Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 1281

[Chapter 230 The Asia Minor Fleet]

“Mediterranean Overlord of Ancient Greece ()”

The Asia Minor Combined Fleet stationed in the port of Halicarnassus knew this well, and they even knew that there were hundreds of Dionian warships escorting these fleets, and later nearly a hundred ships of the Greek mainland city-states were added. Warships, apart from this, I have never heard of other enemy fleets appearing in the Aegean Sea. The combined fleet of Asia Minor has twice the number of warships of the other side. Therefore, after negotiation, the fleet of Asia Minor decided to go north to the Misia Sea to capture fighter planes. .

At the beginning of November, the Asia Minor fleet headed north in a mighty manner. When it reached the waters near the entrance of Hellespont, the Greek coalition fleet that had already received the news had already fled, and the Asia Minor fleet, unwilling to return empty-handed, made a gesture of returning south at dusk. , in fact, it quietly entered the port of Ilesos on the island of Lesbos, not far south of the landing site of Dionia’s army.

Lesbos Island resembles two crab-like tongs. The two tongs are not completely closed, and a bay is formed in the center. Its entrance faces south and faces away from the Hellespont Strait. When a convoy of 70 cargo ships of the Greek coalition sailed unsuspecting to the waters near Irion, the Asia Minor fleet suddenly appeared and attacked it, almost destroying the entire fleet.

When the attack of the Asia Minor Fleet was about to end, the Dionysian Fourth Fleet came in a hurry, and the Persian Asia Minor Fleet immediately gathered the warships and set up a battle to fight against it.

In view of the huge disparity in the number of warships, the Dionysian Fourth Fleet wisely chose to retreat, while the Persian Asia Minor Fleet had been chasing the scattered Greek cargo ships back and forth before. harbour.

On the 2nd day, the Asia Minor fleet reappeared in the waters near the entrance of the Hellespont Strait, but did not find any trace of the Greek coalition fleet or fleet. They cruised for a long time without finding anything, and finally returned resentful.

In the evening of this day, the senior generals of the Asia Minor Fleet held a military meeting to discuss the issue of “whether the fleet should return to Halicarnassus as soon as possible”.

Most of the admirals from the Greek city-states in Asia Minor thought: “The Greek coalition has learned a lesson from yesterday’s failure. As long as we are still here, their fleet may not appear. The Asia Minor fleet has a large number of crew members, and the island of Lesbos Obviously, it cannot provide enough supplies, and it is more troublesome to obtain supplies from the nearby coastal city-states of Asia Minor. More importantly, the Asia Minor fleet has been stunned, and the logistics supply is very important to the Greek coalition, and the Kingdom of Dionia will definitely not Will give up, they will send reinforcements, don’t forget that the Dionians have thousands of warships!”

The Persian admirals thought: “Although the Asia Minor fleet has achieved a little victory, it is not enough to boast to Phanabatzos, and it is not enough to attract the attention of the Persian king. Even because the Greek fleet is evading the fleet’s As a result of the attack, the fleet may not obtain any obvious achievements in the future, but as long as the fleet exists in this sea area for one more day, it will cut off the supply of the Greek coalition forces for one day, making the Greek coalition forces fearful and giving them to the Asia Minor Army that is still being formed. Provide assistance.

As for the issue of logistical supplies, they don’t need to worry about it. As long as you ask Fanabazos for help, he will naturally write a letter asking the nearby areas to take the initiative to provide assistance to the entire fleet.

So far, I have not received any news of Dionia’s other fleets appearing in the Aegean Sea. Even if they really intend to attack, it cannot be done in a short period of time. The Asia Minor fleet can rest assured to stay here for a few more days. Get some more battles.

”

Although most of the warships of the Asia Minor fleet were provided by the Greek city-states, the command was in the hands of the Persians. They insisted, and the Greek city-state admirals naturally could not object, so the next day the Asia Minor fleet continued in this area. They were cruising in the sea, but when they returned to the station at dusk, they got a surprising news: a Dionysian fleet with an amazing number of warships appeared near the waters of Kos Island.

It is heading north along the coast of western Asia Minor.

It turned out that after receiving the order of the Ministry of Military Affairs and after some deliberation, the chiefs of the three major fleets of Dionia, Cykrian, Midorades, and Stepakas, made a decision not to allow the fleet to go to Keke for the time being. Rete Island, after all, thousands of warships were dispatched, and the momentum was too great to attract attention. It would inevitably arouse the vigilance of the enemy and not achieve the effect of attracting snakes out of their holes. In addition, the port conditions of Crete Island should support the three major fleets. The long-term stationing of personnel is also difficult, so they decided to let the three major fleets go to Mesenia and Lagonia first.

