Chapter 990
Devers did not think much of it. During the time he spent with Midolades in Latin, he had observed that Midolades was indeed not an outgoing person, but he was also a strong-willed person. The reason why he had never made any harsh requests to the Ministry of Military Affairs, unlike Sykerian, who often made requests to the Ministry of Military Affairs to increase the number of warships, increase the number of personnel, improve port facilities, and so on, was because he felt that he did not have any outstanding achievements, so he was not qualified to make such requests. However, his performance in this war could be said to be quite amazing, even more so than the performance of the Sicilian fleet led by Sykerian. Under such circumstances, his mentality would naturally be different from before, and the mentality of the crew of the Third Fleet would also rise. It would not be easy to make them lower their heads and act small.
At this moment, Printos said, "Your Majesty, although the Third Fleet only has 150 warships, they were able to defeat Carthage's new fleet, which used to protect Sardinia. I think they can also deal with the current Carthage fleet independently. Also, judging from the performance of the Third Fleet, they are very good at ambushing the enemies on the shore. In this case, we can completely let the Sicilian fleet and the Third Fleet be in the north and south respectively, and not be under each other's command. At the same time, we can give them the task of blockading the western waters of Sicily, attacking the territories of Carthage and its allies, and annihilating the Carthage fleet … "
"Hmm …" Devers's eyes lit up, and he subconsciously used his fingers to tap on the back of the chair.
"Your Majesty, how can we do that? It will be a mess! Putting aside the fact that Sykerian will be dissatisfied, the two fleets will not be under each other's command, and there will be no coordination. It will be a mess when the time comes, for example, blockading the western waters of Sicily at the same time, or raiding the same place at the same time … "
"This is indeed a problem, but Sykerian and Midolades are both very smart people. They will consciously coordinate their actions," Devers said disapprovingly. Then, he raised his voice. "Let the Sicilian fleet and the Third Fleet act separately and complete the same mission. Let them compete with each other. I think this is a good idea, because competition will force the two fleets to display their potential, give them more motivation, and let them take the initiative. That will be a disaster for the Carthage fleet! "
"… I understand." Tormid glanced at Printos and asked, "Your Majesty, should we tell Sykerian about this?"
Dyvers shook his head and said, "Previously, when the Sicilian fleet was humiliated, Secorian was motivated and decided to carry out this ambush mission. What he needs now is patience and meticulous preparation. If I tell him now, I'm afraid he will lose his mind. Let's tell him after he returns successfully."
"Yes."
Devers readily agreed to let the two fleets compete with each other. There was another important reason that he did not say: In the army, there was no senior general who could dominate. Alexis and Prososus had slightly better battle records, Amyntas, Hilos, and Capus were not bad either. Most importantly, his own position in the army was unshakable. But in the navy, Sykerian's prestige was too high. Devers could not personally command the navy, so in the past, Sykerian had the final say in the navy. Even though Devers had taken some measures, such as "building four fleets, not having a commander …" During times of war, they still had to rely on Sykerian. Now that there was finally a Midolades with outstanding abilities, of course he had to support them. This would be beneficial to the division of power in the navy.
So he continued, "Although the 9th Legion cannot come to Sicily, Plesos has already taken down the main city of Syracuse. The 7th Legion and 8th Legion have no missions for the time being, so they can follow Legio III to move around the north coast. The people of Carthage definitely do not know about this. The Phoenician cities on the north coast should be relatively weak, so we can seize this opportunity to give the Carthage army a sudden blow. As for the specific target, let Prososus and the Midolades discuss and decide."
Tormid and Printos nodded in agreement.
"What's the situation with the various troops now?" Devers asked again.
"As there are many new recruits in each legion, and there are also the Roman soldiers who have joined the legions, they have been training these days to integrate these new recruits into the legions as soon as possible …" Tormid said.
"Ask them to hurry up. It may not be long before they enter the battlefield."
… …
At dusk, Sykerian received the order from Devers to attack. He quickly ordered all the crew to go to bed as soon as possible to ensure that they had enough strength for the next day's adventure.
On the other hand, he discussed with a few old sailors of Selinus to determine the sailing route. Then, he discussed with the three sub-fleet commanders and the infantry commander of the Sicilian fleet based on the information revealed by the Phoenician captives from the eastern Mediterranean Sea on how to attack Hadromentum. They worked until late into the night.
On the second day, before dawn, Selinus Port was already bustling with activity.
