Chapter 49: Turtle Shell Formation
Hearing the rumbling sound, unlike our reaction, Guy now became even more arrogant. He waved his hand and shouted, "Go open the door!"
The other commanders understood and hurried over to open the camp gate. Wow, the gate hasn't even been opened yet, and the tall horse rushed in! The horse was pulling a carriage covered with oilcloth, and no one knew what was inside. Under the skilled driving of the coachman, the carriage stopped in front of Guy. There were more than one carriage, but two.
"Shit! This is much bigger than the carriage that the Huns used when they looted the city." Andrew exclaimed behind him. The soldiers who were resting could no longer sit still. They all stood up and stood on tiptoe, staring with curious eyes to see what was in the carriage.
The two carriages were just a prelude. We then saw the "sinister and cunning" trumpeter who followed in. He was not alone. Behind him was a large group of Goths who looked just like the ones sitting outside the camp gate. Or, they looked exactly the same. They were marching in formation. The trumpeter was holding a French horn and blowing a rhythmic trumpet at the front. The group of barbarians behind him were even more orderly, their footsteps closely following the sound of the trumpet, and they soon ran behind Guy.
"Is this guy looking for a fight for us?"
"I don't know. What does he want with these barbarians?"
"What's that thing on the carriage? It's covered with a cloth, so weird!"
“…”
The soldiers were talking among themselves, and the centurions who were bearing the brunt of the attack raised their iron swords and turned back to shout at us: "Phalanx! Prepare for battle!"
“Hooha!”
The centurions slowly retreated back to the square formation. Facing the large group of barbarians in front of them, no one was not nervous.
"Damn it, where's my spear?"
The man next to me had just wiped his nosebleed and was searching for the javelin he had been talking about. "Damn it, I left it in the tent!" Apparently he didn't find it. He angrily patted his shiny chain mail, looking frustrated. I looked down at my rusty chain mail and suddenly felt bad (the kind of embarrassed shame). I looked up and saw the pair of barbarians who were called in front of me standing in two rows, facing us.
Chief Centurion Guy found a staff from somewhere and walked in front of the barbarians. He drew a long straight line on the ground with the staff in his hand and said to them loudly: "Listen to me, all of you! Stand behind this line. I will supervise here and no one can cross the line." After that, he waved to the coachman, who understood and tore off the oilcloth covering the carriage.
"WTF?"
Everyone, yes, I mean everyone including me! They all opened their mouths wide, looking at the carriage in surprise. A whole carriage of stones, God knows where they were picked up from. The coachman slowly led the horse and spread the two carts of stones evenly in front of the barbarians. The pile of stones was as high as the man's legs, like a long hill. Looking at the eager look of these barbarians, I think everyone is unaware of Guy's conspiracy.
"All right! Brave barbarians!"
Guy pointed his staff at us and shouted at them, "Do you see these guys in front of you? Yes! I'll have them line up in a little while, and you pick up the stones and throw them at their faces! Listen, whoever knocks down one of them will double the reward, and whoever knocks down two will double it, and the interest will be compounded!"
Such a huge temptation made these barbarians almost lose themselves. They raised their hands and cheered, and some began to bend down to pick up stones! How could we hesitate in such an emergency! The centurions in front of us shouted together: "Square formation! Turtle shell formation, set up the formation!"
“Hooha!”
The soldiers gathered together, and the soldiers behind raised their shields above their heads. The oval shields formed the so-called tortoise shell formation. No one dared to be lazy anymore. Through the gaps in the shields, they saw that each barbarian had two or three stones in his hands. They all looked at Guy, waiting for his order!
"start!"
Guy roared, and the barbarians were like being electrocuted, throwing stones at us desperately. The stones were like raindrops, "dang dang dang..." and they couldn't stop at all. The stones hit my shield, and my arms felt heavy. It was not only me, but also the others around me. However, no one dared to say that they couldn't bear it. At this time, even if it was a real sharp arrow, we had to bear it like this.
"Don't be afraid! Hold on!"
The centurions are the most experienced characters among these phalanxes. While defending, they also try to boost our morale, even though those in the first row are the most unlucky.
Because it was an oval shield, unlike the square shields of the Caesar Augustus era, the oval shields were oval, and there was always a large gap in the middle where stones would fly in and hit my shoulders and legs. My legs were covered with bruises, but the stones would not stop. We could only bear the stones hitting the shields while everyone got closer and closer, so that the shields were stacked up to cover the huge gaps.
"Oh, these damn beasts! If I could, I would rush up and kill them!"
Andrew was cursing behind me. I looked down and saw that the stones that fell in from the gap were a layer. Because it was an inclined surface, the stones would hit the shield and then roll down from the shield. All of us were struggling to hold on. Everyone's shoulders and legs were covered with bruises because of the stones. Everyone was holding back their anger, but they had nowhere to vent it.
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I raised my hand to support the shield. As time went by, the shield on my head really felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. My sore arms, trembling legs, and beads of sweat on my forehead were the result of my endurance. The layers of shields covered the gaps and blocked everyone's sight. Now, except for the unlucky guys in the first row, who had to worry about the rocks hitting their shoulders at any time, they were the only ones who could see the situation in front of them. However, not only the soldiers, but even the centurions shrank behind their shields and dared not even raise their heads.
We, hundreds of people, stood in this position for more than an hour, until the group of barbarians could no longer find any stones to throw. We then watched them vigilantly, slowly lowered the shields held above our heads, and looked around. Everyone was sweating profusely. Looking at our hands, we saw deep blood marks from the belts, and the bruises on our bodies were not to be mentioned. They were hidden by our clothes and could not be seen, but the pain really made me tired but refreshed.
"Good! Interesting, interesting!"
Guy clapped his hands and walked slowly to us with a smile on his face. Facing hundreds of eyes that wanted to kill him, he did not shy away and looked directly at each of us.
"As expected of veterans, it seems that you are more familiar with the turtle shell formation than everyone else. Then, I think the next combat training is unnecessary for veterans like you." Guy kicked away the stones that rolled to his feet, and then looked at us. The stones in the first row of our square formation formed a small hill more than half a person high. Fortunately, no one was knocked down by the flying stones.
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(End of this chapter)