ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 756 The Great Battle of Selinus ([-])
Suddenly, the lookout blinked, hooked his right hand and right foot on the mast, leaned his whole body forward, put his left hand under his forehead, his eyes widened: under the dim sky in the distance, several black spots appeared on the sea... ...After a while, the black spot doubled in size, and after a while...

The watchman was excited and immediately shouted: "Enemy ship found! Dionia's fleet is coming!!..."

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The news that "The Second Dionian Fleet defeated the Iberian Fleet on the north coast" made Sekerian itchy. Although as the commander of the Sicilian Fleet, he also had a share of the credit for the victory of this naval battle, he did not bother to go. Steal Flarios's battle glory.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 about to attack Selinus, he saw an opportunity, so after discussing with Leotizides, he formulated a plan: by besieging Selinus, he would lure the Carthaginian fleet to rescue from the sea. , so as to achieve the purpose of having a decisive battle with it.

In order to ensure victory in the decisive battle, Sekerian also transferred the Second Fleet stationed in Messina, bringing the number of Dionian fleet warships in Sicily to 600 and 485 triremes. This is A huge number that Seclian was convinced the Carthaginian navy could not match.

Seclian sent many clippers to the south coast of Sicily every day, and some even ventured to the west coast to explore the enemy's situation.

But for several days, the Carthaginian fleet still saw no movement, and Leotizides could not sit still, because although the Dionysian army pretended to attack the city of Selinus, it also caused some casualties to soldiers every day. What's more, after stationing troops in the city for a long time, there was Lilibi's army not far away, ready to move. Although its strength was not very strong, the Iberian army in Palermos worried him, not to mention that the distance was not close. Not too far away, once several Carthaginian armies attack at the same time, the Dionian army, which does not have much advantage in strength, will be in trouble.Therefore, Leotizides believed that he could no longer wait and must immediately capture Selinus with all his strength to gain a foothold for the Dionysian army to enter western Sicily controlled by Carthage.

Of course Sekerian objected. His reason was: as long as the Carthaginian fleet is defeated, the Dionian navy can gain absolute superiority at sea. The coast of western Sicily is under the control of the Dionian Sicilian fleet. The help to land troops will be even greater.

He advised Leotyzides to be patient and wait a little longer.

The two sides argued, but a letter from Davers and the Ministry of War settled their dispute.

In the letter, Davos asked Leotyzides to strengthen his attack on western Sicily.Davos had higher demands on Sekerian, hoping that he could completely defeat the Carthaginian navy, cut off the maritime connection between Carthage and Sicily, and even threaten the basic city of Carthage.

Therefore, this letter forced Leotyzides to agree to continue the plan of "luring the Carthaginian fleet".

Early this morning, the movement caused by the large-scale gathering of Carthaginian warships on the sea of ​​​​Lilibi could not escape the eyes of the Dionysian clipper survey.

When the news was quickly sent back to Agrigento, Seclian was overjoyed and immediately ordered: all warships to assemble and prepare to go out!

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

But Sekerian has always been famous for his boldness and courage in combat. Even in middle age, this characteristic of his has not diminished. Moreover, he finally waited for this opportunity, how could he let it pass, so he resolutely said: "Gatha Everyone dares to go to sea, why can’t we!”

In early March of the 14th year of the Kingdom of Dionia (i.e. 3 BC), at noon on the third day after Davos led the army, left Thurii, and headed north to Latium, the Sicilian fleet of Dionia together with The Carthaginian navy was encountered off the coast of Selinus.

Under the strange weather of dense clouds, dark sky, but no wind or waves, what can be said to be the largest naval battle in Greek history began.

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After learning that the Dionian fleet had appeared, Annobas was a little surprised, but at the same time he was relieved.He stared out the window, thought for a moment, and quickly made a decision: "The warships in the front moved forward to meet the enemy according to the original route; the warships in the middle moved eastward and spread out as far as possible on the right side of the front; the Iberian fleet in the rear followed closely Follow the front fleet to prevent the Dionian warships from breaking through the interception and then attack the rear fleet.

The reason why Annobas made such a deployment is because according to his understanding of this sea area, although it is calm now, judging from the weather, it is likely to be windy and rainy, and there is a high possibility of southwesterly winds. Taiji warships must first occupy a favorable position with the upper hand to facilitate later operations.

