camp, more than a kilometre away; Ledesâ cavalry is blocking the road to the mountain in the north while Izamâs reconnaissance brigade and the army of Laos are rushing to the city of Poseidonia, ready to stop the enemyâs attempt to flee back to the city!âŠâ
In fact, they could roughly see the action of each unit by standing on this mountain. The Theonians didnât sound the salpinx nor shouted. They just quietly and quickly stretched their formation to surround the enemies outside the camp and advance without stoppingâŠ
âNow that everything is arranged properly, we only need to wait for the news of victory.â Davos says with a relaxed expression. He then sat leisurely on the rock, ready to watch the battle.
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To avoid becoming a burden or getting trampled by the surging attack, the injured Samnites tried their best to retreat to the rear. However, these fortunate warriors soon found that they were not so lucky as countless soldiers with black helmets and armour suddenly appeared behind them, approaching quickly like an endless black tide surging towards them.