Chapter 370: Corvus
Chapter 370: Corvus
The Battle of Coroneia ended with Agesilaus defeating the Argosians, the Theban defeating the Phocis, and the mercenaries led by Xenophon charged through the Athenian army. With the situation being not favourable to the anti-Spartan alliance, the alliance took the initiative to retreat.
But because of too many casualties, Agesilaus’ troops could not chase them, resulting in the alliance managing to retreat back to their camp without incident and continued defending Coroneia.
Although Agesilaus won, he was still unable to pass through Coroneia, and with the constant arrival of the other party’s reinforcements, the anti-Spartan alliance continued to grow.
Realising that he could not stay here any longer, Agesilaus had to give up his plan to attack the Theban territory. And he could only retreat westward with his army, finally reaching Delphi, crossed the Gulf of Corinth and joined the Spartan army fighting in Corinth.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seclian once more came to Davos residence, and his respectful attitude towards Davos remained the same even after becoming the Navarch of the Theonian navy.
Davos asked him to come this time was not to congratulate him on his promotion, but also to discuss more important matters, “Seclian. These past two days, I have been thinking carefully about the strategy against the Syracusan navy that you told me about before. I think that even though we have a chance to win, the risk is too big. Thus I thought of an idea that would greatly increase the chances of our navy winning.”
“What have you thought up, milord?” Seclian hurriedly asked without acting. If someone else were to say so, he would think that he was only playing around. However, how could the words of Davos, who the soldiers praised as a ‘miracle maker’, not attract his attention?
“Look at this.” Davos then handed Seclian a sheepskin roll.
Seclian quickly unfolded and took a look, only to see a drawing of a trireme, however, there is something different about the warship. Besides the mast in the ship’s bow, there is also a wooden board with only a few differences from the length of the mast, with low railings on both sides and a downward pointed corner under the top of the wooden board. It is about 12 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, and the sharp thing at the top is a thick iron nail and a hole drilled at the top of the plank, which a rope tied to the mast passed through.
Seeing the confusion on Seclian’s face, Davos asked him, “Seclian, tell me honestly. How big is the difference between our sailor’s skills in handling warship and Syracuse?”
Seclian hesitated and said, “The Syracusan navy has more experience in actual battle than us, as they have fought the Carthaginians many times. Thus it is only natural for their ship-handling skills to be a bit better than ours…however, we are training hard and with the morale of our brothers being higher.”
“But – our navies are still newcomers who have not been on the battlefield, including yourself.” Pointed Davos, which caused Seclian to blushed and wanted to refute.
Davos waved his hand, indicating that he should not speak for now, “Remember, the navy is different from infantry. On land, even if we are defeated, as long as there are enough citizens in the city-state, then one can form an army at any time. On the other hand, during a naval battle, dozens of ships often sank to the bottom of the sea, and thousands of sailors were either sacrificed or captured. Once lost, it is difficult to recover in a short time because manufacturing a triremes needs more than half a year, not to mention the massive amount of resources and money required.
So during this period, the warships of Syracuse could ravage any coast and port of Theonia and leave our land desolate and our trade stagnant…and Syracuse would not allow the Theonia Union, which has a weaker navy, enough time to hone its experience. Still, we can’t afford to lose even once!”
Davos’ words placed tremendous pressure on Seclian.
Seclian could only clench his fists and pressed them tightly on his thighs as he screamed mentally, ‘How is this possible?! Even the city-states with powerful navies, such as Athens and Syracuse, have experienced disastrous defeat…’
But just now, his gaze suddenly landed on the drawing, and his heart jolted, ‘Could it be that the secret to our navy’s victory lies here?’
“Seclian, since our fleet is inferior to Syracuse in both experience and technology, why do we have to compete with them in traditional ship-collision tactics? Don’t forget that we have the best soldiers among the Greek city-states, whether it’s individual prowess or team cooperation, our hoplites are the most powerful in all of Greece. Thus why don’t we move our land battle to naval battle and give full play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, taking hold of the initiative in our own hands?!”
