European Series - "Battle of Salamis" in "Hippo War"

After the thermal gate was breached, the Athenians actually understood that even if the Peloponnesian League was willing to help them build a land line of defense, the possibility of Athens being able to hold it was very low. Therefore, when the Persian army went south through Thebes, the city of Athens had become a ghost city, and the personnel were transferred to a safe place to hide. As for the Greek combined fleet, which is dominated by Athens, it is docked on the east coast of "Salamis Island" on the west side of Athens.

At this time, Athens had actually put all its treasures on the navy. Of course, the Persians still have 600 warships, and in the process of going south, there will be follow-up ships to replenish. If it is pure strength, the Greeks have a slim chance of winning. But the Athenians had their own reasons for daring to fight. We can see from the map that Salamis is bounded by the Isthmus of Corinth to the west and Athens to the east. Between it and the two landmasses, it is only separated by two narrow waterways. Among them, the east waterway where the Greek combined fleet is docked is called the "Salamis Strait" (the bay between the island and the land is the "Salamis Bay"), and this is what the Athenians chose. the final battle location.

The reason why the Athenians chose the sea battle site in the Salamis Strait is not just because it is opposite to Athens, but mainly because the strait is narrow enough (no more than two kilometers in width) and tortuous enough (there are still small islands). For the Persian navy with superior numbers and tonnage, the wide sea can better reflect their advantages. If entering such a narrow strait, these advantages are likely to turn into disadvantages.

There is an old saying, "Small boats make a U-turn", which is a perfect description of the characteristics of the Greek navy. Although the tonnage of the Greek navy is generally smaller than that of Persia, the advantages of shallow draft and fast speed allow them to quickly adjust to the side of the Persian warship, and use the copper-clad bow to connect to the opponent's oars and belly, and directly smash the enemy ship. sunk. Of course, if the confrontation was on open water, the Persian warship had all the time to adjust the bow as the Greek warship circled to its side. And if the Persian warships have to crowd the narrow straits, then they will not have enough space to adjust their direction, especially the Greek warships themselves are not waiting to attack, but first lurking in Salami In the bay on the east coast of the island, wait for the opponent to file in (exposing the side in front of you).

The Athenians were able to come up with such a tactic of exploiting their strengths and circumventing weaknesses, stemming from their understanding of the ocean. For a long time, there is a saying in military construction, called "ten years of army, hundred years of navy". The so-called centennial statement stems from the establishment of naval and marine consciousness, which requires a long process. The latter point is precisely what the Persians lack most. Although before the Persian Navy, again and again. Encountering storms again and again seems to be just a matter of luck on the surface, but from the root, the reason why the Persians have a high probability of encountering these unfortunate events is because they are not familiar with the laws of the ocean and fear the ocean. It is said that when the Persian army built a bridge to pass through the Dardanelles, the progress of the project was affected by the strong waves. The ruler of the Persian Empire, Xerxes, even ordered the sea to be whipped as punishment. We have always said that it is difficult for people to change the environment, but they can adapt to the environment. Through this incident, we can also see that the Persians with infinite scenery on land did not take the initiative to adapt to the ocean and learn relevant knowledge.

Well, now we know the Athenian tactics. The most important problem they need to solve at the moment is to prevent the Peloponnesians from sailing out of the Salamis Strait with half of their warships to defend the "Great Wall of Corinth" that is being built. The Athenians explained their tactics to the Spartans on the one hand, and told them on the other that once the battlefield was on the wide sea east of the Isthmus of Corinth (the border between the Peloponnese and Attica) Gulf, called "The Saronic Gulf"), the Persian navy would be completely dominant. In that case, Athens will not bet on its own capital, but will take its citizens and emigrate to the south of the Apennine Peninsula (Italy).

