Suddenly, the lookout blinked, his right hand and right foot hooked the mast, his whole body leaned forward, his left hand under his forehead, his eyes widened: under the dim sky in the distance, several black spots appeared on the surface of the sea...... Only after a while, this black dot doubled, and after another moment......

The lookout hand was full of excitement, and immediately shouted: "Enemy ship found!" The fleet of Dionyas is coming!! ……”

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The news of the defeat of the Iberian Fleet by the 2nd Dionian Fleet on the north coast was a source of anxiety for Sekeli, who, as commander of the Sicilian fleet, had a share of his share in the victory, but he did not bother to take advantage of Flarios' exploits. However, the Carthaginian fleet never appeared on the south coast, so he could not fight a decisive battle with it.

At this time, because the land troops were going to attack Selinus, he saw an opportunity, so he consulted with Leotizides and made a plan: by besieging Selinus, he lured the Carthaginian fleet to rescue him from the sea, so as to achieve the purpose of a decisive battle with him.

In order to ensure the victory of the decisive battle, Sekrian also transferred the Second Fleet stationed in Messina, bringing the number of Dionysian ships in Sicily to 600 ships and 485 three-oared ships, which was a huge number, and Secrean was convinced that the Carthaginian navy could not match it.

Secrean sent numerous clippers to the south coast of Sicily every day, and some even ventured to the west coast to spy on the enemy.

But for several days, the Carthaginian fleet still did not move, and Leotizides couldn't sit still, because although the Dionian army was feintting to attack the city of Selinus, it would also cause some soldiers to be killed and wounded every day, not to mention that under the city for a long time, there was also the army of Lilica not far away, although its strength was not very strong, but the Iberian army in Palermos made him feel worried, not to mention that it was not too far away, once several Carthaginian armies attacked at the same time, The Ionian army, which did not have much advantage in strength, would be in trouble. Therefore, Leotizides believed that he could not wait any longer, and that he must immediately take Selinus with all his might, so that the Dionian army could gain a foothold in western Sicily, which was controlled by Carthage.

Seclian, of course, objected, on the grounds that the Dionian navy would gain absolute superiority at sea as long as the Carthaginian fleet was defeated, and that the western coast of Sicily would be under the control of the Dionian Sicilian fleet, which would be of greater help to the land forces.

He persuaded Leotizides to be patient and wait a little longer.

The two sides were at loggerheads, but a letter from Davers and the War Department settled their dispute.

In the letter, Davos asked Leotizides to intensify the offensive on western Sicily. The requirements for Secretian, Davos, were even higher, hoping that he would completely defeat the Carthaginian navy, cut off the sea connection between Carthage and Sicily, and even threaten the city of Carthage.

Therefore, this letter allowed Leotizides to agree, continuing the plan to "lure the Carthaginian fleet".

Early this morning, the movement caused by the mass build-up of Carthaginian warships over the Lililian Sea could not have escaped the eyes of the Dionian clippers.

When the news was quickly transmitted back to Agrigento, Sekrian was overjoyed and immediately ordered: all ships assemble and prepare for the battle!

Although Flarios reminded him with some concern: "Your Excellency, the weather conditions at sea today are not very good! ”

But Secrean has always been known for his boldness and courage in battle, and even in middle age, this characteristic of him has not diminished, and he finally waited for this opportunity, how could he let it be missed, so he resolutely said: "The Carthaginians dare to go to sea, why can't we!" ”

At the beginning of March of the 14th year of the Dionian kingdom (i.e., 379 BC), at noon on the third day of the third day when Davers led his army out of Turiy and headed north for Latium, the Sicilian fleet of Dionya met the Carthaginian navy near Selinus.

Under the strange weather of dark clouds and dark skies, but there was no wind or waves, this was arguably the largest naval battle in Greek history.

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After learning of the appearance of the Dionian fleet, Anobas, although a little surprised, was also relieved. He stared out the window, thought for a moment, and quickly made a decision: "The front warship will follow the original route and advance to meet the enemy; The middle ship moved eastward, spreading as far out as possible on the right side of the front; The Iberian fleet in the rear followed closely in front to prevent the Dionian ships from breaking through the interception and attacking the rear flotilla.

The reason why Anobus made such a deployment was because according to his understanding of this sea area, although the wind and waves were calm now, from the weather point of view, I am afraid that it would still be windy and rainy, and it was more likely to be a southwest wind, so the Carthaginian warships must first occupy a favorable position upwind in order to facilitate the later battle.

Secrean did not think so far ahead, placing his main First Fleet close to the coast, while the Third Fleet led by Flarios was deployed to meet the expanding flanks of Carthage.

