Since these ships were used to escape before the city was captured, they must have been carrying a lot of valuables.
I'm afraid that what that idiot Pagnadas could loot is much more than what he could have plundered in Botaitia!
Before landing on Botaitia, God sent a great gift.
If you don’t accept it, you will be sorry for God’s favor!
"Don't dock yet. Use the entire army to chase the fleet at full speed! Force them to surrender! Be careful not to sink them!" Pericles ordered.
Chase and kill fleeing enemy ships, but don't sink them.
Of course, the Athenian naval officers and soldiers who often show off their might at sea understand what this means!
Each squadron hurriedly made efforts to catch up, fearing that they would fall behind and thus miss out on any benefits.
The fast and slow ships in the fleet originally moved together, maintaining a certain formation to protect each other.
However, in order to seize the spoils, the speedboats in each squadron rushed out of the main force and left the protection of the flanks and rear.
Similarly, the logistics ships of each squadron that transported supplies and landing troops could only lag far behind because of their deep draft and slow speed.
The huge fleet of 2,000 warships was stretched into a long line.
There is a pile in the front, a pile in the middle, and another pile in the back.
Each pile does not exceed 500 ships.
The rest were scattered sparsely among the three piles.
Seeing this situation, Pericles frowned but said nothing.
Although the fleet's formation was in disarray, the enemy was merely a group of defeated fugitives with little fighting power or will.
Pericles felt that the most important thing was to catch up with them as soon as possible and seize the spoils.
After sailing about ten nautical miles to the east, the port of Botaitia was about to sink into the horizon.
Xia Zhe and his officers and generals all realized that the Athenian fleet did not dock at the port, but was heading towards their own fleet!
Xia Zhe was terrified.
With a grim face, he calculated the speed of the enemy ships and knew that it would not be long before his fleet would be caught up!
Our fleet includes many ironclad ships, which are heavier than ordinary wooden warships and have a slower speed.
And because his flagship was also an ironclad ship, in order to protect the king, Hector's Trojan fleet did not dare to go too fast and lose its formation.
As a result, the combined fleet of Stoica and Troy was obviously slower than the Athenian speedboats.
At most, they will run another three to five nautical miles, and the Athenian vanguard's fast ships will come into contact with their fleet!
Unlike Xia Zhe, the other generals in the Stoby fleet were not nervous, but quite happy!
Wang is really a great commander!
Our fleet simply retreated a distance to the east, but it completely disrupted the Athenian navy's formation!
Although the Athenian navy had a total of about two thousand ships.
But being forcibly divided into three groups made their combat effectiveness obviously much weaker.
As long as we attack quickly, it is not impossible to eliminate them in batches!
After all, our fleet formation is complete, and there are many powerful ironclad ships!
This new weapon has extremely high attack power and strong defense!
With the support of the Trojan fleet, even if the enemy attacks with 2,000 ships in formation, it is hard to say who will win!
And now.
If the enemy falls into chaos without fighting, they are simply asking for trouble.
It would only take a few minutes to destroy them!
"My king, in this first battle, let only our sea fortresses fight! Even though the enemy has four or five hundred ships, our sea fortresses can destroy them in minutes!" said Archimedes.
…
After taking a look at the chief scientist, Xia Zhe was speechless for a moment and didn't know what to say.
Is this freak mysteriously confident, or is he really stupid?
Those were the warships of Athens, the foremost maritime power! They arrived so quickly, their oarsmen were clearly well-trained!
You really want to rely on more than fifty sea fortresses to fight against ten times more enemy ships? Let the fleet of your ally Troy watch the show?
Are you kidding me?
"I think we shouldn't be too arrogant. We should ask the Trojan fleet to assist us and help deal with those scattered enemy ships! After all, only by continuously fighting annihilation battles instead of crushing battles can our fleet maintain a local numerical advantage." The high priest on the side mused.
The high priest spoke the truth.
Although he also felt that his more than 50 sea fortresses were enough to defeat the 500 Athenian clippers that had no formation.
However, in order to win the battle quickly and prevent the enemy ships from concentrating, it would be more effective to have the Trojan fleet join in and clear the periphery.
However, after hearing this, Xia Zhe thought of something else.
He thought that the high priest was just speaking diplomatic rhetoric, and essentially wanted the Trojan fleet to cooperate and attack in a swarm.
"Yes, yes, yes! We still need the cooperation of the eldest prince's army. Haha, haha!" Xia Zhe hurriedly agreed.
Hector, who was also on the flagship, nodded upon hearing this. Without saying a word, he immediately boarded the small boat with a few followers and returned to the command position of his fleet.
However, Hector was really confused in his heart, but it was not convenient to ask further questions.
Can Strobila really deal with Athens' 500 clippers with just over 50 strange ships?
Although Hector also knew that these strange ships were designed by the ruthless man who invented Greek fire, there must be a hidden secret.
However, the Athenian navy was too famous after all.
Stobi was just a newly established nation that had just begun shipbuilding. It would have been inappropriate for them to be so arrogant in the face of the Athenian navy in their first battle.
Therefore, even though he was only assigned a peripheral support mission, Hector still gave instructions after returning to his flagship.
If we find our allies can no longer hold out, we must send reinforcements immediately. We must protect King Stobi!
During the briefing, a servant came to report that King Stoby had boarded the ship!
Hector was stunned when he heard this, and then he hurried over to greet him.
"Your Majesty, you have come to visit our ship. This truly brings honor to our humble abode!"
Hector said in surprise when he saw Xia Zhe coming up the gangway.
"A big battle is about to begin. I came to the eldest prince's ship to take a look and learn how to fight a naval battle!" Xia Zhe replied with a smile.
"I don't deserve it! I don't deserve it! I really hope to learn from the king!" Hector hurriedly put on a humble attitude.
The war was imminent, and Hector was surprised and delighted that King Stobi was not on his flagship but came to him.
What made him happy was that King Stobi came to him, proving that he had recognized the loyalty of his ally.
What surprised him was that King Stoby obviously didn't believe that he would carry out his requirements, so he came to supervise.
In desperation, Hector could only give up the command position to Xia Zhe and pretend to do everything according to King Stobi's wishes.
Xia Zhe certainly didn't come here to supervise.
On the contrary, he actually came here just to escape.
Come to Troy to take shelter from disasters on board the ships to prevent any accidents!
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