"I'm sure!" Krigoru confidently pointed to the mountain in front of him and said, "These Samonai people have come here after the tribe of Poittia, but they don't know where they got the news that they want to ambush us here, but they don't know that their every move has been clearly seen by my men. ”

"Krigoru, your team has made a contribution today, and I have written it down." Alexis patted the restless war horse under his crotch: "Although our legion has not trained in Portentia, I think you should have forgotten the terrain here." ”

"You have taken us to the mountains of southern Pothenia several times in civilian clothes, how dare you forget! There are strict regulations in our military law, and officers at all levels of the corps must engrave the terrain in their minds! Lizam gestured to his head.

"Master Davers is a great man!" Alexis sighed that it was this military law formulated by Davers that was strictly enforced by the officers and soldiers to make the army ready for wartime. He remembered Davers's advice when he was the commander of the Third Legion, and said solemnly: "Now is the time to test you, and at the same time, let us see how powerful the Samoneans really are!" ”

………………………

Seeing the flags waving in the opposite hill, it was evident that the enemy was also attacking Abrini's team at the same time, and at this moment he did not have the heart to worry about his friend, and rushed down the mountain with more than a thousand of his warriors, his equipment was no different from that of other warriors except for the colorful crown on his helmet, a golden bronze helmet, a loose red short-sleeved robe, which reached only knee length, a leather belt fastened around his waist, a spear in his right hand, four or five javelins in his left hand, and nothing else.

Considering in advance that it was to ambush the Dionian army, Gherney brought out all the lightly armed warriors, who looked at the steep slope as flat ground, shuttled between rocks and trees, and were as agile as apes, stepping barefoot on thorns and gravel without the slightest pain, and soon approached the Dionian army as they were climbing.

Compared to the Samonai descending the mountain quickly, the Dionian troops ascended the mountain more slowly, they were a mixture of light infantry, light armor, and heavy infantry, pulling out a loose arc in an attempt to encircle all sides of the forest, so that the Samoni could not escape, but they did not want the Samonai to come so quickly.

As the temporary commander of this mixed force, the captain of the second brigade of the Third Legion, Ksima was not panicked at all, if it was a few years ago, when the Lucania region had not yet been incorporated into the Dionian Alliance, in this case, Ksima would definitely lead the warriors of the tribe to meet him and have a melee battle, and now he is a qualified officer in the Dionian Legion.

"Archers prepare! Heavy infantry protection! At the same time that Ksima gave the order, the heavy infantry of the Legion had erected long curved shields against the trunks of the trees and against the rocks, protecting themselves and the archers behind the shields, and the light armourers and javelinmen were even more backward, and it was difficult for the Samonai to attack them unless they rushed through the heavy infantry lines.

Under the protection of the long shield, the archers calmly drew their bows and arrows, aiming at the Samonai who were rushing towards them, and the looser formation of the Sammonai, coupled with the mountains and leafy trees, the team-style projectile was probably ineffective, so a more accurate one-on-one direct shot was required.

Although the distance was 100 meters away, the javelins they threw in the running carried strong kinetic energy, and in an instant they flew in front of the heavy infantry, only to hear "Bang! Boom! Boom! ......", more than half of the javelins were accurately smashed on the long shield, and the heavy infantry couldn't help but have some heart palpitations when they looked at the sharp spear tips that came out of the hole: it turned out to be a heavy javelin!

The arrows of the Dionian archers were also fired, and the unprotected and lightly armed Samonai warriors quickly prostrated themselves under the rocks or hid behind tree trunks to avoid the arrows.

For a time, guns and arrows came and went in the mountains and forests.

The Dionian soldiers had stronger protection, and the archers had a more stable platform for shooting arrows in place; The Samonai relied on nimble movement and the powerful penetration of the javelin, even though their casualties were increasing due to their lack of protection.

Geerni and his men, relying on the cover of the trees, had approached within forty meters of the Ionians, and when he saw that the javelins he threw with all his might made the long shields of the Ionian hoplites shake a few times and the soldiers almost fell, he swept the last javelin in his hand, and thought to himself: closer, closer, surely he can kill another one!

He thought confidently, and suddenly burrowed out of the hiding tree, and quickly circled the serpentine route, continuing to rush downward.

The whole Samonay's skirmish line was about 30 meters close to the enemy, and after Geirny leaned against a large tree, dodged the enemy's arrows like the other warriors, and while the archers were taking their arrows, he came out again, ready to throw the javelins in his hands at the heavy infantry in front, when he saw a scene of surprise, the Dionian heavy infantry suddenly threw away their long shields and made a throwing motion.