Seclian did not think so long-term. He deployed the main First Fleet near the coast, and sent the Third Fleet led by Flarios to face Carthage's expanding flanks.

His idea was to use all his strength to defeat the enemy on the front, and then assume a posture of attacking the rear to rescue Selinus's fleet, forcing Carthage's deployed formation to retract for rescue, which consumed the enemy's physical strength. , can also make Carthage's ship formation chaotic.

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"Flute! Flute! Flute!..." The speed of the sailors pushing the wooden oars continued to speed up with the sound of the double-tube flute. The crow warship in the front of the Dionysian ship array was advancing rapidly, and the bow of the ship was split. Time and time again, the sea water fell on the suspension bridge erected next to the front mast, and the water splashed everywhere, almost turning the 12-meter-long wooden bridge into a wave board for the warship.

Stefankas, he was a sailor in the Dionysian Navy during the South Italian War. He was proud that he experienced all the battles in which this newly built fleet defeated the powerful Syracuse Navy. Now he Already the commander of the second squadron of the first fleet of Dionia, he is commanding the ship to charge at the forefront of the ship formation, and is about to engage in battle with Carthage, the most powerful maritime hegemony in the Western Mediterranean.

But he was far less excited than the sailors. Instead, he calmly paid attention to the oncoming Carthaginian warship. He felt that the opponent's speed was not very fast. With his rich experience, he immediately realized that the opponent was probably not prepared to fight with him. His warship collided head-on, but controlled the inertia of the warship so that he could flexibly avoid the front and avoid being caught by the crow suspension bridge.After all, the unique tactics of the Dionian navy are no secret, not to mention that the Carthaginians were still defeated in naval battles before, so I am afraid they have taken precautions.

"Prepare to intercept!" Stefankas loudly ordered decisively.

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

Two warships were rapidly approaching.

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

The helmsman swings the rudder, the sailor on the left reduces the force on the oar, and the sailor on the right increases the force on the oar. The warship quickly rows diagonally to the left and forward.

This is a very dangerous tactical maneuver. It actively exposes the waist of the warship to the collision angle of the enemy ship. It is undoubtedly a taboo in today's naval battles, even for the Dionian warship with the crow suspension bridge. It is also quite dangerous because the distance is too close and the enemy ship is moving at high speed. If the crew is not focused enough and cooperates well, it is very likely that the warship will be hit by the enemy before the drawbridge can be lowered.

But Stefankas is full of confidence in the skills and tacit cooperation of his crew. This confidence comes from the results of rigorous training day after day, year after year.

Even so, the suspension bridge operators still operated with high intensity: some quickly rotated the suspension bridge according to the direction of the enemy ship's attack; others quickly loosened the rope tied to the mast, holding it tightly while tightening it. Staring at the approaching enemy ships, shouting... There were beads of sweat on everyone's face, and the muscles on their arms bulged due to tension.

Originally, the Carthage captain had prepared to deflect the warship to avoid the attack of the opponent's Crow Suspension Bridge, but the Crow warship in front suddenly hit the side, which was beyond the Carthage captain's expectation, and he was stunned for a moment.

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

He understood immediately and hurriedly issued an order: turn the warship 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 Dionysian warship was moving in the same direction as their warship, and its speed was increasing instead of decreasing.

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

After Annobas knew the combat characteristics of the Dionysian fleet, he was not unprepared. During this period, he asked Carthage and the allies to make a large number of daggers for the sailors, because only such light and compact weapons can It won't affect their paddling, while also giving them a little ability to defend themselves and counterattack.

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

In addition to not wearing the standard equipment of the heavy infantry of the Dionian Legion, the training intensity of these Dionian fleet infantry is not weaker than that of the army. Not only do they need to be proficient in dagger thrusting, shield and sword attack, and checkerboard formation , javelin and charge, team battle coordination... In addition, they also put more energy into two trainings: rapid landing operations and long-distance swimming.

Therefore, the fleet infantry of the Dionian fleet can be said to be well-trained, and the Carthaginian sailors were equipped with daggers. Although it caused them a little trouble, it soon collapsed under their rapid attack.

(End of this chapter)