Accompanied by rhythmic drums and trumpets, eight warships ploughed the blue waters of the Sea of Marmara, driven by the wind and the row. Come on,.!

The dark green waves crashed against the wooden side of the ship, then turned into countless scattered white foam, which gradually faded and disappeared without a trace.

On the masts and bows of these galleys, the bright red gold lion flags are proudly waving in the twilight.

If this flag is placed on the computer network in the 21st century, the first reaction of most young netizens after seeing it is probably that it is the golden lion flag of one of the protagonists of the classic Japanese science fiction novel "The Legend of the Galactic Heroes", the Galactic Emperor Leyin Hattro Yankram.

However, in real history, this golden lion flag is indeed a symbol of a great kingdom that has been famous for a long time.

-- If a warship flew this flag in the Mediterranean in the fifteenth century, it would be like the Rice Flag of the British Empire in the nineteenth century and the Stars and Stripes of the United States of America in the late twentieth century, receiving a myriad of eyes mixed with awe, fear, and envy.

Because, this red background gold lion flag represents the uncrowned emperor of the Mediterranean, the "bride of the Adriatic" Republic of Venice.

It was a great city-state founded by the remnants of the Western Roman Empire on the swampy tidal flats of northern Italy and lasted for thousands of years.

The people of this country seem to have salt water in their veins, and they always proudly call themselves "people of the sea", and every year they hold a grand "sea wedding festival". Throw the ring into the sea. A symbolic marriage to the sea, thus giving Venice the nickname "The Bride of the Adriatic".

The Republic of Venice was at its peak in the last century, having completely defeated its old rival Genoa, controlling the entire Eastern Mediterranean, and then subduing the Eastern Roman Empire, turning the former suzerainty into a de facto vassal. From Athens to Crete, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, there is no country that can resist the advance of the Venetian fleet at sea!

Now, in order to prevent the shipping route to the Black Sea from being cut off. The Republic of Venice intended to flex its muscles against the Ottoman Turks.

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Under the firmament, which was gradually shrouded in twilight, the commander of the Colony of Crete in the Republic of Venice, Gabriel. Admiral Trevisen, standing under the banner of a golden lion on a red background on a hunting show, stood steadily with his sword. At his feet and on the left and right sides. Eight large galleys of the Republic of Venice, full sail in the southwest wind, like sharp arrows off the string, shot towards Constantinople, which was under siege ahead.

- After a long hesitation, the Venetians, like the Genoese, finally sent reinforcements to Constantinople.

In fact, during the period when the Turks were preparing to attack the city, there was a long-standing debate within the Republic of Venice about whether to risk offending the Sultan of the East and risk his life to support the dying Eastern Roman Empire. It's always hard to make a choice.

-- For the Republic of Venice, which has always been accustomed to painting copper coins yellow as gold coins, it is really a bit out of line with the usual style of asking these merchants who take gold coins for pleasure to engage in "humanitarian relief" and organize troops to cross the sea to rescue Constantinople at their own expense.

However, after several heated debates, the Republic of Venice finally unified its internal thinking and voted at the Grand Council to reinforce Constantinople in order to prevent the alchemical wand that had been supplying the Venetians for centuries with money from being forcibly broken by the Ottoman Empire from Constantinople, an irreplaceable pivotal juncture.

-- As a well-known orator said in his impassioned speech: The misers who are reluctant to spend ten gold coins today to extinguish the source of calamity. Tomorrow will be beating your chest for the loss of a thousand gold coins!

This should be a fairly sensible judgment in every sense of the word - provided that there is no traverser to disrupt the situation.

But the question is, how much liliang can the Republic of Venice at this time squeeze out to aid Constantinople, which is far away on the other side of the sea?

To know. At this point in time at the beginning of 1453, the Republic of Venice was in the midst of a long war in northern Italy, which began in 1425. The Republic of Venice, which was at its peak, fought a brutal battle for hegemony with the Duchy of Milan in order to become the hegemon of the whole of Northern Italy, and soon involved Genoa, Florence, Naples and many other famous Italian city-states in the flames of war.

With the huge amount of money accumulated in the Oriental trade and the absolute superiority of the mercenary group, the Venetians originally thought that they would be able to win a clean and overwhelming victory, conquer the Duchy of Milan in one fell swoop, expand the territory of thousands of square kilometers, and realize the transformation of the Republic of Venice from a city-state to a territorial state...... But the problem is that just as Genoa and Venice at this time had the strongest navy in Europe and ruled the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Duchy of Milan in this era also had the strongest army in Europe and was the land hegemon of the entire Italian peninsula.

