Ling Tong crouched on the mountain side with Andrew, Myron the Hoplite, Iason from Megara and the Helot sent by Alpheus. Behind them crouched another man, slim but muscular and covering his light armour was a thin cloak that covered his entire body and even his helmeted head. Ling Tong found the newcomer quite intimidating for some reason, but Andrew seemed quite pleased with his arrival.
"The Athenians are on the right flank on the opposite side of us, with the Spartans in the centre holding the most ground and keeping the other allies in check." The Helot explained as he pointed out below towards the forces that seemed to be moving in to formations quickly. "The Strangers have been given the left Flank, which originally belonged fully to the Spartans, but it seems the Persians have done the same and placed their Strangers against them."
"The Persians have a much larger force, but their back is against Rivers, whilst ours is against mountains." Iason commented in response as he tried to look at the many different banners that represented the different City States that had supplied forces. "Both have advantages and weaknesses, but the terrain we hold is better for defence."
"With the falling back of the Hoplite from Ambracia, I do worry about the Hoplite from some of the other smaller City-States who will feel they can add little in comparison to the Spartans, Athenians and Corinthians." The Helot stated as he looked down at the growing lines that seemed to be appearing on mass from both sides.
"Don't forget how many us from Megara have brought!" Iason stated, looking at the men of his own that had been freed by Ling Tong.
"Of course, many of the medium sized states have contributed." The Helot replied evenly, however to him, everyone was small in comparison to the Spartan's that ruled him.
"Where do you want us General?" The hooded man from behind them asked Andrew, who turned to Ling Tong.
"Dom, sorry I mean Lazarus, told me to trust your judgement on this battle." Andrew said to Ling Tong openly, not worried about listening to the advice of the game's characters. Andrew knew that Ling Tong was young and a lower grade than some of Dom's other Heroes, but he also knew who he was from History and that he would have some good experience and knowledge in larger battles.
"Strabo, have your men go to the left flank of our Megara Hoplite. You are fresher and they are still recovering from being prisoners. When I signal, we will support the Spartan Regent Pausanias." Ling Tong replied, after the Helot pointed that behind the Player lines a group of Spartans were forming to charge in after them. Pausanias using the same tactic that Ling Tong had thought off to use the Players to thin the enemy before sending in Elites to win the flank quickly. "Once we move, my original men will disperse to complete their own tasks that they have been given. With our force of six hundred hidden on this flank, we should be able to cause a lot of chaos."
"I will see to it General." The Cloaked Hoplite Strabo replied with a bow as he crawled backwards towards their forces that waited for them.
"I will go and support him, my men may feel uncomfortable with the Skiritae beside them." Iason commented with a slight shiver as Ling Tong nodded in agreement. Iason slowly disappeared as Ling Tong looked down on the growing battleground below him.
"How did you get the Skiritae to follow you here?" Myron the Hoplite asked Andrew, as Ling Tong didn't have understanding of who these newcomers were. The Helot also looked on waiting for a response.
"We had an idea and we have tried some things out. Leonidas had some contacts as the Skiritae have fought alongside him and his family many times. We offered them a fresh start that wasn't being the hidden frontal force of the Spartans and a chance to make a name for themselves without being under their shadow." Andrew explained, with a smile "Leonidas did most of the work, promises of opportunities for their families and their next generation to be treated the same as the Spartans are now. We were just lucky that we made it there in time, as well as making it here before the Battle. I have not ran like that before. The town of Oion was much further inland on the Tegea River than either of us planned for."
"The Skiritae should be on the left flank, but with the arrival of the Strangers, Pausanias dispatched them to protect the border in case the Strangers tried anything, their town is on that border." The Helot explained, before pausing a second in thought. "Six Hundred is the number of Skiritae warriors, never more than that. If four hundred are here, where are the other two hundred?"
"They are with Leonidas, he has some other tasks to complete. We aimed to go to the Village to meet their families and call in a favour, but Leonidas suspected that they would have been sent back to defend" Andrew replied, before looking to Ling Tong, "Can this Helot be trusted? I heard they are loyal to the Spartans and we aren't Spartans."
"He is loyal to Alpheus and Maron's family, they trust him." Ling Tong replied with a shrug, knowing that there was a limit to what they could trust and with the battle about to commence if he couldn't be trusted, they could remove him.
Ling Tong crouched low and looked towards the battleground again as the sounds of loud roars could be heard. He watched the battle below begin to enfold, as thousands of Players charged at each other from both sides. The Persian side started the charge towards the location of where the Ambracia Hoplite had began to retreat. However Pausanias had issued orders for the Greek Players to fill in the gap and meet the Persian Players, who were eager to fight. The Players were an interesting sight to Ling Tong, as they wore different armours and wielded a variety of weapons from spears, axes, swords and a strange array of everything that fit in between.
