Chapter 983
It should be said that Barricos had successfully completed his mission. The fleet he led had stalled the main Diónia fleet for more than three hours.
However, for Morbale, the results of the battle were not satisfactory. Thirty-five Diónia warships sank and seven of his own ships were lost. This was achieved after he carefully watched the first attack by the Carthage warships on the Diónia warships and changed his tactics. However, it was still far from his original plan. His original plan was to destroy all the Diónia warships that were lured out.
The reason for his failure was that the Diónia commander of this fleet had gathered more than half of the warships in time. However, he did not lead them out of the narrow area to rescue the warships scattered on the periphery. Instead, they formed an irregular circular formation in that area and focused their defense on the relatively open west side.
After the Carthage fleet destroyed the other lone Diónia warships, they regrouped and surrounded the remaining Diónia warships. They also launched several tentative attacks. However, the Diónia fleet's defense was tight, so Morbale did not dare to make up his mind to launch a forceful attack.
After receiving the news that the Diónia fleet had come to help, Morbale finally made up his mind. "Inform all the warships to gather on the west side of Hilla Island and complete the final mission."
"Sir, what about our sailors on these islands?" His subordinate reminded him.
"Everyone will die one day. You and I are the same …" Although Morbale said so, he still felt a little regretful. He sighed again. He should have reminded them to swim to Sicily after they fell into the water!
During this period of time, the Carthage fleet had the upper hand in this sea area, but on the islands and reefs, the Diónia sailors who fell into the water dominated. Although most of the Carthage sailors who fell into the water were rescued by the nearby ships, most of the merchant sailors who had been sunk by the Dionysian fleet had swam to the various reefs. How could they be a match for the Diónia sailors who had fleet infantry? They were either killed or captured.
After Ceckerian led the fleet into this sea area, his mood suddenly became very bad. From time to time, he saw the fragments of warships floating on the sea and heard the joyful cries for help from the Diónia sailors on the nearby reefs …
"What did that idiot Stefakas do!" The worry in his heart grew so strong that he could not help but shout angrily.
But when he saw that there were still more than 40 warships left and heard Stefakas narrate the entire battle, Ceckerian did not get angry anymore. Instead, he said unwillingly, "We were all fooled …"
When Stefakas continued, "According to the report from the clippers, the Carthage fleet is in formation on the west side of Hilla Island."
Ceckerian's anger burst out again. "The Carthage fleet attacked us and won a small victory. They think so highly of themselves and actually want to fight with us! Very good! Very good! Very good! Order all warships to circle around Hilla Island and fight to the death with the Carthage fleet! "
Sequerian first ordered a few warships to pick up the crew on the various islands and reefs. At the same time, he led about 240 warships and rushed to the west side of Hilla Island. As expected, he saw the Carthaginian fleet lined up and waiting.
Ceckerian did not hesitate to blow the bugle and raise the red and black flags. All the warships of the entire fleet quickly lined up in a starship formation as they advanced toward the Carthage fleet.
However, the Carthage fleet suddenly turned around and moved away from the Dionysian fleet, heading south.
"We can't let them escape into Lili Harbor!" Ceckerian, who was unwilling to give up, gave the order to "pursue".
However, the Dionysian fleet was originally about two miles away from the Carthage fleet. The speed of the raven warships was relatively slow. Although the speed of the fast warships was fast, the Carthage fleet was neat and had just won a battle. So, Ceckerian did not dare to let the fast warships advance too quickly. Otherwise, if they were too far away from the raven warships, it would be easy for them to be counterattacked and cause losses.
In fact, the Carthage fleet did not intend to fight the Dionysian fleet again, nor did they enter Lili Harbor. Instead, they led the Dionysian fleet around Lili Harbor and Mazara before turning around and heading west. Their destination was Carthage.
Ceckerian was unwilling to give up and led the fleet for a while longer. In the end, they had no choice but to turn back.
It was already afternoon and almost dusk. In the past half a day, the Sicilian fleet had experienced a series of humiliating events such as being toyed with, ambushed, and chased to no avail. Be it Ceckerian or the crew, they were both physically and mentally exhausted. How could they have the strength and energy to continue patrolling the western waters? All of them steered their warships back to Selinus Harbor sullenly …
… …
The main force led by the Devers was stationed in Minoa, not far from Selinus. The news that the new Sicilian fleet had been defeated in their first battle could not be hidden from him.
Of course, Ceckerian did not intend to hide it. Although it was not a big failure, he did feel a little ashamed. Hence, he wrote a battle report truthfully and prepared to send it to the King of the Devers on a clipper the next morning with the excuse that he had to "carry out the task of patrolling the Sicilian waters". He would not personally go to the King of the Devers for the time being. Instead, he would lead the fleet to the western waters to look for an opportunity to win the battle as soon as possible. After winning back his dignity, he would go to see the Devers.
