Tyre, the mother city of Carthage, received the plea for help from the Carthaginian envoys and did not delay. They quickly contacted other neighboring Phoenician city-states, such as Sidon, Akko, and Arwad. They ultimately agreed to assist Carthage. After all, one of the main reasons why the Phoenicians under Persian rule had been able to live relatively comfortably in recent years was that they annually offered a considerable amount of gold and silver to the Persian court, and this gold and silver were mainly traded to them by Carthage at lower prices.
Although the Phoenician city-states belonging to the Persian kingdom were few in number and small in territory, they possessed hundreds of warships. Because the Persians were located inland and not adept at seafaring, their navy was provided by foreigners, mainly from the Phoenicians and the Greeks of Asia Minor. Moreover, in recent years, the Persian king had been determined to retake Egypt and had been preparing for war. The Phoenicians were the main force of the Persian navy and were not lacking in training.
However, there was a significant problem: the Phoenician city-states in the Eastern Mediterranean were under Persian rule, and their warships also belonged to the Persian navy. Naturally, they could not leave without permission to the Western Mediterranean. Therefore, Tyre, Sidon, etc., had to send envoys to the Persian court to seek the permission of the Persian King Artaxerxes.
Since the signing of the King's Peace, the Greek city-states, Persia's greatest enemies, not only ceased to be at odds with Persia but even asked Persia to serve as an arbitrator to mediate conflicts and disputes among the Greek city-states, effectively expressing their submission to Persia. Artaxerxes felt that he had achieved great feats that even the great previous kings had failed to achieve. In addition, the political situation within Persia was stable at this time, and all the barbarians were in awe. His throne was very secure, so he became complacent and ordered an attack on Egypt, although it suffered a minor setback but did not cause serious damage.
Under his command, the kingdom was making more thorough preparations for an attack on Egypt.
The envoys from Tyre met with Artaxerxes and conveyed the Phoenicians' request to him.
This was not the first time Artaxerxes had heard the name "Daonia." Although the two countries were thousands of miles apart, the prosperous maritime trade in the Mediterranean Sea allowed news to spread quickly. The miraculous story of the rapid rise of the Daonian kingdom was also widely circulated in Asia Minor, and naturally, it also spread within Persia.
The Persian King Artaxerxes began to pay attention to this newly rising kingdom in the distant West because his intelligence department had discovered that Daonia was originally established by the Greek mercenaries who had followed Cyrus the Younger in rebellion. After all, the story of the Greek mercenaries fighting thousands of miles within Persia and finally escaping successfully was popular in Greece and also spread in Asia Minor, but it was a disgrace to Artaxerxes and his Persian army.
Under further investigation by the royal intelligence department, Artaxerxes learned more. For example, he knew that the Daonian kingdom, like Persia, was relatively tolerant of foreign gods and religions; he knew that the Daonian kingdom, like Persia, exercised stricter control over conquered lands; he even knew that Daonia and Egypt had recently formed a military alliance… Therefore, in Artaxerxes's mind, the Daonian kingdom was an enemy of Persia, but this country was too far away and its strength was too insignificant (Artaxerxes and many Persian officials thought so), so he had not paid much attention to it in the past.
But now that something involved Daonia, Artaxerxes was naturally willing to cause them some trouble. So, without much consideration, he agreed to the "Phoenicians sending a fleet to aid Carthage," and he also generously allowed them to fly the Persian flag when necessary.
With the Persian king's promise, the Eastern Phoenicians quickly dispatched a fleet of 130 warships of various sizes, including 90 triremes and 30 cargo ships carrying grain supplies. The fleet flew the flag of the Persian navy.
They sailed westward along the coast of Asia Minor without hindrance. The Greek city-states that saw this fleet along the way felt a little nervous and speculated in secret: What major military action were the Persians planning again?
The most nervous were undoubtedly the Athenians, because at this time they were united with Thebes to fight against Sparta. The Persian fleet sailing westward at this time could not help but make them feel panicked: Did Persia want to support Sparta and join the war? If so, Athens's prospects would be very bad!
The Eastern Phoenician fleet was like a stone falling into a water bottle, causing ripples, but it did not attract much attention from the Daonians, because Daonia was fully engaged in several wars and could not spare the energy to pay attention to the affairs of the Eastern Mediterranean. Moreover, the Daonians believed that the Persian fleet could not possibly attack the Western Mediterranean. The more chaotic they stirred up the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, the better.
Furthermore, as autumn was approaching, the farmland in Daonia was about to be harvested. The kingdom's merchants no longer purchased grain from the Eastern Mediterranean. Instead, they transferred a lot of manpower to the Latinum region in central Italy, attempting to gain new business opportunities and more profits in this newly conquered land of the kingdom. Naturally, the number of Daonian merchant ships traveling on the trade routes in the Eastern Mediterranean was greatly reduced, which also meant that the military department did not receive much information about this Persian fleet.
Later, the westward-bound Eastern Phoenician fleet docked at the port of Kydonia on Crete, which made the Athenians even more nervous because the Cretan city-states were allies of Sparta, and Kydonia was closer to the Greek mainland.
However, a few days later, the Athenians received news that "this Persian fleet had disappeared in Crete," which made them feel puzzled, but subsequently, no one saw any trace of this fleet on the coast of the Greek mainland.
In fact, after resting in Kydonia, the Eastern Phoenician fleet took advantage of a day when a strong north wind was blowing on the sea and quietly sailed southwest, avoiding the frequently used routes of Greek merchant ships, and reached Cyrenaica, a dependency of Sparta, and then continued westward along the African coast, reaching Leptis, the easternmost of the Phoenician colonies in Africa.
After arriving here and being warmly welcomed by the townspeople, the sailors of the Phoenician fleet relaxed. The fleet continued westward and finally reached Hadrumetum.
This Phoenician city-state affiliated with Carthage was located south of Carthage, but few foreign merchant ships frequented it. After the Phoenician fleet stayed in the port, it no longer sailed west, because the shrewd Eastern Phoenicians, after talking with their compatriots along the way, realized that the Daonian navy they were about to fight was powerful, so they refused to enter Carthage, avoiding being forced to confront the Carthaginian navy head-on because they could not refuse the Carthaginians' pleas, and instead wanted to independently choose the timing of the attack.
Of course, there was another reason that was not spoken aloud. Although the Eastern Phoenicians had close trade relations with Carthage, the two sides had rarely engaged in high-level political or military exchanges for decades. On the one hand, it was because of Persia, and on the other hand, the Eastern Phoenicians (especially the Tyrian nobles) had always harbored resentment towards Carthage for taking away all their colonial trading posts in the Western Mediterranean and did not want to enter Carthage, the city known as the "center of the Western Phoenicians."
Later, the Eastern Phoenician fleet staying in Hadrumetum also refused to provide escort for the Carthaginian army to land in Sicily, because that would inevitably mean that they would face the Daonian navy's frantic attack.
It was not until the Carthaginian army ventured to land in Sicily and the Daonian navy's attention was focused on western Sicily that, on the advice of the Carthaginian commander Mago, the Carthaginian Senate, after discussing with the Eastern Phoenician fleet, finally agreed to Mago's plan.
The fleet quietly left Hadrumetum and sailed north, barely entering Kossyra.
Kossyra was a small island belonging to Carthage, with a Carthaginian town of about 2,000 people and a small port on the south side of the island. The island was located between Sicily and Carthage, facing the city of Selinunte to the north.
After the Eastern Phoenician fleet crowded on the island of Kossyra for a few days, the fast boats sent out to scout brought back news. As Mago had expected, Daonian warships full of soldiers were leaving the port!
How could the Eastern Phoenician fleet let go of such a great opportunity to annihilate the enemy? So the warships left the port, raised their sails, and sailed north with the faint south wind, finally catching up with the Daonian fleet in time.
The Eastern Phoenician warships lowered their sails and began to accelerate their rowing speed. The entire fleet gradually spread out to both sides as it advanced, but they did not implement any special tactics. The situation of the Daonian fleet in front was not worth their time to deploy tactics. They simply tried to increase the number of warships in the front row as much as possible, striving to sink enough enemy ships in the first impact.
Now, the Daonian fast boats in the outer patrol positions, from west to east, had already raised two yellow flags one by one. The rough information about the enemy situation had spread throughout the team. The warships near Miltiades' flagship had begun to retreat towards the coast, but the easternmost warships had just received the signal to "gather towards the flagship." The entire fleet was disorganized and unable to coordinate, and the warships had almost lost their combat capabilities, making the crew feel panicked and demoralized.
.............
At this moment, Sekelian, who already knew about the enemy situation, directed the fast boat he was on to catch up with a returning trireme, and then he anxiously ordered: The fast boat should immediately approach.
Then, he stood at the bow of the ship and shouted loudly: "I am Sekelian, who is the captain of this ship?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of noisy exclamations rang out from the cabin of the opposite warship: "Did you hear that? It's the voice of Lord Sekelian!"
