I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1169 The Han Chinese are here!

"The Han people are coming! The Han people are coming!"

"Run! Run!"

One, two, three.

The Romans' meticulously woven "net of the sea god" was riddled with holes before it could even be tightened by Su Yao's thunderous surprise attack. The Roman fleets anchored in various parts of the Aegean Sea suffered heavy losses under the precise strikes of the Dingyuan fleet, and the blazing wreckage of the ships, like torches, illuminated the sea at dawn.

When the news reached Rhodes, Governor Emilius was thunderstruck.

"How...how could they know our deployment?! How could they attack three ports at the same time?!" He grabbed the messenger's collar, his eyes bloodshot.

"Your Excellency... the Han Chinese... it seems they saw right through us long ago..." the messenger said, his face ashen. "Moreover, their main force... didn't even come to Rhodes Island!"

Emilius dejectedly released his grip, staggering backward. He realized he had made a fatal mistake—underestimating the Eastern Emperor's strategy and extraordinary methods. The Han army's objective had never been a head-on assault on Rhodes Island, but rather to divide and annihilate it before its forces could fully assemble!
"Where will the Han people's next target be?!"

"With so many ports already attacked, don't tell me we don't know what their next move is!"

After a moment, Emilius braced himself and regained his composure; he knew he could not allow himself to succumb to this despair.

Crete!

The messenger reported anxiously: "It is said that someone saw the Han Chinese fleet heading south towards Crete."

Crete, the largest island in the Mediterranean, was the most important Roman naval base in the southern Aegean Sea, storing vast amounts of supplies and serving as a crucial link between Egypt and Greece. If Crete fell, the Roman navy would completely lose its foothold in the southern Aegean, leaving mainland Greece directly exposed to the Han army!

"Immediately assemble all available warships!"

Emilius roared an order to mobilize the entire fleet to Crete.

Plans can't keep up with changes. He could no longer proceed according to the original plan and had to launch a decisive naval battle before his fleet was destroyed one by one by the Han people.

Since those Easterners have decided to attack Crete, he might as well make Crete the destination of the final battle there as well.

Even though this might create many loopholes in his "Net of the Sea God," it's still much better than watching the Han army destroy their port on Crete!
Hundreds of Roman warships, like an enraged swarm of bees, their oars flashing, sliced ​​through the azure sea as they sped southward. Emilius stood at the bow, the sea breeze ruffling his gray hair, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve. He abandoned his initial cautious strategy of luring the enemy, deciding instead to fight the Han army to the death in the waters off Crete. He believed that against overwhelming numerical superiority, any clever tricks or cunning tactics would be futile.

However, he miscalculated once again.

"what?!"

"Didn't the Han Chinese go to Crete?"

The intelligence from the reconnaissance ships left Emilius speechless—after a feint southward, the Han fleet, under the cover of night and the complex waterways, mysteriously turned north, heading straight for Naxos, a shipping hub in the central Aegean Sea! Meanwhile, the main Roman navy was rushing at full speed to the deserted island of Crete… “Return to Naxos! Return to Naxos immediately!” Emilius’s voice was hoarse, but it was too late.

When the Roman fleet arrived at Naxos, panting and exhausted, all they found was thick smoke billowing from the harbor and floating debris. The Han army had already sacked the almost undefended island, burned down the warehouses, and captured all usable ships and craftsmen.

What infuriated Emilius even more was that the officers left behind tearfully recounted that before the Han army left, the Eastern Emperor Su Yao had even had a mysterious line of Chinese characters carved on the ruins.

"What is this?"

What did he write?

Emilius took this very seriously, but when he finally managed to find a translator and learned that the inscription read "Emperor Su Yao was here," he immediately vomited blood and nearly fainted.

A humiliating disgrace! An unprecedented humiliation!
He had roamed the Mediterranean for decades and had never been so thoroughly outmaneuvered! The Han army was like a slippery eel, moving freely through the giant net he had meticulously woven, and instead making the Roman fleet run around in circles.

"Chase them! Chase them! Even if we have to chase them to the ends of the earth, we must keep them in our tracks!" Emilius completely lost his composure; he now had only one thought—to find the main force of the Han army and engage in a decisive battle!

The following days became a nightmare for the Roman navy. Utilizing the speed advantage of their sailing warships and Su Yao's aerial reconnaissance, the Han fleet moved stealthily among the numerous Aegean islands. They would sometimes appear on Delos to plunder grain ships, sometimes attack coastal towns on Euboea, and even boldly appear off the coast of Athens, greeting the ancient city with a deafening roar of cannons, causing widespread panic.

Emilius was exhausted, his massive fleet being led by the nose by the Han army, circling the complex Aegean Sea, its morale dwindling with each futile pursuit. To make matters worse, with the main force diverted, the bases on Rhodes and Crete were left undefended and suffered significant losses from harassing attacks by Han flanking forces.

……

In the fifth year of the Kaiyuan era, in the early twelfth month, in the northern Aegean Sea, near the island of Schiathos.

After more than half a month of playing hide-and-seek, Emilius finally caught up with the main force of the Han army here. He looked at the sails of the four giant ships that looked like sea castles on the distant sea, his eyes filled with bloodshot eyes and madness.

He never expected that these Easterners would be so troublesome. The more they fought, the more numerous they became, while his own forces dwindled. In fact, the enemy even had one more giant ship than before.

But all of this will end today, here is the place he has chosen for the final battle!
The narrow waterway between Euboea Island and mainland Greece—the Strait of Artemisia (modernly known as the Gulf of Northern Euboea)—is narrow and has unpredictable winds, which can limit the Han army's unpredictable mobility and force them into a head-on confrontation!
"All troops, charge! Let us wash away this shame with our blood! For Rome!" Emilius roared, brandishing his sword, his voice hoarse yet filled with a desperate resolve.

However, he was unaware that Su Yao, standing on the bridge of the "Dingyuan," looked at their overwhelming Roman fleet with a satisfied smile on his lips.

"The Romans thought they had the advantage of terrain, but little did they know that this was precisely the burial ground I had chosen for them." Su Yao's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority.

Zhou Yu and Guo Jia exchanged a knowing smile. The past two weeks of maneuvering, guerrilla warfare, and even feigning weakness were all aimed at luring the proud main force of the Roman navy into this narrow sea area that seemed to offer them an advantage in numbers but was actually fraught with danger.

"Order all ships," Su Yao said sharply, his gaze sweeping over the Roman warships swarming across the sea like locusts. "According to Plan A, seize the windward position and form a battle line! Let the Romans see what true sea power is!"

(End of this chapter)