Chapter 315 The Carthaginian Grain Fleet

Who would have thought that on the way to escape, they bumped into the defeated soldiers who had escaped from the West City, and only then did they know that the West City Wall had fallen. Everyone panicked and didn’t know what to do for a while, and some even burst into tears: "It's over... Syracuse is over... …”

Suddenly someone shouted: "We can go to Ortigia!"

These words reminded the panicked members: Yes, we still have Ortigia Island!

As the birthplace of Syracuse and the Acropolis of Syracuse, Ortigia was built into a fortified fortress during the reign of Dionysius, and a palace was also built on the island. After Dionysius was overthrown, Herolis allowed the original inhabitants of Ortigia, who had been forcibly driven out by Dionysius, to return to the island.

There was a proposal in the council that the walls of Ortikia should be demolished to prevent it from becoming a gathering place for ambitious politicians again.

But it was opposed by many people on the grounds: Ortigia Island, as the acropolis of Syracuse, should have a strong defense, and when the city of Syracuse is in danger, it will be the refuge of the people .

Now this has come true!

At the beginning, when there was a riot in Syracuse, Dionysius retreated to Ortigia, and Herolis had an absolute advantage, but there was nothing to do with him. In the end, the Spartans cheated him out of Austria. Tigia, so the defense of the island is absolutely trustworthy, and most of the people on the island are descendants of the founders of Syracuse, and their loyalty to this city-state is also trustworthy, so Ortigia is an ideal refuge. Place.

The councillors were in a calm mood, and while gathering the defeated soldiers and retreating to Ortigia Island (many soldiers refused to go to Ortigia for fear of their families), they sent people to inform Falecus and Theagenis that they hoped. They can hold on for a while longer, so that the people in the city can have a buffer time to retreat to Ortigia Island. Especially the port area is very close to the isthmus. Once the enemy breaks through the inner wall, the isthmus may be cut off.

The defense line of the inner wall is already crumbling, but Falekus is really trying his best to support it. However, after learning of the loss of the southern section of the western city wall, Theagenis did not continue to defend the city, but fled directly to Ortigia with a few civic soldiers willing to follow him.

The defenders of the east city wall also saw the fire in the city, and their reaction was almost the same as the defenders of the west city.

The Dionysian coalition finally broke through the defenses of the eastern city wall, and Zantiparis, the commander, finally breathed a sigh of relief. You must know that compared with the main force of Dionia on the western front, the army attacking the eastern city wall is composed of allied citizens. Of course, they cannot be like the soldiers of the Dionysian legion, obeying orders, obeying the command, and disregarding casualties. It was to persuade the generals of these allied armies to lead their respective troops to attack without interruption, and Zantiparis was exhausted.

Therefore, the battle on the Eastern Front was not fierce, but it still dragged down thousands of defenders, creating conditions for the Dionysian army to break through in other directions.

By dusk, the troops of the east and west lines successfully joined forces at the Apollo Square in the city of Syracuse.

…………………………………………

The main force led by Davos has always been stuck in Minoa, and the army led by Lizaru and Epithenes has also been staying in Enna, and is strengthening the city defense every day.

Under such a situation, Margo had nothing to do. Even if he wanted to attack one side, the shortage of food made him give up his thoughts. After five or six days of confrontation in Minoa, he finally led his army to retreat westward to Segues. tower.

After Davos received the news of the "Victory of the Third Fleet", he strengthened his determination to carry out the strategy of "land defense, sea attack".

These days, new warships have been added to the Sicilian fleet. The total number of warships has reached 320, and the main force has been moved to the port of Serinus.

Every morning, Sekelian would lead the fleet out of the port and sail to the west, sweeping the entire western coast of Sicily, and returning only after dusk. Because he recently received information from King Davos: Recently, a large number of ships are being concentrated in the ports of Carthage and its surrounding Phoenician allies, and at the same time, the city is also stepping up to raise food, and it is likely to send Grain from Sicily.

In the early morning of this day, it was raining lightly in the western waters of Sicily, and the sky was a bit gloomy. Although there was a slight breeze, the wind and waves were not large.

Sekelian, who was re-instructed in the Sicilian fleet, learned the lesson of the last time. He specially hired several old sailors who had lived here for decades as consultants to provide him with an analysis of the sea conditions and climate of this sea area. One time to make a positive judgment: it is unlikely that there will be strong winds and waves in the western seas today.

Therefore, though hesitant, Sekelian let the Sicilian fleet leave the port as usual, and proceed westward along the coast.

