Faults due to ** are more disgusting than faults due to anger. For the irrationality of those who are aroused by anger seems to be very painful, and unconsciously disturbed in conscience; But people who make mistakes by ** are held hostage by pleasure, as if they are a little more indulgent and less manly when they do something wrong.

- Marcus Aurelius (the only philosopher-emperor in Western history)

The Numidian javelin cavalry is a typical long-range cavalry in terms of the division of arms, and their ability is mainly reflected in javelin shooting; Its combat method is to use javelins to attack infantry that cannot catch up with the cavalry, especially hoplites, and when they move slowly, they are basically live targets when they encounter javelin cavalry.

However, this also does not mean that the Javelins have no attacking power; When facing light infantry or routs, javelin cavalry is also cavalry, and the impact of war horses is far stronger than the defensive ability of infantry. However, this was limited to light infantry and routs; The Numidian javelinmen were only armed with three or four javelins, lacking sufficient sustained attack ability and fierce attack ability.

If the Javelinees are against a large number of hoplites, the Javelinmen can only choose to flee after shooting the few javelins they carry; If the opponent of the Javelins is another well-equipped cavalry, then the Javelins do not have to engage at all, they just run away. It was impossible for them to attack from the front and then escape the pursuit of their opponents who were also cavalry.

On the basis of erroneous information obtained by Jubal and inaccurate information provided by Tulguta, the Numidian army on the entire Western Front was convinced that the Carthaginian enemy army was nothing more than an army of less than 20,000 recruit infantry; Among them, the cavalry strength is no more than two or three thousand. For 10,000 javelinmen, as long as the opponent is not a Carthaginian cavalry of the same rank and a similar number, the rest of the infantry will be a massacre.

Therefore, after receiving the order to attack from Jubal, the 10,000 Numidian javelinmen did not choose to reconnoiter the enemy situation cautiously; Instead, they chose to abandon the javelin attack directly and carried out a cavalry charge of astonishing scale. A cavalry group of 10,000 charged, even if the opponent was thousands of hoplites, it would not escape the bad luck; This is the absolute superiority of cavalry on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, their opponents were not infantry, but long shield cavalry, which numbered as much as fifteen thousand; Hannibal after hearing the galloping of the enemy cavalry. He immediately ordered the fifteen thousand shield cavalry under his command to quickly charge. In this way, two large groups of cavalry each launched a powerful charge against the other; The two sides are getting closer!

When the cavalry in front of the javelin cavalry group heard the other party's movement, they sensed that something was wrong, but before they could react, the galloping horses had already brought them to a place less than five hundred meters away from the long shield cavalry; The Javelinmen saw their opponents clearly, they were not sparse cavalry or pure infantry at all, they were more numerous shield cavalry than their own!

The kingdom of Numidia also had its own long shield cavalry. Therefore, these javelin cavalry better understood the powerful combat effectiveness of the long shield cavalry; It's a pity that it's too late to say anything now, and a collision between the two sides is inevitable. The helpless javelin cavalry had no choice but to continue to speed up their horses in order to break through this powerful group of shield cavalry and gain a chance of survival.

The galloping horses slammed the two cavalry together; At the moment of impact, the neighing of war horses, the screams of cavalry, and the flying of blood became the main theme on the battlefield. Cavalry in front of the charge. Regardless of whether we are enemies or enemies, we have suffered heavy losses and countless casualties; However, the cavalry in the rear was still speeding forward, and everyone was fighting desperately for the victory of their respective kingdoms.

After all, the javelinmen were only light cavalry, and the weapon they relied on for survival was only a wooden javelin; The shield riders were holding sharp spears in their hands. In addition to the first wave of cavalry who died in the onslaught, the shield cavalry who continued to attack easily tore apart the enemy light cavalry cluster with their spears.

Countless javelinmen launched a decisive assault on their opponents, but often before their javelins could touch their opponents, they had already been stabbed by their opponents' spears and trampled to death; The onslaught of both sides was forcibly stopped with the scorching scuffle of the cluster, and all that was left was the flesh and blood battle of the Jin Ge Iron Horse.

In such hand-to-hand combat, the sharply armed and well-equipped shield cavalry easily crushed the javelin cavalry, who had no leather armor; Even so, there were still many more Javelinmen who chose to die for their country between life and death. They relentlessly threw their javelins at the shield cavalry. Then he was killed unarmed by another shield cavalry.

In such a bloody battlefield, there was no sympathy, no hesitation, and no victory or defeat; Some are just life and death. The loser not only loses his life, but also loses his country, his home and the dream of the nation; Although the victor has gained the continuation of the country and the rise of the nation, he has also paid with his own life, and both sides are fighting for the survival space of their respective nations with their lives.

The Javelinees, who were inferior in numbers and inferior in weapons and equipment, could not create miracles after all; As more and more javelinmen fell on their own horses, the shield cavalry, which had all the advantages, finally surrounded the remaining javelinmen under the command of Hannibal. After encircling the remaining javelinmen, Hannibal ordered a halt to the massacre of the javelinmen.

Many of Hannibal's victories relied on the elite Numidian javelin cavalry under his command, and Hannibal finally relented when he saw the cavalry with the same roots as his javelin cavalry; He sent heralds to persuade the Numidian javelins, who were less than 3,000 men left, to surrender. And promised not to make them enemies of Numidia in the future.

It is almost impossible for an army to have a casualty rate of more than 70% on the battlefield, and basically an army will collapse after the casualties exceed 50%. The reason why the Numidian javelins had not collapsed was because they knew that they could not outrun the opponent's cavalry, but in fact they simply did not have the confidence to continue fighting.

