If, in the middle of the fifteenth century, the navy could be bombarded by near-shore artillery during the offensive, it was actually quite a luxury. Especially in some less important sea fortresses, large-caliber near-shore artillery was almost the only solution to defend against the Ebius-Radiance in this era.

But on the Empire's own territory, in the fortress of La Scala on the island of Kepharonia, there were artillery firing at the Phoenix fleet!

"This should be the last thing we want to see...... Francisco walked up to the deck and looked into the distance, the sea wall of La Scala was already full of defenders, and in addition to the three large-caliber main guns, there were as many as a dozen large and small shore defense guns on the upper and lower sea walls. And according to the reports of the observers on the mast, the defenders on the walls also had perfect equipment and armor.

"It's really a worm under my nose...... I suddenly felt that His Majesty John guessed that the pattern was still too small. Giovanni stood behind Francisco and didn't even have the desire to hold his sword. Now it seems that after the fog shrouded in Kepharonia Island was slowly lifted, it seemed that what came out was not the mercenary army of Parthio they expected, but their familiar old friends, "His Majesty John should have put more effort on Kepharonia Island in the first place. It's going to be more troublesome to deal with now, after all. ”

"General Giovanni, what do you mean ......"

"Isn't that obvious enough? No matter how strong a pirate is, will there be such an army? Didn't you fight pirates at the gates of the Athenian Sea, and did the pirates have the strength to fight back in a head-to-head exchange with our navy? Even if a pirate has artillery, it is not enough to carry a ship, how can there be spare artillery to arm an offshore fortress. Patio, it seems, should be the last nail. ”

"Nails?"

"Yes, the Ottomans stuck in the Peloponnese, in the last nail in the Balkans. With this nail pulled, the empire was truly stable west of the Aegean Sea. ”

The flagship's standard-bearer quickly conveyed Francisco's order, and the combined naval forces of the Phoenix Fleet and the Fourth Fleet quickly dispersed and no longer maintained sailing queues. The purpose of the Combined Fleet's voyage was primarily to escort ships, and attacking a fully defended coastal fort was a risky and potentially costly move, compared to which the fleet would need to find a separate landing site to get close to the troops on Kepharonia.

"Write to His Majesty John at once."

While Francisco commanded the fleet to evade the artillery and bypass the fortress in search of a landing site, Giovanni also quickly entered the ship's cabin. The clerk hurriedly pulled out two blank sheets of paper and spread them out, waiting for Giovanni's next order.

"An unknown number of troops were stationed on the island of Kephallonia, and the Combined Fleet was attacked by near-shore artillery fire at the fortress of La Scala, west of Patras Bay. So far...... The exact circumstances of Kepharonia are unknown, and we need support to avoid further casualties in the army. ”

"General, is that all?"

"One more is opened, and two copies are to be copied, one to His Majesty Constantine and one to His Majesty John. Let's just say that we suspect that Parthenus is behind the Ottomans, and that there are unidentified defenders on the island of Kephallonia, and we are very suspicious of the Ottomans. Giovanni propped his hands on the sand table in front of the table, Kephallonia's sand table was made just a few days ago, and there was no information about the army on it, "We need more mounted sentries and scouts, and more artillery support." The fortress of La Scala, which they have been defending with all their might, will surely be a tough bone to gnaw. We can't afford to suffer Serbia's losses again, and if Muhammad continues to toss like this, sooner or later the empire will go to Jesus! ”

Just because there's plenty of inshore artillery doesn't mean that Pardeo has a navy here that can rival the Combined Fleet. Therefore, when arranging the naval front, Francisco was still quite exaggerated.

But when John received the letter, he felt a chill in his back even more.

In this way, the money, intelligence, and army that Parthio needed, including the spies that he thought he had planted by Prince Thomas's side, were actually provided by the Ottomans. When you think about it, it's the equivalent of putting a sharp knife around Prince Thomas's neck. Sofia had planted a Lycaon under Muhammad's nose, which eventually led to the collapse of the Ottomans at the fortress of Edirne, which the Ottomans had been able to hold for years.

The Peloponnese, on the other hand, was the gateway to Greater Greece from the south, and if the Peloponnese fell and the Ottoman army crossed the Isthmus of Corinth, the empire had hardly any other strong fortresses south of Great Greece to resist the Ottoman invasion. Moreah is an outpost that the Empire must not fall.

"Your Majesty, listen to my sentry report, now you are sending troops to the generals, ready to help me suppress the bandits?" Prince Thomas half-smiled and welcomed John and his party into the palace, Thomas had of course heard of John's activities before, but he still felt that Partius was just a pirate or a bandit with a little power.

"Your Royal Highness, I'm afraid it's not as simple as suppressing bandits!" Theodoro and Morey followed behind John, who had an extremely gloomy face, and hurried into the palace.

"Uncle Thomas, I have something to say......"

Seeing John's eager eyes, Prince Thomas also restrained his expression, waved his hand back from the rest of the palace attendants, and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"Two things. Pardeo was not a pirate, nor was he a bandit. After committing the crime in Athens, he must have hitched a ride on the Ottoman line, relying on the ships given to him by his family, disguised as merchant ships, and helping the Ottomans to secretly transport troops and artillery, ammunition, supplies, and supplies to the island of Kephallonia. Now we don't know the specifics of Kepharonia at all, and if we rush to the island, we may even repeat the tragedy of Prokuple! John gritted his teeth in anger, "Muhammad! He wanted to pluck the foundation of the empire in this way! He was driven out of the Balkans, but he was thinking about a counteroffensive all the time! I'm starting to doubt it now, I'm afraid the news of his attack on the Liangyang Dynasty is a cover! ”

"Your Majesty, it is not difficult for Kepharonia to land, and the Moria Legion can cooperate with Your Majesty's offensive. Apart from coastal defense, Kepharonia has no easily defended fortresses. As long as the forces are sufficient, there is simply no terrain suitable for a large-scale ambush. It is not very difficult to drive the Ottomans into the sea. ”

"There's a second thing...... Uncle Thomas...... You probably have Ottoman eyeliner on your side. ”

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