Chapter 102 The Battle of Serinus (2)

Suddenly, the lookout blinked, his right hand and right foot hooked the mast, his whole body leaned forward, his left hand was placed under his forehead, his eyes widened: under the dim sky in the distance, a few black spots appeared on the sea... ...after just a while, the black spot doubled, and after a while...

Zhang Wangshou's whole body jolted, and he immediately shouted: "Found the enemy ship! Dionia's fleet is here!!..."

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The news of "The Second Dionysian Fleet defeated the Iberian Fleet on the north coast" made Seklyan unbearable. Although as the commander of the Sicilian Fleet, he also had a share of the victory in this naval battle, but he disdained it. Grab Flarios' exploits. But the Carthaginian fleet never appeared on the south coast, making it impossible for him to fight with it.

At this time, because the land forces were going to attack Serinus, he saw an opportunity, so after consulting with Leotides, he made a plan: by besieging Serinus, lure the Carthaginian fleet to rescue from the sea , so as to achieve the purpose of a decisive battle with it.

In order to ensure the victory of the decisive battle, Secrian also transferred the Second Fleet stationed in Messina, so that Dionia's fleet in Sicily reached 600 warships and 485 three-tier oars. A huge number, which Cykrian firmly believed the Carthaginian navy simply could not match.

Sekelian sent many clippers to the south coast of Sicily every day, and some even ventured to the west coast to investigate the enemy.

But for a few days, the Carthaginian fleet remained silent, and Leotides couldn't sit still, because although the Dionysian army was feigning the city of Serinus, it still caused some casualties every day. What's more, under the city where troops had been stationed for a long time, there was Lilibe's army not far away. Although its strength was not very strong, the Iberian army in Palermos made him worry, not to mention the distance. Not too far, once several Carthaginian armies attacked at the same time, the Dionysian army, which did not have much advantage in strength, would be in trouble. Therefore, Leotidides believed that he could not wait any longer, and he had to take Serinus with all his strength immediately and gain a foothold for the Dionysian army to enter western Sicily controlled by Carthage.

Of course, Sekelian objected. His reason was: as long as the Carthaginian fleet was defeated, the Dionysian navy would gain absolute superiority at sea, and the western coast of Sicily was under the control of the Dionysian Sicilian fleet. The assistance to land troops would be even greater.

He persuaded Leotizides to be patient and wait a little longer.

The two sides quarreled, but a letter from Davers and the Department of Military Affairs settled their dispute.

In the letter, Davos asked Leotizides to intensify his attack on western Sicily. To Sekelian,

Davos had higher requirements, hoping that he could completely defeat the Carthaginian navy, cut off the sea connection between Carthage and Sicily, and even threaten the city of Carthage.

Therefore, this letter forced Leotidides to agree to continue with the plan to "seduce the Carthaginian fleet".

Early this morning, the movement caused by the large-scale gathering of Carthaginian warships on the Lilibe sea could not escape the eyes of the Dionysian Clippers.

When the news was quickly communicated back to Agrigento, Sekelian was overjoyed and immediately ordered: All warships assembled, ready to go!

Although Flarios reminded him with some concern: "Lord Commander, the weather at sea today is not very good!"

But Sekelian has always been known for his boldness and courage in combat. Even in middle age, his characteristics have not diminished, and he finally waited for this opportunity, how could he let it miss, so he resolutely said: "Carthage The base people dare to go out to sea, why can't we!"

At the beginning of March of the 14th year of the Dionysian kingdom (that is, 379 BC), at noon on the third day when Davos led the army, left Turii, and headed north to Latium, Dionia's Sicilian fleet was the same. The Carthaginian navy met on the sea near Serinus.

In the strange weather with dark clouds, dark sky, but no wind and no waves, this can be said to be the largest naval battle in Greek history.

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After learning of the appearance of the Dionia fleet, Annobas was a little surprised, but at the same time relieved. He stared out the window, thought for a moment, and quickly made a decision: "The front warships follow the original route and move forward to meet the enemy; the middle warships move eastward and spread out as far as possible on the right side of the front; the Iberian fleet in the rear is tight Follow the front fleet to prevent the Dionian warship from breaking through the interception and attack the rear fleet.

The reason why Annobas made such a deployment is because according to his knowledge of this sea area, although the wind and waves are calm now, from the weather point of view, it may still be windy and rainy, and there is a high possibility of a southwesterly wind. The Taiji warship must first occupy a favorable position to facilitate the later battle.

Sekelian didn't think so far. He arranged the main First Fleet on the side close to the coast, and sent the Third Fleet led by Flarios to face Carthage's continuously extending flank.

