Chapter 896
"Don't panic, Lord Thekarian is here!"
"With Lord Thekarian here, we don't need to fear any enemy!"
At the same time, there was a commotion on the deck. These soldiers from the various towns and cities of Diónia obviously knew of Thekarian's reputation, but they didn't respect him as much as the Diónia sailors.
A man wearing leather armor and a helmet quickly walked out from the deck. He approached the side of the ship and saluted, "My lord, I am the captain of this ship, Ilias of the First Fleet!"
Upon hearing that it was one of his former subordinates, Saiklian felt a great deal of relief. He immediately said, "I know you, Elias. Every single time, during the fleet's battleship training, the results of your three-story fast paddle battleship are always at the top of the rankings. Right now, I order you to immediately have all the soldiers on your ship jump into the sea. Then, take your battleship and follow me to meet the enemy!"
Ilias was shocked and hesitantly said, "But … Miltias raised the flag of Apollo and told us to …"
"Miltias is an idiot!" Thekarian angrily interrupted him and roared, "The enemy is already here, and all the ships are filled with soldiers. They don't have the ability to fight at all. What's the point of gathering together? Is it convenient for the enemy to crash into us? As the commander of the First Fleet, I order you to immediately carry out my orders! "
"Yes … Yes!" Ilias loudly replied. From the bottom of his heart, he absolutely agreed with Thekarian's decision. This was because the First Fleet had always believed in attacking under Thekarian's influence and would never be passive.
However, when the soldiers on the deck heard the conversation between the two, they began to clamor. They didn't want to be chased off the ship.
Ilias had no choice but to face them. He loudly advised, "Warriors of Diónia, our fleet has encountered a strong enemy. The situation is urgent! However, because the ship is carrying all of you, it is unable to fight. Either you jump into the sea and allow us to fight, repel the enemy, and then come back to rescue you. Or you continue to stay on the ship and wait for the enemy ships to come and sink this warship. Then, all of you will become prisoners together … Please make your choice now! "
The deck suddenly became silent. Soon, a man walked forward.
"Division Leader!" The soldiers shouted earnestly, focusing all their gazes on him.
"Brothers, if the Marine is finished, we will be in big trouble!" The captain said firmly: "Take your shields, we will jump into the sea and let the Marines see that they are not the only ones who can swim."
After he finished speaking, none of the soldiers objected. One by one, they picked up the long shields on the deck one after another. This was the strict discipline of the Legion of Dionysia, even if this was just a preparatory division.
"Please help us preserve the other armors and weapons first." The platoon leader reminded Ilias. Then, he carried his shield and jumped into the sea with a splash. The rest of the soldiers followed closely behind.
During this process, Ilias saluted.
After Sequelion gave the order, he did not stop by the battleship. Instead, he continued to chase after the other battleships. Due to the slow speed of the battleships loaded with soldiers, it was not difficult to catch up with them. After stopping a few battleships in succession, he discovered a situation: all the battleships he encountered were from the First Fleet (that is, the battleships that broke into the port of Selinus during the storm and escaped disaster), and the soldiers loaded on the battleships were mostly the reserve soldiers of the Dionians.
Sequelion thought for a moment and understood that this was not a coincidence.
In order to save time, Miltias ordered that as long as the warships were fully loaded with soldiers, they could set off first. The reserve soldiers of the legion were more well-trained and disciplined than the other city-states' militia. Therefore, they were able to board the warships in the shortest time possible.
At the same time, Miltias had to supervise the entire boarding process, so he was the last to set off. Any military commander would have a habit of gathering his most trusted troops around him. This way, it would be more convenient to command and play a greater role in battle, even if this was just a transportation of soldiers. Miltias habitually ordered the First Fleet's ships to dock first, so the Fourth Fleet's ships that had followed him for more than a decade would set off later and be closer to him.
This unintentional arrangement of Miltias made things easier for Shekarian. He could smoothly make the First Fleet's warships and the Legion's reserve soldiers carry out his orders. If there was a fast 3-storey oar warship, all the soldiers on it would jump into the sea. If there was a crow warship, 40 soldiers would remain and the rest would jump into the sea.
Of course, Sequelion would also encounter friendly soldiers on the ships. They would obviously resist this order, and some even threatened to take over the ship by force. The captain could only patiently persuade them. At the same time, the soldiers on the nearby ships would jump into the sea as an example. In the end, most of the friendly soldiers obeyed, but because of this, time was delayed.
