But when the Carthaginian army reached the end of the mountain road, the soldiers were surprised to see that the exit of the mountain road had been blocked by a well-fortified wooden wall, and the wooden walls were covered with bows and strings.

The Carthaginian army came on a hurried march, carrying no siege equipment at all, and the narrow mountain roads could not take advantage of the large number of soldiers, so it would undoubtedly be very difficult to break through this stockade and break into the territory of Palermos.

Unwilling, Hasdruba led his army on a tentative assault, which was quickly repulsed by a rain of arrows shot from the wooden walls, leaving only a few dozen corpses in front of the trenches.

Hasdruba had to lead his troops back.

At this time, Leotizides was directing some of his soldiers to start building a camp, which he planned to start from the wooden village at the mouth of the mountain and go north to the sea, so as to cut off Palermos from the outside world on land.

The baggage battalions of the 7th and 8th Army Corps were busy on the beach, laboriously carrying supplies from cargo ships to the coast.

The Third Fleet was guarding the convoy transporting soldiers and supplies off the coast of Palermos, and although the Dionian Navy had a clear advantage in the waters west of Sicily, it was an enemy territory, and the entire crew of the Third Fleet was on high alert, as they had heard of the Sicilian Fleet being teased and raided by the Carthaginian fleet when they first arrived in Sicily.

"The enemy situation has been found in the southwest, two yellow flags!" The lookout on the mainmast of the flagship suddenly shouted.

Hearing that the Carthaginian fleet was attacking with a fleet of about the same number as his own fleet, Midorades looked calm and immediately gave the order: "Blow the trumpet and raise the starry flag!" At the same time, notify the fleet behind them and let them immediately get to the beach! ”

It was the Carthaginian fleet led by Morbar that attacked. Since the burning of the city of Hadru Mentum, in order to better grasp the movements of the Dionian fleet, he hired dozens of small cargo ships piloted by experienced old Phoenician captains to scatter along the coast of the western seas to investigate the enemy. Therefore, when the large Dionian fleet docked on the coast near Palermos, Morbar, who was training a fleet and waiting for fighters between the Carthaginian and western seas, received the news, because he knew that the Dionian fleet was still cruising the waters near Lilipoli, and it was impossible for it to suddenly appear near Palermos, and it must be another Dionian fleet.

Another Dionian fleet has been added to the waters off Sicily! …… The news made Morbar feel pressured, but he still decided to lead his team to Palermos, where the new Dionian fleet would meet, perhaps because it was new, not as difficult as the original one, and easier to take the bait.

When the Carthaginian fleet arrived, the Dionian Third Fleet was already in array at sea.

Morbar was not prepared for a head-on battle with the Dionian fleet, and when he was about a mile away from the other side in a loose formation and at a normal pace, the Carthaginian ships that had been informed of Morbar's plan turned around one after another, luring the enemy ships to chase them.

The Third Fleet ships were indeed struggling to pursue at first, but when the Carthaginian fleet wanted to lead it to the open sea, Midorades immediately became vigilant, although the Third Fleet won the final victory in the previous Battle of Sardinia, but the risks experienced in it made him remember vividly, he was a good learner, and did not want to make the same mistake again, so he gave the order to "stop the pursuit", and quickly gathered the ships and returned to the original defensive position.

After that, the Carthaginian fleet stepped forward several times to lure it, and the Third Fleet no longer moved lightly but waited and watched.

Morbar also sent some of his ships to attack the Dionian convoy bypassing the Third Fleet, but most of the ships had already docked at the beach under the warning of the Third Fleet, and there was not much oil to fish, and Midorades ordered the detachment in the rear to follow and watch, but always kept a short distance from the main force.

The caution of the Third Fleet and the unified, commanding of the entire fleet made it impossible for Morbar to take advantage of it, and instead took a lot of physical strength on the Carthaginian crew.

The combat effectiveness of such a well-trained Dionian fleet is certainly not weak! …… Morbar did not dare to attack from the front, because he was not confident that he could defeat his opponent, and he knew very well in his heart: even if he was victorious, the Carthaginian fleet would inevitably suffer great losses, which would not be worth the loss for the Carthaginian navy, which was completely at a disadvantage, and Carthage, which was in a difficult situation, now needed such a complete fleet to deter the Dionian navy from being too rampant.

The Carthaginian fleet eventually retreated.