The former Grand Duke of Milan, nicknamed "Jiangde", Giangaria Zoviscouti, was an excellent military strategist, with the brave and mighty reputation of "Caesar's reincarnation". He succeeded in resurrecting the infantry of the ancient Roman legions, and forged an extremely strong Iron Guard with strict discipline and strict rewards and punishments, which once defeated the invincible opponents of Italy and almost unified the whole of Italy...... Although the mighty Grand Duke of Milan has long since died, the powerful army he built with his own hands has been inherited by the Duchy of Milan. And Francesco Forza, the commander of Milan who is now leading the army against the Venetians, is also a very capable military genius, and a very skilled politician and diplomatic, which is very difficult to deal with.

The Republic of Venice was only known for its navy, and although it had the most powerful naval fleet in the Mediterranean in this era, its army was not much different from that of the feudal vassal states of medieval Europe in the same period, and it was also dominated by mercenaries, with lax discipline, weak combat effectiveness, and a very problematic sense of loyalty...... As a result, even though the Republic of Venice spared no effort to gather a large number of troops locally, it was always defeated in battles by the Milanese, who had fewer troops.

As a result, the siege of Milan, which the Venetians originally thought would be able to be quickly resolved, eventually developed into a long-term war of attrition with no end in sight, like a huge black hole that lasted for more than 20 years, constantly devouring the wealth and lives of the Venetians, and causing the country to lose blood for a long time.

In fact, just as the Peloponnesian War ended the golden age of the ancient Greek city-states in B.C., the decades-long chaos on the Italian peninsula was a devastating loss not only for the Venetians, but also for all the city-states, principalities, and kingdoms of Italy.

Under these circumstances, Venice finally made the decision to reinforce Constantinople, but it was limited in the number of troops it could muster. Venice itself, though there were still fifty military galleys and hundreds of merchant ships, all the forces that could be used for ground combat were caught on the Milan front, and in the spring of 1452 the Venetian warlords in Milan were still sending letters to their country reporting that the battle line was on the verge of collapse due to the heavy losses in their troops, and that they should send another four thousand crossbowmen or spearmen anyway. However, Venice, with a total population of only 200,000, had tried its best to recruit troops and loot strong men, but it was still unable to muster this vital reinforcement until the end of summer......

In short, Venice's limited and valuable forces were being bogged down in the Italian battlefield, and everywhere the fighting situation was tight, losing one after another, and gradually depleted, and now it had to arm sailors to fight ashore, and there was not even a single infantry that could be transferred to the East, and it was really unable to cope with the overseas battlefield.

Thus, the viceroy of Venice, Francesco. Foscali, with his native forces stretched thin, could only find a way from the colonies in the East. As a result, Admiral Trevison, who was ordered to aid Constantinople, without the support of his own country, even if he evacuated the colony of Crete, only eight large sailing ships, eight hundred light infantry that could be used as oarsmen, and six hundred experienced old seamen.

However, in the eyes of Admiral Trevison, who was a master of the arts, this was enough to defeat the fledgling Ottoman Turkish fleet.

Earlier in the Dardanelles, he managed to pass through the blockade of the Ottoman Turks almost unscathed.

At this time, on the Sea of Marmara outside Constantinople, looking at the Ottoman Turkish naval fleet in front of the mess, colliding with each other, and entanglement with each other, every Venetian sailor's face showed a look of contempt and disdain.

“…… Admiral! We are already very close to the Turkish fleet! What formation are you going to use to attack? ”

A Venetian officer walked up the gangway to the bridge, gave a military salute to Admiral Trevison, and asked aloud without humility or arrogance.

“…… Hehe, to deal with this group of seasick fools who haven't even learned to swim, where do you need any formation? ”

Admiral Trevison laughed contemptuously, then drew his sword, pointed at the already chaotic Turkish fleet ahead, and confidently shouted to his men, "...... Advance! Venetian! Beat all these heretics to the bottom of the sea! Teach them what naval warfare is!! ”

Then, in the midst of the frightened screams of the Ottoman Turkish sailors, and the cheers and gasps of the Eastern Roman emperors, eight Venetian sailing warships flying the golden lion flag on a red background, like eight agile and ferocious swordfish, slammed into the array of the Turkish fleet with full sails along the strong wind, and in an instant set off a terrible bloody storm...... To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation.

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