But what he did not expect was that before he could lead the fleet out of the harbor, a messenger from the King of the Devers came from Minoa and read him the order of the Devers, asking him to go to Minoa immediately to see the King of the Devers.
Ceckerian arrived at the Minoa barracks with a restless heart.
When the Devers saw him, they did not wait for him to speak and handed him a papyrus scroll.
After reading it quickly, Ceckerian was surprised. "Yesterday, there were thousands of merchant ships full of military provisions docked in the bay north of Erius?!"
North of Erius, there were two slender hills that extended westward into the sea for about a mile or two, like the curved horns of a cow. Thus, a large bay was formed. There were indeed two ports built by the Phoenicians in this bay, but they were not large. There had never been so many merchant ships docked there before.
The Devers said coldly, "This is the information obtained by the secret agents of the kingdom's intelligence department in Sicily. It was sent to me late last night. There can't be any mistake! When the Sicilian fleet was being teased by the Carthage Navy, I'm afraid you did not expect that the real purpose of the Carthage Navy was actually to transport military provisions to the Carthage Army in Sicily, which was about to run out of food! And everyone in the Sicilian fleet, including you, was like an enraged bull. They only stared at the enemy in front of them and completely forgot about their real mission! Now that the Carthage Army has food, they have enough patience to confront us. This will definitely bring us a lot of trouble! Sekerian, this time, you have disappointed me. "
Ceckerian felt ashamed and very surprised. Everything that the Carthage Army did yesterday was ultimately because of this?! But from the beginning to the end, the Carthage Army did not show any intention of guarding the huge transport fleet and intercepting the Sicilian fleet's northward cruise. But it was true that he and his men had placed all their attention on the enemy. They did not even have the thought of sending warships to bypass Erius and explore north. What happened yesterday had already made him very upset, but he did not expect that he would lose even more!
Seeing that he was silent, the Devers said coldly, "What?! Are you frightened by the Carthage Army?! "
Ceckerian raised his head, looked at the Devers, and said in a low voice, "No, Your Majesty, I admit that I have lost to the Carthage Army this time, but there will not be a next time!"
"Well, this is the ever-victorious general of the Diónia Navy that I am familiar with." The Devers nodded and said in a gentle tone, "The Military Law of Diónia emphasizes that as a commander, you must always remain calm. You must not let any negative emotions affect your rationality and make a wrong judgment. This time, anger has blinded your eyes and caused you to make these mistakes. I hope you can learn from your mistakes. Please remember that you are the commander of the Sicilian fleet. The orders you give not only affect the life and death of the Sicilian fleet, but also the victory of the entire Sicilian War! Don't be like a captain who is obsessed with sinking the enemy's ship! Instead, you should open your mind and focus on the whole war! Do you understand?! "
This time, Sekerian nodded with a thoughtful expression.
"Since the establishment of the kingdom's navy, it has been developing smoothly and has not encountered any major setbacks. This has led to the navy's high morale, but it can also easily lead to arrogance …" The Devers continued to remind him, "Yesterday's defeat is also a good thing. It allowed the navy to calm down and look at the enemy more seriously. After all, the Carthage Army is a powerful navy in the western Mediterranean Sea. They have a deep foundation, and their new commander is not a simple person. He was once a hero of the Carthage Army who led fleets across the ocean and has been fighting at sea for decades. If you can defeat such a commander, it will make your victory more worthwhile! "
The Devers looked at Ceckerian, who had thrown away his depression and regained his fighting spirit. "What do you think about the Carthage fleet that made a fool of you?" Ceckerian's heart was no longer in turmoil.
He thought for a moment and said seriously, "Your Majesty, I admit that the Carthage fleet is indeed very good at sailing, but we interrogated the captured Carthage sailors last night. From them, we learned that the commander of the Carthage Navy, Morbar, had specially gathered all the skilled sailors in Carthage and the nearby Phoenician cities. More than half of them were his former subordinates. He used the news that 'Carthage is in trouble and urgently needs a hero to save them' to motivate them. At the same time, he also promised them very high compensation. That was why he formed these two Carthage fleets and used them to lure the Sicilian fleet.
Although his tactic worked in the end, it was a method of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. In fact, it was overly exhausting the Carthage fleet's naval forces. This just shows that after our successive naval victories, the Carthage Navy is strained and had no choice but to use this extreme method to gain some advantages. However, this method can neither be sustained nor deceived our navy.
Your Majesty, I have already formulated a new plan of action based on the current situation of the Carthage Navy. I believe you will hear the news of our victory soon! "
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