1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 176 The Vast Ocean is a Casino
The Mediterranean is calm.

As the largest inland sea in the world, the Mediterranean Sea is surrounded by the Eurasian continent and the African continent, with only a narrow Strait of Gibraltar connecting it to the Atlantic Ocean. Its exchanges with the outside world are limited and the circulation of seawater is severely hindered.

The Mediterranean coast mainly has a Mediterranean climate. This climate type with different periods of rain and heat also makes it difficult for waves to form on the sea surface, and it is relatively calm all year round.

The Mediterranean is also bustling.

The blue waves of the Mediterranean Sea do not have the raging waves of the Atlantic Ocean, and the mud and sand on the seabed are difficult to stir up, which is not conducive to the development of marine fisheries, but it provides a good external environment for the prosperity of business.

It is for this reason that the Mediterranean has been the most prosperous sea for human activities throughout history. The ancient Greek colonists and Phoenician captains did not need to master advanced navigation technology. They only needed to rely on human-powered rowing boats to cross the entire calm ocean, come to uncultivated lands to establish strongholds and sow the seeds of civilization.

It is for this reason that the Mediterranean has been the sea with the most prosperous commercial activities throughout history. The winding coastline makes the natural ports along the Mediterranean extremely dense. The rich commodities from the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe gather in major ports and are then transported to every corner of the Mediterranean world through the well-connected sea routes.

It is precisely for this reason that the Mediterranean has been the sea with the most frequent wars throughout history. The major maritime powers have fought fiercely for land and commodities. During the years of war, they have learned to use wind power and gunpowder, cut wood into warships, sew cloth into sails, move bows and crossbows and cannons onto decks, and invest a lot of resources in the cause of killing each other.

If the land is like a chess game, the commanders of both sides use rivers and mountains as the board and the legions as pieces, fighting brutally on the earth, competing in wisdom and courage.

Then, the vast ocean is a casino, and the warring parties are betting everything, like two gamblers who have lost everything, staring at the rolling dice, craving for the favor of the god of fate.

No matter how strong your hard power is, no matter how outstanding your command ability is, after a fleet melee, the command system will immediately become chaotic, and no one can predict the subsequent direction of the war.

In naval warfare, luck plays a crucial role.

"Goddess Luck is a shameless bitch. The more you want her, the higher she gets."

In the northeastern waters of Malta, on the flagship of the Eastern Roman Joint Fleet, Marco Aurelius, Captain Fidel looked at the aggressive Venetian Fleet in the distance and cursed.

"So, instead of groveling and begging for her favor, we might as well build up our strength and slap her in the face."

Isaac echoed with a stern expression.

"Lower the sails, return the rowers to their positions, and prepare to engage the enemy!"

Isaac went up to the lookout and assessed the fleet lineups of the two warring parties.

The naval formations of the Eastern Roman Combined Fleet and the Venetian Invincible Armada were relatively similar. Both placed their main fleets in the middle and handed the two flanks to their allies.

Isaac himself led the Eastern Roman Mediterranean Fleet in the center, with the Genoese Near East Fleet led by Bartholomew Gattiluccio on the left and the Kingdom of Naples Fleet on the right. The center was solid, while the wings were relatively loose.

The Venetian Invincible Fleet has stronger hard power, with six large warships lined up in the middle, three ships on each wing, and the three groups are more compact.

"The transports fall back, the galleys move forward, the caravels and brigs load their guns and get ready to fire!"

Captain Fidel shouted.

boom--

In the Venetian joint fleet, the flagship Venetia opened fire first, followed by several large warships.

After the fierce fire, gunpowder smoke diffused on the sea. The heavy shells were burned red by the flames and rubbed against the air, making a terrifying whistle. They drew a perfect parabola in the air and slammed heavily into the sea, splashing huge waves.

A small messenger ship was unable to dodge and was hit directly by a lead bullet. It broke into pieces on the spot, and a streak of crimson rose above the sea.

At noon on June 1460, 6, the flagship of the Venetian Invincible Armada, the Venetia, broke into the Strait of Tunisia and bombarded the Eastern Roman coalition fleet that came to block it, and the Battle of Malta broke out.

