Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 1073 The Lion Banner Under the Sunset

Crete is the largest island in Greece. It is located at the southern tip of Greece. It is the largest island in the Aegean Sea. It has an excellent port and majestic mountains. It has beautiful scenery. It is only 400 kilometers away from the African continent and is the center of the Mediterranean. As a traffic hub, its strategic position is extremely important.It is one of the birthplaces of Greek civilization, with extremely ancient palaces and sculptures. Byzantium once regarded it as the jewel in its crown. It did not hesitate to fight for it repeatedly with the powerful Arabia, and took it from Arabia through arduous expeditions. taken back from human hands.The atrocities of the Crusaders sacking Constantinople dealt a fatal blow to the millennium empire, and the crown jewel fell into dust. A hundred years later, the Byzantines who recaptured Constantinople packed it up and sold it to the Venetians.The Venetians loved this treasure land very much and worked hard on it. After [-] years of development, it finally turned it into the most prosperous overseas territory of the Venetian city-state. They even established a beautiful small kingdom here called Qian. Diya.If Crete is the jewel in the Byzantine crown, then Candia is the crown of the Venetian city-state. It is precisely because of this crown that the Venetian career is so glorious.

However, with the rise of the Turks, the good times of the Venetians also came to an end.The Turks’ desire for territory has no limit. The strategic location of Crete is so important, and it is so rich. It is naturally a golden object for the Turks to rob. .The Venetians relied on their excellent navy to suppress the Turks in the Mediterranean time and time again, but the strong national power of the Turks made the Venetians feel desperate to fight with the boulders rolling down from the mountains. They still couldn't hurt the Turks. , but the Turks have made them heartbroken again and again. 60 years ago, the combined fleet of Venice, Spain and the Pope defeated the Turk fleet in the Battle of Lepanto and achieved a great victory, but the war ended with Venice paying Turkey 30 gold coins , although the Venetians are very rich, such a huge sum of money really hurts them.Therefore, in the past few decades, Venice has been strengthening its armaments all the time, developing new weapons and warships, so as to avoid the tragedy of 60 years ago from happening again.

But they never dreamed that now the Turks are coming again, and they have also taken the whole of Western Europe. This time they are not satisfied with taking a little land, they are planning to destroy Venice!

After Consul Andre lost the first battle, he felt that something was wrong and began to actively look for allies.What makes him despair is that it seems that the whole of Europe has become Venice's enemy. No matter how hard he tries, he can't find a reliable ally!The most powerful countries in Europe are attacking them. Even the city-states on the Italian peninsula who share the same culture and race are fighting against them, even harder than the Turks!The Europeans accused Venice of forgetting the horror of the Yellow Peril and providing the damn Chinese with the most advanced European navigation technology, which enabled the Chinese to sail out to sea and seize a large number of European colonies, which seriously damaged the interests of the Europeans. They wanted Venice to People pay the price for this!To this, Consul Andre could only say: If you want to incriminate yourself, why bother!He has finally seen through it. In recent years, Venice's wealth has grown like a snowball through trade with China. It has taken a large piece of cake from the Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch, and also attracted the hatred of these three countries; Britain Domestic turmoil requires a target to divert people's attention, and it is best to obtain a large indemnity from Venice to improve the financial situation; France's cunning Prime Minister Richelieu is worried about Venice because of its increasing naval strength. Dominate the Mediterranean... As for the city-states in Italy, they simply do not want Venice to continue to grow and have the strength to unify Italy. In short, every country and every force has its own interests and demands, and every force hopes to take advantage of Venice. Bite off a chunk of meat!Consul Andre was simply desperate. Even if he cut the entire Venice into pieces and sent them away, he still wouldn't be able to feed these evil wolves!In desperation, he thought of Catherine and immediately wrote two letters to her, asking the countess, who had good personal relationships with the two marshals of the Ming Empire and even had friendship with the Ming Emperor, to mediate and request the Ming Emperor to come forward. The emperor supported Venice, and Venice was willing to become an overseas vassal of the Ming Dynasty!

It has been several months since the letter was sent out, and there was no reply, but the battle became more and more tragic.Consul Andrei ordered the abandonment of some overseas territories that could not be defended, and reduced the force to stick to the core sites such as the homeland and Gandia, and waited for help.He firmly believes that Catherine, who is smart and capable with outstanding appearance and temperament, can exert a huge influence in China and draw China's attention to Europe.This is a behemoth bigger than the whole of Europe combined. If he can stand on the side of Venice, even if it is only a verbal support, it can greatly improve the situation of Venice!
It’s just...how long will it take to get a response?

