"We will join the alliance as distance enemies of the Persians, Lord Lazarus will be our Commander and the Admiral of this fleet. The Trireme Captains will act as his Lieutenants, as will Lady Artemisia." Zhou Yu introduced, as Artemisia climbed other the side of the Bellona on to the deck, having joined them late from the Sibylla. The guests all looked at the attractive Greek woman as she joined them, however only a few of them had looks of surprise on their face.
"Artemisia of Caria?" LittleLord asked, the Captain of the small Mengchong that looked out of place in the Sea fleet.
"That is my name." Artemisia replied as she looked at the young Lord who said her name.
"It's a pleasure to be in your company, with you here I would say our chances of Victory are much higher." He replied with a gentle and respectful bow, causing Dom, Andrew and Zhou Yu to raise an eyebrow in response. They already suspected that someone who brought a Mengchong to a Sea Battle must have something about them, but it was clear they were aware of history.
"Artemisia is a veteran of these wars, having fought alongside the Persians in their previous victories over the Greeks. She is one of my Commanders and will be key in our negotiations with Leotychides and Xanthippus." Dom introduced, before turning back towards Zhou Yu.
"Artemisia will lead those negotiations, as a member of our Alliance and not the Persians. We will propose to be on one of the flanks during the battle and will give as much information about the potential enemy Players as well." Zhou Yu explained, using the term Player with a tone of discomfort. "With the Bellona as our centre, the Trireme and half of the Bireme will fight on the flank against the Persians, with the Spartans being proposed to fight against the Players. This is because they will deem them as a nuisance and a better chance of glory than against the weaker Persians."
"This is also an opportunity for us to Capture enemy ships, I am here to grow my fleet. I suspect some of you are in a similar situation, what you take is yours." Dom put forwards. In reality, they thought the Spartans would be the hardest opponent for the Enemy Players, whilst giving themselves the best opportunity to capture Persians ships. Dom had no intention of recruiting Leotychides and knew that he and his Spartan crews would hold the least long term value to him.
"Will you purchase our captures of us." Astrid the Longship Captain asked.
"If you wish, but that is your choice, we all need to get stronger if we are to fight alongside each other again in future maps." Dom explained, with some nods of agreement, especially from those who didn't have Warships.
"I intend for your Longship to be a scout and to flank south here." Zhou Yu stated as he pointed at the map to an island south of Samos. "The rest of the Bireme and Liburna will follow you, if the way is clear then you will take them in a flanking position to attack the right flank from the rear when we attack from the front."
"What of the other ships?" LittleLord asked as he nodded along with the plan.
"Archer platforms, you will circle around the edge of the flank and attack from a distance. When enemy ships are engaged, move in and board them. You will have good opportunities to take ships, especially with your smaller Mengchong." Zhou Yu explained, "If you work as a team, you should easily capture a few enemy ships."
"We do not want to take any unnecessary losses, so whilst we attack the Persians on the right and Leotychides on the left, the Greeks can hold them in the middle. If they retreat to Mycale, they will be on the back foot as in history rather than prepared like they should be." Dom continued, "We may not lose people, but we will lose our ships if we fail, remember that in the battle."
"What if GeneralSlaughter persuades them to attack us in open sea before Samos, or ambush us before then?" Steven McSteven asked.
"They have two hurdles, the first is persuading the Persians to attack us at Sea when they hear we are coming. The second is to get enough power within that conversation to dictate how the Battle will flow. However, you are correct there is a risk. Once we leave Delos and Mykonos, we will travel via Naxos, before heading north east towards Ikaros and then Samos." Zhou Yu explained as he pointed to the islands on the map that had been drawn for them, showing both the Greek and Persian coasts, with all the islands in between. "In this straight towards Samos as we travel south of Ikaros, we will pass through some small islands which would be great places to hide and ambush. Lady Artemisia knows this area the best so I will let her explain."
"Within these areas, there are plenty of hidden coves. Ideally we would target these now and ambush them, but the distance is vast and if GeneralSlaughter or anyone on that side has done any research, then they will know about these already." She explained, "Now, there are some ways to counter them, but I have another strategy entirely. My only worry is the Mengchong of LittleLord. If we travel north at Ikaros, rather than east, we will hit harder water but we can come to Samos with little opportunity for the enemy to ambush us. Meanwhile, we send one fast ship to Halicarnassus in the south east of Samos. That is my home, I will give who ever goes there proof of my identity, they should be able to raise some ships to help and travel north to a small cove hidden on the Isle of Tilos, directly south of Samos and not worth using as an ambush point."
