Battle of Taranto - Mediterranean Hegemon

"At least come and take a look at our little Eunice, right?" Asuna bent down, speaking softly to the baby in the wooden stroller.

The originally quiet little Eunice, seeing a familiar person approach her, immediately cried "Ya, ya," waving her hands and feet, kicking off the thick woolen blanket covering her.

"Madam, look, even little Eunice is protesting!" Asuna said jokingly while covering the baby with the blanket. Only in Davos's mansion, which treated servants kindly, and because Asuna was Christoia's confidante, would she dare to speak like this.

Christoia looked at her daughter, her bright eyes sparkling with tenderness. She remembered something and sighed softly, saying, "Little Kloro didn't see his father when he was born either. Who told Daonia to always be at war..."

Just as the three were sighing, crying came from the front yard.

It was little Kloro! Agnes and Asuna's expressions changed, and Asuna quickly said, "I'll go take a look."

"No need to go. With Henni and Cynthia there, what's there to worry about?" As a mother, Christoia was much calmer than Agnes and Asuna.

Due to the expansion of the war, Daonia continuously drafted young adults to the front lines. Many institutions in Turii ceased operation due to a lack of manpower. The same was true for schools. Guards and instructors either joined new legions, became sailors, or joined transportation teams.

Although teachers were specifically protected by law in Daonia, out of concern for high-quality talents, and did not have to go to the battlefield, they were still arranged by the city hall to go to places where they were needed to contribute to the war effort, such as becoming statisticians in the military affairs department, or bookkeepers for logistics transportation...

As a result, the school's teaching fell into stagnation. Moreover, without the protection of guards and instructors, the safety of the students could not be guaranteed, so Anistanos had to announce: the school is temporarily closed.

For safety, Cynthia, Adoris, and little Kloro were ordered not to go out. The little ones, who were bored at home, were excited to see their long-lost older brother Henni Polis return and eagerly pestered him to play.

The youthful Henni Polis had no choice but to take them to the sports field in the front courtyard and play a catch game with a rugby ball (because the children were older and full of energy, Davos simply demolished the pool in the front courtyard and converted the entire area into a small sports field so that the children could play happily and exercise at the same time).

The four-year-old Kloro naturally followed his older brother and sister, running back and forth excitedly, and accidentally tripped and fell to the ground, crying loudly.

Adoris, who was having fun, said impatiently, "There's no blood, what's there to cry about!"

Cynthia glared at him.

Adoris immediately stopped talking. He had always been somewhat afraid of his older sister, who was two years older than him.

Cynthia went over, helped the crying Kloro up, gently brushed the dust off his body, and then said softly, "Little Kloro, you are a brave warrior. Warriors don't cry."

Little Kloro, who often followed Adoris at home and wanted to be a brave soldier, immediately wiped his face with his little hand and said, pouting, "I didn't cry!"

"Okay, let's take a break." Henni Polis, panting, sat down on the side of the field. Unlike the citizens of the alliance who regularly undergo military training, he spent most of his time in the academy consulting materials and practicing writing. He lacked exercise, and he had just been a ball-grabber, running back and forth with these energetic children, quickly exhausting his strength: "I'll tell you a story."

"What story?" Adoris asked immediately, interested. Henni Polis was good at telling stories and used to tell them to the children.

"The story of Hades' wife, the goddess Persephone, and the sea monster. I collected this from Sicily last time. You've definitely never heard it before."

"I want to hear it!" Adoris shouted immediately.

"I want to hear it too!" Little Kloro shouted even louder.

Cynthia didn't say anything and quietly sat down next to Henni Polis.

When Aristilas walked into the mansion, he happened to see three children sitting around Henni Polis, listening intently to his vivid storytelling.

Seeing this heartwarming scene, Aristilas naturally thought of the news he had just received about the "Alob Mas Rebellion," and couldn't help but sigh...

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

On the morning of December 6th, the weather was clear, the sky was cloudless, and there was a gentle breeze.

Davos gathered all the soldiers of the First and Second Legions in the military camp, and then led them to the foot of the Hades Temple, where many people and senators of the Senate had already gathered.

Davos took the lead in going up the mountain, followed by the senators of the Senate and the two legion commanders.

Chief Priest Pleisinas was already waiting in front of the temple. A group of people led by Davos walked solemnly into the Hall of Hell of the Hades Temple.

Davos looked up at the statue of the King of the Underworld, holding a double-pronged fork, with black hair flying and eyes wide with anger, and felt a sense of intimacy in his heart: From the time he was reborn to the present, he had forged an indissoluble bond with Hades, and now he was resting with him. As long as Daonia existed, the Davos royal family would inevitably be one family with him, offering sacrifices to him and being blessed by him...

Thinking of this, Davos knelt down piously and saluted, and then said loudly: "Just and selfless God Hades, your earthly kingdom of Daonia is surrounded by war and in danger. Your son (ie, Davos himself) is about to lead his troops in a desperate battle with the Syracuse people, hoping to be blessed by you and return with a great victory!"

After speaking, Davos stood up, lit an oil lamp, and respectfully placed it on the offering table in the center under the statue.

Then, Pleisinas led a black calf specially selected from among many Lucanian cattle. It seemed to know its fate, but when Davos pressed it with his left hand, it did not bark or jump.

Davos drew his short sword, touched its back neck, hardened his heart, and stabbed it hard with a sword. The calf wailed and fell to the ground and died.

The priests quickly carried it to the sacrificial table, opened its abdomen, and took out its internal organs for examination. How could the internal organs of a healthy calf have lesions? Therefore, after carefully examining it again, the divination priest said loudly: "Auspicious omen! It is an auspicious omen! !"

Everyone's expressions relaxed, revealing joy, chanting the Hades hymn, and watching Pleisinas solemnly offer the fresh blood to the statue...

In addition to the Hall of Hell, Davos and the two legion commanders also worshiped the Shrine of Heroes...

"Dong! … … Dong! … …" A long and powerful bell rang nine times from the mountain, one sound stronger than the other. The people and soldiers at the foot of the mountain became excited.

"It's an auspicious omen! It's an auspicious omen! ! … …" When Davos and his party came down from the mountain, the foot of the mountain had become a sea of joy, as if they had already won the battle.

Just as Davos led the First and Second Legions to the military port, in the military port, Secrian was mobilizing nearly 30,000 sailors before the war: "Brothers, you have been training hard for so long, and today you will finally fight the enemy at sea. Yesterday, I was summoned by Davos... Your Majesty to discuss the naval battle. Several legion commanders also accompanied me. They actually dissuaded His Majesty from fighting the Syracuse people at sea, saying something like, 'Our navy has just been established and has no experience. It is impossible to be a match for the Syracuse people.' I argued with them, but they scolded me instead, saying, 'Our navy has no merit and is not qualified to talk to them...'"

Secrian's words made the sailors feel angry, and he took the opportunity to shout loudly: "Fortunately, the wise King Davos said, 'He believes that the sailors of Daonia will fight bravely like citizen soldiers and bring victory to the alliance!' Brothers, let us not disappoint His Majesty's expectations and tell the proud army with a glorious victory that we are also heroes in the hearts of the people! And with this victory, we can also obtain citizenship faster like the legion soldiers (because most of the sailors are free people)! Get the allocated land faster! Brothers, for your better life in the future, let us have a good fight and defeat the Syracuse navy!"

"Defeat the Syracuse navy! ! !"

"Long live the Daonian Navy! ! !"

"Long live His Majesty Davos! ! !"

… …

The sailors, who were made enthusiastic by Secrian's speech, raised their arms and shouted, and the shouts made the people who were getting the news and rushing to the coast look sideways. Even Davos, who was on the way, heard their shouts and couldn't help but smile: "The navy's morale is very high!"

Although there was some quarrel with Secrian yesterday, before the start of the battle, Amintas also put those small disputes behind him and said happily: "This is very good, we have also increased our chances of winning."

"Now I order—" Secrian looked around at the sailors, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly: "Drag the boats into the water! !"

The sailors immediately ran to the shipyard where their responsible warship was stored.

Warships that are not fighting are usually stored in dry docks, regularly exposed to the sun to prevent shipworms, which are extremely harmful to ships, from surviving, and to replace and maintain rotten planks, thereby ensuring the lifespan of the warships. Therefore, the military port of Turii is different from the commercial port. It does not have a pier, but the river bank is built into a sloping embankment with a certain angle, and shipyards are built on the embankment. After the warship enters the port, the sailors will drag the warship along the slope of the embankment into the dry dock for storage.

Because this military port in Turii was built in a hurry and was not carefully planned in advance, not only was each shipyard built simply, but the area also seemed cramped. It extends eastward from the Temple of Hera to the part of the riverbank outside the market. This section of the Crati River is densely packed with shipyards of various sizes on both sides.

