Chapter 25 The First Attack Must Be Me (Part 2)
Barol is the god of drought and death in Celtic mythology. Now that these barbarians see these lights floating in the air, they know that the Roman attack is about to begin. .
Under the illumination of the floating lights, the single arm of the "wild donkey" on the hill bounced up fiercely and hit the leather bag on the front frame. At the same time, four heavy stone bullets weighing hundreds of pounds were thrown towards the area of the Ara River. All gunners did not need to aim accurately, because the entire river was surrounded by Helvetii people, and even the pontoon bridge on the river was densely packed with people. Three stone bullets hit the water flow beside the pontoon bridge, stirring up a large column of water. The disrupted water flow pulled the pontoon bridge and shook it, and screaming people and horses kept falling into it. Another stone bullet hit the crowd crowded at the crossing point, and fragments, flesh and blood rose up like a tornado.
At this time, the two chieftains of the Helvetii realized the serious impact of abandoning this small hill on their side. Four wild donkeys of the Romans would throw "duty cannons" at the crossing point every once in a while. It was true that the Helvetii barbarians were crossing the river, but the men could still remain stable and calm under such shooting, but it was different for women and children. The originally orderly crossing column caused considerable chaos, so the two co-ruling chieftains decided to use the Gunilin tribe as the main force to counterattack the hill and disrupt the Roman shooting to ensure that everyone could cross within seven or eight days.
While the Helvetii focused their attention on Mount Veia, two battalions of the Twelve Legions, with a considerable number of military slaves, were secretly digging in an open area at the foot of the mountain, and following the commander's prior instructions, they carefully arranged three lines of defense.
When the morning light spread over the entire river, the wild donkeys on Mount Veia were still "roaring". The Gunilin tribe, who received the chief's request, threw down their simple tools. They cursed. They have always been the most warlike warriors in the entire tribe, but they are also the most discriminated against, because the ancestors of this tribe have the lowest status in the entire Helvetic mythology system, so this group of warriors have always been the first to fight and the last to retreat, but the Gunilin tribe, deeply influenced by traditional honor, still left a small number of people to continue digging fortifications, and most of them mounted their horses and prepared to attack Mount Veii for the tribe.
The barbarian tribes living in Gaul and Germanic were not backward in cavalry tactics in this era, or it can be said that the Roman cavalry was more influenced by these people. The blond barbarians in the land of ice and snow and dense forests were not born nomadic riders like the Numidians in North Africa or the Scythians in the Bosporus steppes. They didn't even need saddles to get on and off the horses, and even bridles were redundant. They waved javelins. And they could change various postures barefoot on horseback to adjust the weight and direction of the horses under them. Chasing and harassing the enemy's scattered soldiers like lightning.
The Spaniards were more disciplined than these nomadic riders. They were the representatives of medium-armored cavalry during the Punic Wars and were capable of performing a variety of tasks. These Iberian horse warriors wore heavy leather armor, carried small round shields, javelins and machetes, and could fight on horseback or dismount in formation. As for the Gaul or German barbarian cavalry, there were only two categories. One category did not wear armor at all, held simple spears, and formed dense formations to make rough attacks; the other category was the elite of the tribe, most of whom were nobles. They carried hexagonal shields, their main weapons were iron spears, and they wore leather breeches and chain mail, with pointed copper helmets, quadrilateral saddles under their crotch, and hung Sparta-style long swords, which could only support them to wield weapons and fight on horseback. In addition, the superb forging technology brought a full range of bridles, horse bits, and even simple horseshoes to the mounts, so that the beloved mounts would not be injured in the snow.
After checking all their equipment, the five thousand Gunilin cavalrymen mounted their horses, marched across the wasteland, and pressed towards Mount Veia. After receiving the report from the scouts, Lepidus and his subordinates hurried to the observation point on the hillside. These Helvetic cavalrymen were indeed well-trained. Whether they were heavily armed or half-naked, they were all in a strict and orderly formation, running slowly. In the cavalry, there were also lightly armed infantrymen with braids, who accompanied the battle and could pass through their own horse formations and stab the enemy's horses with javelins. Even though the 12th Legion had few cavalrymen, the Gunilin cavalry still brought these elite warriors with them out of caution.
"Milu, Tagus, lead the first battalion of 1,000 men to line up on the slope of the mountain, raise all the camp flags, and prepare to resist the enemy! This commander will stay on the top of the mountain with his entourage and the mountain falcon eagle flag. There are also two infantry battalions, covering the wild donkey catapults, staying on the reverse slope of Mount Veia, waiting for orders!" Libida waved his hand, and Milu, Tagus and many centurions began to blow the whistle to form a team. Then Libida said a few words to Sabokemus, and Sab immediately waved a pennant at the foot of Mount Veia.
At the temporary position at the foot of the mountain over there, Hortensius Jr. saw the flag signal on the top of the mountain and began to order the entire position to get busy. Everything was within the commander's prediction-the barbarian cavalry team's attention was all on Mount Veia with flying flags, but they didn't pay much attention to their position at the foot of the mountain.
So, in a very low-key manner, the eighteen Lepidus cavalry cannons were divided into three groups of six guns each, as Sabo had requested in advance. They were arranged at a certain distance on the third arc-shaped line of defense, ready to fire.
"Woo-woo-woo!" A shrill horn sounded. At the foot of Mount Veii, Gunilin's cavalry saw that the Romans had also formed a battle formation on the slope, so they jumped off their horses again, holding iron spears and swords to form a spearhead formation, shouting and attacking the top of the mountain.
"This is clearly the tactics of the dragoons." Li Bi Da was a little impressed by these barbarians. When they used cavalry, they always kept the perspective of "intensive attack" in their minds. Once they encountered the enemy defending on the dangerous terrain, they would dismount first and then go forward to fight with infantry tactics. But the small German horses that the barbarians rode were still very calm and followed the formation, staying in place at the foot of the mountain waiting for their masters to return. It turned out that their daily practice was very thorough.
At this time, on the hillside, seeing the barbarians charging the crowd with great momentum, the soldiers were actually a little timid on their faces. The image of these barbarians was too scary. First of all, they were tall. Each of them was five or six Roman feet tall, with loose golden hair and various colors of oil paint on their faces. Some of them even had leopard tails or bear skulls on their heads. Their armor was strict and sophisticated, but many of them still charged half-naked, revealing their terrifying muscles to intimidate the enemy, or showing their own prestige, howling and waving big swords and battle axes, each of them had the momentum to defeat ten thousand men. . )