1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 58 Venetian
Haru stood in front of yet another puddle of stagnant water, shaking with anger.

From Mersa Matruh to the west, except for some coastal towns, all the large supply points marked on the map were destroyed, becoming a restricted area for all living things.

Now he was very sure that this must be the work of Christians.

Although the local tribes are very aggressive and will start wars over trivial matters, they will definitely not destroy all the oases and gathering places.

This is the rule of the desert, the taboo of the desert.

But Christians don't care about that.

In the holy city of Jerusalem, many Christians liked to block wells with dead pigs to deliberately disgust Muslims.

"Where are we now?"

Haru pursed his cracked lips and turned to ask his adjutant and guide.

"Captain, we are still two days away from Tobruk, but..."

The adjutant pointed behind him and Haru turned to look.

The elite Mamluks rode on their horses with cracked lips and looked half dead.

The horses under them were also listless and their legs were weak.

As they had not considered the dire situation at all, the Mamluks did not carry much food and fresh water.

In the desert, if you don't drink water for two consecutive days, your body will not be able to hold on and you will almost lose your ability to fight.

If we continue to move forward, I'm afraid we will have to kill horses and drink their blood.

In the vast desert, this is obviously a temporary solution.

"Let's go back and report the situation to Prince Mansur."

Haru sighed.

……

"Haru? Why are you back?"

In the port of Matruh, Mansur was discussing matters with the army commanders and asked the centurion who had just returned with confusion.

"Is the investigation complete?"

Haru shook his head.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid our army cannot pass through the desert in the west now."

"The Kafirs destroyed all the water sources and gathering places, and now it's a wasteland."

All the commanders looked towards Mansur, and the Sultan's son had a grim look on his face.

"Get the map!"

Everyone frantically searched and spread out the map of the area around Bilinchi.

From Tobruk to Mersa Matruh, several large oases in between were marked with black marks by Haru.

"The area around Tobruk is completely barren?"

Mansur stared in disbelief at several large water sources marked on the map.

"Yes, Your Highness. All the wells are blocked and the water source is polluted. Drinking it rashly may cause plague."

"I highly doubt that Tobruk has fallen by now."

"I suggest dispatching the navy to transport supplies from the sea."

Mansoor said nothing.

As the son of the Sultan, he knew very well what the Mamluk navy was like.

The vast majority of merchant ships and escort fleets are in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and cannot arrive in a short period of time.

If their navy was strong, they would not have allowed the Venetians to monopolize business in the eastern Mediterranean.

Even if we gather a large number of transport ships, it would probably be impossible to supply supplies to more than 10,000 people at the same time.

This does not take into account Sirte's navy.

"Prince, what should we do?"

Mansoor looked around at the inquiring eyes and suddenly became panicked.

This time, he had finally fought for the opportunity to defeat the Kafirs, establish his own reputation, and improve his prestige, so as to change his incompetent image in front of the public and prepare for his own succession to the throne.

What should I do now?
He stammered, cold sweat breaking out on his face.

"I...I will pass all the information to Cairo and leave it to Malik to decide!"

Everyone looked disappointed, and several Jihad commanders walked away without saying a word.

……

In the city of Tobruk, Isaac was inspecting the city defenses.

Tobruk has tall walls and complete defensive facilities. The city has a special terrain and is surrounded by the ocean, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

In the absence of large siege weapons, the only option was to use superior forces to wage a war of attrition.

The wharf is located on a small peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides, ensuring smooth transportation.

In order to capture the city by force, Isaac paid the price of two thousand lives.

After the conquest, Isaac directly drove the city's residents westward to prevent them from colluding with the siege troops.

Tobruk is now a complete military fortress.

Captives and slaves from nearby tribes carried heavy stones and repaired the gaps created by the previous siege under the whip of overseers.

Food from the Green Mountain region was continuously transported to the city of Tobruk and stored in granaries. Armaments from the port of Surt were transported to the port of Tobruk by sea and distributed to every troop participating in the defense of the city.

Isaac took inventory of the troops he currently had.

The First Legion of the Guards had 1,000 men, the Purple Guards had 1,000 men, the Dobruja Legion had 1,500 men, the Yaroslav Mercenary Regiment had 500 men, and Count Adnan's army had 500 men.

A total of more than 3,000 tribal people from various places were recruited.

