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Chapter 1019

After giving the order, Morbar led the other warships and charged towards the Dionysian fleet.

"General, the Carthage fleet is charging towards us. Their numbers are about the same as ours!" The lookout on the flagship's mainmast reported to Midolades the flag signals coming from the front.

Midolades realized that the plan had succeeded. The Carthage fleet had been lured out of the port and the decisive battle was just around the corner. So he shouted, "Blow the bugle! Raise the starry sky and the red flag! "

Midolades' words traveled into the flagship's lower cabin. These sailors of the Third Fleet had been rewarded by the King of Devers and the Ministry of Military Affairs several times due to their repeated contributions during this period. Their morale was very high. When they heard the command given by the fleet commander, all of them were in high spirits. They rubbed their palms together and prepared to make new contributions.

At this moment, the captain's voice came from the deck again, "Warships advance! Increase the speed of the oars! "

"Attention! Increase the speed of the oars! "The boatswain immediately repeated the order loudly to remind all the crew.

The flutist blew the high-pitched double-barreled flute and gradually increased the speed of the flute. The first deck's oarsmen listened to the rhythm and pushed the wooden oars forward and backward. The sailors of the last two decks followed the actions of the first deck step by step … The flagship that was initially basically stationary began to move forward. The other warships did the same.

When the warships of the First B Squadron heard the bugle and saw the flag signals coming from behind, they immediately stopped playing around with the few remaining Iberian cargo ships. They adjusted their bows and sailed towards the Carthage fleet that was leaving the port in the east.

When the captains of the ten or so Carthage warships that were charging at the forefront heard the frequent bugle sounds coming from behind, and then looked at the advancing Dionysian fleet that was rapidly advancing towards them, he could not help but feel a chill in his heart. He subconsciously ordered the sailors to slow down the oars and wait for the warships behind to catch up so that they could merge into the formation and attack together.

Although they were both advancing in formation, due to the presence of these ten or so Carthage warships, the distance between the two sides was only a mile. Diónia's starry sky formation was almost complete, while the Carthage fleet's two-column formation was still in its embryonic form.

The situation was a little urgent, but Morbar did not panic because he heard Barico's presumptuous laughter, "Old man, let's go up first! The people of the port are watching us. You have to get your men to work harder. Otherwise, if we perform badly in this battle, I'm afraid we'll be scolded to death by the people when we return to the port! Hahaha … "A small Gattaca merchant ship sailed past the flagship, and Balikos, who was controlling the sail, was laughing loudly.

Morbar did not express his dissatisfaction with Barico's arrogance. On the contrary, he faced Barico and solemnly gave a military salute.

When almost all the Carthage merchant ships passed by the Carthage warships, the owners of the ships were shouting words of encouragement to the sailors, while the captains of the warships were also giving military salutes to the Carthage merchant ships that passed by. Watching these small merchant ships, which were less than one-fifth the length of the warships, rushing towards the Dionysian fleet, while being inspired to fight, he was also worried about them.

However, there was not a single trace of fear on Barico's face. He flexibly controlled the sails, and with the help of the weak southwest wind, the whole merchant ship sped ahead like an arrow. He shouted, "Diónia, your Grandpa Carthage is here again!"

Facing the approaching and taller Diónia warships, he became more and more excited, because he could once again humiliate the people of Delenia.

When Midolades learned from the lookout that the Carthage fleet had actually let some merchant ships rush to the front of the fleet, he was very surprised. Although he knew that the reason why the Sicilian fleet had suffered a defeat before was because some of the highly skilled merchant ships of the Carthage had played an important role in it, he did not expect that the Carthage fleet would actually let these non-combat ships participate in the official battle. This was 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 captain of the flagship reminded him with some difficulty, "General, these orders of yours … are not easy to convey!"

Midolades immediately understood. Over the years, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the navy had gradually explored and perfected the fleet's flag language system under the guidance of the King of Devers. However, they had never thought that civilian ships would participate in the battle, and of course, there was no such flag language in this aspect.

Midolades thought for a moment, and said, "Blow the bugle, raise the green flag, and urge the fleet to speed up!"

