I tuck my black helmet under my arm. While I might need it for when things get close, right now, I must be able to see as clearly as possible. After a long night of sailing, my ships are positioned in the Artemisium straits, ready to stop and Persian landings.
The Persian fleet approaches. There are many more Persian ships than Greek. Lets hope we can funnel them in. I order my ships to make a circle formation. This way, the Persians cannot surround them and attack them. The Persians aren't ready to attack. That's just as well. We're not attacking either.
Why aren't we attacking? Well, we just need to stop the Persians from landing behind the Spartans. We don't need to destroy the Persian fleet, which, judging from their size, seems impossible. Messengers come and go, bringing news from Thermopylae. The news is good. Three hundred Spartans and around 7000 others have managed to hold the pass, suffering few losses compared to the Persian many.
It's almost night time and I feel like testing the waters, so to speak. I can attack now and see how things go. If things don't go well, we retreat at nightfall. It is not possible to fight in the dark, less crashing into rocks is part of your strategy. It is time to act because the Persians have now sent a fleet of warships around Euboea, they are trying to take us from behind.
At my signal, our ships depart from their circular formation and charge the Persian ships, catching them off-guard. Our bronze-coated battering rams smash through their hulls and incapacitate them, causing many to sink. Another tactic is to pull up our ores and slid by them, scraping their sides (and ours too) and more importantly, smashing their ores and stranding them. They do a great job in blocking the straits. The sun is setting and a storm is raging - it is time to withdraw. We rest for the night, and by the morning, we are reinvigorated and ready to fight.
The news is good. The Persian advance has been halted. They have suffered many casualties, while we had suffered very few. Even better news for the Athenians, the Persian warships that sailed around Euboea were caught in a bad storm and wrecked on the coast. Poseidon, god of the sea is truly on the side of the Greeks.
In this day, the Persians lost around thirty triremes. This is the first time a Greek navy ever stood up to the Persian menace. Even if we lose, it will have a profound impact on the world. After Marathon, the Egyptians started a revolt against Persia. Even if Greece is subjugated, there is no telling how much grief we shall cause the Persians.
The next day, the Persian fleet is silent. It is repairing what ships it can. It faced two storms and Greeks. Most of the day is uneventful, until the sun starts to set. I release the order again and we attack a patrol group, with moderate success. Once again, we did it near night time and were able to withdraw before the Persians could retaliate properly.
The news from Thermopylae is mixed. Our allies were able to hold the pass and massacred the advancing Persians, even the famed (and frankly, over-rated) Immortals. It was a Persian bloodbath. Unfortunately, a traitor from Trachis named Ephialtes informed the Persian King of a route by which he could surround the Thermopylae pass. We knew of this. We stationed around a thousand Phocians to guard the pass. When the Persians came, they retreated to a hill and fortified. The Persians simply walked around them. Idiots. While the rest of the Greeks evacuated the pass, the Spartans and Thespians remained behind as a rear guard. Hopefully, they can allow the Greeks a head start. In the event of an all-out retreat, our men would be vulnerable to Persian cavalry. The soldiers are retreating to the Isthmus of Corinth.
It is now the third day at Salamis. We have received reinforcements from Athens, good. But now the Persians are attacking in full force. We have blocked the straits so it is still a fairly even battle. In the fray, a Persian ship boards my command ship. I don my black helmet, which makes me stand out as the leader (the others have copper-coloured helmets). I take my shield and spear. The Persian marines are very lightly armed and armoured, carrying short spears, javelins, swords and wearing scale armour, if any. I impale one with my spear and kick him away, loosening it. A Persian strikes the shaft of my spear with his sword, taking out but a small chip. I thrust my spear. He's dead.
I see one of my soldiers pushing a Barbarian overboard with his shield. One unlucky bugger lost both his spear and shield and is now fighting with his sword alone. Although Greeks aren't very trained in the sword, they can still be rather deadly. As with this person, who slaughters two Persians. The Persians are driven from my ship and then rammed.
By the end of the day, we suffer roughly equal losses. We cannot afford to keep this up. Then comes news from Thermopylae. The rear guard has been destroyed and the Persians can march through, unopposed. It is time to get out of here before we are trapped.