There were more than 7,500 defenders in the city.

Such a force is enough to give the Mamluk reinforcements a good beating.

Isaac looked up and saw that on the city wall, several sergeants of the Guards were directing the engineers to install crossbows and small catapults on several bunkers. Outside the city wall, slaves were holding tools and digging trenches with great effort.

If there was enough time, Isaac was even prepared to divert the Mediterranean water to surround Tobruk and dig it into an island.

However, this plan cannot be realized for the time being because the workload is too huge.

So far, the cavalry sent out have not observed any Mamluk reinforcements, and the warships cruising outside do not dare to get too close to the port for reconnaissance.

Given the pride of the Mamluks, they would never sit idly by and watch Isaac occupy this fertile land without sending any troops.

The current tranquility may just be the prelude to a storm.

"Speed ​​up!"

Isaac commanded.

……

The city of Venice in the northeast of the Apennine Peninsula.

The city of Venice is located at the confluence of the Po River and the Piave River, in the Venice Lagoon on the Adriatic Sea coast in northeastern Italy. It is densely dotted with islands and connected waterways and is known as the "Pearl of the Adriatic Sea".

It was the center of the Venetian Republic, a meeting point for trade between northern Italy and the Mediterranean, and one of the most prosperous cities in the world.

The Venetian Republic was founded on commerce. Initially, it was granted the title of governor by swearing allegiance to the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, and gradually acquired the commercial privileges of the Eastern Empire and began to monopolize trade.

The newly born Venice was like a longicorn, lying on the big tree of Eastern Rome, inserting its sharp mouthparts into the trunk and sucking the sweet sap.

The new republic also participated extensively in the Crusaders' military operations in the Levant and acquired a number of commercial ports and business privileges in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Gradually, Venice became more and more powerful, while the Eastern Roman Empire declined.

The Crusades were not a sure win. The Crusade launched by Pope Innocent III in 1202 failed to achieve the desired results and instead caused heavy losses to Venice.

At this time, an Eastern Roman prince named Alexius begged Venice for help in restoring his throne and promised to pay a large amount of money.

A bold idea came to the mind of the then Governor Enrique Dandolo and was eventually put into practice.

After that, the Venetians took off, defeated their arch-rival Genoa in the Battle of Chioggia, monopolized the most profitable spice trade in the eastern Mediterranean, and left behind other countries such as Pisa and Lucca, which were once commercial republics.

Until now, no country has dared to challenge the absolute authority of the Venetians in the eastern Mediterranean.

Authority over the sea passes to the present-day Doge Francesco Foscari.

At this time, the Governor's Palace welcomed a rare guest. "Messenger from Cairo, you have come all the way here, what brings you here?"

"Please tell me your purpose. I will convey it to the Grand Council and let them decide."

Foscari looked at the Mamluk envoys in the audience and said stiffly.

Foscari's career as governor was not smooth.

The current Doge of Venice no longer has any real power. Almost all power is monopolized by the Venetian Council and the Group of Forty and the Group of Ten elected by the Council.

These organizations are all controlled by great nobles and big businessmen, forming several oligarchic families who hold various important positions.

Governor? Just a deputy.

Foscari's career as governor was a failure.

First, they lost Thessalonica, which they had conquered with great difficulty, then they were defeated on land by the Visconti, Duke of Milan, and then they suffered the defeat in Albania.

What disheartened him most was that his only son, Jacopo Foscari, was labeled a traitor by the Great Council and thrown into prison.

He thought that was the end of it, but the Grand Council had no intention of letting him go and announced a trial.

As the nominal supreme leader of Venice, what's the point of not being able to protect his only son!
"Respected Governor, I believe you have heard that a devil was born around us?"

"You mean the Ottomans? That's right."

Foscari said with interest.

"not him……"

"That's the Karaman gang? They deserve to die."

Foscari had actually guessed the messenger's intention and deliberately used roundabout methods to force him to make a request.

"Isaac Palaiologos, the Prince of Constantinople, burned and killed people in North Africa and destroyed water sources. He is the incarnation of the devil!"

"Please provide us with your assistance to destroy him!"

The messenger had no choice but to speak frankly.

"You mean to ask us to fight against our Christian brothers? That's impossible."

Foscari refused outright.

"I don't want to be excommunicated by Nicholas V."

