46 The Battle for Sardis 45
'We shall either find a way or make one!' - Hannibal
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-Lydia, Anatolian Plains, 464 BC-
Under the blistering summer swelter, a formidable force appeared through the mirage-like waves emitting off the vast plains of Anatolia.
Marching onwards, towards Sardis, the capital of the Satrapy of Lydia. Whoever controlled the wealthy capital, controlled Anatolia.
The ranks of men were armed with aspis shields, meter-length spears, and the iconic Corinthian helmet. Following the greek hoplites were various unit types, ranging from cavalry to pelters. All of which, answered to one man; Pericles.
Astride a white mare, donned in chipped yet gleaming armor, Pericles deftly maneuvered his horse through the arid plains of Lydia. His corinthian helm dangling off his saddle, Pericles looked at the approaching mass of Persians in the distance.
From what he could perceive, the Persia force numbered upwards of 100,000 men. Though his army outnumbered the easterners, staring down at such a mighty foe still sent shivers of anticipation down Pericles' spine... for whoever won this battle would go down in the annals of history.
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-Lydia, Anatolian Plains, 464 BC-
Atop a warhorse was a massive hulk of a man, donned in scaled armors with falcons inscribed throughout and a red cape draping down and onto the horse's backside. With a mighty halberd in hand and a smattering of kohl around his eyes, Megabyzus stared on into the rolling plains and beyond to where he saw the Greeks arranging themselves into battle positions.
The Delian League planned on capturing Sardis and conquering all of western Anatolia and it was Megabyzus' duty, bestowed by King Artaxerxes, to stop such a threat.
Deciding he had seen enough, Megabyzus said, "Sound the horns."
After a curt nod of understanding, a nearby flagbearer signaled for the horns. Almost immediately after, an echo of horns ripped through the otherwise calm Perian army. Hearing the billowing symphony, Megabyzus' men shifted and rotated into battle positions.
With a mass of light infantry at the front and a sizable cavalry force flanking its sides, Megabyzus stayed true to the Achaemenid tactics of its critical use of swarms of light infantry.
Behind the infantry where an assortment of heavy infantry, stormtroopers, and chariots.
All of which were grouped up into squads to better coordinate on the battlefield. And even further behind these elites, were the archers and pelters who would blot out the sunlight with their incessant arrow volleys.
Nearby Megabyzus was the Pushtigban, the new cataphract unit his King had blessed him with. Though he was still ignorant of their maximum potential, he still saw the strength that these armored ovens had over anything that stood against them; which was complete destruction.
Megabyzus could only curse his luck at the fact that he no longer had a guard of Immortals as the God King had taken them back under his control after the Hystaspes Heresy. Which was only natural as the King of Kings needed at the minimum10,000 highly trained warriors by his side at all times.
Dismissing any further thoughts on the matter, Megabyzus turned towards his cohort of advisors and commanders and then spoke, "Any with responsibilities of leadership on the field of battle is to immediately depart to their stations, and someone, send word to the commander of the Pushtigban; tell him that he is free to move as he sees fit."
(A/N: Athens numbers 110,000; 40,000 elite hoplites, 20,000 cavalries, 15,000 projectile-type units such as archers, javelins, and pelters, 35,000 mercenaries from around the Mediterranean. Persia numbers 81,000; 30,000 light infantry, 10,000 elite cavalries, 20,000 archers, 20,000 elite unit types, ranging from heavy armor to chariots, 1,000 Pushtigban elite super heavy cataphracts.)
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-Lydia, Anatolian Plains, 464 BC-
Charging headlong through a downpour of arrow fire, Nemer tightened his grip around his spear and swallowed his fear. Channeling any emotions that remained into the furnace that was adrenaline, Nemer shouted a warcry and braced for the impact into the Greek hoplite's intimidating aspis shield.
"For the God-King!"
As the warcry crescendoed, Nemer felt that jarring impact of his light wicker shield and outstretched spear into the round bronze shield of the opposing greek hoplite.
Hearing the squelching sound of iron piercing flesh, Nemer opened his eyes in a daze realizing he had trusted his spear into the exposed neck of a greek hoplite.
Staring at the young hoplite - around the same age as Nemer himself, 16 - chocking in his own blood and a shocked expression on his face, Nemer had to fight back every urge in his body to throw up as he yanked out his spear from the gurgling boy's neck and into another thrusting motion towards anything that came at him.