Davos’ words of fighting a naval battle like a land battle flashed through Seclian’ mind like a bolt of lightning. He picked up the drawing on the table and said, “This wooden bridge…this wooden bridge…”
Davos smiled and said, “I already discussed this wooden bridge with Marticoris, and he said that he could design a pulley for the warship that would easily pull up the wooden bridge. And at the same time, he can create a circular track around the base of the mast so that it could move the wooden bridge around the mast, allowing us to drop down the wooden bridge on the enemy ship whether they would approach from the front or both sides of the ship. And the iron nail at the top can use the momentum to plunge into the deck of the enemy ship so that they would not be able to leave. After that-”
“After that, the hoplites that are on the ship could step on the enemy’s ship through the wooden bridge.” While listening to Davos’ explanation, Seclian, who was currently imagining this novel naval warfare in his mind, couldn’t stop himself from shaking with excitement, “Milord, you are a genius! Turning naval warfare into land warfare and giving full play to our legion’s advantage to not only attack the enemy but also capture the enemy and their ships which would allow us to expand our naval strength rapidly!”
A traditional navarch would find it difficult to accept such an idea. However, Seclian was young after all, and he had just taken his post, so his mind was full of how to beat the enemy. Thus, he quickly accepted the new mode of warfare, which saved Davos some saliva.
Davos then smiled and asked, “Do you think we can implement this plan?”
“Absolutely!” Seclian stared at the drawing and said, “However, the wooden bridge will affect the ship’s speed while the fleet sails, and in case of a storm, the chance of the ship capsizing will increase. I think that if you can…uhm…dismantle it at normal times, lay it on the deck and install it before a battle…moreover, during a battle, the wooden bridge will also affect the manoeuvrability of the warship…oh, I forgot that it wouldn’t get in the way as our main mode of combat will no longer be through collision, but mainly boarding warfare. By the way, how many infantries should we place per ship?”
Seclian leaned over the table and stared intently at the drawing as he thinks hard and muttered to himself.
Davos looked at him, feeling both relieved and amused. He then patted him and said, “Go back and think slowly on how to use this new warship device. My suggestion is for you to first find an engineer to install a wooden bridge on a warship. If you were to encounter some problems, you can go to Marticoris of the Institute of Mathematics and ask him to help with the design and solve your problems. Once installed, lead the navies to practise the new tactics first, and if you need the cooperation of the hoplites, you can find Philesius, and he will arrange it for you. One thing you should pay special attention to is to keep this confidential! Remember! We can’t allow our enemy to know of our new tactics until the time we encounter them!”
“Understood!” Seclian nodded. He then carefully put the drawings into his arms, and he could no longer wait to leave and go home.
Suddenly, he stopped, “Milord, this wooden bridge device…have you named it?”
“Corvus! It’s called Corvus!” An unfathomable smile appeared on Davos’ face.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
On this day, a seemingly ordinary transport ship arrived in the Gulf of Taranto, joining among the thousands of ships sailing to and fro the port of Thurii. A 50-year-old man on board then looked at the distant land and sighed, “Thurii, I am finally back…”
“Teacher Lysias, I still feel guilty in forcing you to come to Thurii to fulfil the important task given to me by the Council..” A middle-aged man came up to him and apologised to him in a hoarse voice.
Lysias said passionately, “Isocrates, you need not apologise. I have already told you countless times that I have taken the initiative to volunteer on going to Thurii for this mission. I love Athens and would like to do something for it. Besides, Thurii is the place where I grew up and where my revered teacher, Tisias, rest. On the contrary, I should have come to pay my respects to him since long ago!”
Lysias was not really the teacher of Isocrates, however, he had studied Lysias’ rhetorics with devotion. At this time, he also looked into the distance and sighed with regret, “Yes, Thurii was a pan Greek city-state that strategos Pericles advocated and had cost Athens too many resources and money! With numerous Athenians that had worked hard for its establishment! But now, it has become one of the cities of a union. Don’t forget, Thurii is also a colony of Athens. We should have condemned Theonia’s behaviour and protected the interest of Thurii… But now, we have come to ask the Theonia Union, who infringes on our interests, for their help. Alas, o Athens! The Peloponnesian War had cost us so much…”
“Isocrates, you must understand that the city of Thurii that we know of has been burned by Crotone! And the present Thurii is the Thurii that the Theonia Union rebuilt…” Lysias reminded with a sorrowful expression.