At that moment, the sailors rushed into their respective docks, pulling the ropes at the front and pushing hard at the back. Amidst the orderly shouts, one after another, three-tiered oar warships, each about 50 meters long, slid smoothly into the Crati River like dragons entering the water, splashing large swathes of spray…

In the blink of an eye, the wide mouth of the Crati River near the sea was filled with warships, almost cutting off the river's flow. The river's current was already slow here, but now it was even slower.

The sailors tied the ropes to wooden stakes on the shore, securing the warships, and then set up wooden ladders. One by one, they quickly boarded the ships and skillfully installed the raven's beak boarding bridges. After confirming they were functioning properly, the sailors went down into the cabins through the deck entrances, found their seats, and pulled out wooden oars from the troughs, extending them through the oar ports and installing them on the oar seats.

The three-tiered oar warship's cabin had three levels: the bottom level was equipped with 54 oarsmen on each side, the middle level also had 54 oarsmen, and the top level had the most, with 62 oarsmen. Because the top-level oarsmen were close to the oar ports and could see the oar blades moving in the seawater, their position was the most important. They served as the lead oarsmen, guiding the middle and lower-level oarsmen to row in unison.

After the 170 oarsmen were in position, the boatswain walked back and forth in the aisles of the cabin. He was responsible for supervising the oarsmen, maintaining rowing order, and boosting the oarsmen's morale.

The helmsman walked to the stern. He was the core of the entire ship, controlling the rudder and the warship's direction. He had to be the most experienced sailor to destroy enemy ships and preserve his own in the heat of battle.

The piper sat in the center of the aisle near the deck entrance. He was responsible for receiving the captain's orders and controlling the rowing rhythm.

The captain was the commander of the entire ship, responsible for directing the battle.

In addition, there were three lookouts stationed at the bow, stern, and mast, constantly reporting enemy movements and instructions relayed by the fleet to the captain.

Today, considering that they would soon be engaged in a coastal battle with Syracuse, the sails were not hoisted or even carried, but left in the dock to reduce the warship's burden. Therefore, the ten deck sailors responsible for raising and lowering the sails and controlling the ship's navigation had one less important task. Besides taking up bows and arrows to deal with enemies approaching the ship, their more important task was to operate the 'raven's beak boarding bridges' to pin down approaching enemy ships.

At this moment, the army led by Davos also entered the military port. Secilian, Midolades, and other naval officers quickly came forward to greet him.

"Your Majesty, the fleet is ready and can set off at any time!" Secilian said excitedly after saluting Davos.

"Have you spotted the Syracusan fleet?" Davos asked calmly.

"Yes!" Secilian immediately replied, "Our fast ships previously reported that, 'Dozens of Syracusan warships have appeared and are cruising near the coast of Castron. It seems they are preparing to land there, so their main fleet must be not far away!'"

Davos looked at the naval officers led by Secilian. Their eyes were all filled with fiery gazes. He smiled and said, "It seems you can't wait. Then what are we waiting for? Let the legion's soldiers board the ships!"

"Yes!" Antonios and Amyntas responded in unison, and then immediately ordered the company officers behind them: "Board the ships!"

Soon, all the soldiers of the First Legion and a small portion of the Second Legion, led by their squad leaders, ran in an orderly fashion towards the riverbank. According to the areas they had trained in yesterday, they found the three-tiered oar warships assigned to their squads and boarded the decks in order. By this point, the total number of people on a Daonian three-tiered oar warship approached 240.

Davos stood on the embankment, overlooking the densely packed legion soldiers on the riverbank, dividing into streams of metallic threads, surging towards the warships, dyeing the yellowish-brown river surface (the color of the warships) black…

Having never experienced naval warfare, Davos couldn't help but feel a surge of heroism in his heart, temporarily dispelling the tension. He turned to Amyntas and said, "After we set off, you will lead the remaining soldiers of the Second Legion to the port. Marige has already prepared freighters for you. As soon as you receive news of our victory, set off!"

"Understood, Your Majesty!" Amyntas nodded and then looked at Secilian, giving him a solemn military salute.

Just as Secilian was wondering why Amyntas, who had just had a slight conflict with him yesterday, would do this, he heard Amyntas say in a deep voice: "Secilian, His Majesty's safety is entrusted to you!"

Secilian understood. He immediately returned an equally solemn military salute: "I will protect His Majesty's safety with my life!"

"May you have a great victory at sea!"

"May you have a victorious land battle!"

The two soldiers stared at each other. The previous minor conflicts had vanished at this moment, leaving only the common will to fight against the enemy.

"Let's board the ship too. Don't keep the soldiers waiting," Davos said, waving his hand.

"Yes!" Martius waved the military flag. The commander of the guard, who had basically recovered, found Davos yesterday afternoon and insisted on going into battle to kill the enemy. Davos had no choice but to let him return to his post.

"Your Majesty!" Cunogolatus led the senators, each with a solemn expression, stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Davos. They didn't say much, but the weight of this salute entrusted the safety of the entire alliance to Davos, because this battle would determine the rise and fall of Daonia.

Davos smiled again and said loudly: "Wait for the news of our victory!"

Then he led the guards down to the riverbank. By this time, the legion soldiers had basically boarded the warships, so the riverbank did not feel crowded. From time to time, sailors and soldiers from the fleet waved and greeted and paid respects to Davos, who responded with a smile to each of them.

Finally, he arrived at his flagship, the largest three-tiered oar warship in the entire fleet. It was 60 meters long and five meters wide, equipped with 188 oarsmen. The bow sloped into the water, with a solid and sharp metal ram at the front end, and the stern was upturned, similar to a scorpion's tail. Countless wooden oars stretched out from the front to the back on both sides of the hull, resembling the legs of a centipede. This was a luxurious warship from Ligium, originally designated as Secilian's flagship.

After Davos and 60 guards boarded the deck, a man wearing a leather helmet and short clothes rushed to Davos, saluted, and said somewhat nervously: "Your… Your Majesty, I am Miltiades, the captain of this ship!"

Davos smiled and returned the salute: "Miltiades, I am very happy to fight with you!"

"Your Majesty, the sailors… wanted to greet you, but because of their duties, they can't…" Miltiades made a slightly embarrassed request in a low voice.

Davos said without hesitation: "I was just about to greet them." After speaking, he took the lead to the entrance of the warship's cabin.

The deck of the three-tiered oar warship was not a single piece, but two pieces of deck running from the bow to the stern, with a gap of more than one meter wide in the middle. Therefore, the cabin was not sealed. The oarsmen in the cabin could see the blue sky above by turning their heads through the gap. Therefore, even though there were nearly 200 oarsmen in the cabin, this open structure prevented them from feeling stuffy.

When Davos appeared in the cabin, the entire warship was boiling.

Davos did not disappoint the oarsmen's enthusiasm. He ignored the narrowness of the aisles on the middle and upper levels, and painstakingly climbed up and down, bending over to ask each oarsman's name and shaking hands with them to show his respect.

After walking this journey, although he was not wearing a helmet, he was already a little out of breath, but he stood in the aisle in the center of the first level and still shouted excitedly: "Brothers, I am very happy to fight with you. Let us fight together and win this naval battle!"

"Long live King Davos!!"

The oarsmen cheered in unison, attracting the attention of the sailors on the neighboring warships, each showing an expression of envy: to be able to fight on the same ship as King Davos, what a great honor that would be, these lucky fellows!

At this time, a unique naval bugle call came from the nearby Daonian flagship. The oarsmen stopped cheering and began to sing loudly, singing hymns praising the gods, of course not dedicated to Hades, but to Poseidon, the lord of the sea. This was a prayer for safe and successful navigation.

In order to integrate into the navy, Davos had spent half a day learning this ancient ritual. At this moment, he also sang loudly with the oarsmen.

Captain Miltiades handed him a wooden cup filled with grape wine. Of course, this wine was not for drinking. Davos held it with a solemn expression, walked to the bow, shouted the name of Poseidon, and sprinkled the wine into the river.

The hymn to Poseidon resounded on both banks of the Crati River, boosting the spirits of the uneasy senators. Then, standing on the embankment, they saw the warships at the forefront leaving the riverbank one after another, one closely following the other out of the military port…

"Let's go, let's go to the seaside," Cunogolatus said to the other senators.

No one objected. In the life-and-death contest that was about to begin, although they could not personally be on the battlefield, they also wanted to cheer for the warriors.

It was not only the senators who had this idea. All the people of the Daonian League who could come came. The elderly, women, children, citizens, prospective citizens, free people… etc., tens of thousands of people gathered at the mouth of the Crati River. Every time they saw a warship sailing out, they would let out a tsunami-like cheer to encourage their participating relatives.

"That ship! My child is on that ship!"

