Chapter 243 Towards Cyprus

The prudent Aritaka even refused the request of the new military commander of the western region of Asia Minor, Phanabazus, on the grounds of following the orders of the Persian king and guarding the Near East waters-hoping that the Persian fleet could assist the Asian Minor army and cut off the landing in Asia Minor. In the end, Phanabazos had to let the coastal city-states in western Asia Minor form a new fleet.

Yalitaka's rejection of Phanabazos was partly selfish: the Phoenicians and the Greeks of Asia Minor were competing in commerce, and the two races had historically had a lot of grievances (mainly by the Phoenicians). The Persian fleet composed of the Kis assisted Darius in conquering the Greek city-states in western Asia Minor), so the relationship between the two races is not good today.

But when he learned that "the newly formed Asia Minor fleet was ambushed and annihilated by the Dionysian fleet", although he was glad that he did not agree to Phanabas's request, he was also very uneasy: After the Dionia Fleet took control of the western waters of Asia Minor, its next target is likely to be the Near East Sea!

Therefore, he not only stepped up patrols in the Near East waters, but also increased the training of the entire Persian fleet. For this reason, he severely punished several Cypriot and Syrian generals who did not obey orders, and received the full support of the Persian king.

Not long after, another important news came from the south that "King Dionia himself led an army to land in Egypt", both the Jews and the Phoenicians began to panic, because they realized that the Dionysian army Is really going to invade Persia from Egypt!

But more than a month later, Egypt's Dionian army did not make any movement. The Persian generals stationed in Gaza City sent scouts across the desert several times to spy on the Egyptian border, but there was no news.

In order to avoid losses, the Persian general sent envoys to Cyprus several times, asking the Persian fleet to send clippers to the coast of Egypt to spy on the movements of the Dionysian army.

Yalitaka agreed to the request and sent clippers to the Egyptian waters many times, but most of them never returned. The crew who finally escaped reported to him that the Dionysians had arranged a lot of battles in the Egyptian waters. The boats were patrolled and heavily guarded, and it was difficult for the Clippers to get close to the coast.

In order to avoid losses, Yalitaka no longer sent ships south to scout Egypt, but he also strengthened his vigilance in the southern waters.

During this time, the Phoenicians had been looking forward to the arrival of the Persian army, but according to the news from Babylon, the Persian army had been stationed near Baghdad, not far from Babylon, and there was no attempt to go west to aid the Near East. Of course, one of the most popular explanations is that Persia’s territory is too large, and it takes too long for a full-scale military mobilization. The Persian king is still waiting for the Persian elite troops stationed in Persepolis far to the east, the Scythians People, and Indians with different tactical styles...

Among the many rumors, there is one saying that caused the Phoenicians to be uneasy,

"The Persian king was afraid of the strength of Dionia's army, so it took more time to gather more troops to be able to fight against it."

Yalitaka does not pay attention to these rumors. What he pays attention to is to ensure the safety of the Near East waters before the Prince of Persia leads his army. Therefore, he arrives at the fleet headquarters in the largest military port in Cyprus very early every day and listens carefully to the patrol team. Report to find out if there is any abnormality in the entire Near East waters.

On the last day at the end of March, Yalitaka came to the fleet headquarters as usual. Everything was the same as usual. He thought it would be a quiet day again. Who knew that when the sky was bright, a patrol The ship quickly returned to the military port, the captain hurried into the headquarters, and panicked to report to Yalitaka: A huge Dionysian fleet was found in the southern waters of Cyprus!

Afterwards, patrol boats rushed back to the military port one after another. Yalitaka combined the information they had discovered and couldn’t help being surprised: there were about a hundred troop carriers and cargo ships in a mixed fleet. The escort of the Dionysian warship is heading towards Cyprus...

The intention of the Dionians is very obvious, they want to capture the island of Cyprus! ... Yalitaka suddenly became nervous. Of course, he understood that in order to prevent the Dionysian army from landing on Cyprus, or even completely destroy the troop transport fleet in the sea, he must first defeat the escort fleet. The Dionia fleet, this is bound to be a massive naval battle!

Before he could summon the generals, the Cypriot admirals, who were worried about the safety of their motherland, broke into the headquarters. As the two pillars of the Persian fleet, the Phoenician and Cypriot admirals quickly reached an agreement. Opinions, formulated a battle plan, and then rushed to the military port where the fleet led by him was parked at the fastest speed, and urgently ordered the crew to board the ship and leave the port.

