Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1023: Decisive Battle of Selinus (3)

"Wooo!..." As the loud bugle call of the Daionian defenders sounded from the rear, Hasdrubal was ordering his generals to gather their troops to conduct an orderly retreat. Having clashed with the Daionian Army numerous times, he immediately recognized the signal to attack. It took him by surprise. 'Are the Theonians crazy?' he thought. 'If it weren't for the city wall standing in their way, we would have wiped them out ages ago. And now they actually dare to attack us?'

"General, if the Theonians actually come out to counterattack, that's a good thing!" a general of the Iberian army was the first to point out. "As long as we crush them, we can seize the opportunity and storm the port!"

The others immediately agreed, and Hasdrubal shared the exact same thought. He swiftly changed his orders: "Return at once. Have your soldiers retreat slowly. Lure the Daionian defenders out, and then launch a counterattack."

The generals had scarcely departed with their new orders when Hasdrubal received an order from Mago.

"The Numidian slaves started a rebellion in the camp?!" Hasdrubal was shocked. Staring at the plumes of black smoke suddenly rising from the northwest, he finally understood why the Daionian defenders had suddenly charged out. They wanted to take advantage of the chaos!

Like Mago, he assumed the Numidian slaves' rebellion would be swiftly suppressed. As a result, he had little desire to obey Mago's order to pull his troops back to the camp. Thanks to the "stupidity" of the Daionian defenders, a prime opportunity to capture the port was right in front of him.

While he was still hesitating, he received another order from Mago.

The large Daionian Army was advancing on the camp?! Hasdrubal was shocked once again. Now he truly understood why the defenders of Selinus had taken the initiative to strike: they wanted to pin down the siege force he was leading and prevent him from reinforcing the camp!

Between the camp and the city of Selinus, Hasdrubal naturally recognized which was more important. The camp held the rations and baggage the entire army relied on to survive, and that alone was enough to make up his mind. "Hurry and inform all the commanding generals! Lead the troops back to the camp immediately!"

'Are the Daionian defenders trying to stall us, or are they launching a genuine offensive?' His head spinning from the barrage of reports, Hasdrubal could no longer sit still. He decided to head to the front lines and see the situation for himself.

Before the assault on the inner walls, Mago had not only appointed Hasdrubal to command all the attacking forces but, considering the high risks of a siege, had specifically ordered him not to charge at the forefront and personally participate in the fighting as he usually did.

Commanding such a massive army for the first time, Hasdrubal had obeyed, remaining in the rear to oversee the battlefield. When the battle was progressing smoothly, he hadn't felt there was anything wrong with this arrangement, but the moment the situation grew complicated, it prevented him from grasping the frontline developments in time.

...

Following the attack signal, the left, center, and right gates of the city wall swung wide open. The soldiers of the Daionian Army rushed out in rapid columns. The intentional retreat of the Carthaginian army granted them ample time and space, allowing the Daionian attacking forces to boldly form up their ranks just outside the wall.

The soldiers of the Carthaginian army watched in astonishment as an endless stream of enemies surged from the gatehouses. The Daionian troops maneuvered left and right with orderly precision beneath the wall, quickly linking up into a continuous battle line.

Feeling a growing sense of unease, the Carthaginian generals prepared to order an attack. But just then, Hasdrubal's messengers arrived, demanding that each unit immediately return to the camp.

The generals were dumbfounded. Retreating in the face of the enemy was a major taboo, yet Hasdrubal's orders were resolute and strict. It seemed something far more critical had happened.

Some generals obeyed the command, while others refused, arguing that Hasdrubal had completely lost his mind to issue two completely contradictory orders in such a short span of time—such as the leaders of Lusitania and the Celts.

This inconsistent execution of orders within the Carthaginian army resulted in some units retreating while others attacked. Before the actual fighting even began, the entire army descended into chaos.

Seizing this golden opportunity, the Daionian Legion Commanders immediately launched their assault. The legionaries shouted the name of Hades and charged toward the enemy like a surging tide.

Although his line of sight was blocked by the soldiers, the thunderous war cries shook Hasdrubal as he hurried up to the front. He instantly realized the messengers had spoken the truth: the attacking Theonians were not only massive in number, but their morale was soaring. At this point, however, both sides were already locked in close-quarters combat. It was far too late to change his orders.

