v8 Chapter 355： Carthage Naval Battle (1)

After giving the order, Morbar led the other warships towards the Dionya fleet.

"General, the Carthage fleet has rushed towards us, the number is equal to us!" The lookout hand on the flagship main mast reported to Midolades the slogan from the front.

Midorades realized that the plan had been successful, and that the Carthage fleet had been lured out of the port, and the decisive battle was before him, so he shouted, "Horn the bugle! Raise the stars and the red flag!"

The words of Midolades were introduced into the flagship basement. These third-fleet sailors repeatedly won battles during this period of time and received several awards from King Daphs and the Ministry of Military Affairs. The morale was very high. I heard the orders from the fleet officer. Orders, all of them are invigorated, ready to make new achievements.

At this moment, the captain's voice came from the deck again: "The warship is advancing! Speed ​​up!"

"Attention! Speed ​​up the pulp!" Sailor Captain immediately repeated the command loudly to remind all the crew.

The piper blew the treble double-pipe flute, and the whistle gradually accelerated. The leading paddlers on the first floor listened to the rhythm, and the wooden paddles were pushed forward and backward. Tier 1 operation ... The flagship, which was basically static, began to move forward, as did other warships.

After hearing the bugle from the rear and seeing the semaphore, the warships of the 1st Fleet immediately stopped playing with the remaining Iberian cargo ships and adjusted their bows towards the The Carthage fleet that departed from the east sailed.

The captains of the more than 10 Carthage warships who rushed to the front heard the horns frequently heard from the rear, and then saw Dionys, who was spreading out in front of the array and quickly pressing himself too far. The Asian Fleet was embarrassed, and the sailors were subconsciously instructed to slow down the speed of the war, waiting for the warships from behind to come in, so as to integrate into the array and attack together.

Although they are all developing in the same way, due to the existence of more than 10 Carthage warships, the two sides are only one mile away. The starry ship array of Dionia is almost complete, and Carthage The fleet's double-column formations are just prototypes.

The situation was a little urgent, but Morbar didn't panic, because he heard Barriques' arrogant laughter: "Old man, let's go up first! The people at the port are looking at us, and you have to let your men add Keep up your efforts, otherwise you will perform badly in this battle. After returning to the port, I am afraid they will be scolded by the people! Hahaha ... "A small Canadian Tai Chi merchant ship is passing by the side of the flagship, manipulating the sails. Barricos was laughing out loud.

Morbar didn't express his dissatisfaction with Barricos's arrogance, instead he faced Barricos and solemnly saluted.

Almost all Carthage merchant ships passed the Carthage warships, and the owners spoke loudly to encourage sailors to fight, and the captains of the warships marched to the Carthage merchant ships passing by and watched These merchant ships, which are less than one-fifth the length of a warship and petite in size, rushed towards the Dionian fleet. While being encouraged, they were also worried about them.

But there was no fear in Barricus's face. He flexibly manipulated the sails, and by the weak southwest wind, made the entire merchant ship gallop forward like an arrow. He shouted: " Dionysians, your grandfather Carthage is back! "

Facing the increasingly near and taller Dionysian warship, his spirit became more and more exhilarated, because he could once again humiliate the Dernians.

When Midolades learned from the lookout mouth that the Carthage fleet actually sent some merchant ships to the front of the ship formation, he was surprised: Although he knew that the Sicilian fleet had suffered a failure before because of some ship-handling skills The superb Carthage merchant ships played an important role in it, but what he didn't expect was that the Carthage Fleet actually involved these non-combatant ships in the official battle, which is unheard of!

"Tell all warships to ignore these merchant ships, maintain their fleet formation, speed up, and meet the Carthage fleet!" Said Midolades in a deep voice.

The flagship captain reminded a little in a dilemma: "General, your orders ... are not easy to convey!"

Midolades immediately understood that, over the years, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the Navy gradually explored and perfected the fleet semaphore system under the prompt of King Daphs, but never thought that civilian ships would participate in the battle. Of course, also No semaphore was produced in this regard.

Midolades thought for a while and said, "Hone the bugle, raise the green flag, and urge the fleet to speed up!"