The Athenians said this, not entirely threatening Sparta. Because as early as the 8th and 6th centuries BC, after the renaissance of Greek civilization, the Greek city-states began to expand their trade and colony points. The Italian peninsula adjacent to the Greek peninsula was also an extension of the Greek colonial chain. As in the Asia Minor peninsula, no matter which plate the Greeks migrated to, they established coastal strongholds and eventually expanded into new city-states. The reason why the Athenians expanded their navy was not only to prepare for Persia, but also to save themselves a backhand, because they easily felt that their land defense was far inferior to that of the Peloponnesians.

The Apennine colony that was included in the back-up plan by Athens was called "Sybaris". Everyone must have noticed that the outline of the Apennine Peninsula resembles a high-heeled leather boot. The location of Sybaris is at the turning point of the forefoot of this leather boot. Of course, you have a simpler positioning method, which is to enter its Chinese or English name (it can also be Italian Sibari, and its Chinese translation "Sibari") on Google Maps.

Today's focus is not on interpreting the geographic structure of the Apennine Peninsula. After Greece takes a back seat and Rome enters the geopolitical arena, we will have plenty of time to understand the past and present of this "boot". Now, we only need to know that, compared to the Spartans who were stationed in the Isthmus of Corinth and prepared to defend the Peloponnesian Peninsula, the Athenians had already prepared for the worst - to leave the country.

For the Spartans, doing so by the Athenians was tantamount to drawing wages from the bottom of the pot. Of course, the Peloponnesians knew that without the Athenian navy, the more than 100 warships of their own and their allies would have no chance of defeating the Persian navy anyway. Even if the Persians do not use the navy to attack the flanks of the Isthmus of Corinth, they can go south to any point in the Peloponnese with sea power in their hands (there is no point in defending the Isthmus of Corinth). Under such circumstances, the Spartans did not dare to speak lightly and withdraw their navy from the Salamis Strait.

Let's go back and look at the decisions of the Persians. When the Greeks were still arguing about whether to fight in the sea in the Salamis Strait or rely on the Corinth Isthmus for the land war, the Persian sea and land armies also joined forces under the city of Athens. For the next direction of the Persian army, there are actually two options: sea and land: one is the army, and the south is attacked into the Isthmus of Corinth. At the same time, the navy responded from the side; the second is to concentrate the fleet first and destroy the Greek combined fleet in the Salamit Strait. As for what the Persians will do, we will continue to analyze.

According to normal thinking, it is impossible for the Persians to ignore the presence of the Greek navy in their rear and concentrate their forces on attacking the Peloponnese. However, based on a series of recent encounters by the Persians at sea, Xerxes' original confidence was also shaken. In other words, although the king of Persia was still confident in his powerful army and ability to conquer every inch of the Greek peninsula, he was no longer confident that he could defeat the Greeks at sea. In this case, the plan of exploiting strengths and circumventing weaknesses and focusing on land-based attack would be more secure. Of course, not taking the initiative to attack the Greek navy does not mean that the Persian navy does not need to prepare for naval battles. Just don't need to venture into the narrow Salamis Strait and fight your opponents in unfamiliar terrain.

If the Persians did this, the Athenians' plan would have been utterly in vain. Because their confidence in daring to fight the Persian navy stems from the tortuous terrain of the Salamis Strait. Once the Persians don't get caught up and blindly attack the Peloponnesian Peninsula, then even if the Athenians remain calm, those city-states from the Peloponnesian Peninsula will definitely have to withdraw. Although they will certainly not think that they have the strength to fight the Persian navy, but if they have ships, at least they have a chance to transfer their citizens to overseas colonies before the city is destroyed (the Athenians themselves made such a backup plan). ). Even if the Athenians were able to persuade all the fleets of the city-states to fight the Persian navy desperately, leaving the protection of the Salamis Strait, on the open sea, the Persian navy, whose tonnage and number far exceeded their own, would have a better chance of winning.

