Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 905: Battle of Gela (2)

Furthermore, knowing the Geloan ranks included many older citizens—the Geloans had mobilized their entire population to defend their homeland this time—Leotychides deliberately deepened their formation so the enemy could not easily break their front line.

Factoring in the glaring weakness of Greek Heavy Infantry—their tendency to break when flanked—Leotychides anchored his left wing against the coast. This prevented the Carthaginians from looping around the left to strike the allied forces from behind.

Deepening the formation served another purpose: shortening the battle line. The terrain west of Gela was flat but narrow, spanning only seven to eight li from the coast to the mountains. Leotychides needed ample room beyond his right flank for his cavalry to maneuver, as he had pinned the Daunian Allied Forces' path to victory on this right wing. Here stood the trusted 8th Legion, backed by 1,300 cavalry—1,000 from the 4th Cavalry Legion and 300 from Gela and Camarina—ready to sweep around and strike the Carthaginian rear. He had learned from the Geloans that this besieging Carthaginian army lacked cavalry, a fact Daionian scouts had corroborated over the past two days.

After careful consideration, he understood the reasons for this. That was why he dared to seek a decisive battle with the Carthaginians so quickly; the cavalry was his greatest reliance.

Leotychides and Adjutant Muklu sat on horseback in front of the formation, observing the Carthaginians deploying opposite them, while scouts continually reported the status of the entire Carthaginian formation.

Although the Daonian Intelligence Agency had gathered little information on the Carthaginian forces in the Iberian region—because Carthage, in order to protect their precious metal mines, had explicitly included a clause in a previous peace treaty stating that Daonian Merchant Ships were not allowed to trade in Carthaginian territories in Iberia, and Mago maintained strict control over his domain, highly vigilant against outsiders, making it extremely difficult for Daionian operatives to enter Southern Iberia—Leotychides still had a general idea: the ones wearing pointed helmets, white linen cuirasses, and chainmail, holding long spears and large shields, were the Phoenician and Numidian Infantry; the ones wearing flat-topped helmets and white tunics with purple trim beneath their armor, carrying large shields and short swords, were the Iberian infantry; and those soldiers draped in black robes over their armor, also armed with large shields and short swords, were likely the rumored Lusitanian Warriors...

Having roughly assessed the Carthaginian deployment, Leotychides felt a wave of relief. He turned to Muklu. "It seems the Carthaginians really are wary of our legionaries' offensive power, deliberately placing their Iberian main force on their left wing. This way... our goal of forming up first to use the Eighth Legion to attract the enemy's main force and reduce the pressure on the allied soldiers has been achieved."

He said this because Muklu had cautioned him earlier: it was best not to deploy before the enemy arrived, as Theonian Military Law mentioned that it was best not to let the enemy know one's deployment before a battle, to prevent them from making targeted arrangements.

At this time, Muklu did not blindly agree. He warned, "Commander, the Carthaginians have placed those Lusitanians on their right wing!"

At this moment, a messenger from the Eighth Legion arrived to report: the legion had finished forming up.

Leotychides immediately looked back to his left. The clamor was still unceasing, making him somewhat dissatisfied. "Immediately send someone to urge the Geloans and Camarinans to speed up their deployment!"

With that, he wheeled his horse around, passed through the gaps in the formation, and returned to the rear of the center.

"Wooo!..." Over ten minutes later, the Daunian Allied Forces sounded the horn to advance.

The entire formation began to move slowly forward. The fastest were the Eighth Legion's light infantry cohorts; they rushed through the gaps in the Eighth Legion's checkerboard formation and charged the enemy in a loose formation. They intended to use Bows and Arrows as well as javelins to deliver the first wave of strikes to the enemy, disrupting the enemy's formation and paving the way for the heavy infantry's subsequent assault.

Hasdrubal and Gisco had studied Daionia's past battles and were naturally familiar with these heavy infantry tactics. Seeing the black-helmeted, black-armored Eighth Legion positioned opposite their own left wing, they were prepared. Therefore, when the Eighth Legion's light infantry cohorts charged out of the formation, Gisco correspondingly ordered the troops waiting behind the left wing to advance.

This force numbered around 1,700 men. Five hundred of them were black-robed Lusitanian javelin throwers. They wielded a type of barbed javelin; once it pierced a human body, it was very difficult to pull out. Because of this, the mere mention of Lusitanian javelin throwers made people in Iberia pale.

