At the end of the Battle of Corosus, Agosilaus defeated the Argos, the Thebes routed the Phukis, and the mercenaries led by Xenophon in the middle attacked the Athenian army, and when the situation was not in favor of the anti-Spartan coalition, the coalition chose to retreat.

Agesilaus's forces were unable to pursue because of their excessive casualties.

The coalition forces successfully retreated to the camp and continued to hold on to Koroso.

Although Agosilaus won, he failed to pass through Corosso, and as reinforcements arrived, the anti-Spartan coalition grew.

Realizing that he could not stay long, Agosilaus abandoned his plans to attack Thebes and was forced to retreat westward with his army until he reached Delphi, crossed the Gulf of Corinth, and joined the Spartan army, which was still fighting in Corinth.

……………………………

Secrean, who was already the commander of the Dionian navy, returned to Davers's mansion, and his attitude towards Davers was still the same as before.

Davos came to him this time, in addition to congratulating him on his promotion, there were more important things to discuss: "Seklian, I have carefully thought about the strategy you told me earlier about dealing with the Syracuse Navy in the past two days. I felt that there was a chance of victory, but the risk was too great, so I came up with an idea that might greatly increase the chances of victory for the Dionian navy. ”

"My lord, what's your idea?" Sekrian hurriedly asked if his gesture was not pretended, and if others said so, he would definitely think it was whimsical, but it was from the mouth of Davers, the "miracle maker" praised by the soldiers, how could it not attract his attention.

"Look at this." Davers handed a parchment roll to Secrean.

Sekrian quickly unfolded it and saw that a three-tiered oared warship was drawn on it, but this warship was a little special, and there was an extra plank with a small length of the mast next to the mast in his bow, with low railings on both sides, and a downward sharp corner below the top of the plank. It is about 12 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, with a thick iron nail at the top and a hole drilled at the top of the plank, which is threaded with a cable and tied to the mast.

Davos saw that Sekrian's expression was a little puzzled, so he asked first: "Sekrian, tell me honestly, how far is the gap between our sailors' warship maneuvering skills and Syracuse?" ”

Sekrian hesitated for a moment and said, "The Syracuse Navy has fought with the Carthaginians many times, and it has more actual combat experience than us, and its ship handling skills are naturally better than ours...... However, we are training hard and our brothers are very motivated......"

"But - our sailors are still newcomers who have not been to battle, including yourself." Davers pointed out unceremoniously.

Sekrian blushed and tried to retort.

Davers waved his hand and motioned for him not to speak for the time being: "The navy is different from the infantry, the battle on land has failed, as long as the city-state still has enough citizens, another army can be formed at any time." And when a naval battle occurs, it is often a dozen or dozens of ships that sink to the bottom of the sea, and thousands of sailors die or become prisoners. Once it fails, it is difficult to recover in a short period of time, because a three-layer oared warship will take at least more than half a year to build, not to mention the huge amount of resources and money it will consume.

And during this time, the warships of Syracuse could ravage any coast and port of Dionya at will, leaving our land deserted and trade stagnant...... So the Dionian Alliance, which is weaker than the Syracuse Navy, does not give your fleet time to hone its experience, and our navy cannot be defeated once! ”

Davers's words put a lot of pressure on Seklian.

He clenched his fists, pressed them on his thighs, and shouted in his heart: How is this possible?! Even naval powers, such as Athens and Syracuse, have experienced crushing defeats......

At this time, his eyes swept over the drawing on the table, and his heart moved: Could it be that the secret of our navy's victory is here?

"Sekrian, since our fleet is inferior to Syracuse in terms of experience and technology, why do we have to compete with Syracuse in traditional ship collision tactics?! On the contrary, you see that we have the best legionnaires in the Greek city-states, both in terms of individual fighting skills and teamwork, they are among the most powerful heavy infantry in all of Greece, why not move land warfare to naval warfare, play to our strengths, avoid our weaknesses, and take the initiative in our own hands?! ”

Davers's phrase "Fight a naval battle as a land battle" was like a bolt of lightning through Seclian's brain. He picked up the drawing on the table: "This wooden bridge...... This wooden bridge ......"

