The powerful throwing guns of the Romans, as well as the swift stone projectiles, caused a lot of trouble for the Celtic army. At close range, they threw heavy javelins that pierced the plate armor! But it's just as powerful. If it were to hit a man in the face, it would have been enough to break all the cheekbones!, but what was even more noteworthy was the charge of the Romans. The charge of nearly 100,000 Roman troops was quite imposing. And their combat effectiveness, albeit slightly low. But with their numbers, it was enough to put the Celtic army under pressure.

The Roman hoplites raised their shields and formed a tight wall to block the Celtic pikemen's thrusts. At the same time, they pushed forward desperately. Hopefully, they can squeeze through the Celtic phalanx. They were forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat, and then fought them with spears and swords in their hands.

At this stage, the battle between the two sides is more like a race of endurance and strength. It's about who can push whom. The Celts desperately maintained their array, holding off the enemy with their spears. Under the cover of extra-long spears, the Romans were killed and wounded with troops consisting of muskets, heavy crossbows and thunder swordsmen.

The Roman heavy infantry on the opposite side gritted their teeth and persevered, and the heavy scale armor on their bodies, or the traditional Roman ring plate armor, although because of the backwardness of the production technology and iron-smelting technology, was not as strong as the plate armor forged by the Normans. But it's also a rare piece of sophisticated equipment. And their slingers and javelinmen, though not enough to compete with the Celtic muskets and heavy crossbows, were able to fight hard. Thus, the battle was fiercer in the four legions maintained by the regular Roman army. The soldiers of the two sides fought bloodily, and it can be said that they are evenly matched.

In other directions, however, on those fronts for which the local garrison of Rome was responsible, the situation was completely different.

The local militia, armed with leather armor and light chain mail, was completely unable to defend itself against the onslaught of the Celtic soldiers. The dense phalanx of extra-long spears was no less deadly for them. Often, the brave Roman militia stepped forward, and before they could make any tactical moves, they were stabbed into a sieve by the plurality of extra-long spears on the opposite side.

And they are not equipped with the Roman shield, and they don't even have a way to crack the phalanx of super long spears. In such a situation, there is no end to them except to be abused, abused, and abused. Artoria, who soon discovered this, immediately ordered the British longbowmen to shift their target, and the two thousand longbowmen concentrated on one of the Roman militia regiments. The intention was to crush this legion first, thus tearing apart the Roman array.

At this stage, although the Celtic army did not have a numerical advantage, the situation was moving in their favor.

And at this time, when I saw the shouts of killing on the frontal battlefield, which shook the world, in front of the rabble on the left flank of the Roman army, Europa, who had a deep hatred for the Norman Empire, and the remnants of the Arab army, a group of former Syrians were boiling with blood, and these mercenaries with poor equipment and even tattered clothes could no longer stand it. Their anger against the Norman Empire exploded at this moment!

Representing the wrath of the entire Western world at the brutal conquest of the Norman Empire, these men roared and charged at the Celtic flanks with weapons such as axes, scimitars, maces or sticks. And with the dispatch of these soldiers, behind them, more rabble, all the remnants of the dead country who had hatred for the Norman Empire, were also infected and inspired, and launched a charge.

Although there are not many of them, they are diverse. These included but not limited to two-handed swordsmen from Germany, crossbowmen and shield spearmen from Italy, pikemen and halberdiers from Switzerland, ranger knights from the Franks, light cavalry and veiled swordsmen from Arabia, religious fanatics, and even desert nomads on camels...... The formation of these people was extremely chaotic. There is no rule at all. The soldiers were assembled in mercenary groups, in hundreds or thousands of small battle groups from the location of their origin. These groups are very grouped, and everything is decided internally. The leaders are also self-elected. This has created confusion in the chain of command of these mercenary fighters - which, of course, is actually a compliment. It's really accurate to put it: these guys have no chain of command at all.

Speaking of which, however, there are still a small number of troops among them that are commendable - the two were the only regular mercenary corps left in the heyday of the Eastern Roman Empire. One Latin legion, one Germanic legion. Although originally a regiment with full strength should have reached 10,000 people. Now the combined number of the two legions is only more than 8,000. But I believe that these more than 8,000 people combined are stronger than the 20,000 or 30,000 rabble.

