Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 7: The Battle of Trionto (Part 5)

### Translation

The free men of Daonia were different. They came from all over, had spent their lives traveling and working just to survive, and had developed habits of self-interest. In fact, before becoming preparatory citizens of Daonia, most of them had never trained as heavy infantry or set foot on a battlefield from childhood to adulthood. More than half a year of intensive training could not completely erase the habits formed over a long life. When an enemy spear thrust toward the right side of his chest, he should have relied on his comrades for defense while he counterattacked with his own spear, forcing the enemy to defend and relieving the pressure on his side. However, due to instinct, he would pull his shield back to block, exposing half of his neighbor's body to the enemy's spear... This vicious cycle caused everyone to only look out for themselves, making the line less tight. Not only could they not effectively advance in unison, but it also allowed the Crotonians to squeeze through the gaps and use their individual skill to further disrupt the Daonian line.

The Daonian First Army Corps had originally been the corps with the most veterans and the greatest combat strength. It originally had four battalions of veterans, but a large number of veterans had been drawn off to serve as officers at all levels in the three corps. Moreover, Davos had pulled 300 veterans to form a reserve, so they had to replenish with a large number of new recruits. This caused their combat effectiveness to plummet. In a situation where they had seized the favorable terrain and taken the initiative as soon as the battle began, not only did no one take the opportunity to drive all the enemy in front of them into the river, but after holding the line for a long time, they actually began to slowly retreat under the Crotonians' frenzied counterattack...

Alcinus's squad was in the second rank of the battle line. Several soldiers in the front rank had already fallen. He shouted loudly, commanding his men to unite and drive the enemy who had broken through back out, and then refill the gap. The long fight had left his arms sore and aching, and commanding these bewildered new recruits exhausted him mentally and physically. But the fierce glare from the enemy helmet in front of him constantly reminded him: Fight! Keep fighting! Otherwise, only defeat and death awaited him!

"Leading your soldiers to fight bravely and win is the responsibility of a commander!" This was the advice given to him by his former squad leader, now a platoon leader, Cteippus, when he congratulated Alcinus on becoming a squad leader. He always kept it in his heart. He shouted each soldier's name, and led by example with brave yet flexible fighting to remind and teach his men how to apply the techniques learned on the training ground to the life-or-death battle.

In the most difficult moments of the battle, these low-level officers of Daonia played a vital role as the mainstay.

In the heavy infantry fight, Daonia was at a disadvantage; in the light infantry fight, Daonia held a steady advantage. Not only did they have a thousand more light infantry, but more than half of them were veterans from Asia Minor. The three branches of light infantry they possessed—slingers, archers, and peltasts—all came from the famous light infantry regions of the Mediterranean: Rhodes, Crete, and Thrace. They were not something Croton, which did not emphasize the use of light infantry, could contend with. Even though the heavy infantry of both sides stood between them, the Crotonian light infantry suffered many casualties from the accurately loosed arrows and stones, and were forced to retreat.

Once the light infantry's protection weakened, the rear of the Crotonian heavy infantry phalanx came under attack from the Daonian light infantry. Logically, the soldiers in the rear ranks of the phalanx had not been fighting at all and should have been full of energy. But on the contrary, most of them had been soaking in the river water for a long time. The early spring river water was bone-chilling, draining a great amount of heat from their bodies, leaving them hungry and exhausted. Therefore, facing the enemy's ranged attacks, their reactions had already become somewhat sluggish. If not for the good protection of their heavy armor, their casualties would have been severe.

Because each side had its own difficulties and its own advantages, they remained deadlocked, locked in a bitter struggle.

Myron was not anxious about this situation. Being able to hold the line had already achieved his goal. The key to Croton's victory lay with the more than 7,000 men who had made the detour downstream of the Triumento River. He firmly believed that final victory would surely belong to Croton.

The Daonian magistrate, Davos, held the same thought. But he had already received the good news from Laedes' cavalry: the Crotonian force downstream of the Triumento River had either been annihilated or had surrendered; it no longer existed. Laedes and Epithenis would let their troops rest briefly, then cross the Triumento River and go around to attack the rear of the Crotonian army.

Davos was completely relieved. Seeing Matonis beside him scratching his head and looking dejected, he couldn't help joking, "Matonis, is your scalp itchy?"

"Lord Commander!" Matonis complained loudly. "Last time when we captured Nerulum, our First Corps didn't get to fight at all, we missed the triumph! And this time you've caught me again to serve as reserve commander, and just as we're about to win, I'm still idle here. That's too unfair!"

