Chapter 472
The Devers heaved a sigh of relief. When they came up with the crazy plan to use themselves as bait, Therian and he had made detailed arrangements for it. They arranged more warships around the ship that Dyvers was on to protect Dyvers, and at the same time, they had a final confrontation with the enemy.
"There's a warship coming from the left!"
"There's a warship on the starboard side!"
"There's an enemy ship on the right aft!"
…
The cries of alarm from the three lookouts continued. The Syracuse had launched a frenzied attack on the Devers' ship, causing everyone on the ship to be on edge.
"Retract the drawbridge! Retract the drawbridge! "At that moment, the sailor on the deck at the bow of the ship shouted.
Miltias heaved a sigh of relief and shouted, "Move back!"
At this time, the surface of the sea around the flagship was filled with two or more warships that were side by side. Only the rear part of the flagship had a relatively large space.
The sailors immediately rowed backwards. Just as the ship picked up speed, the lookout at the end of the bed shouted anxiously, "There's an enemy ship coming from the rear! There's an enemy ship coming from the rear! "
This Syracuse warship was rather cunning. With its superb maneuvering skills and the surrounding warships blocking its line of sight, it nimbly shuttled through the gaps between the ships like a fish, rapidly approaching the ship. When the lookout discovered it, it was only 40 meters away.
Unfortunately, the ship was rowing backwards, so the distance was quickly closing. Miltias shouted, "Turn to the right rear! Turn to the right rear! " He wanted the warship to turn around so that the 'Raven Drawbridge' could be used, but it seemed that there was not enough time.
"Row forward! Row forward! He shouted again, changing his words.
Although the oarsmen did not understand the situation outside, they had a bad premonition from the captain's frequent changes in orders and his nervous voice. For a moment, they panicked, and some even dropped their oars into the sea.
The Devers' hearts were in their throats as they saw the enemy's bronze ram cutting through the waves. They could even see the appearance of the enemy at the bow of the ship. Martius and the soldiers rushed forward and hurriedly helped the Devers take off their armor. If the ship were to sink, they would jump into the sea with the Devers until they were rescued.
In that split second, in the narrow gap between the two warships, a warship with three oars would not be able to pass through at all. It was Dionia's 50-oars warship, which blocked the way between the enemy and the flagship. It was Dionia's 50-oars warship. In normal naval battles, 50-oared warships were mostly used for scouting, sending messages, rescuing, aiding in jumping off ships, and so on. They were usually used as fast ships. However, when Diónia's fleet began to implement new naval tactics, in view of the weakness of the three-oared warships equipped with the 'Raven Drawbridge' in terms of agility and speed, Cecelian gave the 50-oared warships a new tactical role. That was to make use of the 50-oared warship's small agility (up to 15 to 16 knots) to block the enemy's attack route, allowing the main warship to escape.
In order to ensure the Devers' safety, there were naturally several such warships roaming around the ship. At that moment, the enemy ship could not turn in time, and the bronze ram directly hit the 50-oared warship. There was a loud bang, followed by the sound of wood breaking and the screams of sailors. A large hole was cut through the hull of the ship, and seawater immediately rushed in, diluting the blood of the wounded.
The 50-oared warship sank rapidly under the crushing force of the three-oared enemy ship.
However, the forward momentum of the three-oared enemy ship had obviously weakened, and it finally came to a stop.
Just as the captain of the ship shouted in panic, "Hurry and row back!", the Devers's ship had already turned around, rapidly approached, and smashed down with the 'Raven Drawbridge'.
The Devers shouted angrily, "Avenge our brothers!"
Leading the guards, they personally killed their way onto the deck of the enemy ship …
… …
The people of Syracuse had hoped to use their superb sailing skills and rich experience in naval battles to deal with the strange warships of Diónia. However, they were shocked to find that although the flexibility of the Diónia warships was relatively low, the device was extraordinarily agile. When it fell in all directions, rotating in various ways, the warships that approached it could not escape the fate of being hooked and eventually captured.
The people of Syracuse were completely terrified.
