Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 132: The Great Battle of Taranto (4)
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For a large fleet of nearly 300 three-tiered paddle warships and 350 warships in other warships, it takes time for the team to complete a tactical action, but training has The original Syracuse fleet will undoubtedly shorten this time a lot.
Led by more than a dozen clippers that are far ahead, the entire fleet sails formidable towards the sea near Turey...
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The battleship of Midolades, the commander of the Dionian Squadron, is at the forefront of the entire fleet, and is responsible for the task of navigating. This position requires that the navigating captain not only has rich experience in navigation and naval warfare, but also must be familiar with the tactics and signals of the fleet, as well as understand the purpose of this expedition and the tactical strategy to be adopted. As a vanguard, he must also be very brave in naval battles in order to be an example of the ships behind.
Except for the lack of experience in naval battles in the first article (most of the captains of the Dionian fleet lack naval battle experience), in other aspects, Midolades has performed well. You must know that Enanilus was sentenced. During his imprisonment, Daves had also considered Midolades in the selection of the navy commander.
At this moment, the captain is sitting under the mast, closing his eyes and resting.
The watchman on the top of the mast suddenly shouted: "A sailboat is found ahead!"
Midolades immediately widened his eyes and looked up at the sea ahead: The vast expanse of the sea had only the blue water and the blue sky, and there was nothing more.
But Midolades knows: Due to the blockade of the Syracuse Navy, there is almost no merchant ship in this lively sea area, so the ship that can enter the sight of the watcher belongs to Thira The possibility of Kuzha is great.
"The sailboat turned southward!" The looker yelled again.
Don't hesitate anymore, it must be the enemy, he found out that we are going back and preparing to go back to report! Midolades groaned for a moment, and immediately shouted: "Blow the horn and hang the warning flag!"
Soon, orange-yellow long strips of linen were hung on the mast, and the flagship watchman who had been paying close attention to the pilot boat immediately reported: "General, the enemy is found ahead!"
"Great!" Sekrian excitedly fought each other with his fists, before giving the long-awaited command without hesitation: "Go at normal speed first! Hang the star flag and prepare for battle!"
The long horn sounded, and the all-black flag was raised to the mast, extremely conspicuous under the clear sky.
Soon, the black flags were hung on the ships of the various sub-compartments.
Under the dark night, it is full of stars!
This is a tactical formation specially invented by the Dionian Navy using the characteristics of the "crow draw bridge." They alternately attack and advance like waves. Each warship must be brave enough to fight alone, and other warships must continue to attack to provide protection. This is a mode of orderly melee.
"Your Majesty, the enemy has been spotted before." Mirtias reported to Daves.
Davers nodded, pretending to be calm and said: "Follow your orders, don't report to me specifically, so as not to delay the war."
"Yes!" After finishing his military salute, Mirtias shouted towards the bottom of the deck gap: "Normal speed!"
The rhythm of the piper's flute immediately accelerated. The 188 wood pulp on both sides of the warship slapped the water, and the stern helmsman turned the rudder, and the warship gradually staggered the distance from the surrounding warships.
"There is a situation!" An old man among the people watching the movements of the fleet on the shore exclaimed: "Our fleet is changing its formation!"
In the eyes of ordinary people, the densely packed warships on the sea seem to have not changed much, but for these old fishermen-born sailors, they are keenly aware of the changes in the distance and speed between the warships.
"Did you find the enemy?!"
"Is it going to go to war?!"
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Everyone asked in a rush, and the roaring voices were full of concerns about the safety of the alliance and concerns about the safety of their relatives.
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More than ten minutes later.
"Syracuse's fleet! Lots, lots of warships!!" The lookout hand pointed to the front and shouted.
Midolades was not surprised. They knew in advance that this was originally a naval battle with less and more battles, and the Dionian Navy was at a disadvantage in terms of the number of warships.
"Raise the battle banner!"
A blood-red flag was flying on the mast.
"General, the enemy is found ahead, prompting for battle!"
"Enter a state of combat!" Sekrian said concisely.
"ooo, ooo! Ooo, ooo! ......" rapid bugle, the flagship spread to neighboring warships, and then spread to the periphery.
The sailors of each warship began to take action. At the captain's reminder, they began to swallow the field rations made of oat bread, a little wine, and olive oil that they carried with them. At the same time, they took turns to get up and move their hands and feet. In fact, it has only been an hour since they boarded the ship, and they are still very physically strong. They are only doing this to make the most adequate preparations for the long and fierce battle that may be carried out in the future.
