Chapter 23 The Sinclairs (Part 2)
Li Bida, who was dispatched after hearing the news, led his entire army to the camp of Little Hotenghus in less than a day. This camp was constructed in a barbarian manner: in front of the wooden wall, there were surrounding trenches, and the soil dug out from the trenches were piled up along the wooden wall into a half-man-high slope, with sandbags and wood on it for the use of projectile scattered soldiers; inside the wooden wall was a double-story building, one and a half buried underground, serving as a place to store water and food, and a layer of trees were on the ground, with passages connected to the wooden wall for soldiers to rest and monitor.
As expected, Hottenhusseii was obeying Li Bida's request. When the Sincree Warrior Array clamored for challenges under Asa City, he maintained a lot of restraint and calmness because he saw the Sincree in a bad situation after entering this area.
The chief of Sincred Mukuas was lured and deceived by false information scattered by the envoy. He thought that the small Roman army was still besieging Asa and three other settlements, so he led 1,500 people, most of which were light cavalry. He crossed the snow and mountain passes to attack the Romans. However, when he arrived here, he realized that in the three settlements, Asa had been completely destroyed and turned into a camp for Roman soldiers; while the other two settlements, the walls and supplies warehouses were all demolished and plundered, leaving only more than a thousand men, women, young and old with basic rations and clothes, trembling in the cold wind and the hut. When they saw Mukuas, they wailed collectively, begging the other party to take them away, and said that all this was done by a vicious new Roman financial officer with black hair, black eyes, yellow skin.
The chief with a sheep horn helmet was in a conflict. This time he took the light cavalry to fight, and there was not much supply. Now he met this hungry and cold inhabitant. Should he take it away or not? If he doesn't take it away, the glory of the Sinclair tribe will be greatly affected. If he takes it away, the supply will last for only two days, and he may be chased and ambushed by the Romans, and the losses will be greater.
Moreover, the main Rome troops had arrived, six or seven hundred people, not many, nor were they like the legion of regular ways, Qingyishui, our Celtic style. Libida's main force relied on the lake and the small camp. This eliminated the concerns of the left wing. He arranged the three wings in the left center and right wing in parallel as recommended in the book of Pizhu, and then drew the 100-man team of Little Hottenhus as a reserve. The right wing strengthened the matching of the projection scattered soldiers and the Ala cavalry. In addition, Libida arranged the left wing, the center and the right wing in a diagonal line. The left wing was at the last, and was the farthest away from the enemy, so that he could avoid the harm of the enemy's light cavalry and the stone-cale soldiers.
A row of trumpeters sounded a shocking and sharp sound. The Romans moved forward slowly and cautiously. This eagerness to fight decisively hit Mukuas's heart. His advantage was to be conducive to the urgent battle. Since the Romans were at a disadvantage, I would like to fulfill them!
The sound of the horns of the barbarians also blew up, and thousands of light cavalry rushed over like hornets, and the splashing snow foam flew everywhere. Li Bida's entourage blew the flag, and all his troops stopped, half-kneeled and lowered, lifted their shields over their heads, and stopped within the shooting cover of the small camp. Then the stones of the light soldiers hit the barbarian light cavalry line like raindrops. Many people were knocked down from their horses, but the brave Sincreds were still rushing forward in groups of three or three, but when they rushed to Li Bi
When they reached the infantry formation, the Roman soldiers maintained a tight line and the courage to fight. Under the stimulation of discipline and rewards, even the slaves who were released were previously in dense formations, collectively stretching the Celtic sword that shone with the snow like a wood, forming a light belt that scared the horses. Before "Fear of the Sharp", Sincre's tribal light cavalry could only circle around the parallel lines of the Libida tribe array, enduring the attack of javelins and stone bullets flying from the direction of the small camp.
Finally, after several conflicts, the Sincree horses were extremely tired. After returning to the opposite position, they began to dismount one after another. Relying on the settlement without walls, they also formed a dense infantry formation, preparing to regain their energy and use sharp blade assault to defeat the Romans.
Just as Mukuas rode his horse, holding up the tribal totem, galloping back and forth to boost morale, he suddenly heard the sensation of wheels on the side of the snow. Yes, yes - when the soldiers of the barbarians turned their eyes to the direction of the sound source, they saw:
On the snow, a team of Roman cavalry with flags were sandwiched in the middle with four standard Celtic chariots. The iron hoop and axle vibrated, making a rumbling sound, which was particularly encouraging to the spirit and ears. The cabins of these four chariots, each with copper chains, were each fixed with two double-armed crossbows! On the two chariots, there were gunners with pale faces standing, and there was a row of pack horses behind them, carrying stone bullets and javelins...
This is Li Bida's novel idea in advance. The transportation of mules and horses in the Roman army was still dismantled and loaded on horseback. It would undoubtedly take a lot of time to unload, assemble and shoot. Li Bida, who had worked as a camp slave in the past, was very clear about this. He recalled the emergence and development of artillery in human history. At the beginning, there was no wheel and could only be fixed on the spot. With the improvement of fire cover and maneuverability requirements, the wheel axle gradually added, accompanied by infantry and cavalry maneuvering, and became more and more lightweight, and more adapted to the requirements of field combat.
A crossbow that cannot move quickly can reduce its combat effectiveness by at least three to four times.
When the shooting distance was reached, the Celtic two-wheeled chariot stopped first in the sound of the trumpet, the gunner jumped down with all his hands, and then the yoke of the four-wheeled chariot was untied, and the copper chain on the crossbows was also panasonic. The gunners began to take out the stone bullets from the pack horse's bag, and according to the team arranged by Sabo Kemus in advance, adjust the direction of the crossbows and the four-wheeled chariot, aiming at the staggering Sincree phalanx, which was still stunned, then completed it in one go, torsion, install the stone bullets, and popped out in the whistling sound - two stone bullets swished, and flew past the Sincree's head at a distance of almost seven or eight Roman foot high, flying to the side of the square, smashing two rolls of snow and soil "waves".
The gunners who had been trained in advance quickly loaded the bullet again. They corrected the direction in a short time. Two more rocks flew out, but still whizzed past the enemy's head, smashed a flag of the Sincree, and flew to that side again...
Chapter completed!