Because of Liang En’s analysis, the Golden Dawn halted their original plan to send personnel to Turkey to conduct excavation work. Instead, they approached the matter with extreme caution, launching a large-scale reconnaissance operation in Turkey.
When they decided to slow down and proceed carefully, the advantage naturally returned to them. After all, in terms of official relations, the Thule Society, which operated like a band of thieves, was no match for the Golden Dawn.
Within just a week, they managed to uncover the Thule Society’s operatives hidden within Turkey. Surprisingly, these operatives were all Turkish.
However, after conducting a thorough investigation, they discovered that these individuals' families had, to some extent, collaborated with the Germans during World War II.
It was evident that although the Germans were defeated in World War II, the global network of connections and intelligence they had established had not completely disappeared. The Thule Society had likely inherited part of this network and put it to use.
This explains why the Thule Society could continuously acquire various illegal antiques as a source of wealth. With this network, they could easily accomplish all of this.
Without a doubt, for the Thule Society, these connections were far more valuable than any tangible assets, so they always prioritized preserving these core relationships in every situation.
However, once the Golden Dawn identified a general area and launched a targeted investigation, these connections could no longer remain hidden. Thus, within just a week, the Golden Dawn exposed all the Turkish operatives along the entire line.
Most of these Turks held inconspicuous positions, but at times, they could play crucial roles. However, there were a few whose positions were indeed problematic.
Although none of these individuals were the heads of their departments, their positions allowed them to veto previously issued permits.
“It’s exactly as we suspected. The Thule Society wasn’t simply trying to excavate ruins; they wanted to use this as a way to lure us in and then attack, completing their excavation plan,” President Charles said to everyone present after delivering the intelligence report during the Golden Dawn’s next meeting.
“We owe a great deal of thanks to Mr. Liang for providing us with this insight. We’ve successfully identified the Thule Society’s possible backup plans and have taken simple countermeasures.”
“We can now confirm that in our upcoming actions, the Turkish government will pose no threat. Even if the Thule Society has some hidden backup plans, we no longer need to worry about that aspect.”
“Bravo!” After President Charles finished speaking, applause echoed in the small conference room. For them, the most terrifying enemy was the unknown, so now that the hidden secrets had been uncovered, they could proceed with their operations.
“Now it’s time for us to get to work,” President Charles said as the applause subsided. He then turned his attention to Liang En. “Liang, have you identified a specific target?”
“I do have a specific target now, right here.” Liang En said, pointing to a location on the map near the Dardanelles in northwestern Turkey. “Çanakkale.”
Çanakkale is a port city in western Turkey, the capital of Çanakkale Province. It is located on the eastern shore of the Dardanelles, at the mouth of the Koca River, a small city with a population of less than 200,000.
This city was originally the site of the Sultanate Fortress, built by the Ottoman Empire to control the strait. In modern Turkish, it is written as Kale-i Sultaniye. It was founded in the fifteenth century (1462) by the order of Mehmed II.
In the 17th century, the city became famous for its fine pottery production. In Byzantine Greek, the city’s name was Dardanelia, which is where the name Dardanelles Strait originates.
Today, the city still plays a role in controlling the strait and is also Turkey’s largest producer of canned fish. Compared to other cities, Çanakkale has a high level of education, with 13 high schools and universities. Thirty percent of the population are university graduates.
“It seems this excavation will be much easier than we initially thought,” President Charles nodded slightly, as excavating near a city is clearly much more favorable than doing so in the wilderness. “Can you tell us why you’ve made this judgment? Of course, if you prefer not to share, we will respect your privacy, but it will be difficult for us to support you fully.”
“Of course, there’s no reason not to share, especially since I believe everyone here is trustworthy,” Liang En replied with a smile, then took out a more detailed map and began his explanation.
Unlike the Thule Society’s previous destination, this area was near the city, so there was a very detailed map, making it easy for Liang En to explain his findings.
“This is my target, Mount Hisarlık. Unlike the foolish location the Thule Society found, this place is only an hour’s walk from the coastline, matching Homer’s description.”
“Historically, a city named New Troy was built beneath this mountain. The current name also means ‘palace,’ and the overall terrain is very similar to what’s described in the epic.”
“But there’s already a ruin here,” a Golden Dawn member asked curiously. “It’s an ancient Roman city ruin, but overall it doesn’t look much different from other ruins in the area.”
“You’re correct, Mr. Lyon,” Liang En said, addressing the member from France. “But have you considered the possibility of layers of ancient cities?”
“I know this isn’t common in archaeology, but we need to consider the fact that this is the southern entrance to the Dardanelles, connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, a place that has always been bustling.”
“So, even if the city was utterly destroyed as in the epic, people would often choose to rebuild it because of the wealth it brought.”
“In fact, although the epic claims that Troy was completely destroyed, the city was quickly rebuilt and became a great central city, continuing its previous trade activities.”
“Most importantly, I’ve already found several ruins from this era, and each site shares a common feature: many of the ancient structures have survived to this day.”
After all, in those ancient times, nearly all important buildings were constructed of stone. At the very least, the supporting structures were built with stone, which means these structures could withstand the passage of time.
In this context, a city with massive fortified walls and a magnificent palace, even if it were much smaller than today’s cities, couldn’t possibly have vanished entirely.
The reason why this ruin has never been discovered over such a long period could be due to several reasons, but the two most likely are: either it was completely destroyed or repurposed.
The former is highly unlikely since completely destroying a city in that era would have been incredibly costly, and for the victors of a war, the focus was on obtaining wealth, not on serving as meaningless demolition workers.
As for repurposing, there are many ways this could have been done. A less common method would be dismantling the structures and using the materials elsewhere, like how the Colosseum in Rome was used. The simplest method would be incorporating these materials into other buildings, hiding them within newer structures.
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