Chapter 452 Fortress Battle

Half a month later, the Alans' army began to gather. Their leader Diego, either by order of Gaiseric or on his own initiative, gathered his troops and marched along the valley path from Malaca to New Carthage.

Luca had already built a fortress here, right on the road between Malaca and New Carthage. Two field regiments of soldiers were stationed here. There were less than a thousand soldiers stationed there. Faced with the swarming army, they could only make hasty preparations, and everyone arrived at the designated combat positions.

The fortress was built in a concave shape, mainly to prevent the Alans from attacking the city gates, and to prevent the attacking Alans from being attacked from three sides when defending the city gates. Therefore, it was simply a fantasy to occupy the fortress by attacking the city gates.

But the actual number of Romans was not that small. Luca was there in person. Nearly a thousand troops formed two large square formations of field regiment units outside the fortress. There were only archers on the fortress walls. Looking down from above, the number of people inside was so small that it was counted in the single digits, as if telling the Alans in front of them that the Romans only had troops going out of the city to fight, but no troops to defend the city.

They had a thousand men, and without the protection of the city walls, they formed two huge fixed tortoise shell formations on the flat ground. This was nothing short of ridiculous in the eyes of the Alans. How could they possibly resist the iron hooves of their own war horses? The two Roman phalanxes faced the dark mass of the Alans army in front of them, and they were ready for battle.

"The Roman commander must be too confident. With only a thousand people, they can't withstand our attack." Diego's adjutant said arrogantly, so much so that Diego, who was observing nearby, couldn't help but reveal a smug smile.

"Our king has already set out from Cordoba three days ago. I believe we will be able to meet up with him this afternoon." The messenger reported to Diego slowly. This news was naturally the source of their arrogance.

"The fact that this fortress is built here is an obstacle in itself. Moreover, the Romans intend to use their extremely inferior forces to fight us outside the city. In this case, we are very happy to come forward and solve this problem."

"So what are you waiting for? Attack!"

“Wuwuwu…”

The rapid and continuous sound of trumpets sounded again and again in the Alans' army. The Alans began to deploy, with the infantry in the front, the cavalry on the left and right sides, and the archers behind the infantry.

“Ka-ka-ka…”

There was a sound of bowstrings being pulled, and in an instant a flood of arrows flew into the sky and fell on the Roman phalanx. Only the sound of clinking could be heard, and many arrows were blocked by shields and bounced off like raindrops.

"Stay together, maintain the current formation, don't get confused, don't be afraid!" The officers shouted loudly, still using the same routine over and over again to try to get the soldiers to control their inner fear under the dense attack of arrows.

Although they are protected by shields, they are still faced with sharp arrows that could take their lives at any time. Even veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles cannot guarantee that they have the strong psychological quality to remain as calm as a mountain. They might be suddenly hit by an arrow when they least expect it. Even injuring their arms or legs can be fatal if they do not receive timely treatment!

As a result, something went wrong in the tightly-packed army formation. Many of the dense arrows fell through the gaps in the shields and pierced the soldiers' thighs or scratched their bodies. The soldiers who were hit by arrows wailed, but they still endured the pain and struggled to hold on, basically ensuring the integrity of the army formation.

“Boom boom boom…”

A lot of horse hoof sounds came from the Alans' army formation, and the Alans cavalry on both sides of their army formation sped up and rushed towards the Roman army formation below.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The front-line officers called out to the centurions, and saw the fortress gates behind them opened. The soldiers who received the order ran into the open gates regardless of their formation.

The back is the most vulnerable part of these soldiers. The Romans in front of them are like a group of deserters who have abandoned their armor and weapons. They are the most ideal target for the cavalry.

The Alans cavalry increased their speed, roaring and whistling as they rushed towards the backs of the Romans entering the city. When they were less than a hundred meters away from the Roman fortress, the Roman soldiers would not let go of these fat men running towards them.

At this time, a large number of archers suddenly appeared on the walls of the Roman fortress. They drew their bows and shot arrows at the cavalry who rushed into the recess below.

At this time, a hurried horn sounded again from the Alan army. It was the order to retreat, so the Alan cavalry heard it clearly. They immediately reined in their horses and turned back before they could go any further.

At this time, arrows fell on their heads like raindrops, and people or horses were constantly hit and fell to the ground, but they did not go too deep, so they pulled their horses in time and retreated out of the range of the Roman archers when they were hit by the first wave of attacks.

"They seem to have fooled you, my lord!" the nobleman beside him said to Diego. Diego was so angry that his face turned red. He glared at the Roman fortress in front of him, raised his iron sword high, and said to the infantry behind him: "Now, the Romans are like rabbits hiding in caves that they think are absolutely safe. This is not a problem for smart and brave wolves like us."

The soldiers raised their weapons and cheered, as if they were excited by Diego's words. It was as if they had really won the victory. In their eyes, such a seemingly indestructible fortress was nothing.

"Attack! Attack!"

The long trumpets of the Alans sounded again, and the black mass of the Alans army rushed towards the Roman fortress under a rain of arrows.

"Defense! Defense! Defense!"

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The commander defending the city shouted loudly, and the Roman soldiers who had just escaped back to the city had no time to catch their breath before they had to run to their battle posts and be on full alert.

“Boom…”

The footsteps of the Alane army made the whole earth tremble. The Roman soldiers defending the city braved the rain of arrows, gritted their teeth, tightly grasped the spears in their hands, and watched the Alane army approaching like a flood.

Inside the fortress, Luca, Andrew and his party were looking at the simple fortress defense map made of sand.

"Sir, do we need to order the cavalry to take action now?" Andrew asked Luca.

"Not yet." Luca shook his head and continued, "We will first send a field regiment of soldiers to guard the city wall. This time the city wall has been reinforced, so there is no need to worry about more soldiers standing on it. As long as we can prevent the enemy from climbing up the wall, they will have no way to break through the city gate. They will find it difficult to withstand the situation of being attacked from three sides!"

"Then let's do as the captain of the army says!" Andrew said to the commander guarding the city.

"Remember, you have to remain calm, at least not let the Alans see any clues." Luca added.

(End of this chapter)