"Did you see that! The person waving is my brother. He is the captain!"

"My husband is in the ship with the number 'three' written on the side. I can't see him because he is an oarsman."

…

The people cheered and shouted the names of their relatives, and many people asked similar questions: "There is a strange long wooden board erected next to the mast at the front of the warship. What is that?! I have never seen it on the warships of other city-states!"

The strict secrecy measures that Secolian implemented in the navy worked, so that the public knew very little about it. Only a very few people vaguely heard drunken sailors in taverns talking about it: "That thing seems to be called the Raven. It is said to be designed by King Davos and can be used to defeat the enemy…"

"So it was King Davos's invention!" The people who heard the answer seemed to suddenly understand. Because of their absolute trust in Davos, they seemed to have a little more confidence in victory, and did not ask more carefully how to defeat the Syracusans with that device. Of course, even if they asked, the other party would not be able to explain why.

"How is this strange thing used? Was it really designed by Father?" Adoris, sitting on the shoulders of a slave, asked Hynippolis curiously.

Faced with this life-and-death battle, Davos's mansion could not maintain its usual calm. Not only Cynthia, Adoris, and little Clorus clamoring to come and see Davos off, but also the two madams were very tempted. However, Christoia had just given birth and was weak, and she also had Eunice to take care of, who needed to be breastfed at any time; Agnes's belly was getting bigger and she was inconvenient to move around. It was dangerous to be in such a noisy and crowded crowd, so neither of them could come. They had to entrust Hynippolis to bring four or five male and female slaves to take care of the three children.

Hynippolis, who was carrying little Clorus on his shoulders, looked a little embarrassed when he heard this, because Davos had never told him about the Daonian navy. He coughed twice and said perfunctorily: "Yes, of course it is."

The clever Cynthia glanced at him with a smile, but did not expose him.

At this time, a greater cheer erupted from the crowd: A larger and longer majestic warship sailed into the military port. Unlike other warships, a statue of Pluto was placed on top of the warship's middle mast, which was particularly dazzling. At the same time, there was a person standing on the bow of the ship. Unlike other soldiers, he was wearing bright silver armor. Only the top of his helmet was decorated with a unique black tassel, which hung down to his back. Facing the rising sun in the east, his whole body radiated dazzling light, like a god.

The cheers of the people reached their peak. Yes, they recognized him, because they had just pushed him to the throne of the kingdom. Now this king, deeply loved by Pluto, was going to the battlefield in person to fulfill his promise. He was the source of their confidence and the hope of their hearts!

The cheers of "Long live King Davos!!!" rose one after another, mixed with the screams of several children: "Go, Father! Long live Father!"

In the deafening sound, Davos, of course, could not see his children in the crowd of people on both sides of the coast. He just smiled and waved non-stop.

The warship sailed into the sea. Suddenly, the sky and the sea widened, immediately giving Davos a feeling of his own insignificance. However, the sound of oars and flutes ringing from the warships only a few dozen meters away surrounded him, making him realize that he was in a huge fleet.

He turned his head to look at the coast not far away: The people were along the coast, helping the old and the young, constantly following the warship forward…

Davos deeply understood what they were persistently pursuing. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, so as to overcome the discomfort caused by being accustomed to land combat and suddenly switching to the sea.

Following Davos's warship out to sea was the flagship of the navy commander Secolian. Secolian's actions on the ship were much more free than Davos's. He first walked from the stern to the bow, inspected the entire ship again, and then came to the middle mast and shouted: "Any discoveries?!"

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

Secolian clenched his fist. Seeing that Davos's boat in front might be a little slow because of the large number of people, his mood did not seem so anxious. He calmed down and gave the order: "Let the entire army proceed at below normal speed!"

The normal speed of a trireme is about eight knots (that is, 15 kilometers per hour). Secolian considered that this was the first time the entire fleet had gone to sea to fight, and the cooperation was not yet proficient enough. Moreover, the triremes merged from various city-states had different shapes and specifications. For example, the warships of Croton were lighter and slender, which were conducive to assault; the warships of Regium were wide and heavy, which were convenient for defense… The size difference of the triremes, which were the main force of naval warfare, would inevitably cause speed differences. Therefore, before engaging the enemy, Secolian adopted a more cautious attitude to avoid the fleet from being disconnected before and after during the march.

For this reason, he immediately added: "Raise the flag of Apollo!" Apollo is the sun god, driving a cloud chariot every day with golden light. The flag of Apollo that Secolian said was actually a long and narrow linen cloth dyed golden yellow. It was pulled up the main mast by ropes, facing the sea breeze, and unfolded. Its meaning was: With this ship as the center, the fleet contracted inward, and the distance between the ships in front, back, left, and right was about 20 meters.

This was also a cautious combat attitude, keeping the entire fleet within the range that Secolian could control.

"Woo!..." An extremely long bugle sound echoed on the sea. The lookouts on every warship could see the golden yellow flag. Immediately, the entire ship formation contracted inward from the outside, and each warship began to reduce its oar speed and move closer to each other.

The reduced speed of the warship also allowed the people on the shore to barely keep up with the fleet's advance, but the fleet was moving away from the coast. Even with the fleet contracting its formation, the Daonian fleet, consisting of 150 triremes and other warships, a total of 200 ships, spread out and occupied an area of five or six nautical miles, sailing majestically south…

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Leptines was getting somewhat annoyed with these daily harassment operations. Deep down, he was against the brutal act of slaughtering civilians. Originally, he only wanted to lure the Daonian fleet out for a decisive battle, but the Daonian fleet was like a tortoise, hiding in the port and refusing to come out, which made Leptines feel like he had a lot of energy but nowhere to use it.

However, his brother Dionysius increasingly valued this kind of harassment. It was said that Dionysius had received some internal news from Crimisa and Asprustum. Due to the frequent attacks, Daonia's transportation of grain to the southern front was affected, and the supply of military rations to the soldiers in these two cities began to tighten. Therefore, Dionysius ordered Leptines to strengthen and increase the frequency and intensity of attacks on the long stretch of coast from Crimisa to Thurii, especially on Kastron.

In Croton, it had been raining continuously for several days, the land was muddy, and the Syracuse army was having difficulty even setting up camp, let alone attacking the city. Since a strong attack was temporarily impossible, Dionysius came up with other ideas. Yesterday, he sent an envoy to Kastron, attempting to make Kastron side with Syracuse. He even considered having Leptines' fleet load thousands of soldiers to carry out large-scale destruction in the heartland of Daonia, Strike its people's morale, and reduce its allies' confidence in Daonia.

At the same time, Dionysius also sent an envoy to Tarentum to discuss whether to send reinforcements in order to quickly seize Heraclea together and truly invade Daonia's territory from the northeast.

As the naval commander, Leptines didn't need to think so much. Every day, he only needed to lead the fleet to keep a close eye on the north when the soldiers and sailors went ashore to loot, to prevent a sudden attack by the Daonian fleet. Therefore, Leptines had his fleet cruise in the waters far away from the landing site, so that he could avoid seeing it and being bothered by it.

Just as he was dozing off in the makeshift tent he had set up on the deck, the flagship captain's excited shout came: "General! General! Good news! Good news!"

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

"Just now, a fast boat reported that the soldiers who went ashore to loot captured a prisoner. He confessed that 'their Archon Davos has returned and was elected King by the people yesterday. This new king also promised that he will personally lead the Daonian navy into battle today to defeat us!'"

"Davos is going to lead the navy into battle?!" Leptines was immediately invigorated: He didn't care about Daonia electing a king, he only cared that the Daonian fleet, which had been hiding in the Krati River, was finally coming out, and it was led by Archon Davos, whom his brother had always been somewhat afraid of.

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

"The prisoner has been brought on board and is at the bow!"

Leptines immediately strode towards the bow and saw the seemingly timid and honest Daonian.

The prisoner trembled in fear, not only revealing all the information he knew, but also begging Leptines to release him and not sell him into slavery.

Leptines said to him with a happy mood: "If what you have confessed is all true, not only will you not become a slave, but you will also receive my reward!"

The prisoner immediately swore loudly to the gods: What he said was the truth!

Leptines ignored him and turned to shout to the captain: "Immediately send a signal to have the fleet head north! Send out all the fast boats and give me a full search! Whoever finds the Daonian fleet first will receive my generous reward!"

"Yes, General!" The captain also became excited. After relaying Leptines' order to the fast boats approaching the flagship, he turned and shouted to the cabin below the deck: "Lazybones, move! Move! Piper, double the rowing speed! Double the rowing speed!"

The sound of the horn and the flagship's sudden turn and sudden increase in speed attracted the attention of the nearby warships. They immediately made corresponding changes and quickly transmitted this change from the inside out.