His idea was: to use all his strength to defeat the frontal enemy, and to assume a posture of attacking the fleet of rescue Serinus from the rear, forcing the formation of Carthage to retreat to rescue, which not only consumed the enemy's physical strength , can also confuse the Carthaginian fleet.

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"Flute! Flute! Flute!..." The speed at which the sailors pushed the wooden oars continued to accelerate with the sound of the double-pipe flutes. The crow warships in the front row of the Dionysian fleet were advancing rapidly, and the bows of the ships were split open. The sea water fell on the suspension bridge erected next to the fore mast again and again, and the water splashed all over, almost making the 12-meter-long wooden bridge a wave breaker for the warship.

Stefancas, a sailor in the Dionian navy during the Southern Italian War, is proud to have seen all the battles this new fleet fought against the mighty Syracuse navy, and today he He is already the commander of the Second Squadron of Dionia's First Fleet, and he is commanding a ship to charge at the forefront of the fleet, and is about to engage in the most powerful maritime hegemony in the Western Mediterranean - Carthage.

But he was far less excited than the sailors. Instead, he calmly paid attention to the oncoming Carthaginian warship. He felt that the other party was not very fast. The experienced man immediately realized that the other party was probably not ready to fight with him. His warship collided head-on, but controlled the inertia of the warship in order to flexibly avoid the front and avoid being hooked by the crow suspension bridge. After all, the unique tactics of the Dionysian navy are no longer a secret, not to mention that the Carthaginians had lost in the naval battle before, so I am afraid they have been prepared.

"Prepare to volley!" Stepakas ordered loudly and decisively.

The drawbridge operator in the bow, the bosun in the cabin, and the helmsman in the stern immediately repeated the order, and the crew maintained a high degree of tension and concentration.

The two warships were rapidly approaching.

Stefankas looked ahead, judging the best time to act, and suddenly he shouted: "Volley to the left!"

The helmsman swayed the rudder, the left sailor's oar reduced the force, the right sailor's oar added force, and the warship quickly rowed diagonally to the left front.

This is a very dangerous tactical maneuver. Actively exposing the waist of the warship to the collision angle of the enemy ship is undoubtedly a big taboo in today's naval warfare, even for the Dionian warship with the Raven drawbridge. It is also quite dangerous, because the distance is too close, and the enemy ship is advancing at a high speed. If the crew is not focused enough and does not cooperate well, it is very likely that the drawbridge will not be lowered in time, and the warship has been hit by the opponent.

But Stefankas is confident in the skill and tacit cooperation of his crew, the result of rigorous training day after day, year after year.

Even so, the manipulators of the drawbridge were still highly tense: some quickly turned the drawbridge according to the direction of the enemy ship's attack; others hurriedly loosened the rope attached to the mast, holding it tight while holding on to it. Staring at the rushing enemy ship, shouting... Everyone's face was covered in sweat, and the muscles on their arms protruded from tension.

Originally, the Carthaginian captain had planned to deflect the warship to avoid the attack of the opponent's crow suspension bridge, but the crow warship in front suddenly slammed horizontally, which was beyond the Carthage captain's expectations, and he was stunned for a moment.

At this moment, the warship rushed out a few meters.

He immediately understood, and hurriedly issued an order: let the warship turn to the right.

The Carthaginian sailors responded quickly, and the rushing warship quickly turned to the right.

But it was already a little late. The direction of the Dionian warship was exactly the same as their warship, and the speed was not reduced but increased.

The Raven drawbridge fell immediately, and the 40 fleet infantrymen on board immediately rushed out of the cabin, passed the drawbridge, and entered the enemy ship.

After Annobas knew the combat characteristics of the Dionia fleet, he was not unprepared. During this period of time, he asked Carthage and the allies to make a large number of daggers for the sailors, because only this kind of light and small weapons can Doesn't affect their paddling, while also giving them a bit of a defensive counter-attack.

However, it is impossible to take advantage of the large number of people on a long and narrow warship. Most of these Carthaginian civilians serving as sailors have not received formal infantry training, and they are completely unable to compete with the aggressive Dionia Fleet infantry.

In addition to not wearing the heavy infantry equipment of the Dionian Legion, the usual training intensity of these Dionian Fleet infantry is not weaker than that of the Army. , Javelin and charge, team battles... In addition, they put more effort into two trainings: fast landing operations and long-distance swimming.

Thus, the fleet infantry of the Dionysian fleet was well-trained, and the Carthaginian sailors were equipped with daggers, which caused them a little trouble, but quickly disintegrated under their rapid attack.