Chapter 294: Battle of Constantinople (Part 2)

After the Venetian fleet entered the Sea of ​​Marmara, the fleet stationed in Smyrna set sail to join the fleet defeated by Venice and went to blockade the Venetian fleet, preparing to annihilate them in one fell swoop.

"My lord, there are Roman ships behind us and we are surrounded."

When Simeone heard the news, he was stunned for a moment and then laughed. I didn't expect that Rome would learn to be smart. It was really different from the waste of Angelos a hundred years ago, and I was not the former governor. This was all God's will.

But he didn't believe it. He wanted to take the fleet back to Venice. Venice could always save the day, and it was the same this time.

"Sir, they are running away."

"Chase, don't let them get away."

Following the order of Nikephoros, the Roman navy went to encircle this group of the strongest naval forces in the Mediterranean. The entire Sea of ​​Marmara is very lively, with hundreds of ships fighting here, and this will also determine who will be the future maritime overlord of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Simeone once again resorted to Venice's specialty of jumping gangs. In order to deal with the firepower, he placed some ships in front as shields, and except for the necessary sailors, everyone else moved to the ships behind. The Roman navy on the periphery kept firing artillery. This time the firepower was more intense than last time, and Venice slowed down for a while.

"Bring out the great gift for the Venetians!"

Where the cannons were originally placed, there were two very large siphons, behind which were a large amount of Greek fire, specially prepared for Venice.

When the two sides were close to a certain distance, flames suddenly spurted out from the exit. This time it was even more intense than the previous regular Greek fire. The charging ships were directly covered in fire and sank to the bottom of the sea.

"Continue to break through and don't let the Romans succeed."

Simeone became anxious at this time. He had to break out of the encirclement quickly, so he kept asking the fleet to fight. The Venetian navy also rushed forward to use its own strengths and attacked with its few artillery pieces. But because there are troops at both ends, Venice cannot take care of both ends, and the formation becomes chaotic.

"Your Excellency General, the Murano...it is going to end!" The adjutant looked at the burning ship in horror, with sailors and soldiers on fire jumping from the high side of the ship into the sea, while more people were in the sea of ​​​​fire. Running and crying. This was one of the finest ships in Venice, and it was just gone.

Following closely behind was another battleship named the Griffin. When it was shrouded in fire, it was destined to follow in the footsteps of the Murano. Looking at the blazing front, General Simeone did not speak for a long time.

"Holy Father, Holy Son and Holy Spirit, why is this happening? Have we been abandoned by you?" A naval battle that he is best at actually ended like this. General Simone could not believe his eyes. He even felt that This is a nightmare. If someone had told him before the war that he would fail in this naval battle, then General Simeone would definitely doubt the opponent's IQ and judgment.

If he continues to fight like this, he doesn't know if he can bring his fleet back. Maybe this war was wrong from the beginning. They overestimated their strength and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The wrong war was fought with the wrong enemy.

As the most powerful battleship was sunk, Simone's heart gradually became cold. War has always been a continuation of politics, and the purpose of war is to serve politics. He knew clearly that even if he broke through, he would suffer heavy losses. If Rome sent other fleets to the west by then, the consequences would be disastrous.

At this time, Roman warships sent him a letter with bows and arrows, asking him to surrender with the Venetian fleet. But years of national pride led him to refuse, and he responded with an even more violent attack.

Then the Roman fleet attacked. The Roman warships, led by Nicephorus, were repulsed in both attacks (the first with 55 ships and the second with 90 ships). During a third attack with 100 warships after receiving reinforcements, Rome captured the Venetian ships. The command ship "Grus" capsized and sank during the battle, and Simonyi committed suicide before becoming a prisoner of war. Then came the annihilation of the remaining defensive forces and the rescue of the wounded. The naval battle of Constantinople, which lasted for one day, came to an end.

In this battle, Venice dispatched 202 warships and 99 armed merchant ships. 77 merchant ships and 102 warships were destroyed, and the rest were captured by Rome. On the Roman side, there were 155 warships and 82 armed merchant ships, with losses of 53 and 38 respectively.

In terms of human losses, Rome sacrificed 1,660 sailors in exchange for more than 10,000 Venetian sailors dying at sea, and the remaining 4,000 people were captured. They will keep Alvio company.

"Your Majesty, we...we finally defeated Venice with dignity and dignity."

Angel told Mircea the joy from the whole city. After hearing the news of the victory in the naval battle, the people flocked to Hagia Sophia and the Royal Palace just to see Emperor Mircea and Patriarch Anthony who stood up in this battle.

"Yes, we finally won. The days when the Romans acted based on the Venetians are gone forever."

Mircea took off his helmet and enjoyed the cheers and congratulations of the soldiers. They have been waiting for this victory for too long, but looking at it now, all the hard work was worth it.

The impact of this battle was huge. First of all, Venice's naval power was exhausted, and the attack on Crete and Rhodes could be accelerated. Secondly, Venice's naval power is insufficient and it can enter the Adriatic Sea unscrupulously to cut off their maritime trade lines, which will make it easier to force them to surrender and destroy them.

The bells of Hagia Sophia kept ringing, and Mircea also ordered the news to be passed to Peter's camp, asking him to seize the time to break through Venice. At the same time, today was set as a celebration day, which could be celebrated every year.

Mircea also dealt with the most critical matter. He issued the final attack order to Crete and Rhodes, and sent the navy to cut off their maritime trade lines and force them to surrender. Everything was going on in an orderly manner.

Roman merchants could continue their trade in the East. There were too many things piled up in Alexandria. It was not known when the canal would be opened, so there would be no need to go to Egypt, and they could buy directly in Constantinople. And it was heard that someone had set up a trading post in the East for trading, and they made a lot of money.

This also further stimulated the exploration characteristics of the Romans, and they began to enter the West Asia region for trade. The envoys who went to Samarkand before also met Timur, who was very welcoming to them. Timur also evaluated Mircea as the most peace-loving and invincible king. He proposed to develop economic relations between the two countries, and the envoys also agreed. The two sides drank and talked happily.