For a massive fleet consisting of nearly 300 trireme warships and another 50 other warships, executing a complete tactical maneuver takes a considerable amount of time. However, the well-trained Syracusan fleet undoubtedly shortens this time significantly.

Led by a dozen or so fast ships far in the lead, the entire fleet sailed mightily towards the sea near Thurii…

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Midolades, the commander of the Daonian sub-fleet, was positioned at the very front of the entire fleet, serving as the navigator. This position required the captain to not only have extensive navigation and naval battle experience but also to be familiar with the fleet's tactics and signals, as well as to understand the purpose of the expedition and the tactical strategies to be adopted. As the vanguard, he also had to demonstrate exceptional bravery in naval battles to set an example for the warships behind him.

Apart from the lack of naval battle experience (most captains in the Daonian fleet lacked naval battle experience), Midolades excelled in all other aspects. It should be noted that when Ananias was sentenced to imprisonment, Davos had also considered Midolades as a candidate for naval commander.

At this moment, this captain was sitting under the mast, resting with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, the lookout at the top of the mast shouted: "Sailboat ahead!"

Midolades immediately opened his eyes wide and looked towards the sea ahead: the vast ocean was only filled with azure blue water and azure blue sky, with nothing else.

But Midolades knew that due to the Syracusan navy's blockade, this once bustling sea area had become almost devoid of merchant ships. Therefore, the ship that could enter the lookout's field of vision was very likely to belong to the Syracusans.

"The sailboat has turned south!" the lookout shouted again.

Without further hesitation, it must be the enemy. They discovered us and are going back to report! After a moment of thought, Midolades decisively shouted: "Blow the horn and raise the warning flag!"

Soon, a long, orange-yellow linen cloth was hoisted onto the mast. The lookout on the flagship, who had been closely monitoring the lead ship, immediately reported: "General, enemy situation ahead!"

"Excellent!" Secrian excitedly struck his fists together and unhesitatingly issued the long-awaited order: "Maintain normal speed for now! Hoist the Starry Banner and prepare for battle!"

A long horn sounded, and a completely black flag was raised on the mast, extremely conspicuous under the clear sky.

Soon, black flags were also hoisted on the flagships of each sub-fleet.

Under the night, full of stars!

This was a tactical formation specially invented by the Daonian navy, utilizing the characteristics of the "Raven's Claw Bridge." It required the fleet's warships to be scattered and staggered like stars in the sky. In this way, the warships would alternately attack and advance like waves, requiring each warship to bravely engage in individual combat while other warships provided continuous offensive protection. This was a mode of orderly melee combat.

"Your Majesty, the enemy has been spotted ahead," Miltiades reported to Davos.

Davos nodded and said, feigning calmness, "Do as you are commanded, and do not report to me specifically, lest it delay the battle."

"Yes!" Miltiades saluted and shouted loudly towards the gap in the deck below: "Normal speed!"

The rhythm of the piper's flute immediately quickened, and the one hundred and eighty-eight oars on both sides of the warship beat the sea. The helmsman at the stern turned the rudder, and the warship gradually moved away from the surrounding warships.

"There's a situation!" An old man among the people watching the fleet's movements on the shore exclaimed: "Our fleet is changing formation!"

In the eyes of ordinary people, there seemed to be no change in the warships densely packed on the sea, but for these old sailors born as fishermen, they keenly noticed the changes in the distance and speed between the warships.

"Have enemies been discovered?!"

"Is the battle about to begin?!"

… …

Everyone asked in a hubbub, their voices filled with concern for the safety of the alliance and worry for the safety of their loved ones.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

More than ten minutes later.

"The Syracusan fleet! Many, many warships!!" The lookout pointed forward and shouted loudly.

Midolades was not surprised. They knew in advance that this was originally a naval battle with fewer against more, and the Daonian navy was at a disadvantage in terms of the number of warships.

"Raise the battle flag!"

A blood-red flag fluttered on the mast.

"General, the enemy has been discovered ahead, prompting battle!"

"Enter battle mode!" Secrian said concisely.

"Woo woo woo! Woo woo woo! … …" The urgent bugle sound was transmitted from the flagship to the neighboring warships, and then to the periphery.

The sailors on each warship began to take action. Under the reminder of the boatswain, they began to swallow the field rations they carried with them, made of oat bread, a little wine, and olive oil. At the same time, they took turns getting up and moving their hands and feet. In fact, they had only been on board for just over an hour, and their physical strength was still very abundant. All they were doing was to make the fullest preparations for the long and intense battle that might follow.

In Midolades' sharp eyes: a wooden pole rose from the extremely distant sea, and then one after another emerged. Soon, the outline of a ship appeared, and then another… In the blink of an eye, the distant horizon began to be densely packed with warships.

"Here they come…" Midolades murmured in his heart.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

At the same time, on the flagship of the Syracusan fleet, Leptines waited for the long-awaited answer: "General, there is a warship in the center of the enemy fleet with golden light shining on its mast. It should be the warship with the Pluto statue you are looking for!" the lookout shouted from the main mast.

Upon hearing this, Leptines exclaimed excitedly: "That prisoner was right! Davos! The Daonian Archon Davos is on that ship!!"

Leptines was very clear that Dionysius had said that in order to conquer Daonia, it would be best to eliminate Davos first. Therefore, his brother had sent assassins to carry out assassinations, but none of them had succeeded. Now, a great opportunity was before him. If he could capture or kill Davos in this naval battle, not only would his brother look at him with admiration, but he could also end this huge war that had almost emptied Syracuse as soon as possible!

"Order, each sub-fleet adopts a double-column formation!" he ordered decisively.

"General, shouldn't we use the encircling tactic?" the flagship captain next to him reminded him.

Leptines shook his head: "Using the encircling tactic takes too much time and also disperses the fleet's impact force. By then, that Davos will be so frightened by the sinking of one warship after another in front of him that he will turn around and run away, which would be troublesome. We have many more warships than them, and our ship handling skills are stronger than theirs. That Daonian Archon thought that this naval battle would be like a land battle, allowing him to win easily, so he dared to attack us rashly. I will crush the Daonian fleet completely from the front and capture that arrogant and conceited Davos!" Leptines said with great pride, and his outstretched right hand clenched into a fist forcefully, as if the new king of Daonia was held in his fist.

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

Midolades stared intently at the front. The Syracusan fleet had completely revealed its shape and was surging towards his side like a tsunami.

Midolades was not intimidated by the imposing momentum of the Syracusan fleet, but instead showed a slight smile: because the Syracusans did not use their advantage of numerous warships to send sub-fleets to the two sides of his own to form a circular encirclement, thereby attacking his own flanks. Because in this way, it would be more difficult for the Daonian fleet to win in battle, and the losses would also be greater. However, obviously the brave Your Majesty's plan to use himself as bait had worked! The enemy had adopted a frontal assault tactic!

Looking at it, the depth of the layers of warships probably exceeded ten ships, and the enemy also occupied the advantage of the wind (at this time there was a weak north wind), but so what?! The Daonian fleet had shortcomings in flexibility and speed because of the "Raven's Claw Bridge" and the number of heavy infantry equipped on the conventional trireme warships (the normal warship infantry configuration ranged from zero to ten people per warship, while the Daonian fleet had a heavy infantry squad per warship). Now, because the enemy did not use the encircling tactic, it was avoided to the greatest extent. Moreover, the Daonian fleet did not rely on speed and flexibility to win, but on close combat!

Midolades' confidence increased greatly. He knew very well that although it now seemed that the enemy's closest warship was still more than two miles away from him, once the speed was increased, a few miles of voyage would arrive in the blink of an eye.

"Attack speed!" After issuing the order, he turned to Xantippus, who was resting on the deck, and said solemnly: "Centurion, the battle is about to begin, please be prepared!"

As the Centurion of the Second Battalion of the First Legion, his senior officer status was completely useless in this naval battle, because it was a battle based on heavy infantry squads. However, he did not want to miss this important naval battle, so he chose to follow the First Squad.

"Inias, it's time for you to give orders," he said to the squad leader, as he did not want to interfere with his subordinate's command.

"Brothers, gather, sort out your equipment, and go down to the cabin, the warship is about to accelerate!" With Inias' order, the heavy infantry sitting on the deck immediately stood up, put on their helmets, picked up their spears, hung their short swords, quickly formed two columns, and went down to the bottom cabin from the entrance between the two decks.

The oarsmen in the cabin did not pay attention to the soldiers who poured in at all. They focused on listening to the speed of the flute and sliding the oars.

"Di! Di! Di! … …" The piper did not immediately increase the rowing rhythm, but gradually accelerated it.

