Massive numbers of Barbary pirates swarmed up, muffled with scimitars in their mouths under the cover of long-range bows, crossbows and javelins, and rushed towards the ships of the Norman battleships. The Norman soldiers tried their best to cut the ropes - but only for the symptoms, not the root causes. The cool waters of the Mediterranean Sea are the best cushion for the Barbary pirates, and if they fall into the sea from a height of three or four meters, they will never die. And the pirates come and go in the wind and waves, and their swimming level is not low. If you fall into the sea, you won't be able to die for a while. However, the Norman sailors, who had their bodies exposed, were shot by the Barbary pirates' bows, crossbows, arrows, and javelins, and fell into the sea, making the battlefield even more bloody.

"Leave them alone! Shoot, prepare for hand-to-hand combat!" The captain of the Norman battleship couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache as he saw his soldiers fighting less and less. So the order was given. The Norman sailors then retracted and hid behind the women's wall, throwing them downwards with iron cannons and heavenly pyrotechnic canisters. On the battlefield, the explosives and iron sand flew horizontally, and the fire oil spread evenly on the surface of the sea, spreading and burning, making the Barbary pirates who fell into the sea scream and scream.

At this moment, the Heavenly Flame Jets were also ready, and under the operation of the sailors, these jets used the principle of pressure pumps, and the fire oil sprayed through the oil pipes was ignited by the oil lamps hanging below, and a hot pillar of fire was shot towards the Barbary pirates! But the blow to the morale of the pirates was extremely huge! Many pirates were so frightened by such a spectacular attack that they could not move and fell into the sea, and some of them were directly hit, that is, their skin and flesh were blurred!

"We're going to burn to death in the sea!" shouted the pirates, as something that sounded like a fantasy was happening in reality! Lack of oxygen, dizziness, and extreme fear—some Barbary pirates screamed and plunged into the sea—and then saw the ever-expanding oil layer tens of meters above their heads in despair.

Many of the Barbary pirates were killed. Or drowned, or burned. The corpse floated on the surface of the sea, and it became the fuel of the flames, and the air suddenly smelled of disgusting barbecue.

-- At this moment, however, more of the Barbary pirates made a more correct choice -- to attack -- to attack the Norman ships, and to climb aboard their ships. It's safe that way!

The pirates climbed with ropes, planks, and ladders as tools, and they were constantly and densely packed like ants, and they were like ants, so that the Norman sailors let out this cry: "Oh my God! How many of these pirates are there?!"

-- Of the 200 ships of the Norman fleet, only 50 were used for war. And their opponents are pirate warships that are more than ten times more than them. At this moment, all the Norman transports were safely hiding inside. And did not take part in the battle. At the beginning of the battle, the Norman Empire used long-range attacks to unilaterally torture and kill, and after entering the melee hand-to-hand combat stage, the Normans' superiority began to decline sharply, while the Barbary pirates, who had the numerical advantage, gradually began to seize the initiative on the battlefield!

The side of the Norman battleship was more than four meters high. It didn't take a minute to climb up. Although it is not easy to attack on the back. The Norman sailors of the defending side still had the advantage. However, there are also a few high-skilled pirates who can chop over their opponents and climb up.

"Go down, you bastard!" Seeing that his comrade next to him had his arm cut off, he screamed in pain and took a step back, while the pirate next to him roared and showed half of his body, one leg was already on the side and was about to climb in, a centurion of a Norman sailor, who was also the captain of the sailor on this ship, roared wildly and chopped it with an axe. The pirate on the other side immediately swung his sword to block - but his own posture was very embarrassing, and he could not use all his strength. Unable to stabilize the center of gravity, although it was blocked this time, it also shook and lost its balance, and then it was smashed by the shield in the other hand of the centurion, and the head of the smashed was bleeding, and he fell down screaming. Fell into the sea with a thud. ...,

However, it seems that this centurion is such a warlike sailor, after all, there are still a minority. By this point in the battle, a number of places had been lost, and more and more Barbary pirates were coming up and engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Norman sailors, both of whom were light infantry. Low defense. The Barbary pirates were usually armed with a scimitar, while the Norman sailors were more formal. A smock with a soft leather armor, a battle axe, a round shield, and two throwing axes around his waist. It can be said that it is more generous than the armament of the Barbary pirates.