Fighting at the very forefront of the left, center, and right charges were the Daionian legions that had yet to see combat in Sicily, such as the third legion of Theonia, the fourth legion of Theonia, the Sixth Legion, and the Lucalian Reserve Legion. Ever since landing in Sicily, they had remained in their camps. Aside from training, all they had done was listen to the endless stream of victorious reports pouring in, deeply envying their allied forces on the front lines. Thus, when the order to attack came down, these legionaries—having conserved their strength for over a month—roared like thunder, ran like the wind, and charged like tigers. Upon the booming impact of the collision, long shields shattered and spears snapped. The soldiers of the Carthaginian army were either stabbed or knocked to the ground. Thrown into disarray by the constant changes in orders, the bulk of the Carthaginian units teetered on the brink of collapse. Only the Lusitanian Warriors and the Celtic Warriors barely managed to withstand the charge of the Daionian legionaries.

Beneath the wall in front of the Port District, across a distance of nearly a li from east to west, there wasn't a single stretch where the Carthaginian army went unassailed. Everywhere was filled with surging black, and everywhere resounded with the deafening roar of slaughter.

"Quick!... Hurry and inform Gisco! We need reinforcements here. Tell him to bring his troops immediately!..." Hasdrubal bellowed anxiously at his messenger.

With that said, he rode his warhorse back and forth behind the battle formation. Alongside his subordinates, he loudly boosted the soldiers' morale, urging them to keep fighting and promising that reinforcements would arrive soon.

In direct contrast, many of the Daionian soldiers in the rear followed their plan, shouting in unison in the Carthaginian tongue: "The Numidian slaves have rebelled! They are burning your camp, so run! Otherwise you'll be surrounded!..."

Hearing the enemy's shouts clearly, the soldiers of the Carthaginian army grew increasingly panicked. They had indeed seen black smoke rising from their rear earlier and had wondered what was going on. Coupled with the fact that they had been fighting for more than half the day, their stamina was nearly depleted. Even the Phoeno-Numidian Infantry, renowned for their tenacious fighting spirit, had no desire to fight on. Morale plummeted rapidly, and the soldiers began to break and flee.

Only the Lusitanian Warriors and the Celtic Warriors were still fighting stubbornly. But when their neighboring allied forces started fleeing and the enemy began attacking their flanks, preparing to surround them, these fierce Iberian natives were also forced to set aside their pride, turn, and run.

This massive assault lasted less than 20 minutes before the victor was decided. The Iberian army suffered a complete collapse, with the Daionian Army in hot pursuit.

With more than 40,000 soldiers in the Carthaginian army and over 50,000 in the Daionian Army, nearly 100,000 men in total chased and slaughtered one another within the city of Selinus. The entire city was like a boiling water jug on the verge of exploding, choked with dust and echoing with earth-shattering clamor.

The ceaseless screams echoing from the rear drove the soldiers of the Carthaginian army to flee desperately, even shoving one another. The countless residential ruins within the city and the thick dust obscuring their vision made them increasingly panicked. Men constantly stumbled and fell, only to be trampled...

When heading back to the camp, Mago had left some soldiers stationed on the outer wall of Selinus. As the earth trembled, waves of sound surged toward them, and tens of thousands of troops closed in, the men standing on the wall were completely stupefied. Even though the area below the wall was swarming with moving black figures, and they wouldn't miss a target even if they casually threw a javelin or loosed an arrow—an absolute golden opportunity to kill the enemy—not a single one of them chose to do so. They only felt like a tiny boat facing an imminent, colossal storm, where a moment's hesitation would mean the destruction of both ship and crew. Consequently, the soldiers on the wall chose to flee with almost no hesitation.

Thus, the urban district of Selinus, which Mago had spent nearly two months, exhausted countless manpower, and suffered heavy sacrifices to conquer, was completely reclaimed by the Daionian Army in just over half an hour. They did not stop there, however, but continued their forward pursuit.

...

Upon returning to the camp, Mago immediately ascended the outer perimeter wall to observe the Daionian Army advancing toward them. Seeing the two Great Banners of the Kingdom of Daunia glittering in the sunlight, he instantly realized that the King of Daonia was very likely within this army. Furthermore, as the Daionian Army drew nearer, the battle-hardened Mago sensed something amiss about this force: at least half of the Daionian soldiers did not act like elites. This suddenly sparked a strong thought in his mind: 'Why not march out of the camp to engage the enemy?' This might be a perfect opportunity to defeat the King of Daonia and turn the entire tide of the war!

Right at that moment, he received the report: the Daionian defenders at the Port of Selinus had sallied out, and Hasdrubal's army could not return anytime soon.

At the same time, the rebelling Numidian Cavalry in the northwestern part of the camp noticed the army led by Sticamo rushing toward them. Not daring to engage in battle, they swiftly fled the camp. Sticamo did not pursue them; instead, he led his soldiers to busily extinguish the spreading fires.

Gisco and his army had already reached the camp of the Numidian slaves in the southeast of the encampment and were currently quelling the riots there. The entire Carthaginian main camp had basically been restored to stability.