ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1293 Heading to Cyprus

The cautious Alitaka even rejected the request of the newly appointed military commander of western Asia Minor, Pharnabazus, on the grounds that he was following the orders of the Persian king and guarding the Near East waters - he hoped that the Persian fleet could assist the Asia Minor army and intercept the landing in Asia Minor. The sea transportation line of the Greek army was limited, and in the end Pharnabazus had to ask the coastal city-states in western Asia Minor to form a new fleet.

Arithaka rejected Pharnabazus partly out of selfish motives: the Phoenicians and the Greeks in Asia Minor competed in business, and the two races had considerable grievances in history (mainly led by the Phoenicians). The Persian fleet composed of Greeks 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 the news that "the newly formed Asia Minor fleet was ambushed by the Dionian fleet and the entire army was annihilated", although he was glad that he did not agree to Fanabazus's request, he also felt very uneasy at the same time: After the Dionian fleet took control of the western waters of Asia Minor, its next target is likely to be the Near East waters!
Therefore, he not only stepped up his patrols in the Near East, but also stepped up the training of the entire Persian fleet. For this reason, he severely punished several Cypriot and Syrian generals who did not obey orders, and he received the full support of the Persian king.

Not long after, another important news came from the south, "The King of Dionia personally led an army to land in Egypt." Both the Jews and the Phoenicians began to panic because they realized that the Dionia army Is it true that we are going to invade Persia from Egypt!

However, more than a month later, there was no movement from Egypt's Dionian army. The Persian general stationed in Gaza City sent reconnaissance cavalry 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 many times, requesting the Persian fleet to send clippers to the Egyptian coast to spy on the movements of the Dionian army.

Yalitaka agreed to the request and sent clippers to the Egyptian waters many times. However, most of them never returned. The crew members who finally escaped reported to him that the Dionians had arranged many battles in the Egyptian waters. The boats are patrolled and heavily guarded, making it difficult for clippers to get close to the coast.

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

During this period, the Phoenicians had been looking forward to the arrival of the Persian army, but according to news from Babylon, the Persian army had been stationed near Baghdad, not far from Babylon, and had no intention of moving westward 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 to fully mobilize its military. The Persian king is still waiting for the elite Persian and Scythian troops stationed in Persepolis in the east. people, and Indians with very different tactical styles...

Among the many rumors, there was one saying that caused uneasiness among the Phoenicians. "The King of Persia was afraid of the power of the Dionysian army, so he needed more time to gather more troops before he could confront him."

Yalitaka does not pay attention to these rumors. What he cares about is to ensure the safety of the Near East waters before the arrival of the Persian king himself. Therefore, every day he will arrive at the fleet headquarters in the largest military port in Cyprus very early and listen carefully to the instructions of his respective patrol teams. Report to learn whether there are any abnormalities in the entire Near East sea area.

On the last day of March, Yalitaka came to the fleet headquarters as usual. Everything was as usual. He thought it would be another peaceful day. Unexpectedly, at dawn, a patrol ship The ship quickly returned to the military port, and the captain hurried into the headquarters and reported to Yalitaka in panic: A huge Dionian fleet was discovered in the southern waters of Cyprus Island!

Then one patrol ship after another continued to rush back to the military port. Yalitaka couldn't help but be surprised when he combined the information they found out: there were about a hundred ships in a fleet composed of troop carriers and cargo ships. The escort of the Dionian warship sailed towards Cyprus...

The Dionians' intention is very obvious, they want to capture the island of Cyprus! ... Yalitaka suddenly became nervous. Of course, he understood that if he wanted to prevent the Dionian army from landing on the island of Cyprus, or even completely destroy the troop transport fleet in the sea, he must first defeat the escort fleet. Dionia Fleet, this will definitely be a large-scale 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 admirals of Phoenicia and Cyprus reached a rare agreement quickly. opinions, formulated a battle plan, and then rushed to the military port where the fleet he led was anchored as quickly as possible, and urgently ordered the crew to board the ship and leave the port.