"Don't panic, Lord Secilian is here!"
"With Lord Secilian here, we fear no enemy!"…
At the same time, noisy discussions also arose on the deck. These legion reservists from the Daonian Sicilian territories certainly knew Secilian's reputation, but they did not have the same respect for him as the Daonian sailors.
A man in leather armor and a leather helmet quickly walked out onto the deck. He approached the ship's rail and solemnly gave a military salute: "My Lord, I am the captain of this warship, Elias of the First Fleet!"
Hearing that it was his old subordinate, Secilian was mostly relieved. He immediately said, "I know you, Elias. In every fleet warship training assessment, the performance of the fast trireme you command always ranks at the top… Now I order you to immediately have all the soldiers on board jump into the sea, and then take your warship and follow me to meet the enemy!"
Elias was taken aback and said hesitantly: "…But… Commander Miltiades raised the Apollo flag, instructing us to…"
"Miltiades is a fool!" Secilian interrupted him angrily, shouting: "The enemy is already attacking! All the warships are still fully loaded with soldiers, completely without the ability to fight. What's the use of gathering together! Is it to make it easier for the enemy to ram and sink us! I now, in my capacity as the naval commander of the First Fleet, order you to execute the order immediately!"
"Yes… Yes!" Elias responded loudly. From the bottom of his heart, he absolutely agreed with Secilian's approach, because the belief instilled in the First Fleet under Secilian's influence had always been to attack and never be passively beaten.
However, the soldiers on the deck who heard their conversation began to clamor. They didn't want to be driven off the ship.
Elias had no choice but to face them and loudly persuade them: "Daonian warriors, our fleet is now encountering a powerful enemy, and the situation is urgent! However, because the warships are loaded with you, the warships cannot fight. Either you jump into the sea, allowing us to go and fight, repel the enemy, and then come back and rescue you; or you continue to stay on the ship and wait for the enemy ships to arrive, sink this warship, and then everyone becomes prisoners… Please make your choice immediately!"
The deck suddenly became silent. Soon, a man stepped forward.
"Squad Leader!" The soldiers called out earnestly, focusing their hopeful gazes on him.
"Brothers, if the navy is finished, we will be in big trouble!" The squad leader said with a firm expression: "Take your large shields, we will jump into the sea, and let the sailors see that they are not the only ones who can swim."
After he finished speaking, not a single soldier objected. One by one, they picked up the large shields on the deck. This was the strict discipline of the Daonian legion, even though this was only a legion reserve squad.
"Please help us preserve the rest of our armor and weapons first." The squad leader instructed Elias, and then, carrying his large shield, with a "plop," he was the first to jump into the sea, followed closely by the other soldiers…
Throughout this process, Elias kept giving a military salute.
After issuing the order, Secilian did not stay beside this warship, but continued to chase after other warships. Since the warships were slow due to being fully loaded with soldiers, it was not difficult to catch up with them. After successively stopping several warships, he discovered a situation: all the warships he encountered were from the First Fleet (that is, the warships that had entered the port of Selinunte during the storm and escaped the disaster), and the soldiers on the warships were mostly Daonian legion reserve soldiers.
Secilian thought for a moment,
and understood that this was certainly not a coincidence.
In order to seize the time, Miltiades had ordered in the port that warships could set off as soon as they were fully loaded with soldiers, and the legion reserve soldiers were more trained and disciplined than the citizen soldiers of other city-states, so they could gather at the pier and board the warships as quickly as possible.
At the same time, because Miltiades had to supervise the entire boarding process, he was the last to depart. Any army commander generally has a habit of gathering his most trusted troops around him, so that command is more convenient and can play a greater role in battle, even though this is just a troop transport. Miltiades still habitually had the First Fleet warships dock at the pier first, so the Fourth Fleet warships, which had followed him for more than a decade, departed later and were closer to him.
Miltiades' unintentional arrangement facilitated Secilian's actions. He could relatively smoothly have the First Fleet warships and legion reserve soldiers sailing in the front execute his orders: if it was a fast trireme, all the soldiers on it would jump into the sea; if it was a raven warship, 40 soldiers would be retained, and the rest would jump into the sea.
Of course, Secilian would also encounter warships with allied soldiers on board. They were obviously resistant to this order, and some even threatened to use force to occupy the ship. The captains could only patiently persuade them, and at the same time, soldiers from nearby warships jumped into the sea as examples. Most of these allied soldiers eventually complied, but this delayed the time…
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Just as Secilian was anxiously persuading the ships in the east to obey his orders, the Eastern Phoenician fleet was accelerating to fiercely pursue the Daonian warships retreating to the coast.
The Daonian sailors rowed desperately, but the ships were full of soldiers, which seriously affected the speed of the warships. Gradually, the distance was closed by the Eastern Phoenician fleet, which had increased its speed to the highest level.
One by one, the Eastern Phoenician warships pounced on the fat sheep in their eyes like tigers and wolves.
The Daonian warships that were lagging behind, seeing that they could not escape, simply turned around and bravely rushed towards the enemy ships. However, the Daonian warships, which had lost speed and agility, were no match for the lightly armed Eastern Phoenician warships. Either their oars were broken, or their hulls were hit. Daonian sailors and soldiers kept jumping into the sea with exclamations.
Of course, there were occasional exceptions. These Eastern Phoenician sailors had learned about the situation of the Daonian fleet from their colonial compatriots, but after all, they had not experienced it personally. Several Eastern Phoenician warships were careless when facing the oncoming ships and were hooked by the twelve-meter-long drawbridge of the raven warship. The allied soldiers who had already put on their armor and taken up their weapons swarmed over.
The other Phoenician warships, seeing this terrible scene, quickly learned their lesson. When facing the raven warships again, they avoided the bow and attacked the stern.
The raven warships were inflexible due to the large number of soldiers, slow in speed, and had no fast triremes to protect them, becoming the main target of the Phoenician warships.
Miltiades' flagship was rushing towards the beach, which happened to be the beach where the fleet's infantry had landed during the night raid a few days ago. It was just a mile away, and the distance was getting closer and closer, but there was no joy on Miltiades' face, and his heart was always suffering.
Originally, he had been sitting at the stern, observing the follow-up situation of the other warships, but what he saw was: countless enemy ships rushing over like lightning, attacking the warships that were lagging behind. Although these isolated warships resisted stubbornly, they were either rammed and sunk, or rammed and damaged, floating stiffly on the sea surface, allowing the enemy to bully them. The exclamations of the crew members continued, and more and more crew members and soldiers fell into the sea…
This scene made Miltiades' heart ache: these were the warships that he had shamelessly applied for from the military department for more than a decade, carefully maintained and repaired every day, and painstakingly saved up, but in the blink of an eye, they were reduced to nothing! And these brothers who had been with him day and night for more than ten years and trained hard, he brought them to Sicily with the eagerness to make contributions, but he was about to lose their lives without fighting a major battle! …
He couldn't bear it any longer and stood up, shouting: "Stop the ship immediately! Leave 40 soldiers, and the rest of the soldiers immediately jump off the ship and swim to the beach! Quickly! Quickly!"
At this time, the order issued by Miltiades was the same as Secilian's. In fact, he had this idea in his mind before, but at that time, he still had a fluke mentality, and he was worried that driving the soldiers on the ship into the sea would lead to protests from the allied states afterwards, which would be detrimental to him. After all, he had made a big mistake once… A moment of misjudgment led to the Sicilian fleet encountering difficulties. Now he is full of regret.
The allied soldiers on the deck did not argue like the allied soldiers on the eastern warships, because they had already seen the terrible situation on the sea behind them. Staying on the ship was not necessarily safer than being in the sea, and they soon did as they were told.
Miltiades did not order the flagship to rush directly towards the enemy ships, but quickly sailed towards the nearby warships. He needed to gather the nearby warships scattered outside the battlefield as soon as possible in order to fight against this enemy fleet of unknown origin.
In fact, due to the critical situation, without Miltiades' reminder, some soldiers on the Daonian warships had already taken the initiative to jump into the sea so that the warships could participate in the battle.
However, the first wave of attacks by the Eastern Phoenician fleet had damaged at least 10 Daonian triremes, tearing the already scattered rear of the Daonian fleet to pieces. The subsequent warships then took advantage of the victory to pursue the scattered Daonian warships, attempting to wipe out the rear of the Daonian fleet.
Miltiades' flagship, with its wide hull and the red blood flag fluttering on the top of the mast, naturally became the main target of the Eastern Phoenicians' attack. A total of five Phoenician warships were speeding towards it, which forced Miltiades to stop his original plan.
Miltiades immediately made a decision. He issued instructions to a raven warship and a fast trireme gathered on both sides of his flagship.
Soon, the raven warship and his flagship quickly turned around and sailed towards the coast, while the fast trireme made a turn and sailed in a direction parallel to the coast, distancing itself from them.