Midorades did not give the order to pursue, he no longer had the impetuous mentality that was initially eager to prove himself, and the affirmation and praise of his achievements in several letters from Davers to him made him more confident and composed, and he knew very well that for the Third Fleet, which was new to the sea and not familiar with the surrounding seas, what was needed now was caution, not more exploits.

At this time, the lookout on the main mast shouted again: "News from the clipper ship in the east, a fleet is coming ahead!" Well...... It's our fleet! ”

Midorades was shocked: Sekrian is here!

The Sicilian Fleet cruised to the waters near Palermos and met the Third Fleet, the first time in more than 10 years since the South Italian War that the Dionian Navy had been fully combined (the Sicilian Fleet had previously merged the First, Second and Fourth Fleets).

Due to the existence of the elusive Carthaginian fleet, the warships of both sides did not get completely close to prevent congestion and inconvenience of movement, but the flagships of both sides blew their trumpets at the same time, and the oars of all the warships left the water and swung back and forth in the air to express the joy of the crews.

In this celebratory atmosphere, the flagships of both sides simultaneously moved forward to the front of the fleet, the flagship of the Sicilian Fleet stopped moving, and the flagship of the Third Fleet continued forward, finally to the side of the flagship of the Sicilian Fleet.

Midorides, dressed in military uniform, stepped on the plank between the two ships, came to the flagship deck of the Sicilian fleet, and solemnly gave a military salute to Seclian: "Salute to you, Lord Seclian!" ”

Sekrian also solemnly returned a military salute, and then said, "Long time no see, Midorades!" During this time I have heard many good news from the Third Fleet, and you have surprised me by your performance, not only in the naval battle, but also in the successive victories of two important Phoenician cities, and in the snatching of all the work that should have been done by the army, and you have earned us great honor for the navy! ”

"It was only with the full support of His Majesty and the Sicilian Fleet led by you that attracted the main forces of Carthage in front that the Third Fleet achieved these successes without attracting attention." Midorades said humbly, and then sighed with concern: "When I heard the news in Latin that 'the Sicilian fleet was destroyed by a storm, and you and Flarios are also missing', I was very worried about your safety! At the same time, I am worried that the Dionian Navy will not be able to recover for a long time due to this blow! Thanks to Hades, it's great that you've returned safely, the Sicilian fleet has been regrouped, and everything is back to normal! ”

Secrean looked at the other party's sincere smile, and sighed lightly after a moment: "It's a pity that Flarios and Miltias have gone to the Elysée one after another!" The Carthaginian navy is a formidable enemy we have encountered so far, and has inflicted considerable casualties on our fleet...... Earlier, His Majesty Davers had reminded me again, 'In this war with the Carthaginians, our navy is the most important force to defeat the enemy, and is to play its greatest role. Therefore, our two fleets must join forces and strengthen their cooperation in order to completely defeat the Carthaginian navy and win this war for the kingdom!" ”

Secrean has been a patriarch of the kingdom for many years, and his political sensitivity is not low, when he learned that the Third Fleet was transferred to Sicily and was not subordinate to the Sicilian Fleet, but was stationed alone on the north coast and was responsible for the war at sea with the Sicilian Fleet, he understood that King Davers and the Ministry of War were not too satisfied with the recent performance of the Sicilian Fleet, and wanted to use the Third Fleet to stimulate the Sicilian Fleet, At the same time, he also realized that the successive victories of the Third Fleet had made Midorades no longer the commander of the detachment that he could drive at will more than ten years ago.

In particular, there was a knot in his heart: he had always felt that Miltias's death had something to do with him, and if he hadn't been strong enough to take away the command of Miltias' fleet as soon as he appeared, Miltias would not have refused to follow his advice, which eventually led to defeat.

Since then, he has consciously restrained his temperament. In addition, when they met today, Midorades took the initiative to meet on the flagship, and his posture was lowered, which made Seklian satisfied, so his tone of voice became softer.

At this time, Midorades smiled and said, "Lord Sekerian is right! The Sicilian Fleet and the Third Fleet are both armies of the kingdom, and they should be united in battle, as long as you have a good plan, I am willing to lead the Third Fleet to fully cooperate! ”

Seklian frowned slightly, he heard the meaning of Midorades' words, but then he stretched out again, and said confidently: "I really have a good plan, and I am about to discuss it with you. ”

Midorades was stunned for a moment, then agreed.

So the two of them broke away from the surrounding crew and discussed it on the deck of the flagship.

After about half an hour, smiles appeared on both of their faces.