Chapter 1171
"Every time I talk to you, it always dispels a lot of my worries." Peropidas said half-jokingly, half-seriously, "I can't talk to you anymore. I have to visit the other councilors next … By the way, we should let the people of Diónia know how much pressure we have endured to maintain this alliance, and how much effort we have put in. It would be best if you quietly send someone to Messenia tomorrow and let the people of Diónia know about this, so that they can make early preparations."
"Okay, leave the matter of sending someone to me." After Ipamilonda sent Peropidas out of the door, he returned to the study. Looking at the plan of the Diónia barracks drawn on the papyrus, he picked up the pen again, but his thoughts were too chaotic, and he could not calm down to write for a while. He subconsciously tapped the word "Diónia" on the paper with the tip of the pen, thinking only one thing in his mind: no matter how beautiful Peropidas's idea was, the first thing to do was to see if Diónia could completely defeat the people of Sparta as soon as possible …
… …
These days, the First Fleet Commander Sekerian was in a bad mood, but it was not because of the new army commander, Cloto Catax. Although when he first arrived, Sekerian did not go to greet him out of the reserve of an old general, but on the second day, the prince personally visited the camp of the First Fleet near the coast and was very respectful to Sekerian. In the end, Sekerian was moved, and he took the initiative to promise that he was willing to lead the fleet to fully cooperate with the army in the battle.
The reason why Sekerian was unhappy was that although he had occupied the island of Kisira in the Lagonia Gulf and completely blocked the coast of Sparta, the mercenaries recruited by Sparta from outside the mainland still landed on Peloponnesus, increasing the difficulty of the army conquering Sparta.
This was not the fault of the First Fleet. Before Sekerian left Turií, the Devers had told him that after the 1st Flotilla arrived at the southern waters of Peloponnesus, they should try not to cross the Lagonia Gulf to patrol the east coast of Peloponnesus or even further north in order to avoid the dissatisfaction of the coastal city-states such as Agos, Corinth, and even Athens.
Sekerian had been strictly following the teachings of the King of the Devers, but he did not expect that the cunning Sparta not only allowed the mercenaries to land on the port of Corinth, but also frequently sent grain ships to the port of Corinth. With enough mercenaries and a steady supply of grain, the Sparta people had the confidence to fight the Dionysian Army.
Just as Sekerian was sitting in the tent sulking, the staff officer walked into the tent. "Commander, I just received a report from a fast ship. There are five cargo ships full of soldiers sailing towards the Isthmus of Corinth."
Sekerian stood up abruptly. "Where did they find them? Which city-state are they from? "
"They should be near Naxos Island (not Naxos Island in Sicily, but an island in the Aegean Sea). They should have entered the port of Corinth by now. Just like before, these cargo ships are flying the flags of Miletus, Samos, Ephesus, Halicarnassus, and other Greek city-states in Asia Minor, "the staff officer replied in a slightly angry tone.
"Clang!" Sekerian kicked the chair over. His face was as cold as frost. He paced quickly in the tent, his hands clenched into fists.
Suddenly, he stopped and shouted, "Order the crew to push the ships into the sea. Get ready to sail!"
The staff officer immediately understood his intention and hurriedly advised, "Commander, please calm down! His Majesty the Devers has given an order — "
"That's not an order, it's just a reminder, and His Majesty used the word 'try'!" Sekerian said emotionally, "We didn't want to have a conflict with these city-states, but these Greek city-states colluded with the Persia and took advantage of our patience. They kept sending food to Sparta, and now they're sending soldiers to Sparta again. In the long run, the war between us and Sparta will become very difficult, and this will cause great losses to the kingdom's interests. So, the navy can no longer stand by and watch, we must take action!"
At this point, he softened his tone and said, "You're still young, and you're not familiar with His Majesty's style. He never gives orders to the commanders of the expeditionary army. Instead, he allows them to make their own battle plans according to the actual situation on the battlefield. Now is the time for us to change our strategy! "
"I understand, sir." The staff officer quickly accepted Sekerian's point of view. In fact, he was also holding back his anger. "Which fleet are you going to send?"
Sekerian answered firmly, "All the warships of the First Fleet!"
"The entire First Fleet?!" The staff officer was greatly surprised. The 1st Fleet had more than 500 warships, and it was like killing a chicken with a butcher's knife just to sink a few troop and grain carriers.
