Liang En's theory convinced everyone at the meeting. So, two days later, Liang En, Jeanne, and a complete White Knight Security squad, along with several members of the Golden Dawn, boarded a plane to Athens. From there, they transferred to a ship heading directly to their destination.
Due to the previous Atlantis incident, the Golden Dawn had a dedicated exploration vessel operating near Greece, which was now being used to transport supplies and take Liang En and his team to the excavation site.
The reason for bringing the White Knight Security squad was simple: they were likely to have a direct confrontation with the Thule Society, which could potentially lead to some violent encounters.
Since the voyage would take some time, Jeanne and Liang En went to the open-air area at the stern of the ship to get some fresh air. It was at this moment that Jeanne brought up a question that had been on her mind for a long time.
"Honestly, I've always been curious about what the Trojan War was really like," Jeanne said, tying her hair into a ponytail to keep it from being blown by the wind, while looking out at the northeastern sea.
"In our time, there were very few books available, and the 'Iliad' was one of the rare texts from that era. I first encountered it in a church after the Battle of Orléans."
"This book opened up a world I had never been exposed to before. I realized that beyond my homeland and country, there was a much larger world, one completely different from my own."
"After reading it, I had many thoughts. For example, did Troy and this war really exist? Did they really mobilize tens of thousands of troops? And was Helen really so beautiful that she was worth a ten-year war?"
After asking these questions, Jeanne turned to look at Liang En, her eyes full of curiosity. Liang En pondered for a few minutes before answering:
"Some of these questions have answers now, while others don't. But I can tell you what we know, and you can judge for yourself if it's accurate."
"Let's start with the authenticity of Troy. There is no doubt that this ancient city existed," Liang En said, gazing at the distant sea. "At the very least, we can confirm its existence from clay tablets found in the ruins of the ancient Hittite state, where Troy is mentioned as an ally in military matters."
"However, during the era of Troy, the Hittite Empire was in decline due to internal strife. As a result, the Trojans, caught between two powerful civilizations—Hittite and Ancient Greece—were unfortunately crushed."
"That makes sense." Jeanne thought about Liang En's analysis for a few minutes, then nodded with a knowing expression.
"If we only consider the epic, the war seems a bit strange. But if we look at the overall situation in the eastern Mediterranean at the time, this war not only makes sense, but it also seems inevitable."
"Indeed, the broader geopolitical context at the time made the war unavoidable. However, it's highly unlikely that the scale of the war reached the proportions described in the epic, with 102,000 Greeks and 50,000 Trojans."
After explaining the first question, Liang En moved on to the second, firmly believing that the bards greatly exaggerated the size of the armies.
At least, the scale of these armies was unsustainable during the Bronze Age. If either side had organized an army of that size, they would have collapsed under their own weight before the war even began.
This assumption can be inferred from the military capabilities of other Bronze Age civilizations. For example, the Hittites could only muster 47,500 soldiers in the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE, despite a national mobilization.
Similarly, the Shang Dynasty in the East mobilized 13,000 soldiers under Fu Hao to campaign against the Gui Fang. Considering that the Shang was fighting on foreign soil while the Hittites were fighting on their own territory, the military mobilization capabilities of the two nations should be relatively similar.
However, neither the Hittites nor the Shang Dynasty, at their peak, were able to mobilize armies of the scale mentioned in the epic. It's unlikely that the Greek coalition, with its individual ambitions, or the Trojan alliance, composed of city-states, could have done so.
Based on analyses of productivity at the time and archaeological evidence from the same period, the population of a city back then was only about 5,000 to 10,000 people.
If we consider that all males aged 18 to 50 were part of the reserve forces before the Industrial Revolution, the maximum number of troops a city-state could muster would be between 1,000 and 2,000 men. And these forces would be limited to defending the city; they couldn't be expected to engage in field battles.
Of course, this population figure doesn't include people from surrounding farms or slaves, as they wouldn't have qualified as soldiers during the Bronze Age and thus weren't counted.
"So, by this estimation, the Greek coalition could have mobilized around 12,000 to 17,000 men, while the Trojans, including their allies, might have had 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers," Liang En concluded.
"There was indeed a significant disparity in military strength between the two sides. However, considering that one side was launching a long-distance maritime expedition and the other had strong defensive fortifications, it's entirely reasonable that the war turned into a prolonged stalemate."
During the Bronze Age, human siege capabilities against fortified positions were extremely poor. Without sufficient siege equipment, unless by surprise, they could only engage in protracted siege warfare.
Therefore, the long-drawn-out Trojan siege described in the epic is likely true. However, it probably involved intermittent fighting with all the conflicts over time being counted, or the events were exaggerated. Otherwise, ten years would still be hard to believe.
"Alright, that does seem like a reasonable explanation," Jeanne nodded slightly, then asked the final question. "So, was the war really caused by Helen?"
"The answer to that question is both yes and no," Liang En replied in a Humphrey Bogart style, as the question was difficult to answer simply.
"On one hand, royal marriages in that era were typically arranged and had strong political implications. A marriage alliance represented the union of two powers, and infidelity could mean war."
It might be hard to understand this concept now, but that was the reality of the time. For instance, the Egyptian Pharaoh Ay murdered the Hittite prince Zannanza, who had come to marry Tutankhamun's widow, Ankhesenamun.
This led the prince's father, Suppiluliuma I, to launch an attack on Egypt's territories in Syria, capturing thousands of Egyptian prisoners. He didn't launch a full-scale assault only because he was also facing enemies on his northern and eastern borders.
"Moreover, Helen took with her a huge amount of wealth befitting a queen—gold and silver items, jewelry, weapons, and utensils inlaid with gems. After discussing the political significance, Liang En shifted the topic to economics.
"If we compare Helen to an American, it would be like her running off with all the gold reserves from Fort Knox. That alone would cause a large-scale war, even today."
"More importantly, Troy's strategic location allowed it to accumulate enormous wealth and also led to economic competition with the ancient Greeks. So, with Helen as the catalyst, the war naturally erupted."
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