There was a burst of laughter from the audience.

He doesn't care about religious relations at all. If the Mamluks are willing to offer enough benefits, he can help.

He wanted to see what kind of bargaining chips this envoy could offer.

The messenger looked aside.

Christian, a member of the Forty-Man Group, stepped out.

"Governor, I think we should attack Soult."

"Oh? What's the reason?"

Foscari looked at Christian.

Christian's family has been trading with Cairo for many years and has many interests there, so it is normal for it to speak for the envoy.

How could a small Principality of Surt actually involve such huge interests?

Foscari became interested.

"Governor, this Isaac Palaiologos has always been at odds with us,"

"A few years ago, he pretended to be a defeated Ottoman soldier and robbed our caravans in the Athens area, driving the population southward."

The Venetians realized this later and wanted to spread the news to destroy Isaac's reputation in the Eastern Roman Empire, but it backfired.

The lower classes did not believe the news spread by these Latin merchants at all, thinking that they were deliberately destroying the reputation of Prince Isaac.

The more my enemies oppose me, the more it proves that I am doing the right thing.

Isaac's reputation became better and better among the lower class people who hated Latin merchants.

"He also has close ties with Genoa. Not only does he have a trade fleet registered in Genoa, but he is also said to have signed an agreement with them."

"Grand Duke Isaac was present during both the Milanese War of Succession and the Albanian War, and caused us a lot of trouble."

"Most importantly, they always pretend to be our fleet, rob the Ottoman and Mamluk fleets, ignore our trade agreements, and deliberately destroy our relations!"

"Oh? Is this all true?"

Foscari looked at the other council members.

Immediately, some congressmen who were not on good terms with Christian jumped out to oppose his statement.

These people did not sympathize with Isaac, they simply had a bad relationship with Christian and were doing things that harmed others and did not benefit themselves.

So, everyone started arguing.

After arguing for a whole day, there was still no progress.

Ultimately it will be decided in Parliament.

The messenger sighed.

I'm afraid it will cost a lot this time.

On August 1448, 8, the Grand Council of Venice agreed to lease a transport fleet to the Mamluk Sultanate, allowing them to use the ports of the Principality of Candia on Crete to transport supplies and water.

To do this, the Sultan had to pay 50,000 ducats and grant some policy preferences in the trade of spices and cloves.

……

On August 1448, 8, news of the negotiations reached Marsa Matruh. Mansur was overjoyed and immediately summoned his troops.

Crete is very close to the coast of North Africa. The transport fleet coming from Alexandria and the transport ships assisted by the Venetians can barely support the supply of 10,000 people.

The biggest difficulties facing the holy war were thus largely resolved.

Mansur rode on his horse, held his head high, walked in front of each phalanx, and inspected his army.

The elite Mamluk cavalry are of extraordinary momentum and as solemn as a mountain, with steadiness and confidence in their every move.

The holy warriors are also in high spirits and full of confidence.

The vassal army led by the tribal sheikhs was much worse. They looked straight at Mansur with an indifferent expression.

Mansur frowned, but soon returned to normal.

Although he was the son of the Sultan, he had no merit, no political achievements, and no reputation. Naturally, he could not make these unruly tribal shekhs submit to him.

Mansur silently vowed that he must make a name for himself through this war and make all those who laughed at him in the past shut up!
Mansur walked forward and came in front of the royal Mamluk phalanx.

He felt the need to say something.

"The devil from Constantinople is wreaking havoc on our land and robbing our slaves. This is forbidden by God!"

"We are Mamluks, liberated slaves, our own masters!"

Mansur held his scimitar high, imitating his father's youthful conduct.

"Mamluk!"

The royal Mamluks were stunned for a moment, and then there were sparse echoes.

"At your side!"

"Mamluk!"

"At your side!"

"Mamluk!"

"At your side!"

"set off!"

Mansur was finally satisfied and swung his sword westward.

……

On August 1448, 8, under the threat of the Venetian fleet, the Mediterranean Fleet of the Grand Duchy of Soult was forced to abandon its interception of the Mamluk transport ships.

Afterwards, with the support of numerous transport ships, Prince Mansur led an army of more than 10,000 troops to cross the no-man's land and arrived at the city of Tobruk.

The Battle of Tobruk officially began.

(End of this chapter)