1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 14 The Ocean Begins Here

On the vast Atlantic Ocean, strong winds swept the waves, and a fleet with sails inflated was moving towards the southwest.

This fleet seemed to be composed of two forces. The four caravelles leading the way were flying the flag of the Kingdom of Portugal, with a red border and a white background, and five small blue shields arranged in a cross.

On the two sailboats following behind were purple double-headed eagles.

Several transport ships followed behind.

Isaac sat in the cabin of the Grand Duke Morea, suppressing his seasickness and forcing himself to write a few letters.

One letter was sent to his father Constantine, admonishing him to pay attention to the progress of the Ottoman army's assembly, and if any large-scale military movement was discovered, he should immediately abandon the Athens area and withdraw to within the Wall of Corinth.

In addition, Isaac also persuaded Constantine to give up his illusions and evacuate the people of Athens and Thebes as soon as possible.

One letter was sent to Pope Eugene IV, thanking him for his support of the printing house and explaining his charitable work in Montpellier.

Isaac confessed all his expeditions, claiming that he did so in order to "spread the gospel of Christ," and asked the Pope to recognize the results of his expedition.

This is also to prevent Portugal from turning against us, although the possibility of this is close to zero.

The last letter was sent to Butler Andrea, who was in charge of the trading company's affairs in Monferrato.

The letter first praised Lothar the Younger's efforts and implicitly suggested that he would be given a higher position in the future.

Then he briefly explained the current key tasks of the trading company.

Except for dividends, all funds in the public account are used to expand the fleet. Since the first sea trial has achieved good results, let's go for it.

The Ottomans were like a temporarily wounded wolf, gradually licking the wounds of 1444 and ready to show their fangs.

In the original time and space, Murad II decided to punish Constantine's "aggression" in 1446 and launched a massive attack.

They invaded the Isthmus of Corinth and returned with more than 6 people plundered.

I wonder if with Isaac’s advance arrangements, the Great Wall of Corinth could have stopped the Ottoman invasion?

time is limited.

"Tell Kerman and Ibrahim to stay alert at all times, not to underestimate the enemy, not to be greedy for small gains, and to withdraw immediately at the first sign of trouble."

"May you be in good health and the empire live forever."

Isaac put down his pen and looked at his ugly handwriting on the boat with a smile.

The handwriting is crooked, but the emotions are real.

When we arrive in Madeira, we will send these letters.

Isaac looked out the window and saw the vague outline of the archipelago appearing at the junction of the sea and the sky.

There was a cheer from the sailors on deck.

finally reached.

Madeira is a Portuguese colony in the Atlantic Ocean. A small town has been established there to provide supplies and repairs to passing expedition ships.

The fleet stayed in Madeira for a day to replenish fresh water and food.

Isaac gave the letter to the governor of the island and asked him to find a way to send it back to Lisbon.

Isaac discussed with Captain Fernando and decided to give the sailors a good vacation to help them relax.

The next morning, the sailors who had spent the night on the island returned to the fleet one after another.

Going further south from Madeira, you will pass through a vast headwind belt, and the coast you see is a barren land like the Sahara Desert.

This place was once known as the end of the world, which discouraged many adventurous ships from going there.

After counting the number of people, the fleet set off.

It is expected to reach the Canary Islands in one day for replenishment and then continue exploration of the West African coast.

Isaac casually glanced at the crude map, but couldn't make sense of it. Plus, he felt dizzy, so he went into the warehouse to rest early.

A day later, the fleet arrived in Teguise, the capital of the Canary Islands.

Although the journey was bumpy, there were generally no problems.

The Kingdom of the Canary Islands is located southwest of Morocco and is currently ruled by the French explorer, de Besenco.

Jean de Besencourt discovered and conquered this Atlantic archipelago in 1404 and brought it under the patronage of Castile.

There are few indigenous people here and the natural conditions are average. De Besenco moved some people here to live as a forward base for Castile in the south.

Before the development of tourism, the economic value of the island was pitifully low.

After De Besenco's death, his nephew did not want to inherit this territory far away from the European continent, so he sold it directly to the Portuguese.

This incident also created a dispute between Portugal and Castile.

Of course, these are all later stories and have nothing to do with Isaac.

Now, Isaac was planning to acquire a seaport in the Canary Islands as a staging post for the empire's plunder of West Africa.

At this time, the ruling center of the Kingdom of the Canary Islands was mainly on Gran Canaria, and several large islands to the east were also inhabited.