His idea was to use all his strength to break through the enemy in front of him, and put on a posture to attack the fleet that was going to rescue Selinus in the rear, forcing Carthage's formation to have to retreat to the rescue, which would not only consume the enemy's physical strength, but also make Carthage's ship formation chaotic.

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"Flute! Flute! Flute! ......" The speed at which the sailors pushed the oars increased with the sound of the double-piped flute, and the Raven warship at the front of the Dionian formation was moving rapidly, and the water split by the bow flew down again and again on the drawbridge erected next to the foremast, splashing in all directions, almost making the 12-meter-long wooden bridge a wave shield for the warship.

Stefacas, who was a sailor in the Dionian navy during the Italian War, is proud to have experienced all the battles in which the new fleet defeated the mighty Syracuse navy, and is now the commander of the second detachment of the first and second fleets of the Dionian First Fleet, commanding the ships to charge at the forefront of the fleet, which is about to engage Carthage, the most powerful maritime supremacy in the western Mediterranean.

But he was far less excited than the sailors, but calmly watched the oncoming Carthaginian warship, he felt that the speed of the other party was not very fast, and he immediately realized that the other party was probably not preparing to collide head-on with his warship, but to control the inertia of the warship, so as to flexibly bypass the front and avoid being hooked by the crow drawbridge. After all, the unique tactics of the Dionian navy are no secret, not to mention the fact that the Carthaginians were still defeated in naval battles before, and they may have been prepared.

"Volley ready!" Stefakas gave the order in a loud and decisive voice.

The drawbridge operator at the bow, the boatswain in the cabin, and the helmsman at the stern immediately repeated the order, and the entire crew maintained a high degree of tension and concentration.

Two warships were rapidly approaching.

Stefakas stared ahead, judging the best time to act, when suddenly he shouted, "Volley to the left!" ”

The helmsman swung the rudder, the left sailor's oars were reduced, the right sailor's oars were strengthened, and the ship quickly rowed diagonally to the left front.

This is a very dangerous tactical maneuver, taking the initiative to expose the waist of the warship in front of the enemy ship's collision angle, which is undoubtedly a big taboo for today's naval warfare, even for the Ionian warship with the crow drawbridge is quite dangerous, because the distance is too close, and the enemy ship is advancing at high speed, if the crew is not focused enough and does not cooperate well, it is likely that the drawbridge will not have time to be put down, and the warship has been hit by the other party.

But Stefakas is confident in the skill and chemistry of his crew, and that confidence comes from rigorous training day in and day out, year after year.

Even so, the drawbridge operators were still highly nervous: some quickly turned the drawbridge in the direction from which the enemy ships were coming; Others quickly loosened the ropes attached to the mast and clung to it while staring at the rushing enemy ships, shouting in their mouths...... Sweat beaded on everyone's faces, and the muscles in their arms bulged out from tension.

Originally, Captain Carthage had prepared to deflect the warship to avoid the attack of the opponent's crow drawbridge, but the crow warship in front of him suddenly hit horizontally, which surprised Captain Carthage, and he was stunned for a moment.

At this moment, the warship had already rushed out a few meters.

He quickly understood, and hurriedly gave the order: turn the ship to the right.

The Carthaginian sailors reacted quickly, and the rushing ship quickly turned to the right.

But it was already a little late, and the Dionian ships were moving in the same direction as their ships, and the speed was increasing.

The Raven drawbridge immediately fell, and the 40 fleet infantrymen on board immediately rushed out of the cabin, crossed the drawbridge, and smashed into the enemy ship.

Knowing the operational characteristics of the Dionian fleet, Anobus was not unprepared, and during this period of time he had Carthage and his allies prepare a large number of daggers for the sailors, because only this light and small weapon would not affect their rowing, and at the same time give them a little ability to defend themselves against counterattacks.

However, it was impossible to take advantage of the large number of people on the long and narrow warships, and most of the Carthaginian civilians who served as sailors had no formal infantry training, and were completely unable to match the infantry of the menacing Dionian fleet.

In addition to not wearing the heavy infantry equipment of the Ionian Legion, the training intensity of these Ionian fleet infantry is not weaker than that of the army at all, and they need to be proficient in short sword stabbing techniques, shield and sword combo techniques, checkerboard arrays, javelins and charges, and detachment group battles...... In addition, they put more effort into two training sessions: rapid landing operations and long-distance swimming.

Thus, the fleet infantry of the Dionian fleet could be described as well-trained, and the Carthaginian sailors armed with daggers, although they caused them a little trouble, were quickly disintegrated under their swift attack.