Chapter 132 The Battle of Taranto (4)
For a large fleet of nearly 300 three-deck oars, plus 350 other warships, it would be time-consuming to get the entire team to complete a tactical move, but a well-trained tin The Rakuza fleet will undoubtedly shorten this time a lot.
Under the guidance of a dozen or so fast ships that were far ahead, the entire fleet headed towards the sea near Turii...
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The battleship of Midorades, commander of the Dionian Squadron, was at the forefront of the entire fleet, and was in charge of piloting. This position requires the captain to not only have rich experience in navigation and naval warfare, but also be familiar with the tactics and signals of the fleet, as well as understand the purpose of this expedition and the tactical strategy to be adopted. As a vanguard, he must also be heroic in naval battles to be an example for the ships behind.
In addition to the lack of experience in the first naval battle (most captains of the Dionia fleet lacked naval battle experience), in other respects, Midorades excelled. You must know that when Enanilus was sentenced to imprisonment, In the selection of the commander of the navy, Davos had also considered Midorads.
At this moment, the captain is sitting under the mast, closing his eyes and resting.
The lookout at the top of the mast suddenly shouted: "Sailboat found ahead!"
Midorades immediately opened his eyes wide and looked up at the sea in front of him: there was nothing but blue water and blue sky in the vast sea.
But Midorades knew that due to the blockade of the Syracuse navy, there was hardly a merchant ship in sight of this lively sea area, so the ship that could enter the sight of Wang Wangshou belonged to the people of Syracuse. is very likely.
"The sailboat turned south!" Lou Wangshou shouted again.
Don't hesitate any more, it must be the enemy, he found out that we are going back, and is preparing to go back to report! Midorades pondered for a while, and immediately shouted: "Blow the horn and hang the warning flag!"
Soon, the orange-yellow, long linen was hung on the mast, and the flagship lookout, who had been paying close attention to the pilot ship, immediately reported: "General, the enemy is found ahead!"
"That's great!" Sekelian slammed his fists into each other excitedly and gave the long-awaited order without hesitation: "Go at normal speed first! Hang the starry flag and prepare to fight!"
The long horn sounded, and the all-black flag was raised to the masts, very conspicuous under the clear sky.
Soon, black flags were hung on the ships of each squadron.
Under the dark night,
Full of stars!
This is a tactical formation specially invented by the Dionysian Navy using the characteristics of the "Crow Suspension Bridge". It requires the fleet's warships to be scattered and scattered like the stars in the sky. The waves alternately attack and advance, not only requiring each warship to fight alone, but also other warships continuing to attack to provide protection for it. This is a mode of orderly melee.
"Your Majesty, the enemy has been discovered ahead." Myrtias reported to Davos.
Davos nodded and said calmly, "According to your orders, you don't need to report to me specially, so as not to delay the war."
"Yes!" Myrtias shouted to the bottom of the deck gap after the military salute, "Normal speed!"
The rhythm of the piper's flute immediately accelerated. One hundred and eighty-eight wood pulps on both sides of the warship beat the sea water. The stern helmsman turned the rudder, and the warship gradually staggered away from the surrounding warships.
"There is a situation!" An old man exclaimed among the people who were watching the fleet's movements on the shore: "Our fleet is changing its formation!"
In the eyes of ordinary people, the warships densely covered on the sea seem to have not changed much, but for these old sailors born as fishermen, they are keenly aware of the changes in the distance and speed between warships.
"Did you find the enemy?!"
"Is there going to be a war?!"
...
Everyone asked in a hurry, and the chaotic voices were full of concerns about the safety of the alliance and the safety of their relatives.
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After ten minutes.
"Syracuse's fleet! Many, many warships!!" The lookout pointed to the front and shouted loudly.
Midorades was not surprised. They knew in advance that this was a naval battle of fighting more with less, and the Dionysian Navy was at a disadvantage in terms of the number of warships.
"Raise the battle flag!"
A blood-red flag flew from the mast.
"General, an enemy is found ahead, prompt for battle!"
"Go into battle!" Sekelian said succinctly.
"Woo woo! Woo woo!..." The hurried bugle sound was transmitted from the flagship to the neighboring warships, and then to the periphery.
