Chapter 491 Tug of War
The Hun cavalry in the rear finally broke through the encirclement. They gathered in groups of two or three, waving their long swords and other short weapons for fear that someone would pull them off their horses. They fled back to Attila's army like beggars who had been beaten, screaming and screaming. They hid behind the follow-up infantry, like a nagging woman, complaining about the difficulties of the battle on the front line.
However, a considerable number of them were trapped there and could not escape. The Romans were like glue that made it difficult for them to break free. The continuous flow of Romans made the invincible Hun cavalry stuck in the quagmire, which inevitably made Attila puzzled.
"How many people are there?" Attila was anxious and angry. He had originally wanted to kill the Roman army and head straight for Luca's command tent, but the Romans actually surrounded his proud army. Just like teeth tearing a piece of thick beef, the Romans who kept attacking from both sides were like two rows of teeth, constantly "chewing" and "digesting" the Hun cavalry in the middle.
"Attila, your soldiers are fighting hard." The officer behind him reminded him, "They are helpless against the Romans who stand on solid ground like stakes. We must help them and save them from extermination."
"Am I so stupid that I need your reminder?" Attila turned around suddenly and glared at the noble who had just said something inappropriate. Such a sharp look made the noble retreat like a frightened chicken, with a look of horror on his face. Attila's anger did not mean it was a good thing.
"Order the follow-up troops to follow!" Attila turned around and said calmly: "Since they don't care about anything, I won't care either! I want to see how many people the Romans have gathered to make them so rampant. I also want to know how powerful the Thracian field army is with a new commander."
“Woo—woo—woo—”
A few long trumpets sounded, and Attila's army set off. The Roman soldiers from Pannonia, the nomadic barbarians from Dacia, and the Auto-Goths from the Black Sea coast, together with themselves, were called demons on horseback. The huge army marched along this not-so-wide road, and their steps forward seemed to make the whole earth tremble.
"Kill them! Kill them!" The Roman soldiers, soaked in water and extremely angry, blocked the Hun cavalry behind them, venting their roars without reservation on the Huns who were only able to defend themselves. They waved their Spada iron swords and spears, and chopped down the Hun cavalry who were struggling to defend themselves, including the horses.
But just when they were killing vigorously, they suddenly felt the sky darken, as if dark clouds blocked the sun, leaving the earth in a moment of shade. Just as they turned around curiously, this might be the decision they regretted most in their lives.
Black arrows fell from the sky, accompanied by the sharp "whooshing" sound of arrows cutting through the air. Even veteran soldiers who had experienced hundreds of battles would be frightened out of their wits by such sounds and stand there not knowing what to do.
As expected, the soldiers were weakly protected and facing the sharp arrows. In a moment, the backs of the soldiers were full of arrows, and they fell down with ferocious expressions. In an instant, the land was full of corpses, and the corpses were full of arrows. The white arrow feathers gathered together to form a terrifying "sea of flowers". A large number of barbarian soldiers passed through the "sea of flowers". They held rusty battle axes and iron swords, and wore heavy fur armor and helmets made of bones.
"Hurry up! Speed up the attack! Speed up the attack!"
Seeing that the Hun cavalry was in a dilemma, the commanders of the spear phalanx chose to press forward step by step. The spearmen who wielded the seven-meter-long spears had plenty of strength after having eaten their fill. They tightly grasped the spears in their hands and stabbed the Hun cavalry who had no power to defend themselves, knocking them off their horses one by one.
The war horses without their riders were like flies without their heads. They felt uncomfortable without the weight on their backs and ran around everywhere. Fortunately, the Roman spear phalanx was very humane and made way for these war horses without their masters to pass. As long as it did not affect the killing of the Huns, everything was fine.
Attila decided to go all out. His army pressed forward, like a sledgehammer, and instantly shattered the Roman cavalry's front and back pincer attack.
This forced the few hundred remaining cavalrymen to ride their horses backwards in disgrace, and what was left for the soldiers in the third array were the barbarians who were rushing up like a tide.
"Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha! Hoo-ha!"
The savages roared, and their roars echoed on the cliffs, scaring the birds in the distant woods to flee from their branches and nests and fly into the sky, circling and being reluctant to come down.
"Stop! Re-form the formation! Re-form the formation!"
The centurions blew their whistles, and the soldiers who were still attacking had to retreat. But before they were ready, they saw a large number of barbarians coming towards them with hatchets in their hands.
"Not good! Defend, defend!"
The veterans had seen the strength of these barbarians and knew what the hatchets in their hands were used for! Seeing that the enemy was so close, they hurriedly warned the others in the army, but it was too late.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
The barbarians in front of them threw their short axes at the Roman army like crazy. The axes spinning in the air were like flying birds, flying straight towards the spearmen who had no power to resist. The sharp axes easily tore through their chest armor and thin helmets. Soon, many soldiers were beaten to a bloody mess and their brains were splattered.
Something even more terrifying began to happen. The barbarian soldiers rushed forward with their terrifying battle axes raised high. The soldiers holding spears immediately raised their spears to hold on after the first row fell.
The barbarians, who didn't care about their own lives, actually rushed into the rows of spears without hesitation, but the spears were too flexible, and only the sound of "cough cough crackle" could be heard. The soldiers kept stabbing with their spears, which made the barbarians very angry. They drew their hatchets and aimed at the bastards in front of them who had angered them with their spears.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
Another round of flying axes flew by, and more than a dozen Romans fell to the ground. The barbarians used their shields to push in front of them and tried to force their way through the spear formation, but after they had finally gotten through the first layer of spears, the second layer of spears stabbed at them when they were not paying attention. However, the barbarians were so numerous that they rushed in with their shields, forcing the first row of soldiers holding spears to drop their spears and use their short swords to block.
They were all mercenaries, with excellent skills, and their morale was high because of the generous treatment Luga had given them in advance, and their desire to fight was strong. Even if the barbarians rushed in front of them, they still did not retreat and actively fought.
This gave the army behind them enough time to prepare. Soldiers holding shields and spada iron swords lined up behind them and waited for orders! When they finally couldn't hold on and retreated, the spears of the follow-up troops on the way back made the barbarians taste the pain of being pierced.
Seeing that the Hun coalition was about to reach the pass of Thermopylae, Luca realized that Attila was going to attack with all his might this time. In order to show his attitude, he also thought of some special way to enlighten Attila on why Thermopylae was easy to defend but difficult to attack! "Andrew!" Luca turned around and said to Andrew, "Okay, order the soldiers!"
Andrew immediately understood what Luca meant. He nodded heavily and then called on the trumpeter to blow the special trumpet.
(End of this chapter)