Chapter 293: Battle of Constantinople (Part 1)

In order to support the front-line operations and the defense of the homeland, the hands of the artillery workshops were smoking. Some copper mines that were originally used for other things were used to make artillery, and the output of gunpowder and oil was also raised to a new height.

The price of copper in the local and Hungarian areas rose, and the ore and smelting business flourished. The trade in Transylvania and Serbia soared, and local merchants also made a lot of money.

However, the sea merchants were a little uncomfortable. Originally, they controlled most of the spice trade and made good money, but the Venetian warships suddenly came and went straight to Constantinople, which messed up the situation in the Aegean Sea. But seeing that the other party did not embarrass them, they continued to trade.

A considerable number of these sea merchants were engaged in oriental trade, that is, they took oriental goods from the port of Alexandria in Egypt and then resold them to Europe. Including red fruits and ivory from the East African plateau, oriental spices, cotton cloth, and silk, each of which can be sold at a high price.

Constantinople has become the world's trade center again, but it also needs to wait for the Venetian fleet to go away. With the mentality of watching the fun and making some money, some merchant ships were modified and followed with the commander's consent. The Roman commander who was broken through the siege also assembled a fleet to prepare for a closed-door battle with the Black Sea Fleet.

The Venetian fleet has sailed into the Propontis Sea, which is connected to the Black Sea from the northeast end through the Bosporus Strait and the Aegean Sea from the southwest through the Dardanelles Strait. It is the only channel between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

"Attention, all troops, Constantinople is ahead."

The pioneer ship cheered the sailors on it, and the so-called bishop of Constantinople appointed by the Pope also went with them. They couldn't wait to plunder the spoils.

The guards patrolling on the walls of Constantinople saw the Venetian fleet, and the flying lion of St. Mark on it was extremely dazzling. The news of the enemy's arrival spread throughout the city like the wind.

"Finally here"

Mircea appeared in armor at the door of Hagia Sophia, and Patriarch Anthony was blessing every soldier.

"Your Majesty!"

The Patriarch greeted Mircea. Now that the enemy was at hand, people from all walks of life in Constantinople united. Mircea also gave a speech to all the defenders in front of him.

"An unknown war is waiting for us. God has blessed this land, but the people in the past did not cherish it well and let those demons ruin it. We must never repeat the same mistakes."

"Roman warriors, take up your weapons and attack our enemies!"

Mircea's inspiring words boosted morale. The defenders climbed the city wall, the artillery was ready, and the iron chain of the Golden Horn was raised.

For the defending Constantinople, Simonyi adopted the old routine. Attack Galata and attack the landing from the weakest point.

"Attack!"

With Simonyi's order, the Venetian fleet quickly approached Galata. This time the defenders made sufficient preparations. There were more than 100 artillery pieces in Constantinople, and a large number of shells were fired at the Venetian ships, which caught the opponent off guard.

The Venetian fleet had never been hit by such dense artillery fire, and lost a lot of sailors and ships at the beginning. The Venetians connected the high-side sailboats in pairs and released the flying bridge, which was high enough to reach the tower of the city wall. A monk risked his life to climb the wall, thinking that he could catch the defenders off guard like his predecessors, but unfortunately he was greeted by the gushing Greek fire.

The soldier became a fire man with great honor and disappeared in the sea. Those Venetians who wanted to climb the city wall did not dare to go. Seeing this, the defenders destroyed the flying bridge and threw canned Greek fire.

"The Romans are prepared."

"My lord, what should we do?"

Simone thought about it and decided to use the small amount of artillery on his ship to attack the city wall. He also had to find a way to destroy the iron chain of the Golden Horn, which would make the defenders unable to split their forces.

There were also some soldiers who were not afraid of death who found a way to climb the tower of Galata, but there were very few of them, only more than 40 people, and they were quickly annihilated by the defenders. The cannons and catapults never rested, trying to prevent the Venetian ships from landing.

In the city, Patriarch Anthony led a procession with the statue of the Virgin Mary to inspire people's religious enthusiasm and make them believe that the Virgin Mary was blessing them. This boosted the morale of the city, and even the peasants around Constantinople were inspired by religious enthusiasm. Since there was no land army, it was undoubtedly difficult for Venice to take it by navy.

After retaking Constantinople in 1261, Michael VIII paid special attention to the strengthening and raising of the sea wall. In anticipation of the Latins' attempt to recapture Constantinople, the sea wall was raised by two meters. Ten years later, facing the threat of invasion by Charles I, the Byzantine Empire built another wall behind the original sea wall. In addition to the docks and ports, the Marmara Sea Wall was built on the coastline, 12-15 meters high, with ten gates, three small gates, and 188 towers.

After Mircea was crowned, he systematically repaired Constantinople, especially the sea wall, which was equipped with the most artillery. Therefore, the Venetian fleet could only charge forward, and he could not afford the consequences of retreat.

"Listen, we must take Galata. This is our only chance."

Simone could only let the ship continue to build a bridge to enter the tower, but it would always be burned by Greek fire, and with the attack power of artillery, Venice had already sunk ships.

"My lord, it's not good. There is a fleet heading towards us from the northeast."

"What?"

Simone couldn't believe it, but the news from several ships was the same, saying that a fleet of no less than 100 ships was heading in their direction.

"Damn it, this must be a Roman conspiracy, they are waiting for us to jump into the trap."

Simone painfully discovered that he, an experienced naval commander, was fooled. He trusted Venice's intelligence network too much. They must want to annihilate the Venetian fleet in the Sea of ​​Marmara in one fell swoop, so that Venice's pride would be gone.

"Quick, retreat quickly."

At this time, he no longer cared about the charge of escaping from the battlefield. In his opinion, preserving Venice's strength was the most important thing. But it was not easy to let so many ships retreat calmly. This could not avoid some collisions, and the artillery of Constantinople was still attacking, causing confusion for some ships.

But the sudden retreat order made the ships behind feel puzzled, but they still obeyed the command and prepared to withdraw from the Sea of ​​Marmara. However, they found that there was also a fleet heading towards them from behind, and they were the fleet that broke through the encirclement at the beginning. When allocating the ships, Nikephoros kept some in reserve. Some intact ships were waiting in Smyrna, waiting to set out after the Venetian fleet entered the Aegean Sea. This way, even if there were some losses, they could be quickly replenished.