There was no unnecessary explanation, no meaningless negotiations. The hatred between the two countries had long been as deep as the sea. This hatred had been fermenting for more than two hundred years and had grown deeper and deeper with time. It was impossible to eliminate it and it could only be completely washed away with the blood of the enemy.

One is the century-old power, the overlord of the Mediterranean, the monopolist of the eastern Mediterranean trade routes, and the Noble Republic of Venice, which calls itself three-eighths of Rome.

One is the thousand-year-old country, the most orthodox successor of the ancient empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, which is recovering its vitality through a series of wars and explorations.

After a round of artillery fire, the two sides soon engaged in a melee, king against king, general against general, center against center, flank against flank.

In this way, more than 300 warships of various types fought bloody battles on the calm Mediterranean Sea. The loud noises of cannons and the friction of wooden boards came one after another. The roars of ship commanders and the screams of injured sailors filled the entire sea.

Isaac stood on the deck of the Marcus Aurelius, with a battlefield in front of him and thousands of ships racing against each other behind him.

As the war continued, both Venice and the Eastern Roman Empire continued to push their manpower onto the battlefield to fill the gaps in their formations.

The commanders and sailors of both sides of the war were well aware that this unprecedented naval battle would determine the future fate of the entire Mediterranean world, so they all geared themselves up and laid bare their minds. The first mate steered the rudder, the rigging captain pulled the sidesail, the navigation officer was responsible for managing the slave rowers, and the boatswain was fully armed and gave pre-war speeches to the sailors.

They were pursuing profit. The huge profits from the Eastern Mediterranean trade gave rise to a sea behemoth like Venice, which naturally made the Eastern Roman Empire more prosperous and powerful. The little profits that flowed down were enough to fill the sailors' pockets.

They are pursuing glory. Sailors are also human beings. They are also very willing to return to their hometown with glory. In the twilight of their lives, facing the afterglow of the sunset, they tell stories of the past to their children and grandchildren, touch the scars on their bodies and sip aged wine as they speak in amazement.

They are bloodthirsty. This bloodthirstiness may come from thousands of years of old hatred, or from the new hatred in front of them. Or perhaps, the essence of the soul is bloodthirstiness, and hatred only provides the best reason for bloodthirstiness.

"Your Majesty, the enemy's attack is very fierce, we must hold on!"

"It's too dangerous here! Change your ship immediately!"

Below the observation deck, Captain Fidel shouted to Isaac.

Isaac came to his senses and realized that the Venetian fleet was indeed powerful, superior in both the quality of their soldiers and the number of their ships. The Constantine the Great and St. Nicholas, which served as the vanguard, were already in a tough battle, and three more Venetian main warships surrounded them.

The situation on the two wings was even worse. The Venetian commander had a sharp eye and found the weakness of the enemy fleet at a glance. He besieged Isaac's two wings with his absolutely superior fleet strength, trying to drive them out of the battlefield first.

The situation of the Genoese Near East Fleet was not so bad. Isaac's uncle, Bartholomew from the Gattiluccio family, was experienced. With the Grand Duke of Genoa's carrack as the core, he gathered the fleet together and defended the line, trying to minimize the numerical advantage of Venetian warships.

Even so, after several hours of naval fighting, the number of casualties in the Genoese fleet began to increase dramatically, and the seriously damaged ships had to retreat one after another and evacuate the battlefield.

The situation of the fleet of the Kingdom of Naples was much worse. The strength of the fleet left by the old King Afonso V was not weak, but most of the ships were distributed to Juan II, who succeeded as King of Aragon. The ships left for King Ferdinand were few in number and old, and their fighting will was even weaker.

Isaac was well aware of this and supplied them with his newly established Black Sea Fleet before the war, but it only delayed their defeat and escape.

thump—

A large Venetian warship rammed straight into the Neapolitan flagship King Afonso, and the surrounding Venetian ships quickly surrounded it, blocking all of the latter's escape routes.

