Chapter 340 Capture the Lighthouse
If you enter the water gate of the port of Carthage, there are many commercial docks on the coast, which can be docked by merchant ships (of course, the innermost circular military port is protected by city walls, and ordinary ships cannot enter), but Lily It was first established as a military fortress, so a 5-meter-high city wall and spaced towers were also built on the coast. Only in the innermost part of this rectangular harbour are there more than 10 piers, and there are piers from the water gate to the pier. At a distance of about one mile, once an enemy ship breaks into the port, the city walls and tower defenders on both sides will launch rockets, making it inevitable for the enemy ship to avoid it.
At this time, the cruise ship led the way in front, and the cargo ships filed in at the rear, one after the other, lined up in a long line and slowly drove towards the pier.
When approaching the pier, the captain of the patrol boat suddenly heard the bell sounding "Dang! Dang! Dang!...". He was stunned for a moment, then remembered that this was the alarm bell from the lighthouse: Is there an enemy invasion? !
He immediately turned his head to look back, but saw that the fleet of ships that had been lined up in an orderly line had become scattered, and some of the cargo ships had spread out and rushed towards the dock.
be cheated! This fleet is disguised by the enemy! ...The captain of the patrol boat was enlightened and panicked.
In fact, the lighthouse keeper, who has been watching the fleet entering the port, found that the strangeness of the fleet was not because these cargo ships were out of order and rushed to the dock at a faster speed, but before that, he found that many cargo ships suddenly stopped. Moving forward, it stopped by the bank of the natural breakwater, and then the linen in the middle of the boat was automatically lifted, and many people were drilled inside.
The delivered goods became people! ... Of course, the tower guard understands that he has been fooled. After sounding the alarm, he is still a little curious: why do these cunning enemies park the cargo ship there?
Although the narrowest width of this natural breakwater is 40 meters, after the city wall was built on the ground on the outside, the inner wall was not built again, but the embankment was rebuilt with special stone bricks, soil, and sand. It is strong, straight, steep, and at a height of 7 meters, it is almost impossible to climb from the boat to the natural breakwater. Moreover, in addition to the city walls, towers and lighthouses, there is also a small military camp on the breakwater, where 100 light infantry are regularly stationed, which can handle any emergency in time. Although it was already night, the light infantrymen in the barracks were fast asleep, but the alarm bell sounded, I believe they would soon be dressed and rushed out of the barracks for rescue.
But the tower guards obviously forgot that in addition to the military barracks, there is a building on the natural breakwater - a small temple, which not only provides a sacred place for the soldiers stationed on the "breakwater" to pray to God, but also opens every morning. At the time of the port, the tower guards have to go to the temple to pray sacred prayers to bless the safety, which has become a necessary sacred ceremony in the port of Liliba.
Although this temple is small, it combines the characteristics of Carthage and Greece. It is a typical temple colonnade building, and it is very close to the inner embankment.
All the cargo ships of this fleet are indeed from Carthage - the rescue fleet that was captured last night in the port of Palermos, but its crew is mainly from Alenia, who used the same The way he led the fleet into the ports of St. Ibinia and Saros was considered to have accumulated a lot of experience, so he was able to deceive the vigilant captain of the patrol boat. The seven cargo ships in the front were indeed loaded with materials, while the linen coverings in the cargo ships in the back were all soldiers of the Mountain Reconnaissance Brigade.
At this moment, Terentus took his men and stood on the cargo ship that was turbulent with the sea water. He swung the rope hook in his hand. With the light from the torches lit by the crew, he looked up at the outline of the temple on the embankment, struggling with all his strength. Throwing it upwards, the rope hooks drew an arc in the air and flew to the temple, and some of them were successfully wrapped around the colonnade. Terentus and the others immediately grabbed the rope hook and swiftly climbed up the embankment...
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen enemies climbed up the embankment, but none of the soldiers in the barracks came out... The tower guards who were watching from the top of the tower were suddenly dumbfounded, and immediately shouted to the staff on the lower floors of the tower: " Hurry up and close the door, hurry up! The enemy is coming!"
Seeing them running down the tower in a panic, the tower guards began to ring the hanging bronze bell again.
Terentus, who was standing under the temple, looked up at the lighthouse where the bell rang not far away, then pointed at the men who had climbed up, and shouted: "Ten of you, go and snatch the lighthouse with me! Forkini! Cass, you lead the others, kill the enemy in that barracks for me, and meet at the lighthouse!"
"Yes, Captain!" Phokinikas responded loudly.
"Follow me!" Terentus waved his hand and took the lead in rushing towards the lighthouse, followed by 10 soldiers.
Rushed to the lighthouse, the thick tower door has been closed.
