In the middle of this bay there is an island called Aegina, which was considered a powerful Greek state more than a hundred years ago, especially in terms of navy, which made Athens suffer a lot, until Themistocles suggested that Athens spend most of its wealth on the development of the navy, and Athens gradually began to gain the upper hand in the naval war with Aegina. Finally, during the reign of Pericles, Athens entered a golden age, which finally conquered Aegina and made it the domain of Athens without Sparta intervening.

The annexation of Aegina, combined with the fact that the island of Salamis, not far to the northwest, also belonged to Athens, so that the northern part of the bay was under Athenian control.

Although Sekrian made a surprising decision, he did not lose his reason, and did not arrogantly let the fleet warships break into the northern sea and provoke Athens, so that it was very likely that at this time, Athens, which had remained neutral, would be dragged into the war, adding unnecessary trouble to the kingdom, so he let the fleet warships sail through the south of Aegina.

Of course, this was also a risky decision, because there were some small islands and reefs in the southern waters of Aegina, and the route was relatively narrow, and the ships of the 1st Fleet, which were not familiar with the sea conditions, could only pass in long columns and at a slower speed.

In this sea area and the nearby waters, only Athens has a strong naval strength, and according to the information provided by the Ministry of War, Sekrian knows that there is an Athenian military port on the island of Aegina, and some warships are moored, so Sekrian has long lost his previous comfort and began to feel nervous.

The 1st Fleet quickly changed into two columns, and began to pass between the islands of Aegina and Maisana, and then carefully circled to the south of the small island of Agtistri, after which they gradually increased their speed......

At this time, the south coast of Aegina was full of Athenians, and their faces were full of astonishment as they watched one after another three-sculled warships pass by under their noses.

"This ...... How many warships are there?! ”

"I've been counting just now, 205 have passed, and there is still so much to come, it is estimated that there are at least 400 or more!"

"This must be the fleet of Dionia, I used to hear that when they fought a naval war with the Carthaginians, the total number of ships on both sides reached a thousand, and at that time I thought that the self-depraved colonial kingdom was trying to intimidate the forces in the western Mediterranean (the play "The Dionians" written by Aristophanes was popular in Athens, which made many Athenians think that the Greeks, the main body of Dionia, ignored their noble status and took the initiative to incorporate the indigenous people into their kingdom, give them citizenship, and live with them, is a manifestation of self-depravity), deliberately exaggerating his own power, but now it seems likely to be true! ”

"400 ships is not a big deal, once we had more ships in Athens than that, and even if we have far fewer ships than them now, we can still defeat them in naval battles with our superb ship skills!"

"Young man, it's good to have confidence, but don't blindly belittle each other, we are all sailors, take a closer look at their boat and then make an evaluation. Dionia's fleet should be unfamiliar with the sea conditions, but you can see that their speed is not slow, and the interval between each column and the ships behind them is always stable...... In the narrower area ahead, the two ships in each column were able to make a turn with great ease, without slowing down much, and never colliding...... All this shows that the fleet of Dionyas is well-trained, and their sailors are not low in the level of ship-handling, which must be paid attention to! ”

"Hey! You guys, now that the Dionian fleet has been slaughtered at our doorstep, and you still have the leisure to stand here and wait, shouldn't you send our ships out and prepare to protect our homeland! ”

"What do you know as a woman! Looking at the direction in which the Dionian fleet was traveling, it didn't look like it was coming towards our Athens. Besides, we have not yet received an order from the Generals' Executive Council to attack, and if we make a rash attack and cause war between Athens and Dionia, we may be condemned by the Citizens' Assembly! ”

……

While the Athenians were standing on the island of Aegina, the vanguard of the 1st Fleet had quickly approached the Corinthian port of Cancorère, located in the eastern part of the isthmus, where part of the land was concave to form a small bay, and the Dioonic ships immediately blocked the mouth of the bay to prevent the ships from escaping.

The 1st Fleet came by coincidence, after 5 Minor troop transporters entered the port of Cancorée, two more convoys from Asia Minor arrived near the port of Corinth, and they received the news that "the Dionian fleet appeared in the Gulf of Salon", and they were very panicked and fled into the port in a swarm, causing panic and congestion at the entrance to the port, and also causing the port to be unable to close the water gate for a while.