"We will agree a date, with the flanking fleet of Astrid heading south to the same location to meet Artemisia's reinforcements. It's an unknown number and will come in handy in the battle." Zhou Yu stated, "Artemisia's people have no reason to die for us, the Greeks or the Persians. They will fight for their Queen but that is as far as it will go, so we need to make the opportunity worthwhile."
"Crassus has supplied a large amount of Gold for them, so who ever goes, will need to also guard these funds." Artemisia declared, as she looked at some of the greedy eyes in the group.
"Will you not send BlackHawk?" GiantWrangler asked, his eyebrow raised. "If I am sending someone on an important mission, it would be my deputy."
"I mentioned earlier other Opportunities, Andrew will be departing us with the purchased ships to do that." Dom stated simply in response, "I do however have some trusted Lieutenants with me who I will send with that fleet to maximise our victory."
"Before we continue and agree roles, does anyone else have any links to this Era that could help us win the Battle?" Zhou Yu asked the gathered Captains, who all looked at each other in waiting. Most of the Captains were Guild Leaders, with only a few being coastal Lords with ships. Most Lords having decided to not risk their small navies for little chance of reward.
"I have some Thracian Hoplite from the third BC in my crew." GiantWrangler said honestly, "They have done me well so far and whilst they aren't to the quality of the Macedonian's, they are powerful. They have limited knowledge of the Era but should out do their Persian counterparts."
This surprised Dom, as his Hoplite were originally a B Grade before their upgrades. If GiantWrangler also had Hoplite then his must also be around a similar Grade. They were Thracian and not Greek, however they were from a slightly more recent Era and had fought during the time after Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Dom also realised that GiantWrangler had other reasons to join this battle, if he could gain a Hero related to Hoplite then his forces could easily take a step forwards as had Dom's.
"One of my Heroes is called Patroclus. He was a part of the Trojan Wars, which was a long time before this. He was a Commander and best friend of Achilles." WineWind explained, "He also has knowledge of Hoplite Battles and we agree it best to join Mycale as we would get lost in the wider conflict at Plataea."
Dom saw the other side of the coin for WineWind, she had a Hoplite Hero but had no Hoplite. He realised her goal was to recruit some Warriors, and he knew that the Ionian's and the Islands in between would be good recruitment grounds for them.
"Is there anyone else?" Zhou Yu asked as he took notes. There was silence until another Lord Player put forwards that they had some Villagers from this Era who had some knowledge, but it wasn't as in depth as the information they already knew.
"The Thracians and Patroclus will both be very useful in this battle, hopefully we can maximise the use of both of them for you and get you the rewards you are looking for." Dom added kindly, with both nodding in acknowledgement and gratitude that he was working with them and not against them.
"Will your Snakes be joining?" Chung asked, the other Trireme Captain. "They look intimidating and their riders tridents could cause a lot of issues to the bottom of ships."
"They are going with Andrew unfortunately." Dom replied honestly, "We have used them in battle and they are deadly."
"If you have any Eggs, I would be open to purchasing one." Chung requested, with others agreeing.
"None with me, but if some long term friendships can be made, then who knows that the future holds." Dom replied in a non-committing tone.
Eventually they agreed on the plan, Dom would lead the Alliance. The Trireme's, with half of the Bireme and Liburna would stay with him. As would the Transport Ships. The other Bireme and Liburna would travel south east with the Longship of Astrid. The Bireme and Liburna would head for the small Isle of Tilos, whilst Astrid would head to Halicarnassus. Joining Astrid would be Centurion Chariovalda and three Batavi Warriors, as well as Hugo and Sabine.
After the meeting, Dom met with his own Commanders. Kai had started by saying that if he could take one of the Transport ships, he would also like to head to Halicarnassus with them, before departing afterwards for his own ideals. Dom agreed and gave him control of the funds that Crassus had supplied them, he would first travel on Astrid's Longship, before transferring to his Transport Ship when it caught up to them.
Sun Ce had provided some good opportunities to the undecided Captains, who were now heading back to their own ships to race south to compete with each other for trade and wealth opportunities. Where as Crassus had purchased eleven ships, which included six crews who were willing to switch allegiance. The crews were mostly employed by the Guilds, where as the Lord Players didn't want to risk loosing population for Gold. Dom understood as Population was a very important asset.
Ling Tong would take the Longship and the Elites, before heading towards Plataea with two Titanaconda, they would be followed by Centurion Phillip with two Transport Ships and one Liburna. Whilst Centurion Alexander would take a Bireme and two other Transport Ships towards Athens. Andrew and Kai were whispering, before Andrew said he wanted to take another Bireme full of Gold for another reason, before asking the Spartan Leonidas to join him, he would take the remaining Transport Ship and Liburna.
Dom agreed, and with a few of their own crew displacing to take on leadership roles across the ships, and the six new much needed crews, they quickly began to prepare themselves to depart as well.