However, this dress also affected the speed of these sailors, and the tomahawks, which were heavy weapons, were not as fast as the Arab scimitars, and the Norman sailors suffered a little in this regard. However, the shield they are equipped with in their left hand can effectively block the opponent's attacks. But it can be regarded as leveling the disadvantages of equipment. The limited protection that soft leather armor can provide can also reduce the damage caused by the opponent, allowing the sailors to fight for a while......

In general, the Norman sailors still had an advantage in their armament. And the organization, training is a lot higher than the other party. But the pirates were much more numerous than the sailors. With the number of people, as well as the characteristics of religion and ethnicity, as well as the characteristics of the profession that are not afraid of death. Gradually, the pirates began to suppress the Norman sailors......

"Retreat, retreat, retreat in the direction of the oars - leaning together in a circle. Then some of the soldiers will shoot!" A Norman captain slashed down an enemy with an axe, splattering him with blood, and his face was covered in blood, with a Viking-style beard and bloodshot eyes. At this moment, it seems unusually hideous.

Hearing the captain's order, the remaining sailors roared, and while resisting desperately, they thought about the direction of the oar, which was a cut of the height in the center of the battleship. The captain looked again, and there were more than two hundred soldiers on a heavy ballista battleship. At this moment, there are only seventy or eighty people left, and more than half of them have been lost!

"Damn it—can Your Majesty think of something?!" thought the captain as he retreated.

Of course, not all warships were so difficult at this moment -- those new-minded, those newly-made ships with much greater combat effectiveness than the improved heavy ballista battleships, and the artillery battleships with four short-barreled cannons on each side of the ship, were at this moment in full swing! In the midst of the wild laughter of their captains, the desperate loading and ignition of the gunners, and the great roar of the artillery, the Barbary pirate ships that tried to get close to these battleships were sunk by heavy lead-filled stone bullets! Compared to the ballista that is unlikely to sink an enemy battleship with several attacks, the more lethal artillery can inflict fatal damage on the enemy's battleship with every roar! There are even some weak battleships that will be smashed in half by a huge stone projectile with great lethality!

Such a horrific battleship, with a hull larger than that of a heavy ballista battleship, more Greek fire throwers, and more sailors, made it all the more difficult for the Barbary pirates to attack the ship - after paying a large number of ship and human casualties. The pirates eventually gave up attacking the artillery ships and turned around and attacked the other ships.

If the Normans had had had more of these artillery-armed warships—no, if they had gathered the existing fifteen artillery warships, the Barbary pirates would have suffered heavy losses in this battle, not only in the possession of the Norman Emperor. However, at this moment, only five of the fifty warships of the Norman fleet were equipped with artillery. With just five artillery ships, there is absolutely no way to stop these crazy Barbary pirates!

And at this moment, I saw the sound of shouting and killing on the periphery of the fleet, the sound of gold and iron, the sound of screams and the roar of artillery, and looked at the sky-high fire that lit up the night sky. Egil sighed: "Compared with the iron cavalry and the strict array of land warfare, the sea battle is another heroic ......"

Immediately afterward, the Norman Emperor walked briskly to the bridge and reached Apraksin's side. I only saw the admiral sweating profusely. After seeing the emperor coming, he immediately knelt down on one knee: "The subordinates have no way to command, so that the lord is frightened, and it is a capital crime!"

"Alright, General. With a wave of his hand, Egil made the general stand up, and then sighed, "I don't blame you for this - in fact, I didn't expect the other party to be so crazy - I'm afraid these are more than half the strength of the Barbary pirates." And we haven't suffered much so far, have we?"

"The lord is tolerant, and his subordinates are grateful. Indeed, the subordinates really did not expect that the other party would gather such a large fleet. It was unexpected. ”

"I'm afraid they're coming for me. Egil snorted lightly, looked at Apraksin and stopped, snorted coldly, and then said without waiting for him to speak: "I know what you have to say - I give you this authority, and all the Norman soldiers in all the transport ships are at your disposal at this moment." You can assign them as you wish. After saying this, Egil turned to the monarchs of the other countries with stern faces, and said, "The lips are cold. If you can help you at this time, I can't thank you enough. ”

"Where, we are here to kill the infidels! land and sea are the same!" replied Charles of Burgundy. Several other monarchs nodded in agreement......