The hard ram directly created a big crack in the King Afonso. Amid the harsh sound of wooden boards rubbing against each other, the King Afonso began to take on water and tilt. The sailors jumped off the deck, flapped their arms on the sea, and begged for mercy loudly, but all they got in return were the ruthless bows and crossbows of the Venetians.

The fleet of the Kingdom of Naples began to disintegrate. Some small boats lost the courage to continue facing the Venetian army and fled outside the battlefield, leaving the Black Sea Fleet struggling to hold on.

"Fidel! I order you to join the battlefield with the Marco Aurelius! Don't worry about the flanks, just focus on solving the problem before us!"

"Hurry up and run! The ram of the Marcus Aurelius has been specially improved. It is covered with three layers of iron sheets, including the bow. The wood is all imported from the Netherlands. Don't be afraid of collisions!"

"Send the flag signal! The fire battleship mothership can be dispatched!"

While giving orders, Isaac jumped off the deck and landed steadily on a small boat nearby.

"Your Majesty, where are you going now?"

A sailor on the boat asked respectfully.

"Go to the Grand Duke of Moria, I'll be in command there!"

……

On the deck of the Venetian Armada's flagship, the Venetia, Admiral Claudio looked at the enemy fleet's gradually weakening wings with a faint smile on his face.

"Admiral, your plan has worked. The allies forcibly brought in by the Greek emperor obviously do not want to be loyal to him to the end. The fleet of Naples is already retreating!"

Beside him, Gabriele was also very excited. Seeing the Neapolitan warships withdrawing from the battlefield one after another, he seemed to see the dawn of victory.

"Humph, the fleet accumulated by the Republic over the past hundred years is still superior after all!"

"Don't be happy too soon, their fire warships haven't appeared yet."

Tevido's kind reminder was met with a fierce roll of the eyes from Gabriele.

"You don't need to tell me. The Admiral has already prepared countermeasures."

"Sir, as a person of a lost country, please trust my instincts."

Tevildo also felt a little aggrieved.

Since he joined Admiral Claudio's court, he was appreciated by him. However, this appreciation aroused Garibiere's vigilance, who believed that his overly outstanding performance overshadowed his limelight.

"The Greek emperor is full of tricks and is not so easy to deal with. Temporary tolerance is just planning a bigger conspiracy."

"I believe you have also realized this. Otherwise, we wouldn't have lost Negroponte and given the Enrico Dandolo to the Greek emperor for nothing."

Gabriel was indeed furious.

"Saracens, I advise you--"

"Okay! Stop arguing!"

Claudio spoke up to stop him.

"The situation has changed. I'm afraid their fire warships are about to be dispatched!"

The fire warship mothership was dispatched, and dozens of fire warships rushed out of the central cluster of the Eastern Roman Empire. The slave oarsmen rowed simple small boats and rushed towards the right wing that was on the verge of defeat, like headless flies, crashing into the Venetian warships that were chasing the Neapolitan fleet.

"Withdraw our warships that are chasing the Neapolitan fleet and let the Paduan fleet take over!"

The Venice immediately sent out a flag signal, and several large warships that received the message stopped chasing and retreated to the flank.

At the same time, some small galleys began to rush forward, blocking the cluster of fire warships and the main Venetian warships. The sailors on the galleys held extended wooden halberds, lined up in a row, and aimed at the rapidly approaching fire warships.

"Shoot arrows! Throw stones!"

The galleys fired arrows and stones, and the dense rain of arrows and stones smashed down on the fire warships. The slaves raised their round shields for defense, but they seemed powerless against the organized attack.

Arrows pierced chests, rocks smashed into kerosene tanks, and the remaining fire warships continued to charge, but could only crash into the forest of spears and halberds prepared by the sailors in advance.

As expected, the raging fire spread all over the sea, but this time the fire warship attack was obviously not very effective. Only a few galleys were caught in the fire and gradually sank to the bottom of the sea.

"Good! The Greeks have run out of cleverness!"

On the deck of the Venetia, Garibiele was jubilant.

"General, should we advance with a large army?"

