Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 960: A Race of Life and Death in the Saros Sea

Even as he issued the order, he had the flagship come about. Leading by example, it accelerated straight toward the Daonian Fleet.

The surrounding warships quickly followed suit. However, the Carthaginian warships further away grew confused. They had just heard the signal to retreat, only for it to swiftly change to an order to attack—two completely contradictory commands.

This was a newly assembled fleet. Even though the vast majority of its crews had survived the storm that battered the previous Carthaginian Fleet, they had undergone a total reorganization. The biggest issue was that, despite Admika's fierce opposition, Annobas—backed by the Senate—had mixed the survivors of the old Carthaginian Fleet and the Iberian fleet together. Distributed across every new warship, all vessels now fell under the direct command of the naval supreme commander, completely dissolving any independent Iberian fleet.

Rushed into battle without adequate time to cohere, the crews had not yet developed proper obedience to their new commander. To the Iberian sailors, Annobas was practically a stranger. This lack of discipline wasn't apparent during routine patrols and sailing, but in a moment of crisis, the problem was laid bare: several warships hesitated over whether to execute this second command.

While this Carthaginian fleet fell into disarray over the conflicting commands, the Daunian 3rd Fleet's assault continued to display its devastating power. The Corvus Warships smashed open the outer shell of the defensive circle like iron hammers. Fast Trireme Warships immediately poured into the breach. Their narrow hulls wove rapidly through the tight interior of the formation, agile as fish. Yet the moment they spotted an opening, they transformed into ferocious sharks—shearing off enemy oars and ramming hulls, throwing the already disorganized Carthaginian formation into absolute chaos...

Seeing how dire the situation had become, some Carthaginian warships began to withdraw from the battlefield.

Originally, the New Carthaginian Fleet possessed 190 warships. After arriving in Sardinia, they absorbed another 40 warships belonging to the Phoenician City-States in Sardinia, bringing their total to 230. When Annobas formulated his battle plan, he split the fleet roughly in half. To ensure that the ambush force stationed in the open sea under Admika's command could withstand the Daonian Fleet's assault and lock them in a grueling melee until he could arrive to catch them in a pincer attack, the 110 warships he assigned to Admika were entirely Carthaginian warships. Annobas had reasoned that if he arrived at the battlefield too early, the Daonian Fleet—not yet fully committed to the fight—might realize the danger and flee, minimizing the victory. Thus, he incorporated the 40 weaker Phoenician Warships into his own division, believing their inferior combat strength wouldn't matter given his overwhelming numerical advantage.

But the reality now was that Annobas's fleet found itself passively taking a beating. Faced with the ferocious assault of the Daonian warships, several Phoenician warships chose to follow the flagship's initial command while turning a deaf ear to the subsequent order to attack. They retreated.

Their retreat shattered the morale of the neighboring Phoenician warships, prompting them to fall back as well. Consequently, the entire Carthaginian fleet struggled to maintain a defensive line, let alone mount an attack.

"My lord, we must retreat immediately, or we won't be able to escape at all!" the captain urged desperately. By now, Daonian warships had appeared on the waters to both the left and right of the Carthaginian flagship. Though the situation directly ahead was slightly better due to Annobas personally overseeing the battle line, if things continued at this pace, their escape route would be severed, trapping the flagship in an encirclement.

"...Retreat..." Annobas said dejectedly. He slumped onto the deck, burying his face in his hands, completely unable to face the reality: as a veteran naval commander caught off guard by a sudden enemy attack, he had first hastily deployed the wrong formation, then repeatedly changed his orders, turning a highly advantageous battle into a catastrophic rout...

...

"The enemy is routing! The enemy is routing!" the lookout shouted excitedly from atop the mast.

Midorades's face remained grim. "How far is the rear Carthaginian fleet from us?" he asked anxiously.

"Only about three hundred meters!"

"Order all warships not to stop! Accelerate and push forward! Remember, no one stops!" Midorades shouted sternly.

"Captain, three green flags have been raised on the flagship!" the stern lookout of a Corvus Warship at the vanguard of the fleet yelled out.

"What?! Green flags!" The captain furrowed his brows. In their naval flag language, a green flag meant "accelerate forward." (When the Daunian Navy first devised their flag signals, green represented spring, the revival of all things, melting glaciers, and surging forward. Conversely, a white flag meant retreat; the Daunian Navy had no signal for surrender.) This meant they had to spare the panicked Carthaginian warship currently cutting blindly across their bow. Though reluctant to let it go, orders had to be obeyed. The captain sighed helplessly and commanded, "Ramming speed, straight ahead! Retract the Corvus!"