Several islands in the west are completely undeveloped, and a small number of indigenous people live a rather primitive life there.

Isaac set his sights on La Palma Island, located west of Gran Canaria.

The island has a mild climate and rich vegetation. There is a huge crater with a diameter of ten kilometers in the center. The soil nearby is fertile and suitable for crop growth.

The island has rugged terrain, making it a good location for a large castle that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The Kingdom of the Canary Islands nominally has sovereignty over this area, but there is nothing on the island except the indigenous people.

At this time, West Africa was not yet fully developed, and the geographical location of the Canary Islands was not as important as it would be in later times. The Spanish simply used it as a base for exploration.

So there is no need to worry about the wrath of the Castilians for the time being.

The more Isaac thought about it, the more he felt that this plan was possible.

"Lothaire, go find De Besenko and find out what's going on."

Isaac sent little Lothair away and took Fidel and Maruna for a walk along the port of Teguise.

A very ordinary port town, mostly Spanish, with a small number of French and local natives.

Although the port is small, it has everything you need, including a church, a market, a blacksmith shop, and a slaughterhouse.

If there is any special feature, it is probably the large number of ship repair shops and brothels. The main feature is to adapt to local conditions and make a living by the sea.

The servant reported that Desenbeco invited Isaac to come forward for a chat.

Isaac brought Fidel and, led by his servants, came to the back garden of Desenbeco.

"Have something to eat, prince from afar."

Desenbeko invites Isaac to have afternoon tea with him.

The food was quite rich, a typical French afternoon tea, bread with jam, pastries made with honey, and a bottle of wine from Burgundy.

You can't tell, but he really enjoys it.

Isaac didn't hesitate to pick up the knife and started eating.

Desenbeko watched Isaac devour his food.

After a while, Isaac swallowed the last piece of bread and sighed with satisfaction.

"Thank you for your hospitality, my dear Majesty. I haven't had such a sumptuous afternoon tea for a long time since leaving Lisbon."

DeBesenko shrugged.

"I heard you want to build a seaport in the west and move here to keep me company?"

"Yes."

Isaac admitted it generously.

They are all old foxes, so there is no need to hide anything.

De Besenko poured himself a glass of wine.

"How are you going to deal with the Spanish?"

"They can't spare the effort now. In a few years or even a dozen years, they will bring their fleets to take away all your efforts."

Isaac wasn't too worried.

Things were bad in Iberia right now; the Reconquista was not even complete, and Castile was still far from being the mighty Spanish Empire.

It was decades later before they resolved their internal strife and began to turn their attention to the ocean.

By then, it is still uncertain who will be strong and who will be weak.

Isaac did not answer Debesenko's question, but looked at him with a smile.

"Which island have you set your sights on?"

“La Palma.”

Debesenko thought about it carefully.

"That volcanic island? What are you doing there?"

The next day, Isaac planted the purple double-headed eagle flag on the land of La Palma Island as he wished, at a cost of 1000 gold ducats.

"Your Highness, although this place is barren, the land quality and marine resources are excellent and can support many people."

Little Lothar grabbed a handful of soil rich in volcanic ash and stomped on the soft ground with his feet.

Isaac planned to build a port town here, which would not require any financial supplements, as long as it could be self-sufficient.

"Lothar, you should take a boat back to Lisbon now and find Conte first. Ask him to bring the refugees here for resettlement."

"Here is one thousand ducats. You can send people to various slave markets to buy Slavic slaves. They must be Orthodox."

"Yes!"

Young Lothar was very excited as it was the first time he was given such an important task.

In Isaac's plan, the population of this transit town would be enough to reach 5000 people, and the island would be self-sufficient.

Although this small island has good water and heat conditions and fertile soil, the mountains are steep and there is a lack of open land along the coast. If it wants to develop further, it will inevitably cost a huge amount of money.

When the island's indigenous people, the Guanches, saw Isaac's ship, they fled inland.

When Conte comes, we have to clean up.

After two more days of rest, Captain Fernando sent someone to inform Isaac to continue the expedition.

The fleet bid farewell to the Canary Islands and continued south.

The coast is more desolate and the waves are more violent.

That night, there was a strong wind on the sea.

Waves several meters high hit the ship violently, strong winds brought heavy rain and lightning flashed in the distant sky.

Isaac struggled out of the cabin.

On the deck, Captain Fidel was running around, giving orders loudly.