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The 1st and 2nd fleets guarded the Dionysian troop convoy. When departing from Egypt, the 1st fleet was on the right side of the entire fleet, and the second fleet was on the left, almost guarding the troop convoy in the middle. Arranged into a relatively tight mixed ship array with a width of more than one mile and a length of three or four miles.

A few hours after the departure of the First and Second Fleet, the Third Fleet, which served as a reserve force, escorted the cargo fleet loaded with supplies, and also set off from the port of Naukrates to Cyprus.

But after several days of continuous voyages, the huge ship formation composed of the first and second fleets and troop transport ships is no longer as neat as it was when it set off. Although there was no storm during the voyage, the strong southeast The wind also caused more than a dozen crow warships and troop carriers to capsize, and the entire fleet was blown away, and it took most of the day to gather again.

In the early hours of this morning, due to the influence of the fog at sea and the changeable sea wind, it was only when the sky was bright that Sekelian got the news: the entire fleet was once again dispersed, and the first and second points of the First Fleet were divided. The fleet, most of the Third Squadron of the Second Fleet, part of the Fourth Squadron, and nearly 100 troop carriers were still together, while the rest of the ships were nowhere to be seen.

Sekelian, who has always been energetic, was a little tired after drifting at sea for the past few days. He didn't even want to complain. He just gave an order helplessly: send clippers in all directions, search for other ships, and notify them to get closer to him as soon as possible.

To this end, he then ordered: slow down the speed of the ship, and let the guide determine the approximate position of the fleet as soon as possible.

There is no reference in the vast sea, not to mention the constellations that cannot see the sky in the daytime. No matter how experienced guides are, they cannot determine their location. They can only roughly judge the entire fleet according to the rising sun. Proceed northeast.

But Sekelian's distress didn't last long. He got a message from the Clipper Lookout in front of the fleet: a small warship was found ahead, and it quickly turned around and left.

Is it a patrol ship of the Persian fleet? ! ...Sekelian was not surprised but delighted: the traces of Persian ships were found here, which does not mean that the Persian military port is nearby! Maybe the island of Cyprus is just ahead? !

He made a decisive decision, and then sent two fast boats to investigate in the direction where the Persian warship disappeared.

In the process of waiting for the news, several small Persian warships appeared in the vicinity of the fleet one after another, and then quickly sailed away.

The situation is already very obvious. There must be a Persian military port nearby. After these Persian patrol ships report back, it is very likely that a Persian fleet will come to intercept them. At this time, there are more than half of the Dionysian warships, and they are facing it. The enemy is likely to be at a disadvantage, and the situation is a bit grim! ...But after a moment of contemplation, Sekelian gave a decisive order: All ships raised their sails and accelerated toward the northeast.

At the same time, he left two clippers behind, staying where they were and waiting for the clippers searching for the remaining fleet to return, and then rushing to the island of Cyprus with the found fleet and fleet.

It can be said that Secorian's decision was quite risky, but due to his prestige in the navy, none of the admirals and ship owners present dared to object, so the entire fleet had to speed up northward.

About 20 minutes later, they encountered a fast boat that went to explore the way and returned. When they learned that the island of Cyprus was 15 miles ahead, both the crew and the soldiers were immediately refreshed.

With the help of the weak south wind, after forty minutes, the fleet approached the island of Cyprus.

The soldiers on the troop carrier cheered and began to actively organize their packages and weapons, and the crew rowed more vigorously.

Under the guidance of the guide, the fleet circled the western waters of the island of Cyprus and sailed to the beaches available for landing. And all the warships were escorted on the outer edge of the troop convoy, and the lookouts climbed the masts, all of them watching the movement of the outer sea with wide eyes.

Knowing that there was no enemy defending the landing beach, and that there were no Persian fleets in the surrounding waters, Sekelian let out a long sigh, knowing that his adventure had been successful: although the fleet was discovered by Persian patrol ships, However, due to the sudden incident and the rapid movement of the fleet, whether it was the Persian fleet or the enemy on the island of Cyprus, even if they got the news, there was obviously not enough time to prepare for a counterattack.

But Sekelian did not dare to take it lightly. He knew that the Persian fleet could appear at any time, so he ordered the crew and soldiers of the fleet to hurry up, replenish water and restore physical strength.

More than 4,000 Dionian Legionnaires finally all landed on the beach, and began to unload the cargo ship in batches.

Seeing this situation, the flagship captain of the First Fleet immediately asked Sekorian for instructions: "Sir, our mission to cover the landing has been completed, should we first return to join the Second and Third Fleet, and then come back here, Looking for a decisive battle with the Persian fleet?"

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