Sekerian saw through his thoughts and said in a deep voice, "This time, we're not just going to capture or sink all the ships that transport food and soldiers to the port of Corinth. We're going to completely hurt them so that they won't dare to help Sparta in the future! At the same time, this is also an armed voyage for the 1st Flotilla of Diónia to enter the Aegean Sea. We're going to show those Greek city-states our great strength, and let those city-states that want to go against us reconsider whether they have the ability to do so! "
"Yes! I'll inform the entire fleet to get ready to set sail immediately! "
More than an hour later, Sekerian boarded his flagship, raised the flag of departure, and blew the bugle. Apart from the two columns of 50 warships anchored at Kisira Island to blockade the coast of Sparta, the Ministry of Military Affairs (After the war in the Western Mediterranean, under the instructions of the Devers, the Ministry of Military Affairs made some adjustments to the navy. Not only did it change the four major fleets to three major fleets, but it also changed the organization of the fleets. It was clearly stipulated that the sub-fleets had 100 warships under their jurisdiction, and they were composed of four columns, each consisting of 25 warships. Therefore, the battleship column became the smallest unit of the navy of Diónia.) The rest of the warships, about 500 of them, were arranged into four columns and sailed eastward.
After the fleet rounded the cape and turned north, Sekerian issued another order. Given that there were many islands in the sea, and the fleet was unfamiliar with the sea conditions here, they would slow down and advance along the east coast.
After giving the order, Sekerian returned to his seat to rest.
After the end of the war in the Western Mediterranean, the Ministry of Military Affairs had discussed with the commanders and shipbuilders of the fleets on the issue of whether the flagship of the fleets needed to be redesigned and improved.
Some people proposed to use "Carthage's Double-headed Dragon Warship as the blueprint to build the flagship of the fleet"; others proposed that "the former four-tiered Carthage warship could be improved as the flagship of the fleet" …
Sekerian objected, believing that whether it was the Double-headed Dragon Warship or the four-tiered warship, they were too clumsy and bloated. The admirals would never let a ship slow down the speed of the entire fleet and affect combat efficiency just because of their greed for enjoyment …
Sekerian's opinion was supported by Midolades, the commander of the Second Fleet, and Stefakas, the commander of the Third Fleet. In the end, the matter of changing the flagship was left unsettled.
Other than the hull being slightly larger and the mast taller, Sekerian's flagship was not much different from the Raven Warship. Sekerian sat at the stern of the warship. The stern of the warship tilted up like a scorpion's tail, forming a pocket with a wooden chair inside. Since the top of the ship could block the sun, it was more comfortable for him to sit inside.
Sekerian held the handle of the wooden chair with both hands and looked out of the warship. The sea here was exceptionally blue, and the wind and waves were very light, so the warship sailed very smoothly. Looking to the left, not far away on the coast, there were strange rocks and strange peaks. Because it was spring, the cliffs were full of green trees and red flowers, pleasing to the eye. Looking up at the sky, there were white clouds floating leisurely in the clear sky. From time to time, flocks of seabirds would fly past, and the gentle sea breeze carried cold water gently brushed against his face, making him feel relaxed and happy …
While Sekerian was enjoying a rare moment of comfort, the residents on the shore were very frightened. This coast was still Sparta's territory. Although most of it was cliffs, there were still some small coastal towns.
In recent years, there had been frequent wars, and the people in the towns and villages here often saw fleets passing through the nearby waters. They were either ships from Athens and its allies, or the fleets of the Peloponnesus Alliance. But they had never seen such a terrible scene: countless warships covered most of the sea as far as their eyes could see, and every ship was as black as ink, as if it had dyed the blue sea black …
Just as they ran north along the coast in panic to inform the people in Sparta of this shocking news, the vanguard of the black fleet had turned northeast.
After bypassing the peninsula on the east side of the territory of Agos, the 1st Flotilla entered a large bay — Saron Bay. It was like entering a bustling town from a sparsely populated village. Hundreds of ships full of goods could be seen entering and exiting this large bay. Most of them were sailing to Athens in the north, some were sailing to Corinth in the east, and a few were sailing to Megara in the southeast. Even during the war, this place had become one of the most prosperous bays in the Mediterranean Sea a long time ago.
But at this moment, the First Flotilla of Diónia was like a hungry wolf breaking into a flock of sheep. For a moment, there was chaos, and the ships fled in panic. It did not take long for the bustling bay to become a lot quieter, and no other ships appeared around the warships of the First Flotilla.
The captains of the 1st Flotilla apparently did not care about such a change. They followed their plan and turned the warships to the east, going deeper into the bay.
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