Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 979: Morbal's Ploy

However, the expected carnage never materialized. The vast majority of the Carthaginian Convoy nimbly evaded the fierce rams, slipping just past the Daonian Warships.

Surviving such a hair-raising encounter left most of the Carthaginian sailors entirely unfazed. Instead, they roared with excitement, "See that, Theonians? That is the true skill of Carthaginian sailors!"

"Hey, you clumsy fools! You handle your ships like old women in their sixties and seventies!"

"With steering like that, you dare challenge us? We could charge a hundred times and you still wouldn't touch us!"

...

The Theonians couldn't understand the Carthaginian shouts, but the mocking gestures needed no translation. The insult was cemented when some Carthaginians lifted their clothes, pulled out their cocks, and pissed in their direction. It was an absolute humiliation!

Even the usually unflappable captain of the Flagship couldn't hold back a curse. "Damned Carthaginians! If we only had Bows and Arrows on board, I would shoot the bastards dead myself!"

Secilian seethed with anger as well, but as the fleet commander, he naturally kept his composure. "These Carthaginians celebrate too early," he said darkly. "Our Fast Warships will send them to see Poseidon!"

Secilian had deployed his fleet in a staggered double-line formation for exactly this purpose. The more agile Fast Warships formed the rear line, ready to take out any merchant vessels that dodged the initial assault. However, he had not expected the first line of warships to come up so completely empty-handed.

He could hardly believe what he saw. Riding the ocean swells like nimble fish, the Carthaginian merchant vessels narrowly evaded the Fast Warships' rams as well, slipping right through the gaps in the formation. Faint, mocking laughter drifted over the waves from behind them once again.

Secilian could no longer restrain his fury. He slammed a heavy punch against the mast and roared, "After them! Ram those damned merchant ships to the bottom of the sea!"

In truth, he barely needed to give the order. Almost every Daonian Warship was already snapping around, giving chase to the fleeing Carthaginian merchant vessels.

The Daunian Navy had grown rapidly in recent years, amassing an outstanding combat record. Aside from one natural storm, they had suffered virtually no defeats; they had even crushed the once-mighty Carthaginian Navy beneath their heels. Bursting with pride, they had never suffered an indignity like this. Not a single crewman was willing to let these merchant ships trample their honor and simply sail away. Filled with pent-up rage, the captains demanded more speed, and the sailors rowed with furious strength. The warships surged forward to chase the merchant ships with blistering speed, the crews vowing to ram the enemy straight to the seafloor to vent their anger.

At this point, it would have been difficult for anyone to halt their pursuit so quickly. Secilian knew his fleet, so he simply encouraged them to press the attack.

A massive naval pursuit had begun.

The Daonian Sicilian Fleet was now split into two forces: eighty warships in the waters off Eryx trying to encircle and intercept over two hundred Carthaginian merchant ships weaving among the islands, and two hundred warships near Lilybaeum furiously chasing the sixty Carthaginian vessels that had provoked them.

...

While the pursuit in the south had just begun, the interception in the north had already been underway for some time. The cunning Carthaginian merchant vessels wove through the local reefs and islets, forcing the Daonian Warships—who were unfamiliar with these waters—to slow down and pursue with caution. This gave the Carthaginian merchant ships ample opportunity to slip away. However, once the warships under Straphacus completely dispersed over the entire region, the Carthaginian merchant ships met with disaster.

After all, with the fleet scattered and each Daonian Warship locking down a small sector of the sea, it was inevitable that the Carthaginian vessels would constantly run right into them. The Carthaginian sailors were undeniably masters at handling their sails, but sailing ships ultimately relied on the wind. When forced to head upwind, their speed naturally suffered. The Daonian Warships, powered by oarsmen, were practically unaffected by the wind direction. Narrow channels carved out by the reefs also deprived the Carthaginian merchant ships of enough room to maneuver. Once they met head-on, the defenseless merchant ships sank almost immediately upon being rammed.

In barely over half an hour, nearly half of the Carthaginian merchant vessels had been lost. The various reefs and islets were dotted with Carthaginian sailors who had swum ashore after their ships sank. At this rate, the entire Carthaginian Convoy would be wiped out in another thirty minutes.

Straphacus, however, did not let the victory go to his head. Two lingering doubts gnawed at him: first, since their evasion tactics had already failed, why were these merchant ships still lingering in this area to play cat and mouse? Second, he had just noticed that the cargo piled high on the enemy decks was actually nothing more than empty wooden cages securely draped in linen. They looked like heavy freight, but they all bobbed to the surface after a ship sank. It was no wonder Straphacus had previously been puzzled as to how the Carthaginian merchant ships could sail so swiftly under such heavy loads.

