Chapter 1297
Sekerian shook his head gently and said calmly, "The reason why His Majesty asked us to take such a huge risk and travel such a long distance to come here is not to capture Cyprus. The most important reason is to destroy the Persia fleet and control the dominance of the Near Eastern Sea … Now that more than 4,000 heavy infantry have landed, this has already posed a great threat to Cyprus. It has already destroyed the Persia fleet's attempt to intercept us at sea. Under such circumstances, when faced with the threat of our powerful Diónia fleet, it is very likely that they will choose to retreat temporarily. Instead, they will send reinforcements and supplies to Nicosia and other towns on the island so that they cannot be easily captured by our land forces.
After all, our fleet has traveled a long distance to come here. The supplies we carry cannot guarantee the consumption of our huge fleet's supplies. If the land forces cannot quickly capture Nicosia and other towns, our fleet will have no choice but to retreat first. At that time … Hmph, the Persia fleet can easily cut off the sea supply line for the landing troops. By then, the land forces will be in big trouble … "
At this point, Sekerian's expression became very solemn. "The land forces' misfortune is secondary. The key is that this time, His Majesty is personally leading the army to obtain the great honor of conquering Persia. Our navy has been entrusted with the heavy responsibility of destroying the Persia fleet and obtaining the dominance of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. If we passively avoid the battle and cause the mission to lure the enemy to fail, or even cause us to lose the first battle and affect the entire war to conquer Persia, I will have let down His Majesty's trust. I will even be speechless when I meet the generals of the land forces that I once mocked!"
"It can't be that serious …" the flagship captain muttered.
Sekerian glared at him with dissatisfaction and said in a deep voice, "I'm the commander of this operation. I must seize all possible opportunities to ensure that the operation can be carried out smoothly. So, we must stay here and not leave! For the Persia fleet, what can be more attractive than destroying a Dionysian fleet that is far fewer in number and completely besieging thousands of Diolian soldiers on the island! "
"Sir, we don't have enough warships. I'm worried that the Persia fleet will really treat us like delicacies and eat us —"
Before the captain could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by Sekerian. "Even if Persia has two or three times more warships than us, the fleet led by me, Sekerian, will definitely be a hard rock. We will break the teeth of Persia's fleet! Furthermore, I believe in Midolades. Not only is he experienced in naval warfare, but he also has a good intuition. He will definitely lead the other warships to meet up with us in time and annihilate the Persia fleet together! "
After Sekerian made up his mind, the captain of the flagship did not dare to dissuade him anymore. Instead, he relayed the order from the fleet commander to all the warships: All Raven warships, load up the drawbridge and prepare for battle!
More than an hour had passed, and there was still no sign of the enemy warships. However, a small number of Cypriot cavalry had appeared on the island. They spied on the Legion of Dionysia's camp near the beach from afar, but they did not dare to approach. It seemed that the Cypriots did not have the intention to gather their troops and fight the Dionysian Army.
Of course, the Legion of Dionysia did not have the intention to fight the Dionysian Army either. What they needed to do now was to defend the landing site and facilitate the arrival of the reinforcements.
"A yellow flag has been raised on the ships in the south!" The lookout on the mast of the flagship suddenly shouted.
Sekerian, who was waiting anxiously, did not feel excited. Instead, he muttered to himself doubtfully, "There are fewer Persia warships than us?"
Seeing the dissatisfied expression on Sekerian's face, the captain of the flagship sighed and asked, "Sir, should we inform the warships to prepare for battle?"
Sekerian paced back and forth on the deck and pondered for a moment. Then, he said in a deep voice, "Wait a little longer! Let all the clippers be divided into two groups. One group will bypass the Persia warships and continue to explore the south, while the other group will explore the north. "
The captain of the flagship's heart skipped a beat. "Sir, do you suspect that the Persia fleet has split up?"
Sekerian replied calmly, "I don't think the Persia are so bold as to lead a small number of warships to attack us. What's more, I believe that our fleet does not need to make too many preparations. We can easily defeat this number of enemy ships! "
Just when the crew on the warships furthest south of the Dionysian fleet could see the silhouette of the enemy ships in the distance, the Diónia clippers that were rushing south passed the information back to the fleet by changing the flags on the mast.
"Two yellow flags!" The lookout's shout made Sekerian remain silent. On the contrary, when the captain of the flagship heard another report from the lookout, he clenched his fists nervously. "The Persia warships are less than four miles away from us!"
He looked at Sekerian, who was sitting on the deck like a clay statue. He wanted to say something but stopped himself.