Davos smiled and took over the conversation: "This wooden bridge, I asked Matticoris, he can design pulleys on the warship, can easily pull up the wooden bridge, and at the same time create a circular track around the mast base, and also use pulleys to push the wooden bridge around the mast, whether the enemy ship is approaching this warship from the front or on both sides, we can see the right time, put down the wooden bridge, and the iron nail at the top can rely on the falling force to penetrate the deck of the enemy ship, so that the enemy ship cannot get out, and at this time——"

"At this time, the heavy infantry on the ship can use the wooden bridge to step on the enemy ship and engage the enemy in close combat!" While listening to Davers's explanation just now, Seklian, who had been rapidly deducing this novel naval battle in his mind, couldn't help but tremble with excitement: "My lord, you are really a genius idea!" Turn naval warfare into land warfare, give full play to the advantages of our regiments, not only strike at the enemy, but also capture the enemy, capture enemy ships, and quickly increase our naval strength! ”

If it were a traditional naval commander, I am afraid that it would be difficult to accept such an idea for a while, but Sekerian was young after all, and he had just taken up the post of naval commander, and his mind was full of how to win the enemy, and he was quick to accept new combat methods, which saved Davers a lot of words.

Davers smiled and asked, "Do you think this plan can be implemented?" ”

"Totally doable!" Sekerian stared at the drawings: "However, when the fleet is sailing, this wooden bridge will affect the speed of the ships, and it may increase the risk of capsizing in the event of a storm, I think if it can be ...... Well...... Usually it is dismantled, spread on the deck, and put it back on before the battle...... In addition, this wooden bridge will also affect the flexibility of the ship's maneuvering during battle...... Oh, I forgot, it's not in the way, with the wooden bridges on the ships, the way our fleet fights is no longer ramming but mainly broadside battles, so how many infantry should be put on the ships? ”

Sekrian lay on the wooden table staring at the drawings, muttering to himself as he pondered.

Davers looked at her, both relieved and amused, so he patted him and said, "How to use this new warship device, you will think slowly when you go back." I'd suggest you get an engineer and install a wooden bridge on a warship, and if you have a problem, you can go to Dean Mattikoris of the School of Mathematics and ask him to help you design it, but you should be respectful of him. After loading, lead the sailors to practice the new tactics first, which requires the cooperation of heavy infantry, you can find the military officer Pherisius, and he will arrange it for you...... Until you have thoroughly mastered and mastered this new set of tactics, and with my approval, you can roll it out to the entire fleet. It's important to keep it a secret! Remember! We can't let the enemy know about our new tactics until we have engaged them! ”

"Understood!" Sekrian nodded heavily, carefully tucked the drawings into his arms, and was about to leave and go home.

Suddenly, he stopped: "My lord, this wooden bridge device ...... Did you name it? ”

"Raven! Its name is Raven! Davers had an unfathomable smile on his face.

……………………………

On this day, in the bay of Taranto, among the thousands of ships sailing to and from the port of Turiyi, there was a seemingly ordinary passenger ship, on board a 50-year-old man on board looked at the land that appeared in the distance, and sighed infinitely: "Turiyi, I have finally returned......"

"Teacher Lycias, this time in order to fulfill the important task entrusted by the council, I have to force you to come to Turiyi, I have always felt guilty in my heart......," a middle-aged man walked up to him and apologized to him in a hoarse voice.

Lycias said emotionally: "Isocrates, you don't have to apologize. I have said many times that I volunteered and asked to be sent to Turiyi. I love Athens and would like to do something about it. Turiyi is where I grew up, and where my esteemed teacher, Tisias, was laid to rest, and I should have come to pay his respects a long time ago! (Lycias, translated as Lycias for most of the country, is given the name Lycias in this article in order to distinguish it from the general Crotone Lycias)"

Isocrates did not really worship Lysias as a teacher, but he had studied the court speeches written by Lycias, so it was not an exaggeration to call him "teacher", at this time he also looked into the distance, and sighed regretfully: "Yes, Turiy was a pan-hellenic city-state advocated by General Perikles, and how much material and money was spent on Athens!" How many Athenians worked hard to establish it! And now it has become one of the cities of a coalition, and you must know that Turii is also a sub-state of Athens, and we should have condemned Dionys's behavior and defended Turiyi's interests...... Now we have come to ask for help from the Ionian League, which is violating our interests. Alas, O Athens! The Peloponnesian War cost us too much to lose......"

"Isocrarates, you must understand that the city of Turiyi as we know it has been burned down by Crotone! The current Turiyi was rebuilt by the Ionian League......" Lysias reminded with a slightly sentimental expression.