Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 97: The Battle of the Ramato River (Part 6)

The messenger from Trina galloped his horse at top speed. Because the section of the Lamato River lying ahead of him was too deep to ford, he had to make a wide detour to the north. After crossing the Lamato River, by the time he finally reached the battlefield ringing with the sound of killing, the skin on the inner sides of his thighs had been rubbed raw, staining the horse’s belly a bloody red. He himself was swaying unsteadily in the saddle. Seeing Daonian scout cavalry riding up to meet him, he shouted in a hoarse voice: “I am… I am an envoy from Trina! The Syracusan fleet is carrying over ten thousand soldiers to reinforce along the Lamato River… Hurry! Go report to your commander! …”

…

Philistos was in a good mood now. Although the allied cavalry’s earlier disastrous defeat had indeed worried him for a while, the Syracusan mercenary cavalry were busy pursuing the routed soldiers instead of helping their infantry reverse the decline on their right wing. Therefore, while feeling fortunate, he also sneered inwardly: Though the Syracusan cavalry were formidable, they were far too lacking in battlefield discipline and overall strategic awareness.

Now the Daonian left wing was advancing, the center was advancing, and even the right wing was advancing… Philistos had already ordered the standard bearer to move the erected military banner forward, and now it seemed it would need to be moved forward again.

Soon! Soon! … Philistos calculated in his mind how much longer the Syracusans could hold out. By now, he was convinced that victory was like an apple about to ripen, already within easy reach.

But just then, scout cavalry came galloping in like lightning from the west: “Report, Commander! The Syracusan reinforcements are landing on the banks of the Lamato River, possibly numbering over ten thousand!” After being notified by the Trina messenger, they had specifically ridden to the riverbank to confirm and were shocked by what they saw.

“What did you say?! Over ten thousand enemy reinforcements!!” Philistos, who was in high spirits, felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, chilling him from skin to heart. “Yes, Commander, over ten thousand Syracusan reinforcements! They are landing on the riverbank about a mile behind our right wing!” The scout cavalry shouted anxiously: “We must stop them!”

This shocking news caught Philistos off guard. His somewhat panicked gaze swept over the people around him, and they too were watching him nervously. He was the commander of the allied army; everyone was waiting for his orders.

Realizing this, Philistos cleared his throat twice to calm his flustered mind: “Orders! Two battalions of light-armored infantry and two battalions of light infantry are to immediately rush to the riverbank where the enemy is landing. At all costs, block them and prevent them from attacking our rear!” “Yes!” “Sound the bugle again, urge the Fourth and Fifth Army Corps to intensify their attack! Immediately go and inform the two legion commanders and the three generals Sipros, Arcesias, and Ascamas of our current dangerous situation. Tell them to hold nothing back and attack the enemy with full force!” Everyone immediately went to carry out the orders.

After all arrangements were made, only then did Philistos have time to think: Where did the enemy get over ten thousand reinforcements? Could it be the forces from Medma? But the Trinaeans had said that Medma was only a small city; how could it send out over ten thousand citizen soldiers? … At this point, Philistos still hadn’t thought of the Syracusan forces besieging Caulonia. That was because the allied scout cavalry had been reporting all along that over forty thousand Syracusan-Locrian allied troops were preparing to assault the city. Of course, he also couldn’t know that at this very moment, in order to help the South Italian Allied Army, the Rhegian commanding general Pheidon had even taken the risk of attacking Medma, hoping to force the Syracusan army to turn back and thereby disrupt their plans.

But from this moment on, the unease in Philistos’s heart began to grow…

From the center of the formation to the coast where the Syracusans were landing was a full six li. Although the Daonian light-armored infantry and light infantry moved quickly, they still needed some time. By the time they reached the riverbank, most of the Campanian mercenaries had already come ashore and were beginning to form up. Despite the enemy’s overwhelming numbers, a dense mass occupying the entire beach, the Daonian soldiers, guided by the raised military banners of their officers, bravely charged forward following the inertia of their usual training.

Two thousand light infantry poured arrows and javelins onto the enemy, while two thousand light-armored infantry, holding leather shields and short swords, swiftly crashed directly into the loosely formed mercenaries.

The sudden attack by the Daonian army caught Leptines by surprise. Based on the usual habits of Greek city-state warfare, he had assumed that by this stage of the battle, both sides would have committed all their forces to secure victory. He never expected that the South Italian Allied Army could still spare a unit to block the Syracusan reinforcements. Of course, he didn’t know that it wasn’t because Philistos had anticipated Dionysius’s plan, but because the Daonian Military Code stipulated that “a commander should retain a reserve force during battle, to be committed at a critical moment to change the course of the engagement.” Philistos had simply acted accordingly. The two thousand light-armored infantry were his reserve, and the two thousand light infantry, having completed their initial harassment and withdrawn behind the formation, also became part of that reserve.

