Herald of Steel



Alexander could not help but release a sigh of amazement as his eyes swept across the two opposing armies.

The fact that such huge numbers of people could be gathered and then made to move in concert with one another like a proper army and not just a mob of armed men showed the ingenuity of the ancients.

For this required great administrative skills to gather and command the people, and in addition, the ability to solve all the logistical implications regarding both transporting the army and during mid-battle was a challenge only a highly intelligent species could accomplish..

This went to show that these people might be technologically backward, but no less smart.

'They should not be underestimated,' Alexander ultimately reminded himself as he turned to face his commanders and decide the battle plans.

"The enemy will likely use their archers, and camel to attack our flanks. And then charge our centre with chariots or cavalry." Alexander said to commanders, perfectly predicting Faruq's plan.

Though it had to be said this was less credit to Alexander's prescience and more so because this type of maneuver was classic.

And just because Alexander could predict it, did not mean Faruq's play was any less lethal.

Classics were called classics for a reason.

Because they were very versatile.

"Our job will be to absorb that initial cavalry blow, and then strike back. Commanders, don't let your legions break at the first strike!" Alexander swung his fist in encouragement and his gaze particularly fell on the temporary legion commanders.

These commanders had been chosen from the original mercenaries and each was tasked with commanding 5,000 soldiers in the center.

To explain it fully, Alexander had 6 legions in the center, arranged in two rows of three.

And these legions were named, with the first row being named 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively from left to right.

And similarly, the next row being named 4th, 5th, and 6th respectively from left to right.

These individual legions were all commanded by officers chosen by Alexander, Menes, Melodias, and Menicus, with the two leftmost center legions being directed by Menicus's men, right next to their former leader, the center two legions being directed by Heliptos and one of Menes's officers, and the rightmost two legions commanded by Melodias's former mercenaries.

With Menes being the overall commander of the 30,000 men and relegated to ensuring the overall smooth coordination of all 6 legions.

And the reason for Alexander's gaze falling on some of the legion commanders was not because he doubted any of their ability, but because of their troop quality, as Alexander would go on further to explain in this battle plan.

"Our battle plan is to defend our wings from flanking attacks, while our center works on destroying the enemy's center. The Adhanian do not have a strong infantry culture, and we will make use of that." Alexander claimed.

And then continued directing how the battlefield should unfold in order to gain victory.

"Once the battle starts, and the center has absorbed the initial blow, the skirmish between the infantry will begin. There they have the same number of troops as us, 30,000. But we are much better trained. And we will use our better-trained troops to exhaust the peasant levies until the frontline weakens." Alexander proposed.

"Once that is done, once the ferocity of their attacks weakens signaling their exhaustion, we will make our move. We will move the fifth and sixth legion from the center and right column to reinforce the left column, telling them to attack the exposed flanks of the phalanxes attacking there."

"Meaning 4 of our legions will attack their 2 equivalent legions, both from the front and the right side (the phalanx's right side, because the opposing armies have opposite sides), ultimately crushing them."

"This is also why I have placed the center a bit behind our flanks, to give the 2 legions enough space to move and attack the enemy phalanx's flanks."

"And once that part of the enemy routs, the entire center will fold and with it the army," Alexander confidently repeated the battle plan that had been already discussed.

This tactic was not unknown to the others.

But it was rare and seldom used as it was quite dangerous.

It worked by hollowing out other sections of the front to produce an overwhelming local advantage along a narrow front and using the huge numerical advantage to basically drill a hole in the enemy formation which would cause a collapse along that part of the army, and that would then cascade into the complete breakage of all formation, routing the entire army.

Kind of like how a crack initiates at just one small point along the glass but soon rapidly spreads throughout the entire structure, destroying the entire thing.

Or how a modern blitzkrieg worked by using tanks as spearheads to penetrate a small section of the defense line and then exploiting that weakness to expand the bridgehead.

With the most glaring flaw of the tactic being the need to have some extremely well-disciplined troops who would be able to still hold the line along the sections where the hollowing out had occurred, and not simply break before the other soldiers could overwhelm the enemy.

And this was something Alexander was well aware of, and the reason behind his poignant gaze to some of the legion commanders.

Because 20,000 of Alexander's men were peasants, of similar quality to Faruq.

And hence he reminded his commanders, addressing particularly Heliptos in charge of the 2nd legion, and an officer from Melodias's group named Justianus in charge of the 3rd legion.

"As you all know, this tactic will be quite straining on the 2nd and 3rd legions. They must face twice their numbers and still hold their nerves until the other four legions have initiated a breakthrough."

"Heliptos, Justianus, you must not break under pressure. You must not crack under their attack. Instead, you must inspire confidence, perseverance and endurance in your men. The entire battle plan rests squarely upon you two." Alexander reminded the two men of their heavy responsibility, even calling them out by name.

Heliptos remained quiet hearing this speech, only nodding heavily.

He did not need to be reminded of his significance.

And though he was a greedy man who loved life very much, he knew that escape from this battle was impossible.

His lord and even his own colleagues would reject him if they chickened out, and the enemy would likely not let him go after all the things his lord did, whose fault also carried over to him.

Hence fighting was the only way forward.

While Justianus was far more boisterous, stepping up towards Alexander and thumping his chest before igniting his warrior spirit and saying, "Worry not, my lord, You have given us, the 2nd and 3rd legions the best soldiers in the world. While the other 4 legions are just peasant ramble. Weak and untrained."

"Our pride as mercenaries would not let us sleep at night if we could not fight at least twice as well as them. We could even fight three times our number, hahaha."

This guy seemed very confident in his fighting prowess, radiating confidence and dominance.

While his loud mouth managed to wound the other legion commanders, as he basically called them weak, but also produced pride because these men were all from the various mercenary groups, whom Justianus praised.

"Mmmn, I hope everyone can have commander Justianus's confidence, and lead their troops as such," Alexander gave a light nod to the loud claim, showing moderate approval of the thought.

He did not know if Justianus really meant what he said, or was just trying to show off to him as a way to gain favor.

That would have to wait after the battle was concluded.

Alexander finished responding to this new commander, then turned to Heliptos and addressed him in a grave voice,

"Heliptos, as Justianus said, the 2nd and 3rd legions are the most trained unit we have. The 3rd legion is made of the freed Cantagenan slaves and servants, along with the Adhanian who fought against Amenheraft."

"While the 2nd legion is the most elite at our disposable, and possibly one of the greatest fighting forces in the world. Because it consists of purely the original mercenaries. All 5,000 of them. All of our men, our brothers, our comrades, our friends are at your disposal." Alexander said each of the words with a deepness, and heaviness rarely heard of.

Because the 2nd legion really did mean that much to him.

Both personally and politically.

Personally because a lot of the men there were his friends and acquaintances.

And politically because these trained men were the seeds he would use to build his army.

Heliptos too understood the heavy burden placed on his shoulders.

The 2nd legion had huge numbers of friends and comrades of all the military council members.

He could not play with their lives.

Hence he put his fist across his chest, and promised, "My lords, I'm aware of the heavy task I face. And I assure you, the 2nd legion will not retreat. Not while I'm alive. Not while a single man in the legion is alive."

Rarely had Heliptos such a solemn face.

And so Alexander spoke first to show his approval, saying, "Mmmn, we are counting on you. For the task of the 2nd legion ahead is truly hard. It will be the most vulnerable of all the legions, right in the center, alone and with no way to call for help from the flank. So it must hold."

He repeated, highlighting the importance.