Macias' troops faced great trouble with the unexpected traps of the Theonians inside Megalos. Yet he could only order the light infantry to go to the forefront and assist the heavy infantry in chasing out those rats and urging their reinforcements to join the battle as soon as possible.
Naturally, the soldiers of the first legion couldn't set traps in the whole town, mainly where they and the exiles stayed, which the Syracusan soldiers reached after some time.
Then the first legion’s soldiers immediately came forward and stopped the Syracusans in the narrow streets for a frontal fight.
While the Theonians were like stones that blocked every street the enemy advanced, the Syracusan soldiers were like water that would flow to other streets once their path was blocked and move forward again.
But as the battle progressed, the Syracusan troops finally reached the rear of the first legion from both the left and right sides.
Among the more than 5,000 soldiers of the first legion, a thousand were light infantry and light-armoured soldiers. With their troops already stretched, the enemy would have pincered the first legion if not for the more than 3,000 exile warriors returning immediately after escorting their families and blocking the attack of the Syracusan soldiers from the rear.
With the first legion, the exiles and the Syracusan joint army fought fiercely in various streets, which gradually formed a defensive circle with the small base of Antonios at the centre.
Besides Antonios’ adjutant, 20 guards and the heralds, he sent all the troops out. However, the seemingly calm Antonios was, in fact, nervous as he sat on the top of a three-story building that used to be owned by the archon of Megalos. Now that the enemy surrounded the first legion, they had no way out besides fighting to their death! But with Antonios no longer having reserves, the time the enemy breached a street would be the end of the first legion!
Thus not only did Antonios keep his long shield and spear near him, but he had also fully armed his adjutant, guards and some heralds so that once a dangerous situation happened, he could lead the troops to battle himself.
“Tap! Tap! Tap!…” A herald rushed up to the top of the building and pantingly said, “Reporting to the legatus, the east…our allies in the east are stable, showing no sign that the enemy would force them to retreat.”
“It seems what these exiles said about them fighting the Sicels, mercenaries, and sometimes even wild animals in the western mountains all year round is true. Their courage, fighting spirit and skills are not weak, which is reassuring.”
Antonios also became relieved as he was most worried about these exiles' performance. That is why he specifically sent heralds to keep a close eye on them and report the situation at any time. Then he said, “With our brothers taking care of three directions, it is only natural for them to withstand the enemy attack in just one direction, and they also have more than 3,000 men.”
“Lord legatus, do you think we should transfer some of their soldiers to form a new reserve unit?” Antonios' adjutant suggested.
Antonios became slightly intrigued. He then looked at the sky and saw that the sun had already started heading west. Then he surveyed every street again and saw that the first legion soldiers, who were far fewer than the other side, fought bravely to kill the enemy. Not only had they resisted the enemy's attack, but they also seemed to cause some confusion to the enemy.
“The battle had just begun. Don't worry too much and just wait…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Due to the ballistae's nonstop bombardment for more than a day, the streets in Megalos were covered with debris, rubble and occasionally large stones across the middle of the road, leading to the Syracusan joint army being unable to spread out. What's more, due to the above reasons, the dense infantry formation was divided and could not effectively form a combined force to push the Theonian soldiers. In contrast, the Theonian soldiers used the gaps between the wreckage to go into formation and fight the enemy at close range. Thus in such a battle, the long shield and short sword of the Theonian soldiers played their full strength.
Meanwhile, the soldiers of the first legion did not shoot their two javelins in their hands before the battle as they usually did. Instead, they handed them over to their comrades in the rear, who would stand on rubbles, throw the javelins through the gaps between their comrades and hit an unguarded enemy. Hence the Theonian soldiers, despite their lesser number, could match the enemy and even gain the upper hand.
After learning about the battle situation, Macias was surprised at the fighting prowess of the Theonians. However, what worried him most was that he could not fully use his numerical advantage. Thus, after thinking about it, he ordered the soldiers in the rear to carry ladders, climb up the civilian houses in the streets, and support the trapped soldiers to force the Theonians to split their troops.