… … …
While Sequelion was anxiously persuading the eastern ships to obey his orders, the East Phoenician fleet was speeding up to catch up with the retreating Diónia warships.
The Diónia sailors paddled with all their might, but the ships were full of soldiers, which seriously affected the speed of the warships. Gradually, the East Phoenician fleet, which had accelerated to its maximum speed, closed the distance between them and the East Phoenician fleet.
The East Phoenician warships were like tigers and wolves, pouncing on the fat sheep in front of them.
The Diónia warships that were lagging behind saw that they could not escape, so they simply turned around and bravely charged at the enemy warships. However, the Diónia warships that had lost their speed and agility were no match for the lightly armed East Phoenician warships. They either had their oars broken or were hit by the warships. Many Diónia sailors and soldiers cried out as they jumped into the sea.
Of course, there were occasional exceptions. These East Phoenician sailors had learned about the situation of the Dionysian fleet from their colonial compatriots, but after all, they had not experienced it themselves. A few East Phoenician warships were caught by the twelve-meter-long suspension bridge of the Crow Warship when they were charging head-on. The friendly soldiers, who were already equipped with armor and weapons, swarmed over like bees.
The other Phoenician warships that saw this terrible scene quickly learned their lesson. When they faced the Crow Warship again, they avoided the bow and attacked the stern.
Due to the excessive number of soldiers, the Crow Warship was not agile, and its speed was slow. Without the protection of the fast three-layer oar warship, it became the main target of the Phoenician warships.
Miltias's warship was rushing to the beach, which happened to be the beach where the fleet's infantry landed a few days ago. It was just a mile away, and the distance was getting closer. However, Miltias did not look happy. He was suffering in his heart.
Originally, he had been sitting at the stern, observing the situation of the other warships following behind. But what he saw was countless enemy ships rushing over at lightning speed and attacking the warships that were lagging behind. Although these warships stubbornly resisted, they were either sunk or damaged. They floated stiffly on the sea and were bullied by the enemy. The startled cries of the crew never stopped, and more and more crew members and soldiers fell into the sea.
This scene made Miltias feel like a knife was being twisted in his heart. These were the warships that he had shamelessly applied to the Ministry of Military Affairs for more than ten years. He had carefully maintained and repaired them every day, and they were all gone in the blink of an eye! And these brothers who had been with him day and night for more than ten years, who had trained so hard, he brought them to Sicily. They had not fought a single battle, and now they were about to lose their lives! …
He could not help but stand up and shouted, "Stop the ship immediately! Leave 40 soldiers behind. The rest of the soldiers immediately jump off the ship and swim to the beach! Quick! Quick! "
At this time, Miltias's order was the same as Saikarian's. In fact, he had thought of this before, but at that time, he was still hopeful. Besides, he was worried that if he drove the soldiers on the ship into the sea, it would lead to protests from his allies, which would be disadvantageous to him. After all, he had made a big mistake. A single mistake caused the Sicilian fleet to be in trouble, and now he regretted it.
The friendly soldiers on the deck did not argue like the friendly soldiers on the east warship because they had seen the terrible situation on the sea behind them. Staying on the ship was not necessarily safer than staying in the sea, so they quickly followed the order.
Miltias did not command the flagship to rush directly to the enemy's ships. Instead, he quickly steered to the nearby warships. He needed to gather the nearby warships as soon as possible so that they could fight against this unknown enemy fleet.
In fact, due to the critical situation, some of the soldiers on the Diónia warships had already jumped into the sea without Miltias's reminder, so that the warships could participate in the battle.
However, the first wave of attack from the East Phoenician fleet destroyed at least 10 Diónia three-decker warships, which had already torn the rear of the Dionysian fleet into pieces. The subsequent warships chased after the scattered Diónia warships in an attempt to capture the rear of the Dionysian fleet in one fell swoop.
Miltias's flagship, which had a wide hull and a red blood flag fluttering on top of the mast, naturally became the main target of the East Phoenicians. A total of five Phoenician warships were speeding towards it, which forced Miltias to stop his original plan.
Miltias immediately made a decision. He issued an order to a crow warship and a fast three-decker warship gathered on both sides of his flagship.
Soon, the crow warship and his flagship quickly turned around and steered towards the coast, while the fast three-decker warship made a turn and steered parallel to the coast, pulling away from them.
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