The sudden impact of these four thousand Daonian soldiers threw the newly landed Campanian mercenaries into chaos. In this critical moment, Leptines quickly directed the remaining ships to beach. As the Syracusan naval commander, his original task was only to transport the reinforcements ashore; leading the reinforcements to attack the enemy was the job of the mercenary leader Enamenas. But now Enamenas was lost among his confused troops, his fate unknown. Leptines had to shoulder the responsibility of rescue. He jumped off the ship and directed the remaining mercenaries to land immediately. The mercenaries on the boats had already seen the plight of their comrades and were extremely anxious. Some jumped onto the sand even before their ships had docked. After hastily forming them up, Leptines led them around the front line of the mercenaries, who were being pushed back and on the verge of collapse, and, braving the rain of arrows from the Daonian light infantry, attacked the flank of the Daonian light-armored infantry.

The fierce assault of the light-armored infantry was forced to halt. In fact, the long-distance forced march and the previous rapid attack had already consumed much of their strength. The chaotic front line of mercenaries finally recovered, and they began to exploit their numerical and heavy armor advantages. The casualties among the Daonian light-armored infantry rose sharply. If the light-armored infantry of the Daonian First and Second Army Corps had been there, they could have held out longer. But the light-armored infantry of the Fourth and Fifth Army Corps were mostly from Bruttii and Lucania. As mountain folk, they had been taught from childhood that when at a disadvantage, they should avoid the enemy rather than face them head-on. Although they had received Daonian military training and discipline during their years in the alliance, in adversity the instinct for survival prevailed…

The Daonian light-armored infantry retreated. Without their screen, the light infantry naturally also withdrew…

By this time, the battle had been raging for nearly an hour. The soldiers, due to exhaustion, had both their fighting and shouting reduced. But suddenly, almost simultaneously, bugles sounded and drums thundered from both sides, urging an intensified attack. Both sides’ soldiers had to muster their last bit of strength, speeding up their offense and defense.

For Dionysius, he had only one thought: hold off the enemy’s attack until reinforcements arrived! For Philistos, he also had only one conviction: break through the enemy formation and secure victory before the enemy reinforcements arrived! Both sides had reached the critical moment that would decide the outcome.

Ephialtes, with several sword wounds on his arms and legs, was now so exhausted that he could not even lift his long shield. The hand holding his short sword trembled slightly from prolonged overexertion. His heavy panting sounded like a gravely ill patient on the verge of death. The enemy opposite him was in even worse shape. Because his armor was too heavy, he had already discarded his round shield, held his spear with both hands, and was swaying all over. Ephialtes did not despise them in his heart. During the previous fighting, the Daonian Army Corps had never used its unique formation feature (i.e., swapping the rear rank with the front rank). He believed it was because the enemy’s pressure was too strong and they were too close, making the legion commander reluctant to attempt a formation change.

In fact, another major reason for not implementing this formation change was that the Fourth and Fifth Army Corps were fighting their first major battle. Facing a powerful enemy, and with allied armies on both their left and right flanks—also fighting together for the first time—Philistos feared that rashly changing formation under such pressure might cause soldiers to make mistakes. Combined with the allied forces’ unfamiliarity and lack of coordination—since swapping the rear rank for the front required the entire formation to gradually step back—this could potentially throw the entire army into confusion.

The piercing bugle calls were not only urging the soldiers engaged in battle but also other units, such as the Syracusan mercenary cavalry that had finished pursuing the allied cavalry and were leisurely returning, and of course, the two corps of Syracusan reinforcements that were heading to the battlefield. If it had been according to his usual habit, the Croton commanding general Ascamas would have been at the front of the formation, fighting the enemy face to face. But before the battle, Philistos had requested that the commanders of the allied states remain at the rear and not participate in the fighting, to facilitate communication. At the time, Ascamas had mocked the Daonians for being cowards who feared death. Now he should thank Philistos for that request, because he heard a bugle sound different from the one coming from the opposite side. The bugle came from outside the flank of the Croton army, high-pitched and shrill, growing closer and closer… Then in his field of vision, countless soldiers in gleaming armor suddenly appeared… Syracusan reinforcements?! Ascamas, panicked, actually fell off his horse, watching helplessly as they roared like a tide and charged towards the rear of the Croton soldiers.

In that terrifying moment, Ascamas’s numb mind contained only one thought: Didn’t Philistos say the enemy reinforcements were on the right-wing riverbank?! …