The upper-level lead oarsman's stroke rate also changed accordingly with the flute's sound. Arms pulled back, body leaning backward, legs extended, oars raised; arms pushed forward, body leaning forward, legs bent, oars diagonally inserted into the seawater, as the oarsmen naturally let out a low roar, the oars drew an arc backward in the sea…

Under the lead of the upper-level oarsmen, all the ship's oarsmen rowed with all their might. Their bodies constantly leaned forward and backward, and even the leather seat cushions beneath them slid slightly forward and backward due to the grease applied underneath.

"Ho! Ho!…" The deep chant quickly turned into a unified sound, echoing the rhythm of the flute.

Seven knots! Eight knots! Nine knots! Ten knots!… The warship's speed was rapidly increasing.

Zantiparis felt as if the entire ship was about to float. The oncoming waves became denser and denser, striking the bow and turning into sprays of water, constantly pouring onto the deck with a "Crash" sound…

"Brothers, hold onto the mast and crow's nest, be careful and stand firm!" Captain Midolades loudly reminded the ten deck sailors.

He had barely shouted twice when seawater poured over him, instantly turning him into a drowned rat.

At this moment, no bugle call was needed. The increase in speed of the lead warship was a signal, and the other warships also began to accelerate one after another.

Rows of oars splashed up angry waves. Warships cleaved through the ferocious waves. The sound of unified chants from each ship was a powerful condemnation of the invaders. Facing the fierce and ferocious Syracuse navy rushing towards them, everyone in the Daionesian fleet widened their eyes, filled with anger, ready to fight the enemy to the death!

… … … … … … … … … …

The Daionesian people on the shore, although unable to see the entire battlefield, were extremely nervous at this moment, watching intently as the warships of both sides rapidly approached on the sea.

At this moment, whether they knew each other or not, they held hands tightly, shouting loudly, cheering for their loved ones…

… … … … … … … … … …

As the Daionesian warships got closer and closer, the "crow's beak" swaying above the bow of each warship became clearly visible, which made the sailors on the Syracuse warships feel puzzled. They had never seen such a strange device before, so they were very surprised.

Out of contempt for this "rookie navy" of Daionesia, most of them believed that this was the result of the Daionesians not understanding shipbuilding and recklessly modifying it. With this mindset, their charging speed became even more rapid, and their formation was somewhat difficult to maintain, but they didn't care, because they believed that the Daionesian warships were already in their grasp.

In Midolades's vision: a Syracuse trireme warship was charging towards him diagonally from the front with an imposing manner, the bronze ram at the bow pointing straight at the side of his warship.

He knew that if his warship made a large-scale evasion, it would be very dangerous. Because a few dozen meters behind the enemy ship, another warship was closely following, and it would take the opportunity to ram into his warship's hull, which would be completely exposed due to the dodge. This was the famous "double column tactic" of the traditional Greek navy.

But Midolades revealed a sneer. He didn't need to issue any instructions, the warship's helmsman, who had undergone intensive training during this period, would make the correct response.

Sure enough, during the rapid advance, the warship slightly veered to the right, facing the warship head-on.

Seeing the enemy ship rapidly enlarging in his eyes, Midolades shouted loudly towards the deck below: "Stop rowing!"

"Stop rowing!" The boatswain followed suit and shouted loudly.

The oarsmen immediately pulled their oars back from outside the oar ports, and because of the tension, this process seemed a bit chaotic.

At the same time, the ten sailors on the deck had gathered next to the foremast. Some people had already untied the ropes of the "crow's beak" tied to the foremast, and then worked together to tightly hold it, while the other few turned the pulleys, causing the base of the "crow's beak" to rotate accordingly.

The Syracuse warship captain saw the Daionesian warship charging head-on at the bow of his ship, and that a small part of the oars on the right side were still left outside the ports. He was overjoyed: Although he failed to ram the hull, cutting off its oars would also affect the rowing speed of this enemy ship.

Just as the warships of both sides were about to pass each other, he turned around to prepare to go down to the cabin to take temporary shelter, because at such a close distance, it was the time for the archers on both decks to show their power. At this moment, he heard a loud "boom" sound, and the strange device on the bow of the Daionesian warship fell straight down, slamming heavily on the deck of his own warship. The entire warship was shaking, and the huge force actually slowed down the forward momentum of the warship.

Then, the captain heard a shout from the opposite side: "Brothers, it's our squad's turn to play!"

Under the captain's astonished gaze, dozens of Daionesian heavy infantry soldiers wearing black armor emerged from the opponent's cabin and quickly rushed onto the Syracuse warship through that device.

It turned out to be a small wooden bridge! The captain realized it at this time, but it was already too late. How could the few Syracuse deck sailors who rushed forward to meet the enemy be a match for these wolf-like Daionesian soldiers? They were either stabbed down by sharp short swords or knocked into the sea by long shields…

The remaining sailors and lookouts, facing the Syracuse heavy infantry rushing to their eyes, could only raise their hands in panic, but the Daionesians obviously did not intend to capture them, and stabbed them to death one by one.

The captain was so frightened that his legs went weak and he collapsed on the deck.

Then he heard someone say: "He is the captain, we still need him to steer this warship."

"A helmsman is enough!" As soon as the other voice fell, the cold short sword slashed across his neck, and blood flowed profusely.

Two soldiers rushed to the stern to capture the helmsman, while the other soldiers rushed directly into the cabin.

The oarsmen in the cabin were already panicked, and stood up from their leather cushions, wanting to escape.

The soldiers of the First Platoon of the First Battalion of the First Legion of Daionesia shouted: "Quickly return to your seats!" At the same time, they waved their long shields and short swords, and started killing.

Although there were more than 170 strong men in the cabin, they only thought about escaping, like a plate of loose sand, and their naked bodies had no protection at all.

Soon, the cabin was full of corpses lying in disorder and wounded people moaning and struggling, and the entire space was stained red with blood.

The remaining oarsmen were so frightened that their souls were scattered, squatting in the narrow cabin, raising their hands high.

"Roll back to your seats, hurry up!" At this time, the stern shouts of the Daionesian soldiers played a role.

The remaining oarsmen on this Syracuse warship trembled all over and sat back on their leather cushions.

Zantiparis and squad leader Inias looked at each other, their eyes filled with joy and disbelief: This was the first time they had encountered such an easy battle, and they had captured a trireme warship so easily!

Although Sekelian had repeatedly declared in previous training: The "crow's beak" will change the tactics of naval warfare and bring glorious victory to Daionesia!

Only after personally experiencing this battle did Zantiparis truly realize how much the seemingly ugly "crow's beak" had played!

This is all thanks to King Davos's genius idea! Zantiparis exclaimed in his heart, but this was not the time to sing praises. He restrained his mind and said to Inias in a low voice: "Take 30 brothers back to the ship, I'll take care of things here."

"Battalion commander, are 20 soldiers enough?" Inias asked with some worry.

Zantiparis glanced contemptuously at the Syracuse oarsmen who were still shivering: "Actually, only ten people are enough."

Inias no longer declined, because they all knew that the battle had just begun.

Inias led 30 soldiers, quickly boarded the deck, and returned to their own warship through the "crow's beak". The remaining soldiers laboriously pulled out the sharp nails that had been tie into the deck at the end of the crow's beak. The deck sailors on the other side pulled tightly on the ropes tied to the crow's beak together, and reeled back this 1.2-meter-wide, 12-meter-long wooden bridge with low railings on both sides, and hung it on the foremast. The Syracuse warship was then able to break away.

"Turn the rudder, steer towards the sea, or I'll take your life!" Under the threat of the Daionesian soldiers' gleaming short swords, the Syracuse helmsman had no choice but to obey.

In the cabin, Zantiparis stood in the aisle full of corpses and blood, with 15 fierce soldiers, roaring fiercely: "Listen to me! Pick up your oars and row obediently! Otherwise—" Zantiparis said, and stabbed the short sword in his hand forcefully downwards to the side, immediately piercing the chest of a wounded oarsman lying there.

The dying oarsman's shrill scream echoed in the cabin. The oarsmen who had already been frightened were too scared to disobey.

"Nor… Normal… Speed…" The piper's teeth were chattering as he spoke.

The warship sailed crookedly towards the coast, and several soldiers stood on the bow, belly, and stern of the deck, their striking black armor reminding the other Daionesian warships to avoid being mistaken for the enemy.

Just as Midolades's warship used the "crow's beak" to connect with the enemy ship, another Syracuse warship was also rapidly approaching. The captain and sailors did not understand why the two ships in front did not separate after colliding, but instead kept touching each other. However, rich combat experience and habitual "double column" combat coordination made them unhesitatingly turn the warship a small corner, preparing to rush towards the weakest middle part of Midolades's warship.

And not far behind the left rear of Midolades's warship, a Daionesian warship was also rushing forward rapidly.

"Charging speed!" the captain shouted loudly.

