ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 979 Morbar’s plan

However, such tragic scenes basically did not occur. Most of the Carthage fleet dexterously avoided the rapid collision, and could pass by the Dionysian warship.

After experiencing such a thrilling scene, most of the Carthaginian sailors not only did not feel scared, but even shouted more excitedly: "See, Dionians, this is the true strength of our Carthaginian sailors!" "

"Hey, you guys are so clumsy, you look like 70- or [-]-year-old ladies!"

"You dare to compete with us even with your level of boat handling. Even if I collide with you a hundred times, you won't even think of touching me!"

……

The Dionians could not understand the shouts of the Carthaginian crew, but they could understand the humiliating gestures made by the enemy, especially when they saw some Carthaginians lifting their clothes and taking out the thing to urinate on them. This was simply What a shame!
Even the captain of the flagship with a steady personality couldn't help but curse: "Damn Carthaginians! If there were bows and arrows on the ship, I would love to shoot them to death with one arrow!"

Sekelian was also angry in his heart, but as the commander, of course he couldn't show it. Instead, he said in a deep voice: "These Carthaginians are too happy, our fast warship will send them to see Boss Winter!"

Sekerian adopted a staggered arrangement in double horizontal formations, intending to use more flexible fast warships as the back row to kill those merchant ships that had escaped the first round of impact. However, he did not expect that the charge of the warships in the front row would yield almost nothing.

So he turned around and looked at the stern of the ship expectantly.

As a result, he saw in disbelief: the Carthaginian merchant ships were like fish swimming in the sea. With the help of the waves, they once again narrowly avoided the impact of the fast warships. Passed through the gap, and at the same time, the laughter came faintly from behind again.

Sekerian could no longer suppress his emotions, punched the mast violently, and roared: "Catch up with me and sink these damn merchant ships!"

In fact, there was no need for him to give orders at all. Almost all the warships quickly turned around and chased the Carthage merchant ship that was retreating.

The Dionysian Navy has developed rapidly over the years and has outstanding achievements. Except for that natural storm, they have almost never suffered a failure. Even the once powerful Carthage Navy was stepped on by them. How proud they are in their hearts. When had they ever suffered such humiliation? All the crew members would never allow these Carthaginian merchant ships that had trampled on their dignity to just fly away. Everyone was holding their breath. Not only did the captain ask to speed up, but the sailors also became even more angry. Pushing the oars hard, each warship chased the merchant ships ahead at a faster speed, vowing to sink them in order to relieve the hatred in their hearts.

At this time, it would be difficult for anyone to stop their pursuit in a short time. Cyklian knew his fleet, so he encouraged them to continue the attack.

A sea chase begins.

Now, the Dionysian Sicilian fleet is divided into two parts: 80 warships chase and intercept more than 200 Carthaginian merchant ships circling the island in the waters near Elyx; 200 warships chase wildly in the waters near Lilibi Tease their 60 Carthaginian merchant ships.

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The chase in the south has just begun, and the siege and interception in the north has been going on for a while. Although the cunning Carthaginian merchant ships shuttled through the islands and reefs in this sea area, the Dionian warship, which is not familiar with the sea conditions here, had to slow down. , Chasing cautiously gave the Carthaginian merchant ships more opportunities to get rid of the pursuit, but when the warships under Stefakas's command were completely scattered throughout the sea area, the Carthaginian merchant ships suffered disaster.

After all, once the fleet was dispersed and the Diolian warships each took charge of a small area of ​​the sea, Carthage merchant ships would inevitably encounter warships frequently.These Carthaginian sailors are indeed very capable of maneuvering sailboats, but the sailboats mainly rely on the wind. When traveling against the wind, the speed is naturally affected, while the Dionian warships rely on oarsmen and are almost unaffected by the wind direction. The narrow waterways divided by the islands and reefs also caused the Carthage merchant ships to lose enough hiding space. Once the two sides met head-on, the merchant ships without combat capabilities would almost sink in a collision.

After more than half an hour, nearly half of the Carthage merchant ships were lost. Many Carthage sailors who swam ashore after the ship sank were standing on various islands and reefs. At this rate, in another half hour, all these Carthage merchant ships could be wiped out. A Carthaginian fleet.

But Stefankas was not dazzled by the victory in front of him. He had two doubts: First, since the escape tactics of the Carthage fleet had failed, why were these merchant ships still dealing with them in this area?Second, he just discovered that what was piled on the Carthage merchant ship turned out to be simple empty wooden cages, covered tightly with linen cloth. They looked like full cargo. After the ship sank, they all floated. No wonder before Stefankas also found it strange that the Carthaginian merchant ships could move so fast despite carrying so much weight.