In the sharp eyes of Midolades: a wooden pole rose up on the sea surface in the extreme distance, and one after another emerged, the silhouette of a ship soon appeared, and then another Ship...In the blink of an eye, warships began to be densely covered on the extremely distant skyline.
"Here..." Midolades said softly in his heart.
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At the same time, on the flagship of the Syracuse Fleet, Leptinius waited for his long-awaited answer: "General, there is a mast in the center of the enemy's fleet with gold shining on it, it should be You are looking for a battleship with a statue of Hades!" the watchman shouted from the main mast.
When Leptinius heard it, he shouted excitedly: "The captive is right, Daves! Davors, the Archon of Dionian, is on that ship!!!"
Leptinius knows very well: Dionysius once said that in order to conquer Dionia, it is best to eliminate Daves first, so his brother sent a killer to carry out an assassination, but none success. Now a great opportunity lies in front of him. If he can capture or kill Daves in this naval battle, not only will his brother be impressed with him, but it will also be able to end as soon as possible this battle that has almost exhausted Syracuse. Great war!
"Order, each squadron adopts double-column tactics!" He decisively ordered.
"General, don't you use circumnavigation tactics?" The captain of the flagship next to him reminded him.
Leptinius shook his head: "Using the circumnavigation is time-consuming, and it also disperses the impact of the fleet. At that time, Daves will frighten his soul because of the sinking of one after another warship in front of him, and turn around. It’s troublesome to run away. We have much more warships than them, and our ship handling skills are better than them. The Dionian Archon thought this naval battle was like land warfare that would allow him to win easily, so he dared To attack us rashly, I will crush it from the front, smash the Dionia fleet completely, and capture the arrogant Daves!" Leptinius said proudly, with his right hand stretched out. It was clenched into a fist forcefully, as if the new king of Dionia was pinched in the heart of the fist.
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Midolades stared at the front, and the Syracuse's fleet had fully shown its shape, and it was pressing toward him like a huge wave.
Midolades was not frightened by the force of the Syracuse fleet, but a smile: because the Syracuse did not take advantage of their many warships to send a squadron around Go to both sides of one's side to form a circular encirclement to attack one's flanks, because in this way, it will be more difficult for the Dionian fleet to win in battle, and the losses will increase. However, it is clear that the brave majesty's plan to use his body as bait has worked! The enemy adopted a frontal storm tactic!
From this glance, the depths of the stacked warships are probably more than ten, and the enemy still has the advantage of the downwind (there is a weak north wind at this time), but how is that? ! Because of the "crow draw bridge" and the larger number of heavy infantry equipped with conventional three-layer paddle warships, the Dionian fleet (normal warship infantry configuration ranges from zero to ten people on a warship, while the Dionian fleet is one Each warship is a heavy infantry unit), so it is insufficient in flexibility and speed. Now because the enemy does not use the circumnavigation tactics, it is avoided to the greatest extent. Moreover, the Dionia fleet does not rely on speed and flexibility to win, it depends on Close fight!
Midolades has doubled his confidence. He knows well: Although it seems that the enemy is more than two miles away from his nearest warship, once the speed of the ship rises, the voyage of a few miles will be reached in an instant.
"Offensive speed!" After giving the order, he turned to Zanteparis who was resting on the deck and said sternly: "Captain, the battle is about to start, please be prepared!"
As the captain of the second squadron of the First Corps, Zantiparis, his senior team officer status is completely useless in this naval battle, because this is a battle of heavy infantry units, but he I didn't want to miss this important naval battle, so I chose to follow the first team.
"Inias, it's time for you to give orders." He said to the team leader, he didn't want to interfere with his command.
"Brothers gather, organize their equipment, and go down to the cabin, the warship is going to speed up!" Inias gave an order, and the heavy infantry sitting on the deck immediately stood up and put on their helmets. He picked up his spear, hung up his dagger, quickly formed two columns, from the entrance between the two decks, down to the bottom cabin.
The oarsmen in the cabin did not pay attention to the soldiers who came in. They listened intently to the sound of the flute, sliding the pulp.
"Drops! Drops! Drops!..." The piper didn't raise the paddle rhythm all at once, but gradually accelerated.