Volume 6: The Meeting of Two Heroes, Chapter 130: The Great Naval Battle of Taranto (Part 2)

At this moment, the sailors surged into their respective shipyards. Those in front pulled the tow ropes, those behind pushed hard, and with a synchronized chant, one by one the triremes, each about fifty meters long, slid smoothly into the Crati River like dragons entering the water, splashing up great sheets of spray...

In the blink of an eye, the wide expanse of the Crati River near its mouth was covered with warships, almost cutting off the flow of the river. The current had already been slow here; now it was even slower.

The sailors tied the ropes to stakes on the bank to secure the ships, then set up wooden ladders and climbed aboard quickly and nimbly. They began to install the Corvus boarding bridges, and after confirming everything worked properly, they descended through the deck hatches into the hold, found their seats, pulled long oars from the wooden racks, extended them through the oar ports, and fitted them onto the oarlocks.

A trireme had three levels of rowing chambers: the lowest level had fifty-four oarsmen on each side, the middle level also had fifty-four, and the top level had the most, sixty-two oarsmen. Since the top-level rowers were close to the oar ports and could see how the blades moved through the water, they held the most important position—they were the stroke oarsmen who led the middle and lower levels in coordinated rowing.

Once all 170 oarsmen were in place, the boatswain paced back and forth along the gangway inside the hold. He was responsible for supervising the rowers, maintaining rowing discipline, and boosting the rowers' morale.

The helmsman went to the stern. He was the heart of the ship, controlling the steering oar and the direction of the warship. Only the most experienced sailor could hold this position, as he had to be able to ram enemy ships while preserving his own in the heat of battle.

The piper sat down in the middle of the gangway near the hatch. He was responsible for receiving the captain's orders and controlling the rhythm of the rowing.

The captain was the overall commander of the ship, in charge of directing the fight.

In addition, there were three lookouts, stationed at the bow, stern, and on the mast, ready at any moment to report enemy movements to the captain and relay signals from the fleet.

Today, because they expected to engage in close-quarters combat soon with the Syracusans, they had not hoisted the sails—in fact, they had not even brought them on board, leaving them behind at the shipyard to lighten the ships. Thus, the ten deck sailors who normally raised and lowered sails and handled ship handling had one major task removed. In addition to picking up bows to shoot at enemies approaching the ship, their more important duty was to operate the Corvus boarding bridges—to hook and pin down enemy vessels that came close.

By now, Davos's army had also entered the military harbor. Seclian, Midorades, and other naval officers hurried forward to greet him.

"Your Majesty, the fleet is ready and can set sail at any time!" Seclian gave Davos a military salute and said excitedly.

"Has the Syracusan fleet been spotted?" Davos asked calmly.

"Yes!" Seclian replied at once. "Our fast ships reported earlier that dozens of Syracusan warships were patrolling near the coast of Castron. It looks like they are preparing to land there, so their main fleet must be close by!"

Davos looked at the naval officers led by Seclian. Their eyes were all burning with eagerness. He broke into a smile. "It seems you can't wait any longer. What are we waiting for? Have the soldiers of the Army Corps board the ships!"

"Yes!" Antonios and Amyntas replied in unison, then immediately turned to the officers behind them and ordered, "Board the ships!"

Soon, all the troops of the First Army Corps and a small portion of the Second Army Corps, led by their platoon leaders, ran in an orderly manner to the riverbank. Following the areas they had rehearsed the day before, they found the triremes assigned to their respective platoons and boarded them in an orderly fashion, ascending to the decks. At this point, the total crew of a Daonian trireme was close to 240 men.

Davos stood on the embankment, looking down at the dense lines of soldiers on the riverbank, splitting into streams of metal that surged toward the warships, turning the yellow-brown surface of the river—the color of the ships—into a black mass...

Having never experienced a naval battle, Davos felt a surge of boldness in his heart, temporarily driving away his tension. He turned to Amyntas and said, "After we set out, you lead the remaining soldiers of the Second Army Corps to the harbor. Mariji has prepared cargo ships for you. As soon as you hear news of our victory, set sail!"

"Understood, Your Majesty!" Amyntas nodded, then looked at Seclian and gave him a solemn military salute.

Just as Seclian was wondering why Amyntas, who had clashed with him in words only yesterday, was doing this, he heard Amyntas say in a deep voice, "Seclian, I entrust the safety of His Majesty to you!"

Seclian understood. He immediately returned the salute with equal solemnity. "I will protect His Majesty's safety with my life!"

"May the naval battle end in victory!"