At this moment, the lookout's voice was heard again. "Three yellow flags! The clippers in the south have raised three yellow flags! There are no changes in the north! "
Sekerian immediately leapt to his feet. "Three yellow flags! The number of Persia warships is greater than ours. This means that their main force is here. The Persia have taken the bait! "
Sekerian was so excited that he danced with joy. He immediately revealed the battle plan that he had already thought of. "Blow the bugle. Let all the warships form a circular formation and carry out defensive operations!"
"Circular formation?!" The captain of the flagship was slightly stunned.
"What? Do you think that I only know how to attack and not defend?! "Sekerian said with a faint smile.
"I'll convey the message immediately!" The worry in the captain of the flagship's heart was alleviated. It was obvious that the fleet commander whom he respected did not lose his cool because of the arrival of the fighter planes.
"By the way, arrange all the iron ships at the forefront of the circular formation. Face the direction of the Persia fleet!"
"Yes!"
… …
This Persia fleet, led by Phoenicia and Cyprus, had nearly a thousand warships stationed at various military ports in the east of Cyprus. After receiving Alitaka's order, the Cyprus crew was the most proactive. They boarded their warships as fast as they could and rushed out of the military port. Then, without waiting for the warships behind them to line up, they set off along the coast of Myrtus Island towards the west.
When Alitaka's flagship sailed out of the military port, he realized that many warships, led by the Cypriots, did not stop after leaving the port. They sailed westward like a swarm of bees.
As the fleet commander, Alitaka stomped his feet in anger, but there was nothing he could do. He could only curse the Cypriots for their stupidity. At the same time, he hoped that when the entire fleet reached the west coast of Myrtus Island, the Dionysian fleet would not arrive yet. He would then have time to reorganize his fleet.
After leaving the port, the Persia fleet had formed a long column. During the course of sailing, due to the different degrees of participation of the crews belonging to different regions of Persia, the long column gradually began to disconnect. The Cyprus warships were at the front, the Phoenicians were in the middle, and the Syrians and other warships were at the back. The Cyprus warships at the front were also disconnected. The warships that came from the westernmost military port of Larnaca were at the front.
After sailing for more than three hours, the Cyprus warships circled the westernmost cape of the island from the south. With the help of the south wind, the speed increased again. After only 20 minutes, the lookouts on the Cyprus warships saw the Dionysian fleet in the bay, the numerous Diónia cargo ships docked on the beach, and the Diónia soldiers continuously walking from the cargo ships to the beach. (In fact, it was the Diónia soldiers moving the cargo ships back and forth. Due to the distance and psychological effects, the lookouts on the Cyprus lookouts had an illusion.)
The Diorians were landing! This news made all the Cypriot crew members nervous. The belief of protecting their homeland made them forget about their fatigue and made them feel the urgency of the situation. According to the military order, after discovering the Dionysian fleet, they should stop moving forward. After rendezvous with the other warships, they would listen to the command of the fleet commander and launch an attack.
But at this moment, under the command of the Cyprus admiral, they only slowed down in the process of changing formation. After completing the change, they continued to accelerate, charging towards the Dionysian fleet in a two-column formation.
During the Greco-Persian War, the warships of the city-states in the Near East were famous for their large and heavy hulls and large number of crew members. In the end, they lost to the small and agile Greek warships in the Battle of Salamis. After that, during the expansion of Athens to the Eastern Mediterranean, they were repeatedly defeated by the Athens navy. This forced the city-states in the Near East to abandon their unsuitable warships and rebuild their fleets with triple-oared warships. Even the Phoenician city-states were the same. Therefore, in the end, only Carthage in the Western Mediterranean still used the double-headed dragon warships, quadruple-oared warships, and five-oared warships. The main naval force of the Persia fleet, with the city-states in the Near East as the main naval force, was completely the same as the Athens fleet.
At this time, although the Cyprus warships had lowered their sails, the sailors rowed with all their might. The speed of the warships was increasing. Soon, the Dionysian warships were close at hand. The Cyprus crew on the deck even looked at the towering and swaying suspension bridge in front of them. Although they had not fought with the Dionysian fleet before, they had also heard of the strange warships of the Dionynia navy, so they were more or less on guard.
As the Dionysian warships were turning almost on the same spot, the two warships were always bow to bow. At this time, the Cyprus warships did not want to perish together with the enemy, so the helmsman turned the rudder slightly, and the captain shouted to the bottom cabin at the same time, "Retract the oars!"
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