Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - v9 Chapter 243： Heading for cyprus

The prudent Yalithaka even refused the request of the new military commander of the western region of Asia Minor, Fana Bazos, on the grounds of following the orders of the Persian king and guarding the Near East waters. He hoped that the Persian fleet could assist the Asia Minor army and intercept the landing in Asia Minor. In the end, Fana Bazos had to let the coastal city-states in western Asia Minor form a new fleet.

Yalitaka’s rejection of Phanabazos was partly selfish: the Phoenicians and the Greeks in Asia Minor competed in business, and in history the two races had great grievances (mainly by Phoenicians). The Persian fleet composed of the Christians assisted Darius in conquering the Greek city-states in western Asia Minor), so the relationship between the two races is not good today.

But when he heard the news that “the newly formed Asia Minor fleet was ambushed by the Dionian fleet and the entire army was annihilated”, although he was fortunate that he did not agree to Fanabazos’s request, he was also very disturbed: After the Dionian Fleet takes control of the western waters of Asia Minor, it is very likely that its next target will be the Near East waters!

Therefore, he not only stepped up patrols in the Near East, but also intensified the training of the entire Persian fleet. For this reason, he also severely punished several Cypriot and Syrian generals who disobeyed the orders, and received the full support of the Persian king.

Before long, another important news came from the south, “King Dionian led an army to land in Egypt.” Both the Jews and the Phoenicians began to panic because they realized that the Dionian army Is really going to invade Persia from Egypt!

But more than a month later, the Egyptian Dionian army remained silent. The Persian generals stationed in Gaza City sent scouts across the desert to spy on the Egyptian border several times, but there was no news.

In order to avoid losses, the Persian general sent envoys to Cyprus several times, requesting that the Persian fleet be able to send a fast boat to the coast of Egypt to spy on the movements of the Dionian army.

Yalithaka agreed and sent fast boats to the Egyptian waters many times. However, most of them never returned. The crew who finally escaped reported to him that the Dionians had arranged many battles in the Egyptian waters. The boat patrolled heavily, and it was difficult for the Clippers to get close to the coast.

In order to avoid losses, Yalitaka no longer sent ships south to survey Egypt, but he also strengthened his guard against the southern waters.

During this period of time, the Phoenicians have been looking forward to the arrival of the Persian army. However, according to the news from Babylon, the Persian army has been stationed near Baghdad not far from Babylon. There is no attempt to advance west to aid the Near East. Of course, one of the most popular explanations is that the territory of Persia is too large and the time taken for full military mobilization is too long. The king of Persia is still waiting for the elite Persian troops and Scythians stationed in Persepolis far east. People, and Indians with different tactical styles…

Among the many rumors, there is a saying that caused the Phoenicians to be uneasy, “The king of Persia is afraid of the strength of the Dionian army, so it needs more time to gather more troops to be able to fight with it.”

Yalithaka does not pay attention to these rumors. What he is concerned about is to ensure the safety of the Near East seas before the arrival of the Persian prince and his army. Therefore, he will arrive early every day at the fleet command in the largest naval port in Cyprus and listen carefully to the respective patrol teams. Report to find out if there are any abnormalities in the entire Near East waters.

On the last day of the end of March, Yalitaka came to the fleet command as usual. Everything was the same as usual. He thought that today would be a peaceful day again. Who knows that when the sky is bright, a ship is patrolling. The ship quickly returned to the military port. The captain hurried into the command post and reported to Yalithaka in a panic: A huge Dionian fleet was found in the southern waters of Cyprus!

Then one after another patrol boats hurried back to the military port. Yalitaka combined the information they had found and was surprised: there were about a hundred troop carriers and cargo ships in a fleet. The **** of the Dionian warship, headed towards Cyprus…

The intentions of the Dionians are very obvious, they want to capture the island of Cyprus! ……Yalitaka suddenly became nervous. Of course he understood that in order to prevent the Dionian army from landing on the island of Cyprus, or even completely destroy the troop carrier in the sea, he must first defeat the **** fleet. The Dionian fleet, this is bound to be a super large-scale naval battle!

Before he could summon the generals, the Cypriot admirals, who were worried about the safety of their motherland, broke into the headquarters. As the two pillars of the Persian fleet, the Phoenician and Cyprus admirals reached an agreement very quickly. Advice, make a good combat plan, and then rush to the naval port where his fleet is anchored as quickly as possible, and urgently order the crew to board and leave the port.