Seeing this, the Eastern Phoenicians immediately detached one warship to pursue the fast trireme, while the remaining four continued to pursue the two Raven ships. Noticing that the Raven ships were heading straight for the coast, they realized the enemy ships intended to beach themselves, which would foil their plan to ram and sink them. Therefore, they increased their speed again.
During the chase, they gradually formed a formation of two ships in the lead and two ships behind.
The sailors on the Raven ships gradually slowed their rowing speed, giving the Eastern Phoenicians the illusion that they were closing the distance with the Raven ships through their efforts.
Miltiades stood at the stern, closely watching the enemy ships speeding towards them from behind, listening intently as the lookout on the mast continuously reported the distance between the enemy ships and the flagship, and the distance between the enemy ships in front and behind.
Staring at the approaching enemy ships, the rams appearing and disappearing in the seawater caused tiny beads of sweat to appear on Miltiades' face. When the flagship was only about fifteen meters away from the enemy ship, he suddenly shouted, "Turn!"
The crew, who had been waiting, immediately began to act: the helmsman turned the rudder, the inner sailors rowed harder, and the outer sailors reduced their effort. The coordinated action of the entire crew caused the advancing flagship to suddenly veer outwards.
It was too late for the Phoenician warship behind to change course. The powerful inertia from its rapid approach caused the sailors to continue rushing forward even after they stopped rowing.
The Raven ship next to the flagship also turned outwards almost simultaneously. Just as they had turned their bows, the two leading Phoenician warships brushed past them.
"Continue turning inwards!" Miltiades and the captain of the Raven ship next to him gave the same order.
It turned out that the two Phoenician warships behind, after seeing the Daonian warship in front turn, also turned their bows, charging diagonally forward. The target of their bronze rams was the upturned stern of the Daonian warship. The reason Miltiades' flagship and the other Raven ship accelerated their rotation was to avoid the stern and aim their bows at the enemy ship.
If the warship had been full of soldiers, Miltiades would not have dared to make such a tactical maneuver with the flagship. However, now that the flagship had unloaded too many soldiers, it had regained its former agility, and the results of the crew's years of training were on display at this moment. As the enemy ship approached, the bow of the flagship had already turned towards the enemy ship, and the deck operators seized the opportunity to lower the 12-meter-long boarding bridge that had been installed on the foremast.
"Boom! … Boom! …" Two loud crashes sounded one after another, as the flagship and the other Raven ship successfully grappled the enemy ships.
"Quick! Quick! Kill them! …" The boatswain loudly reminded the 40 allied soldiers huddled in the cabin.
These soldiers were experiencing the long-rumored Daonian-style naval warfare for the first time. They excitedly rushed onto the deck, swarmed across the boarding bridge, and charged onto the deck of the enemy ship.
"Damn it! These idiots forgot to pull out the boarding bridge!" Miltiades cursed. He had already had the boatswain repeatedly warn these allied soldiers several times, but these soldiers were so caught up in the heat of the moment that they had obviously forgotten. Without experience in coordinating with the Raven boarding bridge, they were indeed unreliable.
Why should the boarding bridge be pulled out as soon as the soldiers crossed it? Because there were still three Phoenician warships not far around the flagship, and the closest one had already begun to turn its bow. If the flagship was still connected to the enemy ship, it would only be rammed.
Therefore, two flagship deck operators immediately ran across the boarding bridge (a Raven ship had a total of 5 to 8 deck operators) and vigorously pulled out the spikes at the lower end of the boarding bridge head.
The other operators quickly pulled up the boarding bridge, and the helmsman and sailors also began to maneuver the flagship away from this enemy ship, which was filled with screams.
However, it took time for the flagship to go from stationary to sailing, no matter how fast it was. At this time, the lookout was already shouting nervously, "Enemy ship is coming! It's charging towards our stern!"
Miltiades stared nervously at the enemy ship rushing from behind, clenching his fists tightly, his fingernails digging deeply into his flesh, but he was completely unaware. He could hear the sailors shouting louder and louder, as they were doing their best to escape the danger. However, it took time for a warship to transition from stationary to rapid sailing, and what the flagship needed most now was time.
Seeing that the enemy ship's bow was about to hit the flagship's stern, the lookouts holding onto the mast (in theory, the lookouts should come down from the mast during naval battles to avoid being killed by falling during the impact, but at this moment when the entire flagship's life and death were at stake, they couldn't care less) shouted again, "Our warship! Our warship!!"
A warship broke through the waves, rushing into Miltiades' field of vision like a flying arrow. Before he could see clearly, he heard a loud crash. This ship happened to hit the side of the enemy ship, cutting into it like a sharp dagger.
This was the fast trireme that had lured the enemy away earlier. It had taken the enemy ship chasing it in a big circle, and then used its speed to shake off its opponent and quickly rushed back to save the day.
Next to them were the screams of the Phoenicians, and behind them were the exclamations of the Phoenicians. Miltiades, still highly tense, shouted, "Quick! Quick! Turn around!"
Because the crisis had not been resolved, the Phoenician warship that had previously pursued the fast trireme was also following closely behind.
The flagship was struggling to turn around, but it was already too late. Miltiades watched helplessly as the enemy ship's bow hit the side and rear of the fast trireme that had previously rescued the flagship.
This special warship of the Daonian navy had a narrow hull and a slender body, shaped like a willow leaf. Speed was its strength, and impact resistance was its weakness. When this warship, in order to protect the flagship, ignored the pursuers behind it and bravely rammed the enemy ship threatening the flagship, it placed itself in the most dangerous situation.
Because there was an enemy ship blocking the way, the fast trireme had almost no room to buffer, and withstood the entire impact force. The enemy ship's bow completely cut into the warship, and the rear of the warship had cracked, and the seawater was quickly stained red with blood.
"Accelerate forward!" Miltiades shouted through gritted teeth.
The sailors in the cabin didn't know what was happening outside. Continuously rowing at the fastest speed made their arms a little sore and numb, but they were still gritting their teeth and persevering.
The flagship rushed over, and the boarding bridge fell, hitting the deck of the enemy ship.
"Pick up your weapons and follow me to kill them!" Miltiades shouted at the cabin.
The sailors were a little stunned: they were always only responsible for rowing, and killing the enemy was the task of the fleet infantry.
"What are you still stunned for? Obey orders!" The boatswain urged.
The sailors suddenly realized and picked up the spears and swords left in the cabin by the soldiers who had jumped into the sea earlier.
"Kill!" Miltiades, with an angry face, waved the sword he had picked up and personally led the sailors towards the enemy ship.
At this moment, another Raven ship was hit in the stern by a turning Phoenician warship because it did not retreat in time. Although the damage was not great, the influx of seawater forced the sailors to urgently block it, which affected the speed and flexibility of the Raven ship, making it impossible to escape the danger of being hit again.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Miltiades' three warships, facing the attack of five enemy ships, actually achieved an exchange ratio of 4:3, which was enough to show the well-trained and coordinated nature of the Sicilian fleet. However, due to Miltiades' misjudgment, most of the Daonian warships in the rear of the fleet were scattered everywhere, facing the Eastern Phoenician fleet's attack, they were completely in a dangerous situation of fighting more with less, especially the Raven ships. Without the protection of other warships on the flanks, not only could they not exert their powerful boarding combat capabilities, but also their weaknesses of slow speed and relatively inflexible turning were exposed.
One Daonian warship after another was sunk, and a very small number of warships rushed directly to the beach.
At the same time, the Eastern Phoenician fleet was also advancing eastward, and the Daonian warships that were returning westward one after another like adding oil to the fire were also ambushed by the Phoenician warships. Seeing that the situation was not good, the warships behind began to turn around and retreat eastward.
The soldiers on the Daonian warships, fully loaded, jumped into the sea one after another to reduce the weight of the warships so that they could escape, but even so, the Raven ships were successively caught up due to their own speed problems, and they had to be forced to fight…
The naval battle lasted for less than half an hour, and the middle and rear of the Sicilian fleet had been defeated by the Eastern Phoenician fleet. Except for some warships that were still struggling to fight with the enemy ships, the rest were either sunk or in retreat. The Sicilian fleet seemed to be doomed.
The Phoenician warships chased eastward, almost approaching the Minoan sea.
At this moment, the sound of horns was faintly heard in front, and the lookouts on several fast triremes that were retreating eastward in a panic shouted almost simultaneously: "Our fleet! Our fleet is here!!"
The captains, who were originally nervously watching the enemy ships behind them, turned their heads and looked east. They saw dozens of Daonian warships appearing in the distant sea, arranged in the familiar starry sky ship formation, speeding towards them.
The captains were immediately refreshed and shouted loudly to the sailors in the cabin: "Brothers, cheer up, our reinforcements are here!"
Hearing this, the sailors' hands holding the oars regained their strength, and they maneuvered the warships to row to both sides, making way for the fleet's attack.
