However, it was only after the actual battle that the Athenian navy on the island of Tinos realized something was wrong.
These warships, which come from an unknown force, are actually invulnerable to swords and guns!
Neither bows and arrows nor javelins could penetrate the defensive iron plates and hurt the enemy soldiers.
Even if they used the huge battering ram on their own bow to ram the enemy ship, they could only knock off a few iron plates at most, but would not be able to touch the enemy ship's bones.
The enemy soldiers quickly repaired the ship and filled the gap with new iron plates, restoring it to its original state in just a few minutes.
On the contrary, the attack of the enemy ship poses a very, very huge threat to our side!
That flamethrower weapon, of unknown structure, could spray flames hundreds of meters long! And the flames contained a very oily substance.
Once a wooden ship is sprayed like this, it will immediately catch fire and it will be impossible to extinguish it!
Don't think that our ships are ten times the number of the enemy's.
But after only three rounds of flamethrowing, over 200 of their ships were completely destroyed. Meanwhile, none of the mysterious enemy ships had lost their combat effectiveness.
Now looking at the strange formation of the enemy ships as they approached, the commanders of the Athenian navy finally came to their senses.
This is not a lack of formation, it's clearly a determination to kill everyone!
Each enemy warship was like a ferocious lion, while the hundreds of our own ships were like hundreds of lambs to be slaughtered.
When a lion hunts a lamb, of course it doesn't need to form any formation, it just needs to surround it on all sides!
For now, scattering to meet the enemy would be a death trap! Quickly unite and attack in one direction, leaving the six or seven enemy ships in that direction too late to open fire.
Only then will there be a chance to break out of this encirclement and jump to the outside line to ask for help from the main force of Eastern Rhodes Island!
But it is easier said than done!
A joint attack means that the warships in the front will become the first targets of these flamethrowing ironclad ships.
No warship is willing to sacrifice itself to serve as a shield for others.
In desperation, after a slight hesitation, they realized that they could not reach a consensus, so they could only flee for their lives and scatter like birds and beasts!
As a result, the battle situation became completely one-sided.
The Athenian warships fled like headless flies, not daring to fight the Stoic ironclad ships at all, and only wanted to try their luck and escape.
However, although the port of Tino Island is large, it is not well connected.
Stoby's more than fifty ironclad ships had already blocked every possible exit and were constantly shrinking the encirclement.
The warships of the Athenian navy were running around in a disorderly manner, so how could they have a chance of escape?
The flames were raging and the wails were continuous.
The air was filled with the smell of smoke and the peculiar stench of burnt fresh flesh and blood.
In less than twenty minutes, the Stoby ironclad fleet wiped out all the warships rushing out of the port of Tino Island.
Only a dozen cargo ships that came to transport gold had not been set on fire.
The sailors on these ships had already fled to the island and hid!
The deck of the ship was piled high with gold coins that had not yet been sealed!
They were packed in square boxes and were about to be shipped to the front line as wages for the mercenary group at Pericles' request.
"We've made a fortune! We've taken Tino Island! Quick, send rowers to those ships! Transport them all back to Stoby! Quick! Get on the golden ship and return the fleet immediately! Don't delay!" After seeing all this, the Prime Minister spoke excitedly.
The Prime Minister has many years of experience in domestic affairs and has a keen eye.
He judged that the total amount of gold coins in these dozen ships was enough to match the annual mining output of the three major gold cities of Stoby!
The huge gains from this surprise attack on Tino Island have far exceeded the Prime Minister's expectations.
It would be best to quickly start these dozen ships and return north with our fleet.
Quit while you’re ahead!
Otherwise, once the main force of the Athenian navy returns, we will not be able to escape!
"Understood!"
The messenger answered loudly and turned to leave.
"Stop! Who said we're going back soon? We've traveled nearly ten thousand kilometers to get here, and we're leaving without even stopping at the port? What a joke!" Xia Zhe shouted angrily.
Hearing that the king's opinion was different from the prime minister's, the messenger had to stop.
Without hesitation, Xia Zhe immediately ordered the entire army to dock, then land and begin searching Tino Island.
The king had already spoken, so the prime minister and the high priests certainly could not say anything more.
The two were extremely nervous. They looked at each other and saw fear in each other's eyes!
Tino Island is the treasury of the Tino Alliance!
The defense here should have been extremely strict!
Our side took the Athenian navy by surprise. Having gained such a huge advantage, why are they still refusing to leave?
The king has such a big heart!
If the main force of the Athenian navy noticed it, they would rush over to try to retake the treasury.
These dozens of our ships are totally vulnerable!
It is true that we just annihilated the entire enemy fleet, and it is also true that we did not let a single ship escape.
However, this does not mean that the news is strictly blocked!
The enemy has been operating Tino Island for many years and must have many ways of communicating with the outside world.
At this moment, perhaps the news of the attack on Tinos has already been placed on the desk of Pericles, the Archon of Athens!
Even if they were lucky enough not to let the news get out, the Tino Alliance would notice something was amiss within a few days.
Because the dozen or so gold ships in the port are clearly intended to transport the gold out for some big event.
As long as the next stop does not receive gold, the Tino Alliance will immediately realize that something is wrong.
By then, they will still send a fleet to take a look.
Wang Zhihui is unparalleled, so of course he couldn't have failed to consider these situations!
He still decided to take the risk and stay. What was his big plan?
Although they didn't dare to ask anything, the Prime Minister and the High Priest were unconsciously making various speculations in their hearts.
Xia Zhe had no idea what the two were thinking.
He only knew that he came to Tino Island not to steal gold, but for the heart of the king.
Now that the defenders have been annihilated, of course we have to quickly log in and find the King's Heart!
He was blinded by money and wanted to take the golden boat away. In Xia Zhe's opinion, this kind of order was simply too low-class.
We must educate them well!
The Prime Minister must be made to realise his shallowness!
As for the Golden Ship, when I found the Heart of the King and returned, I just reluctantly drove it back.
Otherwise, it would be a shame if it was left here without anyone to maintain it and broke.
What's more, these ships are a model of the navy of an island power.
Drive it back and show it to Archimedes, maybe it can inspire him!
All I wanted was a boat!
The gold on the ship was just brought along to ballast the cabin against wind and waves.
While Xia Zhe was still finding various excuses in his mind, the Stobi army had already begun landing.
The main force of the Tino Alliance's island defense army was completely wiped out at sea.
The remaining remnants of the army retreated into the island within less than half a day and were completely wiped out.
Next, Xia Zhe immediately issued a notice to reassure the public, asking them not to panic.
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