Chapter 898
However, the real commander of this fleet was not Stefakas. Instead, it was Cecelian on the raven warship in the center of the fleet. He stood at the bow of the ship and looked ahead with a determined gaze. The captain behind him was giving orders loudly, "Speed up! Keep going straight! "
The lookout at the top of the mast also shouted loudly, "There are about 40 enemy warships in front of us. They're forming a double column. There are more coming from the distance!"
"Time is of the essence, let's finish this wave first!" Seckerian muttered, raising his head to look at the drawbridge beside the foremast.
The Phoenician warships that were hurriedly getting into formation also quickly picked up speed. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.
Cecelian stared unblinkingly at the incoming enemy warship in front of him. The raven warship maintained a high speed, but it was not sprinting. It charged straight towards the enemy's bow.
When the two warships were 30 meters apart, the enemy warship suddenly turned to the side. Clearly, the Phoenicians knew the power of the Diónia's raven warship.
Cecelian sneered. The warship he was on did not care about the Phoenician warship that had evaded and continued to move forward.
Just as the Phoenician warship went around Cecelian's warship, it suddenly saw the Diónia warship in front of it charging towards the side of the warship like a swordfish.
The Phoenician warship had no choice but to turn again and narrowly avoid the crisis of being hit. However, when the two ships brushed past each other, someone shouted, "Pull back the oars!"
"Pull back the oars!" Both sides ordered at the same time.
The sailors of the Dionysian Warship were already prepared, and the sailors of the Phoenician Warship had been rowing with all their might just a moment ago, allowing the warship to avoid the danger of being sunk. There was no time for them to react, and the wooden oars were pushed by the Dionysian Warship against the ship's windows. With a crack, the oars broke.
After breaking the oars on one side, the Diónia warship ignored them and continued to sail forward.
But before the crew of the Phoenician warship could recover from the shock, another Dionysian warship sailed towards them. This was a Raven warship. It had taken advantage of the fact that the Phoenician warship lacked oars and easily set up the drawbridge on its deck. The reserve soldiers on the warship were not the soldiers of their allies. They obeyed their orders and rushed over the drawbridge without hesitation. The Phoenician sailors who had been injured quickly returned to the warship under the command of a squadron leader and pulled up the drawbridge …
The Starship Formation that Cecelian had set up was different from the past. The traditional Starship Formation had raven warships arranged in intervals at the front, while the fast three-oared warships at the back waited for an opportunity to attack. This time, the Starship Formation had raven warships and fast warships arranged in intervals. Their purpose was to speed up the pace of the attack and seize the time to rescue the besieged warships.
In the middle of the formation, Stefakas's warship fluttered its blood-red flag high, reminding the surrounding warships to fight to the death. Cecelian's warship, which was charging at the front, encouraged the crew to advance bravely.
The East Phoenician fleet had succeeded in their sneak attack, but this was the first time they were fighting the Dionysian fleet. Their traditional naval tactics were completely unable to adapt to the new naval tactics that Diónia had developed after years of training. Even though they had more warships, their hastily arranged battle formation could not withstand the attacks of the high-spirited Diónia fleet. After fighting for a while, ten Phoenician warships were either captured or damaged. Meanwhile, the Diónia fleet only paid the price of four warships before completely defeating the Phoenician fleet.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Phoenician warships retreated.
The fast warships of Diónia did not give chase, because Cecelian had discussed with them before the battle. The current situation was that the enemy outnumbered them, and the warships could not split up. Otherwise, if they advanced too quickly and separated from the main force, it would be easy for them to be surrounded. Hence, the warships of Diónia gradually returned to their positions as they advanced at a relatively fast speed, maintaining a complete formation.
The Phoenician warships along the way had long received the news and retreated westward, allowing some of the Diónia warships to escape and join the Diónia fleet. The number of warships of the Diónia fleet that had just experienced this battle did not decrease, but instead increased, reaching 45 warships.
… …
"Cough! Cough! … "Miltias coughed repeatedly. The crew beside him hurriedly helped him up and patted his back so that he could spit out the seawater.
"General Miltias, are you alright?!" The crew asked with concern.
Miltias waved his hand but did not speak. He faced the sea and stared blankly at it. There was no trace of his flagship, only the top of the mainmast sticking out of the sea like a rotten branch floating in the air. He had led his flagship to deal with the enemy for a while, but in the end, it could not escape the enemy's encirclement and was sunk. Fortunately, it was closer to the beach, and they swam ashore.