The sailors of each warship began to act. Under the captain's reminder, they began to swallow the field rations they carried with them, which were made of oat bread and a little wine and olive oil. At the same time, they got up and moved their hands and feet. In fact, it has only been an hour since they got on the ship, and they are still very energetic, doing this just to make the best preparation for the long and fierce battle that may be going on next.
In the piercing eyes of Midorades: a wooden pole rose from the sea in the extreme distance, then one after another, and soon the outline of a ship appeared, and then another... In the blink of an eye, warships began to be densely populated on the horizon in the extreme distance.
"Come on..." Midorades whispered in his heart.
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At the same time, on the flagship of the Syracuse fleet, Leputines waited for his long-awaited answer: "General, in the center of the enemy's fleet ahead, there is a golden light shining on the mast, it should be the one you are looking for. The ship with the statue of Hades!" shouted the lookout from the main mast.
When Leptines heard it, he shouted excitedly: "The prisoner is right, Davos! The consul of Dionia, Davos, is on that ship!!"
Leptinius was very clear: Dionysius had said that in order to conquer Dionia, it was best to destroy Davos first, so his brother also sent assassins to carry out assassinations, but they were unsuccessful. Now there is a great opportunity in front of him. If he can capture or kill Davos in this naval battle, he will not only make his brother impress him, but also end this almost empty Syracuse battle as soon as possible. Great war!
"Order, each squadron adopts double-column tactics!" He ordered decisively.
"General, don't you use circumnavigation tactics?" The flagship captain next to him reminded him.
Leptines shook his head: "Using the circumnavigation takes too much time, and also disperses the impact force of the fleet. At that time, Davos will be scared out of his soul because of the sinking of the warships in front of him, he will turn around and run away. Trouble. We have more warships than them, and our ship handling skills are better than theirs. The Dionysian consul thought he could easily win this naval battle like a land battle, so he dared to attack rashly We, I will crush it from the front, completely smash the Dionian fleet, and capture that arrogant Davos!" Leptines said arrogantly, his outstretched right hand firmly grasped It became a fist, as if in the heart of the fist was the new king of Dionia.
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Midorads stared at the front, and the Syracuse fleet had fully shown its shape, and was overwhelmingly pressing towards him like a huge wave.
Midorades was not frightened by the pressing momentum of the Syracuse fleet, but showed a smile: because the Syracuses did not take advantage of their numerous warships and sent squadrons to their side. To form a circular encirclement on both sides to attack their own flanks, because this way, the Dionian fleet will be more difficult to win in battle, and the losses will increase. However, it is clear that the brave majesty's plan to use himself as bait has worked! The enemy has adopted a frontal attack tactics!
At first glance, the depth of the stacked warships is probably more than ten, and the enemy still has the advantage of the downwind (there is a weak north wind at this time), but what about that? ! The Dionysian Fleet has a "raven drawbridge" and the number of heavy infantry equipped with conventional three-tier oared warships (the normal battleship infantry configuration ranges from zero to ten people per warship, and the Dionysian Fleet is one. ships and a heavy infantry detachment), so it lacks flexibility and speed, and now gets the most avoidance because the enemy does not use circumnavigation tactics, and the Dionysian fleet does not rely on speed and agility to win, rely on Close combat!
Midorades' confidence increased, he knew very well: although it seems that the enemy is more than two miles away from the nearest warship, once the speed of the ship is raised, the voyage of several miles will be reached in a blink of an eye.
"Attack speed!" After he gave the order, he turned to Zantiparis, who was resting on the deck, and said sternly: "Captain, the battle is about to start, please get ready!"
As the captain of the Second Battalion of the First Corps, Zantiparis, his senior officer status was completely useless in this naval battle, because it was a battle with heavy infantry units, but he did not want to miss it. An important naval battle, so I chose to follow the first unit.
"Inias, it's time for you to give an order," he said to the squad leader, not wanting to interfere with his command.
"Brothers gather, sort out the equipment, go down to the cabin, the warship is going to speed up!" Aeneas gave an order, and the heavy infantry sitting on the deck immediately stood up, put on their helmets, and picked up the long The spear, with the dagger attached, quickly formed two columns, from the entrance between the two decks, down to the lower cabin.
The rowers in the cabin didn't pay attention to the soldiers pouring in. They listened attentively to the sound of the flute and slid the wood pulp.
"Drip! Drip! Drip!..." The piper did not suddenly raise the rhythm of the paddle, but gradually accelerated.