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The first and second fleets escorted the Dionysian troop transport fleet. When setting off from Egypt, the first fleet guarded the right side of the entire fleet, and the second fleet guarded the left side, almost protecting the troop transport fleet in the middle. They were arranged into a relatively tight mixed formation of more than a mile wide and three or four miles long.

A few hours after the departure of the First and Second Fleets, the Third Fleet, as a reserve force, escorted the baggage fleet loaded with supplies and also set out from the port of Naukratis towards Cyprus.

But after several days of continuous sailing, the huge ship formation composed of the First and Second Fleets and troop carriers was no longer as neat as when it first set off. Although there was no storm during the voyage, the strong southerly storm the day before yesterday The wind also caused more than a dozen Crow warships and troop carriers to capsize. The entire ship array was blown away, and it took most of the day to get back together.

And in the early hours of this morning, due to the influence of heavy fog and changeable sea winds, it was not until daylight that Sekerian received the news: the entire ship formation was once again dispersed, and the first and second divisions of the First Fleet were The fleet, most of the Third Squadron of the Second Fleet, part of the 4th Squadron, and nearly 100 troop carriers were still gathered together, while the other ships were missing.

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

For this reason, he then ordered that the ship he was in should slow down 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 it is daytime and there are no constellations in the sky. No matter how experienced the guide is, he cannot determine his position. He can only roughly judge that the entire fleet is still heading in the direction based on the rising sun. Travel northeast.

But Sekerian's distress did not last long. He received news from the clipper lookout who was directly in front of the fleet: a small warship was spotted ahead, and it quickly turned around and sailed away.

Is it a patrol ship of the Persian fleet? ! ... Sekerian was not surprised but overjoyed: Found traces of Persian ships here, doesn’t this mean that the Persian military port is nearby!Perhaps the island of Cyprus is not far ahead? !
He made a prompt decision and sent two more clippers to explore along the direction where the Persian warship disappeared.

While waiting for the news, several small Persian warships appeared near the fleet one after another, and then quickly drove away.

The situation has become very obvious. There must be a Persian military port nearby. After these Persian patrol ships go back to report, there will probably be a Persian fleet coming to intercept. However, at this time, more than half of the Dionian warships are missing, and they are facing them head-on. The enemy is likely to be at a disadvantage, and the situation is a bit grim! ...But after thinking for a moment, Sekerian decisively issued an order: all ships raised their sails and accelerated toward the northeast.

At the same time, he left two clippers, stayed where they were and waited for the return of the clippers searching for the remaining fleet, and then rushed to the island of Cyprus with the found fleet and fleet.

It can be said that Sekerian's decision was quite risky, but due to his prestige in the navy, no one of the naval admirals and ship owners present dared to express any objection, so the entire fleet had to speed up and head north.

About 20 minutes later, they encountered a clipper that went to explore the route 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 not-so-strong southerly wind, the fleet approached the island of Cyprus after 10 minutes.

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

Under the guidance of the guide, the fleet sailed around the west side of the island of Cyprus to the beach where it can be landed.All the warships were guarding the outer edge of the troop transport fleet. The lookouts climbed onto the masts and stared at the movements of the outer sea with their eyes wide open.

Knowing that there was no enemy defense on the beach where he landed, and no Persian fleet appeared in the surrounding waters for the time being, Sekerian breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his adventure was successful: although the fleet was discovered by a Persian patrol ship, However, due to the sudden incident and the rapid movement of the fleet, even if the Persian fleet or the enemy forces on the island of Cyprus received the news, they obviously did not have enough time to prepare for a counterattack.

But Sekerian did not dare to take it lightly. He knew that the Persian fleet might appear at any time, so he ordered the crew and soldiers of the fleet to seize the time, replenish food and water, and restore their strength.

More than 4000 Dionian Legion soldiers finally landed on the beach and began to unload supplies from the cargo ship in batches.

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

　Thanks to Suiyuan Reading and Suiyuan Tou and Lamperucci for the reward!Your support is my motivation to write!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)