Goldenbeard roared loudly outside: "Did everyone see that clearly? Under the true god's radiance, the false god's hypocrisy is exposed. Their divine power is useless here and they can only be cast into hell to suffer forever! Without the false god's protection, these people are just ordinary humans and useless outsiders, no match for us! The Roman phalanx is unbeatable!"
"Invincible! Invincible!" the Roman soldiers echoed in unison.
They quickly formed a three-line formation and advanced towards the farmhouse. The first line carried short swords and shields, the second line had spears, and the third line consisted of archers and javelin throwers. Although the archers and javelin throwers also had shields and short swords and could quickly switch to close combat, the three-layer formation was still too thin. If they faced a powerful attack, the phalanx could be easily penetrated, leading to the army's annihilation. They arranged themselves this way, confident that Linley's forces were too weak to break through the three-layer formation.
"Get ready!" Linley ordered. "Minotaurs, to the front."
The minotaurs obediently moved to the front, facing the three lines of Roman soldiers.
"Everyone else, mount up!" Linley continued.
The followers hesitated for a moment, but seeing Linley's resolute gaze, they all jumped onto the minotaurs' backs. There were just over fifty humans but more than two hundred minotaurs, leaving about one hundred fifty minotaurs unmounted.
"Smaller minotaurs, mount the bigger ones," Linley said.
It wasn't unusual for minotaurs to be used as mounts, but smaller ones riding larger ones was unheard of. However, there was no time for questioning, and the smaller minotaurs quickly mounted the larger ones, looking somewhat comical.
Finally, Linley mounted Brutus and took out a flask of wine.
"Drink the wine, unleash your fury," Linley commanded.
The followers with the wine flasks opened them together, took a sip of the strong liquor, and then handed the flasks to the minotaurs.
After drinking the strong liquor, the minotaurs seemed to be ignited with flames, their eyes turning red as they roared loudly.
"Ready..." Linley said.
At this moment, the priests began to sing hymns, their ethereal voices seeming to come from a distant paradise. A hole opened in the sky, and angelic apparitions descended from it onto the Roman soldiers.
The Roman soldiers roared loudly, their bodies enlarging by a size, making their original armor seem ill-fitting. However, they emitted a halo, with faint, illusory angel wings visible. The weapons in their hands glowed with golden light, imbued with divine power.
"This is angelic possession," the system told Linley.
"We have no other choice now," Linley commanded his followers, "Charge!"
The minotaurs rushed at the Roman soldiers. The front line of Roman soldiers suddenly retreated, turning their original line formation into a concave shape. The minotaurs kept charging, and the Roman soldiers kept falling back, forming a concave circle. This was the exact tactic the Romans had used before to defeat the minotaurs, and they were replicating it again.
The Roman soldiers already outnumbered the followers of Dionysus, who had turned into cavalry and took up less space. By retreating, the Roman soldiers' three-line formation could completely encircle the followers of Dionysus. When the rear Roman soldiers found an opportunity to start shooting, they could inflict heavy casualties on the followers of Dionysus and secure victory, while suffering minimal losses themselves.
But this time was different. The minotaurs' speed was unexpectedly swift, even surpassing that of the Roman soldiers blessed with angelic power. They quickly caught up with the retreating Roman soldiers, violently shattering their shields. Then, they gored with their horns, trampled with their hooves, wildly stabbed and slashed with their swords, and struck haphazardly with their cold shields.
Dozens of Roman soldiers in front of the followers of Dionysus were crushed, breaking the encirclement and splitting the Roman line into two segments. Linley led his followers forward in a charge, circling around to attack the less fortified left flank of the Roman soldiers.
The Roman soldiers suddenly panicked. Though they had undergone rigorous training, they had not experienced the baptism of real combat. Like the rest of the Greek world, Crete had enjoyed a century of peace. A hundred years ago, Roman soldiers facing the Cretan phalanx could quickly change formation, endure massive casualties while maintaining their formation, and continue their assault. Every soldier knew his duty, and even if the commander fell, they could hold their ground, with the rear filling in for the fallen front, until victory was achieved.
However, the current Roman soldiers were bewildered by the failure of their pre-planned tactics, and the commanders failed to issue timely orders to change formation, appearing at a loss.
The followers of Dionysus quickly approached the left flank. The minotaurs crashed into the front row of Roman soldiers, and the cavalry immediately swung their swords, killing the second row of soldiers. Seeing this, the third row of soldiers could not hold their ground and turned to flee.
Linley led the followers to turn again, charging at the right flank of the Roman line.
"Stay calm! Turn!" the Roman centurion ordered loudly.
The Roman line began to adjust. Switching the positions of the first and third rows in a three-line formation was relatively simple. However, such a thin array could not withstand the minotaurs' charge and had to be reorganized into a solid phalanx. Although in regular training, it was not difficult for the three-line formation to change into a phalanx, taking only a few minutes, in actual combat, achieving even a tenth or a twentieth of the training effect was considered good. At this moment, five minutes had passed, and the formation change was still incomplete.
The followers of Dionysus had already approached, and the minotaurs were charging with heavy steps, their impact tremendous. The minotaurs' impact reached its peak, while the Roman soldiers' formation change was still incomplete, leaving them in chaos and unable to concentrate their defensive power. Once the minotaurs broke into the formation, the phalanx would be shattered, and Linley would win the battle.
"Angels descend!" shouted the bearded man.
Holy light poured from the sky, and golden light burst from the bodies of ten priests, from whom angels emerged. These ten angels raised their long swords and stood in front of the Roman soldiers, colliding head-on with the minotaurs.
With a loud crash, the charging minotaurs were actually repelled, several of them even stumbling back a few steps and falling to the ground, causing their riders to be thrown off their mounts.