The captain froze. After a while, he suddenly puffed up his chest and said in a deep voice: "General, for 10 years, you have been the commander of our Fourth Fleet, and you have cared for us like a father, how can we abandon you and run for our lives alone today!" Please let me continue to follow you and fight bravely, as I have always done! ”

"My lord, please let me follow you to meet the enemy!"

"And me!"

"Don't forget me!"

……

The crew members expressed their stance one after another, and their resolute expressions fully showed that they were not just talking.

Miltias was finally moved, he looked around at the crew, and finally showed a relieved smile: "Very good, then let's go to Elysée Paradise together!" ”

As he spoke, he raised the short sword, which had cut down many Phoenician sailors with some gaps, and said loudly: "Speed up, charge forward, and target the Carthaginian cavalry!" ”

"Yes!!" More than 100 crew members shouted in unison, arranged in a column in the shape of a ship, led by Miltias, and strode forward, while singing the Hades chant in their mouths: "I sing to you, O great Hades, you are the Lord of the Night, the Lord of the Law, the Protector of the Kingdom of Dionia......

……………………………………

While the Carthaginian army was slaughtering the crews and friendly soldiers of the Dionian Sicilian fleet on various coasts from Germe to Minoa, the Eastern Phoenician fleet did not return as victorious as Miltias had imagined, and they received the news by clipper that "the Dionian fleet had attacked from the east and routed some of the Phoenician ships", hastily gathered the scattered ships, and then sailed eastward, ready to meet them.

Tyre, Sidon and other Phoenician city-states have provided Persia with navies for many years, and the sailors born in the Phoenician region with a strong commercial atmosphere are actually not strong, so in the decades of war history between the Persian navy and the Greek navy (mainly Athens), the Phoenicians have not created any brilliant achievements, and from today's results, the East Phoenician fleet has easily won a brilliant victory, and they can stop it with their calculating and sleek sophistication, and can boast of this record to Carthage.

However, this fleet was formed by the joint efforts of the Eastern Phoenician city-states of Tyre and Sidon, and once they were forced to evacuate the sea by the Dionian fleet, it meant that they could not clean up the battlefield, take the damaged ships with them, and save the Phoenician sailors who fell into the sea or were killed or wounded by the soldiers on the Raven warships...... Abandoning their compatriots thousands of miles away in a foreign land and becoming captives of aliens was not only unacceptable to many in the fleet, but also accused by the city-states when they returned to Phoenicia, which was why they decided to continue fighting.

Of course, there is another reason, the Eastern Phoenicians believe that their three-layer oared warships far outnumber their opponents, and they can completely defeat them.

Eventually, the Phoenician fleet gathered 97 ships and met the fleet led by Secrean in the sea between Germe and Minoa, and the Dionian detachment was joined by fleeing Dionian ships as it moved forward, bringing the number of ships to 51.

At this time, the Phoenician ships were almost twice the size of the Dionian ships, and half of the ships in the Dionian fleet were somewhat damaged, but the Dionian fleet was not afraid at all, and the flagship of the first and second fleets in the center of the formation, under the order of Stefacas, raised three long blood-red streamers on the top of the mast, which meant "bloody battle to the end, no retreat!" ”

The crow ship on which Sekrian rode was still in the lead, and all the sailors of the warship were rowing hard and steering the ship forward, regardless of fatigue, to wash away the previous embarrassment and humiliation, and bring pain and death to the enemy!

The original plan of the Eastern Phoenician fleet was: to take advantage of the large number of ships, increase the width of the ship formation, and not engage the Ionian warships in the front of the attack, but to take the initiative to retreat, lure them deeper, and then attack by the warships on the two flanks, which is a mutated circumnavigation tactic.

However, when the two fleets met, usually both sides would take the lead and then attack, who knew that the Dioenian warships were in chaos and rushed directly (the Eastern Phoenicians were not familiar with the starry array of Dionys, and thought that they were not in good formation), and the Eastern Phoenician fleet could only respond in a hurry, and the previous battle plan was not fully implemented.

At first, the Eastern Phoenicians were still in the mentality of dealing with the Dionian fleet first, and they were slowly expanding their positions and implementing the original battle plan. Who knew that the attack of the Dionian fleet was swift and ferocious, and the efficiency was very high, and as soon as the two warships came into contact, the two Phoenician warships at the forefront were in danger, one was hooked by the raven warship, and the other was damaged by the fast warship.

