Augustus Road

Chapter 8 Outpost Battle (Part 1)

The barbaric peoples did not understand the science of warfare at all. They could only raise their swords high like wild boars, and then chop them down like clumsy woodcutters. Dionysus

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Misaro took the lead, and the tribal cavalry around him reacted in different ways. Some followed Misaro and charged forward, while others were still spinning in place. The order of the charge was extremely chaotic, and the power of the collective horseback assault was completely gone.

Whistles blew, and the Roman legion's centuries, which had completed their combat readiness, waved small pennants, and formed a solid phalanx. They were closely together, with the shields of the first row of soldiers held at their waists, and the shields of the second row of soldiers were placed on the shoulders of the previous row. In the gap between the shields, they stretched out the heavy javelins in their hands and moved the entire phalanx with slow and compact steps. The entire queue was like a large hedgehog in iron armor crawling forward, indestructible.

The cavalry and light infantry were scattered, some returned to the back of the column through the passage between the squares of the heavy infantry centuries, and some wandered to the two wings of the column.

But the cavalry of Misalos still stupidly rushed into the center of the Romans.

"Look, isn't that Psychedelius?" One pointed down and shouted, Apis looked closely, and it was indeed this reckless man, standing in front of the leftmost century of the first horizontal column, walking in person, and fighting with the soldiers.

"A reckless man is a reckless man, he deserves this nickname." Apis shrugged.

Then there was the sound of violent collision between shields and horses. The cavalry of Misalos fell down in front of the Roman shields like building blocks, and most of the javelins they threw were bounced back by the Roman shields, while the heavy javelins of the Romans played the role of piercing spears, piercing their horses' legs and lower bodies between the shields.

Some brave cavalrymen rushed into the junction between the hundred-man teams in a daze, but were soon knocked off their horses by the short swords of the Roman heavy infantry on the side of the shield wall, or by the slings and short spears of the light infantry behind.

"Throw!" A concise command, and the "shield wall" was re-launched - the heavy soldiers of the legion put down their heavy javelins and shields, stood up, and threw out another one of their equipment: a light javelin, a thing similar to a hunting spear. These javelins pierced the flesh and blood of Misalo's cavalry like rain, and they fell into uncontrollable chaos, trampling on each other and scrambling to turn around and escape.

The entire Armenian light cavalry team of 3,000 people suffered a devastating disaster after only a quarter of an hour of fighting.

Facing the enemy army that was running away across the board, all the Roman soldiers raised their short swords, cheered in unison, and then stood firm in their respective formations and stood still.

"Why don't our people pursue them? This will lead to a greater victory." Apis's companion asked.

"It's very simple, because Psychedelius did not receive the order from Luculas to go deep into the battle. The commander may just let him consolidate the existing position in Sopheni and support the main force behind." Apis guessed correctly. The task that Psychedelius gave to each team was to defend cautiously. When he saw that the Armenians were so vulnerable and was ready to expand the results of the battle, he found that he was not at the command post, but standing on the front line where a century was located. He couldn't find the messenger and the trumpeter for a while, so he could only curse and default to his original order.

Misalos' handsome face was scratched by the Roman javelin just now, and his legs were cut by the dagger. His horse was very human and instinctively carried its master away from the dangerous battle area, but he was unwilling to retreat - he howled and loudly asked why the Romans did not respect the long-cherished wish of a warrior, why they stopped fighting contemptuously and chose to defend on the spot - then he raised the flag again, gathered hundreds of remaining cavalry who were still willing to follow him, and launched a second swift attack on the detachment of Sextilius without the support of the infantry behind.

"Misalos, this young man, it seems that he only wants to die." Apis, who witnessed all this, sighed.

At this time, even Sextilius was surprised. He was sitting in front of the century under the protection of several centurions, eating dried figs, and was fully convinced that the enemy would not rush up again. Seeing the enemy general Misalos coming towards him with his hair standing on end in anger, Sextalius instinctively felt a sense of sympathy for this brave man, but it was too late for him to correct any orders - the centurions, decapitations and ordinary soldiers of his army were like killing machines with instructions input in advance, and after a whistle, they began to operate again.

This time, the cavalry on both wings rushed out bravely, flanking the isolated Misalo army, and then the heavy infantry lined up in a long line, holding heavy javelins and pressing forward: a perfect three-sided pocket killing formation was formed, and the followers and soldiers around Misalo kept screaming and falling down. He also had disheveled hair and shouted: "The descendants of the Armenian God will never take a step back on the battlefield. Since my king has decided to fight this wrong war, let me, Misalo, be the first to sacrifice for him!" The four or five Roman heavy infantrymen who came up stabbed the horse under his crotch deeply with heavy javelins. The horse screamed and fell sideways. Misalo's left leg was also pressed under the dead horse. His face and body were covered with blood, but he was still waving his sword. After stabbing two Roman soldiers who came forward, he actually cut off his left leg with a sword, and then stood up on one leg, and then slowly picked up his battle flag in a painful posture, and then used one leg, still jumping, to "continue to charge" towards the Roman formation.

Misallo's death fight made even the Roman veterans who were used to killing people admire and fear him. Many people gathered around him, but they did not dare or could not bear to stab him with their daggers.

"Let me do it. My identity may give him a decent death." Sextius spit out the dried figs in his mouth, took the light javelin from the hand of the centurion next to him, and shouted to the bloody Misallo, "I am the commander of the Roman Seventh Legion, the deputy general of the Governor of Cilicia Luculus, Marinus Gaius Sextius, is this okay!?"

Hearing Sextius's call, Misallo slowly stopped. He raised his head, looked at the blue sky, and shed two lines of tears.

"I will tell your king about your heroic fighting, although we Romans hate this title." After saying that, the light javelin drew a clear arc trajectory in the air and pierced directly into Misallo's chest.

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