Chapter 583 The fastest sea battle

Chapter 583 The fastest sea battle

The Crown Prince's wedding brought joy to the whole empire, and they returned to their duties after that. Including those Tunisian pirates.

He had made good money by robbing Roman and Naples merchant ships, so he had stopped robbing recently. But now that I have spent all my money, I naturally have to go back to my old business.

"Young men, get ready, we are going to continue to make those Romans pay."

"OK!!!!"

Everyone was pleasantly surprised and prepared to go to the vicinity of Sicily to see who the unlucky guy was today.

This time they were also planning to go to Sicily, so most of the people were dispatched, with a total of 70 ships and more than 10,000 people.

They set off from the city of Tunisia and headed directly north to near Catania. It is close to the Strait of Messina, and there are close ships coming and going, so you will definitely have better harvests.

"It's strange. There should be quite a lot of ships here. Why aren't there any?"

The leader felt incredible. Could it be that the information was wrong? But his doubts were soon dispelled when ships appeared from the east.

"Tell the kids, business is coming."

As soon as he finished speaking, the four or five slow ships suddenly sped up. Before he could react, he saw another mast emerging from the farthest end of the sea level.

"Another one coming? What a good day is today?" the leader thought happily, but just as the thought came to his mind, another mast rose...

One...two...three...five...ten...

"I've never heard of so many merchant ships going to Iberia. What's going on?"

"Sir, could it be that these are coming from the east and are going to Iberia to deliver goods?"

The deputy's words suddenly enlightened him, "It makes sense. Let everyone come up together. As long as we grab it this time, we won't have to worry about it for the next twenty years."

The Oriental merchant ships naturally transport spices, gold and so on. They feel that they will have no worries about food and clothing in the future.

"Let me go, what's going on with them? They just went to fight. It seems they are confident."

The 62-year-old Nikephorus looked at the enemy fleet rushing over and felt that they were really brave. Unless he was absolutely sure, it was really rare for someone to die in such a hurry.

"My lord, they are coming." Leopold, the commander of the Naples Navy, said to Nikephorus.

"Then come on!"

In just a blink of an eye, countless masts jumped out from the sea level one by one. Finally, when he saw a huge fleet suddenly appearing on the sea, the smile on his face had long since disappeared and was replaced by incomparable astonishment.

"Is this...could it be that my eyesight is dazzled?" The captain couldn't help but rub his eyes. He picked up the telescope again and looked into the distance. There was still a trace of luck in his heart, maybe it was a larger merchant fleet. But when he saw the flag flying in the wind on the fleet that was coming toward them with great momentum and overwhelming force, he was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and the telescope in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

The double-headed eagle flag of Rome was nothing. But the problem is that the double-headed eagle is only in the upper left corner of the flag, with red and blue used elsewhere. This was the naval standard of Rome.

"Turn around! Turn around quickly!" The captain grasped the side of the ship with both hands and shouted heartily, with a look of horror on his face. At this time, the watchman who climbed on the mast also saw clearly the flags hung by the fleet, and his face also looked like he had seen a ghost.

Originally, there was no problem in robbing a merchant ship, but when the Roman navy attacked, would they still have a way to survive? Run quickly.

The battleship hurriedly turned around and tried to escape back towards Tunisia. However, the first few ships that appeared had already accelerated to their fastest speed at this moment. The bow of the ship was like a sharp knife cutting through the rough sea water, approaching them at an extremely high speed.

"Quick! Turn around! Why are you still waiting? Turn around!" The captain was so anxious that he almost cried. With such a large fleet, he simply didn't have the courage to fight. Now he just wanted to escape back.

It is not so easy for warships in this era to turn around, not to mention that the Tunisian fleet was in a mess in panic. When they finally took some time to turn the bow and hurriedly raised the sail again, the Romanian warships had completely appeared in front of them. This time, there were more than 120 joint naval warships from Rome and Naples, plus There are more than 40 large troop transport ships on board, and the darkness can be seen from a distance, putting unprecedented pressure on those who see it.

The few warships that first appeared to explore the way were not far away from their warships at this time. With a few dull and thunderous cannons, the Roman navy's warships fired. When a few cannonballs fell into the sea not far away, they saw When the huge waves splashed, the captain was even more frightened.

Then Nikephorus saw the hardest scene in his life: the opponent raised a white flag and surrendered.

"Did you read that right? They surrendered?"

"Maybe, or they have an ambush. It's better to shoot them first to deter them."

Nikephorus asked the vanguard to take over all the ships, and after ensuring surrender, he moved them to Sicily.

This joint naval offensive is not just about solving the problem of piracy. Peter knew that to fundamentally solve the problem, they must have their base in Carthage.

From the ancient Roman period, Carthage relied on its geographical location to rapidly become wealthy and became the trade center of the Western Mediterranean. In addition, it is close to the Mediterranean Sea, so the cultivated land here is second only to Egypt, especially the Bagradas Valley in the interior, which is very fertile.

The Hafsid dynasty that has ruled here has a history of 200 years. Although the current ruler is not very good, it is not easy to maintain a balance among several surrounding countries. After the revival of Rome, he also sent people to Constantinople to congratulate the emperor. Trade between the two countries has also increased.

But for Rome, Tunisia is more because of its geographical location. It, Sicily and Malta together become the middle line of the Mediterranean. The Roman navy can find more supplies here and can also transport to Malta. And Peter has no intention of adding more territory. It is enough to have a tributary state here.

But even if it is a tribute, you can't talk to the other party. You should use your fists to subdue him. The current Sultan looks a little ignorant. Maybe it was instigated by the close ministers around him. Just punish him.

Therefore, the scale of this fleet is even larger than the expedition to Iberia. After punishing Carthage, the local situation must be stabilized. In addition, there is no land connection with Rome, so the sea route is particularly important.

Nikephoros once again became the commander of the operation. He received authorization from the emperor and was free to do whatever he wanted as long as he completed the emperor's task.