The ships of the 1st Fleet seized the opportunity to rush into the harbor and ram as many ships as they could see flying the flags of the city-states of Asia Minor, even if they were already docked at the docks, inevitably knocking over other ships in the process to clear the way......

There was chaos in the port of Cancorére, and the people on the shore ran in panic...... But for a time, Corinthian officials in the harbor could not find any effective measures to stop the Ionian warships from wreaking havoc in the harbor.

The strength of the Corinthian navy was not bad among the Greek city-states, but the Gulf of Sarong in the eastern part of the isthmus had always been the domain of the Athenians, so all the warships were docked at the main port of the western isthmus, Lekaeum, and even if the fleet was in the eastern port this time, they could not compare with the number of Dionian warships that kept pouring into the port.

In addition, more than a dozen raven warships docked at the dock one after another, and the heavily armed fleet infantry immediately went ashore, but they neither pursued the port population nor took the port, but lined up in a neat phalanx of nearly 500 men, armed with shields and swords, and stood in place, and shouted in unison: "We only attack the cargo ships that carry troops and food for Sparta, and we have no ill will towards Corinth!! We only attack ......"

These shouts of the infantry of the fleet were ridiculous, but they had an effect in the chaos of the situation: the Corinthians hesitated, and on the basis of the deterrence of the Ionian soldiers who had landed, they neither attacked with rockets from the watchtowers nor managed to close the water gates......

Not long after, the trumpets sounded from the ships of the First Fleet detachment, and all the Dionian ships in the harbor quickly withdrew.

The Corinthian people in the harbor were a little relieved, but the sea in the entire harbor was littered with broken ship planks and wreckage, and the sounds of the crew struggling and crying for help were incessant, a tragic sight......

Sekrian was relieved that the Dionian ships had successfully evacuated the port of Corinth, and when he was about to give the order to "withdraw the fleet from Salon Bay", the lookout at the top of the mainmast suddenly shouted: "The clipper ship to the northeast has raised a yellow flag!" ”

Sekerian was shocked, and he understood that this meant that fewer ships than the 1st Fleet were approaching, and that only one city-state in this great bay dared to do so, Athens.

Sekrian began to get excited, and he shouted: "Rise the stars, the fleet is moving northeast!" ”

The captain of the flagship, who had received the order, rushed to the stern of the ship and asked eagerly: "My lord, are you preparing for war with Athens?!" ”

"Calm down, Ikritus." Sekrian comforted him and said, "The Athenians are not coming, I am just preparing for this, if they dare to attack, then we can also counterattack!" ”

The trumpet sounded, the black flag was raised, and the 500 Dionian warships that had been gathered outside the port of Corinth quickly spread out around the ships of their respective detachments, marching together in a northeast direction while lining up in formation.

It didn't take long for dozens of Athenian ships to appear in the field of view of the captains of the leading ships of the 1st Fleet, which did not affect the Dionian ships in any way, and all the ships continued to move at a steady pace.

The same was true of the Athenian ships.

Six Mile ...... Wuli ...... Four miles...... As the two sides drew closer, the Athenian crews should have clearly felt that they were outnumbered compared to the Dellnia fleet, but they had been emboldened by many victories in the past, especially since there was a Victory Monument erected on the island of Salamis, not far from them.

It was in this bay decades ago that the combined Greek fleet, dominated by Athenian warships, faced the Persian fleet, which had several times the number of warships of its own, and finally won a brilliant victory, creating a miracle of war and saving Greece...... This saga has inspired generations of Athenians. The Athenian sailors who were ordered to leave the port today had a little bit of anticipation, thus offsetting the tension in their hearts.

As the distance between the two sides became closer and closer, even Sekerian couldn't help but feel nervous, he was not afraid of the dozens of Athenian warships in front of him, as a high-ranking general of the kingdom of his level, not only did he have to fight comfortably, but also considered what kind of impact the changes in the situation in Greece caused by the defeat of the Athenian fleet would affect the military plan that Dioonia was implementing in the Peloponnese, but the situation in Greece was complicated, and he could not predict it at all.

Fortunately, when the distance between the two sides was close to two miles, Sekrion received the news that the Athenian fleet had stopped advancing!

Sekrian hurriedly ordered: the fleet stopped advancing!

The warships of the two sides were two miles apart, silently facing each other.