Soon, the Prime Minister and the high priest summoned all the soldiers guarding the harbor.
After carefully arranging all the Greek fires, Hector also arrived.
He introduced the experience of Achilles fighting the Euboeans, and both the prime minister and the high priest seemed to have understood something.
The two men quickly followed suit, not only covering the Greek fire with a huge curtain, but also removing all signs that could reveal that the harbor's owner was Stoby.
When everything was ready, the three of them sent a signal, indicating that the joint fleet of the six countries at sea could dock.
After all this time, the sun has started to set.
Without hesitation, Eurybiad and others immediately commanded the fleet to pass through the south of Thasos Port and dock at the northern harbor.
As more and more warships entered the port, both the east and west harbors became increasingly crowded.
This was the opportunity Themistocles had been waiting for for days, and it was also his final chance.
He immediately ordered the Athenian fleet to launch an attack, aiming to destroy all 9,000 ships of the six-nation combined fleet here!
Originally, the Athenian fleet had more than a thousand ships that had experienced the disastrous defeat at Botaïtia.
Stoby possessed a harbor defense weapon more powerful than a fire-breathing ship, and Themistocles had heard of it long ago.
However, Thasos is not Botaitia.
In Themistocles's impression, this place had always been the territory of the Thracian barbarians.
Even if they have a good relationship with Stoby, it is impossible for them to deploy ultimate defensive weapons like in the Stoby capital, right?
So, the Athenian navy was completely unaware of the potential danger.
The piles of "cargo" standing in and around the port of Thasos did not attract Themistocles' attention.
Themistocles focused all his energy on the joint fleet of the six nations.
Everything else, he thought, was unimportant.
“What a godsend!”
The Prime Minister was extremely excited when he found that the Athenian fleet split into two groups and attacked the joint fleet of the six countries in the east and west harbors, exposing its vulnerable flanks directly to the harbor defenders.
After patiently waiting for the Athenian fleet of two to three thousand ships to enter range, the vanguard had already engaged the combined fleet of the six nations. Only then did the Prime Minister order the Greek artillery batteries to remove the curtains covering them and open fire freely.
Relying on the intuition developed from decades of naval battles, Themistocles felt very uncomfortable as soon as he entered the vicinity of the port of Thassos.
It felt like someone was secretly targeting me.
In view of this, when all the ships rushed forward bravely, intending to kill the enemy and make meritorious deeds, he ordered his command ship not to get too close to the port of Thasos.
Wait until the defenders of Stobi Harbor raise the yellow flag and uncover the hidden Greek artillery ports.
Themistocles was also the first to notice it.
He hurriedly ordered the entire army to retreat, but it was too late!
Boom boom boom…
The shore-based Greek Fire roared, deafening, and was much more powerful than the ship-based Greek Fire!
After two rounds of salvos, more than two thousand Athenian ships that did not turn around in a hurry were set on fire in a few days!
A large number of Athenian soldiers were either burned to death instantly or jumped into the sea to escape.
The sound of crying and shouting filled the air!
What’s more troublesome is that this time is different from previous port defense battles.
There is also a joint fleet of six countries waiting in the harbor.
When veteran generals like Eurybiades and Hector discovered that the Athenian fleet was in chaos, how could they miss the opportunity?
They immediately ordered the entire army to counterattack!
The ironclad ship Stoby led the way, and the warships of the other five countries followed.
Stepping on the wreckage of the Athenian ships, they rushed towards the terrified Athenian navy in the open sea!
Having just narrowly escaped from the shore-based Greek artillery, Themistocles had no time to catch his breath before he was forced to fight again.
Originally, Athens' naval power was stronger than the combined fleets of the six nations.
However, the vanguard lost more than 2,000 ships at once, and the formation of the fleet behind was also very bad.
What is even more fatal is that due to continuous setbacks, morale has already been very low.
Even though Themistocles had excellent command ability, the main fleet of Athens gradually couldn't hold on.
If the fighting continued, the entire army would likely collapse.
In desperation, Themistocles had to order a withdrawal from the battle!
The Athenian navy lost more than half of its main force, leaving less than 4,000 warships, and fled south in disgrace.
The combined fleet of the six nations lost less than a thousand warships!
In this way, the Battle of Thassos can be said to have ended with a great victory for the joint fleet of the six nations!
The main force of the Athenian navy was defeated in one battle, and the enemy commander was the famous god of war Themistocles.
Such brilliant results made all the soldiers who participated in the battle extremely excited!
Everyone was jumping for joy, shouting at the top of their lungs to express their happiness.
After venting their anger to the end, everyone heard through various channels that all of this was planned by King Stoby.
The admiration for King Stobi quickly spread among the soldiers of all countries.
Everyone asked to see with their own eyes this powerful man who surpassed the God of War.
Until then, the Prime Minister and the High Priest were forced to tell the truth - King Stobi had already left.
King Stoby had actually left long ago!
Defeating the Athenian god of war was not something he cared about at all!
After hearing this, everyone became even more fascinated!
Everyone felt that a new generation of heroes stronger than Pericles and Leonidas might have been born.
In view of this, when it came to the distribution of spoils after the war, whether it was Sparta or Troy, or the three countries of Corinth, Argos and Achaia, they all chose to befriend Stobius.
Eulibiades, Hector, and the others resolutely refused to accept the gold coins. No matter how much the Prime Minister and the High Priest tried to persuade them, it was useless.
In the end, the Prime Minister and the high priest had no choice but to put the gold coins into the treasury.
Even if we take into account the losses along the way.
Of the 500 million gold coins that were deposited when they set out from Tino Island, more than 480 million were still deposited in the warehouse.
Hearing that the king had already rushed to the capital, Botaitia, the Prime Minister did not dare to neglect it and immediately sent someone to report the situation here to the capital.
At the same time, the fleets of the four countries of the Peloponnesian League also said goodbye together after completing their supplies and rushed back to Sparta to report.
Only Hector, seeing that the naval war had come to an end, quickly organized the Trojan fleet and headed west.
He planned to go to the port of Meganet in Thessalian again to see if Achilles and his men who were guarding there needed any new help.
Of course the Prime Minister and the High Priest would not object to this.
Instead, they launched a major mobilization, summoning 200,000 nearby land forces, led by the prime minister, and sent them to Thessalian with the Trojan fleet, hoping to give Achilles more support.
The Athenian navy had been defeated.
Hector's more than 2,000 warships sailed smoothly all the way.
When passing Botaitia, Hector went ashore to inquire and learned that Xia Zhe had not returned yet.
He could only report the situation of the naval battle to Queen Ina first.
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