Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1016: The Naval Battle of Carthage (1)

After issuing his orders, Morbal led the other warships in a charge toward the Daonian Fleet.

"General, the Carthaginian Fleet is charging at us! Their numbers match ours!" the lookout on the Flagship's mainmast reported to Midorades, deciphering the flag signals relayed from the front.

Midorades realized the plan had succeeded. The Carthaginian Fleet had been lured out of the port, and the decisive battle was imminent. He shouted, "Sound the bugle! Raise the Starry Sky and the red flag!"

Midorades's words reached the Flagship's lower hold. The sailors of the Third Fleet were riding high on morale. Having achieved continuous military successes recently, they had been rewarded multiple times by King Davos and the Ministry of Military Affairs. Hearing their commander's orders, every man felt a surge of adrenaline, eager to earn new glory.

Then, the captain's voice rang out from the deck. "Advance! Increase rowing speed!"

"Attention! Increase rowing speed!" the boatswain immediately bellowed, repeating the order for all the crew members.

The piper blew his high-pitched double-reed flute, steadily quickening the tempo. Guided by the rhythm, the lead oarsmen on the first tier leaned forward and pulled back, driving their wooden oars through the water. The sailors on the bottom two tiers mirrored their movements perfectly. The Flagship, previously sitting almost perfectly still, surged forward. The rest of the warships followed suit.

Meanwhile, upon hearing the bugles and seeing the flag signals from the rear, the warships of the 1st Squadron instantly stopped toying with the few remaining Iberian merchant ships. They turned their bows and sailed toward the Carthaginian Fleet emerging from the eastern port.

The captains of the dozen or so Carthaginian warships charging at the very front heard the frequent bugle calls from behind. Looking ahead, they watched the Daonian Fleet expanding its formation on the move, rapidly bearing down on their overextended position. A chill ran through their hearts. Instinctively, they ordered their sailors to slow their rowing speed, waiting for the warships behind them to catch up so they could merge into the formation and attack together.

The situation was somewhat urgent, but Morbal wasn't panicked. Instead, he listened to Baricus's unrestrained laughter. "Old man, we're going up first! The people in the port are all watching us. You'd better make your men put their backs into it. If you perform poorly in this battle, you'll be cursed to death by the citizens when you get back! Hahaha..." A small Carthaginian merchant ship sailed past the Flagship's flank, with Baricus howling with laughter as he handled the sail.

Morbal showed no displeasure at Baricus's arrogance. Instead, he turned to face the man and delivered a solemn military salute.

As nearly all the Carthaginian merchant ships sailed past the warships, their owners shouted encouragement to incite the sailors' fighting spirit. The warship captains, in turn, saluted the passing merchant vessels. They watched as these diminutive ships—less than a fifth the length of a warship—sped straight toward the Daonian Fleet. While their own morale swelled, they also feared for the merchants' safety.

Yet not a trace of fear could be seen on Baricus's face. Nimbly maneuvering the sail, he caught the faint southwest wind, sending his merchant ship shooting to the very front like an arrow. He roared, "Theonians, your Carthaginian grandpas are back!"

Facing the approaching Daonian warships that loomed larger by the second, his spirit grew increasingly euphoric. He was about to humiliate the Theonians all over again.

When Midorades heard from the lookout that the Carthaginian Fleet had actually sent merchant ships charging at the very front of their formation, he was stunned. He knew the Sicilian Fleet had previously suffered a defeat precisely because several expertly sailed Carthaginian merchant ships had played a critical role. However, he never imagined the Carthaginian Fleet would involve these non-combat vessels in a formal, pitched battle. This was truly unheard of!

"Notify all warships to ignore these merchant ships. Maintain the fleet's formation, increase speed, and engage the Carthaginian Fleet!" Midorades said in a deep voice.

The Flagship's captain, however, looked troubled as he pointed out, "General, these orders of yours... they won't be easy to relay!"

Midorades immediately understood. Over the years, the Ministry of Military Affairs and the navy, guided by King Davos, had gradually developed and refined the fleet's flag signaling system. But they had never anticipated civilian vessels participating in a battle, and thus, no flag signals had been created for such a scenario.

After a moment of thought, Midorades commanded, "Sound the bugles and raise the green flag! Urge the fleet to advance at full speed!"

Midorades hoped the warships under his command would ignore the provocations of the Carthaginian merchant ships. Clearly, though, he had overestimated the captains' and crews' ability to strictly execute orders. While the Third Fleet had been established for years, the vast majority of its sailors lacked combat experience prior to this war. Their consecutive victories had inflated their egos to incredible heights. Now, facing their first taste of provocation from Carthaginian merchant ships boldly weaving between their warships—being urinated on, spat at, pointed at, and loudly mocked... These insults were something even Secilian, the commander of the Sicilian Fleet, found unbearable, let alone these hot-blooded, young captains and crews.