After all, they have a unified command and coordination. Although the equipment and training are a little worse, the attitude of the Eastern Roman Empire towards the mercenary corps has always been regarded as a stepmother's child, but it is better than those Europa and Arabs who are ruined and belong to the wild children without mothers.

On top of that, the timing of these mercenaries is not the best. Originally, Lilianu didn't pay much attention to these rabble. As for their use, it is based on the method of "launching an attack when the Celtic army is showing fatigue and demoralization, further weakening the morale of the other side". But this moment, the big war started. But it was the Celtic army that gained the upper hand by virtue of its long-range advantage. At this time, if you launch a charge, you will not achieve the strategic effect at all!

"Damn it! these bastards who only make trouble!" Seeing that the battle was going on, several Arab mercenaries acted on their own, which eventually caused an avalanche of chain reactions among the left-wing mercenary forces. Lilianu snorted angrily. Immediately afterwards, he made a decision on the spot: since this is the case, he will not do anything, and the attack on the other side will be prepared in advance!

After making such a decision, Lilianu gave a new order - the six thousand lancers on the right flank were ready to move! Then replace it with "two-sided attack"!

In this way, while the frontal battlefield was in the midst of a fierce battle, the armies deployed on both flanks of the Eastern Romans launched a charge! However, Artoria had been prepared for such an outcome! All this was under her calculations! The Celts, the royal knights of Britain, and the 10,000 elite hussars that Egil had given her were for this kind of time!

"Two thousand royal knights, stop those Roman lancers. Hussar troops, crush the rabble that is not capable of doing anything!!" Seeing the movement of the Roman army, Artoria quickly issued a new order. Celtic knights and Norman hussars deployed in the plains behind the array, ready to attack. The cavalry militia sprang into action as soon as they received the order. The knights launched a counter-charge towards the Eastern Roman lancers. And the hussars and the Eastern European horseback militia rushed towards the rabble on the right flank in a semi-encircled position!

Lilianu has her own plans, and Artoria has her plans. If faced with three times the size of the Eastern Roman lancers, the well-armed hoplites could not win quickly. Then in the face of a rabble three times their own, the elite hussars armed with light cavalry spears are definitely enough to crush them!

Persimmon pick up soft pinch. Artoria understands such a simple truth. The tactics of using those rabble as a breakthrough also fully reflect this. The elite hussars, who had developed to the quasi-lancer stage, and the cavalry militia, which were also equipped with spears and had undergone a certain degree of formal training, launched a charge, and those rabble naturally could not resist it. Collapse is imminent. In this way, the first phase of the battle would end with the Celtic army defeating the Roman army with 30,000 men.

"Then the enemy will be discouraged. And the hussars, who have rested for a certain time, can calmly assault the opponent's flank and completely crush these Greeks!" Altoria's abacus crackled. But she was very shrewd—and Lilianu, seeing the Normans' way of coping, secretly exclaimed, "Not good!", and immediately conveyed the order:

"Let the Germanic and Latin legions stop and organize their defenses! Send another batch of Roman hoplites, as well as Roman special legions (Scythe of the Thracian War, Wolves of the Night, Second Companion Cavalry) to aid the left flank of our army! After those rabble mercenaries retreat, don't let them attack our defenses in turn!

With such an order from Lilianu. The Roman heralds hurried over, and the two corps of mercenaries, who were still regular troops, quickly stopped. Begin to shrink the formation and organize defenses. At the same time, a group of Roman heavy infantry and Roman veterans joined in. This defensive array was further strengthened.

Then, unsurprisingly, the rabble was crushed by the Norman hussars. Almost instantly, the remnants of the dead country, who had no formation to speak of, were crushed by the lightning charge of the hussars at the first glance. It's as if a knife cuts butter without suspense. The hussars who flattened their spears and urged their horses were incredibly powerful! They couldn't even resist it, and after a slight contact, the thousands of soldiers and horses at the front were crushed, and then, the morale of these rabble, who had been roaring angrily, was like a balloon that had been punctured. One by one, they scrambled to turn the horse's head and fled in embarrassment!

In this way, their army of 20,000 or 30,000 was extremely humiliated, and was pursued by cavalry more than twice as many as them, and ran towards the mercenary corps that had already lined up in formation. Behind them, Norman hussars armed with sabers, cavalry crossbows, and compound bows, and mounted militiamen armed with sabers and short javelins, slaughtered them. Leaving corpses everywhere......

(To be continued)