Midolades hoped that His Majesty's warships would ignore the provocations of Carthage merchant ships, but he obviously overestimated the captain's and crew's ability to strictly enforce orders. Although the Third Fleet was established for many years, most of the Prior to this war, the crew had little combat experience, but successive wins raised their spirits very high. Now it is the first time to face the provocation of the Carthage merchant ship that boldly shuttles between warships. Peeing at them, spitting at them, and laughing at them with fingers ... A variety of humiliation methods were unbearable even to Sicilian Captain Seclian, let alone these young and captains and crew.

At the beginning, some Captains of the Dionysian warships saw these weak merchant ships coming to the side of their warships. Although they still remembered the orders issued by the flagship, they could not help but deflect the warships slightly and press them against the enemy ships. In the past, they thought that just the waves generated by warships were enough to cause these boats to make huge bumps or even capsize. If the hulls were gently touched, they would be broken.

However, when most Carthage merchant ships avoided the collision of Dionysian warships lightly and made more ridicule, some Captains and the crew of Dionysian were enthusiastically stirred up. They Nor did the warships make larger moves, but continued to crowd the merchant ships, but in this way, the interval between ships was shortened.

The shrinking of the space did bring a lot of trouble to the Carthage merchant ships. Just the rapid turbulence between the two warships caused some commercial ships to bump up and down, even if they escaped the squeeze. Because of the loss of flexible control of the ship for a while, he could not avoid the collision of the coming warship.

However, the sacrifice of the Carthage merchant ship caused a lot of chaos in the entire ship array of the Dionian Third Fleet. The warships hindered each other and had to slow down ...

After learning about this situation in the rear, Midolades was worried and angry, but there was no immediate effect. He could only order the captain to raise the three green flags at the same time, and let the bugler sound the bugle. As a warning, all warships must strictly follow orders.

At the time of the Dionysian fleet's efforts to restore the ship formation, the Carthage fleet had arranged the double-column formations they were most familiar with. The morale of the crew was struggling to slide the paddles, and the ships rushed forward. Dionia fleet.

At noon, 130 battleships of the Carthage Fleet and 143 battleships of the Dionya Third Fleet officially kicked off the battle at the sea near the Port of Carthage.

The people of Carthage have been crowded along the coast not far from the naval battle. The nearby Utica and other Phoenician allies have also come one after another. The entire beach has three floors and three outer floors. The sea of ​​people.

Everyone hoped that the Carthage fleet would be able to smash the Dionysian fleet that threatened the safety of their homes. The people of Carthage port even shouted the name of Barricos in unison, although in the past the arrogant shipowner let them Stay away, but his bold and adventurous actions last and this time have won the respect of the people, and even regarded by young people as heroes.

Compared with the hustle and bustle of people on the coast, the Tai Chi veterans who stood on the breakwater watching the battle were much quieter, and the atmosphere was more dignified.

"Anobas, do you think this naval battle ... Can we win?" Taipanlaco signaled at Hanno's eyes ~ www.novelhall.com ~ whispered to ask the former navy commander.

Had it not been for Hanno and Morbar to protect him, Anobas would have been unable to escape the severe punishment imposed on him by the Senate. Now that he has managed to escape the calamity, he has been idled, and even the elder's identity has been deprived. This time, if it wasn't because the veterans were too close to winning the battle, a naval expert who can accurately determine the situation on the battlefield would be required to provide advice, and he would not be called from home.

But at this time, Anobas could not see the sadness on his face, but was excited: "Master Morbar's tactics are very effective. Our merchant ship has disrupted the formation of Dionia, and our fleet is seizing it. This great opportunity to launch an offense will inevitably have an advantage in the beginning ... "

After listening to Typanrac, he sighed softly, and his expression relaxed, and he said with hope: "I hope this advantage can be maintained to the end, and we can finally win this naval battle!"

Okliton, who had already returned to Carthage, sighed and said, "If this naval battle is won, our negotiations with Dionia will become much more talkative!"

After he returned to Carthage, when the Senate introduced the harsh conditions of Dionysian's negotiations, the elders were uproar. Almost everyone expressed their resentment against Dionysian's demanding requirements. Everyone expressed different attitudes on whether to continue negotiations.

The Hannoists believe that this is the first time that Dionia has proposed the peace talks, and Carthage can fully argue in the subsequent peace talks, and eventually the two sides reach an agreement. However, from the current battlefield situation, the Dionysian army occupies a clear advantage. If the situation does not change in the future and a peace settlement is finally reached, Dionysian will definitely gain a little more. This is helpless. The Senate must recognize the facts and accept it.