Changfeng Thousands of Miles End Han Song

Chapter 1046 Postscript 2
The sun was about to set, and the sky was about to turn from blood red to boundless darkness.

The fighting on the Bosphorus ceased, and a sea battle that changed the direction of the entire world situation ended.

The Italians suffered a painful defeat, and their galleys were powerless to fight back against the gunboats of the Lu Qi army that sailed down from the Black Sea.The Italians, who mainly used traditional rushing and gang-jumping tactics, suffered heavy losses in this battle.The warships of the Black Sea Division sank them at a distance of thirty or fifty feet.However, only the bow of the Italian oars can be loaded with artillery, and the length can reach 120 feet, and the width can reach 15 feet. The row sailboat is not small.But the warship can only deploy firepower at the front and rear ends, otherwise it will interfere with paddling.It must be said that it is a tragedy!

There will be 30 seat boards on each side of the galley, so that in addition to the sails, there can also be 180 oarsmen, providing the warship with raw power that is not affected by natural factors.A large number of oarsmen from Italy and the coast of Greece drove these ancient and time-honored warships across the entire Mediterranean.But this kind of warship is really not suitable for placing artillery.

Moreover, artillery is still an absolute rarity in Europe. No matter how rich the Venetian financial resources are, there is no way to equip all their warships with artillery.The long-range strike force of this European navy still relies on bows and crossbows.But when the targets of bows and crossbows become tall warships, people will find that their range and power are pitifully small.And when they finally got on board with the enemy after going through untold hardships, they would find that the gunboats of the Black Sea Division were too high, so that the soldiers could not climb up at all, but were beaten to pieces by the firearms on board.

In Lu Qian's eyes, the battle that took place in the strait was a replica of the Diu naval battle in the original time and space.

In the historical Battle of Diu, the Portuguese defeated the greater number with less, and defeated the combined fleet of the Tianfang and Tianzhu people with 18 ships and more than 1800 troops. It was a large fleet with hundreds of warships.And he had almost no losses.

The reason is the artillery!

In front of you, isn't this naval battle taking place in the Bosporus Strait an artillery victory?
The Europeans had nothing to achieve except to use kerosene to burn down a medium-sized gunboat of the Black Sea Navy by fighting more and less.But the Black Sea Navy almost completely buried the essence of the Italian Navy.

The sea water is full of broken hulls and mutilated corpses. The naval ships are searching for and rescuing the fallen sailors of the enemy and us, and then tow away the captured warships. Although these warships are not suitable for sailing in the ocean, their sides are too low and seaworthy. Sex, anti-sinking is too poor.But in the big bathtub of the Mediterranean Sea, it is very useful.After repairing, it will greatly increase the strength of the Black Sea Navy.

The fire on the Baiyi, the medium-sized gunboat that was burned by kerosene during the battle, had been extinguished.Because the entire ship had been burned up, the explosion had already stopped.

More than 200 people on the whole ship were killed and more than 30 people were killed, mainly from the initial explosion of the powder.When the big bang subsided, the captain's first order was to leave.

Half of the entire bow was blown up, and with the burning fire, it was impossible to rescue the Baiyi.The rest of the people, including the unaffected artillery and gunpowder, have been rescued, and the rest will be buried in this fire.

This is the biggest loss of the Black Sea Division in the naval battle, and one of the sixteen medium-sized gunboats of the Black Sea Division was lost.

Lu Qian looked at Constantinople and laughed.With the defeat of the European navy, the Black Sea Navy warships with red flags approached the south of Constantinople, which is the Sea of ​​Marmara, and the morale of the defenders in Constantinople was fierce. Shaking.

They are completely surrounded!

Before, Lu Qian surrounded Constantinople from the north and the west, but they were not afraid at all, because there was still a waterway in the south, through the Sea of ​​Marmara, they could transport all kinds of goods to Constantinople in an endless stream. Military supplies, even ship after ship of reinforcements.

But today's naval battle broke their dream.

Right under the noses of the defenders, the Black Sea Navy simply defeated the Italian fleet with the Venetian navy as the main force, cut off the last way of Constantinople's external communication, and also cut off the hearts of countless people. rely.

Yes, depend.

Why did the defenders of Constantinople and the emperor of the Byzantine Empire remain calm in the face of the invasion of Lu Qi's army?

Isn't the reason that they have waterways to rely on?

As long as the Italian fleet is undefeated, and as long as the Marmara Seaway can be kept unimpeded, Constantinople is an engine that is constantly being fed with oil, and will no longer generate vigorous power all the time. Are you afraid of Emperor Lu outside?
But now the Italians have lost, and they have no power to fight back. This not only means that the logistics line of Constantinople has been cut off, but also means that this cutoff may be a permanent cutoff.Facing the Chinese navy equipped with a large number of artillery, the European navy was completely powerless to resist, which meant that the road cut off by the Chinese gunboat could never be reopened.