"No hurry, we can't be sure whether their fire warships have been used up."

Claudio said in a deep voice, "First stabilize the formation. We changed formation too frequently, and some ships were too far away from the main force. My orders could no longer be delivered."

"Continue to send warships to join the melee. We must hold back their main force and don't let any of them escape!"

……

"Your Majesty, what is the current situation?"

On the Duke of Moria, Isaac met the captain.

Before the naval battle began, Isaac placed this old warship at the end of the army formation, away from the melee. They listened to the gunfire and shouts of killing, but did not receive any orders to join the battle, and became a little anxious.

"have nothing to say."

Isaac said briefly.

"My left wing is retreating, my right wing is retreating, my center is under attack, the situation is excellent, I am organizing an attack!"

"Is it our turn to go on stage?"

Isaac nodded and patted the shabby side of the Duke of Moria. The nostalgia in his eyes flashed away, and was replaced by steel-like firmness.

"Have you made all the preparations you are asked to make?"

The captain nodded heavily.

"Raise my flag and prepare to attack!"

……

"Admiral! The Greek emperor's flag has been transferred from the Marcus Aurelius to the Duke of Morea and is rushing forward!"

From the lookout of the Venetia, the sailor called out to Claudio.

"They have already shown signs of decline. This is a desperate gamble!"

Claudio's eyes sparkled.

"The Greek emperor has overestimated his own personal charm, right? Is he planning to lead the troops and personally lead the meritorious warships to boost morale?"

He quickly shook his head and gave orders again.

"Look carefully to see if there are other ships following, especially those modified fire battleship motherships!"

"Admiral, we have not found any trace of the fire battleship mothership. There are only a few galleys following the Duke of Moria, and they are moving towards their right wing. It seems that they want to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of the Naples fleet!"

Claudio's order came to his lips, but he suppressed it.

The Greek emperor is too cunning, so we should just keep it to ourselves and wait and see what happens.

The Grand Duke Morea continued to speed up, leaving the galleys on both sides behind. The remaining fleet of the Kingdom of Naples that was evacuating the battlefield saw the emperor's flag, felt guilty, lowered their heads and quickened their retreat.

"Admiral! The Duke of Moria rammed and sank one of our galleys, and we are seriously out of touch with their follow-up fleet. This is a good opportunity for us!"

Garibuele said eagerly.

"Whether the Greek emperor himself is on the Duke of Morea or not, as long as we can sink or even capture that ship, their morale will plummet!"

All the warships in the battle circle were caught off guard by the charge of the Duke of Morea. On the Marco Aurelius, Captain Fidel roared loudly and forced the warship to turn around to prepare for rescue.

Claudio bit his lip and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

"Let the warships in the melee circle hold back the Constantine the Great and the Marcus Aurelius. Don't let them successfully respond!"

"Venetiana, Antonio and Duke of Dalmatia, follow me to join the battlefield, target the Grand Duke of Morea!"

"Surround him! Whoever captures the Palaeologus flag will receive a reward of one thousand ducats!"

The Duke Morea was incredibly fast and arrived in front of the Venetian fleet in a blink of an eye. It ignored the crossbow arrows shot from all directions and rushed forward with all its might like an angry bull.

After sinking two Venetian galleys, the speed of the Morea finally slowed down. The Venetian fleet immediately surrounded it and grabbed the side of the Morea with grappling hooks and iron hooks.

Three large Venetian warships, led by the Venetia, joined the battle and blocked the Duke of Morea's retreat from three directions.

It's near, it's near!
Under Claudio's excited gaze, the hard ram of the Venetia hit the stern of the Grand Duke of Morea with a dull sound.

The Antonio and the Duke of Dalmatia were not to be outdone, and they sandwiched the Grand Duke of Morea on the left and right.

"You are surrounded by us! Surrender!"

The Venetian sailors shouted loudly, but received no response.

"Let the sailors board the ship! Pull down the Greek emperor's flag!"

Claudio ordered.

"Your Excellency the Admiral! Something is wrong!"

Tevildo frowned and spoke out to stop him.

