I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1159 A Devastating Defeat
boom! ! !
The pitch-black shell tore through the air, whistling with death, and slammed precisely into the bow of the "Poseidon"! Marcus could even see the terrifying sight of the iron ball rapidly magnifying in his field of vision.

"Hard to port! Quickly!" he screamed, but how slow was the massive five-propeller warship to turn?

Bang—crack!
With a sickening crackling sound, the exquisite Neptune statue on the starboard bow, along with part of the hull, was instantly smashed to pieces! Wood chips and fragments rained down like a storm, tearing several rowers and lookouts standing nearby to shreds, their flesh mangled beyond recognition. The immense impact caused the entire giant ship to shudder violently, listing sharply to starboard, leaving the deck a scene of carnage, filled with screams of agony.

Marcus was held down on the deck by his guards to avoid being hit by flying debris. He looked up, his face splattered with bloodstains of unknown origin, staring at the destroyed bow and the chaotic deck, his eyes filled with disbelief and horror.

"How is this possible... so fast?!"

Marcus's voice trembled with fear. He never imagined that before his ballistae could even fire, the Han Chinese cannons would attack again. The power and loading speed of these weapons far exceeded his expectations. They practically rubbed his decades of naval warfare knowledge into the dust.

He was, of course, unaware that Su Yao brought not only the artillery itself, but also revolutionary breech-loading rifled cannon technology and the concept of fixed ammunition! Although limited by manufacturing processes, there was still considerable room for improvement in barrel life and accuracy, the rate of fire and ease of operation far surpassed any long-range weapon of the era. Artillerymen only needed to clean the breech, load the propellant and projectile packaged in silk, and ignite the fuse with the firing pin to fire again. The entire process, under the operation of well-trained soldiers, could be completed within a minute!
On the harbor breakwater, the gunners calmly directed their gunners to fine-tune the firing angles based on parameters measured by the observers using simple quadrants. The third salvo followed immediately! This time, the shells fell even more densely into the Roman fleet, focusing on the larger, relatively slow-moving quintillion-ships.

At the same time, the tiger-squat cannons and heavy ballistae deployed on the shore also began to speak! Although their range was shorter and their power was not as great as the general's cannon, their rate of fire was faster and their trajectory was straighter, and they smashed like hailstones at the small ships that broke through the artillery blockade and tried to approach the shore.

The entire sea off Antioch instantly transformed into a purgatory for the Roman navy. Huge columns of water rose continuously, and the sounds of wooden ships breaking, soldiers screaming, flames crackling, and cannon fire mingled together.

The once invincible Roman warships were torn apart, set ablaze, and capsized like toys under the firepower far beyond their era. The flagship, Poseidon, was also completely rendered incapable of fighting after being hit by that single shot; its cabins leaked and it slowly sank.
"Retreat! Retreat now! Raise the retreat signal flag!"

Seeing Marcus's flagship sink, Tiberius on the other flagship immediately shouted in alarm, took over command, and ordered the entire ship to retreat.

He had come to a complete understanding that this was not an equal battle at all, but a one-sided massacre! The Han people's coastal defense firepower far exceeded their imagination; the range, power, and even the rate of fire completely overwhelmed the Roman naval equipment!
Continuing to charge is just a waste of lives!

The best course of action now is to retreat as soon as possible, preserve our strength, and then devise a plan for the future.

As soon as Tiberius gave the order, the sailors in the charge finally breathed a sigh of relief, their hearts easing considerably. They hurriedly turned their ships around, trying to get away from the terrible firepower.

The Roman fleet was thrown into chaos. Those ships that had escaped direct hits were now like frightened birds, their oarsmen paddling desperately backwards, trying to escape this deadly sea.

However, by then it was too late to issue the evacuation order.

The vanguard of the Roman fleet had advanced to within about 200 meters, while their main force was concentrated at a firing center of 500 meters, which was the optimal range for the Han army's firepower.

So, just as the Roman fleet was turning around in panic, its formation in disarray, and everyone was scrambling to escape, drums suddenly sounded in Antioch harbor, and more than ten oddly shaped, long and narrow fast ships shot out like arrows!
These ships were not the galley-mounted warships familiar to the Romans. They lacked tall freeboards and dense oar positions, resembling enlarged sampans. However, each side of the hull was equipped with several pairs of enormous wheel-shaped oars, driven by pedal oars inside the cabin. They were incredibly fast and moved with the agility of water striders in the relatively calm coastal waters! This was the "wheeled boat" created by Han Dynasty craftsmen who combined Central Plains shipbuilding technology with local ship designs!
Each wheeled barge had a light tiger-squat cannon from the Han army mounted on its bow or a large crossbow unloaded from the walls of Antioch. The hull was covered with wet leather to protect against fire attacks. The sailors on board were mainly Syrian and Phoenician sailors who had surrendered, as well as some Han soldiers who were familiar with the water. They were like bloodthirsty sharks, rushing straight at the wounded, lagging, and slow-moving Roman warships!

"Wow! They're fast! They've caught up!"

The Roman sailors gasped in astonishment; they had never seen such ships before, far exceeding the speed of their own rowing warships. "Only a dozen or so ships! Stop them! Fire back with the ballistae!"

The captain of a Roman trireme ahead shouted angrily, attempting to launch a counterattack using the ship's weapons.

However, the Han army's wheeled boats were small targets and fast, making them difficult for the Roman warships' cumbersome crossbows to aim at. The occasional giant arrows fired mostly grazed the sides of the wheeled boats, kicking up jets of water, but rarely causing fatal damage.

In contrast, the Han army...
"Aim at their oars! Shoot them hard!" A Han army garrison commander stood at the bow of the lead ship and gave the order in a stern voice.

boom! boom! boom!
The tiger-shaped cannons unleashed a dense barrage of shrapnel, sweeping across the oars of the Roman warships! Wooden oars snapped in pieces, and the powerless Roman warships, like toothless tigers, could only spin in place. Meanwhile, the wheeled hullers, with their astonishing maneuverability, circled the massive Roman warships, relentlessly firing rockets and crossbow bolts at their sails and the soldiers on deck.

In no time at all, nearly half of the massive Roman fleet was lost at sea.

They were either destroyed by terrifying coastal artillery or annihilated at close range by the Han army's sudden attacks on vehicles and ships.

On the sea, flames soared into the sky, thick smoke billowed, and broken ship planks, floating corpses, and struggling drowning victims were everywhere.

The eagle banner, once a symbol of Rome's naval power, was also consumed by flames and sank into the cold sea along with the ships.

Under the desperate protection of his frigates, Tiberius fled in disarray to the open sea with fewer than twenty battered ships.

He looked back and saw that the familiar sea outside Antioch had become the graveyard of the Roman navy. A great sense of shame and a deep-seated fear welled up in his heart, leaving him almost speechless.

"Marcus is finished. Rome has been defeated... utterly defeated at sea..."

After a long pause, Tiberius spoke in a daze, unable to imagine the enormous shock and panic that would ensue when this news reached Rome.

However, that's not something he should be worrying about right now, because...
Su Yao has arrived.

Griffin spread his enormous wings and, like golden lightning, swept across the burning sea, rushing straight towards their remnant army.

Upon seeing all this, Tiberius's eyes widened, and without any hesitation, he immediately raised the white flag.

(End of this chapter)