The failure of the Italian fleet is not terrible. The whole of Europe, France, England, Shinra, and even Denmark and Sweden, all have their own navies and maritime trade chambers. Their individual strength is not comparable to that of Venice, but they can be united. It is a force stronger than the Italians.

As long as there are still fights, the continuous gathering of European warships can wipe out the Chinese naval power with a war of attrition.But the problem now is that there is no need to fight on both sides.

Just like in Hungary and Bulgaria, the war between Europeans and Chinese in the wilderness is so desperate.

And when all the people in Constantinople realized that they were completely surrounded, the morale of the army could not be shaken, so Lu Qian turned around and left.His 10,000+ army went straight to Shinra, and he was able to wipe out Central Europe, so why bother to fight with a group of stunned youths?His head is tight?

Seeing the gradually changing color of the cloud, Lu Qian was very satisfied.If the defenders of Constantinople could score [-] points before, now they can score [-] or [-] points at most.Morale is still good, if Lu Qian takes the opportunity to launch an offensive now, there is almost no chance of winning the city.

"Boom boom boom..."

Hundreds of ten-pound cannons and twelve-pound cannons were gathered on the west side of Constantinople, and then bombarded Constantinople non-stop.

This is forging iron.

Every piece of good iron has to go through thousands of hammers. Constantinople is the pig iron, and the heavy artillery outside the city is the hammer for iron.

But Constantinople will not be tempered into steel, but will only be torn apart by hammers.The continuous sound of cannons was their reminder, and many Byzantine cannons were concentrated in the west city, but the number was insufficient and the European artillery with poor performance, how could it compare with Lu Qi?How could the defenders in the city be unaffected by the roar of the cannon?
Constantinople, whose entire city layout is triangular, faces the strait to the east, the Golden Horn to the north, the land to the west, and the Sea of ​​Marmara to the south, all of which are now rumbling with cannons.

The Byzantines lost their water advantage, and all their arrangements at the entrance of the Golden Horn were useless.Warships sailed into the Golden Horn, their guns aimed at Constantinople, and the roar was no less loud than the guns on the west side of the land.

The morale of the Byzantines, who were besieged on three sides, kept falling.

The city defense of Constantinople has reached the peak of the cold weapon era. The strength of the city built with stones is far from that of the strong city in the Central Plains earlier.But no matter how strong the stone is, it must be subdued in front of the artillery.Otherwise, in the military history of Europe, these individuals would not have quickly eliminated the castles of the cold weapon era.

"God bless, warriors of the Roman Empire, God be with us!"

Manuel I stood neatly on the city wall of Constantinople, waving his sword and shouting, shouting slogans that he thought were ridiculous, and the soldiers under his command also coped weakly.

There is no way, anyone who can only be beaten and cannot fight back is beaten for more than ten days, and the morale will become the same.

No fighting spirit at all - in front of the broken stone wall.

The defenders are not all Europa serfs who are bitter and bitter, but there are many educated noble children in them. They know very well that when the solid shell of Constantinople is smashed, what awaits them is What happened.

Fighting with cold weapons, they simply cannot resist the Chinese.Even if they have a lot of powder and kerosene in their warehouse.

How can they believe in God, God can't save them.

What Manuel I regretted most was that he 'enclosed' his uncle Isaac Komnenos in Constantinople.After making preparations to resist the Chinese in Constantinople, he left his most threatening uncle, Isaac Komnenos, in Constantinople.

In the eyes of Manuel I at the time, this was a coup.But now it looks like a stupid choice.

His father, John II, had eight children, but he was the only son left.Manuel I also had several sisters and brother-in-laws. If he could not defend Constantinople, or successfully break out of the siege after the city was broken, the future Byzantine Empire... I can't believe how chaotic it would be. appearance.And what will happen to such a chaotic Byzantine Empire facing the Chinese attack...

As long as Manuel I thought about it, his heart ached like a knife.

Perhaps, the Eastern Roman Empire was really about to perish.

……

Taihe six years.

A fleet of red flags slowly docked at the port of Fiumicino, and there were many European dignitaries waiting on the shore.From Shinra to France, to Venice and other forces, of course the cardinals in Rome are indispensable.

Facing the special envoy of the Chinese emperor who led the army to ravage Europe in the past year, Europeans must show respect.

Cardinal Nicholas Blakespear, who appeared at the port on behalf of the Pope, is a rare Englishman in the Holy See. He is the right-hand man of the current Pope Eugene III.

All the greeters at the port had stiff smiles on their faces, which was quite different from the spring-like smile on Yu Yunwen's face.

Simply put, this is the difference between a loser and a winner!

More than [-] troops were overwhelming. On the Danube, in Bavaria, and in Bohemia, the European natives assembled armies time and time again, and were defeated by Lu Qi's iron hooves time and time again.

With the Gozensi Iron Cavalry as the vanguard, Lu Qian perfectly realized his wish to punish Europe.

Then the Europeans gave in and they wanted to talk...

(End of this chapter)