Although the forces were insufficient, the defense of the estuary was the strength of the Macedonian phalanx. Trada thought his ironclad archers could break through the broken battle formation on the opposite side.

Zoelos arranged the only pikemen very effectively, with a central depression on both sides, allowing the enemy to be attacked on three sides.

As soon as the Armenian army landed on the shore, it was in a scuffle and was quickly defeated, and its numbers did not give it an advantage. The infantry of the Eastern land war was inferior to the Western infantry, and the advantage was in the cavalry. However, Trada's archers were not tough ironclad cavalry after all. They crashed into the spears, and the sharp heads of the spears pierced through the ironclad armor, and even the men and horses were pierced in the gut. The enemy general Trada was killed in the first wave of the attack.

The Armenians had the upper hand, but after crossing the river, they were scattered in ruins. The Macedonian light cavalry would not show mercy at all, catching up and annihilating.

"Wipe out another team."

Zoelos didn't know whether to rejoice in the victory, or to be sad that the troops were becoming less and less. The reinforcements he had transferred from Ajani had not yet arrived.

"It's a good thing, no matter what, if we hold the Colchis Pass, I'll be in charge of the strategy."

Counting the number of soldiers under his command, Zoelos muttered to himself faintly.

Before he could recover from this vicious battle, he suddenly received news from Brick:

The Eastern Army's attack on Artasat failed, and the infantry and light cavalry were lost, but the Scythian mercenary archers were preserved.

Brick survived, awaiting convictions.

"I can't report the news.

Emperor Podare Rios had not long been on the throne, and if he had heard such unfavorable news, and if he had such a temper, then Brick would have died.

I am already short of manpower in the East to the extent that I can accept people when I see them, and excellent generals like Brick are rare. In the face of such a defeat, he was still well organized, retaining the main general and keeping the core of the legion - the archers. There is a truth that there is a victory, and there is a defeat when you lose. This is a general who can be trusted.

I have to protect him. Not because he is my protégé, but because of the current situation, before the strategic focus of Macedonia shifted to the east, the two of us were the main defensive center.

Without Brick, the Eastern Front could have collapsed. In that way, Macedonia had to regain the lost territory of Scythia. ”

So Zoelos chose to conceal the information.

Although he himself may be convicted of not reporting it, the loyal old general is only for Macedonia.

Brick's actions were removed from his regular military activity debriefings; At the same time, he wrote back to the student, telling him to withdraw to Fraspa and wait for reinforcements from the sea. He will receive a new batch of Scythian mercenaries, including archers, light cavalry, and Sarmatian heavy cavalry. Prepare for a new offensive.

Zoelos is planning a new operation, and it's risky. He wanted to replenish Brick with reinforcements so that he could recapture Artaschat. Then go one step further and flank Kutaisi with him. Once successful, Macedonia will be connected to the area south of the Caucasus Pass in Asia, so it will take the initiative.

The students suffered a setback, and the veteran Zoelos was naturally dissatisfied. In search of psychological balance, he took the initiative and attacked the garrison on the opposite side across the river.

It was a member of the Armenian family, Linsin Satara. is a young general. Zoelos quickly crossed the border and had already deployed his troops to the mountains before the enemy arrived.

Lacking combat experience, Satara attacked the Macedonian troops with mediocre soldiers. Unexpectedly, halfway up the mountain, they were attacked by a torrential rain of bows and arrows, and a large number of soldiers fell to the ground with casualties. Satara acted recklessly, and one of them rushed to the front with the ironclad cavalry guards to continue the attack on the mountain.

The bow increased its range and penetration from a height downward, plus the rolling logs and stones that were lowered from the top of the mountain. Linsing's guards were killed and wounded. When he reached the top of the hill alone, Zoelos rushed over with his spear, shouted loudly, and fought with him.

Zoelos stabbed Linsing in the chest with a shot in the third round, knocking him off the horse. The Macedonian heavy cavalry stepped forward and killed the rest of the ironclad cavalry in one fell swoop.

The Macedonian troops then launched a counteroffensive and descended from the top of the hill to defeat the enemy. The Armenian soldiers fled, and after the hussars pursued part of it, the general ordered to withdraw north of the river.

After another victory, Zoelos was in a slightly calmer mood. Originally, after the attrition of the previous battle, most of the archers who were replenished from the auxiliary legions. Whether you can win or not depends on a fight, but fortunately, the bet is won. It takes advantage of the height of the terrain to give full play to the advantages of bow strikes.

However, thinking about the decisiveness of this operation, it can only reflect their will to fight to the death.

Thinking of this, Zoelos opened the report of the siege of Artasat again and studied it attentively. Brick's 3,000 troops besieged 500 defenders, which already had an absolute advantage in terms of numbers, but there was a lack of consideration in terms of strength.

The city is the main city of Armenia, the capital of the province of Armenia, and the birthplace of the country. It was garrisoned by Armenian prince Aram.

Alam has an unusually strong physique, unusually long arms, and immense strength. Martial arts are exquisite, and they can often defeat ten with one.

It is said that in the battle for hegemony in the East, it was he who led a weak army to conquer the city, defeated the army of the Seleucid Northern Line, and repelled the invasion of Pontus. In a confrontation with the Pontus army, Fifty Yards shot the Ben general with a heavy armor-piercing javelin, and then took advantage of the situation to kill the general's guard.

With an iron gun in his left hand and a mace in his right hand, he killed dozens of guards by himself. Since then, the people of Bendu have not dared to cross the thunder pool by half a step.

Alam was very ferocious when he fought, and was nicknamed "Rabid Dog". With such an opponent as an enemy, I'm afraid Brick alone can't resist it.

Alam's guards consisted of 99 men, all of whom were highly skilled in martial arts, and the ironclad cavalry guards composed of them were undefeated.

Brick writes:

"There are only five hundred men in the city, and we are making a feint at the west gate, and the main force has entered through the east gate. The first on-demand ironclad cavalry was dealt with by our archers, quite easily.

And the two hundred and thirty infantry in the city have been on the west gate tower all the time, to no avail.

I'm sure I'm going to win.

The infantry advanced to the square, 3 eastern mercenary infantry phalanxes, 4 pikes phalanx, two infantry archers, and three light cavalry squadrons.

I did not enter the city outside the city, because I was sure that the infantry would be sufficient to fight the enemy cavalry.

Seeing the square, the ironclad archers began to fire arrows, which were very lethal. The two sides were deadlocked, and the infantry did not dare to attack. Constantly disturbed by bows and arrows.

suddenly

Alam leads the team to attack!

Assault the infantry phalanx in three horizontal formations. Our infantry was routed.

The besieging forces were completely annihilated. The archers did not enter the city and survived and fled. ”

Zoelos closed the scroll and closed his eyes in contemplation.

The ironclad cavalry must have rushed down the platform of the square with great speed, and the sound of horses' hooves shook the hearts of the soldiers under the echo effect of the buildings around the square.

The characteristic sound of the horn of the Eastern Army

"Woo~"

The deep and deep man rejoins in unison:

"Kill~!"

(End of chapter)