Every warship in the Daunian 3rd Fleet executed similar commands, causing the entire fleet to accelerate once more. This only further pressured Annobas's fleet into a frantic flight. In their sheer panic to escape, collisions among their own ships could be seen constantly.

When the crews of these damaged, slow-moving Carthaginian warships saw the Daonian warships rapidly bearing down on them, their souls nearly left their bodies in terror. Yet a miracle occurred: the Daonian warships brushed past them, sailing straight ahead as if they hadn't seen them at all.

...

Admika was consumed with regret.

Under Annobas's orders, he had led 110 warships to set an ambush in the open sea. His crews had steered their vessels through the churning waves, nervously waiting for the Daonian Fleet to take the bait. However, after waiting for most of the day, the merchant ships acting as bait reported back: the Daonian Fleet had abandoned the pursuit halfway and turned back.

Disappointed, Admika notified the fleet to return, though he still dispatched fast ships to scout ahead, clinging to a shred of hope.

As a result, the fast ships reported back: the Daonian Fleet had been intercepted by the fleet led by Annobas.

Admika's disappointment instantly shifted to excitement. He ordered his fleet to accelerate forward.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before they spotted the Daonian Fleet ahead. But at this time, he did not order his fleet to launch an immediate attack; instead, he had the fleet slow its advance and arrange its formation.

He had his reasons for doing this: first, during the naval battle at Saedium several months prior, the Iberian fleet he personally commanded had been defeated by the Daonian Fleet. He understood their combat capabilities. The Daonian Fleet, having just begun their engagement with Annobas's fleet, was fully capable of peeling off a contingent of warships to turn around and block his attack, which would inflict heavy losses on the fleet he led.

Second, although he was now under Annobas's command, he remained fiercely resentful of it. He hoped Annobas's fleet would suffer heavier casualties in this battle while his own forces took minimal losses. This would help elevate his prestige within the new fleet and increase his say.

Therefore, after Admika deployed all his warships into a double-column formation, he held his position. He watched the battle unfold ahead, remaining vigilant in case the Daonian Fleet attempted to flee.

But never did he expect the Daonian Fleet's commander to be so decisive—completely ignoring his threat and committing every single warship to the assault.

He further hadn't anticipated that Annobas's fleet would perform so abysmally. Barely ten minutes into the clash, they were already buckling.

Once Admika gained a rough understanding of the battle situation ahead through his lookout, he had no choice but to instantly issue the order to attack.

It took Admika's fleet around seven or eight minutes to accelerate from a dead stop to full speed and cross the distance of nearly three li to reach the Daonian Fleet's rear. So that Annobas's fleet would do its utmost to keep the enemy entangled, Admika ordered his flagship's buglers to blast the attack signal with all their might.

But all of these efforts ultimately proved to be in vain. By the time they reached the battlefield, the Daonian Fleet had already cut straight through the Carthaginian formation and was sailing away at full speed. Only ruined Carthaginian warships and vessels with most of their sailors cut down remained scattered across the sea. Countless Carthaginian sailors bobbed in the water, screaming toward the fleet for help, inadvertently turning themselves into obstacles that hindered Admika's advance.

Of course, not all the Daonian warships managed to escape in time. Seven or eight Daonian warships had failed to quickly break out—whether because their hulls had sustained damage that slowed their speed, because they had failed to withdraw their fleet infantry in time and had to wait, or because panicked enemy ships had suddenly veered directly into their path, forcing unavoidable collisions. In short, they had not yet escaped the battlefield, falling far behind the rest of the Daonian Fleet.

Admika's warships pursued them. Realizing they could not escape, those few Daonian warships turned around to meet the attack. Even though they fought with incredible valor, the sheer difference in numbers was insurmountable. The Carthaginians swiftly claimed victory.

Throughout this entire process, the Daunian 3rd Fleet did not turn back to rescue them; instead, they only accelerated further away.

Staring at the Daonian Fleet that had nearly vanished into the distance, and then looking at the devastated battlefield around him, Admika hesitated slightly. Knowing it was already impossible to catch up to the Daonian Fleet, he decided to prioritize rescuing his own compatriots.

At the same time, he dispatched fast ships ahead to track the Daonian Fleet's movements, and also sent fast ships to round up the scattered Carthaginian warships and have them return to the fleet.