At this time, the Phoenician warships also noticed the abnormality in front of them. They also stopped chasing and began to gather together to form a formation.
This Daonian fleet, coming from east to west, was composed of 35 warships from the 42 warships of the Second Detachment of the First Fleet, which were all that remained, including 25 Raven ships and 10 fast triremes, led by Stephacas.
But now, the true commander of this fleet was not Stephacas, but Secrian, on the Raven warship at the very front and center of the ship formation. He stood at the bow, his gaze firm as he looked ahead, the captain behind him loudly issuing orders: "Increase speed! Maintain course!"
The lookout at the top of the mast was also shouting loudly: "There are about 40 enemy ships ahead, arranged in a double column, and more enemy ships are arriving from a distance!"
"Hurry and devour this wave first!" Secrian whispered, glancing up at the drawbridge erected next to the foremast.
The hastily formed Phoenician warships also quickly increased their speed, and the distance between the two sides grew closer and closer.
Secrian stared unblinkingly at the oncoming enemy ships. The Raven warship he was on maintained a high speed, but not a sprinting speed, heading straight for the enemy flagship.
When the two ships were 30 meters apart, the enemy ship suddenly veered to the front side, obviously the Phoenicians knew the power of Daonian Raven warships.
Secrian sneered. The warship he was on didn't care about the dodging Phoenician warship at all, but continued forward.
Just as this Phoenician warship had just bypassed Secrian's flagship, it suddenly saw a Daonian warship in front of it rushing towards the side of the warship at an extremely fast speed like a swordfish.
The Phoenician warship had to turn again, narrowly avoiding the crisis of being hit, but as the two ships brushed past each other: "Withdraw oars!"
"Withdraw oars!" Both sides ordered at the same time.
The Daonian warship sailors were prepared for this, while the Phoenician warship sailors had just been working hard to row, allowing the warship to avoid the crisis of being sunk. They didn't have time to react. Under the Daonian warship's forceful push, the oars pressed against the porthole, and with a "crack," they were broken directly.
After the Daonian warship broke the oars on one side of the enemy ship, it ignored it and continued to sail forward.
But while the crew of this Phoenician warship was still in shock, another Daonian warship sailed towards them. This was a Raven warship. It took advantage of the Phoenician warship's lack of oars and difficulty in maneuvering, easily securing the drawbridge onto its deck. The legion reserve soldiers on board were not those allied soldiers. Following orders, they rushed across the drawbridge. Without getting bogged down in battle, they wounded most of the Phoenician sailors, and under the leadership of the squad leader, quickly returned to their warship and raised the drawbridge…
The Constellation ship formation deployed by Secrian was different from the usual. The front row of the traditional Constellation ship formation was interspersed with Raven warships, and the fast trireme warships behind seized the opportunity to interpose and capture battle opportunities. But at this time, the ship formation was interspersed with Raven warships and fast warships, the purpose of which was to speed up the rhythm of the attack, seize the time, and rescue the besieged warships.
Stephacas' flagship in the center of the ship formation flew a blood-colored flag high, reminding the surrounding warships to fight to the death, while Secrian's flagship, rushing at the forefront, encouraged the crew to bravely move forward.
The Eastern Phoenician fleet succeeded in its sneak attack, but this was the first formal battle against the Daonian fleet. Their traditional naval tactics were completely unable to adapt to this new set of naval warfare methods that the Daonians had honed and summarized over many years. Although they had more warships, the hastily formed battle formation could not withstand the attack of the Daonian squadron, which was high in morale. After fighting for a while, ten Phoenician warships were either captured or damaged, while the Daonian squadron only paid the price of four warships damaged, and completely defeated the Phoenician ship formation in front of them.
The Phoenician warships, seeing the situation was not good, retreated one after another.
The Daonian fast warships did not pursue either.
Because Secrian had discussed it with them before the battle, the current battle situation was that the enemy was numerous and they were few. Warships could not be dispersed, otherwise, once they advanced too far and became separated from the main force, it would be easy to fall into an encirclement. Therefore, the Daonian warships, while maintaining a relatively fast speed, gradually returned to their positions, still maintaining a complete formation.
The Phoenician warships along the way received the news early and retreated westward, allowing some of the Daonian warships that had been hiding to escape, and also making the number of Daonian squadron warships that had just experienced a battle not decrease but increase, reaching 45 ships.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Cough! Cough! … …" Miltiades coughed repeatedly, and the crew next to him hurriedly helped him up, patting his back to help him spit out the seawater.
"General Miltiades, are you alright?!" The crew asked with concern.
Miltiades waved his hand, but didn't want to speak. He faced the sea, staring blankly at the surface, where there was no trace of his flagship, only a section of the main mast protruding from the sea, like a floating rotten branch. He led the flagship to fight the enemy for a while, but in the end, he couldn't escape the enemy's encirclement and was sunk. Fortunately, it was close to the beach, and they swam ashore directly.
Looking around at the sea, there were several such "rotten branches," mainly occurring near the coast, while further away, more warship wreckage was half-floating on the surface, most of which were Daonian warships, and only a very few warships seemed to float intact on the surface, but were completely out of control and swayed with the sea, which were the Phoenician warships injured by the Raven warships.
Looking at the wreckage of the warships and the countless floating heads on the sea, Miltiades' heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly by something, making his heart ache: The Sicilian fleet… and his Fourth Fleet… were all gone like this?…
He stood there for a long time, letting the tide wash over his legs…
Most of the surrounding crew members were like him, staring blankly at the flagship sunk in the sea, making it difficult for them to part after so many years of living together.
"Hey, are you from the Daonian fleet?!" Someone walked towards them.
"Yes, we belong to the Daonian 4th Fleet, this is our—" A crew member next to Miltiades said loudly. Miltiades patted him hard on the shoulder, stopping him from continuing. As the person in charge of this transport operation, Miltiades felt that he should bear the important responsibility for this disastrous defeat and was somewhat ashamed to face others.
Fortunately, he had only been in Sicily for a short time, and not many people knew him. The man only glanced at him, and then said to the crew member who was talking: "There are still many crew members from your Fourth Fleet over there."
Following the direction of his finger, Miltiades saw that more than a thousand people had already gathered on the beach to the east.
The man continued: "I am Furiacas, the commanding general of the Gela reinforcements this time. This place is too close to Selinus, and to avoid being discovered by the Carthaginians, we can't stay here for too long. We must go east as soon as possible, and we can only guarantee safety after passing Therme and reaching Minoa."
The crew member turned to look at Miltiades. Miltiades nodded, and the crew member immediately said: "Okay, we'll go over now."
Furiacas glanced at the dejected Miltiades again. He had seen such expressions on the faces of several Daonian captains who had swam ashore. After all, since the storm destroyed the Daonian fleet, this was another huge loss for the Daonian navy. The myth of the Daonian navy's invincibility since its establishment had come to an end, and the blow was obviously a bit too much for these naval generals. Furiacas could understand this, but at the same time, he also added a bit of worry in his heart: With the Daonian army and navy in Sicily facing difficulties, what would happen to Gela?
He sighed in his heart and turned to walk towards the main force.
The crew members followed behind listlessly, occasionally looking back at the sea. Someone suddenly said: "We can't see any enemy ships on the sea anymore. Have they retreated?"
Miltiades almost staggered and fell to the ground. He actually preferred to see enemy ships still patrolling the sea, because that meant that there were still warships from the Sicilian fleet fighting. Now that all the enemy ships had left, could it be that the Sicilian fleet had been completely annihilated?!
Miltiades' face was pale, and his heart was even more painful.
At this time, a commotion arose in front: "Enemies! There are enemies!!!"
"The Carthaginians are here! Run away quickly!!!"
… …
The crew members were shocked and saw many Numidian cavalry rushing out of the woods on the north side of the beach. They spurred their horses down the gentle slope and were rushing towards the assembled main force, and behind them, more fully armed Carthaginian infantry appeared…
Since the last night attack, Mago had strengthened patrols along the coast from Selinus to Therme. The battle between the Sicilian fleet and the Phoenician fleet near Therme would of course be discovered by Carthaginian scouts. Upon receiving the news, Mago immediately sent out a mixed army of 5,000 cavalry and infantry, ordering them to attack the Daonian crew members and soldiers who had escaped ashore due to the sinking of their ships, while also guarding against the Minoans leaving the city to rescue them.
Most of the Daonian crew members and allied soldiers on the beach did not have weapons and were inevitably panicked. When the Numidian cavalry rushed to the front, the javelins thrown out fell into the crowd, and the splashing blood and wailing screams made people panic and turn around to flee.
The Numidian cavalry shouted wildly, taking the opportunity to drive their horses into the crowd, further accelerating the collapse of the Daonian crew members and allied soldiers…
"General, we must escape into the sea immediately to avoid being hunted down by the enemy!" The flagship captain shouted loudly to Miltiades, his voice trembling.