Looking at the surrounding sea, there were a few such 'rotten branches', mostly near the coast. Further away, there were even more wreckages of warships floating on the surface of the sea. Most of them were Dionians' warships. Only a handful of warships seemed to be floating on the surface of the sea, but they were drifting uncontrollably with the waves. Those were the Phoenician warships that had been destroyed by the Raven Warship.
Looking at the wreckages of the warships and the countless floating heads on the sea, Miltias felt his heart clench tightly. The Sicilian fleet … and his Fourth Fleet … were all gone just like that? …
He stood there for a long time, letting the tide wash over his legs …
Most of the crew around him were like him, staring blankly at the sinking flagship. After being together for so many years, they could not bear to part with it.
"Hey, you guys are from the Dionysian fleet, right?!" Someone walked towards them.
"Yes, we belong to the Fourth Fleet of Diónia. This is our —" A crew member beside Miltias said loudly. Miltias slapped his shoulder hard, stopping him from continuing. As the person in charge of this transport operation, Miltias felt that he was responsible for this fiasco, and he was somewhat embarrassed.
Fortunately, he had just arrived in Sicily, and not many people knew him. The person just glanced at him, then said to the crew member who spoke, "There are still many crew members from the Fourth Fleet there."
Following the direction of his finger, Miltias saw that more than a thousand people had gathered on the beach to the east.
The person continued, "I'm the commander of Jela's reinforcements, Friarcas. This place is too close to Serinus City. In order to avoid being discovered by Carthage's people, we can't stay here for too long. We have to head east as soon as possible. After passing Germe, we can reach Minoa City to ensure our safety."
The crew member turned to look at Miltias, and Miltias nodded. The crew member immediately said, "Alright, we'll head over now."
Friarcas glanced at the downcast Miltias again. He had seen similar expressions on the faces of several Diónia captains who had swum ashore. After all, ever since the storm destroyed the Dionysian fleet, the Diónia Navy had suffered another huge loss. The legend of the Diónia Navy, which had never been defeated since its establishment, had come to an end. This was a huge blow to these admirals. Friarcas could understand this, but at the same time, he was worried. With the Diónia Navy in Sicily in such a difficult situation, what could Jela do?
He sighed in his heart, turned around, and walked towards the main fleet.
The crew members followed behind him, looking back at the sea from time to time. Suddenly, someone said, "The enemy ships can't be seen on the sea anymore. Have they retreated?"
Miltias almost fell to the ground. He would have preferred to see the enemy ships still patrolling on the sea, because it meant that the Sicilian fleet was still fighting. Now that all the enemy ships had left, could it be that the Sicilian fleet had been wiped out?!
Miltias' face was ashen, and his heart was in even more pain.
At this moment, there was a loud noise in front of him. "Enemy! Enemy!! "
"The Carthage people are here! Run!! "
…
The crew was shocked. They saw many Numibian cavalry coming out of the woods to the north of the beach. They rode their horses down the slope and rushed toward the main force in front of them. Behind them, there were even more heavily armed Carthaginian infantry …
Since the last night attack, Margo had strengthened the patrols along the coast from Serinus to Germe. The battle between the Sicilian fleet and the Phoenician fleet near Germe would certainly be discovered by the Carthage cavalry. Upon receiving the news, Margo immediately sent a mixed army of 5,000 cavalry and infantry to attack the Diónia sailors and soldiers who had escaped ashore because their ships had sunk. At the same time, they had to prevent the Minoans from coming out of the city to rescue them.
Most of the Diónia sailors and friendly soldiers on the beach were unarmed, and it was inevitable that they would panic. When the Numibian cavalry rushed forward, javelins were thrown into the crowd. Blood splattered and screams were heard, causing the people to turn around and flee in panic.
The Numibian cavalry screamed and took the opportunity to charge forward, speeding up the retreat of the Diónia sailors and friendly soldiers …
"General, we must escape to the sea immediately to escape the enemy's pursuit!" The flagship captain's voice trembled as he shouted at Miltias.
"… Go ahead," Miltias said with a blank expression, but he continued to move forward.
The captain of the flagship anxiously grabbed him and shook him violently, yelling in his ear: "Miltias, the enemy is coming! We must escape! "
"There are enemies everywhere. Hiding in the sea will only end up as a laughable captive … The 4th Fleet is gone … It's all my fault … I've betrayed His Majesty's trust!" Miltias' faint words were filled with endless regret. He raised his head and looked forward, "… Only by dying on the battlefield can I reduce the people's mockery of me … Only then can the elders' doubts about His Majesty be reduced!"
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