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Historians suggest that the Allies may have misinterpreted the Persian movements and come to the mistaken conclusion that the Persians were sailing east around Skiathos, aiming to sail around the eastern side of Euboea.
The signals sent by fire beacons must have been very simplistic, and potentially interpreted wrongly ; alternatively, the signallers may have genuinely believed that the Persian fleet was sailing to the east of Skiathos.
If the Persians sailed around the outer, eastern side of Euboea, they could head straight to Attica, and thereby cut off the Allied fleet's line of retreat.
Furthermore, the Persians had enough ships to attempt to both attack the Straits of Artemisium, and sail around Euboea.
The withdrawal to Chalcis therefore gave the Allies the opportunity to escape from the Straits of Euboea if the Persians did travel around the outside of Euboea, but also allowed them to return to Artemisium if necessary.
In this context, the watchers left on Euboea could inform the Allies if the Persian fleet did indeed sail east of Euboea.
The Allied fleet thus continued to wait at Chalcis.
Nevertheless, the Allies, undoubtedly anxious about facing a Persian fleet which outnumbered them so comprehensively, may have somewhat overeacted.

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