Chapter 512 Barbarian Invasion 4
The barbarian army ran past the scorpion crossbow arrows tied with red ropes, and one of them even kicked down the crossbow arrows tied with red ropes. In the surging crowd, the crossbow arrow was like a landmark and disappeared in the chaotic footsteps of the barbarian charging team.
"In position, shoot! Shoot!"
The officers shouted orders, and the soldiers operated the scorpion crossbows and catapults in an orderly manner.
“Ka-ka-ka…”
The sounds of bowstrings and weapons snapping could be heard, and countless crossbow arrows were seen falling from the dense ranks of barbarians on the opposite side, like stones dripping on the rolling sea.
The unlucky guy was nailed to the ground, and his blood flowed down along the crossbow arrow that tore his flesh, watering the land below, although the land had long been barren with only withered weeds.
The barbarians did not stop their attack because of these insignificant casualties. They had no time to mourn the dead. Instead, they roared, turning their grief into strength and continued to move forward.
The barbarian army was getting closer and closer, and their overwhelming momentum made the Roman soldiers in the front row sweat coldly.
"Don't even think about retreating, and don't be intimidated by the enemy's momentum!" Their centurions reminded them, "Because if you think about running away and take action, you will be the first target of the archers in the back!"
"Archers! Archers ready!"
Seeing that the barbarian army was less than 80 meters away from the Roman army, the archers raised their bows above their heads at the order of the officers.
"Shoot! Shoot them!"
“Ka-ka-ka…”
There was the sound of bowstrings being snapped, and hundreds of arrows flew high into the sky and headed straight for the oncoming barbarian army.
Why let the shield-bearing barbarians be at the front? It is to wait for this moment! "Dangdangdang..."
The rain of arrows hit the barbarians' raised shields and bounced off them. Under the protection of the solid shields, the archers hired by Aetius could not cause any harm to them.
"Fire! Fire!"
The scorpion crossbow was finally finished loading for the second time. Seeing that the two armies were about to engage in battle, everyone was so impatient.
More than a dozen crossbow arrows came towards them, piercing the hapless soldiers into a string.
Less than fifty meters away, the traps that covered the ground became the most terrifying nightmare of these barbarians. People kept falling into the traps on the way to the charge, and then were pierced and their legs were twisted off by the sharp sticks and stones inside.
But the roar of the charge still drowned out the screams of the wounded. This could only slow them down a little to allow the archers to shoot one more round at them, but it could not stop the barbarians' attack.
After passing the trap area, there are more spike obstacles in front of you.
At this time, they were less than twenty meters away from the front line of the Roman army. The angry roar of the barbarians was deafening, and they quickened their speed and raised the axes in their hands.
"defense!"
The battle-hardened centurion had fought with the barbarians several times and was very familiar with their actions. He realized the danger and hurriedly called out to the soldiers behind him.
But just as he finished his words, countless axes came towards him, tearing the wooden shield into pieces, and even flew in through the gaps in the oval shields, tearing horrible wounds on the flesh of the soldiers facing the gaps.
The wounded fell, their screams not even one-tenth as loud as the barbarians' roars, and the officers who were busy fighting had no time to care about their safety.
Taking advantage of the gaps in the Roman defense, the first row of barbarian soldiers climbed over the obstacles set up along the way.
“Boom boom boom…”
The barbarian who had drawn his battle axe again crashed into the shield wall. Such a huge impact force made the entire phalanx of the hundred-man team retreat a step. Fortunately, more than a hundred people in the fourth-layer army formation broke up the impact force in time, but the real battle had just begun.
The first batch of attacking barbarians numbered as many as three thousand, while the number of Roman soldiers who came to defend was only more than one thousand. Such a huge difference in numbers allowed the barbarians to attack the Romans from the front while also outflanking the one thousand men from both sides.
"Reinforcements, reinforcements! Tereus." Aetius shouted to Tereus, "The soldiers on the front line cannot be easily repelled. We must stabilize the front line and buy time for reinforcements!"
"I know what to do, Captain!" Tereus shouted, and set off with his cavalry guards, followed closely by three hundred fully armed infantrymen holding shields and spears.
Aetius left himself the last 700 men, which was his only last asset to save his life. He ordered these 700 men to form the second line of defense and in the middle of the two large watchtowers.
There were several archers in the watchtower, and fortunately they had enough arrows to strike the enemy on both sides of the battle. Although most of these arrows bounced off their helmets and shields, as long as someone was hit by an arrow and fell, more people would pay attention to them, so that they could not concentrate on fighting.
The three thousand barbarian soldiers "bite" the thousand people like a huge bloody mouth, and then crush them and "chew" them carefully.
The struggling Roman soldiers could hardly stop the barbarians with their shields. The barbarian soldiers forcibly pushed through the shield wall formed by their shields, and in close combat, the spears were far less effective than the short hand axes.
With axes flying in their hands, Roman soldiers fell one after another in a pool of blood, their faces covered in blood. The casualties dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Roman soldiers, and the desire to fight in the rear was far outweighed by the desire to escape.
The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!
"Quick, divide into two parts, one hundred and fifty people on each side, stop them! Stop them!" Tereus commanded the infantry behind him fifty meters behind the battlefield, asking them to speed up and support the army in front.
The three hundred men then divided into two groups. They bravely charged towards the barbarian coalition, trying desperately to stop them.
Although they are brave, it is difficult to resist the explanation of numbers, and the barbarians do not have just 3,000 people.
The follow-up troops of the barbarian coalition swarmed in, passing through the traps that had long been eliminated by the flesh. Their target was the fortresses on both sides of the Roman army.
A large number of barbarian coalition forces surrounded the two arrow towers, and the archers in them were already thrown into disarray when they saw such a large battle.
There were many strong men among the second group of barbarian coalition. They held axes in both hands and chopped the wood supporting the watchtower.
“Haha! Haha…”
The sound of wood breaking caused the pillars of the watchtower to break, and the entire watchtower fell sideways. The archers on top screamed and fell from the tower, and the broken wood became their graves.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Perhaps he had never expected that the barbarians would attack the defense line at all costs. Aetius was furious when he realized that he had made a major strategic mistake because the defense line was too long.
The facts before him made him realize that he could no longer stay here! He was thinking about calling Tereus back to Ludinan. At present, the army had not collapsed. He was just thinking about the arrival of reinforcements. At present, this was the only chance.
"The barbarians thought that after they broke through the North Rhine River defense line, there would be no more Roman defenses to stop them. Even if there were any, they would be vulnerable." Luca explained to Odysseus, "In fact, they forgot that this is no longer the Rome of decades ago. When they were thinking about breaking through all resistance, they didn't know that they would be trapped in the quagmire of war! And the further they go, the closer they are to destruction."
"I don't know why you came to such a conclusion." Odysseus was full of doubts, because no matter whether it was the Alans or the Visigoths in the past, as long as they set foot in Rome, they all thrived. How come you, Flavius Luca, claimed that you would solve this problem when you encountered such a huge super army now? "I just want to make sure that you are not bragging!" Odysseus said with a smile.
"Of course, otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you to come all the way here to be a witness!" Luca said, pointing his finger around and continuing to say to Odysseus: "Look, as long as there is a disaster, there will be a war. Since ancient times, the best way to deal with a disaster is to eliminate the population on the land. With fewer mouths to feed and hands to take money, order can be maintained for a longer time without being overturned."
"So this will be a bloodbath, and I will be a witness to this war?"
"Of course, but I don't know what color the wheat produced by the land watered with blood will be!" Luga smiled, but his smile was chilling under this sunny day.
(End of this chapter)