The crew woke up early, washed up, dressed, and had breakfast. Then, under the lead of the boatswain, they went to the warship dock they belonged to. Everyone worked together to drag the warship into the water, boarded it, and took their positions. Next, the fleet's infantrymen, who were already assembled, quickly went up to the deck of the Raven Warship.
By the time everything was ready, a ray of sunlight had just appeared on the horizon.
Sykerian boarded the flagship with large strides. The captain welcomed him with a face full of joy. "My lord, Poseidon has blessed us. There is a slight north wind!"
"Good, this is a good omen!" Sykerian smiled as well. He took a large wooden cup from the captain and walked to the side of the ship. He prayed and thanked Poseidon sincerely, then solemnly poured the wine in the cup into the sea.
"Let's go," he said.
The flagship raised the green flag, but did not blow the bugle. This was because they were worried that the Carthage army outside Selinus would be alerted and notify Carthage's own fleet.
However, the captains of every warship were watching the flagship closely. As soon as they saw the flag signal, they were ready to set off immediately.
The first to leave the port was the sub-fleet led by Stefakas. The last time they were ambushed by the Carthage fleet, Stefakas was calm and eventually succeeded in saving more than half of the warships. That was why Sykerian still trusted him with the heavy responsibility of being the vanguard because of his steadiness.
Stefakas's ship sailed at the head of the fleet. Two old sailors of Selinus sat on the deck. In this era without a compass, it was relatively difficult to determine the direction in the vast sea, especially at night. Experienced old sailors were good at observing the stars in the night sky to determine the direction. Now that the sky had just brightened, the stars could still be seen in the gray sky. At the same time, with the sun on the horizon as a marker, it was easier to determine the direction.
All the warships of the Sicilian fleet hoisted their sails and headed south with the north wind.
More than two hours later, Stefakas's lookout on the mainmast shouted, "There's an island ahead!"
Stefakas immediately leaned over the railing at the bow and stared ahead. At the same time, he asked, "Is it Kossula Island?"
The two old sailors widened their eyes and looked ahead, but it was too far away for them to see clearly.
After a while, when they saw the outline of the island, they nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, that's it!"
"Raise three green flags! Order the sailors to sprint forward! " Stefakas gave the order decisively. What he was most worried about was that the people on the island would discover their fleet and escape in advance.
But he was obviously worried too much.
At this time, the sun had just risen over the horizon. Many of the Kossulans had not yet woken up, and no one had gone out to sea to fish so early.
As a result, the battleships of the sub-fleet led by Stefakas quickly arrived and blocked the only southern port of Kossula Island.
The 1,500 infantrymen of the fleet had already taken off their armor and only tied leather shields in front of their chests (because they were buoyant) and tied daggers to their backs. They all jumped into the sea, swam past the simple iron chains and water gates, swam into the port, and quickly boarded the dock.
By the time all the fleets of Sicily gathered in front of the port of Kossula Island, the entire island had been captured by the fleet's infantrymen.
The success of the first step did not let Secorian relax. He ordered half of the clippers to stay with Kossula Island as the center, mainly to explore the southwest waters. If there were any abnormalities, they would immediately rush to the coast of Hadrumentum and inform the entire fleet. And all the warships did not stop here. They continued south, heading straight for the city of Hadrumentum.
… …
Puserica, the commander of the Phoenician Combined Fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, was actually very reluctant to lead the army to the western Mediterranean. However, Tyre and the other Phoenician city-states were extremely dependent on the precious metals provided by Carthage to ensure the status of the Phoenician region in the Persia Empire. Therefore, he had to help Carthage win the war at sea and ensure the smooth sea route. And as the admiral of Tyre's service to Persia, he was the undisputed candidate to be the commander of the combined fleet.
The people of Tyre, especially the nobles, had complicated feelings for Carthage. It came from the internal strife of the Tyre royal family hundreds of years ago. A group of rebels were expelled from Tyre and eventually wandered to the western Mediterranean, where they established Carthage. At that time, the officials sent by Tyre to the western Mediterranean to be in charge of the mining and transportation of precious metals did not even bother to stay in this city-state established by the rebels.
Who knew that after hundreds of years of changes, the Phoenician region was first conquered by Assyria and later became a dependency of Persia. Tyre's control and influence over the Phoenician colony in the western Mediterranean was greatly weakened, while Carthage gradually rose and gradually took over the power and wealth of Tyre, Sidon, and other eastern Phoenician city-states in the western Mediterranean. Finally, it became the most powerful Phoenician colony in the western Mediterranean.
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