The two sides clashed, the Cavalry on both sides hitting each other first on the furthest flank. The Persian Players had better terrain and the Greeks had to push forwards more to reach them. Unlike the Cavalry charges that Ling Tong was used to, the majority seemed to fight individually with less organisation than what he was used to after serving or watching Warriors like Subutai or Cheng Pu. There still was organisation though, with some clear commanders who could be seen directing both sides. The fighting was brutal as each side seemed to have no fear of death as they struck at each other, the screams of horses and riders echoed across the mountains as the two sides came together.
Ling Tong clenched his knuckles in partial excitement and anticipation as the Infantry lines on the left flank now clashed, a giant brawl began to ensue as thousands of Players on both sides clashed in to each other. Bodies fell as Archers on both sides targeted the infantry lines, who were busy fighting like an unorganised mass.
"Idiots." Andrew said from beside Ling Tong, catching his attention, as everyone looked at him. He smiled in response before continuing, "This Battle is supposed to be an opportunity to grow, recruit and experience history. Most of those fighting right now are wasting a good opportunity."
"That just benefits Lord Lazarus more." Ling Tong smiled in response, whilst the Helot listened in confused by the conversation.
"That is very true, we have already succeeded on our side, I just hope that Lazarus, Kai, Alexander and even Philip who should be over there somewhere, are as successful." Andrew nodded as he looked down at the chaos below.
"I think it's time to move." Ling Tong commented to Andrew, Myron and Helot as he saw a more organised unit begin to appear from the mountain behind where the Players had charged from. They were appearing behind the Player Archers who were still launching indiscriminately in to the ranks of Players fighting in front of them. "That looks like Pausanias unit is getting themselves ready to engage."
"It will be several more minutes when the battle on this flank has increased more, but the Persian lines seemed to be preparing to move as well." Andrew agreed.
"Myron, inform our men to disperse and complete their tasks." Ling Tong ordered as his Hoplite nodded and moved towards the Hoplite and Spartans from his own unit that was with them. He then turned to the Helot. "Inform Alpheus that we are ready to move and we are six hundred strong now, tell Maron to keep an eye on Dieneces and make sure he doesn't act like a Hero and sticks to his mission."
"I will follow your order General, I hope you stay safe and I can help serve you again in the future." The Helot bowed slightly as he also moved back towards a horse that was waiting for him.
"Do you think they will succeed?" Andrew laughed, knowing what they planned and wishing he was involved with it as well.
"They will definitely succeed, I am just looking at that Cavalry below to see if we can get ourselves an extra few hundred horses so when we retreat at pace, everyone can do so on horseback." Ling Tong replied with a laugh as well, both knowing that their plans were coming together. "If we can get a message to Centurion Phillip, maybe he can sort us something out with the enemies spare horses."
"That's a really good idea." Andrew agreed as he looked as the centre line of the Persians now started to move forwards, whilst surprisingly the Spartan Centre began retreating from the battlefield in an orderly fashion, with only a single unit of around eight hundred men staying as a rear guard. The Athenians on the far side also seemed to be doing a similar thing.
"The Spartan's wouldn't retreat, this must be a trap." Ling Tong commented, trying to think back to how Thucydides had explained the battle. In History, the Spartans and Athenians had retreated, but the retreat was disorderly due to conflicting commands, whilst the Spartan Commander Amompharetus had refused to retreat as he saw it as cowardly. The Athenians had turned back to the battle first to fight back against the Persian's, but Pausanias refused to join the Battle until the Omens looked good. Thankfully the Omens did look good eventaully and he sent his forces to support Amompharetus and their Athenian Allies.
The Hoplite forces whilst outnumbered were used to fighting in a certain formation, which the Persian forces struggled to fight against. During that part of the battle, Mardonius the Persian General fell quickly during the battle and caused chaos in the Persian ranks who soon retreated and were destroyed as they ran.
"This Battle is going to be very different than it was originally." Andrew agreed as he looked across as well, The Players on both sides had changed the outcome before it happened, Mardonius had been warned of his death, whilst Pausanias had been warned of his own that happened soon after it. It was still the Battle between two experts from their Era, in a Battle that cemented the direction of History, however the two fighting it new the original outcome and were tactically fighting against each other for a second time, even without the direct experience of the first.
"Let's go cause our own bit of chaos then and throw the table a bit more." Ling Tong replied with an evil glint in his eyes as he looked at Andrew who shared the same glint. "Who was your target again?"
"A Player, sorry an enemy Commander, called Reeves who said he was going to hunt down and kill everyone himself with his group." Andrew laughed as he looked at the Players clashing below, "If he survives that clash below, he won't survive us afterwards!"
"No he won't!" Ling Tong agreed as he began moving backwards towards the six hundred Hoplite that were waiting for him, the two hundred from Megara that were looking for revenge, and four hundred Skiritae, one of Sparta's most elite units from non-Spartan citizens.