ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 464 The Great Battle of Taranto ([-])

The strict confidentiality measures implemented by Sekerian in the navy played a role, so that the people did not know much about it. Only a few people vaguely heard drunk sailors talking about it in the tavern: "That thing seems to be called a crow." , it is said that it was designed by King Davos and can be used to defeat enemies..."

"It turns out to be the invention of King Davos!" The people who heard the answer suddenly realized. They seemed to have a little more confidence in victory because of their absolute trust in Davos, and did not ask more carefully how to defeat Scylla with that device. Kuza people.Of course, even if I asked, the other party wouldn't be able to tell me why.

"How to use this strange thing? Is it really designed by father?" Adoris, who was sitting on the slave's shoulders, curiously asked Henepolis next to him.

Facing this life-and-death battle, Davos's mansion could not maintain its previous calm. Not only Cynthia, Adoris, and Little Crow clamored to come to see Davos off, but the two ladies were also very moved. .But Christoya had just given birth and was weak, and she also had Eunice to take care of, who needed to breastfeed at any time; Agnes's belly was getting bigger and she had difficulty moving, so it was very dangerous to be in such a noisy and crowded crowd, so Neither of them could come, so they had to entrust Henipolis to bring four or five male and female slaves to take care of the three children.

Henipolis, who carried little Clown on his shoulders, was a little embarrassed when he heard this, because Daves had never told him about the Dionia Navy. He coughed twice, He said perfunctorily: "Yes, of course."

The smart Cynthia glanced at him with a half-smile but did not expose him.

At this time, the crowd burst into even louder cheers: I saw a larger and longer majestic warship coming from the military port. Different from other warships, this warship had a A statue of Pluto is particularly dazzling.At the same time, there was a man standing at the bow of the ship. Different from other soldiers, he was wearing bright silver armor. Only the crown of his helmet was decorated with a unique black tassel, which hung down to his back, greeting him. Facing the rising sun in the east, his whole body exuded dazzling light, like a god.

The cheers of the people reached its peak.Yes, they recognized him, because they had just pushed him into the kingdom, and now the king who was deeply loved by Hades was going to the battlefield to fulfill his promise. He was the one on whom their confidence and hope depended. Where!
"King Davos, Wan Sheng!!!" The cheers grew louder and louder, mixed with the screams of several children: "Father, come on! Father Wan Sheng!"

Amidst the deafening noise and facing the huge crowds of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, it was certainly impossible for Davos to see his child. He just smiled and waved non-stop.

The warship sailed into the sea, and the sky suddenly widened and the sea suddenly widened, which immediately gave Daves a feeling of insignificance. However, the sound of oars and flutes from warships only a few dozen meters away enveloped him, making him feel He realized he was in a huge fleet.

He turned to look at the coast not far away: the people were following the warships along the coast, supporting the old and the young...

Davos deeply understood what they were persistently pursuing. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down to overcome the discomfort caused by being used to fighting on land and suddenly switching to the sea.

Following Davos's warship out to sea was the flagship of Navy Commander Sekolian. Sekolian moved much more freely on the ship than Davos. He first walked from the stern to the bow and inspected it again. After the whole ship came to the top mast, they raised their heads and shouted: "Have you found anything?!"

The lookout on the mast immediately replied: "General, there is no news yet."

Sekerian clenched his fists and saw that Davos's boat ahead might be a little slow due to too many people. He seemed to be less anxious. He calmed down and issued an order: "Let the entire army slow down to normal speed. go ahead!"

The normal speed of a trireme is about eight knots (i.e. 15 kilometers per hour). Considering that the entire fleet went to sea for the first time, the cooperation was not proficient enough, and the triremes merged from various city-states. The ship shape and specifications are different. For example, Crotone's warship is lighter and narrower, which is better for assault; Ligem's warship is wider and thicker, which is easier for defense... The size difference of the trireme warship, which is the main force of naval warfare, There will inevitably be a difference in speed, so before contacting the enemy, Sekerian adopted a more cautious attitude to avoid the fleet becoming disjointed during the march.

For this reason, he then said: "Raise the flag of Apollo!" Apollo is the sun god, and drives the cloud chariot with golden light every day. The flag of Apollo mentioned by Cyklian is actually a flag dyed golden. The slender linen cloth was pulled up to the main mast by ropes and spread out against the sea breeze. Its meaning is: with the main ship as the center, the fleet shrinks inward, and the ships on the front, rear, left and right are spaced apart from each other. About 20 meters.

This is also a cautious combat attitude, keeping the entire fleet within the control of Sekerian.

