Chapter 759
After dozens of sailors had been stabbed, the Carthage warship's crew chose to surrender.
But this time, Sykerian was determined to fight to the death with the Carthage fleet. Hence, he issued an order before the battle: the warships were not to waste energy and disperse their forces to capture the enemy ships, but to ensure that they had sufficient manpower to continue fighting until the end of the battle.
Hence, the infantrymen of the fleet cut the arms of the captured Carthage sailors one by one so that they could not paddle, and then evacuated the enemy ships.
At the same time, many Diónia warships also adopted the tactic of interception, but only a small number of Carthage warships were captured by the crow suspension bridge. Most of the Carthage warships evaded in time, showing the experience and ability of the Carthage navy. They nimbly avoided the front of the Diónia warship and turned to attack its rear.
The Diónia warship responded to this. It also circled around the enemy ship, always keeping its bow facing the enemy ship.
As a result, a very strange battle scene appeared. The warships of both sides circled patiently, with the Carthage warship in the outer circle and the Diónia warship in the inner circle. Logically speaking, the Diónia sailors consumed less energy, but the difference could not be seen in a short period of time.
Of course, the Diónia warship was in the center and had little room to maneuver. Once another enemy ship joined the fray, it would be difficult for it to escape the fate of being rammed. But in this naval battle, the Diónia warships outnumbered the enemy. Not only did they intercept the enemy one by one, but they also increased the intensity of their attacks. That was because Sykerian was not prepared to fight a protracted battle with the Carthage fleet. Although he did not know much about the situation in the sea, the terrible weather made him want to end the battle as soon as possible.
And so, the second wave of Diónia's attack came: fast three-decker oar warships rushed into the battle zone like sharp arrows.
Ilias, the captain of a fast three-decker oar warship. He used to be a commoner in Corinth's Lycaon Harbor. His family of three generations relied on fishing and buying fish to make a living. However, more than ten years ago, during the Corinth War, King Agesilaus of Sparta led his troops to raid many ports and towns in Corinth Bay. Like other fishermen, his family's biggest property, two fishing boats, were robbed by the Sparta Allies. After the end of the war, the impoverished Ilias heard that the Kingdom of Diónia across the Adriatic Sea had called for the Greeks to colonize there, and had even given them land …
Desperate and almost sold into slavery, Ilias's family, like many other fishermen in Corinth Bay, took the risk and boarded the passenger ships of Diónia that docked at Lycaon Harbor to pick up refugees. The end result was wonderful. Ilias even joined the Diónia Navy, and because of his superb ship handling skills, he later became a captain of the First Fleet.
Because of the weather, the Dionysian Fleet had also widened the gap between their warships. This gave the fast three-decker oar warships more leeway to unleash their combat power.
Ilias had long set his eyes on an enemy warship that was tangling with his own raven warship. He commanded his warship to charge forward quickly, attempting to sneak an attack on the enemy's tail.
Unexpectedly, the enemy had already sensed it and dodged in time, then nimbly evaded the raven warship's approach. Obviously, the enemy warship had considered that it would be disadvantageous for it to fight two enemies at once. It began to speed up and retreat, hoping to widen the distance between it and the slower raven warship. It wanted to first deal with the three-decker oar warship that did not have a drawbridge.
The captain of the Carthage warship obviously believed that as long as it was not the raven warship, Carthage would definitely win in a normal battle of warships.
At this time, Ilias' warship had already turned around and began to chase after the raven warship.
Both sides began to speed up as they chased after the raven warship. Soon, the raven warship was left behind.
Looking at the enemy warship that was hot on their heels, Captain Carthage shouted, "Turn right and turn around!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the sailors immediately responded.
Captain Carthage's plan was that his sudden turn would catch the fast-moving enemy warship off guard and push it to the front. This would then cause the situation to change.
But at this moment, his eyes suddenly widened. The speed of the enemy warship had increased again. It was almost as if it was floating from the surface of the sea, heading straight for him.
His decades of experience as a warship sailor told him that the fastest speed of a three-decker oar warship would not exceed 13 knots. He had used this as the basis for his strategy. However, the ship behind him had obviously exceeded this speed (its speed had actually reached 15 knots in an instant). As Carthage's warship had to slow down in order to change direction, he watched in shock as the black bronze ram of the enemy warship slammed into the rear of his warship.
With a loud bang, the huge impact caused the tens of meters long Carthage warship to turn half a circle, almost capsizing.
The captain fell heavily on the deck. Ignoring the pain, he quickly hugged the mast beside him.
The sailors in the cabin were all over the place, crying out in alarm. Among them was a shrill scream. It was the helmsman at the stern who could not escape in time. His chest was pierced by the broken planks of the ship. Blood splattered everywhere, and it was obvious that he would not survive.