Now it seems that what the Athenians want to do is very clear, that is, to lure the Persian navy into the Salamis Strait before the military heart of the Peloponnesians is shaken by the strong attack on their hometown. In fact, the vast majority of Persian generals also have this idea. After all, the advantages of the Persians are too obvious, and it seems that there is no reason to let these opponents drifting at sea. The problem is that, as we have just analyzed, Xerxes himself felt that the minority opinion of focusing on the land and not risking a decisive battle with the Greeks was justified (as few as one person suggested).

As the ruler of an empire, no matter what decision Xerxes makes, his army will carry it out. However, for the Greek coalition, the situation is much more complicated. Although the Athenians had an absolute advantage in the combined fleet, they had to expend energy to find a way to tie the Peloponnesians to themselves. In order to do this, the Athenians even took the initiative to send "traitors" to tip off the Persians. Tell the opponent that the Greeks have lost their minds and are ready to escape from the strait at any time. If they attack at this time, they will be able to close the door and beat the dogs, annihilating the Greek navy in one fell swoop (if they let it go, there is no way to wipe them out).

In fact, the information revealed by the Athenians is also true, which is why Xerxes believed (he also heard the news that the Peloponnesians wanted to withdraw). His own strength has an absolute advantage, and his opponents are disillusioned. It seems that there is really no reason to let the duck that has fallen into the pot by itself. Because of this, Xerxes finally made the decisive battle order to wipe out the combined Greek fleet in the Salamis Strait.

In order to wipe out their opponents, the Persians sent 200 warships from Egypt to the west of Salamis. To avoid the escape of the Greek navy from the waterway between Salamis and the Isthmus of Corinth. In order to prevent the Egyptian fleet from attacking itself from the rear, the Corinthians (members of the Peloponnesian League) in the Greek combined fleet were sent to this side to confront it. As for the main force of the two fleets, the Salamis Strait has now been locked as the decision point.

When the main Persian force from the southern coast of Athens entered the Salamis Strait, the Athenians could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Everything is as we presume before, the large and numerous Persian fleet lacks maneuverability in the narrow straits. The Greek fleet attacked from the east coast of Salamis Island, taking advantage of its flexibility, kept hitting the belly of the Persian warship with its copper bow.

In the end, the "Sea Battle of Salamis", which was recorded in the annals of history and is considered to have saved Greece and even Western civilization, entered a total of seven or eight hours. Under the heavy attack of the Greeks, the Persian side lost at least 200 warships. More importantly, when the war situation was developing in favor of the Greeks, out of the idea of ​​preserving their strength, those ships that were not of the Persian lineage began to leave the battlefield. The first to do so were the Ionians who fought alongside the Athenians and were forced to surrender to Persia.

The defeat of the Salamis naval battle severely damaged Xerxes' confidence. Coupled with the previous shipwrecks, the Persians finally believed that they were not as strong at sea as they were on land. Even more deadly, the Greeks now have control of the sea. Once they go north to the Dardanelles and cut off the army's back road, then there is no need to wait for the supply to be cut off. Those vassal armies who receive the news will probably be in chaos first. In this case, Xerxes gave the order to retreat in full.

The Persians certainly did not expect that this expedition, which they had carefully prepared for ten years, would end so dismal so quickly. Apparently, they also had no plans to retreat. It is conceivable that such a huge army will be in chaos when it is defeated like a mountain. In the end, Xerxes and the remaining fleet of the navy did not accompany the army as they had come, but crossed the Aegean Sea and returned to the peninsula of Asia Minor. This also made the army, which could only return the same way, fall into a situation of lack of supplies. Starvation and disease caused the Persian army to suffer huge losses. As for how much the Persians lost, it is estimated that they themselves do not have accurate figures (because most of the vassal troops fled back directly).

It is estimated that many people will feel sorry for the Persians when they see this. Such a powerful Persian army has not really fought much, and it is in chaos because of the defeat of the navy. If, like the Japanese army in World War II later, the army and the navy were in charge of their own, wouldn't it be possible for the army to "support war with war" and find a protracted war in the Attica Peninsula and the Peloponnesian Peninsula? In fact, some people in Persia did think so, and finally did so. And the real land battle is about to kick off.