The 1,200 soldiers following behind them wore simple white tunics, with heavy cloth pouches tied at their waists and daggers hanging from their belts. They wore no helmets and no armor, and were even barefoot, holding only slings woven from a mix of wool and linen... Yes, they were slingers—the Balearic Slingers from the Balearic Islands.

The Balearic Islands were a series of islands in the western Mediterranean near the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The islanders had a long-standing tradition of training slingers, with children receiving military training from a young age. Their mothers would not even give them bread until they hit a distant target with a sling for the first time. Lacking resources and living in poverty, the Balearic people used large numbers of cheap slingers to defend their islands. Residents with superb slinging skills also frequently used this skill to obtain meat and improve their lives, such as using slings to shoot birds.

Mago occupied Southern Iberia (primarily the southeast), which bordered the Balearic Islands. By supplying the Balearic people with ample grain, he secured their loyalty. During his campaigns in Iberia, the Balearic Slingers played a significant role. For this expedition to Sicily, Mago brought 1,500 Balearic Slingers.

Once the Balearic troops marched out of the formation, they halted. They reached into the cloth pouches at their waists, which were divided into three compartments containing three different sizes of lead bullets. Taking out the lightest lead bullets, they placed them into the pockets of their slings and began to swing them.

Because the Daunian Allied Forces had just begun to advance, the Eighth Legion's light infantry cohorts were still over 400 meters away from the opposite enemy when they rushed out of their formation. Thus, they were advancing rapidly, their formation not yet fully spread out, when they suddenly saw a dark cloud flying over from diagonally ahead.

"Watch out for flying stones! Protect your heads!" the light infantry cohort commander shouted hoarsely, his face paling slightly.

Prompted by their officers, the light infantry—who had never been attacked by slingers before—lowered their heads and covered their necks with their hands. Although the Daionian light infantry wore single-layer tunics, they were all equipped with leather helmets. When the lead bullets fell, a chorus of groans rang out, but there were not many casualties.

"Speed up! Close on the enemy!" Spurred by their officers, the light infantry, their bodies aching slightly from the flying stones, accelerated their advance.

During this process, they endured several more volleys of lead bullets. As the distance closed, the Balearic Slingers had first swapped their small lead bullets for medium ones, and finally for large ones.

Because the Lusitanian javelin throwers had already charged up, the Daionian light infantry naturally had to begin their own attack as well, so it was no longer possible to use their hands to cover their faces. This caused their injuries to skyrocket. The archers in particular, because of their long range, became the primary targets of the Balearic Slingers.

Archery is an incredibly demanding and precise physical exercise. It requires the coordinated effort of most of the muscles in an archer's upper body to fully draw the bowstring and shoot an accurate, powerful arrow. Even if a lead bullet did not hit the head, bruising the muscles and tendons in other parts of the body would severely impair an archer's combat effectiveness.

The Carthaginians opposite them had slingers?! Leotychides felt a jolt of alarm upon hearing the scout's urgent report.

"Commander, these might be the Balearic Slingers mentioned in the intelligence!" Muklu warned.

The Ministry of Military Affairs had previously circulated intelligence stating that "slingers from the Balearic Islands are serving in Mago's Numidian Army." But after Mago's large army landed in Sicily this time, whether during the siege of Selinus, the ambush on the Sicels, or the assaults on Henna and Gela, they had never used this type of troop. Therefore, Leotychides had temporarily overlooked their existence.

At this moment, he immediately issued an order: "Have the buglers sound the accelerated advance on the right wing! Get the Eighth Legion's soldiers into melee contact with the enemy as quickly as possible, to avoid having the slingers disrupt our formation!"

"Wooo, wooo, wooo..." The war horns sounded urgently from the rear. Hearing the signal, the Eighth Legion's officers at all levels immediately instructed their company and cohort standard-bearers to repeatedly wave their raised banners forward, and the soldiers across the entire right wing gradually accelerated their forward advance.

The light infantry cohorts were at a disadvantage in the ranged exchange, but they were still gritting their teeth and holding on. As members of the entire legion, the light infantry officers knew very well that they had to buy time for their heavy infantry comrades in the rear. They could not let the opposing slingers free their hands to indiscriminately attack the legion's phalanx.