"The right flank is ours with the help of Mardontes persuading his forces to surrender. All of the enemy ships are either surrendering, engaged, sinking or retreating." Gan Ning confirmed to Dom as the two of them stood near the Ballista at the front of the ship, his part of the fleet seeming won a much easier victory than expected. A combination of the enemy numbers being smaller than planned, and the capturing of the enemy Admiral from this flank in the first exchange. Dom then turned towards the left, where the Athenian Navy were currently engaged, they were further behind, having allowed the Greek Alliance forces to create a semi circle with Dom and Leotychides fleets being further forwards. "The enemy has definitely put more ships in to the centre."
"I agree, signal for the Sibylla to take control here and pull the surrendered ships to our side. We will take eight Trireme with us and support Xanthippus and the Athenians. We'll leave the rest with her, have our allies send limited crew onboard and disarm the enemy marines." Dom agreed, before passing the orders to Centurion Septimius to signal across to the rest of the fleet. The Young Athenian Captain had stayed beside them for most of the battle with his own Trireme and he mirrored the signals that Septimius sent to the nearest ships. Dom looked and saw two of his Titanaconda's had just boarded a ship themselves, the giant snakes on each side as their Riders pointed their tridents down and began shouting orders at the crew onboard.
"I'll get us in an arrow formation with us at the front, the battle looks fierce and we should be able to find targets to engage with and free up some of the Athenian's as well. If the enemies target is to thin our numbers then it's a good strategy." Gan Ning replied as he had the Ballista reloaded.
"If they can prepare their defence at Mycale and we are exhausted, it will be a harder battle. But they will loose a lot of Warriors themselves by fighting us at sea." Dom stated as he looked towards the distant Sea where the final battle would be. "We will need to rest after this as well, so they will have chance to not only resolve the Ionian's rebelling, but also to reinforce their defences. Thankfully our main goal is complete."
"It might be, but for Xanthippus and Leotychides it isn't." Gan Ning added, which Dom nodded at in agreement. Xanthippus was one of their recruitment goals and it would be ideal to protect him if possible. They also needed to win the battle for better rewards from the Battle Map, so whilst for Dom the Naval Battle was the priority, he still needed to win at Mycale both because he just wanted to win but also so he could get better rewards.
"I want us facing towards the Persian flank in the next ten beats, get those arms moving!" Centurion Cato bellowed from nearby to the mixture of Oarsmen and Warriors below as the Bellona turned in the water, slightly slower than the Trireme that protected it's flanks. Dom and Gan Ning shared a grin at Cato's tone as the men grumbled from below. On Dom's other side was the Trireme of the Player GiantWrangler who could be seen shouting at his own crew, Dom could hear the excitement in his tone as he shouted.
.....
"The enemy are definitely falling for the bait of Masistius armour." Myron the Hoplite commented to Ling Tong as they peered at the battle lines from their position within the hills around the battlefield. The Persians were camped on the plains in front of them, their army sprawling for miles and miles. The Greeks on the other side where within the Mountains, their camps split due to the difficult terrain that both was a hinderance and a natural shield for them.
The Persian's had come out to fight today, more so than the day before the Helot messenger from Alpheus had reported. Ling Tong looked as the Greek Lines were also formed as a horseman rode up and down the bottom of the Greek Lines dragging the armour of Masistius with him.
"Masistius isn't getting that armour back is he." Ling Tong commented, as Myron laughed quietly beside him. Ling Tong then turned to the Helot, who was acting as a messenger between himself and his Spartans that were within Pausanias' camp. "Does a battle look likely?"
"More so than previous days General." The Helot replied, a warrior much older than the young Ling Tong, but treated this stranger with the same respect he would a senior Spartan.
"What are the Strangers in the Greek Camp doing?" Ling Tong asked, referring to the Player Warriors that had joined the Greek Alliance for the Battle of Plataea. Alpheus had reported that they had brought several thousand mixed Warriors, as well as several thousand Players themselves. There wasn't a large amount of organisation within the group, however some who were classed as Rankers were their representatives.
"They are pushing to attack the enemy whilst they are slightly shaken, as Alpheus and Maron have also pushed General Pausanias." The Helot explained, as he turned to look at the battle lines himself, "The enemy seemed to also have gained new allies that are looking to push on the flank below."
"I think it's likely they will clash, but I would use them to fight each other first and when one side is clearly having the advantage, then that side should join in." Myron the Hoplite commented, as Ling Tong nodded in agreement.
"If I was Pausanias, that is what I would do." Ling Tong agreed, "However I would put some of my elites within that group to guarantee that my side would have the victory."
"I believe my fellow Athenian's would do something similar General, but the Spartan's are too prideful to do something like that." Myron laughed, whilst the Helot shook his head.
"General Pausanias has a different outlook for victory, he is but a temporary regent and victory is more important than his pride." The Helot commented honestly, not having any particular loyalty to Pausanias but was honest in his assessment. As the three of them discussed, another Hoplite from Ling Tong's group crawled forwards to meet them, he was one of the rescued men from the Megara prisoners that Megabyzus had captured. Alpheus had arranged for them to be sent some additional equipment and the Hoplite from Megara looked like proper warriors once again.