"Di di di! Di di di!…" The piper played the double-barreled flute almost non-stop.

At this moment, the oarsmen were in a state of high excitement and tension. The frequent leaning forward and backward caused the splashes of water just stirred up on both sides of the warship to not disappear before another layer of waves rose, forming two white parallel lines…

13 knots!!

Under the full power of all the oarsmen, the warship rushed straight towards the enemy ship ahead at a terrifying speed of 13 knots (24 kilometers per hour), under the control of the helmsman.

This forced the Syracuse warship to abandon its intention to attack the Miltiades warship and instead meet the Daonian warship head-on.

"Smash that one first! Then I'll take care of you!" The Syracuse captain thought confidently, looking at the Miltiades warship left behind.

"Oars in!" he shouted, watching with satisfaction as the oarsmen quickly retracted their oars, the warship about to pass the Daonian warship with its powerful inertia.

At this moment, the 12-meter-long strange device on the bow of the Daonian warship fell with a "bang", the pointed nails at the top piercing the deck, wood chips flying everywhere.

Amidst the exclamations of the Syracuse sailors, dozens of Daonian soldiers in black helmets and black armor rushed onto the deck via the 'Raven's Bridge', and another massacre began...

......

The Syracuse navy, which did not take the Daonian fleet seriously, charged forward fiercely, while the Daorian fleet bravely met them head-on without showing any weakness. On a battle line several nautical miles long, the two sides fought fiercely, intertwined.

However, in most cases, as the 'Raven's Bridge' slammed down, it hooked the Syracuse warship, turning the naval battle into a land battle, rendering the Syracuse people's excellent ship handling skills completely useless. Instead, the Daonian legion detachments were like tigers entering a flock of sheep, easily capturing the enemy's warship.

Within half an hour of the start of the naval battle, the Syracuse navy had nearly 40 trireme warships captured.

The wide sea prevented every Syracuse captain in the battlefield from seeing the overall losses, but they also felt the strangeness: once the enemy warship was hooked by the strange device on the Daonian warship in front, many enemy soldiers emerged from the cabins and rushed onto the deck of their own warship through the device. Soon, they saw their own warship withdraw from the battlefield, while the Daonian warship continued to rush forward...

The captains in the rear of the Syracuse fleet had already realized: they could not directly confront the Daonian warship, but should rely on their excellent ship handling skills and better maneuverability to avoid the device on the bow of the enemy ship, and instead attack the flanks and rear of the enemy ship...

......

This large-scale naval battle unfolded fiercely in the offshore area between Thurii and Kastron, not only worrying the Daonian people,

but also attracting the attention of the Kastronians.

Amikles, the general of Kastron, and the members of the council, also gathered with the people on the coast, watching the progress of this naval battle, because it was not only related to the rise and fall of the Daonian League, but also to an important decision of Kastron.

The Syracuse envoy arrived in Kastron yesterday. The General Executive Committee and the Council led by Amikles did not receive him, but they did not drive him away either, but allowed him to board the ship and go ashore to 'rest' in the hotel, which already indicated a change in the psychology of the Kastronian upper echelons.

Although Kastron and Daonia have been in close contact in recent years, and both sides regard each other as the closest allies, the Kastronians even take pride in being able to participate in various celebration activities in Thurii, just like a family. However, an alliance is, after all, just an alliance, not a union. The disastrous defeat of the Southern Italian League's southern line, and the outbreak of war and political instability within Daonia, allowed the Kastronians in the hinterland of Daonia to directly feel the panic of the Thurii people from their initial pride to the present. The large number of Syracuse's naval and land forces and the terror of slaughtering the Sicilians were all shaking the Kastronians' trust in the Daonian League.

Syracuse is, after all, not Kroton. When the Second Kroton War broke out, Kroton, which had already been defeated once, did not lose Kastron's confidence in Daonia even when its army was pressing down. However, this time, the even more powerful Syracuse army was led by Dionysius, the tyrannical tyrant who had defeated the powerful Carthage. His military might had already made the Kastronians feel terrified. Looking at the destroyed farmland, the burned villages, and the slaughtered people outside Kastron, the Kastronians were both angry and helpless.

When they learned that Davos had led his army back to Thurii and had already led the Daonian fleet to fight the powerful Syracuse navy, all the Kastronians excitedly came to the seaside, praying for Daonia to win out of respect for Davos and anger towards Syracuse.

However, for Amikles and other city-state leaders, although they also pinned their hopes on the invincible Daonian Consul, the Syracuse navy was far too powerful...

"What if... No! As long as Daonia cannot win this naval battle, this bay will be completely Syracuse's. By then... we can only find a way out for ourselves..." Amikles thought painfully, looking at the many warships moving quickly on the sea in the distance...

......

On the Syracuse flagship at the rear of the fleet, Leptines thought he had misheard. The lookout on the main mast told him that his own warships were frequently withdrawing from the battlefield, and that the Daonian warships were not only rarely sunk, but were also continuing to advance.

"General, according to the reports from the fast ships, the Daonians have installed a wooden bridge in front of their warships, and have also equipped a lot of heavy infantry in the cabins. Once the wooden bridge is set up, those heavy infantry will rush over, and our sailors on board cannot resist at all. Now Kleandros and the others are no longer confronting the Daonian warships head-on, but are using our excellent ship handling skills and rich naval battle experience to deal with the Daonians. In this way, the Daonian warships, due to the installation of the wooden bridge and the loading of too many soldiers, are much slower and less flexible than us. I believe the battle situation will soon change!" The flagship captain comforted him.

Leptines' depressed mood improved slightly, and he cursed angrily: "Damn Daonians, they only know how to play some petty tricks. What do they think the sacred naval battle is! Poseidon will definitely punish them! ..."

As he was venting his anger, the lookout above suddenly shouted: "General, that warship with the statue on top of the mast is rushing out! It's rushing over! It's rushing to the front of the enemy fleet! I can see a general in dazzling armor on the bow!"

Leptines was stunned for a moment, then cheered up. He shouted loudly: "That's Davos, the Daonian Consul! He's really on the ship! Quick! Order the squadron warships to press on! Sink him! We must sink it! As long as we can kill or capture that Davos, even if we lose more warships, we Syracuse will win!"

Since Syracuse adopted a double squadron tactic, one squadron had ten ships. The bugle sounded, the flagship took the lead in charging, and more than 20 warships followed closely, soon surpassing the flagship.

......

Daonia's Constellation tactic was like the waves stirred by a breeze, with small waves rising and falling, one after another, moving forward continuously.

Davos' flagship continued to rush past one enemy warship after another, finally reaching the forefront of the battle line.

"Increase speed!" Miltiades ordered without hesitation, witnessing the enemy ship charging in front.

The warship suddenly accelerated, flying forward like an arrow.

The two ships were 100 meters apart! 90 meters! 80 meters! ...

Davos swallowed subconsciously and drew the short sword from his waist.

However, the enemy ship suddenly veered to the right.

"To the left! To the left!" Miltiades hurriedly ordered.

But the speed was too fast before, and the turn was too wide. Before the turn was completed, the enemy ship had skillfully drawn an arc, heading straight for the middle of the flagship.

Miltiades was not flustered at this time, but simply ordered: "Continue to turn left!"

The enemy ship's captain watched as the bronze ram got closer and closer to the larger trireme warship, a smug smile on his face...

But soon, his smile froze.

The Daonian warship's heavy hull only slightly veered to the left, and the long plank device on the bow actually rotated more than a hundred degrees, falling directly backward. The ten-meter-long drawbridge was smashing onto the bow deck of his ship, with a "boom", the two ships were connected together. Although the forward momentum of his warship pushed the enemy warship backward, the drawbridge creaked, but it did not damage the enemy's hull at all. Instead, the enemy soldiers rushed across the drawbridge with menacing momentum.

It's over! Seeing that the situation was not good, he didn't care about the warship and the sailors. He gritted his teeth and jumped directly into the sea.

"Your Majesty, please stay here, let me take the brothers over and charge!" Martius grabbed Davos, who was about to cross the bridge, and requested firmly.

Davos did not insist. He knew that with his current status, staying here would reassure everyone.

"Then I'll leave it to you," he said, nodding.

"Brothers, follow me across!" Martius drew his short sword and led the guard, taking the lead in rushing across the bridge. He wanted to make the Syracuse people pay the price for almost losing his life before.

"There's an enemy ship charging towards us on the right front!" The lookout shouted from the mast.

Miltiades and Davos immediately felt nervous. At this moment, the flagship was connected to the enemy ship and could not avoid it at all.

But the flagship of Sekelian behind the flagship quickly met it and locked it with the "Raven".

"There's an enemy ship on the right rear!" The lookout at the stern continued to shout, but after a while, his shouting stopped, because another warship rushed up and connected it together.