As the most important relay station between the Holy Kingdom of Dionia and the mainland of Greece, the annexes of these two kingdoms have vigorously built port facilities during the past few years, which can fully meet the needs of the fleet and crew.

The fleet was stationed on the southern coast of the Peloponnesus, and at the same time paid close attention to the movements of the western coast of Asia Minor, and quickly attacked when a fighter appeared.

After Davos agreed to their suggestion, the three major fleets were stationed in Messenia and Laconia. They hardly ever moved. Occasionally training was required to cultivate the tacit understanding between the fleets, and only a few were deployed. ships of war, and proceeded in the bay.

Since the southern Peloponnesian waters are now the heart of the Dionysian Holy Kingdom’s sphere of influence in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is impossible for merchant ships from Persia and Asia Minor to enter, so the Persians are completely unaware of all the Dionysus in the Western Mediterranean. The sub-fleet has moved east.

Compared with Dionia’s strict control of the western waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, Persia’s management of the eastern waters is relatively loose, especially on the western coast of Asia Minor, where Dionia arranged a lot of eye lines, so the Persian Asia Minor fleet Just established, the Dionysian fleet quickly knew.

A few days after the Asia Minor Fleet went north, Dionia’s three fleets left the port and headed east together. Thanks to Dionia’s vigorous promotion and funding of the Greek allies in the past few years to improve port facilities and maintain the shipping routes, Daionia When the Aonia Fleet crossed the Aegean Sea, not only could the nearby islands be replenished with fresh water, but sometimes it could even travel at night when the weather was good, so when the Aonia Fleet approached the coastal waters of Asia Minor, Asia Minor The fleet is still cruising in the Hellespont waters.

After hearing the news, the generals of the Asia Minor Fleet did not have the confidence to fight against the three major fleets of Dionia, which had far more warships than themselves.

In order to avoid a head-on collision with the Dionysian fleet, after passing through the island of Chios, the Asia Minor fleet began to move away from the coast, attempting to sail southwestward and make a large circle to avoid the Dionysian fleet.

Who knew that in order to avoid missing the enemy, the commanders of the Dionia Fleet specially arranged for the Second Fleet to approach the sea, the First Fleet to the remote sea, and the Third Fleet to connect in the middle. Net, to catch the big fish of the Asia Minor fleet.

It should be said that the Asia Minor fleet was a little lucky. A merchant ship from a city-state in western Asia Minor kindly reminded the Asia Minor fleet that “the Dionysian fleet is heading towards them”. The Persian generals who heard the news panicked: facing Dai The Aonia fleet is pressing step by step, and it is impossible for the Asia Minor fleet to continue to detour westward. Otherwise, the fleet will penetrate deep into the sphere of influence of Dionia in the Aegean Sea, without any supplies, and will soon collapse without a fight. , so there is only one way in front of them, to get the fleet close to the coast of Asia Minor as soon as possible, and hide in the port of a town, in order to avoid the fate of destruction.

So the Asia Minor fleet made an emergency U-turn and hurried straight east, passing Samos, and attempted to enter the port of Ephesus before the Dionysian fleet caught up.

Ephesus is a large city on the western coast of Asia Minor. Not only is the city high and thick, but it is also rich in supplies. The Asia Minor fleet can hide in it for a long time until the Dionysian fleet has to leave.

The Persians had a good idea, but it was a pity that the Dionysian Fleet was prepared. The second fleet led by Midorades quickly passed through the narrow Strait of Samos, and the warships were “one” in the waters near Ephesus. The words are unfolded to stop the eastward escape of the Asia Minor fleet.

The generals of the Asia Minor Fleet, who learned of the situation ahead through the clipper, were faced with a dangerous situation of interception in the front and chasing troops in the back. Like ants on a hot pot, they were panicked and overwhelmed. When they had to, they led the fleet to flee in a panic. The nearest port of Samos to them.

Samos is separated from the western mainland of Asia Minor by only a narrow strait, which makes it, like Bosworth Island, one of the Ionian islands. It was once one of the important members of the Delian League established by Athens. Later, after the Corinthian War, the strength of Athens gradually recovered, and it joined the sea alliance of Athens again, but Athens was defeated by Dionysiania. The Samos were closer to Persia, and later they were attracted by some decrees issued by the Persian king in order to win over the Greeks in western Asia Minor and put down the rebellion more quickly, and finally fell completely to Persia.

When the Asia Minor Fleet escaped into the port, the three major fleets of Dionia quickly arrived. The sentries on the port lighthouse and the outpost looked at the Dionysian warships laying out on the sea outside the port and couldn’t see the end. Feel the scalp tingling.

However, the Summers, who had provided more than a dozen warships to the Asia Minor Fleet, had luck in their hearts: Although the Dionysian Fleet was powerful, they could not attack from the land, nor could they stay here for a long time. will reluctantly leave.