But it was already too late as the Theonian cavalry quickly rushed forward with their spear protruding out, piercing the light infantry. Then the cavalry quickly let go of their spears and drew out their long Greek sword(Unlike the infantry, the Theonian cavalry weren't equipped with short swords. Instead, they used a one-metre-long Greek sword that made it easier to cleave and slash enemies on horseback, which was more beneficial in fighting and would less likely make them fall off their horses). They brandished the long sword experiencedly to frighten the light infantry and forced them to run towards the centre of the Roman army formation.
Knowing that the centuriae that rushed to the flanks couldn't arrive in time, Paulus mobilises the various centuriae at the rear of the centre of the Roman army. Although he knew his order would seriously affect the deployment of the forefront soldiers on the centre, his top priority was to block these defeated soldiers and the cavalry to prevent them from disrupting the centre formation.
The Roman military system, based on centuriae, had finally shown its flexibility. Under the command of Paulus, several centurions quickly commander their soldiers to turn around to rush to the rear and promptly reorganise into a phalanx.
However, the hundreds of light infantry getting chased by Theonian cavalry rushed like headless flies towards the Roman soldiers, even pushing them down on their way to escape.
While the Latin light infantry and Roman heavy infantry crowded together, the Theonian cavalry wielded their swords and began slashing towards them, making the situation even more chaotic.
“Stab these light infantry! Attack them!…” Paulus anxiously exclaimed while striking at a light infantry who had rushed before him with his spear.
As a result, the Roman heavy infantry followed suit as they thrust their spears at the light infantry that had previously fought side by side with them but had now put them in a difficult situation. Unfortunately, they still couldn't resolve the chaotic situation immediately.
As Paulus stabbed at the fleeing soldiers, he began shouting for the army to reorganise.
Suddenly, he heard the soldiers shouting in panic, “Enemy! Another enemy is coming!!…”
Paulus' heart sank as he quickly took a few steps back and looked through the gap between the Theonian cavalry and saw a black horizontal line in the distance, which was moving rapidly towards them. As it progressed, the black line continued to lengthen and widen…
With his experience of leading multiple expeditions, Paulus knew that this was an illusion caused by a dense infantry formation moving in the distance, and this unified and distinct black colour clearly shows that this unit could never be Roman or Latin, which utterly destroyed Paulus' hope.
At this moment, he felt terrified to the point that his body could collapse at any moment.
Suddenly, his nearby men said, “General, the enemy's reinforcements are coming! With our defeat certain, we might as well withdraw first!”
“That's right! We should hurry up and withdraw! Otherwise, we could no longer leave if we move too late!…” These guards, composed of his household members, also advised one after another.
‘Leave?! Where else can we go once Rome is gone?!…’ A pained look appeared on Paulus' face as he remembered the miserable time when the Gaul sacked Rome more than a decade ago, and his young self was left wandering. Suddenly, strength rose from his heart, and he said decisively, “No! I will fight these enemies who came to invade Rome here to the death, just like the Fabius clan did then!”
He raised his spear high and shouted, “For Rome's sake, we must fight to the death and never retreat!”
In accordance with Roman tradition, these clansmen and followers, who have enjoyed all the benefits bestowed upon them by the clan, are obligated to heed the call to arms from the heir of the clan leader. Thus the guards shouted one after another, “For Rome! Fight the enemy to death!!…”
Their shouts affected the other heavy infantry, “We must never retreat for Rome’s sake!!!…”
Thus the morale of the Romans sore high for a while.
In front of them were still the panicking and fleeing light infantry. On the other hand, the Theonian cavalry had already begun retreating towards the flank, making room for the Theonian reserve soldiers attacking in the rear.
Soon after, the Roman soldiers could see the newly arrived Theonian army marching in dense and neat phalanx formation, with their heads held high. Obviously, they are all in good physical condition, and their formation was about half a kilometre long, indicating that their number wasn't large.
Then the salpinx sounded, and after shouting the name of Hades, the Theonian soldiers charged forward.
“Prepare for battle!” Standing at the forefront of the formation, Paulus grasped his shield and spear tightly. At this moment, he no longer cared whether he survived.
Yet confusion arose among the soldiers behind them. The Theonian soldiers were fighting fiercely against the Roman centre formation when they suddenly intensified their attack after hearing the salpinx. As a result, the soldiers in the already weakened Roman formation were forced to retreat and collided with the soldiers at the rear who were preparing for defence.