Nemer's struggle didn't last long, as a more experienced hoplite replaced the boy's position in the phalanx. The middle-aged hoplite deftly maneuvered his spear around Nemer's shield and directly through his widened mouth, leaving Nemer to adopt a similar expression as the boy moments earlier, one of shock and absurdity as to what went wrong.
Similar events were occurring throughout the entire battlefield as Persian infantry and Greek hoplites charged into one another with the backdrop of incessant archer fire raining down on their heads, killing scores of men with each volley.
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As opposing sides fought it became apparent that the commanding generals had separate strategies in their approach to battle.
Pericles, intelligent and youthful, used his elite hoplites with dashing effectiveness. By constantly rotating his tired and exhausted phalanxes with new men, he maintained supremacy on the front with Persian infantry being outclassed by their greek opposites.
Megabyzus, grizzled and experienced, was indifferent to the piles of dead accumulating on the battlefield for he had seen worse for less and was willing to pay any price for victory.
However, even Megabyzus had his limits and upon realizing the effectiveness of Pericles' use of hoplites, he decided to a shift in strategy.
Turning to his flagbearer he commanded, "Send in the rearguard to the weakened right flank, and rotate all our cavalry to the left flank."
(A/N: Reargurad is elite infantry and whatnot)
Hearing his orders, the flagbearer signaled and horns ripped through the battlefield in a unique tune, signaling to the men on the battlefield where to move.
Megabyzus planned for either a breakthrough in the front line on the right flank or a cavalry dominance on the left, either outcome would result in the Greek's lines fracturing and a subsequent encirclement would be simple.
Frankly, Megabyzus had much more confidence on the cavalry side of things as the Persian cavalry was unrivaled thanks to the Kings introduction of the stirrup, so Megabyzus didn't think much of the outcome of the battle but rather the outcome of the war and what Athens would offer his King in the surrender negotiations.
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Faredun, commander of the Divine Eagle Cavalry Corps, upon hearing the unique tune of the blaring horns that ripped through the battlefield, immediately kicked his horse into a gallop.
Behind him followed 5,000 of the Divine Eagle Cavalry Corps finest, all extremely skilled even before the introduction of the stirrup and all blooded from the campaigns during the rebellion.
This cavalry corp was gifted to Megabyzus by the King and named by the King Himself which brought anyone who served in the Divine Eagles great pride and honor. Along with pride and honor came arrogance, the arrogance of having never lost a battle and never failing to defeat the Kings enemies.
So, rather than waiting for the remaining 5,000 cavalries on the right flank to reinforce him on the left flank, he charged with his men into the fray of battle.
Galloping at full speed with 5,000 cavalrymen at his back and the banners of the Divine Eagle Corps and the Imperial Shabahz flowing in the wind was a magnificent sight.
Riding with the front line clash between his brothers and the Athenian dogs to his righthand shoulder, it wasn't before long that Faredun caught sight of the Greek cavalry sallying out to intercept his force from encircling the Greek pelters and infantry.
Letting loose a burst of boisterous laughter, Faredun yelled to his men, "These Athenian barbarians think they can best us in battle! Let us show them the talons of the Divine Eagle Corps!"
In response, his men cheered;
"Death to the barbarian heretics!"
"For the God-King!"
"Ahuramazda blesses us!"
Grinning at his men's devotion as it befitted the Divin Eagle Corps, Faredun leveled his lance against the numerically superior Greek cavalry and charged.
Both sides charged at one another with the speeds of a rocket and the force of an avalanche, racing towards a grizzly fate.
Like a whirlwind, opposing sides crashed upon one another, impaling men off their steeds and crushing lesser breeds under the weights of mightier horses. As men were skewered off their horses or propelled off their saddles by the sheer force of impact, Faredun stared in shock at the rapidly unfolding situation around him.
Having charged into the fray of battle, Faredun had been quick to use the force of the initial charge to skewer a man off his horse, but unlike what he had grown accustomed to, the man had not been hurled off while he suffered minimal repercussions.
Instead, his wrists and back ached from the jarring impact and the man he had skewered had stayed on his saddle and had launched a futile attempt at retribution before succumbing to his wounds and collapsing off his horse.
In shock, Faredun looked at the battle around him, only to realize similar situations had occurred all across the field. Divine Eagle cavalrymen were being thrust off their horses at an alarming rate, though they still held their own, compared to what they were used to it was akin to a massacre.
Still in a daze, Faredun could only try and fathom how the primitive Athenians had managed to match them in a cavalry charge. Taking a glance at the fallen greek cavalrymen's saddle, Fareduns eyes locked onto the reason how the Athenians had improved their horsemanship.
They had copied the stirrup.
