I am the son of the traveler

Chapter 80 The Gap between the Enemy and Ourselves (First Order)

On the fifth day after Antigonus returned to Arcelos, the army stationed in Thebes finally rushed back and joined the main force of the kingdom. So far, the troops under Antigonus's command are as follows:

重步兵：921名马其顿铜盾长枪兵、271名持盾矛兵、297名胸甲矛兵、263名胸甲剑士、902名马其顿重装步兵、500名征召重装步兵、300名希腊重步兵，一共是3454人。

轻步兵：810名阿吉里亚斧兵、750名色雷斯抛矛兵、600名阿格瑞安轻步兵、293名克里特弓箭手、248名马其顿希腊式轻装步兵、175名罗德岛投石兵、262名希腊弓箭手、207名希腊标枪兵，一共有3345人。

骑兵：250骑色萨利骑兵、100骑色雷斯轻骑兵、300骑马其顿公民骑兵、250骑贵族骑兵、480骑贵族侍从骑兵、150骑伙伴骑兵、90骑希腊突袭骑兵、220骑萨里沙骑兵，一共有1840骑。

Adding up all the troops, Antigonus can command a total of 8639 soldiers.

If Antigonus still wants to expand his army, he can do some work from the immigrants in the city of Arcelos and mobilize some people to join the army. If he is more desperate, he can also organize those Orc slaves into the cannon fodder camp. Driving them away wasted the enemy's firepower and physical strength, but the disadvantages of this were obvious, because he didn't know if the Orcs would turn back before the battle—if they turned back before the battle, the Macedonians would have [-] more enemies for no reason.

Antigonus would not do this kind of loss-making business, so he chose to rely on these more than 8000 veterans to fight against the barbarians who invaded the south.And after these few days of thinking, he also figured it out. Although the barbarians have a large number, their weapons and equipment are at a 100% disadvantage. Their weapons are so simple that they can't even break the armor of Macedonian soldiers, and Macedonian soldiers The iron weapon in his hand can easily cut through the skin of barbarians and take their lives.

……

As time goes by, the information brought back by the scouts sent out becomes more and more urgent, and the number of the barbarian coalition forces is also slowly refreshed. It may be found that the enemy has more than 3000 people the day before, and the next day they will again Refresh once, and the number increased to more than 5000. The speed of the barbarian coalition's troops was beyond the expectations of Antigonus and a group of Macedonian officers.According to the news brought back by the spies of the barbarian camp, the barbarian tribes participating in the war are not limited to those known tribes, and many new tribes have been added, even the Brits who are the most threatening to the Macedonians A troop was also sent to fight.

This completely made Antigon feel threatened. He panicked and began to send messengers back to the pass, intending to mobilize another group of troops to join the battle. It's over, either he repelled the enemy, or he was directly overwhelmed by the enemy's human sea tactics, there is no third option other than that.

Helpless, he had no choice but to send someone to notify Epaminondas, asking him to prepare for war and wait for an opportunity to lead the Theban holy army north to assist in the battle.At the same time, Antigonus also held a military meeting to discuss how to deal with the menacing and huge barbarian army.

One's defense is obviously not advisable, especially if it is based on the city, not to mention that the fortifications of Arcelos City have not yet been built, and the food and supplies in the city alone are not enough to support the [-] army and the residents in the city. The siege lasted for more than half a month. You may say that Antigon has a system mall to buy food, but you don’t know that there is a quantity limit for his purchase. Once the quantity limit is reached, the product will be removed from the shelves. It will be refreshed after a while, so blindly relying on the system is still a dead end.

Now that defending the city was rejected, Antigonus could only take the initiative to form a formation outside the city to meet the enemy. He thought very clearly that if the army formed a formation with its back to the town, then there would be no need to worry about threats from the rear. As long as his infantry can withstand waves of enemy attacks from the front, then at critical moments when cavalry charges from the flanks, it is very possible to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop-but it is impossible to go to the battlefield like he imagined. As simple as that, the barbarian coalition forces are not scum without cavalry. Their cavalry may even be stronger than the Macedonian cavalry. If the Macedonian side loses in the cavalry battle between the two sides, the situation will be reversed.

Moreover, according to the information held by Antigonus, the barbarian coalition army also has a powerful chariot force!

In order to deal with this chariot force, what Antigonus must do...

……

With the Macedonian army on standby, on July 7, the barbarian coalition finally arrived outside the city of Arcelos.

This huge coalition army has a total of more than 700 people, including more than 580 armored soldiers, [-] two chariots, and more than [-] barbarian cavalry. The plain was full, and looking out from the city wall, all the barbarian warriors were black and dense. They were as dense as ants, piled up from one end to the other, until the distant horizon.

The more than 6000 people are quite imposing just standing there. Antigonus, who rode his horse standing behind his own army, looked at the sea of ​​people on the opposite side. He would be swallowed by the black sea of ​​people, and he couldn't help swallowing his saliva, and the fingers holding the rein turned white from too much force.

Even the commander is like this, let alone the soldiers in the queue. Even the elite veterans who have participated in several battles will turn pale and their legs are weak when they see this scene. The army of more than 8000 soldiers they are proud of is simply vulnerable, that is a full double gap!If the light infantry in their army who are not suitable for melee combat is eliminated, on average, each Macedonian soldier will have to fight three to four enemies!

Swallowing his saliva again, Antiko tried hard to suppress the fear in his heart. He forced himself to look at the twenty giants not far from him, as if those twenty heavy equipment could bring him courage—— Indeed, he bought these twenty siege equipment from the system mall, and it was also a great help for him to fight against the barbarian coalition forces. Let me ask, if the densely packed positions of the barbarian soldiers on the opposite side were bombarded by catapults and ballistas, How many people will be killed in a round of volley?

(End of this chapter)