Chapter 463: Battle of the Gulf of Taranto (II)
The sailors poured into their respective docks: With those at the front pulling the ropes while those at the back pushing hard and with a ‘heave-ho’ shouting, they managed to slide the 50 metres-long triremes into the Crati River like dragons, splashing a lot of water.
In the blink of an eye, warships covered the wide Crati River, almost blocking off the river’s entrance. Even though the river’s flow was already slow, it became even slower.
Then the sailors secured the warships by tying the ropes to the stakes on the shore. Afterwards, they began climbing the wooden ladders one after another as they got onto the ship and started to load the Corvus. After confirming that it was properly working, the sailors went down the cabin through the deck, went to their seats and pulled out the wooden oar…
The triremes’ cabin has three rows of rowers: Thalamitai – the 54 rowers in the lowest row; Zygitai – the 54 rowers in the middle row; Thranitai – the 62 rowers in the top row and had the most important position as they could see the sliding of the oars in the seawater through the oar-hole, so they are the one leading the Zygitai and the Thalamitai to row simultaneously.
After the 170 rowers went to their place, the boatswain walked back and forth in the cabin’s aisle as he was responsible for supervising the rowers, maintaining the rowing order and encouraging their morale.
Then the helmsman, as the seaman with the most experienced, was the core of the whole ship that controls the rudder and the ship’s direction and was located in the ship’s stern.
While the piper sat down in the middle of the aisle near the deck’s entrance, he was responsible for receiving the captain’s instructions and controlling the rowers’ rhythm.
The captain is the commander of the whole ship and is responsible for directing the battle.
In addition, there are three lookouts. They were divided between the bow, stern and mast, keeping the captain informed of the enemy and the instructions conveyed by the fleet at any time.
In view that they would be in an offshore battle with Syracuse, the Theonians did not hoist their sails and had even left them in the dock to reduce the load of the warship. Thus the ten sailors on deck responsible for raising and lowering the sails and controlling the ship’s movement have one less important task to perform. However, apart from taking up their bows and arrows and dealing with the approaching ships, they had a more crucial task of manning the ‘Davos’ Corvus’ to nail the approaching enemy ships.
At this moment, Davos led the army into the military port, so Seclian, Mithridates and the other naval officers hurriedly up to meet him.
“Your majesty, the fleet is ready to start at any time!” Seclian excitedly said after saluting.
“Have you found the Syracusan fleet?” Davos asked calmly.
“Yes!” Seclian replied immediately, “Our scouting ships reported earlier that dozens of Syracusan warships have appeared cruising off the coast of Roscianum and appear to be preparing to land there. Therefore, we believe that their great fleet must be not far away!”
As Davos looked at the naval officers led by Seclian, who had eyes burning hot, he smiled and said, “It seems that you all can’t wait. So what are you still waiting for? Have the legionaries get on board!”
“Yes!” Antonios and Amintas responded in unison. He then immediately ordered the officers behind them, “Get on board!”
Soon, all the first legion’s and a small number of the second legion ran to the riverbank in an orderly manner under the leadership of their platoon captain. Then according to the training area yesterday, they found the triremes their unit is in charge of and climbed the deck, bringing the total number of men in a trireme to nearly 240 men.
As Davos stood on the back, he looked over the dense legionaries on the riverbank, where they were like a thin stream of metal pouring into the warship, dyeing the yellow-brown surface of the river (the colour of the warship) black…
Davos, who had never yet experienced a naval battle, could not help but feel a sense of pride rising in his heart and the tension he felt dissipates. He then turned around to Amintas and said, “Once we have departed, you will lead the rest of the legionaries of the second legion to the port. Marigi has already prepared the transport ships for you, so immediately set off once you get the news of our victory!”
“Understood, your majesty!” Amintas said with a nod. Then he looked to Seclian and saluted.
Just as Seclian wondered why Amintas, with whom he had just had a verbal conflict yesterday, had acted in this way, he heard Amintas say in a deep voice, “Seclian, the safety of his majesty is in your hands!”
Seclian immediately understood what he meant, so he instantly returned the salute, “I will protect his majesty’s safety with my life!”
“May the naval battle be a great victory!”
“May the land battle be won!”
As the two soldiers stared at each other eyes, some of their previous contradictions disappeared, and only the fighting spirit against a common hatred was left.