Davos was relieved. When he made the crazy plan of "using himself as bait" in advance, Secilian and he had made detailed arrangements for it, deploying more warships around Davos' flagship to protect Davos' safety and at the same time have a final contest with the enemy.

"There's a warship charging from the left front!"

"There's a warship on the starboard side!"

"There's an enemy ship on the starboard side of the stern!"

… …

The three lookouts' exclamations continued, and the Syracuse people launched a frantic attack on Davos' flagship, keeping the nerves of everyone on board strained.

"Drawbridge retract! Drawbridge retract!" At this time, the deck sailors at the bow shouted loudly.

Miltiades breathed a sigh of relief, he shouted: "Retreat backwards!"

At this time, the sea around the flagship was full of warships, two by two, with only a relatively large space in the rear.

The sailors immediately rowed backwards, and as soon as the flagship's speed picked up, the lookout at the stern shouted urgently: "Enemy ship ramming from behind! Enemy ship ramming from behind!"

This Syracuse warship was quite cunning, relying on superb ship handling skills and using the surrounding warships to block the line of sight, it moved like a swimming fish, nimbly shuttling through the gaps between the ships, and quickly approached the flagship, only 40 meters away when it was discovered by the lookout.

Unfortunately, the flagship was rowing backwards, so the distance was rapidly closing, and Miltiades shouted sharply: "Turn to the rear right! Turn to the rear right! … …" He wanted the warship to turn around so that the "crow's beak" could play its role, but it seemed that there was not enough time.

"Row forward! Row forward! … …" He changed his words again.

Although the oarsmen did not understand the situation outside, they sensed something was wrong from the captain's frequent changes of orders and tense voice, and for a moment they became flustered, and some even dropped their oars into the sea.

Seeing the enemy ship's bronze ram charging through the waves, and even being able to see the faces of the enemies on the bow, Davos' heart was in his throat at this moment, but Maltius took the soldiers and rushed up, urgently removing Davos' armor, in case the flagship was sunk, they would take Davos into the sea until rescued.

At this lightning-fast moment, in the narrow gap between the warships (three-tiered warships could not pass at all), a warship darted out diagonally and stood between the enemy ship and the flagship, it was Daonia's 50-oar warship. In ordinary naval battles, the role of the fifty-oar warship is mostly used for reconnaissance, communication, rescue, assisting in boarding operations, etc.,

Generally used as a fast ship. However, when Daonia's fleet began to implement new naval tactics, in view of the weakness of the three-tiered warships equipped with the "crow's beak" in terms of flexibility and speed, Secilian gave the fifty-oar warship a new tactical role, which was to use the characteristics of the fifty-oar warship's small size, flexibility and speed (up to 15 to 16 knots) to block the enemy ship's offensive route, so that the main warship could escape.

In order to ensure Davos' safety, there were naturally several such warships patrolling around the flagship. At this moment, the enemy ship had no time to turn, and the bronze ram directly hit the fifty-oar warship, only to hear a loud "bang", followed by the sound of wood breaking, the screams of sailors and screams, the whole body was cut open a big hole, and seawater immediately poured in, diluting the blood of the wounded… …

The fifty-oar warship sank rapidly under the crushing of the three-tiered enemy ship… …

But the forward momentum of the three-tiered enemy ship had obviously weakened, and eventually stagnated.

Just as its captain shouted in panic, "Row backwards quickly", Davos' flagship had already turned around, quickly approached, and the "crow's beak" smashed down.

Davos shouted angrily: "Avenge the brothers!"

Leading the guards, he personally stormed the deck of the enemy ship… …

… … … … … … … … … … … …

The Syracuse people originally hoped to use their superb ship handling skills and rich naval battle experience to maneuver with Daonia's strange warships, but they were shocked to find that although Daonia's warships were less flexible, that device was unusually flexible, and when it turned and fell in all directions and in various ways, all the warships that approached them could not escape the fate of being hooked and eventually captured.

The Syracuse people were completely frightened.

Due to Leptines' insistence, the assault on Davos' flagship became the final madness. More than 30 Syracuse warships around Davos' flagship were captured, and the Syracuse fleet finally could not hold on… …

Let Leptines shout in a broken voice: "Charge up! Let me charge up! Let me die here! Let go of me, let me drown! Ah ah… …"

How could his captain dare to let him have any accidents. During the previous charge, he had secretly told the oarsmen to slow down the rowing speed, so that the flagship was separated from the assault circle. This time, the naval battle was a complete defeat, and it was even more necessary to ensure that the naval commander returned safely to Syracuse, otherwise the wrath of the plenipotentiary general would be unbearable for them.

The few remaining Syracuse warships turned their heads and fled south in a panic, and the Daonia fleet did not pursue, because their ship speed could not catch up with the enemy ships that were bent on escaping. Most importantly, they still had to rescue the soldiers who had fallen into the water and seize the time to deal with the aftermath.

"Your Majesty, the Syracuse navy is withdrawing—withdrawing! We—we have won! !" Amidst the cheers of the oarsmen and guards, Miltiades rushed to him and reported to him with an unusually excited expression.

Davos looked at the enemies who had disappeared into the skyline, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and replied in a slightly trembling voice: "Victory… …has only just begun!"

… … … … … … … … … … … …

This grand Battle of Taranto, which determined the course of the war, lasted for more than two hours before finally coming to an end.

The Syracuse navy lost 223 warships, most of which were three-tiered warships. The Daonia fleet lost more than 40 warships, half of which were fifty-oar warships. The Daonia fleet, which was at an absolute disadvantage, unexpectedly won a great victory over the Syracuse navy.

A very different scene from other naval battles appeared in the war. The Syracuse navy lost so many warships, but there were very few scenes of warships being sunk, a large number of sailors floating on the sea, and tragic calls. Because a total of 157 three-tiered warships were completely captured by the Daonians, and only needed to be slightly repaired and equipped with their own sailors, they could go to sea to fight, and the strength of the Daonia fleet would suddenly more than double.

This really became a strange thing in the history of Greek naval warfare. Naval battles have always been about fighting fewer and fewer warships, and no one has ever heard of fighting more and more warships.

While the sailors and soldiers of the Daonia fleet were cheering for victory, the shore was also boiling.

The Castronians were cheering. After witnessing a thrilling naval battle, they knew that their homeland would no longer be ravaged by the evil Syracuse people.

This is really a miracle! After seeing the Syracuse warships retreat, Amicles was so surprised that he did not recover for a long time. Although he had a glimmer of hope beforehand, it was only a glimmer of hope after all, but the Daonians actually turned it into a reality! To this, Amicles concluded after a long time: "Hades' oracle has really been fulfilled! After Davos was elected as king, Daonia was really greatly blessed by the King of the Underworld!"

His words were actually recognized by the surrounding Castronian high-level officials, and a member of the council hurriedly asked: "Then… …should we still meet with that Syracuse envoy?"

"No!" Amicles said firmly: "Kill him immediately!"

"This… …won't it be too drastic?" Someone said worriedly: "What if we anger that dictator of Syracuse… …"

"Aren't you afraid of angering our neighbor Daonia!" Amicles reminded them: "We have such close ties with Thurii, and the fact that the Syracuse envoy entered the city will be known to the Daonians sooner or later. What will Davos think at that time, what will the Daonian Senate think! Daonia, blessed by Hades' oracle, has already won such a disproportionate naval victory, and they will inevitably win in the end, just like Athens, blessed by the famous 'wooden wall' oracle of Delphi decades ago, finally defeated Persia. We can only make up for our mistakes and show our determination to be firmly with Daolia through such drastic measures!"

… … … … … … … … … …

The Daonian people cheered for victory even earlier.

When each captured three-tiered warship was forced to sail to the seaside and then sailed north along the coastline into the mouth of the Crati River, every citizen watching the naval battle on the shore cheered and waved desperately to the legion soldiers on the deck. And this cheering continued, because the captured Syracuse warships continued to sail to the seaside.

The other Syracuse warships did not take the opportunity of their slow speed to sink these captured warships, on the one hand, because the Daonia fleet's attack was fierce, leaving them no time, and also because the Syracuse people knew that the people driving these captured warships were their Syracuse sailors, and no one was willing to rashly make such a crazy decision, sending comrades who had been together day and night and trained together into the tomb of death, and once they did so, they would also face the accountability of the city-state's people after returning to their motherland. Moreover, their benevolent naval commander Leptines would not issue such a cruel order.

Therefore, when one captured Syracuse warship after another sailed past in front of the Daonian people, everyone understood that victory was not far away. But perhaps for fear of scaring away this hard-won victory, everyone dared not completely let go to celebrate, until the Syracuse fleet retreated, the joy in the hearts of the Daonian people completely erupted.

