Chapter 355 The Battle of Carthage (1)

After giving the order, Morbal led the other warships and rushed towards the Dionysian fleet.

"General, the Carthaginian fleet has rushed towards us, and the number is equal to ours!" The watchman on the flagship main mast reported the semaphore from the front to Midorades.

Realizing that the plan had been successful, that the Carthaginian fleet had been lured out of the port, and that the decisive battle was at hand, Midorades shouted: "Blow the bugle! Raise the starry sky and the red flag!"

The words of Midorades were passed into the flagship warehouse. The sailors of the Third Fleet were rewarded several times by King Davos and the Ministry of Military Affairs for their repeated military exploits during this period. Their morale was very high. Orders, all of them are in high spirits, gearing up, ready to make new contributions.

At this time, the captain's voice came from the deck again: "The warship moves forward! Increase the speed of the paddle!"

"Attention! Speed ​​up!" the bosun repeated the command aloud at once to remind all the crew.

The piper played the high-pitched double-pipe flute, and the sound of the flute gradually accelerated. The lead oarsmen on the first floor listened to the rhythm and pushed the wooden oars forward and backward, while the sailors on the second floor followed step by step. 1st floor action... The flagship, which was basically stationary, began to move forward, as did the other warships.

And the warships of the 1st Squadron, after hearing the bugle from the rear and seeing the semaphore, immediately stopped playing with the few remaining Iberian cargo ships, and adjusted their bows one after another. The Carthaginian fleet, leaving the port in the east, sailed away.

The captains of the more than 10 Carthaginian warships that rushed in front heard the frequent trumpet sounds coming from the rear, and then saw Diony, who was deploying an array in front of him and quickly pressing on himself who was too protruding. The sub-fleet was terrified, and subconsciously ordered the sailors to slow down and wait for the warships from the rear to arrive in order to integrate into the formation and attack together.

Although they are also forming formations during the advance, due to the existence of these more than 10 Carthaginian warships, the two sides are only one mile apart. The fleet's two-column fleet is still in its infancy.

The situation was a little urgent, but Morbar was not panicking, because he heard Barricos' unbridled laughter: "Old man, let's go up first! The people in the port are looking at us, you have to let your subordinates do more Jin'er, otherwise you will perform badly in this battle, and you will be scolded by the people when you return to the port! Hahaha..." A small Jiataiji merchant ship was passing by the side of the flagship, steering its sails. Barikos is laughing.

Morbal did not express dissatisfaction with Barikos' arrogance. On the contrary, he faced Barikos and saluted solemnly.

When almost all the Carthaginian merchant ships passed by the Carthaginian warships, the shipowners were loudly saying words to motivate the sailors to fight, and the warship captains were also salutes the Carthaginian merchant ships passing by and watched. These merchant ships, which were less than one-fifth of the length of the warships and were also petite in size, rushed towards the Dionysian fleet. While they were encouraged to fight, they were also worried about them.

But there was no fear in the face of Barikos. He maneuvered the sail flexibly, and with the weak southwest wind, the entire merchant ship galloped ahead like an arrow, and he shouted: " Dionians, your Carthaginian grandfather is here again!"

Facing the Dionian warship that was getting closer and taller, his spirit became more and more excited, because he could humiliate the Dernia once again.

When Midorades learned from the lookout that the Carthaginian fleet had let some merchant ships rush ahead of the fleet, he was surprised: although he knew that the Sicilian fleet had suffered a failure before, it was because of some shipmanship skills The superb Carthaginian merchant ships played an important role in it, but what he didn't expect was that the Carthaginian fleet actually let these non-combat ships participate in the official battle, which is really unheard of!

"Inform the warships to ignore these merchant ships, maintain the fleet formation, speed up, and face the Carthaginian fleet!" Midorades said in a deep voice.

The flagship captain reminded a little embarrassedly: "General, these orders of yours... are difficult to convey!"

Midorades immediately understood that over the years, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Navy had gradually explored and improved the fleet semaphore system under the prompting of King Davos, but they never thought that there would be civilian ships involved in the battle, of course. There is no semaphore in this regard.

Midorades thought for a while and said, "Blow the bugle, raise the green flag, and urge the fleet to speed up!"