Due to the rain, the sea was covered with mist, resulting in poor visibility. In order to prevent accidents, the speed of all warships was slowed down. The entire fleet of 280 warships maintained a relatively dense formation (another 40 warships were moored at Minoan). A simple port to support the needs of the main force led by Davos).

Therefore, it usually took only an hour's voyage, but now it took two hours before the fleet reached the sea near Mazara and began to turn northwest.

At this time, the drizzle has stopped, the sky is gradually brightening, the fog is gradually dissipating, the blue sky is like washing, the sea is blue, the horizon is endless, and the breeze is blowing, which makes people feel relaxed and happy.

Sekelian was relieved at this moment, smiled and said to the two consultant sailors: "Your judgment is very accurate! As expected of the person who is called 'Blessed by the Sea God'!"

These two old sailors from Serinus responded hurriedly and modestly. As Greek sailors, they had a low status in Serinus and depended on fishing and shipping for a living. How could they ever have had a high status and lead hundreds of warships The kingdom generals have an equal opportunity for dialogue.

Seeing their nods and bows, Sekelian frowned, but didn't say anything. He turned his head and gave the command to the captain of the ship: "Notify the fleet, return to normal speed, dispatch fast boats, and carefully search for targets at sea."

It didn't take long for the speed of the entire fleet to increase, and more than 10 clippers also left the main force and rushed forward.

A few dozen minutes later, the fast boat running at the front had approached the Lilibe Sea. The watchman on the mast moved his hands and feet, which were already numb, and lowered his head and shouted to the bottom: "Captain!"

When the captain of the Clipper heard this, he immediately asked excitedly, "Is there any enemy situation?!"

Wangshou wanted to say, "Is it time for the rotation? Should the next person replace him." But the captain's question made him subconsciously glance at the sea ahead, and then he was stunned. , blinked his eyes, enlarged his eyes again, and stared ahead. After a while, he also shouted excitedly: "There are enemy ships! One, two, three... a lot of Carthaginian ships!"

"Lord Commander, the battleship ahead has raised the white flag!" The watchman on the main mast of the flagship saw the flag message passed by the flagship of the squadron ahead, and shouted excitedly: "It's two white flags! Yes and We have a common fleet of equal numbers of warships!"

Sekelian immediately understood the meaning of the rest, and he was also excited: encountering ordinary fleets in this sea area may only come from Carthage. It seems that the information given by His Majesty is correct, and the Carthaginians are indeed coming to transport Army rations!

He gave the order without hesitation: "Tell Stefankas, lead his squadron, and sink all these Carthaginian cargo ships for me! If you let one go, let him be punished by military law!"

After receiving this order, the commander of the squadron, Stefankas, immediately took out the spirit of twelve points and ordered the squadron warships he commanded as the vanguard to unfold in a line, and move fast in the direction of discovering the enemy's situation.

………………………………………………

The more than 200 Carthaginian merchant ships were lined up in two columns and were heading towards Lilibe. On the leading merchant ship, a sailor was standing on the top of the mast and looking forward nervously. Suddenly he was anxious. shouted: "Old man, the Dionysian warship... the Dionysian warship is here!"

After speaking, he quickly slid down from the mast.

Merchant ships are not like warships. Generally, they have only one mast and are located at the stern of the bed. Usually, people will not stand on the mast and look at it. On the one hand, it is because merchant ships are extremely dependent on the propulsion of sails and are afraid of stepping on the mast; on the other hand, standing on the mast for a long time can easily destroy the balance of the whole body and cause accidents. But today is a special situation, they need to know the movements of the Dionysian fleet early.

"I think I'm really crazy, to actually promise Morbar to drive a merchant ship to face the warship." The old captain with white hair did not appear nervous, but said with a sigh.

Next to him was an equally wrinkled helmsman who comforted: "We're pretty good, like Barikos, they even have to maneuver merchant ships and break into Dionia's fleet, that's really crazy! "

The old captain sighed again: "Who told us that we used to be Morbar's old subordinates, followed him for so many years, and got a lot of help from him... Besides, the mother country is now in a difficult situation, we, the old people who are about to sink into the earth, can Play a little role, provide it with some help, and believe that even if we die, it will be an honor for us!"

The old helmsman nodded sympathetically.

"Old man, don't miss the past! The Dionysian warship is about to arrive. Hurry up and follow the plan to sail the ship to the designated place. It is too far from the coast. If the ship is hit and sunk, we may not be able to swim. Go ashore!" urged the young sailor who had just been watching from the mast.

"Don't worry, don't worry." The old captain said calmly, closed his eyes, and felt the wind direction: "It seems that the wind is a little stronger."