Near! Getting closer!! The Norman crossbow warship spread the sails under the huge sea breeze. The sail was blown to a big bag, as if it was about to withdraw from the mast. Amid the crazy roars of the Viking pirates, the slaves also worked hard to step on the oars to survive. The Norman warship advanced at full speed, faster than the galloping horses!

On the other side, the Eastern Roman soldiers saw the Norman fleet reaching full speed and were so scared that they shouted that there was another collision in the tactics at this moment. The bow of the crossbow warship was also specially reinforced, and the corners of the raven were covered with a layer of dark iron, which looked terrifying. In addition, the weight and speed of the Norman warship itself were also strong. This collision would definitely make a big hole in the hull of the Eastern Roman warship. This is a life-threatening matter.

"Do not, dodge it!" As the Norman warship roared, the captains on the front row of the Eastern Roman warships, who were the first to be blasted, shouted that the warships would avoid it. However, the sailing warships are no longer as flexible as the steam engine warships that will appear in the future. Even the Norman warships are not as good as the Norman warships. It is easy for the captains to order to avoid it. However, the sailors and slaves followed the orders and were a little troublesome............

Finally, among the crackling sound of the shattering of the wood chips that make teeth sour, the crunching sound of the hull deformed, and the rushing sound of the sea water pouring in, the Eastern Roman warships were reimbursed.

However, although the Eastern Roman warship slowly sinks, it will take some time to completely sink.

In this, the Eastern Roman soldiers rushed to take out the hook claws tied with ropes behind them and threw them towards another Norman warship. Then they used force together to drag the Norman warship in their direction.

"Damn it! Cut off these ropes!" Captain Norman shouted that after the warship sinks, it will bring a whirlpool, and people who are not in time to escape will be pulled into the sea to be buried with them. Although Captain Norman didn't know how attractive this whirlpool was to his warship, he definitely didn't want to taste the big slander.

Even if he didn't say it, the Viking pirates instinctively felt the danger, rushed forward to cut the ropes and shot arrows. For a moment, many Eastern Roman sailors who were trying to pull the ropes suddenly fell on the deck because the rope was cut off and lost their balance. Many Eastern Roman sailors were shot by crossbows, turned over and fell into the sea, or fell on the deck.

The Norman warship escaped, then adjusted its state and hit it at another Eastern Roman warship.

In this era when gunpowder weapons are not yet popular, although both sides have sea battle weapons such as Greek fire and scorpion crossbows at the same time, the one that can kill the enemy in large quantities is still the battle of the platoons. The soldiers on the two ships hooked the other ships with their hook claws, then pulled each other to bring the distance between the two warships closer, and then a round of crossbow shooting. Then, the two ships are closer, so they can move out of the springboard, put them between the two ships, and then rushed over barefootly and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

The Norman sailors held compound bows and crossbows, standing on the shooting platform to assist in shooting, while the Viking pirates waved their battle axes and stood in front of fighting. The configuration of the Eastern Roman army was similar to that. They were replaced with Greek crossbows, oriental-style compound bows, and in melee combat, using Arabic scimitars and Roman swords.

At this point, the two sides entered a fierce hand-to-hand combat battle. The Viking pirates were brave and tenacious, and at the same time they had more experience in naval battles than Eastern Roman sailors. They gained the upper hand in a short while, especially those trough-type transport ships. They could not be seen outside. However, the number of soldiers loaded in the transport ships was quite large. With the advantage of numericality, they could even fight against two to three Eastern Roman warships at the same time without being at a disadvantage.

On the Eastern Roman warships that were hit by the corner of the collision and were about to sink, the Eastern Roman sailors quickly adjusted their state. Some people took out bows or crossbows to fight back, while others had strong jumping power took off their leather armor and clothes on their upper body, rolled up kutui, ran to the bow, picked up long swords and scimitars, and crawled over the side of the Norman warship at the corner of the collision.

"The hull is back! Come back! Around it!!" The captain of another Norman warship who did not want to be whirled by the other shipwreck was ordered like this. At this time, several Eastern Roman sailors had already come up. Without saying a word, they raised their swords at the surprised Viking pirates and chopped them over. Then they shouted wildly and rushed towards the other Viking pirates.

"Damn it!"

The Viking Pirates cursed, then pulled out their battle axes and stepped forward, and began to fight with the Eastern Roman sailors. However, the Eastern Roman sailors all fought for their lives because the warships were about to sink. Although they were not as equipped as the Viking Pirates, in fact, because they needed to fight on the sea, the Viking Pirates' armor was just a layer of leather armor to protect the torso, and their limbs and heads were not protected.