The Carthage merchant ship used such a disguise to achieve a certain purpose by luring them! ... Stephakas increased his vigilance. He ordered his ship to stop chasing the enemy ships and sail to the west between Agusa Island and Phorbantia Island, which was the center of the sea area. At the same time, he sent out Several clippers were sent to closely explore the surrounding situation, especially to the west.

The reason why he did not gather the warships immediately was because he believed that in just a while, his fleet would be able to basically annihilate these Carthaginian merchant ships that deceived them. Not only was it a big blow to the Carthaginians, The strike also completed the task assigned by Chief Sekelian, and it also made them breathe a sigh of relief.

"General, look! Another merchant ship has been sunk!" The crew on the deck shouted excitedly.

"The captain of that fast warship is Ilias, right?" Stefankas looked forward with interest and said, "Being able to row backwards immediately after missing the target and knocking over the merchant ship with the stern of the ship, Elias As’s mind is very flexible!”

"Compared with merchant ships, our warships are huge. They can be rammed and sunk by either the bow or the stern. But so far, I have only seen Ilias's warships adopt this new tactic. Including myself, I have never thought about it this way, Ilias is indeed the best captain in our fleet!" The captain of the ship beside him was sincerely impressed.

"Traditional habits have imprisoned our thoughts!" Stefankas nodded his head and said seriously: "When we go back, we will promote this new tactic, and in the future the fleet will encounter the Carthage merchant ship. We have one more weapon.”

"Yes!"

"There is an enemy situation!" The watchman on the mainmast suddenly shouted nervously: "The clipper in the west has raised a yellow flag! It's three yellow flags!"

Stefantas was shocked in his heart: Whatever you worry about will happen!There is no doubt that what is attacking is the Carthaginian fleet, which far outnumbers its own squadron!

"Blow the bugle! Raise the yellow flag! Raise the Apollo flag!" Stefankas shouted loudly. He was very nervous. He had to gather all the scattered warships immediately to avoid being defeated one by one. .

Then, he said solemnly: "Notify a clipper ship and rush south immediately. Tell Lord Sekerian that the Carthaginian fleet is attacking and we need reinforcements immediately!"

After Stefankas gave the order, he calmed down a little. He thought: The clipper's discovery of the enemy's situation meant that the enemy's fleet was still four or five miles away, and the radius of this sea area was only four or five miles. His The fleet still has time to adjust tactics and respond.

But what he didn't know was that there was an island called Hiera just west of the flagship. This resting ship was originally located on the west side of Hiera Island. When his lookout found the Carthaginian fleet coming from the west, When he came, the yellow flag was immediately raised, but after a while, the captain of the clipper did not hear the bugle sound of the flagship of the squadron (according to the regulations of the Dionian Navy, when conveying orders, the flagship must simultaneously (Blowing the bugle to alert the warships under his command), he felt strange. It didn't take long for him to realize that he had made a mistake, because the island of Shira blocked it, and the flagship lookout might not be able to see the raised flag at all. He hurriedly Let the clipper go around the island of Shira, and soon the sound of the bugle was heard, but this effort had already taken some time.

Although 80 Dionian warships are scattered in this sea area, they are not too far from the flagship. They can almost hear the bugle sound, but it will take a while to know the order issued by the flagship, because they are in battle. In a warship, the lookout will not be left on the mast, otherwise the huge impact will cause the lookout to fall off, and the ship must be slowed down to allow the lookout to climb the main mast.There are also some warships separated by islands, and the semaphore cannot be seen at all, and the warships must be bypassed... So it will take time to get all the warships to gather around the Stefankas flagship again.

And now time is undoubtedly crucial. At the same time as the flagship of the Dionia Squadron blew the bugle, the commander of the Carthage Navy, Morbar, had led 170 warships to the west of Hira Island. Three Dionian warships chasing the merchant ship launched an attack.

At the same time, the Carthaginian fleet quickly divided into two, each with 75 warships, one from the north and the other from the south around Hira Island to attack the other Dionysian warships.

When the merchant ship crews on the island of Shira saw the Carthage fleet finally appearing, they all cheered and shouted: "It's time for us to take revenge! Send all the Dionians to the sea to feed the fish!..."

Among the three Dionian warships, there were two crow warships and one fast warship. They were blocking several fleeing Carthaginian merchant ships. When they discovered that the Carthaginian fleet was approaching, they wanted to retreat. It's a little late.

(End of this chapter)