“Let’s get on board as well. Don’t keep the soldiers waiting.” Davos waved.
“Yes!” Martius, the guard captain, waved the flag. Martius, who had basically recovered, had found Davos yesterday afternoon and insisted on going to the battle to kill the enemy, and Davos had let him return.
“Your Majesty!” Kunogelata led the statesmen, with serious expressions, bent in unison to salute Davos with respect. Even though they didn’t say anything, the weight of this salute was a sign of their entrustment of Theonia’s safety to Davos, for this battle would determine the rise and fall of Theonia.
Davos smiled again and said loudly, “Wait for the news of our victory!”
Davos then took the escort down to the riverbank, which by this time, was less crowded as the legionaries boarded the warships. And the sailors and soldiers would wave at Davos from time to time, and Davos would respond to it with a smile.
At last, he came to his ship. It was the largest ship of the fleet, a trireme that is sixty metres-long and five-metres wide and manned by 188 rowers. The bow tilts into the water, and a strong, sharp metal battering ram at the head and a scorpion-like tail at the stern, with numerous wooden oars sticking out from front to back on both sides of the ships, just like the feet of a millipede.
Once Davos and his 60 guards boarded, a man in a leather helmet and short coat rushed up to Davos. After giving his salute, he said in a slightly nervous voice, “Your…majesty, I am Miltias, the captain of this ship!”
Davos smiled and returned the salute, “Miltias, it is my pleasure to fight with you!”
“Your majesty, the rowers…also wanted to come and greet you, but they could not because of their duties…” Miltias requested in a somewhat embarrassed.
Without hesitation, Davos said, “I was just about to go and greet them.” with that, he took the lead to the deck’s entrance.
The trireme’s deck was not a single piece, but two decks running from bow to stern, with a gap of more than a metre wide between them, so the cabin is not airtight, and the rowers in the cabin can see the clear blue sky above through the gap as soon as they turn to their sides. So even though there are nearly 200 rowers, the open structure does not make them feel suffocated.
When Davos appeared in the cabin, the whole ship became lively.
Davos did not disappoint the rowers’ enthusiasm as he took the trouble to climb up and down, bent down to ask the names of each rower and shook hands with them regardless of the narrow aisle.
Even though he was already a little bit out of breath from going around the cabin, he still stood in the middle of the first layer and shouted with excitement, “Brothers, it is a pleasure to fight with you! Let us fight together and win this naval battle!!”
“All hail king Davos!!”
“All hail king Davos!!”
The rowers cheered in unison, which attracted the sailors of the adjacent warships to look at them with envy, ‘Those lucky guys! To have the honour to be able to fight with King Davos on the same ship!!’
At this time, the unique naval salpinx sounded from near Theonia’s flagship, causing the rowers to stop cheering and began to sing the ode of the gods, not to Hades of course but Poseidon, the god of the sea, a prayer for a safe and successful voyage,
Davos, who had previously spent half the day learning this ancient ritual to fit in with the navy, had also sung loudly with the rowers.
Captain Miltias then handed him a wooden cup filled with wine, which was certainly not for drinking. Davos held it solemnly, walked towards the bow, shouted Poseidon’s name, and poured the wine into the river.
As the ode of Poseidon resounded across the banks of the Crati River, the statesmen began to cheer up. Then those standing on the bank saw that the foremost ships left the river bank and sailed out of the military port one after another…
“Come and let’s go to the seaside.” Kunogelata said to the other statesmen.
None of them objected as they could not be present in the battle, but they still had to cheer for the soldiers in the upcoming decisive battle.
It wasn’t only the statesmen who thought this way, but all the people of Theonia who could make it, the elderly, women, children, citizens, preparatory citizens, freemen…and so on. As the thousands of people gathered at the mouth of the Crati River, the people cheered like a tsunami every time they saw a warship go out to cheer on their kin in the war.
“That ship! My child is on that ship!!”
“Did you see that! That man who is waving is my brother, and he is the captain of that ship!”
“My husband is on that ship with a ‘3’ symbol, but I couldn’t see him because he is the rower.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While the people cheered and shouted the names of their loved ones, many others raised a similar question, “What is that strange long plank by the front mast of the warship? How come I have never seen it on the ships of other city-states?!”