Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 102: The Great Battle of Silinus (2)

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Suddenly, the watch hand blinked, his right hand and right foot hooked to the mast, his whole body protruding forward, his left hand resting on his forehead, his eyes widened: under the dim sky in the distance, several appeared on the sea Black spot... Only after a while, this black spot doubled, and after a while...

Looking hand was full of spirits, and immediately shouted: "The enemy ship is found! The fleet of Dionia is here!!..."

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The news of "The Second Dionian Fleet defeated the Iberian Fleet on the North Coast" made Sekley feel uneasy. Although as the commander of the Sicilian Fleet, the victory in this naval battle was also due to him, he Disdain to grab the exploits of Flarios. However, the Carthage fleet never appeared on the south coast, preventing him from fighting decisively.

At this time, because the land forces were going to attack Silinus, he saw the opportunity, so after discussing with Leonidzides, he made a plan: by siege of Silinus, lure the Carthage fleet Rescue from the sea, so as to achieve the purpose of a decisive battle with it.

In order to ensure the victory of the decisive battle, Sekrian also transferred the Second Fleet stationed in Messina, bringing Dionian’s fleet in Sicily to 600 warships and 485 three-layer paddle warships. , This is a huge number, Sekrian firmly believes that the Carthage Navy can't match it at all.

Sekrian dispatched numerous clippers to the south coast of Sicily every day, and some even ventured to the west coast to inspect the enemy.

But for a few days, the Carthage fleet still did not see any movement, Leotizides could not sit still, because although the Dionian army pretended to attack the city of Serinus, it also caused some damage every day. Soldiers were killed and wounded, not to mention that under the long-term garrison, the advantageous army not far away was ready to move. Although its strength was not strong, the Iberian army in Palermos worried him, not to mention its The distance is not too far. Once several Carthage troops attack at the same time, the Dionian army, which does not have much strength, will be in trouble. Therefore, Leotizides believes that: we cannot wait any longer, and must immediately take Serinus with all his strength, and gain a foothold for the Dionian army to enter the western Sicily controlled by Carthage.

Sekrian certainly objected. His reason was: as long as the Carthage fleet was defeated, the Dionian Navy could gain absolute maritime superiority, and the western coast of Sicily was under the control of the Dionian Sicilian fleet. Among them, the help to the land forces will be even greater.

He persuaded Leotizides to be patient and wait a while longer.

The two sides were in a dispute, but the letter from Daves and the Military Department resolved their dispute.

In the letter, Daves asked Leonid Zides to step up his offensive against western Sicily. For Sekelian, Dafus has higher requirements, hoping that he can completely defeat the Carthage navy, cut off the sea connection between Carthage and Sicily, and even threaten the basic city of Carthage.

Therefore, this letter forced Leotizides to agree to continue the plan to "seduce the Carthage Fleet".

Early this morning, the movement caused by the large-scale assembly of the Carthage warships on the surface of the Lilibel Sea could not escape the eyes of the Dionian Clippers.

When the news was quickly transmitted back to Agrigento, Sekelian was overjoyed and immediately ordered: All ships must assemble and prepare for the expedition!

Although Flarios reminded him of some concern: "Commander, the weather on the sea today is not very good!"

However, Sekrian has always been known for his boldness and boldness in combat. Even in his middle age, this characteristic of him has not diminished, and he finally waited for this opportunity, how could he let it miss, so he resolutely said: "The Carthaginians dare to go to sea, why can't we!"

At the beginning of March of the 14th year of the Kingdom of Dionian (ie 379 BC), at noon on the third day when Daves led the army, left Turri, and headed north to Latham, Dionian’s The Sicilian fleet encountered the Carthage navy in the sea near Silinus.

Under the strange weather with dense clouds, gloomy sky, but no wind and waves, this arguably the largest naval battle in Greek history began.

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After learning of the appearance of the Dionia fleet, Annobas was a little surprised, but at the same time relieved. He stared out of the window, pondered for a while, and quickly made a decision: "The front warship moved forward to meet the enemy along the original route; the middle warship moved eastward, spreading out as far as possible on the right side of the front; the Iberian fleet at the rear was tight. Follow the front fleet to prevent the Dionian warship from breaking through the interception and attacking the rear fleet.

The reason why Annobas made such a deployment is because according to his understanding of this sea area, although it is calm now, from the weather, it may still be windy and rainy, and the possibility of a southwest wind is high. , Therefore, the Carthage warship must first occupy an advantageous position in order to facilitate the later battle.

Sekrian didn't think about that long-term. He placed the main first fleet on the side close to the coast, and the third fleet led by Flarios to face the expanding flank of Carthage.