"Have you noticed? The Duke of Morea is not equipped with any cannons, no Greek fire, and no sailors on the deck, but there are a lot of oars on both sides!"

"Maybe that's why they run so fast!"

"So what—"

Claudio suddenly discovered something suspicious. The Duke of Morea was too quiet. There were no cannons, no Greek fire, and no sailors shooting arrows.

As a warship, this is very abnormal.

While they were talking, the brave Venetian sailor climbed onto the deck of the Duke of Morea, carefully kicked open the captain's room, but found it empty.

"Check the hold! They might be hiding!"

His companions came to the bottom cabin and tried to lift the hatch.

"I can't lift it! They've sealed the bottom cabin!"

Several Venetian sailors took out their war hammers, and with great effort, they smashed open the bottom cabin door and went down into the bottom cabin.

This is where the slave rowers rowed, the power center of a warship.

More than sixty slave rowers were unaware of the situation outside and were still swinging their wooden oars hard.

"Surrender! You have been—"

The Venetian sailor's pupils suddenly contracted, as if he had suffered a terrible shock.

In addition to the slave rowers with shackles on their ankles, the bottom hold also contained a huge number of kerosene cans and gunpowder cans. The stacked gunpowder, flour and sugar covered half of the bottom hold and were above the rowers' knees.

Thick logs were added to both sides of the bottom cabin, apparently to protect against bombardment from artillery shells.

Seeing the Venetian sailors enter the cabin, the slaves' faces showed despair. They struggled in fear but could not break free from the chains.

"Don't light it! The Greek emperor, cursed by the gods, is not worthy of your loyalty!"

The Venetian sailors quickly switched to Arabic in an attempt to calm their emotions.

He knew very well that if even one person among the sixty-plus people had a firm mind, they would all be killed without a burial place.

"Too late, Venetians!"

An old rower burst into tears and took out his flint with trembling hands.

"The emperor promised that my entire family of six would be freed from slavery and own a piece of land outside Constantinople."

"The doctor said I was going to die anyway, so I might as well--"

He was not the fastest, as several oarsmen had already lit sparks and held them in their hands. The trembling flames were eager to try, tumbling and jumping.

"Do not--"

Boom——Long——

A deafening roar came from the bottom cabin of the Duke Moria, followed by a raging flame.

The powerful shock wave directly overturned the nearby small boat, and a huge fireball rose into the sky. The three large Venetian warships that were nearby were not spared and were directly engulfed in flames.

On a small boat at the back of the melee, Isaac saw the fire exploding in the center of the Venetian fleet, walked up to the platform, raised the eagle flag in his hand, waved it, and shouted loudly.

"The Venetians are defeated! All forces attack!"

……

On June 1460, 6, the Eastern Roman Emperor Isaac used a strategy, using the fire warship mothership as a decoy and hiding the modified Grand Duke Morea as a hidden weapon and a killer move at the end, and finally achieved the final success.

Isaac was well aware of the fatal temptation of the old and meritorious warship, the Duke of Morea, and his own flag to the Venetians. He accurately controlled the greed of human nature and made the Venetians pay a heavy price for it.

In the early morning of June 1460, 6, the Battle of Malta ended. The Eastern Roman coalition fleet destroyed more than half of the main ships of the Venetian Invincible Armada with more than half of the casualties. Only three large warships escaped with injuries.

The news of the Battle of Malta spread quickly throughout the Mediterranean world, and the monarchs, holding the reports in their hands, were shocked and speechless.

They knew that the Venetians were still building ships very quickly and it would only take them ten years to rebuild their fleet system. Although their hard power had been greatly damaged, their soft power could not be underestimated.

However, they also understood that the Eastern Roman Empire would not give the Venetians time to recover.

An era has ended. The Venetians, who have dominated the Mediterranean for two hundred years, are about to bid farewell, and the Mediterranean is about to welcome a new overlord.

The old king is gone, the new king is crowned, the losers are scattered, and the winner takes all.

The vast ocean has always been the cruelest casino.

(End of this chapter)