"Long live Daonia! ! ! … … "

"Long live the Daonian Navy! ! ! … … "

"Long live King Davos! ! ! … … "

"Long live Hades! ! ! … … "

… …

The people cheered hoarsely, venting the humiliation and fear that had accumulated in their hearts during this period. At the same time, this also made them feel that this victory was not only as onlookers but also as participants, because it was their efforts and persistence that made Davos the king, that made Hades bless this alliance, and that made this immediate victory possible! ! !

Davos has always been the king, and our alliance will always be safe! This belief began to be implanted in the hearts of the people.

At this moment, the big stone that had been weighing on the people's hearts suddenly disappeared, and many people went crazy for it: some howled and cried; some knelt on the ground and devoutly sang the Hymn to Hades; some rushed into the sea and shouted loudly; some excitedly hugged the people around them, regardless of gender, to share the joy in their hearts. Even the little guy Patroclus took the opportunity to hug Cynthia, whom he had always had a crush on.

Even more crazy, some prostitutes in the crowd claimed that they would be free tonight to celebrate Daonia's hard-won victory.

Even the manager of Christoia Restaurant in Thurii excitedly announced in the crowd that tonight, all Christoia Restaurants in Thurii will provide free drinks for guests celebrating the victory.

The cheers of the Daonian people on the entire coast reached their peak.

Just as the people were cheering for the victory, the Daonian fleet, while rescuing the sailors who had fallen into the water, divided half of the warships, gathered them together, and, led by Davos, immediately turned north.

When passing the mouth of the Crati River, 300 cargo ships full of most of the soldiers of the Second Legion also joined them, and they sailed mightily towards the coast of Heraclea.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Starting yesterday, Dao Milas and Yumas, who were outside the city of Heraclea, felt a little confused: the Daonians suddenly strengthened the blockade of their territory, built a sentry post on the banks of the Saraceno River, and sent a company to guard it. Anyone can only enter but not leave.

In fact, Thurii also took the same measures at the Crati River wooden bridge and the south city of Thurii, and even the port was blockaded, and no ships were allowed to leave the Crati River into the sea.

These strict measures cut off Tarentum's news from Thurii all at once.

This made the two leading Tarentum magistrates feel a little uneasy: what happened in Thurii?

After repeated analysis, they finally speculated that the most likely thing was that Davos had returned, because only he had the right to carry out such a tight blockade.

But speculation is speculation after all, and without conclusive evidence, it is impossible to make a decisive decision, and the two magistrates even had a dispute over this.

Yumas demanded that the troops besieging Heraclea be immediately withdrawn and retreated to Metapontum to avoid being attacked by the returning main force of Daonia.

Dao Milas objected, arguing that Tarentum had spent a huge price and finally came to the city of Heraclea, able to invade Daonia's territory, and could not take the initiative to withdraw the siege because of unfounded rumors. If they did so, they would be laughed at by the people of Tarentum and even impeached by the Senate!

After some debate, the two reached an agreement: to send out a large number of scouts every day to cross the Sinni River and destroy the land of Amendolara while scouting whether there were large Daonian troops appearing in the south. At the same time, more pontoon bridges were built on the Agri River to facilitate the retreat of the troops.

They also sent people back to Tarentum, hoping that the Senate could send spies to the city of Castrum, which they had previously looked down upon, in an effort to learn some of the recent situation in the city of Thurii.

In anxious anticipation, a day passed peacefully.

The next morning, news came from the Tarentum fleet that the Daonian fleet suddenly sailed out of the Crati River and encountered the Syracusan navy at sea, and the two sides had already engaged in battle.

The commander of the Tarentum fleet also asked whether the Tarentum fleet should also participate in the battle?

The two magistrates breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the news. They knew without thinking that Daonia's adventurous move was obviously a death wish, but they were very happy to see Daonia's "heroic action" because it would reduce the psychological burden on the Tarentum army. After all, more than a hundred trireme warships were hidden in the Crati River, and who knew which day they would suddenly come out. Syracuse could easily win the battle, but that didn't mean Tarentum could do the same. Therefore, for the two magistrates, the pressure at sea was still a bit high. It's just that now the Syracusan navy rules the Gulf of Taranto, sharing the pressure for Tarentum. If this naval battle can severely damage the Daonian fleet, Tarentum will have no pressure on the sea route at all.

But the two magistrates rejected the fleet's request. Since the Tarentum fleet was defeated by the Metapontum Allied Forces a few years ago, after these years of accumulation, it has finally allowed the fleet to have 35 trireme warships and 20 other warships. There is no need to invest in this naval battle that is known to be victorious, not to mention that even if the Tarentum navy joins, the Syracusans may not appreciate it, and they may even think that Tarentum is trying to steal credit. What's more, although Tarentum and Syracuse have joined forces on the issue of confronting Daonia, Tarentum, as a powerful state in Magna Graecia, has its own dignity.

The two magistrates rejected the fleet's request and told them to report the battle situation after the naval battle was over.

Then they stopped caring about the matter and began to ponder how to conquer the city of Heraclea.

These days, the Daonian and Heraclean allied forces have been quite able to hold their breath, allowing the Tarentum soldiers to ravage the land of Amendolara, and even the soldiers are leading the cattle and sheep they have snatched under the city to scold them, but they still close the city gates tightly and do not come out.

This made the two magistrates very headache: they asked themselves that they did not have the ability to use nearly 20,000 troops to attack a city with more than 10,000 soldiers defending it. It is said that the Syracusans have a powerful siege weapon, and the Senate has sent people to Syllirinum to request a lease from them. I just don't know if that arrogant Sicilian tyrant will agree? If Dionysius does not agree, the Tarentum army can only besiege the city until Heraclea runs out of food. Not to mention that this will take a lot of time, and what's more, the main force of Daonia may return at any time, then Heraclea, which is closest to Thurii, must be the first target they will rescue.

Could it be that Tarentum's opportunity will only come when the Syracusans conquer Croton and the army approaches Thurii? Dao Milas thought unwillingly… …

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

In the city of Heraclea, Trifeas, who had been busy these days appeasing the people, worrying about the city's defenses, and settling the reinforcements, rarely slept in. He had just gotten up and was about to eat breakfast when he heard the servant report that the Daonian general was asking to see him.

To be honest, Trifeas was a little afraid to see this Daonian legion commander, Matonis. In order to protect Heraclea, the Daonians even had their own territory destroyed by the Syracusans. Every time he saw Matonis's eyes burning with anger on the city wall, but clenching his fists and forcibly suppressing the painful expression, Trifeas's guilt grew wildly.

Matonis strode into the living room. Trifeas was still holding the wheat porridge and drinking wildly: "Legion Commander Matonis, have you had breakfast? Would you like some?"

Through this period of contact, Trifeas knew that this Daonian legion commander, who was born as a mercenary, did not like those vulgar etiquettes. The more casual you are, the more relaxed he will be.

"I've eaten." Matonis said, reaching out and moving a wooden chair over, and sitting down next to Trifeas: "I'm here to tell you something very important!"

"Oh, tell me!" Trifeas quickly put down the wheat porridge and wiped his mouth with a linen cloth.

"The envoy who sneaked into the city from Thurii last night told me a very important message!"

Trifeas immediately pricked up his ears. Of course, he knew that someone had sneaked in last night, but that person was looking for Matonis, and he couldn't force a question, but Thurii, who had been indifferent to Heraclea for the past few days, suddenly sent an envoy and sneaked in at the risk, I'm afraid the matter is not simple.

"His Majesty Davos has led his troops back to Thurii!"

"Davos is back, that's great!" Trifeas exclaimed excitedly, then he was stunned: "Wait… … What did you just say? His Majesty Davos?!"

"The Daonian people received an oracle from Hades and jointly elected Lord Davos as the King of Daonia!" Matonis said with a proud look.

King! Trifeas stroked his chin. This was an internal political affair of Daonia, and he had no right to question it, not to mention that now was not the time to consider this issue: "So, Lord Davos… … The king will soon be able to lead his troops north to defeat the Tarentum people?!"

"The messenger told me that His Majesty will lead the Daonian fleet out to sea this morning to find an opportunity to fight the Syracusan navy. He also asked us to prepare for an attack. Once the naval battle is won, we will immediately attack the enemy camp and hold back the Tarentum people so that His Majesty's army can rush from the sea to encircle and annihilate the Tarentum army here!" Matonis said excitedly.

"This plan is… … is very good." Trifeas said with a look of astonishment, hesitating: "But can the Daonian fleet defeat the Syracusan navy?! You must know that the Syracusan navy is much stronger!"

"I believe in His Majesty Davos, he always does what he says!" Matonis said firmly. He stood up and said loudly: "If Lord Trifeas is unwilling to send troops, then I will lead my legion out!"

Chapter 79 - Battle of Taranto