The warship's upturned stern was directly broken, and seawater poured in from the gap.
The sailors of Carthage were not in the mood to row at this time. The experienced ones immediately broke the oars, grabbed the oars, rushed to the deck, and jumped into the sea.
After the fast three-decker oar warship crashed into the enemy warship, it circled half a circle. After confirming the result of the battle, Ilias announced loudly, "Brothers, we've sunk one!"
Cheers immediately rang out in the cabin.
"Captain, there's a big warship in front!" At this moment, the lookout on the mast shouted anxiously.
Big?! Ilias was stunned at first, but immediately understood. A warship larger than a three-decker oar warship could only be the legendary four-decker oar warship!
Although he had never seen one before, Diónia's Ministry of Military Affairs had always regarded Carthage as their strongest enemy. They spared no effort in collecting and researching military intelligence. How could they not know about the new achievements of the Carthage Navy over the years? They had specially analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of this warship that was larger and taller than the three-decker oar warship. They had even specially trained the captains of the warships to learn and understand it.
Therefore, Ilias immediately had an idea in his mind. "Go around it and find another target. The clumsy four-decker oar warship won't be able to catch up to us!"
However, the lookout on the mast continued to shout, "This four-decker oar warship is turning and heading towards a raven warship diagonally ahead of us. It's connected with the enemy ship!"
Ilias' heart tightened. It was said that Carthage's four-decker oar warship was equipped with 50 to 60 infantrymen, and could carry out a jump ship battle. The raven warship in front was fighting with the enemy ship. If they encountered another attack from it, they would be in a very dangerous situation.
"Right front, full speed ahead. Catch up to that big ship!" He gave the order decisively.
The sailors, still in the excitement of victory, immediately pushed the oars with all their might. The warship drew an arc of water on the surface of the sea as it accelerated forward.
Not long after, Ilias saw the full appearance of Carthage's four-decker oar warship. Its wide hull was a full two meters taller than his own warship. A layer of oars bulged out from the middle of both sides of the ship, like the skirt of the warship, and he could vaguely see the dense number of oarsmen inside …
Ilias counted carefully. There were indeed four layers of oars.
Carthage's four-decker oar warship had obviously seen the approaching Diónia warship, but it did not dodge or evade, and continued to sail towards the raven warship in front without fear.
"Charge! Clip its oars! " Ilias calmly gave the order. The reason why he did not give the order to ram was because he remembered that Commander Secorian had emphasized that the warship's hull was relatively sturdy, and was said to be able to withstand a few collisions.
Therefore, Ilias was afraid that he would not be able to sink it, and would instead be attacked by the enemy ship due to its proximity.
The warship's speed was quickly increased to 13 knots, and it was still rising. Soon, it had caught up with the enemy ship.
The helmsman nervously controlled the rudder to ensure that the warship was facing the right side of the enemy's hull, without deviation.
"Retract the oars!" Ilias gave the order, and the oarsmen skillfully retracted the oars into the hull. The warship charged forward according to inertia, ready to brush past the enemy ship.
Unexpectedly, the Carthage sailors also retracted their oars in time, though they had more oars. The archers on the deck also fired arrows at Ilias's warship, and at the same time threw down a dozen rope hooks.
In order to increase the speed of the fast three-decker oar warship, there were no railings on both sides of the deck. Apart from the mast, the deck was bare, and there was no place for the rope to hook.
Instead, the arrows that were shot down hit the watchman on top of the mast, and he fell straight onto the deck. A few arrows passed through the gaps in the middle of the deck, and fell into the hold of the ship, causing a few screams.
The Diónia sailors were slightly flustered.
Fortunately, the fast three-decker oar warship was very fast, and before the enemy could fire a second round of arrows, it had already brushed past the enemy ship and rushed to the front.
Ilias, who had drilled out of the hold, immediately ordered the warship to turn back, assuming a posture to continue attacking.
However, Carthage's four-decker oar warship ignored its provocation, still maintaining its course, and continued to close in on the raven warship ahead.
The infantry of the raven warship had already rushed out from the bottom of the enemy ship, and began to accelerate back to their own warship. However, the enemy four-decker oar warship was only a dozen meters away from them, and there was no time to dodge.
At this moment, another lookout on Ilias's warship, who had just climbed up the mainmast, suddenly shouted excitedly, "Captain, another fast warship! The other fast warship is about to collide — "
Before he finished speaking, Ilias heard a loud bang. The huge hull of the four-decker oar warship in front of him seemed to have sneezed, and with a jolt, its forward speed came to an abrupt halt. The startled cries of the sailors on the ship rang out incessantly.
Although the huge hull of the four-decker oar warship blocked his line of sight, and he could not see the situation on the other side of the enemy ship, through the lookout, Ilias knew that his comrade had driven the warship to collide with the enemy bravely.
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