Chapter 1020
The Magonid faction opposed the continuation of the peace talks. They believed that the conditions proposed by the King of Diónia for the peace talks showed the greed and ambition of the Diónia people. They wanted to occupy the land and wealth controlled by Carthage, destroy Carthage's hegemony, and reduce Carthage to an ordinary city-state. This was unacceptable to all the citizens of Carthage! The elders had to give up the illusion of peace and make up their minds again. They had to use all their strength to support the Carthaginian army in Sicily and fight against Dionia to the end. Perhaps with the passage of time, there would be a turning point in the war!
The neutral faction led by Aisyaruba said that the negotiations could continue, but they should not be too hasty. They could drag it on and increase the military support for Magonid and Morbar, hoping to use one or two victories to change the arrogant attitude of the Diónia people, so that the negotiations could proceed more easily.
Because of the peace talks, the Senate had been debating for several days, but they could not reach a final decision. However, the situation was becoming more and more favorable to the Magonid faction. Because the news of the peace talks had leaked out, the people learned about the harsh conditions proposed by Diónia. In their anger, they forgot about the threat of the Diónia Navy to Diónia and urged the Senate to continue fighting Diónia to the end.
It could be said that the city of Carthage was very lively these days. People everywhere were denouncing the greed and shamelessness of Diónia. Therefore, when the Dionysian fleet attacked today, many Carthage merchant ship owners gathered and took the initiative to express their strong desire for war to Morbar. In the previous naval battle, although the Carthage fleet won, the Carthage merchant ships suffered heavy losses. More than half of the ship owners and crew could not return to the port.
"Hmph, if we win this naval battle, then there's no need for peace talks! Our fleet can continue to fight, and continue to win a second, a third, and finally regain control of the western waters of Sicily. Then, Lord Magonid's army will no longer have to worry about food transportation, and can fight the Dionysian Army with all their might. Then, the whole war will be in our favor! "Pretacuba said loudly.
Eckriton wanted to refute, but Hanno said in a serious tone, "We all hope so! May Bar Harmon bless Carthage! "With that, he actually closed his eyes and began to pray.
Seeing this, the surrounding elders also competed to pray devoutly. In an instant, the atmosphere of the entire city became solemn.
However, their prayers did not seem to have much effect. The Carthage merchant ships had disrupted the formation of the Dionysian fleet, allowing the Carthage fleet to gain the upper hand in the initial attack. However, this advantage was not too big, because the usual starry sky formation of Diónia had always arranged for the Raven warships to be at the forefront. Today was no exception. Although the forward speed of all the warships was affected due to the chaos in the formation, using speed to collide was not the specialty of the Raven warships. What it excelled at was the 12-meter-long suspension bridge that could rotate flexibly. Even if the warship stopped moving, it would still pose a threat to the warships that approached it.
Of course, the chaos in the formation would cause the warships at the rear to be unable to reinforce the Raven warships in time, especially when the suspension bridge of the Raven warship was hooked onto the enemy warships. Furthermore, the dual column formation of the Carthage fleet was precisely to utilize speed to cut into the enemy's formation, and constantly create a predicament for the enemy warships to outnumber them. Of course, this required the crew to have superb skills, and that was what the Carthage fleet was most adept at.
Therefore, such a scene had occurred many times since the beginning of the battle. The suspension bridge of the Raven warship had just nailed onto a Carthage three-decker warship. Not long after the infantrymen of the fleet rushed onto the enemy's deck, the Raven warship would be rammed by the next Carthage warship because its allies could not reinforce it in time, and the warship slowly sank. The Carthage oarsmen, encouraged by the heroic actions of the merchant ships and the ardent hopes of their families on the shore, were no longer afraid of the forty infantrymen rushing into the ship's hold. They drew out the daggers that they had been equipped with not long ago (because only hanging daggers would not affect their rowing, and the daggers were cheaper and easier to equip) and wooden oars, and put up a strong resistance.
Even though the infantrymen of the Dionysian fleet had gone through a long period of military training and were fully armed, it was almost impossible to defeat the nearly two hundred high-spirited Carthage sailors and completely occupy the entire ship without spending a certain amount of time and casualties.
The Third Fleet of Diónia was at a disadvantage at the beginning of the battle, but after years of arduous training and the tempering of the naval battle of Sardinia, the crew firmly believed that no matter how difficult the situation was, the final victory would still be theirs. Therefore, they fought with equal tenacity, and worked hard to correct their previous mistakes.