So, Hannibal's persuasion worked; The Javelinmen, who were still ready to fight to the death, finally put down their weapons. Chose a chance to live. In this battle, the Numidian javelin cavalry lost more than 7,000 people, and the result was only more than 3,000 casualties among the shield cavalry; Many of these long-shield cavalry died in the first wave of the fiercest onslaught.

Having settled the 10,000 javelinmen in Numidia, Hannibal left 2,000 cavalry to watch over the prisoners on the spot; And he led 10,000 long shield cavalry to continue to run towards the barracks. At this time, Sakab also ended the annihilation of Jubal's five thousand elites; After all, there were only 1,000 javelinmen among Jubal's 5,000 elites, and the rest were 1,000 slingers and 3,000 Numidian javelins.

The javelin cavalry of a thousand men was quickly annihilated by the onslaught of nearly five thousand Hordox cavalry; The remaining four thousand infantry would have been just a joke. Sakar simply turned the horse's head and unleashed a second wave. The 4,000 infantry were scattered and routed under the charge of the cavalry. Unwilling to accept the facts in front of him, Masiwa chose to live and die with the 5,000 Numidian elites, while Jubal chose to evacuate.

In Jubal's opinion, this sudden emergence of 10,000 elites may be the last strength of the Carthaginian kingdom; However, as long as you can return to your own position. The Numidian army, which also had six thousand desert infantry and ten thousand javelin cavalry, would not necessarily lose to the Carthaginians. In this way, Jubal took the last trace of luck and hurriedly fled back to his own camp with his personal guards.

Sakarb's forces were limited, and the infantry could not complete the pursuit of the rout, so he could only let Jubal escape with dozens of cavalry; And he himself continued to pursue the Numidian routs with his cavalry. Jubal, who had fled back to his camp, did not see the javelinmen returning victorious, but he was still very pleased with the scene before him.

After fifteen thousand Carthaginian infantrymen guarding the barracks opened the barracks gates on the orders of Amikas. The first to burst out of the barracks were five thousand Iberian infantry; But because the size of the barracks gate is limited, it is impossible for the five thousand Iberian infantry to rush to the barracks for a while, let alone the large troops behind.

The Numidian desert infantry, 6,000 under the orders of Abbascantas, attacked while the Iberian infantry was crowded with the barracks; Both sides were newly formed infantry units, but the desert infantry's will to fight was superior to that of the Iberian infantry, and with the brave and fearless Abbascantas personally participating in the battle, the desert infantry had the upper hand.

In his left hand he held a shield he had taken from the Iberian infantry, and in his right hand he held a battle axe; He was already a brave soldier of the Numidian army, and the cowardice of the Iberian infantry made him even more courageous. The battle axe in his hand slashed through the Iberian infantry, each slashing with a scream of the enemy and a flight of blood; The desert infantry beside him watched the bravery of the general. It also burst out with more powerful combat effectiveness.

Amikas was also sweating profusely when he saw the Iberian infantry that was already being defeated, and he wanted to transfer the more elite Libyan spearmen to the front line to fight, but he could not make the Iberian infantry retreat; He wanted to provide long-range support but was afraid of accidental injury, but the battle at the gate of the barracks suddenly fell into a situation that was extremely unfavorable to Carthage.

Jubal, who had fled back to his own position, was naturally overjoyed to see that the desert infantry had gained absolute superiority under the command of Abbascantas, and was even about to enter the Carthaginian barracks; Something even happier to him was coming soon, for he had already seen the sound of rumbling horses galloping from the far distance on the right flank of the Carthaginian barracks, and it must have been the javelinmen returning victorious!

When the shield cavalry slowly appeared in front of Jubal's eyes, Jubal finally sensed that something was wrong; At the same time, he also understands that it all could be a scam. The defenders in the Carthaginian barracks were only 15,000 recruits. But there are two more elite armies in ambush on its flanks! Thinking of the information and orders sent back by Zuguta, Jubal understood at this moment that it was not only himself who was deceived, but also the entire Numidian Kingdom!

The 10,000 galloping long shield cavalry did not stop. The attack was launched directly on the rear of the desert infantry attacking the barracks; This time it was Kelimis who led the cavalry, and Hannibal came to Jubal with five hundred cavalry. The cavalry charge was a disaster for the unsuspecting desert infantry, and countless unprepared desert infantry were overwhelmed by the cavalry swarm with just one look.

After the return of Hannibal's shielded cavalry, the results of the battle at the barracks were already known; Hannibal looked at Jubal, who was suddenly old, and said calmly: "General Jubal, you have lost; After the 35,000 troops were wiped out. Your province of Numidia will no longer have any strength to stop my army. ”

"Hehe, Hannibal, you know what? From the moment I saw you appear, I knew I was losing; Not only did I lose, but Zuguta also lost, and the entire kingdom of Numidia lost. However, we did not lose to the kingdom of Carthage, but to you, Hannibal; We also lost to ourselves! After sighing at this, Jubal decisively drew the short sword at his waist and killed himself.

Looking at Jubal, who had broken himself, Hannibal also sighed; After all, only one overlord can be allowed between the Kingdom of Carthage and the Kingdom of Numidia, but these soldiers who shed their blood for their country and nation are all heroes! The last desert infantry was eventually routed by Carthage's two-sided attack, but Abbascantas chose to fight to the death; In order to kill him, Kelimis even paid the price of a dozen long shield cavalry! (To be continued.) )xh:.74.240.212