After the evacuation of Venetian Fleet, the crew of the Eastern Roman Empire did not dare to relax and always maintained a state of combat readiness. They stayed up all night in the cold sea breeze until the eastern sky turned pale.
In the early morning, Fabius took a light boat Galley and sailed to the entrance of the bay.
The sky is blue, and a group of seagulls are flying in the sky. Looking from a distance, No. 3 and No. 4 Floating Gun Platform are slightly tilted. It should be an imbalance caused by water leakage in the bottom tank.
Soon, Galley docked on the side of No. 3 Fort. Fabius climbed up the rope ladder to the deck and smelled a strong smell of blood.
The crew members were listless. Some were cleaning the deck with sea water pumped by the water pump, while others were dozing off against the side. There were many corpses on the stern deck, and a black-robed priest was praying softly.
Fabius A rough count showed that more than seventy crew members were killed, including the captain and first mate.
Upon seeing this, the second officer who was in charge of the temporary command ran over and reported:
"The hull was moderately damaged, and we carried out emergency leak repairs, but seawater continued to pour into the cabin. Of the 260 members, 75 were killed and 80 were injured. Six artillery received direct hits and cracks appeared in the barrels..."
There are only one hundred and five people left!
Fabius felt scared in his heart. Fortunately, the vision was dim at night and the enemy could not see clearly how many crew members there were on Floating Gun Platform. If they forced a boarding battle, the surviving crew members would not be able to withstand the attack and would have to abandon the ship and run away.
Fabius Follow the stairs to the second deck, where two water pumps are placed. Eight crew members are assigned to each water pump. They vigorously shake the handle to continuously pump out the water in the bottom tank.
At the top of the water pump, a Cast Iron water outlet extended out of the gun window, and turbid seawater flowed outward. "It has been several hours since the battle ended, and you haven't blocked all the loopholes?" Fabius bypassed the water pump at the stern and walked towards the ladder leading to the bottom cabin.
The ladder continued downward, as if leading to a bottomless abyss. The ship's planks on both sides felt wet and slippery, exuding a strong musty smell.
Fabius came to the bottom cabin. The water here reached knee height. The water was bitingly cold and soaked through his military boots and trouser legs.
The crew is sealing the leak. The water surface shows a significant inclination along the longitudinal axis of the hull, and the water on the port side is deeper than other locations.
There were more than a dozen dim oil lamps hanging on the beams, and the lights cast broken light and shadow on the water. Every time the ship's hull swayed slightly with the waves, those light and shadows were broken and reorganized, like a mirror that was constantly broken and healed.
Fabius slowly walked towards the deepest area. The water surface rose from the knees to the chest. The ship deck here was obviously darker than elsewhere. Five crew members were responsible for repairing leaks in this area.
The visibility under water is almost zero, and it relies entirely on touch. The crew's working method is simple and primitive: a crew member takes a deep breath, closes his eyes and dives into the water, groping along the ship's plank with his hands under the dark and cold water, looking for any possible cracks or holes.
After each exploration of a small area, the crew surfaced for air and pointed out the general location of the leak. After confirmation, the "tinker" among them dived into the water with hemp soaked in Tar and wooden wedges to try to plug the leak.
"Dry Dock can only be towed back to the port for repair."
Fabius feels that this method of repairing leaks treats the symptoms rather than the root cause, and requires an overhaul at Dry Dock.
Currently, there is only one Floating Gun Platform on standby inside the military port. If No. 3 and No. 4 are to be repaired at the same time, an additional warship will need to be dispatched to take over the vacancy.
After a little thought, he asked Smyrna, who had served the longest, to perform this task. Fabius was busy throughout the day and re-deployed two lines of defense at the entrance of the bay to prevent the enemy fleet from returning and launching another night attack.
However, this worry is unnecessary. According to reports from Cruiser and nearby coasts, the main force of Venice's fleet left the offshore area and headed due north.
The officers speculated that the enemy would most likely go to Lemnos (north of the Aegean Sea), where there is a medium-sized military port at Venice, which can be used for temporary rest and reorganization.
However, Lemnos's port capacity is limited. There is only one large Dry Dock and two medium-sized docks, and the maintenance speed is very slow.
The island has a sparse population and insufficient material reserves. The main force of Venetian Fleet can only stay temporarily and will return to Crete after a while.
March 18, west entrance of Dardanelles Strait.
In the afternoon, the sun was warm, and a Cruiser with Palaiologos Flag loaded with sails broke into the strait from west to east.
Not far behind are three Venice battleships flying the blue lion flag.
The width of the entrance to the strait is more than two miles, and the artillery range on the north and south shores is insufficient to bombard the sea surface in the middle. The Venice warship went deep into the strait for a certain distance until the sea surface gradually narrowed, and a sea-blocking iron chain appeared in front of it.
The sea here is only 1.4 miles wide, and the artillery on both sides is enough to block the sea.
After receiving several shells, the three Venice warships turned around one after another and sailed away from the heavily guarded strait. Half an hour later, the Venice warships merged with the main fleet. The captain boarded the flagship and reported the reconnaissance situation to Admiral Marcello.
Marcello picked up a beautifully decorated brass telescope and stared at the coastal defense fortress at the entrance of the strait. He said in a helpless tone, "There is no need to attack by force. Let the Cruiser and Galleass warships spread out and bombard the fishing villages and towns on the nearby coast."
Before the war started, Venice merchant ships often passed through this strait. According to the reports submitted by the captains, numerous coastal defense fortresses were built internally.
Even if Venetian Fleet destroyed the first iron chain blocking the sea under artillery fire, there would be second and third chains behind it... The strait is forty miles long, and Venetian Fleet would not be able to break through it.
The second method is to send Army ashore, capture those coastal defense fortresses, and dismantle the sea-blocking iron cables.
This idea is even more unrealistic. Venice Army needs to storm multiple fortresses, and has to face Field Legion led by the emperor himself. The winning rate is almost zero.
"How can we win this war relying on those rubbish from the Army?"
Marcello was amused by his own thoughts.
Assuming that Army has this ability, we would have already unified the entire Northern Italy, started to march into Florence, Papal States, and maybe captured Naples and Sicily in the south.
For the next five days, Venetian Fleet blocked the west side of Dardanelles Strait and shelled the nearby coast to its heart's content. No warships from the Eastern Roman Empire were encountered during the whole process.
Before leaving, Marcello stood on the stern deck of the ship, focusing on the forts made of large limestones. "The artillery at the beginning of this century had a very short range, uneven quality, and frequent explosions. Its function was limited to attacking cities at close range, and was not enough to block the strait."
In the past twenty years or so, artillery technology has developed rapidly. Various countries have popularly used bronze cannons. Italy City State, France, Palaiologos Dynasty, and Bohemia can all cast heavy cannons with a range of more than 600 steps.
With the help of these heavy artillery, the enemy realized their long-cherished wish - to block Dardanelles Strait and Bosphorus Strait. From now on, we will never be able to repeat the glorious record of 1204."