As time passed, the Third Fleet slowly turned the tide of the battle. The most important reason was that the warships of both sides had fully engaged each other, and the initial tactical contest had turned into a full-scale melee. Such a battle situation was more advantageous to the Dionysian fleet, which had been continuously trained for years. The Raven warship and the fast three-tiered warship were adept at jumping from side to side, while the other was adept at agile and swift assaults. The tacit cooperation between the two began to show its power.
On the other hand, there was only one type of three-tiered warship in the Carthage fleet (because the Carthage Senate considered the need to build more warships as soon as possible to form a new fleet, the four-tiered warships and the twin-headed dragon warships were not included in the construction plan for the time being due to the more time-consuming manufacturing process). The tactics used to coordinate with each other were relatively monotonous. The crew had to worry about not being nailed by the drawbridge of the Raven warship when the bow of the ship approached, and they also had to be wary of the sudden attacks of the fast warships. Often, they could not attend to one thing and lose sight of the other.
When the naval battle reached its climax, most of the Carthage merchant ships had sunk, and the remaining few dared not enter the battlefield at all. Because the warships were so densely packed, both the enemy and the Third Fleet were fully focused on controlling the warships to charge, circle, turn, and ram, and fight to the death with their opponents. They would not dodge the merchant ships at all. A light collision could capsize the merchant ships. Even the most arrogant Baricos had retreated to the coast with his merchant ship.
After coming ashore, the people of Carthage bowed to him to show their respect. Then, they shouted his name and applauded. This was the etiquette for a hero.
Baricos could not help but feel proud. In front of the crowd, he boasted in high spirits about his adventure of piloting the merchant ship to tease the Diónia warship.
Just as some of the people in the port were attracted by Baricos's story and exclaimed from time to time, there was a sudden commotion among the people on the beach. Some people kept exclaiming, "Our fleet seems to be retreating!"
"This is impossible!" Baricos loudly wanted to refute these annoying voices. He did not want to see the opportunity created by his and his companions' risks and sacrifices be wasted in vain.
But in the distance, all the warships of Carthage were indeed retreating.
Up until now, even the flagship of the Midolades had joined the battle. The only one that had not joined the battle was the flagship of Carthage, where Morbar was. It had been stationed not far from the battlefield. The lookout on the mainmast had been describing the scene of the battlefield to Baricos on the deck. Morbar judged the development of the battle based on this. When he noticed that the Carthage fleet had lost the initial advantage and had entered a stalemate with the Dionysian fleet, he already knew that the battle had begun to turn against the Carthage fleet.
Therefore, he decisively asked a dozen trumpeters to blow the horn to retreat.
The captains of the Carthage fleet, who had been solemnly instructed by Morbar before they boarded the ships, immediately turned around and retreated without hesitation.
Naval battles were different from land battles. Although both sides were engaged in a chaotic battle, warships needed enough space to fight. Therefore, the distance between ships was still relatively large. Once they chose to retreat, it would be difficult for them to be surrounded.
Moreover, the Dionysian fleet had a not too big weakness. As the main force, the raven warships were not as fast as ordinary three-tiered warships. If the enemy fled with all their might, it would be difficult for the raven warships to catch up. The fast warships, which were known for their speed and agility, were relatively small and had weaker defense than ordinary three-tiered warships. Therefore, they did not dare to leave the raven warships and chase after the enemy ships for a long time to prevent being counterattacked. Therefore, after paying a price, the Carthage fleet began to leave the battlefield and retreat eastward.
After learning about the sudden change in the battle situation, the Midolades, of course, would not allow the Carthage fleet, which had been lured out with great difficulty, to successfully escape to the port without suffering too many losses. Therefore, he ordered the fleet to basically maintain its formation and give chase with all its might!
The Carthage fleet was retreating, and the Third Fleet was in hot pursuit. There was no time to stop at all. The original battlefield was full of crew members floating on the sea, broken boards, some oarsmen killed by the infantry of the fleet, and warships whose hulls were obviously damaged and could not move …
Baricos looked at the situation from the seaside. Although he was worried that the fleet would encounter another defeat, he was more worried about his compatriots in the sea. So, he raised his arms and shouted, "Follow me, let's rescue our brave warriors!"
After saying that, he took his crew and pushed the cargo ships that were docked on the beach back into the sea and sailed toward the battlefield ahead. The other remaining merchant ships quickly followed.
Many people in the port were inspired and also drove their own fishing boats to the battlefield to rescue their compatriots.
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