"… … You go." Miltiades said blankly, but continued to move forward.
The flagship captain grabbed him in a hurry, shook him hard, and shouted urgently in his ear: "Miltiades, the enemy is attacking! We must escape!"
"There are enemies everywhere. Hiding in the sea will eventually become a laughingstock… The 4th Fleet is gone… It's all my fault… I have failed His Majesty's trust!…" Miltiades' faint words were filled with endless regret. He raised his head and looked forward: "… … Only by dying in battle can I reduce people's ridicule of me… and reduce the elders' doubts about His Majesty!"
The captain was stunned. After a moment, he suddenly straightened his chest and said in a deep voice, "General, for ten years, you have been the commander of our Fourth Fleet, caring for us like a father. How could we abandon you today and flee for our lives alone! Please allow me to follow you as before and fight bravely!"
"My lord, please allow me to follow you and face the enemy!"
"Me too!"
"Don't forget me!"
… …
The crew members expressed their feelings one after another, and their firm expressions fully demonstrated that they were not just talking.
Miltiades was finally moved. He looked around at the crew members and finally showed a relieved smile: "Very good, then let us go to Elysium together!"
Saying that, he raised the short sword that had chopped down many Phoenician sailors and was somewhat chipped, and shouted loudly: "Increase the oar speed and charge forward, target the Carthaginian cavalry!"
"Yes!!!" More than 100 crew members shouted in unison, lined up in a column resembling a ship, led by Miltiades, and strode forward, while chanting the Hymn to Hades: "I praise you, great Hades, you are the master of the night, the controller of the law, the patron saint of the Daonian kingdom…"
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
While the Carthaginian army was slaughtering the crew members of the Daonian Sicilian fleet and allied soldiers on many coasts from Ghelma to Minoa, the Eastern Phoenician fleet did not return in triumph as Miltiades had imagined. They received news via fast ship that "the Daonian squadron attacked from the east and defeated some Phoenician warships," and hurriedly gathered the scattered warships and sailed east, preparing to meet the enemy.
The Phoenician city-states of Tyre, Sidon, and others have provided the Persian Empire with naval forces for many years. The sailors born in the commercially prosperous Phoenician region did not have a strong will to fight. Therefore, in the decades of naval battles between the Persian navy and the Greek navy (mainly Athens), the Phoenicians had not created any brilliant achievements. Judging from today's results, the Eastern Phoenician fleet had easily achieved a brilliant victory. They, who were good at calculation and worldly-wise, could completely stop here and boast to Carthage about this achievement.
However, this fleet was jointly formed by the Eastern Phoenician city-states such as Tyre and Sidon. Once they were forced to withdraw from this sea area under the pressure of the Daonian fleet, it would mean that they would not be able to clean up the battlefield, take away the damaged warships, or rescue the Phoenician sailors who had fallen into the sea or had been killed or injured by the soldiers on the crow warships... Abandoning their compatriots in a foreign land thousands of miles away and becoming prisoners of foreigners was not only unacceptable to many people in the fleet, but also would be accused by the city-state's people after returning to the Phoenician region. This was the reason why they decided to continue fighting.
Of course, there was another reason: the Eastern Phoenicians believed that their three-tiered oar warships far outnumbered their opponents and could completely defeat them.
In the end, the Phoenician fleet gathered 97 warships and encountered the fleet led by Sekerian on the sea between Ghelma and Minoa. At this time, the number of Daonian warships in the Daonian squadron had reached 51 as the fleeing Daonian warships continued to join them.
At this time, the number of Phoenician warships was almost twice that of the Daonian warships, and half of the Daonian squadron's warships were somewhat damaged. However, the Daonian fleet was not afraid at all. Under the command of Stephacas, the flagship of the Second Squadron of the First Fleet in the center of the ship formation raised three long blood-red streamers at the top of the mast, which meant "Fight to the end, never retreat!"
Sekerian's crow warship still took the lead and charged forward.
The sailors of all the warships, regardless of fatigue, were working hard to row their oars and maneuvering the warships forward. They wanted to wash away their previous embarrassment and humiliation and bring pain and death to the enemy!
The original plan of the Eastern Phoenician fleet was to use the advantage of having more ships to increase the width of the ship formation. On the front of the Daonian warships' attack, they would not engage in battle, but would actively retreat, lure them deep, and then launch an attack from the two flanks. This was a mutated circumnavigation tactic.
However, when the two fleets met, usually both sides would first form a formation and then launch an attack. Who knew that the Daonian warships would rush over in a chaotic manner (the Eastern Phoenicians were not familiar with the Daonian's starry sky ship formation and thought that the formation had not been formed). The Eastern Phoenician fleet could only respond hastily, and the previous combat plan could not be fully implemented.
In the beginning, the Eastern Phoenicians still held the mentality of first maneuvering with the Daonian fleet and slowly unfolding their formation to implement their original combat plan. Who knew that the Daonian fleet's attack was swift and fierce, and very efficient. As soon as the warships of both sides came into contact, the two Phoenician warships in the front row encountered danger. One was hooked by the crow warship, and the other was damaged by the fast warship.
The Daonian warships rushed forward and surged, breaking into the center of the Eastern Phoenician fleet and disrupting the order of the entire ship formation. The two sides quickly fell into a fierce melee.
The crew members of the Daonian fleet fought bravely with the determination to die. In the battle, even if the hull was damaged and seawater seeped in, they would block it while still launching a charge against nearby enemy ships or protecting the flanks for their comrades and blocking the enemy ships' attacks. After the soldiers of the crow warship rushed onto the enemy ship and did not have time to return, the crew members would not hesitate to raise the drawbridge and then smash the drawbridge at another enemy ship that was preparing to sneak attack them. Then the sailors would pick up the weapons left by the soldiers who had jumped into the sea earlier and board the ship to fight. Even when the warship was hit by the enemy, the first thing the crew members thought of was not to block the gap and escape from the warship, but to throw multiple rope hooks from the deck to hook the enemy ship, and then the crew members would jump ship to fight...
It was precisely because the Daonian crew members burst out with a powerful fighting force that was not afraid of death that they were able to fight the Eastern Phoenician fleet on an equal footing in a critical situation where the number of warships was vastly different. Their terrifying fighting will deterred the Eastern Phoenician crew members who had always been acting as vassals of Persia and rarely fought independently. Therefore, after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the Eastern Phoenicians chose to retreat with fear.
Although the Daonian crew members were already very tired, they still had to complete an important task before returning to Selinunte, which was to clean up the battlefield and search for the comrades who had fallen into the water. This was also the reason why they fought desperately.
The first person to be rescued was Sekerian. The warship he was riding on took the lead and was naturally the focus of the Phoenicians' siege, and was eventually sunk, only because the battle was in full swing at the time, and the surrounding warships did not have time to rescue him. Now, he was quickly rescued onto Stephacas's flagship.
After soaking in the sea for dozens of minutes, he was still energetic. As soon as he got on the ship, he asked: "Did the enemy really retreat?"
Squadron Commander Stephacas immediately stepped forward and reported: "My lord, I have already sent several fast ships to track the departing enemy. If there is any abnormality, they will report immediately. I have also ordered eight warships to maintain combat alert here, just in case."
"Well, the arrangements are very meticulous and reasonable, much better than that bastard Miltiades!" As soon as Miltiades was mentioned, Sekerian became angry and immediately asked loudly: "Have you found that bastard Miltiades?"
"There is no news of him yet."
"It seems that he is too ashamed to see me and is hiding!" Sekerian said with a mocking expression, and then asked: "How many warships do we have left?"
"...There are 25 left, including 18 crow warships and 7 fast warships. In addition, there are 6 warships that are not too seriously damaged. If they are towed back to the naval base, they should be able to be repaired..." Stephacas said in a heavy tone.
"This is all Miltiades's fault! More than 100 warships! It was his wrong decision that led to more than 100 warships being sunk by a group of cowardly enemies! Many crew members did not even engage in real combat and watched their warships sink! This is really... This is really... Alas!..." Sekerian was heartbroken and even shed tears. He was not only heartbroken by the losses of this naval battle, but also remembered the great storm that made him unable to look back...
Yes, the Daonian navy, which once prided itself on being the "first in the Western Mediterranean," had four fleets and more than 850 warships, but in the months after the war with Carthage began, it suffered heavy losses one after another. The First, Second, and Fourth Fleets were almost wiped out, bringing it back to the scale of the navy's initial establishment in one fell swoop. How could he not cry in pain.
Although Stephacas was also saddened, he comforted him: "My lord, we have captured some enemy ships. If we pull them back to the base and modify them slightly, they can be added to the fleet and strengthen our strength."
"How many?" Sekerian asked immediately.
"The exact number is not yet clear." Stephacas's answer is understandable, because the battlefield is not just here. The sea area from Minoa to Ghelma is full of battlefields.