The Carthaginian merchant ships were clearly using this disguise as bait to achieve some objective! Straphacus raised his guard. He ordered his Flagship to halt its pursuit of the enemy and sail to the western waters between Aegusa Island and Phorbantia Island—the very center of the region. At the same time, he dispatched several fast boats to closely survey the surroundings, especially toward the west.

He held off on immediately recalling his warships because he believed that with just a little more time, his fleet could essentially wipe out these deceitful Carthaginian merchant ships. This would deal a significant blow to the Carthaginians, fulfill the task handed down by Commander Secilian, and allow his men to vent their pent-up anger.

"General, look! Another merchant ship is down!" a crewman on the deck shouted excitedly.

"The captain of that Fast Warship is Ilias, isn't it?" Straphacus said, watching the scene with keen interest. "To immediately order his men to row backward after missing the target, using the stern to flip the merchant ship... Ilias has a very flexible mind!"

"Compared to merchant ships, our warships are behemoths. Whether using the bow or the stern, we can sink them. Yet out of everyone here, I've only seen Ilias's warship employ this new tactic. I certainly wouldn't have thought of it myself. Ilias truly is the finest captain in our fleet!" the Flagship's captain remarked with heartfelt admiration.

"Traditional habits have shackled our thinking!" Straphacus tapped his head and said earnestly, "When we return, we must spread this new tactic. The next time the fleet encounters Carthaginian merchant ships, we will have another weapon."

"Yes, sir!"

"Enemy spotted!" the lookout atop the mainmast suddenly shouted in a panic. "The western fast boat has hoisted the yellow flags! Three yellow flags!"

Straphacus's heart hammered in his chest. His worst fears were coming true! Without a doubt, the Carthaginian Fleet was bearing down on them, and in numbers far exceeding his own squadron!

"Sound the war horns! Hoist the yellow flags! Hoist the banner of Apollo!" Straphacus bellowed. Highly tense, he knew he had to immediately rally his scattered warships to prevent them from being picked off one by one.

His expression grave, he then added, "Send a fast boat south immediately! Inform Lord Secilian that the Carthaginian Fleet is upon us. We need immediate reinforcements!"

Having issued his orders, Straphacus felt slightly calmer. He reasoned that if the fast boat had spotted the enemy, the enemy fleet must still be four or five

But he was unaware of a critical flaw. Directly west of the Flagship sat Hera Island. The fast boat delivering the message had been stationed off the island's western shore. The moment its lookout spotted the Carthaginian Fleet swooping in from the west, they immediately hoisted the yellow flags. Yet after quite a while, the fast boat captain had still not heard the squadron's Flagship sound its horns—as dictated by Daunian Navy protocol, the Flagship had to simultaneously sound horns when passing on a command to alert its subordinate warships. Finding this strange, the captain quickly realized his blunder: Hera Island was blocking them, meaning the Flagship's lookout probably couldn't see their flag signals at all. He frantically ordered his boat around Hera Island and soon heard the blaring horns, but this ordeal had already consumed precious time.

Although the eighty Daonian Warships scattered across the region weren't terribly far from the Flagship and could almost all hear the horns blare, interpreting the Flagship's command still took time. During combat, warships never kept lookouts up on the masts, lest the massive impact forces throw them down. They had to slow down so the lookouts could climb the mainmasts. Furthermore, some warships were blocked by islands and couldn't see the flag signals at all until they sailed back out. As a result, pulling all the warships back together around Straphacus's Flagship was going to take time.

Time was now undoubtedly critical. At the exact moment the Daonian squadron's Flagship blew its horns, the Carthaginian naval commander, Morbal, arrived on the western side of Hera Island with one hundred and seventy warships. They immediately attacked three isolated Daonian Warships that were busy chasing merchant ships there.

At the same time, the Carthaginian Fleet quickly split into two groups of seventy-five warships each. One group hooked around the north of Hera Island, and the other swept south, to attack the rest of the Daonian Warships.

Seeing the Carthaginian Fleet finally arrive, the merchant ship crews stranded on Hera Island erupted in joyous cheers, roaring, "It's time for our revenge! Send all the Theonians to the bottom to feed the fish!..."

These three isolated Daonian Warships—two Corvus Warships and one Fast Warship—had been so engrossed in cornering a few fleeing Carthaginian merchant ships that by the time they noticed the Carthaginian Fleet bearing down on them, it was a little too late to retreat.