Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

After giving the order, Morbar led the other warships toward the Dionysian fleet.

"General, the Carthage Fleet has rushed towards us, and the number is equal to us!" The watchman on the flagship main mast reported the slogan in front of him to Midolades.

Midolades realized that the plan had succeeded, and the Carthage fleet had been lured out of the port, and the decisive battle was in front of him, so he shouted: "Blow the bugle! Raise the stars and the red flag!"

The words of Midolades came into the flagship bottom silo. These sailors of the Third Fleet have repeatedly won merits for this period of time. They have received several awards from King Davis and the Ministry of Military Affairs. The morale is very high. Commanded, all invigorated, rubbed their hands, ready to make new achievements.

At this time, the captain's voice came again from the deck: "Warship advances! Speed ​​up the pulp!"

"Attention! Speed ​​up the pulp!" The captain immediately repeated the command loudly to remind all the crew.

The piper blew the treble double-pipe flute, and the sound of the flute gradually accelerated. The lead oarsmen on the first floor listened to the rhythm, and the front rowers pushed the wooden oars back, and the sailors on the second two floors followed the first step. Level 1 action... The flagship, which was basically at rest, started to move forward, as did other warships.

The battleship of the 1st squadron immediately stopped playing with the few remaining Iberian cargo ships after hearing the bugle from the rear and seeing the semaphores coming, and adjusted the bow of the ship towards the head. The Carthage Fleet departing from the east left.

The captains of the more than 10 Carthage warships rushing to the front heard the horns frequently heard from the rear, and then saw Dionys, who was in front of him, expanding the array and quickly pressing himself against the overly protruding self. The sub-fleet felt tremble in heart, and subconsciously ordered the sailors to slow down the speed of the pulp, and waited for the first warship to come back, so as to integrate into the formation and attack together.

Although the formation is also in progress, but due to the existence of more than 10 Carthage warships, the two sides are only one mile apart. The starry ship array of Dionysia is close to completion, and Carthage The fleet's double-column ship formation is only a prototype.

The situation was a little urgent, but Morbar was not panicking because he heard Barrickos' unbridled laughter: "Old man, let's go up first! The people at the port are looking at us, you have to let your men add Jin'er, otherwise he will perform badly in this battle. I am afraid that he will be scolded by the people when he returns to the port! Hahaha..." A small Canadian Tai Chi merchant ship was passing by the flagship, maneuvering the sails Barrickos is laughing out loud.

Morbar did not express dissatisfaction with Barrickos' arrogance, instead he faced Barrickos with solemn military salutes.

Almost all Carthage merchant ships passed the Carthage warships, the owners were loudly saying to encourage the sailors to fight, and the captains of the warships were also performing military salutes to the Carthage merchant ships passing by them. These merchant ships, which are less than the length of the battleship 15 and small in size, are rushing towards the Dionysian fleet. While being encouraged by the fighting spirit, they are also worried about them.

But there was no fear on Barricos's face. He flexibly manipulated the sails. With the faint southwest wind, he let the whole merchant ship rush like an arrow at the front. He shouted: " Dionysians, your Grandpa Carthage is here again!"

Facing the Dionaian warships that were getting closer and taller, his spirit became more and more energetic, because he could once again humiliate the Dernia.

When Midolades learned from the watchman's mouth that the Carthage fleet actually let some merchant ships rush to the forefront of the ship array, he was surprised: although he knew that the Sicilian fleet had suffered a failure because of some shipmanship skills The superb Carthage merchant ship played an important role in it, but he did not expect that the Carthage fleet actually involved these non-combat ships in the official battle. This is really unheard of!

"Inform the warships to ignore these merchant ships, maintain the fleet formation, speed up, and fight the Carthage fleet!" Midolades said in a deep voice.

The flagship captain reminded with some embarrassment: "General, your commands...not easy to convey!"

Midolades immediately understood that the military department and the navy had gradually explored and perfected the fleet semaphore system under the prompt of King Davers over the years, but never thought that there would be civilian ships involved in the battle, of course. There are no flags in this area.

After thinking for a while, Midolades said, "Blow the bugle, raise the green flag, and urge the fleet to accelerate!"