Therefore, Sekerian did not criticize Stephacas, but looked up at the sky and said: "It is still afternoon, let the brothers carefully search every sea surface, try not to miss any brother who has fallen into the water, and also the soldiers, do not miss any warship, and then let them go to drive those captured enemy ships and return to Selinunte together."
"Yes, my lord."
In the conversation, neither of them mentioned the matter of transporting reinforcements to Agrigento, because in the current situation, it was impossible to rush to Agrigento, and they urgently needed to return to the port for repairs.
The Carthaginian army's pursuit and killing on the coast forced many Daonian crew members who had already swam ashore to swim back into the sea. After soaking in the cold sea for an hour or two, some crew members were already exhausted. Thanks to the mutual assistance of their comrades, they struggled to support until the arrival of the warship rescue.
As the sun set and night fell, the battered Sicilian fleet slowly sailed into the port of Selinunte, carrying captured warships and Phoenician sailors…
In this naval battle, the Eastern Phoenician fleet was reduced from 130 warships to a mere 43, while the Daonian Sicilian fleet was left with only 31 out of 150 (including 6 damaged ones), also capturing 23 Phoenician warships. Furthermore, of the 6,000 soldiers transported by the Sicilian fleet, only a little over 2,000 safely returned to Selinunte, most of whom were reserve legion soldiers.
The Daonian Sicilian fleet ultimately achieved a pyrrhic victory, but strategically, they lost. Because on this very day, Hasdrubal led approximately 17,000 soldiers from the Iberian army, launching another attack on Agrigentum using only logs and scaling ladders.
Faced with dwindling rations and the prospect of starvation if they failed to capture the city, the soldiers fought bravely and relentlessly. In particular, the ferocity of the Lusitanian warriors and the Celtic warriors from the northern Iberian mountains caused great trouble for the Agrigentum defenders.
The Agrigentum citizen soldiers had already suffered considerable losses in the previous battle of Minoan, and then, due to the Carthaginian army besieging Selinunte and Leonticides' request for assistance, Agrigentum had once again dispatched reinforcements. Therefore, the garrison within the city was already small. Although they repelled the enemy's attack in yesterday's defense, they also suffered many casualties. Today, after waiting in vain for reinforcements, the Agrigentum people finally couldn't withstand the enemy's attack and the city was captured by the Carthaginians.
Hasdrubal allowed his soldiers to plunder and slaughter within the city. Except for some Agrigentum people who fled to the port and escaped by boat, the rest were massacred.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Early the next morning, Secilian arrived at the lord's mansion in Selinunte and met Leonticides, who was waiting in the hall.
"Prossos, long time no see. I hope you called me here this time not to borrow the fleet's infantry, or to repurpose our temporarily idle sailors as light infantry."
Secilian's words were clearly expressing his dissatisfaction with Leonticides' previous actions.
Leonticides showed no reaction to his sarcasm, glanced at him indifferently, and uttered a sentence: "Miltiades is dead."
Upon hearing this, Secilian immediately expressed his dissatisfaction: "Who told you that?! We searched for a long time yesterday and couldn't find him. Where did you get this from?"
"Take a look at this." Leonticides coldly interrupted him, pushing a wooden box on the table.
Secilian immediately focused his gaze on the wooden box, which was not in the Greek style. A terrible thought suddenly arose in his mind. He walked forward with heavy steps and carefully opened the lid.
"The Carthaginian commander Mago sent an envoy, saying that when their army attacked our sailors and soldiers who swam ashore, only Miltiades led the unarmed sailors to bravely attack them. Before his death, he even cut down two Carthaginian soldiers. A Celtic chieftain from Iberia admired his bravery and specially cut off his head as his trophy… After Mago learned of this, he specially redeemed it, but the body could not be found, so he could only send us his head…"
Leonticides' flat, lifeless voice echoed in his ears. Secilian stared at the face in the wooden box, which still faintly resembled his former colleague. After a moment, he muttered, "Miltiades, you idiot…" Then he gently closed the box.
After sitting back in his wooden chair, he could no longer suppress the anger in his heart: "The Sicilian War has only just begun for a few months, and our Daonian navy has not only suffered heavy losses, but also lost two fleet commanders, Phrarius and Miltiades… Damn Carthaginians! Damn that Mago!…"
Secilian cursed loudly to vent the grief in his heart.
"The Carthaginian envoy also brought a request." Leonticides ignored his anger and continued, "They captured thousands of our sailors and hope to exchange them for the Phoenician sailors we captured."
"The Carthaginians are wishful thinking. I haven't made these Phoenicians, who ambushed my fleet, suffer enough!" Secilian said angrily.
"So you're going to reject the Carthaginian's proposal?"
"No, exchange them!" Secilian raised his eyebrows: "Our navy sailors' lives are very precious, how can they be compared to these Phoenicians from Persia? Let them go back, and I believe in a few days, they will become our prisoners again."
After the naval battle, the Sicilian fleet brought these prisoners back to Selinunte. After interrogation, Secilian was temporarily relieved: it turned out that this fleet was reinforcements from Phoenician city-states such as Tyre and Sidon in the Eastern Mediterranean, and it was not that Carthage had built a batch of warships earlier than Daonia. Given the situation of Carthage's mainland, it was obviously impossible for them to frequently send fleets thousands of miles to aid Carthage.
"In a while, you and I will each send someone to negotiate with the Carthaginian envoy to complete the exchange of prisoners as soon as possible."
"Okay." McClean replied simply, and then sensitively asked: "Why so anxious? What happened?"
"This morning, a messenger from Cephalodium brought bad news: Cephalodium was occupied by the Carthaginians."
"Cephalodium?" Secilian was puzzled. He had been at the naval base in Taranto before, and had only been in Sicily for a few months. Moreover, he had always been busy with the affairs of the Sicilian fleet, so he was not very clear about the internal situation of Sicily. The name of this town was completely unfamiliar to him.
"Cephalodium is a Sikel town in the mountainous interior of Sicily, located northwest of Agrigentum, on the border between the kingdom and the Carthaginian sphere of influence on Sicily, bordering the Sicanian territory…" Leonticides rarely made an explanation. Secilian tried hard to recall the location of this town.
Mucculus, the adjutant below, saw this situation and immediately brought a map of Sicily, placing it on the table next to Secilian and pointing out the location of the town.
"This Sikel town is the former residence of the Tanitic tribe." Leonticides' next sentence made an impression on Secilian. After all, the Laodicean incident that year had caused a huge storm in the kingdom's political arena.
"How was it lost?" Secilian became interested.
"According to the messenger, a few days ago, when the Carthaginian army besieged Selinunte, more than 2,000 Sicanians invaded the Sikel territory. The Sikel people have always maintained a strong stance against the Sicanians, so they did not hesitate to gather 4,000 warriors to completely defeat them…" Leonticides curled his lips slightly, seemingly mocking the Sikel people's stupidity: "As a result, the Carthaginian army suddenly appeared in the battle. The Sikel people suffered a crushing defeat. The Carthaginians took advantage of the victory to pursue and successfully occupied Cephalodium.
Then, the Carthaginians joined forces with the Sicanians to continue attacking Henna to the east. Aconis, the leader of the Tanitic tribe who had previously fled to western Sicily, became the Carthaginians' guide and also helped the Carthaginians persuade the Sikel tribes to surrender, causing the Sikel tribes to become restless. Although Siprocius had asked Croto, the Henna administrator, to send reinforcements to Henna, the situation in Henna is not optimistic.
…In addition, because we did not transport reinforcements to Agrigentum yesterday, I am also worried about the situation in Agrigentum. Once it is captured, allowing tens of thousands of Carthaginian soldiers to gain a foothold in the middle of the southern coast will not only threaten the safety of neighboring friendly city-states, but also threaten our safety."
Secilian sat up straight, looked at Leonticides, and asked seriously: "Do you want our navy to transport reinforcements to Agrigentum again?"
"Of course I have this idea. Now you are the highest-ranking military officer in the Sicilian fleet (although Secilian is not yet the commander of the Sicilian fleet, but after Miltiades' death, the new commander of the Sicilian fleet has not been appointed. As the naval commander of the First Fleet, McClean has the highest military position in the Sicilian fleet and naturally becomes the person in charge of this fleet). Of course, I need to discuss with you. Given the current situation of the Sicilian fleet, can it carry out the task of transporting reinforcements?" Leonticides asked with a serious expression.
"Of course!" Secilian replied simply. He always knew what was important when it came to military affairs concerning the kingdom's interests: "I can use the captured Phoenician warships as troop transports and use the Sicilian fleet to escort them. Yesterday, the Phoenicians were repelled by us even when they had the advantage. I'm afraid they will be hiding in the port these few days and dare not come out. If they really dare to come, we can just wipe them all out! However, this time, we can't transport that many soldiers."
