During the brief sea voyage, Liang En took the opportunity to educate Jeanne d'Arc on the story of the Trojan War. Initially, only Jeanne was listening, but eventually, almost everyone who wasn't on duty joined his lecture.
This shift occurred because Liang En noticed that as others began listening, he adjusted his explanation, making the story of Troy more accessible and easy to understand.
Given that their goal was to uncover Troy, and considering Troy's status as a well-known entity throughout Europe, coupled with Liang En's natural talent for storytelling, everyone was thoroughly engaged.
"Well done," Nelson said, patting Liang En on the shoulder after one of his lectures. "A perfect introduction, and it also boosted everyone's morale."
"I just wanted to help everyone clarify our next steps," Liang En replied with a smile. "But no matter what, things are looking good right now, aren’t they?"
After two days of sailing, the ship arrived at the Dardanelles Strait. The weather was perfect, with blue skies, white clouds, and numerous seagulls playfully soaring and calling along the coastline. The deep blue sea sparkled like a gemstone, with no hint of a fishy smell.
In ancient times, the Dardanelles Strait was also known as the Hellespont. It is a critical passage in northwest Turkey that connects the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara, serving as the dividing line between the continents of Asia and Europe, and is the only sea route linking the Black Sea with the Mediterranean.
The strait is long and narrow, stretching approximately 61 kilometers, with its narrowest point only 1.2 kilometers wide. The Asian continent lies to the east, while the Gallipoli Peninsula is to the west.
Due to its strategic location, providing access from the Mediterranean to Istanbul and the Black Sea, the Dardanelles has always been a vital area for Turkey, second only to the Bosporus Strait. Together with the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus, it forms the Turkish Straits, which continue to hold significant economic and international political importance.
During World War I, the Gallipoli Campaign was launched by the Allies to capture this strait and support the Eastern Front by defeating the Ottoman Turks.
It was a devastating battle, with nearly 500,000 Allied soldiers deployed to Gallipoli, resulting in over 50% casualties. Among them, Australia suffered a death toll equivalent to 0.6% of its entire population.
The Turkish military also engaged at least 500,000 troops, with official records stating 251,000 casualties, though the real number was likely higher. More importantly, they lost their most elite forces and completely lost the initiative.
The fierce battle was a testament to the strategic importance of this location, regardless of the era. As a result, the strait's shores are lined with numerous ancient ruins.
Liang En's team targeted a site near the southern entrance of the strait. Once the ship entered the strait, it quickly docked at a pier on the eastern Asian side, where they unloaded various pieces of equipment.
Since they had already completed preliminary communication, they immediately drove to their destination, heading east until they reached the ruins.
Indeed, the site was a ruin, believed by archaeologists to be the remains of a small Roman town from around 400 AD.
However, since this area was part of the core of the ancient Eastern Roman Empire, the Turkish authorities did not place much emphasis on the ruins of such small-scale Roman towns.
Thus, despite the site's historical significance, Golden Dawn was able to quickly obtain permission to continue their exploration.
After arriving and completing the handover with the local Turkish archaeologists, the team swiftly set up camp and began excavation work.
"Where should we start digging?" Nelson, who was in charge of the excavation, approached Liang En just as the work was about to begin.
"Let's start with this small hill," Liang En suggested, pointing to a mound with remnants of ancient Roman structures. "I believe that if there was indeed a city here, they would have placed the most important buildings on higher ground."
The advantage of elevation has always been a strategic consideration, and this high ground undoubtedly offered various benefits. Therefore, throughout history, important buildings were often constructed at elevated locations.
Once the excavation site was determined, the team began digging exploratory trenches. Due to Liang En's prior advice, the trenches, though small and widely spaced, were dug as deep as possible.
This approach meant that the excavation process was not particularly fast. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Liang En and Jeanne climbed to the highest point of the hill to survey the surroundings.
Initially, their observation was for safety reasons. After all, the Thule Society was located further west and north, and no one knew what strategies they might employ while Liang En's team was excavating.
However, since White Knight Security was handling most of the security work, Liang En and Jeanne quickly shifted their focus to observing the area from the perspective of the Trojan era.
It's worth noting that Troy's location was indeed excellent. Between Cape Sigeum and the northern part of today's Besik Bay, there were several landing beaches along the Aegean coast, all situated below steep cliffs.
This terrain was reminiscent of Omaha Beach during the Normandy landings, where defenders could easily repel potential invaders.
Of course, "Troy's port" was merely a concept Liang En formed in his mind after surveying the terrain. The silt deposited by the nearby rivers had long since blocked the bay that once housed the port, though from a higher vantage point, one could still discern the outline of the ancient coastline.
"I'm curious about something," Jeanne, as one of the most formidable commanders of the cold weapon era, couldn't help but notice something peculiar after comparing Homer's epic with the current terrain. "Why didn't the Trojans launch a naval attack?"
"I know their navy wasn't as strong as the Greek coalition's, but considering the fact that they had allies along the surrounding coastline, they could have easily dispatched their navy to conduct large-scale harassment operations."
"You're tactically correct, but the problem is that the Trojans didn't have a navy," Liang En immediately answered upon hearing Jeanne's question.
"No navy? How is that possible? This is clearly a coastal city that relies on maritime trade," Jeanne found it hard to believe, as this answer defied common sense.
"Because they had no motivation to build one," Liang En shrugged. "At least according to the existing records, the Trojans' greatest wealth came from selling horses."
"However, only a small portion of these horses were raised by them. Most came from the Near East and even the Mesopotamian region. As a primary exporter, they could simply wait for customers to come to them, with no need to build a navy."
In fact, the Trojans weren't the only coastal power in history without a strong navy. Japan, for instance, as an island nation, had never established a navy until the late 19th century.
Similarly, the Hanseatic League, which controlled trade across the Baltic Sea and amassed immense wealth, never maintained a standing army or navy, which led to their downfall at the hands of Sweden and Poland in the 15th century.
"So that's why the Greeks could land so easily," Jeanne said, observing the coastline through a telescope. "In an era without gunpowder weapons, such defended beaches could still be taken if the attackers were brave enough, but the cost would be high."
"You're right. But this also indicates something else—that Troy lost the initiative on the battlefield, and this ultimately led to their downfall. After all, the longer you defend, the more likely you are to fail," Liang En concluded.
Thank you for reading this far! You can access more chapters from HERE by joining my Patreon community. You'll gain exclusive early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.
As a member of my Patreon community, here is what you'll get:
- Early access to the COMPLETE NOVEL.
- You also get access to all the novels I'm translating, you can find them here HERE.
- You Get Ad-free Chapters.
- Plus, you can Cancel your membership at any time.
