Capital Datang

When the Roman Empire was at its strongest, the entire Mediterranean Sea was their inland sea. Although the Mediterranean Sea was vast in size, it was much narrower than the real ocean. It may be for this reason that Roman ships always Didn't get rid of the oars, at least that's what Li Ke and the others saw in the Roman navy.

Roman warships are mainly divided into two types, namely three-oared and five-oared warships. Of course, there are also warships with higher oars, but the number is relatively rare.The so-called oar seat is actually the number of oarsmen who "operate" an oar. Generally speaking, the larger the ship, the more people need to "operate" the oars.However, although there are more people operating the oars, the speed of the ship has not increased. Even because more paddlers have to be accommodated, the hull has to be widened. This will only increase the resistance of the ship. The speed does not increase but decreases. The latest chapter of the magical martial arts ring.

It is also for this reason that Roman warships are generally not very large. For example, the length of a three-oared warship is generally between 35 and 170 steps, while that of a five-oared warship is between fifty and sixty steps. between steps.The paddlers are divided into three layers, and they work together to row the boat forward. There are more than [-] paddlers on the three-oared warship, not to mention the five-oared or even more oared warship.

Accompanied by Constans II, Li Ke and the others saw the Roman navy using three-oared or five-oared warships, of which the five-oared warships were the main warships and the three-oared warships were auxiliary.

Following the order of the consul Forres, the ten Roman warships on the sea immediately began to speed up, all of which were the main warships with five oars, and in front of the warships, the same number of ships were advancing. All are warships that are close to being scrapped, so they were taken out as target ships for drills, and in order to be realistic, these target ships were operated by slaves.Capital Datang 652

The target ships that are close to being scrapped are very slow.Moreover, there were no oarsmen, and it was all powered by a large sail on the ship. Instead, the attacking Roman navy knocked down the masts on the ship. It kept increasing, and when the speed increased to the maximum attack speed, the two fleets finally collided fiercely.

"Boom!" The Roman warships that had already adjusted their angles slammed into those target ships fiercely. As a result, four target ships were hit because they couldn't dodge in time.After retreating tens of meters in a row, a big hole was broken under the hull, and the sea water kept rushing in, and the slaves on the boat were also in a mess.

The position of the ramming angle in front of the oared warships of Rome is very strange, and the traditional warships of the Tang Dynasty also have ramming angles.But it is generally placed on the upper part of the bow. This is mainly because the warships of Datang are generally very tall, and the role of the ramming angle is not just to attack the enemy. Crush the opponent's ship, so the ram only needs to break the opponent's hull.

The ramming angle of the Roman warships was close to the lower part of the water surface, because the Roman warships were relatively small.It cannot be crushed like Datang's warships, and when such a ram hits an enemy's ship, the wound is below the waterline, allowing the opponent to sink in the shortest possible time.Just like what Li Ke and the others see now.

Although four target ships were hit, the other six ships escaped by a hair's breadth. It was just that the sides of the two ships collided and then separated again.It doesn't help at all.But it was also at this moment that the ballista of the Roman warship suddenly fired.One after another, special long hooks were shot out. There were very long rods and ropes behind the hooks, which looked like special crossbow bolts.

After this kind of long hook was "shot" on the target ship, it was immediately tightened by the soldiers on the Roman warship, and as a result, it was hooked on the side of the target ship, and the slaves on the target ship immediately rushed forward, ready to pull the hooks. Lose.Behind this kind of hook is a long pole, and it is covered with copper skin. It will not stop cutting for a while, so it is better to tear it off.

However, the soldiers on the Roman warships were well-trained. While the soldiers on the ship were pulling the ropes desperately, archers and spearmen attacked the target ship. one slice.

Regarding this kind of unilateral massacre, Li Ke, who was holding a telescope in the distance, frowned. Although he knew that there were many slaves in various parts of the Central Plains, he seldom used slaves as consumables for military exercises like Rome did, killing them wantonly It's too hurtful.

It's just that Li Ke soon discovered that most of the Roman nobles around him were very calm about this situation, and many of them even showed expressions of excitement. The fighting in the arena is no different from the performance in the arena.Only Irina seemed to be disgusted with this kind of killing, and she folded her hands on her chest and muttered something in a low voice.

There is basically no suspense. As the Roman warship approached the target ship, Roman soldiers jumped onto the target ship with weapons in hand, and then began to massacre the slaves. The bloody and cruel scene was not much different from the real battlefield. , but Constans II and the nobles behind him watched with gusto, especially with the binoculars Li Ke gave them in their hands, so that they could see more clearly and at the same time it was more exciting, so a They all seemed a little excited.