Not much better than Eastern Roman sailors.

In addition, the Eastern Roman sailors fought desperately because their warships sank and had no way out.

For a moment, the Viking Pirates were suppressed.

"Bow and arrow! Shoot these turtles to death!" The Viking pirates on the battleship shooting platform, seeing their troops at a disadvantage, immediately set their bows and shot fiercely at the enemy. The Eastern Roman sailors were red-hearted and had no defense at all. If they shot, they would die.

In this way, the Viking Pirates once again gained the upper hand!

Seeing this, the last Eastern Roman sailor who climbed up cursed, then turned around and jumped back to the sunken warship, found turbulent oil, torches and other objects on the deck, threw away the scimitar, and crawled back with these things in his mouth.

"I want you to be buried with you!" The Eastern Roman sailors laughed like this and distributed the torch oil to the others, and then began to set fire on the Norman battleship.

"Damn it! Stop him quickly!" The Vikings shouted, rushed forward, and began to fight desperately...

"...The combat effectiveness of the Eastern Roman Navy is also very good." At this moment, Marshal Carter, who was scanning the battlefield with a monocular telescope on his flagship bridge, couldn't help but sigh like this. Then he gave up his plan to defeat his opponent and changed his orders and said, "Give an order, break through!" Immediately afterwards, with a series of flag words, the Norman fleet changed its tactics and prepared to break through.

However, it was not easy... At this moment, the fleets of both sides were entangled. The sailors on both sides jumped onto enemy warships and slashed and slashed. The Eastern Roman warships equipped with Greek fire ejectors set fire everywhere. Large areas of broken wooden boards floating on the sea, ship wreckage and strange-shaped corpses indirectly became something that could be burned. On the sea, fires soared into the sky!

At this time of battle, the Eastern Roman Navy made a very fatal mistake.

Very, very fatal.

When using Greek fire on a large scale, this kind of killer that can float on the sea, you should observe the wind direction in advance. Even if you are not Zhuge Liang or TV station, you cannot predict the climate direction in the future. But at least look at the current weather?!

One thing I said before is that the current wind direction is the west wind, which is beneficial to the Norman Navy, but is extremely unfavorable to the Eastern Roman Navy. Under such a wind direction, the flames burned towards the Eastern Roman Navy. The Eastern Roman Navy quickly controlled the ships to dodge. At the same time, it gave up a lot of gaps, and the Norman Navy broke through these gaps.

"Stop them!"

Seeing that the prey he had was about to escape like this, the generals of the Eastern Roman Navy felt that they were blind and issued such orders. However, the Eastern Roman Navy did not have such convenient things as flags and lights. They were still in the era when command was basically based on shouting. Basically, except for the command of his own ship, the surrounding ships could vaguely hear what the other party was shouting, and they didn't know anything else.

In addition, the fires on the sea are now soaring into the sky, and the warships of Eastern Rome are too busy to take care of themselves, and no one is willing to chase after them to fight the enemy. The Norman fleet has left here and left a few slower trough transport ships, which are gradually surrounded by the Eastern Rome Navy. After the persuasion of surrender is fruitless, they are burned to ashes by the Greek fire of the Eastern Rome fleet. Looking at the Viking pirates who are howling in the flames and jumping into the sea, but no one takes the initiative to ask for help, Eastern Rome is speechless for a long time. The priests walked out of the cabin and began to retreat to the dying sailors.

On April 20, 1003, the Norman Offshore Fleet met the Eastern Roman Mediterranean Fleet, Adriatic Fleet and Aegean Fleet. The Battle of Adriatic Sea broke out. In this battle, the two sides invested a total of nearly 800 warships and nearly 50,000 naval forces. The war was in the early morning until around 4:00 in the afternoon. The Norman Offshore Fleet lost 27 warships and more than 3,000 sailors, and the three major Eastern Roman fleets lost a total of 82 warships and more than 5,700 sailors. Both sides claimed that they had won the victory. The reason for the Eastern Roman was that the Norman Fleet fled in a panic. The reason for the Norman Fleet was that the number of warships they had successfully broken through, and the number of soldiers they lost was far less than that of the Eastern Roman.

At this point, the Battle of Adriatic Sea ended. The three major Eastern Roman navy returned to the port of Athens on the Greek peninsula for rest. Then, after receiving the strict order from Emperor Nebasil, the Love Sea Fleet returned to its base.

The Adriatic Fleet went to take over Ragusa. The Mediterranean Fleet left the port and went to Naples to aid Narcis who was in a tough battle.

Of course, when the local Mediterranean fleet came to Naples, it was no longer Naples.
Chapter completed!