At first, when some Daonian warship captains saw these flimsy merchant ships pull up alongside them, they remembered the Flagship's orders but still couldn't resist slightly veering their warships to bear down on the enemy vessels. They figured the wake generated by their warships alone would be enough to severely toss the small boats about, or even capsize them. And if their hulls merely grazed the merchants, the smaller ships would be smashed to splinters.

However, as most of the Carthaginian merchant ships nimbly evaded the collisions and let out even louder roars of mockery, the competitive pride of the Daionian captains and crews flared up. They didn't make drastic maneuvers, but they kept crowding and pressing toward the merchant ships. As a result, the distance between their own warships began to shrink.

This shrinking space certainly caused immense trouble for the Carthaginian merchant ships. The churning waves whipped up by two rapidly approaching warships were enough to send some of the smaller vessels pitching violently up and down. Even if they managed to escape the crush, they momentarily lost agile control over their ships, leaving them unable to dodge the subsequent rams from the warships surging up from behind.

However, the sacrifices of the Carthaginian merchant ships led to significant chaos across the Daunian 3rd Fleet's entire formation. Warships blocked one another, forcing all of them to slash their speed...

When Midorades learned of the situation from the rear, he burned with anxious fury, but he had no immediately effective solution. He could only order his captain to hoist three green flags simultaneously and have the bugler blow a sustained blast, warning all warships to strictly execute their orders.

While the Daonian Fleet struggled to reorganize its formation, the Carthaginian Fleet had fully arranged itself into its most familiar double-column formation. Driven by soaring morale, the Carthaginian crews rowed furiously, propelling their warships swiftly toward the Daonian Fleet ahead.

At noon, the 130 warships of the Carthaginian Fleet and the 143 warships of the Daunian 3rd Fleet formally commenced their battle upon the waters near the Port of Carthage.

The Carthaginian citizens had already packed the coastline not far from the naval clash. Upon hearing the news, people from nearby Utica and other Phoenician Allied States were also arriving in droves. The entire beach was packed several layers deep, completely transforming into a sea of humanity.

Everyone pinned their hopes on the Carthaginian Fleet delivering a crushing blow to the Daonian Fleet that threatened their homeland's safety. The citizens of the Port of Carthage even chanted Baricus's name in unison. In the past, this arrogantly behaved shipowner had made them keep their distance. But his bold and risky actions, both last time and today, had earned him the people's respect. The youth even saw him as a hero.

Compared to the boiling, clamorous crowds along the shore, the Carthaginian elders watching the battle from atop the breakwater walls were far quieter. The atmosphere around them was quite somber.

"Annobas, do you think we can win... this naval battle?" Tepanco asked the former naval commander in a low voice, prompted by a meaningful glance from Hanno.

Had it not been for Hanno and Morbal fighting to protect him, Annobas likely wouldn't have escaped severe punishment from the Senate. Although he had barely managed to survive the ordeal, he was now sidelined, entirely stripped of his status as an elder. If the elders hadn't been so anxious about the outcome of the naval battle and in dire need of a maritime warfare expert who could accurately judge the battlefield situation, they wouldn't have summoned him from his home today.

Yet right now, not a hint of dejection could be seen on Annobas's face. Instead, he buzzed with excitement. "Lord Morbal's tactical arrangement is extremely effective! Our merchant ships have already disrupted Daionia's formation. Our fleet is seizing this prime opportunity to launch their attack. They will undoubtedly hold the advantage from the very first clash..."

Hearing this, Tepanco let out a soft breath. His expression relaxed slightly as he spoke with hope, "I pray this advantage can be maintained to the very end, and that we ultimately claim victory in this naval battle!"

Okriton, having already returned to Carthage, heard this and sighed with emotion. "If we win this naval battle, our negotiations with Daionia will become much easier!"

When he had returned to Carthage and laid out Daionia's harsh negotiation terms in the Senate, it had caused an uproar among the elders. Almost everyone expressed outrage at Daionia's severe demands. However, once the initial outrage passed, they displayed differing attitudes toward whether to continue the talks.

The Hanno faction believed that since these were Daionia's very first peace terms, Carthage could absolutely argue their case vigorously in the subsequent negotiations and eventually reach a mutual agreement. From the current battlefield situation, however, the Daionian Army held a clear advantage. If circumstances didn't change moving forward and a peace agreement was eventually struck, Daionia would undoubtedly secure more benefits. This was simply inevitable. The Senate had to recognize this reality and accept it.