"Lower the sail! Come on, you bastard!"

"Gunner Captain! Check the gun's fixing pins! Do you want to see such a heavy metal frame flying towards you?"

"First mate! Go check the water in the warehouse, don't let our food get flooded!"

Seeing Isaac coming out, Fidel hurriedly supported the staggering Isaac.

Fidel spoke loudly to Isaac.

"Your Highness, please go into the warehouse. I will be in charge here!"

"Captain, what about the other ships? I can't see clearly!"

Isaac also spoke loudly, trying to be heard above the sound of the wind, rain and thunder.

"We've been separated! The general position of our ship is still correct, but we can be sure that two transport ships have been overturned!"

"I don't know where the St. Nicholas was blown to by the wind!"

Squeak——

A mast broke and fell heavily on the deck.

A wave hit, and a sailor lost his balance and bumped into Fidel. Fidel was knocked out, half of his body hanging in the air, with his hands tightly grasping the side of the boat.

Isaac rushed over and used all his strength to pull him up.

Isaac looked at the sailors around him. Some of them were repairing the deck, some were desperately trying to fix the gun mount, and more of them were sobbing and taking out crosses to pray.

A nameless fire ignited in Isaac's heart.

Without a word, he held the fallen mast and began to push it to a safe position.

The mast was soaked and heavy, and the deck was full of water, so Isaac had no strength to push it.

Fidel also ran over and helped to lift the mast.

"Your Highness, I..."

The captain of the mast nearby stepped forward guiltily and apologized for his mistake.

Isaac gave him a forced smile.

"Belisarius never reprimanded a soldier for making his first mistake."

"Your Highness..." The captain was obviously deeply moved.

Damn it, it’s not over yet, right? Why are you just standing there? Come and give me a hand!
"What are you standing there for? Come and help us!"

Fidel yelled.

The rigging captain quickly picked up the mast.

Gradually, more and more people ran to Isaac to survive the difficult times with their prince.

The second mate, the gunner, the chief petty officer, then the sailors, the gunners, and even the cooks...

Finally, even the Genoese crossbowmen joined in the work under Maruna's orders.

One, two, three, lift!

The heavy mast was lifted up and everyone worked together to secure it.

The sailors cheered.

"Your Highness, you should go back to the warehouse. I'm here."

Fidel gasped.

"No, I..."

Another wave hit, and Isaac lost his balance and crashed heavily against the side of the boat.

Before he fainted, Isaac vaguely saw everyone on the ship running towards him, with anxiety written all over their faces.

……

When Isaac woke up, he was lying on a soft bed.

Captain Fidel saw Isaac wake up and quickly handed him a glass of water.

Drink it all in one gulp.

"Captain, where are we?"

"Your Highness, we are now on the Portuguese Gorée Island. Not long after you fainted, the storm subsided. Captain Fernando found us and brought us here."

Then Fidel lowered his head.

"We have been unable to contact the San Nicolas."

Isaac shook his head and pushed the door open with Fidel's help.

As soon as he stepped out, dozens of eyes turned to Isaac.

The sailors are waiting for their prince.

Isaac looked at them and found that there were obviously fewer familiar faces than before they set out.

They did not survive the great storm.

But the sailors who survived, having experienced the baptism of the storm, had a noticeably different temperament.

Isaac spoke slowly.

"Yesterday, we experienced an unprecedented natural disaster. We lost many dear friends and compatriots. We were almost buried in the vast ocean."

Many people in the crowd had red eyes.

"Many people may not understand why I want to take you to gamble with your lives, or even risk your own body."

Isaac paused.

"I promise you that we will return with a full load this time. We will return to our motherland with gold and slaves. We will return to our hometown with legends and glory."

"We will be admired by women and blessed by priests,"

"We will make the Venetians who look down on us look askance, and the Ottomans who hate us gnash their teeth!"

"I hope that when you are old and sit by the fire telling your children about your glorious past, you will be able to proudly say to them,

"I followed the Roman prince to the kingdom of gold and conquered all corners of the world in the name of God!"

"Long live Rome! Glorious Rome and the Roman people live forever!"

Everyone was silent.

Someone in the crowd stretched out his hands and shouted.

"Long live Rome!"

Gradually, the sound became louder and louder, and more and more sailors shouted.

The sound pierced the sky, shattered the clouds, and spread farther and farther in this land known as the Gold Coast.

(End of this chapter)