Chapter 2 The lonely city of Sarona (1)
"I have praised the pastures and the countryside, and the leaders... read the latest and most complete novels" - Virgil's epitaph, referring to his three representative works "Pastoral Songs", "Agriculture Poems" and "Aeneas"
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The civil guards and centurions of the two legions persuaded the general, and took advantage of the four legions of the other side to come, and promptly shrank the defense line, gave up attacking Isa City, retreated to the south to meet General Gabinus, and then made a decision.
"What, can this still be called a qualified general? I am not the young man under Caesar who has not seen the world forty. My mission is to suppress the city of Dalmatia and not escape by the wind." Rilias shouted, and then he pointed to his subordinates and said: Before understanding the enemy's virtuality and reality, meaningless commotion and arbitrary decision are the most irrational behavior. In any case, sending the chief brigade of the First Macedonian Legion to serve as a forceful reconnaissance and a contact battle with the enemy is more effective than anything else. "Don't hate that the gods are playing with your destiny, but you should blame whether you have sufficient sacrifices prepared."
At this time, Li Bida, who was bold and arrogant, waited for the second wave of troops, two infantry brigades and two archers of the 16th Legion, about two thousand people. Then he instructed the crew to ferry again in three days, because the position of the troops has been exposed, and if it is noticed by Bibruce's fleet, it will be no more worthwhile. "For the first step, we will follow Olicombe and attack towards Isa City. Anyway, the enemy cannot understand our true military strength. As long as we enter Isa City, we can obtain the largest border fortress between Ilyria and Epirus - this front can be stabilized. We can either go south to attack Delphi, or go east to threaten the Macedonian province."
Then, Li Bida ordered each brigade to wear the logos of other legions: the centaur flag of the 16th legion, the Amon sheep skull flag of the 15th legion, and the twin cattle flag of the 6th legion, making the illusion of bustling bustling—in fact, there were still four thousand people, including 1,500 heavy infantry, 500 light auxiliary soldiers, and 1,000 Mathia cavalry. There were also thousands of archers, stone casters, four hundred Medegiguards who were directly under the jurisdiction, and a cavalry cannon, six cavalry cannons, and a dismantled "Maselian Lady Cannon". As for Olicombe City, Li Bida could not trust the local Presbyterian Church, so he sought thirty hostages to accompany the army, five hundred mules, horses and donkeys, and headed towards Isa City.
Along the way, Illyria and Epirus's large and small market towns. I heard that the general had the strength of three legions, so he retreated to his defense and surrendered. Originally, it was only a day and a half to reach his destination along the Yakumbini River, but the more inland it was, the more complicated the terrain and roads became, and the winding winding. At this time, the advantage of the Roman army could not be revealed in this terrain. Fortunately, many of Faobinas' troops were Macedonians and were from mountain people, so they were able to deal with this kind of road conditions with ease.
So when the camp was withdrawn the next day, he might have only taken one-third of the journey of Isa City. It was foggy in the middle of the night. The soldiers' armor and helmets were covered with white fluffy powder. Within the range of vision, they followed the comrades in front and slowly advanced along the mountain road. This was a weather phenomenon that was difficult to see in the Apennines, but it was common in the mountains. Li Bida became a little anxious. According to his prior knowledge, the other party's General Lelias had nothing but two behaviors. One was to misbelieve his false information, give up attacking Isa City, and retreat to join the other Pompei troops; the second was to ignore it and continue to besiege the city. If this was the case, it would be troublesome, but he also had a record, that was to avoid Lelias's troops in time and retreat to the last stronghold, Sarona.
"I found the enemy's traces in the two hills in front!" The chief centurion of the 16th Legion, wearing a curvy Thrace helmet on the top, ran from there. According to common sense, the scout cavalry in front should have found the enemy situation in time to be rewarded within twenty to forty Rome, but the fog was filled with winding mountain roads obstructing the sight. Both sides encountered each other without knowing it. The front troops were only four Furlongs away, and then both sides were in chaos. They hurriedly retreated to the hillside where they had stopped under the cover of the cavalry and the archers.
"Bang the Parthian bronze drum, let the two brigades occupy the hillsides on both sides of the road, raise legion flags to intimidate them." Li Bida hurriedly commanded, and then he asked about the number of Kretas, but the answer he received was that the fog was too heavy and it was impossible to distinguish.
Next, both sides lined up silently in the fog. After one and a half days, the sun gradually became stronger and the fog dissipated. The chief brigade sent by Rileyas saw three legion flags erected on three high hills opposite, and the shapes were different, so he began to wonder if there were really three legions standing in front of him? If this is the case, our side would be outnumbered. And over there, Cretas and several veterans were squinting their eyes and trying to judge the enemy's situation. Finally, he reported to Li Bida, "The enemy's formation is well arranged, but the number should exceed 2,000 people."
"How, do you want to go over and defeat the opponent's enemy?" Sabora pulled the reins and asked the commander-in-chief next to him.
"Since Rileyas sent these troops, from the scale, it is more like a forceful reconnaissance. To find out the fact that our army is not so easy to be fooled. Maybe Isa City can't go to the city of Isa. Sabo, go and ask the hostages. After we are about to contact us properly, we will turn to Sarona City." Li Bida instructed him, and then Sabo went to ask clearly, and then followed the confrontation line and took a hundred cavalry to cross the narrow valley between the two mountains and explore the way forward.
Over there, the first legion of the Macedonian province, the "La Loconia" legion, was named after Sula's decisive victory over Mitradati VI in this place in Greece. This legion won honors in this battle. When he saw Sabo's small cavalry, he passed by the empty space in the middle of the line of the battle, and could not hold back and took the lead in shooting the bow and arrow.
The battle between the range began. Most of the archers of the Laloconian Legion came from Thrace and Schitese mercenaries. They used the "Lydia Bow" created by the horns of the wild goats. The range was not as good as the imitation Parthian recurve bow under Libida, but the hillside they occupied was in the east, just carrying the sunlight. Libida's Nubian archers were greatly reduced due to the dazzling fog and sunlight. Therefore, both sides, the range and strength of the former were not enough to cause great damage to the latter's heavy-armed troops, and the latter did not show its power because they failed to hit the target.
Chapter completed!