The Roman Consul on his tent was dumbfounded by the scene in front of him. Yes they have such brave and great men. However, the enemy is just fighting too ferociously, pushing everyone back but the remaining 600 cavalry and the 120 men group of a Hastati at the very center.
He needs to know where's the Praetors! He had already sent countless messengers to urge the two to move faster as the battle seemed to be doomed if they can't perform their pincer maneuver.
"What's the answer of the Praetors? Where are they?" asked the Roman Consul as he looked at his companions inside the tent.
"They have no answer my lord. The-they said they'll reach on time and we only need to hold. " answered a bodyguard of the Roman Consul with anger in his voice. Those two pieces of trash wanted to use the Roman Consul as a bait and take all the glory of winning the battle all for themselves! Such disgraceful act!
"Captain, go have some cavalry men dismount and reinforce the front line. Also prepare the remaining cavalry. We shall counter charge." ordered the Roman Consul as he stood up and took his sheathed sword and slowly walked towards his horse.
...
"My lord! The enemy! The enemy cavalry is still charging!" said with a concerned tone of a man near Hannibal.
Hannibal just nodded slightly as he walked out of his tent. The wind blew and he felt slightly cold but the cold never bothered him anyway.
There, he saw a man that almost looked like the god of war. Swinging his spear like a sword with blood spraying all over his armor.
"Interesting, who is he? Do we know him?" asked Hannibal as his Captains behind him just looked at each other and eventually shook their heads.
"Hmmm, they can't breakthrough? What? What's happening?" suddenly blurted out Hannibl as he saw a lone square formation of Hastati still holding on while getting attacked on all sides.
It's impossible that a scene like this can even happen. Those people are Hastati and only numbered 120, they're not Principes or even Triarii. They're but light infantry with short swords.
"Interesting, truly interesting! They have such great warriors amongst their ranks. Ready the infantry, push them back and break their morale. Call back some of the cavalry who has broken through and attack the Roman Cavalry on the enemy general's tent." a series of orders was given by Hannibal Barca as his captains immediately moved out to relay the orders.
"Also, order some of the heavy cavalry to intercept that man. He's a worthy foe even if he's a Roman."
...
At the Roman side, the original 3200 cavalry men was lessened by 2 thousand. These 2 thousand men dismounted to reinforce the now crumbling front line of the Roman army.
But even with the added 2 thousand men the Roman army can't hold on as the pincer attack from the rear made them capitulate in an instant.
Massarce, that's the only word that can be used to describe such a horrendous scene. Roman blood smearing the faces and horses of the Carthiginian heavy cavalry.
On the commander's tent, the bodyguards and whatever is left of the main force of the cavalry of the Romans. The Roman Consul has already mounted, preparing to escape as he knew defeat is already a certainty.
His bodyguards mounted a desperate defense to try and buy time for their Consul to escape. However, a lone numidian cavalry managed to breakthrough their solid defenses and fatally wounding the Consul.
"My lord!"
"Father!"
Shouts of concern was heard as the scene of the Consul falling from his horse played before their very eyes.
Out of the bodyguards and soldiers, Publius Cornelius Scipio was the fastest to react as he rushed towards his wounded father to save him.
He pulled the straddles of the horse and rushed with his long spear as he stabbed it at the back of the cavalry manwho wounded his father, piercing his heart in the process and delivering a quick death.
He then stopped his horse and dismounted as he pulled his father up and carried him back to his horse.
Publius Cornelius Scipio then looked at the bodyguards of his father and ahouted an order.
"Sound the trumpets! We need to retreat!" after shouting the orders, he finally sprinted away with his horse.
"Father, father! Hold on! We'll get you to safety." said Publius Cornelius Scipio as he forced sprint his horse to safety.
Seeing their general and Consul retreat, the remaining men on the Roman army that's still on the field immediately threw their weapons down as the morale finally broke down completely and the battle is already won.
Ironically, while the Romans are losing in their defensive position, the cavalry men who's now apparently under Lupus is doing great. Their charge has been unstoppable. Though they lost more than 600 men already, the charge didn't seem to lose any momentum whatsoever as they penetrated the backlines of the Carthiginian army.
The 120 Hastati, now only left to around 24 men in which the 9 members of the squad is steadily getting overrun. Their unfavorable and isolated position, couple it with the scene of their high commanders dying or escaping finally broke their morale.
Yes, they admit that the 9 people in the very front are absolute monsters, they held on and killed more the number of their group each. But they're humans, and humans will tire and they'll eventually be cut down.
The 9 men on the squad just fought with irritation as their comrade in arms are running away like some bitches.
"What do we do?" asked a member of the squad in Low Gothic language. The people near them didn't clearly hear them, while those who heard them didn't know what they said and only treated it as they used their local dialect to speak.
But just then, they heard a transmission from their attached communication equipment right on their brain. The communication equipment are one of the many cybernetic enhancements anyone above the Level 3 on the citizenship system can get. And all of that are for free.
"Retreat, I will take the nearby creek and use it. You go run as fast as you can. This battle is already lost and we have already accomplished our goal."
"We only need to weaken the Romans as much as possible and trigger a quick civil war in which we will come out on top..."