Then the Theonian reinforcements that managed to approach within thirty metres took out their spears after quickly throwing out their javelins and began charging, which left the Roman army caught in a pincer attack…
Despite Paulus and his guards, along with the surrounding soldiers, being determined to fight to the death, the majority of Roman civilians, who had recently transitioned to heavy infantry and had weak loyalty to Rome as they had just gotten land just a few months ago, were not as resolute. So when the enemy's salpinx sounded from the rear and the Theonian reinforcements rushed towards them like a tide, some of the Roman soldiers who saw such a sight were overcome with fear, causing them to flee and led the complete collapse of the Roman formation.
Adoris, who was in the centre of the heavy infantry brigade of the Second Legion, suddenly found that his comrades at the front, who had almost never moved, began striding forward.
“Faster! Faster! The enemy is running away!…” The cheering of his comrades encouraged him, so he, like the other soldiers, took big strides and sprinted forward.
Meanwhile, on the right flank, the collapse of the Roman army's centre formation had yet to reach here. As a result, Rome's heavy infantry maintained their attack, but the Theonian light-armoured brigade that had just arrived and the palace guards led by Crotokatax resisted them.
It is natural for the Theonians to suffer from the battle between light-armoured soldiers and heavy infantry. Fortunately, the gap between them wasn't apparent since the battle had just begun.
But for Crotokatax and the palace guards, whose armour and weapons were better than the enemy, plus their eagerness to prove themselves, allowed them to get some advantaged at the beginning of the battle.
Stimulated by the guards around him, Crotokatax began actively attacking. With deliberate strides, he pushed forward with his shield and trusted his spear, all while protecting his head and blocking the attacks with his shield… Since childhood, Crotokatax had honed his combat skills through daily training at school and home for over a decade, making him seamlessly integrate his techniques into his body and allowing him to use them in battle freely. As a result, he no longer felt flustered at the enemy's relentless spear thrust as he approached each encounter as if he was sparring with Martius. So despite his nervousness, he no longer felt danger.
Having successfully blocked the enemy's spear with his long shield, Crotokatax advanced suddenly, giving his opponent no time to withdraw his spear. In addition, the enemy revealed an opening as he became unsteady, so Crotokatax immediately thrust his spear forward like lightning.
The enemy hurriedly lowered his head, causing the sharp spearhead to strike the helmet, but the force transmitted from the spear made the enemy dizzy momentarily.
While the enemy was dizzy, Crotokatax instinctively withdrew his right hand and quickly struck again.
This time, he managed to stab the enemy in the face. However, the enemy's shrill scream and the miserable sight made Crotokatax freeze.
“Be careful!” The guard next to him exclaimed. Then with a loud sound, the guard managed to block the spear thrusting from the side.
“Don't get distracted while in battle!” The guards in desperate situations had warned loudly without regard for the difference in status.
Despite being drenched in a cold sweat, the shame Crotokatax felt made him forget his discomfort of killing someone for the first time. As a result, he made up for his previous mistakes by attacking more actively.
But suddenly, the enemy's resistance weakened.
A commotion suddenly appeared in the enemy in front, making them all turn around and run.
But Crotokatax was left unsatisfied with the fight, so he immediately followed his comrades around him and pursued the fleeing enemy.
In the entire battlefield at this moment, except for the hundreds of soldiers led by Paulus, who were still resisting, the other Roman soldiers had already begun fleeing.
However, this is where the First and Second Cavalry legions came into play: Thousands of Theonian cavalries raced across the vast plains, wielding their spears or swords as they chased down the fleeing Romans who had thrown down their shields and spears, resulting in only a few Romans managed to escape the battlefield eventually.
And even the final resistance of the Romans didn't last for long.
Epiphanes stood in front of the bloodied body of Paulus, covered in sword wounds, his long red plume proving his identity.
“He is undoubtedly a warrior. Unfortunately, he wasn't smart enough!” Epiphanes turned to look at his adjutant and said coldly, “We must bury him since he is at least a general. Instead, we'll take his helmet and the Roman flag, which are all our spoils!”
“Yes, strategos!”
Then Tolmides came over.
Epiphanes immediately smiled and said, “Tolmides, had you come to congratulate me?”
“Lead your army back to the camp immediately and await His Majesty's instructions!” Said Tolmides sternly.
“Why are you in such a hurry? You won't even let our brothers catch their breath?!” Epiphanes joked half-heartedly.
“You can rest to your heart's content when we captured Rome. But now that the other legions were fully attacking the city, the soldiers kept getting wounded and dying at all times. This is very important to us, and I don't think you still have the mood to delay here.”
Tolmides' words made Epiphanes turn serious as he loudly said to his adjutant, “Blow the salpinx now and gather our brothers!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
And just as Davos had expected, some Roman reinforcements from the south followed Paulus to attack from the southwest of the city of Rome, while others followed Maegius to attack from the southeast. However, some scattered reinforcements that arrived later began attacking the Theonian camp from the south.
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