"Not good, Javelin!" Gellney's eyes widened.

The heavy infantry on the opposite side actually threw javelins, and thousands of arrows mixed with javelins flew out, catching the Samoneans by surprise, and many Samonei warriors who did not have time to hide were immediately stabbed by javelins, screaming.

Gherney did not have time to judge, and when the Dionian hoplites threw their javelins, the javelinmen ten meters behind them also rushed forward and threw their javelins again, followed by the light armoured men, who crossed the line of heavy infantry and quickly approached the enemy while the Samonai dodged the javelin attack.

"Retreat! Retreat! ...... "Gherney knew he couldn't be more aggressive at the moment, the Dionians' peculiar tactical combination disrupted their attacking rhythm, and if they delayed any longer, they might not be able to go.

Geirny gestured as he quickly retreated, and the trumpeter, who had been following him, immediately blew his horn.

But the speed of the Dyrnia light armor is also not slow, as Lucanians, climbing mountains and mountains is also what they are good at, not to mention that they are also dressed in light armor and have been recuperated before, so the Samonai people hesitated a little and they were caught up by them, not to mention those wounded warriors.

On the wooded, rocky slopes, spears against leather shields and short swords, it was not easy for the Samonai warriors to keep the distance to exert the power of their long weapons, and once the Dionian light armoured soldiers were close, the Samonai were in danger.

On the mountains, one escapes and one chases, and it is often seen that spears and swords are fighting one-on-one.

By the time Gherni had crossed the mountains, escaped the Dionians, and regrouped his ranks, he found that there were only more than 500 men left after him, and he had lost almost half of his warriors.

By the time he joined Abrini's team, his good brother was dying with a javelin, and his 1,000-strong men were just over 300 men.

Originally, he wanted to ambush the Dionian army, but he was ambushed by the Dionians, and the angry and frustrated Gherney led the remnants of the defeated army and retreated quickly to the north without resting.

…………………………

"This is the Samonai people?!" Alexis scrutinized the corpses on the ground, even touching the thick calluses on the soles of their bare feet with his hands, "It's hard, like wearing a pair of shoes." Ksima, you just fought the Samonai, talk about what it's like to fight them. ”

Ksima thought for a moment and said, "Commander, the Samonai are quite brave, you see that they are all light infantry, and they dare to rush to a place less than thirty meters away from our line and throw javelins...... Their formation is rather loose and intermittent, which reduces the accuracy of our light infantry's long-range attacks, a tactic similar to our light infantry tactics...... And, you see—" Maxima grabbed a Samoneh javelin and handed it to Alexis.

Alexis checked it with his hand, and then brought the tip of the spear to his eyes to take a closer look, and his expression became a little solemn: "It's the javelin that has aggravated the spearhead, and the weight of our javelin is not much different, so nearly 100 of your men were injured, is it because of it?" ”

Xsima nodded, and said solemnly: "I think their javelin skills are no worse than those of the Epitenis Legion Commander and their light shield soldiers, as long as the long shield is hit by him head-on, it can often pierce the shield, and the brothers are injured like this......"

Alexis looked down at the long shield that had been pierced by several javelins, and said, "I heard from the soldiers that the Samonai people ran fast in the mountains and forests, and you couldn't catch up with them, so they escaped. ”

Unconvinced, Ksima retorted: "The Samonai are very fast, but we Lucanians are not bad at climbing the mountains and forests, if we hadn't dressed heavier than them, we would have caught up with them a long time ago!" ”

"I heard from the Pothenians that although the Samonai also have heavy infantry wearing cuirasses, most of them are light infantry with tender guns......" Alexis looked at the continuous mountains in front of him, and his heart was more worried: "Order the legion to speed up the march and camp in the valley upstream of Basento, which is closest to us!" ”

…………………………

In a former Pothenian village less than a mile north of the city of Pothenia, Gherney stood in front of Willeny, the Grand Leader of Hilpine, with his head bowed in frustration.

Villani did not criticize his son for attacking the Dionians without permission and causing him to lose his army, he knew that Abrini's death had made Gherney very remorseful, so he asked in a gentle voice: "Gairney, you are the first leader of the Samonai to fight against the Dionians, and although you have suffered a little loss, you have also learned about this powerful enemy to our south. You tell us, how did the Dionians differ from the Campanias in battle? ”