"General, we are ready when you are." The Megara Hoplite commented as he approached, having been chosen as the Centurion to lead this group in Ling Tong's small force of around two hundred from Megara, twenty of his own Hoplite, mainly Athenian with a handful of Spartans who had stayed behind for their own missions. He also had a handful of Balearic Slingers and Wu Dang Archers. They had some horses hidden away that Ling Tong and those from the Lazarus Kingdom would use.
"Thank you Iason." Ling Tong replied as he surveyed the ground below again as the loose group on the Persian flank began charging forwards when some of the Greek forces seemed to be leaving their positions. "Where are they going?"
"There has been a severe lack of supplies, it seems that the Hoplite of Abracia have said enough is enough and are leaving." The Helot commented as he surveyed the ground below as well, "This will not be good, do you want me to report anything back to Alpheus?"
"Not yet, this is an opportunity, our own group will charge to meet them, and whilst this will get messy it is putting things on the correct path." Ling Tong explained, thinking through the original plan that Thucydides has explained to them all. He then turned to Myron and Iason who were serving as his deputies. "It seems that it is about to be our turn."
Just as Ling Tong was about to move his location, one of the Wu Dang Archers approached. They were separated around the distance and were being used as scouts of his own, having laid some traps in the night that could protect them if and when they needed to retreat quickly.
"General, General Andrew has arrived." The Archer said with a grin, a glint in his eyes that betrayed the slight tinge of excitement in his voice.
...
"Increase pace!" Centurion Cato bellowed as the Bellona led the nine Trireme towards the flank of the centre of the Persian Fleet. There were more Persian ships here, Dom had questioned Mardontes about this and he had explained that the plan was to push through the Greek fleet in the centre and circle around the rear of Samos and meet up with the rest of their army. Whilst Mardontes was one of the two Persian Admirals that had been volunteered for the Naval Battle, he had been confident as he had gained a decent flagship for the Battle to manage one of the key flanks.
Dom could see the large mass of ships that were currently engaged, with at least three lines from each side currently fighting in some way, with the fourth pushing through gaps to engage each other. From what Dom could see, Xanthippus had kept his fleet in formation, however it was difficult to see the whole battle from the same level of them. Part of him wished he was on a raised platform nearby so he could survey the map and see how both Xanthippus and Leotychides were performing. He suspected the Spartan would be in a similar situation to himself and turning in on the flank as planned, but there was no guarantee. Zhou Yu was currently onboard with Xanthippus to help maintain the agreed Strategy that he and Artemisia had come up with, and Dom expected his Strategist was having a great time.
"Ramming speed, increase pace!" Centurion Cato bellowed again as the side of the Fifth and Sixth rows of the Persian fleet were in front of them, Dom could see some ships that weren't Trireme mixed in, knowing these would be the other Players that wanted to try and get some gains out of the Naval Battle as planned and not follow GeneralSlaughter in to a ground Battle. His nine ships would easily hit the exposed flank as Gan Ning let loose his flaming Bolt in to the exposed side of the enemy ship that was closest and was trying to turn to meet them.
"Pull in Oars and brace!" Centurion Septimius shouted before Centurion Cato had chance, the ships Commander seemingly fully engrossed in the ship battle. Dom grabbed on to the rails tightly as the oarsmen quickly pulled in their oars. Very soon after, almost too soon for Dom's liking, they hit the side of an enemy Trireme at a much faster pace than previously due to the clear water between them and the exposed enemy flank. The reinforced prow seemed to tear through it's enemy, as the sound of shattering and snapping wood could be heard from around them. The Bellona didn't seem to slow down as it seemed to pass through the enemy ship as Dom realised just how powerful their Quinquereme was against the smaller Trireme.
The Bellona shook slightly as they seemed to pass over the keel of the enemy ship that was being pushed below them as it was almost ripped in two. Dom in surprise turned to Mardontes who was sat nearby also bracing.
"Don't worry Admiral, that wasn't one of my fleet." Mardontes replied honestly, seemingly not caring about his own allies.
"Artemisia will like you." Gan Ning laughed as he heard the comment, however Mardontes eyes seemed to ping open at response.
"Queen Artemisia of Halicarnassus?" Mardontes asked, a tinge of fear in his voice.
"Yes, she's one of my Admirals." Don replied with a slight grin, before the Bellona shook again and his grin faded in slight worry.
"Get those Oars back in the water, we are getting the next one!" Centurion Cato bellowed loudly, his words responded with grumbles as the sound of oars being pushed back in to the sea could be heard as they cleared the enemy Trireme that was now sinking behind them.
"If she has switched sides, then this battle was always lost." Mardontes replied, before standing up and looking around him. "Whilst I am on your ship, my life is in your hands. Therefore I must warn you that whilst you have just gone straight through one of our ships, your left and right shields didn't are currently engaged behind you."
Dom turned and saw what he meant, whilst they had passed through a ship due to the Bellona's size and power, their Athenian, Spartan and Player Allies hadn't. The Bellona was currently heading towards an enemy in the fifth row, but was now exposed to the sixth row who were coming towards them.