Midolades hoped that the warships under his command would ignore the provocation of the Carthage merchant ships, but he had obviously overestimated the ability of the captains and crew to strictly carry out orders. Although the Third Fleet had been established for many years, most of the crew had little combat experience before this war, and the successive victories had raised their morale. Now, for the first time, they were faced with the provocation of the Carthage merchant ships, who boldly shuttled between the warships. They peed, spat, pointed at them, and laughed at them loudly … all kinds of humiliating methods were unbearable even for the commander of the Sicilian fleet, Cecelian, back then, let alone these young and vigorous captains and crew.

At first, when some of the Diónia warships saw the weak merchant ships coming to the side of their warships, they could not help but turn their warships slightly to press against the enemy's warships even though they still remembered the orders issued by their flagship. They thought that the waves created by the warships alone were enough to cause the small ships to shake and even capsize, and that if the ships touched them lightly, they would be crushed to pieces.

But when most of the Carthage merchant ships nimbly avoided the collisions of the Diónia warships and laughed even louder, the competitiveness of some of the Diónia captains and crew was piqued. They did not make more movements with their warships, but continued to press against the merchant ships. But in this way, the distance between the ships was shortened.

The shrinking of the space had indeed brought a lot of trouble to the Carthaginian merchant ships. Just the waves caused by the rapid approach of the two warships had caused some merchant ships to shake up and down violently. Even if they managed to escape from the pressure, they could not avoid the collision of the warships from behind because they had lost the flexibility to control their ships.

However, the sacrifice of the Carthage merchant ships had caused a lot of chaos in the entire formation of the Diónia Third Fleet. The warships were hindering each other and had to slow down …

When the Midolades learned of the situation from the rear, he was anxious and angry, but there was no immediate solution. He could only order the captain to raise the three green flags at the same time and have the bugler blow the bugle for a long time to warn all the warships to strictly follow the order.

Just as the Dionysian fleet was trying to restore its formation, the Carthage fleet had already arranged itself in the two-column formation that they were most familiar with. The crew members with high morale paddled with all their might, and the warships quickly rushed forward to the Dionysian fleet in front of them.

At noon, the 130 warships of the Carthage fleet and the 143 warships of the Third Fleet of Diónia officially began the battle near the Carthage port.

The people of Carthage had already crowded the coast not far from the naval battle. After hearing the news, people from nearby Utica and other Phoenician allies also came one after another. The entire beach had turned into a sea of people.

Everyone hoped that the Carthage fleet could defeat the Dionysian fleet that threatened the safety of their homeland. The people of the Carthage port even shouted Balikos' name in unison. Although this arrogant ship owner had made them stay away from him in the past, his bold and risky actions last time and this time had won the respect of the people. He was even regarded as a hero by the young people.

Compared to the noisy crowd on the coast, the Taiji elders who were standing on the city wall and watching the battle were much quieter, and the atmosphere was more solemn.

"Annobus, do you think … we can win this naval battle?" Taipanlac asked the former commander of the navy in a low voice under Hanno's gaze.

If not for Hanno and Morbar's efforts to protect him, Annobus might not have been able to escape the severe punishment of the Senate. Although he had managed to escape with great difficulty, he was now idle, and even his status as an elder had been taken away. This time, if the elders had not been so concerned about the outcome of the naval battle and needed a naval battle expert who could accurately judge the situation on the battlefield to provide advice, they would not have called him here from his home.

However, at this time, there was no sign of dejection on Annobus' face. Instead, there was excitement. "The tactics arranged by Sir Morbar are very effective. Our merchant ships have already disrupted the formation of the Diónia fleet. Our fleet is seizing this great opportunity to launch an attack. We will definitely have the upper hand from the start …"

After hearing this, Taipanlac breathed a sigh of relief. His expression relaxed a little, and he said with hope, "I hope this advantage can be maintained until the end. In the end, we can win this naval battle!"

Okridon, who had already returned to Carthage, also sighed and said, "If we win this naval battle, our negotiations with Diónia will be much easier!"

After he returned to Carthage, when he told the Senate about Diónia's harsh conditions for negotiations, the elders were in an uproar. Almost everyone expressed their hatred for Diónia's harsh conditions. However, after expressing their opinions, everyone showed different attitudes on whether to continue the negotiations.

The Hanoverians believed that this was the first time Diónia had put forward conditions for negotiations. Carthage could fully argue for it in the subsequent negotiations, and both sides would eventually reach an agreement. However, judging from the current situation on the battlefield, the Dionysian Army had a clear advantage. If the situation did not change and the final agreement was reached, Diónia would definitely gain more benefits. This was something that could not be helped. The Senate had to recognize the truth and accept it.