"Even if you can transport them, I don't have that many reinforcements, just 2,000 people." Although Leonticides said it plainly, Secilian still felt a bit of helplessness in his words. He looked again at this Sicilian army commander, with whom he rarely interacted, and then said: "Transporting 2,000 people is no problem. I will go back and prepare immediately and depart as soon as possible before noon."
Leonticides did not express gratitude, but continued: "There is one more thing you need to know. When I sent the messenger back to Catana, I told Siprocius to send a fleet here as soon as possible to transport the army here to Gela. At that time, your Sicilian fleet will also need to escort them."
Sikeliotes was startled. "You want to abandon Selinunte?!"
"Of course, Selinunte cannot be abandoned, otherwise, Carthage's 100,000 troops could easily pass through here and march east. You would also lose a naval base in western Sicily, greatly reducing the threat to the western Sicilian coast."
Leontiades rarely explained patiently, "However, keeping our main force stationed in Selinunte would allow the Carthaginians to confidently attack our sparsely defended areas, which is also unacceptable.
My plan is to leave a few thousand soldiers to defend Selinunte, while I lead over ten thousand soldiers, mainly from the Eighth Legion, by ship to Gela.
There, we will join forces with allied armies to defeat the Carthaginian army attacking Agrigentum, eliminating their threat to my Daonian territory and our friendly city-states."
"Leaving only a few thousand soldiers to defend Selinunte, can they withstand the Carthaginian army's attack?" Sikeliotes asked, somewhat worried.
"We have been reinforcing the city defenses during this time, and holding out for more than a month should not be a problem.
By then, the situation may change," Leontiades said calmly.
After listening, Sikeliotes pondered for a while before making up his mind: "Since you have decided to implement this plan, as a military force equally responsible for protecting the security of Sicilian territory, our Sicilian fleet can guarantee you two things.
First, our fleet will do its best to cooperate with the Selinunte garrison to defend the city, such as intercepting Carthaginian grain ships, sending fleet infantry to harass the Carthaginian army's rear, and even sending fleet infantry to assist you in defending the city in the most dangerous situations; second, I can guarantee that if Selinunte is breached, our navy will do its utmost to ensure the safe evacuation of the remaining garrison and their return to Catana."
Leontiades was rarely moved, and even his voice trembled slightly: "Thank you very much!"
"If you want to thank me, hurry up and defeat the Carthaginian army attacking Agrigentum," Sikeliotes replied, holding his head high.
After seeing Sikeliotes off, Leontiades stood at the entrance of the hall in a daze.
Mukuros said with a smile, "Everyone says that Lord Sikeliotes is arrogant and difficult to talk to, but it seems that he is actually very reasonable."
Leontiades did not take up the topic, but returned to his seat and looked closely at the map.
Mukuros chuckled to himself: Compared to the famous Sikeliotes in the navy, the commander in front of him was even more difficult to approach.
Mukuros knew that once Leontiades started looking at the map, it could take him most of the day, so he quickly instructed the servants to bring breakfast to the hall.
Leontiades quickly finished his breakfast and then asked Mukuros to arrange for reinforcements to Agrigentum.
As soon as Mukuros walked out of the hall, he was met by Sikeliotes, who was walking quickly towards him.
"Lord Sikeliotes, what is this—"
"Just received a report from a fast ship that the Carthaginians have already occupied Agrigentum!" Sikeliotes said with a solemn expression, as he walked into the hall.
"Agrigentum has fallen?!" Leontiades suddenly stood up.
"The Carthaginians not only captured Agrigentum but also massacred the entire city, with only a small number of Agrigentum residents escaping by boat to Heraclea Minoa," Sikeliotes said with emphasis, "Your plan to transport reinforcements cannot be implemented."
Although this sudden news disrupted Leontiades' plan, it did not make him panic too much.
He pondered for a moment and then said, "Please continue to implement the troop transport plan,
but change the destination to Gela."
After the Carthaginian army occupied Agrigentum, the city-state to its east was Heraclea Minoa, but this small city had no defensive capabilities at all, and next to it was Gela.
To its west was Minoa, so why only reinforce Gela and not Minoa?
Sikeliotes understood this because, after the Carthaginian army besieged Selinunte, Leontiades considered that Minoa was also facing the threat of the Carthaginians (the Thermae Himerenses between Selinunte and Minoa was just a town without walls and no troops were stationed there), so he did not let it send reinforcements, and now the defensive strength within the city could at least last for a while.
Thinking of this, he solemnly asked, "After sending the reinforcements to Gela, are you still going to continue with the next plan?"
Leontiades did not hesitate: "As long as the Carthaginian army in Agrigentum continues to attack Heraclea Minoa or Gela, we must rush to fight them.
This is our only chance!"
Sikeliotes stared at the expressionless Leontiades.
He suddenly admired this man's decisiveness in the face of adversity, feeling that he and he were somewhat alike in some ways.
He coughed, stood up, and said, "Okay, when you are about to lead your troops to attack, please notify the Sicilian fleet to escort you."
After Sikeliotes left, Leontiades turned to Mukuros and said in a deep voice, "Immediately send a messenger to Catana and ask Cyprios to apply to the military department to transfer the Seventh Legion to Sicily."
"Ah?" Mukuros was a little surprised.
Through this period of contact, he knew that Leontiades was a proud commander, and he would not ask the Seventh Legion for help unless it was a critical moment, and had the moment arrived?
Leontiades did not seem to realize the waves his words had stirred up in his adjutant's heart.
He still explained expressionlessly, "The Carthaginian army that occupied Agrigentum does not only have the choice of attacking Heraclea Minoa or Minoa.
They can also directly enter the mountains to the north again, join forces with the army there, seize Enna, and then advance east, breaking through the defenses of Henna and Herbita, and invade the Catana plain…"
After Leontiades' analysis, Mukuros felt nervous.
He thought for a moment and said, "If the Carthaginian army does not take the southern coast but directly opens up the central mountains, wouldn't that be too risky?"
"It is somewhat risky, but we must also take precautions," Leontiades said, pointing to the map.
"Now our main force is in Selinunte, and there are only a few thousand soldiers in the Catana plain.
They also have to defend against Syracuse to the south, so they have no spare strength to support the Sicels.
To be honest, in my heart, the Sicels are far more important than these Greek city-states on the southern coast.
Once the Carthaginians occupy this area, the entire area from Naxos to the allied Leontini will be under the threat of the Carthaginian army, and it will be difficult for us to stop their invasion.
Therefore, in order to ensure the security of Sicilian territory, to ensure that the people can smoothly harvest grain during the autumn harvest, and to allow our Eighth Legion to fight the Carthaginian army without any worries, we can only let the Seventh Legion go south and sit in the Catana plain."
"I understand, I will arrange it immediately!" Mukuros replied.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
In the Carthaginian camp's central tent, Mago listened to the messenger returning from Selinunte and frowned, saying, "Sailors can be exchanged, but those soldiers cannot."
"Lord, but the Daonians have captured nearly ten thousand Phoenician sailors, far exceeding the number of Daonian sailors we have captured, so they are asking us to release the captured Greek soldiers as well—"
"Are you my messenger or the Daonians' messenger?!
Releasing those soldiers will only strengthen the Daonian army.
Am I a fool?!
I don't agree with this condition.
Go back and talk to them again."
The messenger saw Mago getting angry and could only nod in agreement.
Watching the messenger retreat from the tent in embarrassment, Mago sat on the chair and gasped for breath.
After his emotions calmed down slightly, he said to the adjutant next to him, "Go tell him that I agree to this agreement, and arrange for the exchange of prisoners immediately."
"Lord, didn't you just say—"
"Just do it.
What's the big deal about 2,000 Greek soldiers?
I want to see how the Daonians can resist my 100,000-strong army's attack!"
"Lord Mago, what's making you so angry?" The tent curtain was lifted, and Bomilcar walked in.
"Of course, it's those Phoenicians from the motherland!" Mago glared and said sarcastically, "Even with a superior force, they were still repelled by the Daonian fleet.
They wasted such a great opportunity.
Those people are such idiots!"
"This naval battle was indeed very regrettable.
The motherland's fleet clearly underestimated the Daonians, but after this battle, the Daonian fleet will probably be temporarily unable to harass the western sea.
Our Carthage and the surrounding allies can breathe a sigh of relief!
For this reason alone, we should thank the motherland's fleet for coming here to help us!"
Bomilcar reminded him with a smile, "Moreover, our motherland has brought more than just a fleet.
They have also promised to continuously provide us with gold, silver, and supplies to help us ultimately defeat the Daonians!"
Mago snorted.
He had changed his mind only because he thought of these things.
Otherwise, these people would be protesting to the Carthaginian Senate every day, which would only affect his prestige.
"You called me here, what's the matter?" Bomilcar asked with a smile.
"Oh, it's like this," Mago then remembered, motioned for Bomilcar to sit down first, and then said solemnly, "Although the Phoenician fleet was repelled by the Daonian fleet, they still successfully prevented the Daonians from timely reinforcing Agrigentum… Although I haven't received the news yet, I believe that Hasdrubal, leading more than 20,000 soldiers, will be able to quickly capture the weakly defended city of Agrigentum.