Speaking of telescopes, the technical content is not high, and the Romans are also very skilled in firing glass. Therefore, with the arrival of Han Chinese merchant ships, the Romans also learned how to make telescopes, just because of technical reasons. This makes the telescopes they make far inferior to those of the Han people, not to mention that Li Ke's gifts are all high-quality goods.

"Your Highness, the so-called sea battles of the Romans are still not beyond the scope of land battles. Although they will use ballistas to attack the opponent's warships during the battle, the final victory is still determined by the boarding battle. This method of warfare is very important for our warships. It won't work at all!" After watching the Roman Navy's performance, Cen Changqian whispered in Li Ke's ear.

Li Ke nodded after hearing this. What he brought was the main battleship in Li Yin's hands. The boat approaches.

"Hey, there is a change!" Cen Changqian suddenly exclaimed in surprise, and Li Ke turned his head to look, only to find that the two target ships were leaning against each other, and then the slaves on one of the ships ran to the other ship , resulting in a large increase in the number of slaves on the ship.

"Interesting, these slaves are smart. Knowing that their weapons and training are not as good as the Roman Navy's, they actually combined the two ships into one, making up for the lack of combat power with the advantage of numbers." Li Ke said with a smile.On the ship that doubled the number of slaves, relying on the superiority in numbers, the Roman soldiers who boarded the ship were killed again and again, and all the Roman soldiers were about to be cleared out.

However, for such an accident, Forres next to Constans II seemed very calm, but the other nobles were not panicked, but showed a look of excitement.When the Roman warship besieging the target ship saw this situation, the commander on board reacted immediately and even ordered to withdraw all the soldiers who attacked the target ship.

Originally, there were not many Roman soldiers on the target ship, so the retreat was very smooth, and when the last Roman soldier returned to his warship, the slaves on the target ship immediately cheered.Because according to the previous agreement, as long as they can persist to the end, they will be free.

But obviously these slaves were too happy. Just after the Roman soldiers withdrew, the warship immediately adjusted its direction and pointed its bow at the target ship where the slaves were. The raging fire covered the entire bow of the target ship.

"Ah~" With bursts of screams, the slaves on the target ship were covered in fire one by one, struggling and rolling on the bow of the ship, and there was no sound after a while.Most of the slaves were only sprayed by this kind of flame. As a result, these slaves screamed and wanted to extinguish the flames on their bodies, but the flames became more and more intense, and even ignited other parts of the ship.Capital Datang 652

But this was just the beginning, the bow of the warship spewed flames several times again, and as a result, the entire target ship was set ablaze from head to tail, and the slaves on board could not escape.What's more frightening is that even if the slave who was on fire jumped into the water, the fire on his body still couldn't be extinguished, and even showed signs of burning more and more.

"It's such a terrible fire, it's even more powerful than the fire oil in the Central Plains!" Li Ke was also very surprised. The fire oil is not afraid of water, but it needs to be ignited with an open flame, but this kind of fire on a Roman warship is not. After it is sprayed out, it starts to burn directly. This alone is much more convenient than fierce fire oil.

Hearing Li Ke's exclamation, Constans II and Forres and others next to him all showed expressions of satisfaction. This weapon is their Roman secret weapon, Greek fire, and it has already Equipped in the navy, it is believed that no matter how powerful the warship is, as long as it is sprayed by Greek fire, it will quickly be reduced to ashes.

As soon as the Greek fire came out, the target ship that was sprayed was quickly burned into a ball of fire, which also made the slaves on other target ships lose their confidence in resistance, and one target ship after another was captured and controlled by Roman soldiers.

However, Cen Changqian discovered one thing, that is, the Roman Navy only used Greek fire to attack once, and the other target ships were all captured by soldiers. Although this exercise only showed a problem, that is, Greek fire must be very precious, otherwise In front of a distinguished guest like Li Ke, he will definitely use it a few more times.

"His Royal Highness, what do you think of the power of our Greek fire in Rome?" Constans II asked Li Ke very proudly.

After hearing this, Li Ke also admired a little: "It turns out that this weapon is called Greek fire. It is indeed powerful, and the range is not close. Under short-to-medium range attacks, no warship can escape!"

Hearing Li Ke's personal praise, Constans II and other nobles also seemed very happy, but at this time Forres said again: "The power of the Greek fire is naturally extraordinary, but I don't know how powerful the warships of the Tang Dynasty are. Can withstand the power of Greek fire?"