Davos smiled and said, "Don't worry, it will soon be your turn to go on stage."

With that, he issued the order: "Sound the signal for formation change. Let the front-line soldiers withdraw, and the second-line soldiers move up!"

"Lord Commander, we are already about to win. Why take the great risk of changing formation! Most of them are recruits. If something goes wrong and causes the entire phalanx to—" Matonis, though eager to fight, certainly did not want to see the alliance lose.

"We have trained this formation for so long and never used it in actual combat. Now that we are about to win, if we don't accumulate experience now, when will we!" Davos said seriously. "Besides, by retreating, we will lure the enemy completely onto the riverbank. Then they will find it even harder to escape. Matonis, you were a drill instructor for new recruits. You must have confidence in the results of our soldiers' long training and in the command of the officers!"

"You are the commander, you call the shots! So next, is it our turn to enter the battlefield?!" Matonis no longer dwelled on the issue and actively requested orders.

"Take your men and hurry to the right wing of the phalanx, to the junction of the Second Corps and the three reserve battalions. In case the enemy's advance creates confusion there, I need you to charge in immediately, block the enemy's attack, and buy time for our soldiers to reform the line!"

"Understood! I'm going now! Brothers!—" Matonis rallied his spirits and began to shout loudly.

...

Alcinus and his soldiers were still locked in bitter fighting with the enemy.

Then, the sound of a military trumpet came from the rear, lifting his spirits. When it sounded a second time, he recognized it: the signal for "formation change."

"Brothers, hold on! We can rest soon!" Like Alcinus, the front-line officers shouted loudly to remind the soldiers.

At this moment, the second-line formation quickly began to reorganize by company. One company remained in place, while its neighboring company would retreat... After a while, the entire phalanx transformed from the originally dense, long snake formation into a staggered "chessboard" formation (the fish-scale formation) composed of small company phalanxes. Because the front-line soldiers of the entire phalanx no longer had the support of the soldiers behind, under enemy pressure and also guided by the company drums and military banners, they began to retreat... Finally, they quickly pulled back through the gaps in the rear "chessboard" formation.

The drum for Alcinus's company did not sound, so he understood that his company was not lucky. The companies in the rear ranks were not the ones to withdraw first, so they could not retreat yet.

At that moment, the platoon leader Cteippus shouted loudly, "Brothers, protect our flanks!"

As the neighboring companies withdrew, the enemy surged in. Because the front rank of the Daonian phalanx did not retreat as a whole, the Crotonian attack line became uneven. The two sides' lines became interlocked like dog's teeth. Alcinus's company was under pressure from being surrounded on three sides, but the enemy who poured into the gaps were in the same situation. However, the Daonian forces were carrying out a planned retreat. Every small phalanx engaged in close combat was under the firm control of its company commander. In contrast, the Crotonians were unprepared and disordered. As a result, although Daonia was retreating, Croton did not seize the opportunity to inflict greater casualties and confusion on them.

Then, the company's drums sounded. The 20×10 phalanx formed by the four platoons began to rhythmically wave its central military banner toward the rear and slowly began to withdraw... Alcinus and his men, while using their shields and spears to fend off enemy attacks, began to retreat in an orderly fashion along with their company, following the rear companies' retreat. When the rear companies stopped moving, Alcinus and his men were already able to withdraw through the gaps between the staggered company phalanxes... After several rounds of this back-and-forth retreat, the front-line soldiers all successfully withdrew to the rear. The second-line soldiers reformed into a dense formation and became the new front rank of the entire phalanx.

The reason this formation change succeeded so smoothly without major chaos, so that Davos's fears were not realized, was mainly because the Crotonians had never seen an army dare to make such a bold and peculiar front-to-rear replacement during the heat of a fierce battle, and thus failed to take effective countermeasures in time. Secondly, when fighting in dense formation, the Crotonian army was stronger than the Daonian army, which had many new recruits. But once the formation change split both sides' dense formations into many small, scattered phalanxes, the targeted training that Daonia had long conducted using platoons and companies as tactical units came into play. Their command was more efficient, their movements more flexible. In contrast, Croton's combat and training were based on large phalanxes; their command system was inherently rough. Once the soldiers poured into the various gaps, they lost effective command and fell into chaos, fighting only for themselves, thus finding themselves at a disadvantage.

Myron, standing in the river, first heard the enemy's trumpet and drum sounds blending together, wondering what was happening. Then, the line that had been deadlocked for so long began to advance...