Now that the situation is in our favor, our large army should not all be gathered under Selinunte, but should seize this favorable opportunity to continue expanding our gains, so I hope that you will lead the army to attack Heraclea Minoa!"
Bomilcar was stunned for a moment and asked, "Aren't we going to attack Selinunte first?"
Mago's old face flushed slightly, but he still said seriously, "After this period of siege, I believe you also know that Selinunte not only has strong defenses, but also the main force of Daonia is inside the city. Their morale is high. Even if our soldiers far outnumber them, it will take us more time to capture this city, and time is very important to me!"
Bomilcar then remembered Mago's promise to the Senate. He no longer hesitated and immediately expressed his willingness to go on the expedition.
Mago revealed a few smiles and said generously, "You will lead 10,000 Carthaginian citizen soldiers, 15,000 citizen soldiers composed of Phoenician allies, and 25,000 Numidian soldiers, a total of 50,000 men. This is 10,000 more than Mont Adorno had when he attacked Minoah! I hope you will lead the army to Minoah tomorrow, and don't make the same mistake Mont Adorno made. Capture Minoah as soon as possible!"
Bomilcar was not excited by the prospect of leading such a large army, but instead asked with concern, "Lord Mago, according to this arrangement, you won't have many soldiers left. What if the Daonians in the city attack again—"
Although Bomilcar didn't continue, he had already expressed his concerns. In his opinion, if he followed Mago's suggestion and left with the army, Mago would only have less than 20,000 soldiers brought from Iberia. This army, composed of various races, seemed to be very combat-effective, but it was not easy to manage and lacked loyalty. There were also nearly 10,000 citizen soldiers formed by the western Sicilian allies. These Sicilians lacked training and were more suitable for transporting supplies and building camps than for fighting on the battlefield. The remaining nearly 10,000 Numidian soldiers were the soldiers from the camp that had been attacked at night. Obviously, the Daonian attack had frightened these dark-skinned Numidians. In order to prevent their panic from affecting the morale of other troops, Mago had specially separated them and had been busy reorganizing them these past few days, even preparing to send them to Lilybaeum to replace the garrison there.
But Mago was not worried about this. He said confidently, "If the Daonians act as you said, that's exactly what I want."
Bomilcar stopped persuading and accepted the order. In fact, even if he didn't accept it, Mago would force him to accept it, because he had forcibly replaced many Carthaginian generals with officers from the Iberian army he trusted, which not only made the soldiers of the Carthaginian army feel uneasy, but also caused criticism from the Senate after the news spread to Carthage. The Hanno faction even criticized his actions, claiming that he was doing this to turn the entire army into the private army of the Magonid family, so that he could carry out a dictatorship.
Mago let the neutral senator Bomilcar temporarily take over the Carthaginian army, both to appease the soldiers and to reassure the senators.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The next day, Bomilcar led the army out of the camp and marched east along the coast.
Mago did not conceal this military operation, so the large-scale mobilization of the Carthaginians in the camp was clearly seen by Leotychides on the city wall. He was a little anxious, because he could guess why this Carthaginian army was leaving. He had considered taking advantage of this opportunity to lead the entire army out of the city to attack the Carthaginian army still in the camp, but the previous night attack had already sounded the alarm for the Carthaginians. Since they still dared to do so, they were obviously prepared.
Leotychides held the only main force of the Daonian Kingdom on the island of Sicily.
In the face of being outnumbered, he could only take actions with a high chance of success, so he was now anxiously waiting for the arrival of the Catanaean fleet.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Hasdrubal allowed the soldiers to loot and slaughter the entire city of Agrigentum, partly to commemorate his father Himilco (Himilco had also led an army to occupy the city of Agrigentum), so that his soldiers could be released and rewarded after experiencing arduous mountain marches and hard battles; on the other hand, it was also to obtain enough food.
His purpose was achieved. The territory of Agrigentum was either mountainous or hilly. Although it was not known for its agriculture, it was a famous livestock city on the island of Sicily. Therefore, Hasdrubal obtained a large number of livestock, enough to feed an army of 20,000 for half a month.
So after resting for a day, at the same time as Bomilcar marched towards Minoah, Hasdrubal left 1,000 soldiers to garrison the city of Agrigentum and led 16,000 soldiers to march east along the coast, with the goal of Gela.
The army had to pass through the city of Ecnomus on the way. Why didn't Leotychides transport reinforcements to this city before, and why didn't Hasdrubal target this city? Because this was a small Greek city, its scale was only slightly larger than Thermae, and the low city walls could only be used to block beasts, not to resist the enemy's attack. Therefore, Leotychides did not place any hope on it, and Hasdrubal did not regard it as an obstacle. (Note: Historically, it was not until a century later that the tyrant of Agrigentum built a new city at Cape Ecnomus. In the First Punic War decades later, the largest naval battle in ancient Western history took place near the cape of this city. Carthage and Rome invested a total of 680 warships, carrying about 290,000 crew members and soldiers. In the end, Rome won.)
As expected, when Hasdrubal led his army to arrive, the residents of Ecnomus had already fled, leaving only an empty city. The Carthaginian army successfully entered.
After resting for one night, they continued to march east the next day and entered the territory of Gela at noon.
The city of Gela has a long history. It was established only four or five years later than Syracuse, by colonists from Rhodes and Crete, and named after the Gela River in the territory.
Because the Gela River washed down a large amount of soil from the mountains, forming a fertile river plain in the territory of Gela, the people of Gela became prosperous after decades of successfully transforming the river swamps. At this time, the city of Agrigentum had just been established, and the city of Syracuse was still limited to Ortygia Island. Therefore, Hippocrates, the tyrant of Gela, who had strong soldiers and sufficient food, and his successor Gelon launched a war of conquest to the east a century ago. Eventually, Greek colonies in eastern Sicily, from Messina to Camarina, all submitted to Gela. Gelon valued the geographical location of Syracuse and moved there, while letting his brother Hiero take over Gela, and moved half of the population of Gela, his birthplace, to Syracuse, thus creating the beginning of Syracuse's prosperity. After Gelon's death, Hiero also moved to Syracuse... Since then, the tyrants of Gela have abandoned their original city and made Syracuse their ruling center, and Gela has declined from the most powerful Greek city-state in Sicily. But to this day, Gela has established a fairly close relationship with Syracuse.
The first conflict between Gela and Syracuse occurred more than 20 years ago, when the Carthaginian commander Himilco led a large army to attack Syracuse, first occupying Agrigentum and then besieging Gela. Dionysius promised to send reinforcements, but in the end, the reinforcements did not arrive, and Gela was also occupied. The deepening of the conflict occurred after the people of Gela returned to their homeland. Syracuse had become the overlord of the Greek city-states on the island of Sicily, and Dionysius heavily exploited and oppressed the people of the allied states, including Gela, of course. The people of Gela were very dissatisfied with him, but they could only obey for fear of his powerful military force.
Until Daonia defeated Syracuse, the people of Gela were grateful to the Daonians, but also wary of outsiders entering Sicily. Daonia spent 10 years getting along with the surrounding city-states of Sicily, before the people of Gela finally let down their guard. In this war between Daonia and Carthage, Gela also actively provided material assistance and sent troops to participate.
Now, the Carthaginian army has approached the city, which not only makes the people of Gela feel nervous, but also shakes Syracuse and Catanaea. After all, compared to the series of battles that occurred in the west before, Gela is very close to them and can attract the attention of the people more.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … …
"Commander, Calcidius is here," Mucerus reported to Leotychides.
"Please let him in."
A middle-aged officer wearing a purple-crested helmet strode into the hall of the city lord's mansion.
His name was Calcidius, and he was from Catanaea. After Dionysius conquered Catanaea, he became a refugee and lived in a settlement in the mountains for a while. Later, he quietly returned to the port of Catanaea and made a living by selling his labor. He was not afraid of the strong, helped the weak, and was fair in his dealings, so he had a high reputation among the refugees and free people in the port of Catanaea. In the South Italian War, Antra polis, who was lurking in the port of Catanaea, received his great help, and in the riots that followed in Catanaea, the free people he led were also one of the main forces. After Catanaea was successfully restored, he also led troops to assist the First Legion in pursuing the defeated soldiers of Massias.
However, after the end of the war and Catanaea was incorporated into the Daonian Kingdom, this hero in the hearts of the people of Catanaea refused to become a kingdom official or a member of the city council, but voluntarily became a tribune of the people, and was elected by the people of Catanaea every year for his excellent performance to participate in the kingdom's Tribune Assembly. At the same time, he was also the captain of the First Battalion of the Eighth Legion and was deeply trusted by Leotychides.
"Commander, Calcidius is here to report!" Calcidius gave a forceful military salute.