Midorades hoped that the warships under his command would ignore the provocations of the Carthaginian merchant ships, but he obviously overestimated the ability of the captain and crew to strictly follow the orders. Although the Third Fleet has been established for many years, most of the Before this war, the crew had no combat experience, but the successive victories raised their spirits very high, and now it is the first time to face the provocation of the Carthaginian merchant ships that boldly shuttled between the warships. , urinating at them, spitting at them, being pointed at them and laughing loudly... The various ways of humiliation were unbearable even for the Sicilian fleet commander Sekelian, let alone these young and vigorous captains and crew.

At the beginning, some captains of the Dionian warships saw these weak merchant ships coming to the side of their warships. Although they were still thinking about the orders issued by the flagship, they could not help but deflect the warships slightly and press the enemy ships. In the past, they believed that the waves generated by the warships alone were enough to cause these small boats to bump or even capsize.

But when most of the Carthaginian merchant ships deftly avoided the collision of the Dionian ships and let out a louder laugh, the competitive spirit of some Dionian captains and crews was lifted, and they They did not let the warships make any bigger movements, but continued to squeeze the merchant ships, but in this way, the interval between the ships was shortened.

The shrinking of space did bring great trouble to the Carthaginian merchant ships. Just the rapid approach between the two warships caused some merchant ships to sway up and down violently, even if they escaped the squeeze. , but also because he lost the flexible control of the ship for a while, and could not escape the collision of the warship coming up from behind.

However, the sacrifice of the Carthaginian merchant ships caused a lot of chaos in the entire fleet of the Dionysian Third Fleet. The warships blocked each other and had to slow down...

Midorades learned of this situation at the rear, and he was anxious and angry, but there was no immediate way to do it. He could only order the captain to raise the three green flags at the same time, and let the trumpeter sound the bugle for a long time. This is a warning to all warships that orders must be strictly followed.

Just as the Dionia Fleet was trying to restore the ship formation, the Carthaginian Fleet had already arranged their most familiar two-column formation. The morale of the crew was struggling to slide the oars, and the warships rushed forward quickly. The Dionian Fleet.

At noon, 130 warships of the Carthaginian Fleet and 143 warships of the Dionysian Third Fleet officially kicked off the battle in the sea near the port of Carthage.

The people of Carthage have already crowded the coast not far from the naval battle, and the people of Utica and other Phoenician allies nearby are also coming one after another after hearing about it. a sea of ​​people.

All hoped that the Carthaginian fleet would attack the Dionysian fleet that threatened the safety of their homeland, and the people of the Carthaginian port even chanted the name of Barricus, although the arrogant shipowner had let them He kept it at a distance, but his bold and risky actions last time and this time won the respect of the people, and he was even regarded as a hero by young people.

Compared with the hustle and bustle of people on the coast, the Taiji elders who stood on the breakwater city and watched the battle were much quieter and the atmosphere was more solemn.

"Annobas, do you think this naval battle... can we win?" Taipanlako asked the former naval commander in a low voice under Hanno's eyes.

If it wasn't for Hanno and Morbal's efforts to protect him, Annobas might not have escaped the severe punishment imposed on him by the Senate. Although he finally escaped, he has been idle, and even his status as a senator has been deprived. This time, if it wasn't for the fact that the elders were too concerned about the outcome of the naval battle, they needed a naval battle expert who could accurately judge the situation on the battlefield to provide advice, and they would not have called him from home.

But at this time, Annobas did not see depression on his face, but was excited: "The tactics arranged by Lord Morbar are very effective, our merchant ships have disrupted Dionia's formation, and our fleet is grasping This great opportunity, to launch an attack, must have an advantage at the beginning of the battle..."

After listening to Taipanlacco, he breathed a sigh of relief, his expression relaxed, and said with hope: "I hope this advantage can be maintained until the end, and finally we can win this naval battle!"

Okleton, who had already returned to Carthage, listened to it and said with a sigh: "If this naval battle is won, our negotiations with Dionia will be much easier to talk about!"

After he returned to Carthage, when the Senate stated Dionia's harsh negotiation conditions, the elders were in an uproar, and almost everyone expressed resentment against Dionia's harsh requirements, but after the statement , and everyone showed different attitudes on whether to continue the negotiation.

The Hannoists believe that this is the first time Dionysus has put forward the conditions for peace talks, and Carthage can fully argue for it in the subsequent peace talks, and eventually the two sides reach an agreement. But judging from the current battlefield situation, the Dionysian army has an obvious advantage. If the situation does not change in the future and a peace agreement is finally reached, Dionia will definitely gain a little more benefits, which is helpless. , the Senate must recognize the truth and accept it.