Battle of Salami
Battle of Hippo
The Combined Greek Navy, under the command of King Eurybiads of Sparta, laid out the first sea line of defense on the sea of Artemision, echoing the land defense line Atemisian. When the news of the loss of the hot spring pass came, the army could not help but be uncertain and the morale was shaken. At this time, the commander of the Athenian navy, Tamistock, stepped forward and shouted loudly: "Dear Fellow Greeks, greece has now reached the most critical moment, and the existence or non-existence of freedom, democracy and independence in Greece depends on us, and if we show weakness at this time, then the efforts we have made before will be in vain, and we should cheer up and bravely face our common enemy and fight for the freedom and independence of greece!" A few words revived the fearful generals of various countries.
After carefully analyzing the current situation, Temistock advised Eurybiads: "Our army and the Persian navy have advantages and disadvantages, but if we fight a decisive battle with the Persians here, we will only lose." Because the Persian ships are huge, and our ships are short, fighting on a wide sea is very unfavorable to us. Moreover, the Persians have won a new great victory and their morale is high, and our army is now shaken, and it is not suitable to face the battle immediately. I think that the army should be withdrawn to the Gulf of Salami, where the varied terrain and the narrow sea area will be taken advantage of so that the flexibility and mobility of our army can be brought into play, and the Persian warships will be hindered, and at that time victory will surely belong to us. Eurybiads readily agreed, and immediately ordered all the warships to retreat to the Gulf of Salami to stop and wait for the incoming Persian navy.
Fire, the Greek god
Therastok was the archon of Athens, and with the construction of the vast Athenian navy, Thermestok played a major role in it. When the Battle of Marathon was won, the Athenians were ecstatic and overwhelmed by the victory, believing that they could withstand the invasion of the powerful Persian army with their army, while Thamistok kept a clear head and warned the countrymen: "The land of Athens is on the coast of the sea, with a long coastline and many natural ports, and if we do not use this and fully protect it, we will not be able to continue to live and develop with our barren land." The time has come to vigorously develop maritime undertakings and build a strong naval fleet. Only in this way can we truly defend our Athens, otherwise we can only wait for the Persians to invade our land. His ideas and practices infuriated some, but many more were very supportive. Thus, in the following years, the Athenians used all the proceeds from the newly developed silver mines to build fleets and train navies. By the time of the Persian invasion, Athens had gone from having no warships to becoming a maritime power with more than 200 warships.
Of this combined navy, Athens itself produced 147 ships, and the total number of warships was only 271. For the sake of the whole picture, in order not to affect the unity and unity of the entire Allied forces, Themistok ceded the supreme leadership of the navy to the Spartans, who had only a dozen warships. When the news of the loss of the hot springs pass reached Athens, the Athenians were terrified. Therastok urged the entire population to withdraw from the city of Athens. But out of their attachment to the land, the Athenians were very reluctant to leave their homeland, preferring to stay here. Taking advantage of the Athenian custom of believing in gods, Themistok borrowed a metaphor to persuade people to rely on the navy and not to pin their hopes on the relatively weak land battles. Inspired by the "gods", the Athenians retreated. Thus by the time the Persians entered the city of Athens, the city was empty. This successful retreat played no small role in the subsequent wars, ensuring the revitalization of Athens after the war, and also giving the Persians a surprise blow, and the Persians had to put away the advantages of land warfare and throw themselves into the decisive battle at sea. When the Persians saw the Greek troops retreating to the Gulf of Salami, they could not help but mock the Greeks, believing that they were seeking their own death and had taken the initiative to bury themselves in their pockets. The Persian fleet immediately followed into the Gulf of Salami, encircling the Greek warships in the narrow bay.
When Eurybiads saw this, he could not help but be very dissatisfied with Tamistok, and asked angrily: "When you first persuaded me to withdraw my army into the gulf, you have now done as you say, but the Persians have blocked the mouth of the sea and imposed a full encirclement of our army. Thamistok said unhurriedly: "The general need not be angry. As the saying goes, "leave it to the ground and live after it', but now our army is ostensibly inferior, under heavy siege, and the officers and men all have the heart of death, so that our army can achieve the momentum of killing the enemy with one hundred and ten bravely. The disadvantage in military strength can also be compensated. Moreover, our warships are mobile and flexible, and they can "play elephants in the cage" here! When Eurybiads heard this, he could not help but turn from worry to joy.
In the early morning, the dawn penetrates the morning glow and shoots into the sea. The blue waves rippled, the sea was sprinkled with golden light and precious jade, and the Greek treasures in the eyes of the Persians seemed to melt into the sea, flashing dazzling light. The battleships rose and fell, the whole bay was quiet and serene, and the war was as distant as the stars, and as close as the stars. Xerxes, the Persian king, stepped off his warship and stepped up the mountain on the shore, followed by his attendants carrying their seats. Xerxes looked down at the Greek fleet and couldn't help but laugh, "Such a small warship, also wanting to compete with my huge fleet, is really powerless!" Even with one hand, I will crush you. As he spoke, he held out a hand and pressed it downwards. End the war as fast as you can. I'm going to see a good show here. With that, he sat down steadily.
fjord
The Persian fleet marched majestically into the harbor, like a logger floating a huge trunk down the river, carrying a great momentum. The Greek fleet immediately raised its anchor to meet the enemy, and the small and agile ships quickly approached the persian giant ships, and with their sharp bows, they slammed into the waist of the giant ships, and the bows and spears flew everywhere. The Greek soldier has long been shrouded in the danger of death, and his heart is full of fearlessness and resolute defense of life. The Persian soldiers were terrified in the face of the angry Greek soldiers. Relying on the multitude of people, they barely met the enemy. In the narrow bay, the superiority of the Persian army disappeared in front of the Greeks, the huge warships had no room for maneuver, completely under the attack of the other side, and the large number of people in the army had long been destroyed by the stubborn fighting spirit of the Greeks. The flames soared into the sky, the shouts of death resounded through the clouds, and the beautiful bay was filled with a fierce hissing sound, covered with bright red blood. Standing on the top of the hill watching the battle, Xerxes was impatient, constantly waving his fists, shouting and drinking, and constantly shouting and cheering for the bloody battle on the sea. But none of his actions were to any avail, and the Persian fleet was completely disrupted and became a single soldier. Even if you want to withdraw from the bay now, it is very difficult, and the huge warships are completely bound in this narrow bay, and can only be subjected to the unremitting and tenacious attacks of the Greeks. The bloody battle lasted for a day, the Persians suffered an unprecedented defeat, and the huge fleet escaped only a dozen warships. Xerxes, helpless in the face of defeat, fled by boat back to Asia Minor, where the turtle no longer dared to act rashly.
In 479 BC, the second year of the Battle of Salami, the Persian army that remained in the Greek mainland was also defeated, and even the main general was killed on the battlefield. Almost at the same time, the Combined Greek Navy wiped out all the remnants of the Persian navy in Cape Mikal in Asia Minor. Since then, Persia, which wants to dominate the world and annex Greece, has gradually declined, and the whole offensive has changed into a passive defensive situation. The first phase of the Greek-Persian War was over.
The main reason why the Greeks were able to win more with less in the war was that they fought a war against foreign insults to defend their homeland, while the Purpose of the Persian Miscellaneous Army was only to satisfy the king's personal vanity and wealth. From the perspective of the fundamental starting point of both sides, it is also inevitable that the Greeks will win the war, which is the so-called time and place.