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Charging the Field
It was near noon as Jason observed from his tower the rising dirt from the enemy army that was on approach. Diverting his eyes towards his own forces, he observed centaurs and human cavalry marching westward into the open, while Callisto and several groups of warriors disappear into the trees.
Jason knew very little of the warrior known as Callisto, however head had heard some about her killing some people in some raids. Xena on the other hand, remembered himself having to draw up plans to save his beloved city from her wrath. He remembers seeing Corinthian soldiers floating down the river, murdered by Xena. He remembered when Xena poisoned his grain. He would not forgive her for that. He would not forgive the woman who nearly destroyed Corinth
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Hercules and Selenta continued to march their army south towards Argos. Hercules heard a noise, tt was a strange whistling noise like something was traveling through the air, headed his way. Hercules on instinct grabbed his sword, swinging it a very carefully aimed point. The sword connected with the Yin Yang Chakram, the result of which sent the Chakram flying back toward the direction it came from. Hercules eyes lifted toward the direction of the metallic weapon, spotting a woman grasping the chakram.
It was Xena, sitting on top of Argo. Beside her appeared Tildas the great and Kaleipus, leaders of the two respective Centaur tribes, followed by the soldiers of the army. The trio rode out to meet the commander of the enemy army as Hercules along with Selenta rode out to meet Xena.
The two parties met each other in the field as both armies stared own. Hercules stated "I Hercules king of Corinth, Master of all Greece and breaker of Athens greet on this field today, and solemnly demand your surrender. This is my ally Selenta, Princess of Thebes and rightful Heir to the throne there."
Xena spoke "I am Xena, representative of Jason, the real King of Corinth, I am the leader of this army of Argos and volunteers from all over Greece who refuse to bow to you, Hercules. To my left is Tildas, leader of the Arcadian Greek Centaurs, and to my right is Kaleipus leader of the Corinthian Centaurs and we say to hell with surrender, we demand that you submit to the will of justice and surrender your army."
Hercules began to laugh, "Surely Xena, volunteers? These are nothing but farmers. Like the ones from Sicyon which I butchered for their insistence fighting me. What chance do you have Xena? Your ally Sparta is still almost a day away, and one of the finest armies in all Greece has been annihilated by me."
Xena maintain her presence of strength refusing to be intimated, "Hercules, today this army will stop you, I swear it."
Hercules replied, "Apparently, Xena you know nothing about Greece. In Greece there were four armies worth anything at all, all the rest were fodder before them. First is Athens, which I destroyed, second is Thebes, who stands beside me, third is Corinth, which I rule. Fourth is Sparta, and I notice they are not present today. So if I were you, I would surrender."
"Let me tell you something about history and treachery. Ten years ago my army came here, set up camp not far from where we are now. I fought to annihilate the Corinthians and the Centaurs. Corinth and the Centaurs were not allied when I came, but when I came and I acted against your kingdom, who defended Corinth? The Centaurs! You Hercules betrayed the very people that saved Corinth from annihilation! Now, the proud noble race of Centaurs who could not be defeated by one of the most powerful armies ever to take the field, stand against you, and Corinth, their former ally. It is you who should surrender and prevent the great tragedy that is about to befall this land. If you don't, I swear that I will not stop until you have paid for your crimes!"
Hercules grunted in anger as both parties turned away and marched back to their lines. As they marched back Hercules was shouting to any who would hear him, "That ungrateful whore! Who does she think she is to refer to my crimes? I could have killed her two years ago for hers! By the Gods, I shall kill her today!" Hercules continued to rant incoherently while they marched back to their lines. He turned to face Xena's Army in the distance with a cold evil stare as he prepared to give marching orders.
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The two armies faced off north of Argos, Xena's right flank was north of her position and her left flank was south of her position, to her south east was the trees which were occupied in secret by an army commanded by the real commander of the army, Callisto, who stood ready with Gabrielle near to assist her.
The infantry on the left flank was directly commanded by Borias, as the Infantry on the right flank was commanded by Iolaus. Xena, Tildas, and Kaleipus directly commanded the three units in the middle, with Xena in overall command. To the far left was a group of Corinthian Centaurs commanded by Celipus. To the far right was a group of Arcadian Centaurs commanded by Phantes. To the rear was two groups of archers commanded by an Officer from Argos named Palitces.
The army in the trees was commanded by Callisto, Gabrielle held the right flank, Cleomones commanded the left flank. They were mostly composed of volunteers from megalopolis, Argos, and Tegea, a section of Athenian soldiers that were not present at Athens during the siege. They were hungry to avenge there city.
The Army of Hercules and Selenta were unaware of the army hidden in the trees, however they had a significantly larger force even with the soldiers in the woods. Hercules and Selenta had joint command, with Hercules as overall commander. The left flank commanded which faced Xena's right flank was a Scythian warrior named Houlig De, he had one eye and was equipped with his favorite scimitar sword.