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The first and second fleets guard the Dionian troop transport fleet. When departing from Egypt, the first fleet guards the entire fleet on the right, and the second fleet is on the left, almost guarding the troop transport fleet in the middle. Arranged into a tighter mixed array of more than one mile wide and three or four miles long.

A few hours after the departure of the first and second fleets, the third fleet, as the reserve force, was also escorting the heavy-duty fleet from the port of Naukratis, heading towards Cyprus.

But after a few days of continuous voyages, this huge array of ships composed of the first and second fleets and troop carriers is no longer as neat as it was when they first set off. Although there was no storm during the voyage, the strong south of the day before yesterday The wind also caused more than a dozen raven warships and troop carriers to capsize, and the entire array was blown away, and it took most of a day to gather together again.

In the early hours of this morning, due to the heavy fog on the sea and the changeable sea breeze, it was only when the daylight was bright that Sekrian got the news: the entire fleet was dispersed again, and the first and second divisions of the first fleet The fleet, most of the 3rd Squadron of the Second Fleet, part of the 4th Squadron, and nearly 100 troop carriers are still gathered together, while the other ships have disappeared.

Sekelian, who has always been energetic, was a little tired after wandering at sea for these few days. He didn’t even want to complain. He just reluctantly issued an order: send clippers in all directions, search for other ships, and notify them to move closer to him as soon as possible.

For this reason, he went on to order: the ship where it is located to slow down and let the guide determine the approximate location of the fleet as soon as possible.

There is no reference in the vast sea. What’s more, there are constellations in the daytime and invisible to the sky. No matter how experienced guides are, they cannot determine where they are. They can only judge that the entire fleet is still heading based on the rising sun. Travel northeast.

But Sekrian’s distress did not last long. He received a message from the Clippers watcher who was in the front of the fleet: A small warship was found ahead, and it quickly turned around and left.

Is it a patrol ship of the Persian fleet? ! …Secrian was not surprised but rejoiced: I found traces of Persian ships here, which does not mean that the Persian military port is nearby! Maybe the island of Cyprus is not far ahead? !

He made a decisive decision and sent two more clippers to explore the direction where the Persian warship disappeared.

While waiting for the news, several small Persian warships appeared one after another near the fleet, and then quickly left.

The situation is already very obvious. There must be a Persian military port nearby. After these Persian patrol ships return to report, it is very likely that a Persian fleet will come to intercept. At this time, the number of Dionian warships is more than half, and they are facing each other. The enemy is likely to be at a disadvantage, and the situation is a bit grim! … But after a moment of contemplation, Sekelian gave an order decisively: all ships raised their sails and accelerated toward the northeast.

At the same time, he left two clippers and stayed there waiting for the clippers searching for the remaining fleet to return, and then rushed to the island of Cyprus with the fleet and fleet that he found.

It can be said that Sekerian’s decision was quite risky, but because of his prestige in the navy, none of the admirals and shipowners present dared to express objections, so the entire fleet had to speed up northward.

About twenty minutes later, they encountered the clippers that went to explore the way and returned. When they learned that the island of Cyprus was 15 miles away, both the crew and the soldiers were suddenly refreshed.

With the help of a not strong southerly wind, the fleet approached the island of Cyprus after forty minutes.

The soldiers on the troop carrier cheered and began to actively organize their packages and weapons, while the crew’s oars became more vigorous.

Under the guidance of the guide, the UU reading www.uukanshu.com fleet sailed around the western waters of the island of Cyprus towards the beach where it could land. All the warships were guarding the outer edge of the troop carrier, and the watchmen climbed up the masts and watched the movement of the open sea with wide eyes.

Knowing that there was no enemy defending on the beach where they landed, and that there was no Persian fleet in the surrounding waters for the time being, Sekerian let out a sigh of relief, knowing that his adventure was successful: although the fleet was discovered by the Persian patrol boat, However, due to the sudden incident and the rapid movement of the fleet, whether it is the Persian fleet or the enemy forces on the island of Cyprus, even if they get the news, there is obviously not enough time to prepare for a counterattack.

But Sekrian did not dare to take it lightly. He knew that the Persian fleet could appear at any time, so he ordered the crew and soldiers of the fleet to hurry up, replenish water, and regain strength.

More than 4,000 soldiers from the Dionian Army finally landed on the beach and began to unload the cargo ships in batches.

Seeing this situation, the flagship captain of the First Fleet immediately asked Secorian for instructions: “My lord, our mission of covering and landing has been completed. Do you want to return to meet the second and third fleets before coming back here? Looking for a decisive battle with the Persian fleet?”

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