"Oh my, this is amazing! Our flagship is moving so fast! It's almost like there's a strong wind blowing behind us!"
"Yes! But the sea is calm now, and none of the other ships are speeding up!"
"Could it be that some sea beast is carrying our flagship? Have you noticed the loud roar coming from below our deck? And there's a large amount of white mist, like the exhalation of some giant sea beast!"
"Sea monster? You're thinking too much!"
"It's not impossible! If I had known earlier, our king, according to legend, had signed a contract with Poseidon, the god of the sea!"
…
Before the generals could say anything, the soldiers on the deck exclaimed from the stairs.
Apparently, the sudden acceleration of the king's flagship puzzled the soldiers on the deck.
They could only interpret the roar of the engines as the aid of sea monsters beneath the ship. This judgment made many generals smile.
But after laughing, everyone couldn't help but admire it.
Everyone knows that these days, under the king's order, Archimedes and his men have installed such a large boiler in the rowing compartment of each ship.
If the boiler on the flagship can drive so many oars, twice as fast as the fastest human power, then the ones on other ships can do the same!
In this way, it is entirely possible for us to catch up with Caesar's fleet in the remaining five days!
It turns out Wang wasn't just randomly commanding and leaving things to chance; he had a plan from the beginning. He wanted to use Archimedes's new invention to implement new tactics that were impossible with traditional thinking!
Otherwise, why would Archimedes have put so much effort into installing boilers on every ship?
When Archimedes was pretending these days, many generals were quite resistant and couldn't understand what this freak of science was doing?
If Archimedes hadn't been under the king's command and the king's maid Lillian hadn't gone out to coordinate with him, I'm afraid most generals wouldn't have let Archimedes pretend!
Compared to Wang, we are still too inexperienced! How can we use common sense to understand Wang's ideas?
When they thought of this, everyone was moved with sincere admiration.
"Wang's brilliant plan is truly astonishing!"
"If our army can really catch up with Caesar's fleet, we will definitely catch them off guard!"
"Yes, yes, the King is the most generous! Only the King would dare to incorporate this new invention of unknown effectiveness into his strategic planning! Even if ordinary people like me knew that Archimedes was researching it, we wouldn't dare to bet on his success!"
"Of course! That's why we can't be kings. Only a king can unify Greece and conquer all the barbarians!"
…
Xia Zhe was quite pleased to hear this.
A blind command turned into a stroke of genius in the blink of an eye. This feeling of being admired by everyone is even more joyful than successfully fooling Archimedes a few days ago!
However, after hearing these words, Archimedes on the side showed displeasure and spoke angrily on Wang Ming's behalf!
"You are really vulgar people, you don't understand at all! How could Wang bet that I can succeed? This steam engine and piston transmission theory were actually proposed by Wang himself! I just did the actual work according to Wang's requirements! It was Wang's own invention, so of course Wang is confident!" Archimedes said disdainfully.
What!
This is actually Wang’s own invention!
After hearing what Archimedes said, all the generals were stunned and could not utter a word.
Archimedes was the most arrogant scientist. He would never let anyone else name his research. Not even the king!
Everyone is very clear about Archimedes' virtues.
From this, it seems that this epoch-making new invention was probably thought up by Wang himself!
It is of course very safe to use your new invention in the new strategy you propose.
Everyone couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
What we think of as adventure is actually as solid as a rock in the king’s dictionary!
Perhaps, this is the biggest difference between mortals and gods who can know the past and the future!
"Archimedes, you are too kind. Although I proposed the steam engine theory, you did a good job in the specifics. If you can really catch up with the Roman fleet this time, I will give you the credit!" Xia Zhe replied with a smile.
Xia Zhe was speaking the truth.
In Xia Zhe's mind, everyone would say that the so-called air-to-air theory is actually of little use.
On the other hand, a man of action like Archimedes could immediately create something real based on some fragmented theories. That’s what’s truly amazing.
However, when everyone heard these words, they had a completely different feeling.
So great!
The king is so great!
It was clearly his own invention, yet he attributed all the credit to Archimedes. Where can you find such a leader?
Since ancient times, it has been difficult for a powerful ruler and a benevolent ruler to coexist.
A benevolent and righteous king will inevitably fail at critical moments because he is not decisive enough.
The powerful rulers who could dominate the world were all ruthless and merciless. Working under them was like walking on thin ice. Not to mention receiving rewards, it was already difficult to avoid being punished!
It is really hard to find someone like Wang who is extremely capable and treats his subordinates very well.
All the generals felt that choosing to follow the king to conquer the world was definitely the most successful thing they had done in their lives.
Archimedes, in particular, was so excited that tears filled his eyes.
"My king is unparalleled in benevolence and righteousness. I will serve you with all my heart and soul until my death, but I still cannot repay your kindness!" said Archimedes.
Now that we have confirmed that the ship's speed can be greatly increased, of course we must chase it quickly.
Without wasting any more time, Themistocles took the lead and all the ships of the army immediately started their boilers and began to speed up.
Seeing that the experiment was successful, Xia Zhe didn't want to stay any longer and hurried back to the cabin to eat and sleep.
Instead, Archimedes was busy all night making emergency repairs to the ships that had various problems after their boilers were started.
By daybreak, more than 13,000 of the army's 15,000 ships had successfully accelerated.
The remaining 2,000 ships were temporarily unable to be steam-powered for various reasons, so Themistocles had no choice but to let them follow slowly behind.
But even so, the huge fleet of 13,000 ships was still larger than Caesar's 10,000 ships.
Whether it was Themistocles, Hannibal or Alexander, they were all full of confidence in the upcoming decisive battle at sea.
Everyone felt that with their current military strength and ship speed, they would be able to catch up with Caesar's rearguard in three days, launch an attack, and defeat them.
At the same time, in the northern Adriatic Sea, on the flagship of the Roman fleet, Caesar was having a pleasant conversation with Octavian and Antony.
They acted decisively, realizing something was amiss, and immediately changed their strategy. Instead of leaving Sicily, which was already under Greek control, they headed for Venice. The three main commanders of the Roman fleet were all very pleased.
"Lord Caesar's move is absolutely a stroke of genius! He turned the passive situation into the active one in one go, and made it difficult for the Greeks who had set the trap to get out of it!" Anthony praised.
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