Due to Leptineus' stubbornness, the assault on the Devers's ship became the final frenzy. More than 30 Syracuse warships surrounding the Devers's ship were captured, and the Syracuda fleet finally could not hold on any longer …
He allowed Leptinis to yell, "Charge! Let me charge! Let me die in battle here! Let me go, let me drown to death! Ahhh … "
How could the captain dare to let anything happen to him? Previously, when they were charging, he had secretly ordered the oarsmen to slow down, allowing the flagship to drift away from the assault circle. This time, they had to ensure that the commander of the navy could safely return to Syracuse, or else they would not be able to bear the wrath of the Plenipotentiary General.
The few remaining warships of Syracuse turned around and fled south in a panic. The Dionysian fleet did not give chase, because with their speed, they could not catch up to the fleeing enemy ships. Most importantly, they still had to rescue the soldiers who had fallen into the water, and quickly deal with the aftermath.
"Your Majesty, the navy of Syracuse has retreated! We — we've won! " Amidst the cheers of the oarsmen and guards, Miltias rushed to him and reported excitedly.
The Devers looked at the enemy that had already disappeared into the horizon, suppressing the excitement in their hearts, and replied with a slightly trembling voice, "Victory … has only just begun!"
… …
The grand naval battle of Taranto, which determined the course of the war, lasted for more than two hours before it finally came to an end.
The navy of Syracuse lost 223 warships, most of which were three-oared warships. The Dionysian fleet lost more than 40 warships, half of which were 50-oared warships. The Dionysian fleet, which was at an absolute disadvantage, had unexpectedly defeated the navy of Syracuse.
A scene that was very different from other naval battles appeared in this battle. The navy of Syracuse had lost so many warships, but there were very few scenes of warships sinking, and a large number of sailors floating on the sea, crying out in pain. There were a total of 157 three-oared warships, and they were completely captured by the Diónia. All they needed was a little repair, and with their own sailors, they could go out to sea for battle. The strength of the Dionysian fleet would suddenly increase by more than two times.
This was truly a strange thing in the history of Greek naval battles. In naval battles, the number of warships decreased, and there was no such thing as an increase in the number of warships.
As the sailors and soldiers of the Dionysian fleet cheered for their victory, the shore was also in an uproar.
The people of Castellón were cheering. After witnessing this soul-stirring naval battle, they knew that their homeland would no longer be ravaged by the evil people of Syracuse.
This was truly a miracle! After seeing the warships of Syracuse retreating, Amicles was so shocked that he could not recover for a long time. Even though he had a sliver of hope, it was still a fluke. However, the people of Diónia had really turned it into a reality! Amicles only came to a conclusion after a long time, "The prophecy of Hades has come true! After the Devers were elected as king, Diónia has really received great blessings from Hades! "
His words were surprisingly agreed with by the higher-ups of Castellón. A member of the council quickly asked, "So everyone … Are we still going to meet the emissary of Syracuse?"
"I don't want to see him!" Amicles said firmly. "Kill him immediately!"
"Isn't that too much?" Someone said worriedly, "What if we anger the dictator of Syracuse …"
"Aren't you afraid of angering our neighbor, Diónia?" Amicles reminded them, "We have a close relationship with the Turís. The fact that the emissary of Syracuse has entered the city will sooner or later be known by the people of Diónia. When that happens, what will the Devers think? What will the Senate of Diónia think? With the protection of Hades' prophecy, Diónia has already won a naval battle with such a great disparity in numbers. They will definitely emerge victorious in the end, just like how the famous' Wooden Wall 'prophecy of Delphi defeated Persia in the end. We can only make up for our mistake in such a drastic way, and show our determination to be with Diónia! "
… …
The cheers of victory came earlier in Diónia.
When every captured triple-decker warship was forced to sail to the coast, and then followed the coastline north into the Krati estuary, every civilian watching the naval battle on the shore cheered and waved to the soldiers on the deck. The cheers did not stop, as the captured Syracuse warships continued to sail to the coast.
The other Syracuse warships did not take advantage of the slow sailing to sink the captured warships. On one hand, the Dionysian fleet was attacking fiercely, and on the other hand, the people of Syracuse knew that the captors of the captured warships were Syracuse's sailors. No one was willing to make such a crazy decision and send their comrades, whom they had worked with and trained together with, to the grave. If they did so, they would face the blame of the people when they returned to their homeland. Moreover, their merciful naval commander, Leptinus, would never give such a cruel order.
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