"Woo!..." The extremely long bugle sound echoed on the sea. The watchmen on every warship could see the golden flag. Then the entire ship array began to lower its oars from the outside to the inside. speed, close to each other.

The reduction in the speed of the warships also allows the people on the shore to barely keep up with the fleet's forward speed. However, the fleet is moving away from the coast. Even if the fleet is shrinking its formation, there are 150 triremes, plus other warships, a total of 200. The Dionian fleet of [-] warships spread out and occupied an area of ​​five or six nautical miles. It sailed southward in a mighty manner...

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Leptinius was a little tired of carrying out such raids every day. Deep down, he resisted this brutal act of killing civilians. Originally, he just wanted to lure Dionia's fleet in this way. came out for a decisive battle, but the Dionian fleet was like a turtle, hiding in the port and not coming out. This made Leptinius feel that he was full of energy but had nowhere to use it.

But his brother Dionysius paid more and more attention to this method of harassment. It is said that Dionysius got some inside information from Crimissa and Asprostum. Due to frequent visits, The attack affected the transportation of food from Dionia to the southern front, and the soldiers in the two cities began to have a tight supply of military food.Therefore, Dionysius ordered Lepthenes to intensify and increase the number and intensity of attacks on the long stretch of coast from Crimesa to Thurii, especially Castellon.

It had been rainy and muddy for several days in Crotone, and the Syracuse army had difficulty even camping, let alone attacking the city.Since he could not attack by force for the time being, Dionysius had other ideas.Yesterday he sent an envoy to Castellon in an attempt to turn Castellon over to Syracuse.He even considered allowing Leptinius's fleet to carry tens of thousands of soldiers to destruct the inner territory of Dionia, undermine the morale of its people, and reduce the confidence of its allies in Dionia. .

At the same time, Dionysius also sent an envoy to Tarantum to discuss whether to send reinforcements so that they could work together to seize Heraclea as soon as possible and truly invade the territory of Dionia from the northeast.

As the commander of the navy, Leptinius does not have to think so much. He only needs to lead the fleet every day to keep an eye on the north when the soldiers and sailors come ashore to rob, to prevent the sudden attack of the Dionian fleet, so Leptinius Tygnes had his fleet cruise in waters far away from the landing site, so that he could be out of sight and out of mind.

Just as he was taking a nap in a makeshift tent on the deck, the captain of the flagship shouted excitedly: "General! General! Good news! Good news!"

"What good news?" Leptinius rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"The clipper came just now to report that the soldiers who came ashore to rob captured a prisoner. He confessed, 'Their consul Davos has returned and was elected king by the people yesterday. The new king also promised that today He will personally lead the Dionian navy to fight and repel us!'"

"Davos is going to lead the navy to fight?!" Leptinis suddenly became energetic: He doesn't care what king Dionia chooses, he only cares that the Dionia fleet, which has been hiding in the Craty River, finally wants to came out, and it was led by Archon Davos, whom his brother had always been afraid of.

He jumped up: "Where is the prisoner?!"

"The prisoner has been brought aboard, right at the bow!"

Leptinius immediately strode towards the bow of the ship and saw the seemingly timid and honest Dionian.

The prisoner was trembling with fear. Not only did he reveal all the information he knew, but he also begged Leptinius to release him and not sell him as a slave.

Leptinius said to him in a happy mood: "If what you confess is true, not only will you not become a slave, but you will also get my reward!"

The prisoner immediately swore loudly to the gods: everything he said was true!

Leptinius ignored him and turned to the captain and said loudly: "Send a signal immediately and let the fleet go north! Send out all the clippers and give me a comprehensive search! Whoever discovers Dionia first Fleet, whoever will get my generous reward!”

"Yes, General!" The captain also became excited. After conveying Leptinius's order to the clipper approaching the flagship, he turned around and shouted to the cabin below the deck: "Sluggards, move! Move!" ! Piper, paddle twice as fast! Double paddle speed!"

The sound of the horn, the sudden turn of the flagship, and the sudden acceleration of the speed caught the attention of the neighboring warships, and they immediately made corresponding changes, and quickly transmitted this change from the inside to the outside.

Note: Some readers questioned that the Greek trireme warship could not be 60 meters long, it may be 60 feet.According to the archaeological excavation of the port of Piraeus in the current city of Athens, the remains of the three-layered paddle warship moored there have a maximum size of 121.5 feet (37 meters) at the bottom of the ship alone. According to the documents left over from ancient Athens: Athens was the largest The wealthy banker Parson served as a "trireme warship sponsor", and the warship he invested in was 52 meters long and 8 meters wide.As the ship of His Majesty Davos, I slightly increased the length of the ship to 60 meters, which should not be too exaggerated.

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(End of this chapter)