Dawn two days later.
The sea was unusually calm and cloudless.
Just after getting up and having breakfast, the lookout on the flagship's mast sounded the alarm.
The sentry reported that a large fleet was approaching from the west of the fleet.
The fleet's flags were diverse, and the types of ships varied greatly. A rough estimate put the number of vessels at no less than six thousand.
Coming from the West!
Such a huge number!
The flags and ship types are a mess!
Hearing this, Xia Zhe and the main commanders suddenly became nervous!
Could it be that Hector's judgment was completely wrong?
The main force of the Tino Alliance's fleet is actually in the west?
"I'll go check it out up there!"
Hector spoke loudly, rushed to the main mast and climbed up the rope ladder.
It was Hector who suggested sailing northwest to avoid the main force of the Athenian navy.
Now that a problem has arisen, he certainly hopes to find a solution first.
Climb to the observation post and look to the west.
After seeing the shape and flag of the fleet, Hector frowned and confusion appeared on his face.
After a while, he slid down from the masthead to the deck, still scratching his head.
"What happened? What did you see?"
"Yes. Is that the Tino Alliance fleet? Why are the flags so disorganized?"
"Brother, please speak!"
…
Seeing Hector's strange expression, everyone was quite puzzled and asked questions one after another.
After glancing at everyone, Hector finally spoke solemnly to Xia Zhe.
"That's the enemy of our enemy, the fleet of the Peloponnesian League! In the center is the Corinthian Navy, on the left is the Argive Navy, on the right is the Achaean Navy, and at the rear is the Spartan Navy!" said Hector.
Having traveled throughout Greece as a merchant, Hector was the most knowledgeable person in the coalition.
The lookout couldn't understand those miscellaneous flags, but he could.
Hearing that the fleets of the four major nations of the Peloponnesian League had joined forces, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They knew that their target was definitely not the Stobi army, but the Tino Alliance.
In this case, the right thing for both parties to do is to keep out of each other's way.
"Send out flags immediately to announce our military identity, then turn north to create distance between the two sides!" the Prime Minister said carefully.
This made a lot of sense, and everyone nodded in agreement.
Only Xia Zhe had an idea and stretched out his hand to signal the messenger who was about to arrange the flag signal to wait.
"A great man once taught me that the enemy of my enemy is our friend! Now that we have met a friend, how can we just pass by him like this? Send me a flag signal. Welcome our friends the Peloponnesian League to join us and fight against the Athenian navy together!" Xia Zhe spoke calmly, which was rare.
The enemy of my enemy is our friend!
After carefully pondering this sentence, everyone felt that it contained some philosophical truth.
The king's insight and vision are indeed extraordinary.
If this contact is successful, perhaps a completely new situation will emerge!
The flag signal was sent several times, and everyone was sure that the other party had noticed it.
Everyone held their breath unconsciously, waiting for the response from the other flagship.
After receiving the flag signal from the Stobitroy Combined Fleet, the heads of the Peloponnesian League countries began emergency consultations on the flagship of the huge fleet in the west.
Few people know who Stoby is.
Only Eurybiades, the Spartan naval commander, had heard that the recent defeat of the Teutonic League in the Great North was due to a country called Stobi.
The generals of other countries only knew about Troy.
Troy was far away on the eastern coast of the Aegean Sea. To the Greek mainstream, it was just a local tycoon in a remote corner, with little presence.
No one understood why they came to the Athenian navy's sphere of influence?
As for the Peloponnesian League itself, it concentrated the main naval forces of the four major countries here, and it really had an agenda.
The battle on land has turned into a long and protracted war of attrition.
Although the Peloponnesian League had stronger military power, it was always unable to break through the defense line set up by the Tyrian League.
This unnecessary consumption troubled the alliance's commander-in-chief, King Leonidas of Sparta.
He knew in his heart that the Peloponnesian League would suffer losses in a protracted war of attrition.
Because Athens and the countries of the Tetian League occupied a favorable geographical location on the western coast of the Aegean Sea, maritime trade was frequent and their ability to make money was much greater than that of the Peloponnesian League.
In addition, the Athenian navy was extremely powerful, and it could defeat a group of countries alone.
With the fleet's protection, merchants from all over the world would naturally prefer to do business in the ports of the Tino Alliance.
A protracted war is fought with economic and logistical support.
Although the Peloponnesian League's army is more powerful.
The soldiers of the Peloponnesian League were more able to endure hardships and work.
However, Leonidas was still worried.
That is why he gave Eulibiades the difficult task of leading a fleet to harass the maritime trade of the Tyrian League.
Try to disrupt the speed at which the Tino Alliance accumulates funds.
After receiving this task, Eurybiades was very troubled and didn't know where to start.
Because Sparta was a land country with a short coastline.
The Spartan navy was not strong and could not even assemble 1,500 warships.
If we use this small amount of troops to cause trouble in the Aegean Sea, once we are targeted by the Athenian navy, we will be wiped out in minutes!
Fortunately, Sparta was not fighting alone; it had allies, including Corinth, a powerful maritime nation that was also one of the five great Greek states.
Under the leadership of Eulibiades, Corinth, Argos and Achaia, three countries with good naval strength, all agreed to send fleets.
Finally, Eurybiades managed to piece together more than 6,000 ships and dared to sail into the Aegean Sea to cause trouble.
However, Eurybiades was self-aware.
Even if this joint fleet had more than 6,000 ships, it would still be defeated if it encountered the main force of the Athenian navy.
Therefore, they only dared to make some minor moves in the west. They did not dare to go to Tinos Island and the area to the east where the main force of the Athenian navy was active. Even if they killed Eurybiades, he would not dare to go there!
Unexpectedly, the fleet coming from the southeast today was not the Athenian fleet, but the Trojan fleet.
The other party also sent out flag signals, hoping to join forces to accomplish great things.
Is this an opportunity?
Do Troy and that Stroby really dare to go against the Athenian navy?
Eurybiades was quite hesitant.
"Who knows what this local rich man from Troy wants to do by coming here! I think it's safer for each of us to do our own thing!" Commander Collins was the first to express his opinion.
"I heard that the Trojan navy has been defending against the Persian invasion. Is this fleet really the main force of the Trojan navy?" questioned the Achaean commander.
"I think this ship type is not Athenian. Since the other party has such ideas, we might as well contact them and ask them face to face. It won't take much time." Commander Argos pondered.
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