"May the land battle end in victory!"

The two soldiers locked eyes. Whatever minor friction had existed between them vanished in that moment, replaced by a shared will to fight the enemy.

"Let's board as well. We shouldn't keep the soldiers waiting," Davos said, waving his hand.

"Yes!" Martius waved the military banner. This guard captain, who had largely recovered from his wounds, had found Davos yesterday afternoon and insisted on fighting. Davos had no choice but to let him rejoin the unit.

"Your Majesty!" Kynogoratas led the senators, all wearing grave expressions, as they stepped forward and bowed respectfully to Davos in unison. They said nothing more, but the weight of that bow carried the fate of the entire alliance, entrusted to Davos—for this battle would determine the rise or fall of Daonia.

Davos smiled again and said loudly, "Wait for news of our victory!"

Then he led his guards down to the riverbank. By now, the legionaries had mostly boarded the ships, so the bank was not crowded. Sailors and soldiers from nearby ships waved, called out greetings, and saluted Davos, and he smiled back at each one.

Finally, he reached his flagship. It was the largest trireme in the entire fleet, fully sixty meters long and five meters wide, with 188 oarsmen. Its bow slanted into the water, tipped with a sturdy, sharp bronze ram. The stern curved upward like a scorpion's tail. Countless oars stretched out from both sides of the hull from front to back, like the legs of a centipede. This was a luxury warship from Rhegium and had originally been designated by Seclian as the flagship.

After Davos and his sixty guards boarded the deck, a man wearing a leather helmet and short tunic hurried over to the king, saluted, and said with visible nervousness, "Your—Your Majesty, I am Miltias, the captain of this ship!"

Davos smiled and returned the salute. "Miltias, I am glad to fight alongside you!"

"Your Majesty, the sailors... they wanted to greet you, but their duties keep them from..." Miltias made a small, hesitant request.

Without hesitation, Davos said, "I was about to greet them." With that, he led the way to the entrance of the hold.

The deck of a trireme was not one continuous piece; it consisted of two planks running from bow to stern, with a gap over a meter wide between them. Thus, the hold was not sealed. The rowers inside could lean to one side and see the blue sky through that gap. Even with nearly 200 oarsmen packed into the hold, this open structure kept them from feeling suffocated.

When Davos appeared in the hold, the entire ship erupted in excitement.

Davos did not disappoint the rowers' enthusiasm. Ignoring the narrow gangways on the middle and upper levels, he tirelessly climbed up and down, bending down to ask each rower his name and shaking hands with them.

By the time he finished, even without wearing a helmet, he was slightly winded, but standing in the central gangway of the first level, he shouted excitedly, "Brothers, I am glad to fight with you! Let us fight together and win this naval battle!"

"Hail King Davos!"

The rowers cheered in unison, drawing the attention of sailors from nearby ships, who looked on with envy: to fight on the same ship as King Davos—what an honor! Those lucky bastards!

At that moment, the sound of a unique bugle call came from the neighboring Daonia flagship. The rowers stopped cheering and began to sing loudly, raising a hymn of praise to the gods. Not to Hades, of course, but to Poseidon, lord of the sea—a prayer for a safe and successful voyage.

To integrate himself with the navy, Davos had spent half a day learning this ancient ritual. Now he sang along loudly with the rowers.

Captain Miltias handed him a wooden cup filled with wine. The wine was not for drinking. With a solemn expression, Davos carried it to the bow, shouted the name of Poseidon, and poured the wine into the river.

The hymn to Poseidon echoed across both banks of the Crati River, lifting the spirits of the anxious senators. Standing on the embankment, they saw the foremost ships cast off from the shore one after another and sail out of the military harbor...

"Come, let's go to the seaside," Kynogoratas said to the other senators.

No one objected. In this upcoming life-or-death contest, though they could not be on the front lines themselves, they could at least cheer on their warriors.

This feeling was shared not only by the senators. All the people of the Daonia Alliance who could come had come—old men, women, children, citizens, preparatory citizens, freemen—tens of thousands of them gathered at the mouth of the Crati River. Every time a warship sailed out, they erupted in thunderous cheers to encourage their loved ones going into battle.

"That ship! My son is on that ship!"

"Did you see! The one waving his hand is my brother—he's the captain!"

"My husband is on the ship with the number 'three' painted on its side. I can't see him because he's an oarsman."

...

The people cheered and shouted the names of their loved ones. Many also voiced a similar question: "There's a strange long wooden plank standing next the mast at the bow of the warship. What is that?! I've never seen anything like it on ships of other city-states!"