Originally, preparing ladders became a habit of Macias before every siege, but with so many ballistae, he never thought of using them this time. Now, they have become handy.
The soldiers then carried the ladders away from the battleground and began climbing.
The layout of Greek houses of both wealthy and commoners is basically four walls with a roof and an open courtyard in the middle, making it hard and dangerous for the Syracusans to climb in and out of one destroyed house after another. Sometimes, they even need to fight the hidden Theonian light infantry.
More than half an hour later, Antonios received an emergency report from numerous heralds, “Milord, the senior centurion of the first brigade, Giorgris, said that the enemy had infiltrated from the residential houses and threatened the flanks of his troops. But he no longer has any more soldiers to use to intercept them, so he asked if they could withdraw first!”
“Reporting to the legatus, the senior centurion of the second brigade, Xanticles…”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
“Retreat, let all the brigades and exiles retreat to the specified area we discussed before the battle and form a defensive phalanx formation! Also, inform Cid to lead all the light infantry here!”
“Roger!”
Before the battle, Antonios had already considered the worst situation when discussing with the senior centurions and came out with a countermeasure. Yet he didn't expect they would be forced to this final step so soon, “This Syracusan strategos is not ordinary!”
Antonios sighed as he looked at the sky again. He then turned around and asked Seraphinus, “Have your plan to stage an uprising started?”
Knowing the situation of the first legion wasn't wonderful, Seraphinus answered without hesitation, “From my understanding of Antrapolis, he must have prepared everything since he dared to ask you for a favour. And judging from the current time, they should have ended it.”
Seraphinus' words relieved Antonios a bit. He then said deeply, “In that case, let the first legion and the Syracusans fight this final battle here!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The soldiers of the first legion retreated slowly and orderly.
But due to the terrain and the fear of the enemy throwing javelins, the Syracusan soldiers did not attack fiercely. Instead, they advanced cautiously, allowing the centuria and platoons of the first legion to withdraw smoothly from the streets.
Unfortunately for the exiles, their retreat wasn't smooth. Due to their lack of training and experience in retreating, they panicked slightly, allowing the Syracusans to take advantage of the situation to intensify their attack and lead to increased confusion. But fortunately, they had enough soldiers and faced the least number of Syracusans soldiers. Furthermore, their deep hatred of the Syracusans made them not back down and run even when the confusion led to increased casualties, eventually allowing them to withdraw from the streets.
As the administrative centre of Megalos, no residential houses are adjacent to the archon's residence where Antonios stayed. And thanks to their prior arrangement, the first legion and the exile warriors formed a thick and dense to surround the archon's residence.
But the Syracusan joint army soldiers, who followed the retreating enemy, had no preparation. Hence gaps and confusion appeared between the teams that came out of the streets.
With the first legion not fully intent on defending, they seized this opportunity to counterattack and launched a quick charge towards the enemy, one centuria at a time.
While the centurias charged, the soldiers of the seventh brigade on the roof of the archon's residence immediately threw javelins and arrows into the incoming enemy, without any regard for their numb arms.
These tactics of the first legion threw the Syracusan joint army into confusion…
Seeing this, Macias hurriedly asked the buglers to sound the attack and ordered his hundreds of mercenaries to form a long line to force the retreating soldiers to advance. Otherwise, they would get executed on the spot. He also asked the tyrants of the city-states, such as Sikuri, Catania and Leontinoi, who were following him, to go and calm down their troops who were causing a commotion.
Fortunately for the Syracusan joint army, the cautious Antonios did not choose to make a fullscale charge as he was worried that the exiles wouldn't be able to cooperate well. Besides the first legion having too few soldiers that the enemy might surround them after leaving the formation, he trusted what Seraphinus had said. Thus the Syracusan joint army finally had a chance to breathe. As the chaos subsided, the Syracusan strategoi took advantage to command their soldiers to regroup…
Suddenly, Macias ordered, “Go and bring in some ballistae.”
Surprised, the adjutant said, “Strategos, with our soldiers clashing with the enemy, I am afraid it would be easy to cause casualties to our side…”