Midolades hoped that his warships would ignore the provocation of the Carthage merchant ships, but he clearly overestimated the captain and crew’s ability to strictly enforce orders. Although the Third Fleet was established for many years, most of the Before the war, the crew had no combat experience, and the successive wins raised their spirits very high. Now it is the first time that the provocation of the Carthage merchant ship that boldly shuttles between warships , Peeing, spitting at them, laughing at them loudly with fingers... Various ways of humiliation were even unbearable even for Sicilian Fleet Chief Seckrian, not to mention these young and vigorous captains and crew.

At first, some Captain Dionysian warships saw these weak merchant ships coming to the side of their warships. Although they still remembered the orders issued by the flagship, they could not help but deflect the warships slightly and press them against the enemy ships. In the past, they thought that the waves generated by the warships alone were enough to cause these boats to make huge bumps or even overturn. If the hull is lightly touched, it will be crushed.

But when most of the Carthage merchant ships evaded the collision of the Dionysian ships lightly and made a greater laugh, some of the captains of the Dionysian captains and the crew were lifted. They It did not allow the warship to make greater movements, but continued to crowd the merchant ship, but in this way, the interval between ships shortened.

The reduction in space did cause great trouble to the Carthage Merchant Marine. The rapid wave between the two warships and the turbulent waves caused some merchant ships to shake up and down violently, even if they escaped the squeeze , Because of the loss of flexible control of the ship for a time, but can not avoid the collision of the warships ushered in behind.

However, the sacrifice of the Carthage Merchant Marines led to a lot of chaos in the entire array of the Dionysian Third Fleet. The warships hindered each other and the speed had to be slowed down...

Midolades learned this situation in the rear and was anxious and angry in his heart, but there was no way to take effect immediately. He could only order the captain to raise three green flags at the same time, and let the commander sound the bugle continuously. Use this to warn all warships that they must strictly follow orders.

Just as the Dionysian fleet was striving to restore the ship’s formation, the Carthage fleet had arranged their most familiar double-column formation. The morale of the crew struggled to slide the oars, and the warships quickly rushed forward. The Dionysian Fleet.

At noon, 130 warships of the Carthage Fleet and 143 warships of the Dionysian Third Fleet officially kicked off the battle in the sea near the port of Carthage.

The people of Carthage are already crowded on the coast not far from the naval battle, and the people of nearby Utica and other Phoenician confederations have also rushed in after hearing this. The ocean of people.

Everyone hopes that the Carthage Fleet will be able to attack the Dionysian Fleet that threatens the safety of their homes, and the people of the Carthage port even chanted Barricks’ name in unison, although in the past this arrogant shipowner let them It is far away, but the last time and this time his bold and adventurous actions have won the respect of the people, and even been regarded as a hero by young people.

Compared with the noisy crowds along the coast, the Tai Chi veterans who stood on the breakwater and watched the battle were much quieter and the atmosphere was more solemn.

"Anobas, do you think this naval battle... can we win?" Tepanraco whispered the former naval commander under Hano's eyes.

If it weren’t for Hanno and Morbal’s efforts to protect him, Annobas might not be able to escape the harsh punishment imposed on him by the senate. Now, although he was finally able to escape the disaster, he has been idle and even the veteran’s identity has been deprived. This time, if it was not for the veterans who were too tight in the battle, they needed a naval warfare expert who could accurately judge the situation on the battlefield to provide advice, and would not call him from home.

But at this time, Annobasi did not see the gloomy face, but was excited: "The tactics arranged by Lord Morbar are very effective. Our merchant ship has disrupted the formation of Dionia, and our fleet is grabbing This great opportunity to launch an offensive will inevitably have an advantage at the beginning of the battle..."

After hearing this, Tepanraco exhaled lightly and relaxed, and said with hope: "I hope this advantage can be maintained until the end, and finally we can win this naval battle!"

After listening to Okreton, who had returned to Carthage, he also said with exclamation: "If this naval battle wins, our negotiations with Dionia will become much more talkative!"

After he returned to Carthage, when the elders spoke of the harsh negotiation conditions of Dionia, the elders were in an uproar. Almost everyone expressed resentment at Dionysia’s demanding requirements, but after expressing his attitude Everyone showed different attitudes about whether to continue negotiations.

The Hannos believe that this is the first time Dionysia proposed the conditions for peace talks, and Carthage can fully continue to argue in the subsequent peace talks, and finally the two parties reached an agreement.However, judging from the current battlefield situation, the Dionysian army occupies a clear advantage. If the next situation does not change, and finally reach a peace agreement, Dionysian will definitely gain a little more benefit, which is helpless. , The Senate must recognize the facts and accept it.