After learning the news of Marclus's defection, little Cato was speechless, and then he locked himself in his room alone for a long time, it is said that he watched the ancestral teachings for a long time, and then came out again, and ate his only meal of the day, he was a person who absolutely did what he said, and then sighed to the personal slave: "There are always people who can't hold on to their determination in the moment before the infinite light comes, and fall into the boundless dark abyss, Malclos is a typical example, I really missee him." ”

But then he began to think seriously while eating, that the departure of Malclus would inevitably betray the city and the key points of defense to Li Bida, and then he called Dumijus and Triari, and asked very sincerely how such a thing could be remedied. As a result, the two of them looked at each other, and one of them, Triali, with a malicious smile, said to Cato in a mocking tone: "My dear Excellency, do you still think that the matter of our lack of supplies is still a 'secret' to Li Bida so far?" And the defense of Marcelia is like this, there is nothing imperfect and incomplete about it, provided that the soldiers can eat enough to defend it. In addition, it is also an established fact that Pompey's fleet came to help, and the battle was not a speech in Roman politics, and politicians could reject the previous statement at any time, but after the battle was properly deployed, and then pray to the gods and strive for victory! ”

Cato the Younger was speechless, and then Dumijus said that the ships we had recruited in Sicily had been completely repaired, and I thought that once Pompey's fleet arrived, we would be able to join them at the fortress of Taurroas and fight with the fleet of Lypida.

Sure enough, in the May weather. The fleet near Spain broke through the natural obstacles on the sea. Led by Narcidius, the lieutenant of Aphranius. A total of sixteen light and heavy ships, coming from the west, anchored on Tauroas Island. Several scout boats, commanded by the brave Adanjis, arrived in detail to reconnoiter and delivered the news to Li Bida.

Li Bida was determined to personally start a decisive battle at sea with the reinforcements of the city of Marcelia and Pompey.

And this kind of thinking, which also happens to be possessed by Dumijus, "This battle is inevitable." I've already made up my mind about becoming a beneficiary. This was what Dumijuanus said to his subordinate Creon and the armed slaves, and upon hearing the news of Nacidius' arrival in the sea outside the city, he immediately organized his men and sailed out of the harbor the flagship, which had been damaged by the former Yanzhòng, and now in good condition, and stood prominently on the high bridge in the most beautiful armor, and behind him were forty or fifty warships of various colors, all of which were made up of Marcelian crews and Albician barbarians.

The heights and temples on both sides of the harbor of Massella. Standing full of young people who had come to see them off, they raised their hands in the air. All the warriors were loudly encouraged, while women, old men, and children all crouched at the foot of the steps of the Temple of Hercules, begging the gods to bless them with victory, and begging for a steady stream of reinforcements from General Pompey that would flow like the tide of the sea.

Dumijus looked back and saw that in the crowd of farewells, his brother-in-law Cato Jr. was also among them, thin and short like an ugly and strong sea rock, constantly raising his arms at him, Dumijus understood that this was the posture of Roman gladiators, indicating the meaning of fighting to the death, "The earliest gladiatorial games were held in front of the graves of the dead, and it seems that the naval battles on the horizon are the same, go with the confidence of death, so that there will be a glimmer of life." ”

On the island of Tauroas, Dumijuanus, who had landed without any interception, held a brief meeting with Narcidius, and resolved to go to sea at once to fight the fleet of Lybida on the island of Seymus, "If the enemy cannot stop it, then ask for more reinforcements and supplies from Spain." "The battle plan provided that Dumijuanus was responsible for the right flank, while Nasidius was responsible for the left flank assault.

However, Narcidius clearly did not have the same determination to die as Dumijuanus, and he talked many times about the difficulties of his ships lacking ramming, but his demeanor was ignored by Dumijuanus, who was full of battle fanaticism. When two days later, on a calm and sunny day, without wind and rain, Dumijus's combined fleet set sail from Tauroas, of course, Li Bida also chose this day, and after replenishing the munitions and ammunition, he stood in the newly restored lighthouse and command room, and said the following words to all his subordinates:

"When they were strong and strong, we still defeated them, and now the defeated army, how can we talk about committing murder in front of our army?"

Then Li Pida's fleet anchored at full speed to meet the battle, and this time a large number of new ships from Liguria and Sardinia joined the battle, including eleven large ships with double decks, but because the timber was hurried into battle before it was dry, the speed was not advantageous, so Li Bida judged and observed the situation with the generals on the lighthouse, and placed them all on the left flank to deal with Dumijus - because the enemy's right flank fleet clearly surpassed the slow left flank, "It seems that the reinforcements of Pompey on the left flank lack fighting spirit, Once their flanks are disengaged, my right-wing elite will strike at a rapid pace! ”

The fleets of both sides were closing in on each other, and the citizens of Massella were almost all climbing to the top of the city by the sea, watching for themselves the battle that would stake the future of all, and if they won they would recover, and if they lost, they would never recover.

And all the oarsmen, archers, and javelinmen in Dumijus's fleet, had resolute expressions, and could even be said to be wooden—if they died in this battle, they would at best be one step ahead of their friends in the city, especially the Albisians, whose women and children had long since died at the hands of the traitors of Libida, and who had long since lost their lives.

Standing in front of Dumijus's front line was the newly formed fleet of Liguria and Sardinia, under the command of Commander Edangius, who, at the behest of Lybida, ordered the whole army to line up in a strange formation, that is, in a "T" shape, all the heavy ships, lined up sideways, the oarsmen all stood still, and the fighters above were in a constant stream, shouting one after another, and when the Dumijus fleet entered the firing range, rockets, throwing stones and javelins, in the direction of the side, maintained the widest range of firepower, and fought like rain, The whole sea was stained red, and many of the light ships of Dumijus had not yet recovered from their senses and were destroyed and sunk, but the rest of the ships continued to rush forward fearlessly with flames.

Then the large ships with the prefix "T" separated on both sides, and then the light raiders rushed out, and the column split into the formation of the opponent, and shot iron hooks on both sides, but this time Dumijus apparently learned the lesson, and added a metal cover to the cabin - the iron hooks fired by the ballista, most of which slipped down, and the whole scene turned into a complete melee, and the Albysians sometimes jumped out of the air at a distance of dozens of Roman feet, jumped on the deck and waved their weapons until they surrounded the crew of Libida, Pierced into a hedgehog with a shuttle dart and a short sword, and then tumbled into the sea, creating bright red ripples. (To be continued......)