His right flank was commanded an officer from Thebes called Philictret, who's soldiers were mainly the more bloodied units from Athens.
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Xena looked downward her left, and her right at the lines of men and centaur as they prepared for battle. She then unsheathed her sword, raising it above her head as a single. A soldier with a flaming arrow fired a single arrow in the air. Off on the far sides both groups of centaurs took it as a signal to charge. With bows in hand the two groups of Centaurs charged for the right and left flanks of Hercules' army.
Hercules army stood in tight formation, hoplites tightening up for the impending collision. They were ready as the two groups of Centaur cavalry charged closer. Hercules shouted, "Steady men." The Cavalry was but mere feet in front as the Hoplites lifted their spears. But suddenly both groups broke inward while firing arrows at the enemy lines. Caught off guard the first volley of arrows cleaned house, killing hundreds of soldiers immediately. Hercules himself took a graze across the ear.
The group of Centaurs continued to fire their arrows as they turned back and headed towards their lines. Selenta who had seen some of these tactics used by Xena prepared a plan to fight back with as she marshaled directly in front of the army. The Centaurs moved for another attack Selenta readied herself.
What the Centaurs did not see was several groups of archers stringing arrows directly behind the hoplites. Soon as they got close enough to make another attack Selenta shouted "Down!" The hoplites dropped as the arrows from the archers were suddenly and quickly released. Surprised by the volley several Centaurs blew their shots as dozens of them took lethal wounds. Phantes received two shots, one in each shoulder as he retreated back toward Xena's lines.
Hercules then ordered the men back to their feet as they began to march toward Xena stepping over the bodies. Xena's plan had had only somewhat worked. It confused the army of Hercules but did not drive them to the woods as hoped for.
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Callisto saw what was happening as she called Cleomones to her side. Callisto stated, "Hercules army is not coming here. We are going to have to march."
Cleomones replied, "Not yet. If we march right now then Hercules will turn around and destroy us before Xena would have chance to do anything about it. Let them get close to Xena."
Callisto nodded knowing that he spoke correctly.
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Xena cursed, "Damn!" as she saw her tattered bands of Centaurs retreating. Xena sent signals for them to take their place at the rear of the line to provide supporting fire. However she held off the marching orders as Hercules was already marching in her direction. Fortunately, she was on an embankment, it would give her the high ground, something hoplites in particular had a hard time dealing with.
Xena ordered her foot archers to release arrows after Hercules came within the limit of the archer's range. The arrows flew overhead toward their targets as they raised their shields to block the arrows. One arrow did not do so well as it accident killed one of the centaurs. Hercules caught two arrows as one landed in his horse's knee forcing Hercules to leap from his horse and continue the battle on foot. As the soldiers were marching, they kept their shields up, catching many of the bolts, but still arrows pierced exposed flesh wherever it can be found.
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Though the enemy army had not reached Xena completely Callisto gave the order for her soldiers to march from the trees to join the battle. It was time as now with the volley from Xena got the full attention of Hercules.
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As Hercules continued to march one of his look outs ran to his side saying "Another army, to our rear!" Hercules turned and saw the army, shocked he was that he saw a few Athenian uniforms. Selenta rode up shouting, "We must pull back for now."
Hercules scoffed loudly "Retreat! Never!"
Selenta replied "Not retreat but rather just reposition for battle later; we will be enveloped if we continue on our current path."
"No! We will destroy Xena now!"
Selenta shot Hercules a cold stare, "If you don't, I will take the Thebans with me and return to Thebes."
Hercules relented despite the anger coursing through his viens, "Al…right. Fine! We shall pull back for now!"
He turned back, facing his men, "Men! March north now!" He caught another arrow right when he finished his orders. He then turned to a rider "Once we are safe, ride for Corinth and bring me another three thousand men, and inform our siege engineers of our new position."
The rider shouted, "Yes sir!"
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Kaleipus said, "Look, they retreat."
Xena eyed the scene as Hercules army turned northward while Callisto's men charged from the woods, "No. He is merely repositioning. Callisto may have saved us. It would have been difficult to win considering the numbers."
Tildas started to charge forward, "We should ride out there and kill as many as we can!"
Xena shouted "Hold it! That is an ordered retreat; they would chop you into bits. It's not over, but we don't waste men needlessly. Men! March! Merge with Callisto!"
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Callisto saw what was happening, both Hercules and Xena's actions. She ordered her army to merge with Xena. The battle was not over; in fact it had only just begun as both armies prepared to settle in for the next phase of the campaign.
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In the meantime something that Xena and all their allies were unaware of was that a secret alliance recently had been brokered between Delphi and Thebes as ten thousand men landed on the shores of the Greece near Sicyon.
The city was not prepared for the battle as they fell quickly before the invaders. Thus now, it was Thebes and Corinth, two of the three largest armies out of Greece with Delphi a smaller but capable military as they continued their plan to conquer all Greece.
AN*Celipus was a centaur from my story, Gabrielle Queen of the Amazons.*