The Dionian ships rushed forward and backwards, breaking into the center of the Eastern Phoenician fleet, disrupting the order of the entire ship formation, and the two sides soon fell into a fierce melee.

The crews of the Dionian fleet fought with a determination to the death. In battle, even if the hull of the ship is damaged and sea water seeps in, they will still charge at the nearby enemy ships or protect the flanks of their comrades to block the attack of the enemy ships while blocking them. The soldiers of the Raven Warship rushed onto the enemy ship and did not have time to return, the crew would not hesitate to pull up the drawbridge, and then smash the drawbridge into another enemy ship that was ready to attack them, and then the sailors would pick up the weapons left by the soldiers who had jumped into the sea before and board the ship to fight; Even when the warship was rammed by the enemy, the crew's first thought was not to plug the gap and escape from the warship, but to throw multiple rope hooks from the deck to hook the enemy ship, and then the crew jumped into the gang to fight......

It was precisely because of the strong fighting power of the Dionian crew that they were able to compete with the East Phoenician fleet in the critical situation of the disparity in the number of ships, and their terrible will to fight frightened the East Phoenician crew, who had always acted as vassals of Persia and rarely fought on their own, so after more than an hour of fierce fighting, the East Phoenicians chose to retreat in fear.

Although the Dionian crew was very tired, they had one important thing to complete before they could return to Selinus City, which was to clean up the battlefield and search for their comrades who had fallen into the water, which is why they fought to the death.

The first person to search and rescue was Secrean, and the warship he was riding in was charged, and naturally he was besieged by the Phoenicians, and was finally sunk, because the fierce battle was raging at that time, and the surrounding warships did not have time to rescue him. Now, he was quickly rescued from Stefacas's ship.

After soaking in the sea water for dozens of minutes, he was still in good spirits, and when he got on the boat, he asked: "Has the enemy really retreated?" ”

Stefacas, the commander of the detachment, immediately stepped forward and reported: "My lord, I have sent a number of clippers to follow the departing enemy, and if there is anything unusual, they will report back immediately. I also had eight warships on combat alert here, just in case. ”

"Well, it's very meticulous and reasonable, much better than that bastard of Miltias!" At the mention of Miltias, Sekrian was furious, and he immediately asked in a loud voice, "Have you found that bastard of Miltias?" ”

"There's no news of him yet."

"It seems that he has no face to see me and is hiding!" Sekrian looked sarcastic, then asked, "How many ships do we have left?" ”

“…… There are 25 left, including 18 Raven ships, 7 fast ships, and another 6 ships that are not too badly damaged and should be able to be repaired if they are towed back to ......the naval base," Stefacas said in a heavy tone.

"It's all Miltias' fault! More than 100 warships! It was his wrong decision that caused more than 100 warships to be smashed and sunk by a group of cowardly enemies! Many crew members watched their ships sink without even engaging in a real battle! That's really ...... That's really ...... Alas! ...... Sekrian was so grieved that he even shed tears, not only for the loss of the naval battle, but also for the great storm that made him unbearable......

Yes, the Dionian Navy, which once boasted of being the "No. 1 in the Western Mediterranean", had four fleets and more than 850 warships, but in the months after the war with Carthage, it suffered heavy losses in a row, and the first, second, and fourth fleets were all left.

Although Stefacas was equally saddened, he comforted: "My lord, we have captured some enemy ships, pulled them back to the base, and with a little modification, we can join the fleet and strengthen our strength. ”

"How many?" Sekrian immediately asked.

"The exact number is not yet known." Stefacas's answer is understandable, because there is more to the battlefield than this, and the seas from Minoa to Germe are full of battlefields.

Therefore, instead of criticizing Stefacas, Sekrian looked up at the sky and said, "It is still afternoon, let the brothers search every part of the sea carefully, try not to miss any of the brothers who have fallen into the water, and the soldiers, and not a single warship, and then let them go and sail the captured enemy ships back to Selinus together." ”

"Yes, sir."

Neither of them spoke of transporting reinforcements to Agrigento, because in the current situation, it was impossible to get to Agrigento, and they urgently needed to return to the port to recuperate.

The pursuit of the Carthaginian army on the coast caused many Dionian sailors who had already swam ashore to be forced to swim into the sea again, soaked in the icy sea water for an hour or two, and some of the crew members were already physically exhausted, thanks to the mutual assistance of their comrades, they struggled to support the arrival of the warship rescue.