Chapter 118: Sekelian's Determination

"Every time I talk to you, I always get rid of a lot of troubles." Pelopidas said half-jokingly and half-seriously, "I won't talk to you any more, and then I will go to visit other members of Congress... Yes Now, we should let the Dionians know how much pressure and effort we have endured to maintain this alliance. It is best that you quietly send someone to Messenia tomorrow and let the Dionians know Knowing this, prepare early."

"Okay, leave it to me." After Ipamironda sent Pelopidas out, he returned to his study and looked at the floor plan of the Dionysian military camp drawn on the papyrus. He picked up the pen again, but His thoughts were too chaotic, and he couldn't calm down to write for a while. He subconsciously tapped the word "Dionia" on the paper with the pen, thinking only about one thing in his heart. No matter how beautifully Peropidas conceived it, First of all, it depends on whether Dionia can completely defeat the Spartans as soon as possible...

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These days, First Fleet Commander Cykrion is in a bad mood, not because of the new army commander Clotokatax, although when he first arrived, Cykrion was out of the reservedness of the veteran. He didn't go to greet him, but on the second day, the prince personally visited the First Fleet camp near the coast, and was very respectful to Sekerian, and finally moved Sekerian, and he took the initiative to promise to lead him. The fleet fully cooperates with the army in combat.

The reason Secorian was unhappy was that although he had taken the island of Kythira in the Gulf of Laconia and completely blocked the coast of Sparta, mercenaries recruited by Sparta from outside the homeland had landed. The Peloponnese made it more difficult for the army to conquer Sparta.

Although this was not the fault of the First Fleet, and before Secorian left Turii, Davos had instructed his First Fleet to try not to cross Laggonia after the First Fleet arrived in the waters south of the Peloponnese. Patrol the eastern coast of the Peloponnese, and even further north, to avoid dissatisfaction with coastal city-states such as Argos, Corinth, and even Athens.

Secorian has always strictly followed the teachings of King Davos, but he did not expect that the cunning Spartans not only let the mercenaries land in the port of Corinth, but also frequent grain ships entering the port of Corinth these days. With enough mercenaries and a steady supply of rations, the Spartans have the confidence to fight the Dionysian army hard...

Just as Sekelian was sitting in the tent sulking, the staff officer walked into the tent. "Lord Commander, I just received a report from the clipper and found that there were 5 cargo ships full of soldiers heading for the Isthmus of Corinth."

Sekelian stood up abruptly, "Where did you find it? Which city-state's ship was it?"

"It should be near the island of Naxos (not Naxos in Sicily, but an island in the Aegean Sea). It is estimated that it has now entered the port of Corinth. As always, these cargo ships are linked to Milli. The flags of the Greek city-states of Asia Minor, Samos, Ephesus, and Halicarnassus.

"The staff officer replied slightly angrily.

"Bang!" Sekelian kicked the seat, his face was as cold as frost, he paced quickly inside the tent, but his hands were clenched into fists.

Suddenly he stopped and shouted like thunder, "Order the crew to push the boat into the sea and prepare to sail!"

The staff officer immediately understood his intention, and hurriedly persuaded him, "Lord Commander, please calm down! His Majesty Davos has given an order—"

"That's not an order, it's just a reminder, and His Majesty used the word 'try your best'!" Saikrian said emotionally, "We didn't want to conflict with these city-states, but these Greek city-states colluded with the Persians and used the Through our forbearance, we continue to deliver food to the Spartans, and now we once again deliver soldiers to Sparta. In the long run, our war with Sparta will become very difficult, which will be in the interests of the kingdom. Huge damage, so our navy can no longer stand by and must act!"

Having said this, he eased his tone, "You are still young, and you are not familiar with His Majesty's style. He never gives death orders to generals who go on expeditions, but allows them to independently formulate combat plans according to the actual situation of the battlefield. The time has come for us to change our combat strategy!"

"My lord, I understand." The staff officer quickly accepted Sekelian's point of view. In fact, he was also filled with fire, "Which squadron are you going to send?"

Secorian answered decisively, "All the ships of the First Fleet!"

"The entire First Fleet?!" The staff officer was greatly surprised by the more than 500 warships of the First Fleet, just to sink a few troop and grain ships, it was like killing a chicken with a knife.

