The herald did not answer, but once again emphasized: this is an order from King Davers!

Matonis was speechless for a moment, and he ordered loudly and angrily: "Tell the captains of the brigade to lead the brothers to retreat, and retreat very slowly!" ……”

For the experienced commanders, there was no need for more detailed instructions from Davers, who knew how to deal with the incoming cavalry, and sent the Seventh Brigade of the Legion to the front of the ranks.

When the Numibian and Celtic cavalry pursued the Dionian cavalry and came to the Dionian Formation, they saw a long array of infantry retreating, and behind the heavy infantry was a skirmish line formed by light infantry, and they fired arrows at the enemy cavalry, so that the Numibian cavalry could not get close to the array and throw javelins.

Fierce as they were, they would not be foolish enough to attack such a large formation, and they stopped their pursuit, keeping a safe distance from the Dionian army......

………………………………

"What do you say?! The Ionians are retreating! "Dionysius, who had just crossed the east bank of the Tacchinadi, was even more anxious when he heard the report of Ashrita, fearing that the Dioonians would quickly retreat and retreat to the north bank of the Neto, before he could lead his army, and that the efforts of the two days would be in vain.

"Order the troops to speed up and don't let the enemy run!"

"Yes!"

"Wait!" Phoebe Das suddenly shouted loudly.

Although Dionysius was unhappy that he interrupted himself to give an order, he also knew that there must be some reason for this non-talkative Spartan to speak out at this critical moment.

"You just said that Dionia's 'array' is on the back side, and you used the word 'array', why?" Phoebe Das asked directly to Ashirita.

Ashirita hated Phoebitas's rude tone, but he knew that the Spartans were not easy to mess with, so he said impatiently: "That's right, I'm talking about 'array', because the Dioonians are already retreating in arrays. ”

When Dionysius heard this, his heart jumped.

"What kind of array?" Phoebe Das asked.

Ashirita thought about it for a while, and simply drew a 'horizontal' on the dirt floor with her toes: "It's a long, long ...... like this."

Phoebe Das bent over, looked at the ground, and asked, "Which direction are we in?" ”

"Here." Ashirita tapped the front of the "one horizontal" with her toes.

Phoebidas's suspicion was confirmed, and he raised his head, looked at Dionysius, and said in a deep voice: "I am afraid that the new king of Dionya has prepared our plans, and he is laying out a large net, waiting for us to rush into it. By that time your soldiers are physically exhausted, there is no complete formation, they are no match for the Ionians at all, and all that awaits you is defeat. ”

Dionysius looked down at the ground that had just been wiped with Achirita's foot, and fell into deep thought, although he did not want to believe in his heart that the seduction plan he had worked so hard to implement had been seen through by the young man of Dionia, and was instead seduced by the other party, but Phoebitas's words were like a slap in the face, which made his face hot, but fortunately, the survival of this war was at stake, he didn't have the heart to care about this, just coughed a few times, and said: "Then what do you think we should do now?" ”

"Immediately stop advancing, set up the formation, and press up at normal speed!" Phoebe Das drew another "horizontal" in front of the "one horizontal" with his foot.

"If this is done, it will be too long, and the Dionians will probably escape." Dionysius said worriedly.

As a bystander, Phoebidas was able to maintain a calm mind: "It's better to let them escape than to be defeated by them." ”

Dionysius was silent after hearing this, and his heart was indeed suffering from gains and losses, and contradictions were abnormal.

He turned his head to look back at the dust behind him that had been stirred up by the large, hastily marching procession......

I watched the dense crowd of soldiers pass quickly in front of his escort, although the armor and shield spear were still only on the shoulders, but the sweat was already soaked through the lining, and the sound of rapid breathing gathered together, even a little deafening......

Looking ahead, the vast plains of Croton were unusually quiet except for the occasional gallop of mercenary cavalry, but Dionia's army might be at ease where he could not see......

Dionysius hesitated for a while, and finally made up his mind: "Phoebeidas, just do as you say, I decide that you will arrange the formation." ”

Phoebeidas didn't postpone it, his face was excited, which was exactly what he hoped for.

"Do I need to withdraw all my men?" Ashirita asked.

"You and Gaba's cavalry continue to drive out the enemy's cavalry to prevent them from snooping on our formation, and keep an eye on the enemy's movements." Phoebidas began to give orders: "And ...... You come and tell me the details of the array laid by the Ionians......"