Count Greco, the lord of Chandia and Catherine's brother, stood in plate armor and looked into the distance from the port of Rethymnon, silent.And just in the port, eight battleships with many scars were moored there. The most seriously injured one even had its main mast broken. High, like eyes glaring at the Aegean Sea.In the past year-long war, these giant cannons blasted countless enemy ships into fireballs, making the Turks, French, British, Dutch, Portuguese, Genoese, Naples...everyone who used to Those who had to face its wrath were terrified.It is precisely because of its superiority in naval guns that Venice was able to sustain itself in this outnumbered war without showing signs of defeat prematurely.But the situation is deteriorating rapidly, not one or two weapons can change it, even the most powerful naval gun is useless!
Russo, the commander of the fleet, was beside the count, sighing and said, "There are only thirty rounds left for each gun, which is enough for at most two small-scale naval battles... Count, the arsenal on the island is really one shot!" Can't find the shells? Even one shot is fine!"

Greco smiled bitterly: "The inventory of these shells has long been exhausted, and the shells on your ship are the last in stock! I have sent an urgent letter to Venice, asking Venice to send a batch of shells as much as possible..."

Russo's expression became even more bitter: "The mainland has to face the siege of the entire Western Europe. I'm afraid the pressure will be even greater, right?"

Greco said: "The barbarians in Western Europe are not in the same mind. Every time a battle is fought, they hope that others will go up and die to save themselves. Therefore, the local pressure is not as strong as that of Gandia. This is also considered The only good news right now. If all goes well, four large ships will arrive in Gandia next week. There will be a lot of food and three or four thousand rounds of shells that you urgently need, which should be able to solve Gandia's urgent needs. "

Russo murmured, "I hope I can arrive smoothly...Damn the Turks, they are getting tighter and tighter. If I have enough shells, with these eight battleships, I can kill forty or fifty of them!" !"

Greco sighed: "Who makes it impossible for us to produce this kind of artillery shells? I hope everything goes well with Catherine. Even if we can't persuade the Chinese emperor to send troops, it would be great if we can buy a batch of artillery shells!"

The two commanders fell silent, looking at the sea for a long time, feeling a little hopeful.They had been expecting that Catherine would lead a fleet full of cannonballs and appear in the Mediterranean on the sea breeze. They watched every day, but they could see nothing except the Turks' increasingly arrogant fleet and flying seabirds.

At this time, in Venice, a dozen Venetian warships escorted four merchant ships loaded with food and shells to sail to Greece.A merchant ship loaded with a large amount of shells is the focus of protection. Before departure, the consul told the fleet commander: If you encounter an interception by the enemy fleet and cannot win, you can abandon the merchant ship transporting food and concentrate on escorting the full load of shells. ship, send shells to Chandia at all costs!
The fleet chose a secret route, avoiding the bustling waterway and sailing towards Greece. Every step is cautious——now they have no arrogance, and everyone just hopes that they will not be discovered by the enemy, and they will be safe and sound Send ammunition supplies to Greece.

However, the sky didn't obey people's wishes, and several French warships appeared on the way and stopped them.If it was just a few French warships, the Venetians would not pay attention to them. The French are not a naval power, so it is easy to deal with them.But behind these sea country warships, there are more than 40 Dutch and Portuguese warships, and behind them, more than 20 British warships also appeared!The Western Europeans laughed loudly as they looked at the prey surrounded by them, and their wild shouts came from the sea breeze. The content was nothing more than: "Kill them! Be careful not to sink all the warships. The one who seizes a naval gun will be sealed." Title!"

These giant cannons from the east in Venice not only brought the fear of death to the enemy, but also attracted the covetousness of the enemy. They tried everything possible to seize a few of them and imitate them in the past, but they were unable to do so. This ambush was not so much a Destroying the Venetian fleet is more like simply wanting to capture a Venetian warship and obtain a few naval guns.

The Venetian sailors did not panic, the gunners took their positions, and all eyes were on the flagship.

The fleet commander's face was as dark as water, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Don't get entangled with these Western European barbarians, concentrate your firepower to kill a bloody one, and get to Greece as soon as possible!"

The semaphore was hung out, and the Snickers fleet formed a double arrow formation to protect the four merchant ships in the middle. The helmsman steered the steering skillfully, and the fleet turned to grab the wind. Like a huge iron arrow, the fleet rushed towards the weakest British fleet.A long distance away, the 130mm naval gun let out a terrible roar, and the shells burst out with sparks, whistling and flying towards the British fleet, and immediately a British warship burned violently... The British fleet opened fire vigorously, Large and small solid shot puts and chain bombs flew like a hailstorm, hitting the hull with sawdust flying around. The Venetian fleet didn't care, and sprinted at full speed, straight into the British flagship!The fleets of France, Portugal, and the Netherlands rushed up and were blocked by four broken warships in Venice. In an instant, three warships were hit... Moving like a thunder, swift like a cheetah, the roar of the giant guns made the Western European sailors The liver and gallbladder are broken, all this proves to the barbarians in Western Europe that the Venetian navy is still the king of the Mediterranean!
However, under the setting sun, the golden lion flag that has been flying for more than 800 years looks more and more bleak.

(End of this chapter)