Herald of Steel

865 Alexander's Battle Plan

Perseus's proposed battle plan was accepted by all of his generals, who set about placing their troops like that.

Although in private, his son Philips had once come to raise the following worry with his father,

"Will our wings really be able to destroy the enemy's flanks in time? The way you father discussed it sounded like it might take too long. What if we can't? What if ..."

The man trailed off, his voice shaky and fearful.

Philips might not have shown it before others, but he was scared, very scared.

The thought of losing everything was of course enough to terrify anybody.

"Don't worry my son! That's why I will be there. To lead the men on! It will not take long at all!" But Perseus did not seem to share the same concern and easily brushed the concern off as such, pulling a very confident, reassuring face.

Whether or not he was feeling the same pressure, Lord Theony was not showing.

And this was indeed the correct move, as the king's confident and candid demeanor helped to set everyone's mood at ease.

And thus on the battlefield, that was what was how Perseus started to line up his men-

Seven thousand, 7,000 on either wing for a total of fourteen thousand, 14,000 men.

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Seventeen thousand, 17,000 in the center, and

Four thousand, 4,000 in reserves.

While Perseus's strategy was to strengthen his wings and weaken his center, his opponent could be said to have done almost the opposite,

"Here in the battle plan," In his war tent, standing before a large oak table was Alexander, with a few large chess pieces like metal carvings of various animals like horses, oxen, dogs, etc, elegantly laid out on the table in front of him.

Each of these five to six inches high ornamental pieces denoted a legion, and Alexander regularly used them to easily show his generals the kind of troop deployment he wanted.

And this time, he wanted the following arrangement, as he took each piece and positioned them accordingly while he revealed:

"The plan is simple. We will lighten our flanks and thicken the center."

"The men at the wings will simply have to hold the line while we will use the full might of center to directly smash through the enemy's middle and snap them right like a twig!"

Alexander waved his fist as he grandly declared, making it appear victory was simply a fingertip away.

And as he made his intentions clear,he then looked around for the other's thoughts on the matter.

He quickly received lots of silent nods and looks of approval, as no one found anything to outright object to here.

For this was a pretty commonly used tactic, especially used by those who possessed a numerical superiority- to crush the enemy where he was thickest and hence destroy him completely.

So facing no query for now, Alexander continued, now elucidating his reason for doing this,

"Given the very even terrain, our legionaries will be facing the much stronger and deadlierphalanx who will be in their element."

"Hence I believe this is the way to go. A thicker mass in the center will not only be able to better withstand the phalangists' powerful attacks but also crush them through sheer battlefield exhaustion and casualties!"

"Remember! Not only do we not outnumber them, but also they cannot rotate their soldiers off the frontlines as easily as we can."

"We will win a war of attrition." Alexander loudly pointed out with a light grin on his face, before resuming,

"As for placing heavy cavalry on the wings, the enemy has elephants. So committing to heavy charges seems too dangerous to me."

"Instead I intend to keep them in reserves and have the infantry be the main force in this battle."

"Does anyone have objections?"

Alexander turned his head to scan each of the faces of the officers present there.

"No, my lord."

"I think it is in a fine plan."

"Great! Perseus dies tomorrow!"

And received many such hyperbolic adulations.

"Thank you," Accepting such praise with a curt nod, Alexander then quickly went on to reveal the exact numbers each section was to possess, as well as delegate the commanders of each unit,

"The center will be six legions strong, thirty thousand 30,000 men strong led overall in command by Melodias."

"The three legions at the front row will be led from in the order of left to right by Jamider (Earl) Tikba, Talukder (Viscount) Prantik and Jamider (Earl) Yuusiq."

Alexander decided to put all the Zanzan nobles right at the frontline, including one of his newest Zanzan retainers- Lord Yuusiq.

This was done both as a way to make it easier for them to earn more glory on the battlefield and also to make them experience the trials and tribulations of life and death with Alexander and bond in the process.

"Yes, my lord." And none of the three expressed any dissatisfaction at this deployment.

Instead, they actually appeared elated at the opportunity.

They only imagined what it would be like if it was their units who were to break through the enemy first, and perhaps even capture Perseus.

Now that would be a dream come true.

Thus they appeared very enthusiastic at the given chance.

"Mnmmn," responding to the reply with a curt hum, Alexander then continued,

"The second rows legions will have Menes, Grahtos, and Remus as their commanders."

"I will take the reserve force of 2,000 cavalry,while the two flanks will be relatively lightly manned- only about four thousand- 4,000 on either side."

"Since they will be only tasked with holding the line and be even able to make use of the obstacles we have brought with us, I am sure even this smaller number will be enough toprevent the enemy from breaking through."

The 'obstacles' Alexander mentioned here were mainly oxen carts and wagons that he decided to bring with him.

To use as barriers to foil any elephant charges.

This new tactic came about because after the battle with Lord Ponticus, although Alexander had been very impressed at how well the simple act of throwing sharp things had worked at stopping these behemoths upon nitpicking on the strategy for a bit, found a few, unlikely flaws in it.

To be precise, the main point of worry for Alexander was that this simple tactic could be foiled if a few elephants went completely berserk from the hits and instead of swerving to avoid the withering fire, charged straight into the formation, thus possibly smashing the formation to bits.

Such a thing would truly be a tragedy for Alexander, as the death of one or even several elephants would certainly be worth it for the enemy if they could destroy at entire wing of Alexander in the process.

So to guard against that Alexander upgraded the original tactic and came up with these portable solid, wooden barriers, to be used at the very front to act as a kind of barricade, from behind which the men could throw javelins and arrows in safety.

The presence of a solid object could even act as a morale boost for those inexperienced men who had never seen elephants before, reassured by the fact these black giants would not be able to just come and skewer them.

It was a tactic that had even gained Alexander quite a few cheers from his generals upon reveal, who truly found the idea very innovative.

As for choosing the commanders of the flanks, well turning to his newest 'general', Alexander addressed,

"Lord Theony, you will be in charge of the right flank with your four thousand 4,000 personnel. Your men will mostly be crossbowmen and it should not be too hard a task. But still. we are all counting on you!"

Alexander's eyes had a very hinted glint to them as he said that last bit, like he was sending the other some coded messages.

And it was indeed the case, as Alexander wanted to say- 'I'm giving you the easiest and most basic task in the whole plan. To make it easier for you to increase your reputation in the army and not be seen only as a traitor. Don't muck it up."

"Umm…. Yes, my lord!" And Lord Theony appeared to have gotten the memo.

For at this order, although the man had at first appeared he wanted to say something as evidenced by how his Adam's apple shook move up and down, but ultimately it seemed whatever the man wanted to say, he kept it to himself, perhaps wanting to reveal it later.

And so seeing he was not interrupted, Alexander at last turned to Heliptos and ordered,

"The other left wing will be commanded by you. Take control of the four thousand, 4,000 Tibian men and defend."

Alexander's meeting would come to an end with that.

Although early morning, just before the battle, Lord Theony would surreptitiously ask for an audience with Alexander and ask him of the following,

"My lord, my son Gnaeus. He is not very well respected by my retainers. Would it be possible for him to lead the flanks! You said it yourself, it will be easy."

This was what the man had wanted to talk about back then.

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