Terentus was not flustered, he stretched his hand back: "Rope hook."
A soldier hurriedly handed the prepared rope hook to his hand. He grabbed the rope hook head and aimed at the stone window with the light above. With a little force, he threw the rope hook in and pulled it back. Let the rope hook hook on the window sill and start climbing up.
Other soldiers also began throwing rope hooks at other windows in the lighthouse.
Terentus was climbing up quickly, when he heard the soldiers below urgently shout: "Captain be careful!"
Seeing a figure appearing in the upper window, he instinctively pressed his body against the stone wall, and he heard a gust of wind, followed by a burning pain in his back, and the javelin thrown by the enemy fell on his back, the sharp point of the spear. ripped through his clothes.
The situation is very critical. The second javelin will strike again soon, and Terentus, who is in mid-air, will be unavoidable. The desire to survive makes him burst into a powerful force at this time. He stepped on the rock wall, alternated his hands quickly, and tugged on the rope tightly. He climbed up several times faster than before. When he approached the window, the enemy had already taken out the second javelin and was about to throw it at him.
He quickly drew out his dagger and stabbed forward hastily.
The enemy couldn't dodge in time, his cheek was scratched, and he took a few steps back with a scream.
Terentus seized the gap, grabbed the window edge with his left hand, and pushed hard, his entire body turned into the tower, turned over on the ground, and stabbed the short sword in his right hand again, just stabbing the enemy. 's chest.
In the blink of an eye, the rabbit rose and the falcon fell, and the two sides decided the winner.
The enemy collapsed in astonishment, seemingly unwilling to believe this fact.
In such a dangerous situation, Terentus was able to escape his life and quickly turn defeat into victory. It can be said that he has exerted his hard training skills for more than 10 years to the extreme.
When he was out of danger, he felt soft and numb at this time. Recalling that he almost went to hell just now, his body couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat.
But he took a break from time to time to ease his emotions, and instead charged at other enemies with a short sword.
Usually in the middle of the night, there is only one tower guard in the Lilibe Port Lighthouse. During this time, a few more people were added to open the water gate and let the Carthaginian fleet transporting food in and out. There are no soldiers in the tower itself, but the designers of the city did not build stone ladders for the upper and lower city walls on this natural breakwater for the sake of defense, but integrated the end of the city wall with the lighthouse, so that the breakwater barracks The soldiers of the city must pass the lighthouse to go up the city wall, and the sentries who patrol this section of the city wall at night can also directly enter the lighthouse.
Fortunately, there were only 5 Lilibe soldiers in total. How could they be the opponents of the vicious mountain scout team? They were quickly killed by the mountain scouting soldiers, and the others were also captured, but one of the 10 team members who raided was also marked. Stabbed, dying.
Terentus, along with the soldiers and the captives, rushed to the lower level of the lighthouse in front of a device that looked like a huge grinding wheel. They pushed it together, and the lowered water gate slowly rose again.
Then, another team member rushed to the top of the tower, took out the prepared torch, lit it, and raised it high.
In this way, there were two burning flames on the lighthouse. The flames penetrated the dark sky and spread to the sea far away. To the west were more than one hundred warships of the Dionysian Sicilian fleet. , and a small number of warships were chasing the fleeing Carthaginian cargo ships.
"My lord, our signal has come from the Lillibee Lighthouse!" the captain, who had been waiting anxiously on the flagship deck, shouted excitedly.
"Then what are you waiting for, speed up for me immediately, target Liliba!" Sekelian couldn't hide his excitement.
The soldiers of the Second Legion who were fully loaded on the deck also understood at this moment that the sneak attack on the port of Lilibe was successful, and they were all gearing up and excited.
In the north, more than 100 warships of the Third Fleet were also full of soldiers and rushed towards the port of Lilibe.
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Since he had been thinking about the matter of "sending reinforcements to Palermos last night", in the evening, Imisere sent his servants to the port several times to ask if the Lilibe cargo ship that went to Palermos was there? no return?
The answer is: "No."
His confidant advised him: "The cargo ship that rescued Palermos must not only avoid the cruise of the Dionysian Fleet on the south coast, but also be discovered by the Dionysian Fleet on the north coast, which is closer to it. It is impossible to do so. I'll be back soon..."
It made sense for Imisere to think about it, so he didn't send anyone to pay attention to the port. Later, exhausted, he also fell asleep, until he was woken up by the servants, and he asked in a daze: "The cargo ship is back? "
"Master, the bell is ringing at the port!"
"The bell?!" Imisere was startled, and all his sleepiness was awakened: "An enemy invaded the port?!"
He jumped out of bed suddenly, grabbed his clothes, and shouted to his servants: "Go and prepare your horse! Go!"