………………………………

It was past noon, and there was no sign of Syracuse's army, and Davers was puzzled. Fortunately, although the Dionyan cavalry was suppressed and could not observe the enemy, the Dionian fleet was rampant at sea, and they had circled to the coast of the southern plain of Croton, and since they did not find the Syracuse army, which was supposed to be retreating, the puzzled Midorades decisively sent clippers to quietly land on the secluded beach, and sent sailors ashore to investigate, and it was not long before they discovered the secrets of the Syracuses.

It turns out that the people of Syracuse are in formation! After receiving the news from the Clippers, Davers's mood was a little complicated, and he couldn't say whether it was regret or expectation.

He whispered to himself: "It seems that you Dionysius are quite cautious, since you don't come, then I will go over, let us have a fair showdown!" ”

"Order, the whole army turns around and marches south!" Davers was furious and gave the order loudly.

"Why did you go south again?!" Many soldiers were puzzled and dissatisfied with the back and forth of orders.

But the commanders and senior officers had already sensed the approaching battle, and militants such as Amintas and Matonis were already excited.

"Report to Your Majesty that 5,000 reinforcements from Crotone and Trina have arrived!"

When Davers heard this, his spirits lifted: "Great! Who are the leading generals? ”

"Trina is Cipros and Crotone is Milon."

Davers said, "Milon? Milon expelled by Crotone? ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. I've already confirmed, it's him! After the outbreak of this war, he was recalled by Crotone, and after the fall of Crotone, he was urgently elected as a general by the people of the Acropolis. Tolmid knew that Davers would have questions, so he did his research beforehand.

These two generals are old acquaintances! After the Second Crotone War, Davers had an idea of Milon's command ability. He was in constant contact with Sipros, and Davers even thought that "he was an open-minded, nimble-minded political figure in the center of the city-states of the South and Italy, who could see the general situation most clearly".

Both of them were not weak, and Davers was relieved, and he asked again, "Are the reinforcements they led all heavy infantry?" ”

"There were only 300 light infantry, and the rest were all heavy infantry." Tolmide replied.

"In that case......," said Davers, after a moment's thought, "let them line up at the left end of the First Army and march with the great army." ”

"Array at the far left?" When Tolmid, who knew Davers's battle plan, heard this, he asked with some unease: "Your Majesty, there may be the focus of the enemy's attack, can they block the enemy's attack?" ”

"The Syracuse people have captured their cities and slaughtered their loved ones, and they hate the Syracuse people far more than we do, and their fighting spirit is stronger than that of our soldiers! I believe that even if they fight to the last man, they will never back down! Davers said in a slow but firm tone.

"I see." Tolmide did not hesitate any longer, turned and prepared to gallop to the heralds, but was stopped by Davers: "You go and tell Milon and Sipros yourself, because of the urgency of the military situation, I can't rush to meet them." The Great War is coming, and I hope they will be fully prepared and work together to take revenge on the Syracuse people who invaded our homeland and mutilated our people! ”

"Yes." Tolmid gave a military salute excitedly.

………………………………

Crotone and Trina's army descended the hill and went around the north gate of the city to exit the city, and all they saw along the way were broken walls and devastation, which increased the anger in the hearts of the soldiers, and Milon and Sipnos managed to control the small number of Numibian cavalry that they had only dispersed instead of pursuing, and finally caught up with the Dionian army marching south, and both Milon and Sipros breathed a sigh of relief when they received the order conveyed by Tolmide.

Because their troops came from the east, right at the far left end of the entire array of Dionian troops, they only needed to spread out the ranks and connect with the first Dionian army, without spending more energy, knowing that the soldiers were a little out of breath all the way.

Seeing that the spirit of the two generals of the unified army was a little relaxed, Tormid couldn't help but remind: "Two lords, according to Your Majesty's analysis before the battle, our left flank will be the focus of the enemy's attack, you must be vigilant!" ”

"Why?" Milon and Cipros asked in unison.

Before each battle, Davers would detail his intentions to the Legion Commander and senior officers to ensure that they could execute them smoothly. What's more, the great battle was about to begin, and Tolmide had no need to hide it, so he said solemnly: "Because Syracuse has more soldiers than us, His Majesty will let the Seventh Army march along the east bank of the Thachinadi River after leading his army across the Neto River. In this way, if the Syracuse wants to take advantage of their numbers, it is their best choice to focus on attacking our left flank. ”