Sekelian saw through his thoughts, and said in a deep voice, "This time, it's not just about capturing or sinking all the ships that were transporting grain and troops to the Corinth port, but also completely hurting them, so that they would never dare to help Sri Lanka in the future. Badas! At the same time, this is also an armed voyage of our Dionysian 1st Fleet into the Aegean Sea, to show those Greek city-states our great strength, and to make those city-states who want to go against us to reconsider whether they have This ability!"

"Yes! I will immediately inform the entire fleet to prepare to sail!"

After more than an hour, Cykrian boarded his flagship, raised the flag of sailing, and the bugle was blown, except for the two ship columns moored at Kythira, a total of 50 warships were to be blocked. Beyond the coast of Sparta, (after the Western Mediterranean War, under the instruction of Davos, the Ministry of Military Affairs made some adjustments to the navy, not only changing the four major fleets into the three major fleets, but also re-organizing the fleet to make it clear It is stipulated that the squadron has 100 warships under its jurisdiction, consisting of 4 columns, each of which is 25 warships, so the warship column has become the smallest team unit of the Dionysian Navy) All the remaining warships, about 500 The ships, arranged in four-way columns, sailed mighty eastward.

After the fleet bypassed the cape and turned north, Sekelian again gave the order. Given the large number of islands in the sea, the fleet was unfamiliar with the sea conditions here, so it slowed down and moved along the east coast.

After the order was given, Cykrian returned to his seat to rest.

After the end of the Western Mediterranean War, the Ministry of Military Affairs once discussed with the fleet commanders and shipbuilding engineers on the issue of "whether the flagships of the fleets need to be redesigned and improved."

Some people propose to use "Carthage's two-headed dragon ship as a blueprint to create the flagship of the fleet"; some people propose that "the former Carthage four-tier oared warship can be improved to serve as the flagship of the fleet"...

Sekelian raised an objection, believing that whether it was a two-headed dragon ship or a four-tiered oar warship, it was too clumsy and bloated, and the admiral would never let one ship slow down the sailing of the entire fleet just for the sake of enjoyment. Speed ​​affects combat efficiency...

Cykrian's opinion was supported by 2nd Fleet Commander Midorades and 3rd Fleet Commander Stefankas, and the change of the flagship was finally settled.

Aside from the slightly larger hull and taller mast, the Cykrian's flagship is not much different from the Raven warship. The place where Sekelian sat was at the stern of the ship. The tail of the warship was raised like a scorpion's tail, forming a pocket, and a wooden chair was placed in it. Since the top could block the sunlight, he was more comfortable to sit in it.

Sekelian held the handle of the wooden chair with both hands, and looked outside the warship. The sea water here was exceptionally blue, and the wind and waves were very small, and the warship sailed very smoothly. Standing upright, because it is the good season of spring, there are green trees and red flowers everywhere on the cliffs and cliffs, which is pleasing to the eye; looking up at the sky, white clouds float leisurely above the clear sky, and from time to time there are flocks of seabirds chirping and passing by, The icy cold water carried by the gentle sea breeze gently brushed from the face, which is refreshing...

Just as Sekelian was enjoying a rare moment of comfort, the residents on the shore were terrified. This coast is still the territory of Sparta. Although most of them are cliffs, there are still some small seaside villages and towns.

There have been frequent wars in these years, and the villagers and townsmen here often see fleets passing through the nearby waters, either ships from Athens and its allies, or the fleet of the Peloponnesian Alliance, but they have never seen such a terrible scene. The indistinct warships covered most of the sea as far as they could see. Every ship was as black as ink, and it seemed that the blue waters had been dipped into black...

Just as they panicked and ran north along the coast to inform the people in Sparta of the shocking news, the forward of the black fleet had already turned to the northeast.

After bypassing the peninsula to the east of the Argos Territory, the 1st Fleet entered a large bay-Salong Bay, which was like entering a lively town from a sparsely populated countryside, where hundreds of thousands of people could be seen everywhere. Ships loaded into and out of this great bay were mostly heading for Athens in the north, some for Corinth in the east, and very few for Megara in the south-east, even during the war. This is also the case every day during the period, so long ago it became one of the most prosperous bays in the Mediterranean.

But at this moment, Dionysian First Fleet was like a hungry wolf breaking into the sheep, causing chickens and dogs to jump for a while, and the panicked ships avoided one after another. It didn't take long for the unusually lively bay to become quiet again. , and no other ships appeared around the ships of the First Fleet.

The captains of the 1st Fleet obviously did not care about such a change. According to the previous plan, they turned the warship to the east and went deep into the interior of the bay.