Although the Atlanteans seemed like chickens in front of the Spartans, the first generation of Athenians, with their combat prowess, actually couldn't defeat the Atlanteans head-on.
No matter how corrupt Atlantis's army was said to be, this personal army of Poseidon's followers was not something that a group of Athenians, who had only recently escaped slavery and could barely wield swords and spears, could resist.
Perhaps future Athenians could achieve it, but at this stage, the Athenians were truly the "weaklings" that Ares spoke of.
However, a military defeat is like a landslide; the key to victory or defeat in a battle between ancient armies is not actually how many enemies are killed, but whether the enemy's morale can be broken.
At this moment, the morale of the Atlanteans had been completely shattered by the one hundred and fifty Spartans who descended from the sky. Even if the Athenians charged over and directly stabbed their asses with spears, these Atlanteans wouldn't bother to resist; they only wanted to quickly push their assault boats back into the water and get away from those more than one hundred Spartans, who were as fierce as ghosts and gods.
This landing battle was incredibly tragic for the Atlanteans. In the short period from the Spartans' aerial drop to the Athenians' all-out assault, out of the five hundred men in their vanguard force responsible for the landing, only about twenty managed to escape back in assault boats.
In contrast, those undisciplined Athenians only suffered a few dozen deaths, most of whom were killed by desperate Atlanteans fighting back because they charged too quickly.
As for the Spartans who had utterly routed them, not a single one died. They coldly watched their defeated foes flee back into the sea, then walked back to their camp with proud postures, receiving praise from Ares, who was observing the battle from the cliff.
Seeing the Atlanteans retreat, the Athenians on the beach raised their weapons and cheered for victory. However, before they could rejoice, they suddenly saw the sky change dramatically, and then a huge whirlpool slowly appeared in the middle of the sea.
Following a violent earthquake, a brand new floating island slowly rose from the ocean and floated on the sea surface.
This was certainly the work of Poseidon. After the island appeared, the Atlanteans also sailed their ships onto it. The Athenians stood by the sea, watching as the Atlanteans built fortifications and settled on the island.
It seemed that the failure of this vanguard force was not a significant setback for them; the morale of the main Atlantean army did not appear to be affected.
Moreover, the Athenians could not prevent these Atlanteans from stationing themselves on the island, because around the island, keen-eyed individuals had already spotted huge shadows swimming beneath the surface.
Those were sea monsters driven by Poseidon, each one a lesser giant Kraken. The Sea King's intention was clear: Zeus had strictly forbidden Athena, Poseidon, and other main gods from directly interfering in the War, but the sea monsters sent by Poseidon were merely patrolling his own territory. If the Athenians dared to set foot on his domain, Poseidon could directly command the sea monsters to attack the Athenians' ships.
Furthermore, at present, the Athenians couldn't build any large ships. At best, they could go to the nearby forest, cut down some trees, and hollow out the trunks to make some canoes, which might not even be as effective as the assault boats the Atlanteans used for beaching.
Not to mention the Kraken in the sea, their boats were mere chickens in front of the Atlantean fleet.
Athena clearly knew this, so soon, an order from the Athenian leader came from the direction of Athens, calling these Athenians back.
Both sides sounded the retreat, tacitly confronting each other across an ocean.
...
"Sage, it's just as you predicted."
On the floating island of Atlantis, one of the Ten Kings of Atlantis, the commander of the Atlantean army, looked at an elder in a white robe with green fish scales on his neck, with an expression of admiration.
This elder was the wisest elder in the city of Atlantis, and he had lived from the very beginning of Atlantis's establishment until now.
He was Poseidon's subject, and also a sea-creature sent by the Sea God to assist his son. Throughout the reigns of the Ten Kings, no matter what difficulties arose, they would usually seek the Sage's counsel, and his words carried the same weight as those of the Ten Kings within Atlantis.
Upon hearing the Atlantean commander's words, the ancient sea-creature, who had been closing his eyes, slowly opened them, revealing a pair of dull, fish-like eyes. His eyeballs rotated, then focused on the commander in front of him, and he sighed:
"King, I actually think it would be better if this matter didn't turn out as I predicted."
He looked at the distant coastline, pointing to the wooded area where the Spartans had landed, and said:
"Those people are called Spartans. They are followers of Ares, and possess almost the strongest combat capability in the entire world. You must have seen what they did to our people on land. If we don't eliminate them, our fleet will not be able to land at all."
"They are only one hundred and fifty people," the Atlantean commander said after a moment of contemplation. "In my opinion, Athens' greatest reliance is this group of Spartans. If we charge the beach with the rest of our main force and sacrifice ourselves to take out these one hundred and fifty Spartans on the beach, then our compatriots should be able to fight five Athenians each."
"That's not possible, King," the Sage said with some helplessness. "Atlantis has not experienced War for too long. You are taking things for granted. Think from another perspective: if your superior ordered you to sacrifice your life for the lives of one hundred and fifty Spartans, would you be willing?"
"This..." The Atlantean commander was a bit embarrassed. He had been one of the Ten Kings of Atlantis since birth, and indeed, no country had been foolish enough to cause trouble for Atlantis, so they truly had no combat experience. This time, he was appointed commander on the eve of battle.
"Morale will collapse. Our army is far from reaching the level of a suicide squad," the Sage's ancient voice slowly said. "I wonder if you noticed, our vanguard force began to rout after only a few dozen men were cut down by those Spartans. This is unavoidable."
"Then what do you think should be done, Sage?" the Atlantean commander retorted.
"Delay."
The Sage said, "Utilize our warship advantage and numerical superiority. Every day, send a group of people to harass the Athenians on the coastline, shooting arrows and spears at the walls of Athens. Kill as many of them as possible. If the main Athenian army and the Spartans come, we immediately use the speed of our ships to escape."
"Can this really work?"
The Atlantean commander asked doubtfully:
"Although we have the support of our Father God and don't have to worry about supplies, the Athenians should also have a goddess."
"Did you see the deity standing on the cliff?"
The Sage pointed to the cliff. The Atlantean commander looked over and noticed the majestic deity still seated on the cliff, not yet departed.
"That is Ares. He is the god of the Spartans. Spartans are not Athenians; they are merely mercenaries who work for money. Athens has just been established and should not have much funding. We only need to delay until the Spartans leave, and we can win this War."