His idea was to use all his strength to defeat the enemy in front, and put up a posture of attacking the fleet to rescue Silinus from the rear, forcing the formation of Carthage to retract to rescue, which was exhausted. The enemy's physical strength can also make Carthage's ship formation chaotic.

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"Flute! Flute! Flute!..." The speed of the sailors pushing the wooden oars was accelerating with the sound of the double-pipe flute. The seawater from the bow split flew time and time again on the suspension bridge erected next to the front mast, and the water splashed in all directions, almost making this 12-meter-long wooden bridge a wave shield for the warship.

Stefakas, he was also a sailor of the Dionian Navy during the Southern Italy War. He is proud that he has gone through all the battles of this new fleet to defeat the mighty Syracuse Navy , Now he is the commander of the second squadron of the Dionian First Fleet, and he is directing the ships to charge at the forefront of the fleet, and is about to take the battle with Carthage, the most powerful maritime hegemony in the Western Mediterranean.

But he was far less excited than the sailors. Instead, he calmly followed the oncoming Carthage warship. He felt that the opponent's speed was not very fast, and the experienced he immediately realized that the opponent is likely to fail. He didn't plan to collide head-on with his warship, but controlled the warship's inertia in order to circumvent the front flexibly and avoid being caught by the crow suspension bridge. After all, the unique tactics of the Dionian Navy are no secret, not to mention that the Carthaginians were still defeated in naval battles before, and I am afraid they have been prepared.

"Prepare for volley!" Stefakas decisively issued a loud order.

The suspension bridge operator at the bow, the captain in the cabin, and the helmsman at the stern immediately repeated this command, and the crew maintained a high degree of tension and concentration.

The two warships are approaching quickly.

Stefakas looked ahead, judging the best time to act, and suddenly he shouted: "Volley to the left!"

The helmsman swung the rudder, the sailor's oar on the left was reduced, and the sailor's oar on the right was strengthened, and the warship quickly rowed diagonally to the left and front.

This is a very dangerous tactical maneuver. Actively exposing the waist of the warship to the angle of the enemy ship is undoubtedly a taboo for today’s naval battles, even for Dionia, who has a crow suspension bridge. The warship is also quite dangerous, because the distance is too close, and the enemy ship is advancing at a high speed. If the crew is not focused enough and the cooperation is not good, it is likely that the suspension bridge is too late to be lowered and the warship has been hit by the opponent.

Dan Stefakas is full of confidence in the skills and tacit cooperation of his crew. This confidence comes from the result of rigorous training day after day, year after year.

Even so, the suspension bridge operators are still highly stressed operations: some quickly turn the suspension bridge according to the direction of the enemy ship’s attack; some quickly loosen the rope tied to the mast while pulling it tightly While staring at the enemy ship rushing over, he yelled...Everyone's face was sweaty, and the muscles on his arms bulged out of tension.

Originally, the Captain of Carthage had already prepared to deflect the warship to avoid the attack of the opponent's crow suspension bridge, but the crow warship in front of him suddenly smashed sideways, which was unexpected by the Captain of Carthage, and he was taken aback.

In this stunned, the warship has already rushed out a few meters.

He immediately understood, and hurriedly issued an order: to turn the warship to the right.

The Carthage sailors responded quickly, and the rushing warship quickly turned its head to the right.

But it was a little late, and the direction of the Dionian warship was exactly the same as their warship, and the speed continued to increase.

The Crow Suspension Bridge immediately fell, and the 40 fleet infantry on board immediately rushed out of the cabin, crossed the suspension bridge, and entered the enemy ship.

After knowing the combat characteristics of the Dionian fleet, Annobas was not unprepared. During this period of time, he let Carthage and the allies make a large number of daggers for the sailors, because only this kind of lightness and compactness Their weapons will not affect their paddling, and at the same time they will have a little self-defense ability to counterattack.

However, it is impossible to take advantage of the large number of people on a long and narrow warship. Most of these Carthage civilians who served as sailors did not have formal infantry training, and could not compete with the aggressive infantry of the Dionia fleet. .

In addition to not wearing the heavy infantry standard equipment of the Dionian Army, the training intensity of these infantrymen of the Dionian Fleet is not weaker than that of the army. Not only do they need to be proficient in short sword stabbing, shield and sword combined fencing, and chess board. Grid array, javelin and assault, team battles cooperate... In addition, they also put more energy in two trainings: fast landing operations and long-distance swimming.

Therefore, the infantry of the Dionia fleet is well-trained, and the Carthage sailors are equipped with daggers. Although it caused a little trouble for them, they quickly disintegrated under their swift attack.