At noon, the meeting was coming to an end, and only the Foreign Affairs matter was left to be processed.
Venice proposed peace talks, but was unanimously opposed by the emperor and Cabinet.
Followed by Georgia in the East, King Vakhtang sent a lengthy report introducing the recent war process between White Sheep and Black Sheep.
Although Black Sheep Dynasty is huge in size, Uzon Hassan has excellent commanding ability and has repeatedly defeated the many with a small number, severely damaging the Black Sheep army.
Last month, White Sheep Army captured Tabriz. Uzong Hassan gained the allegiance of many tribes and gained momentum.
Black Sheep is wooing Timur Empire. If the latter agrees to join the war, Black Sheep still has a weak hope of making a comeback.
Georgia Army was defeated by Uzon Hassan, and this war left a deep shadow on Vakhtang. In his description, White Sheep's threat level reached the level of Ottoman's heyday, and he asked Rome to pay attention to it.
"No, the nature of the two parties is different."
Vitus put down the king's letter and pointed out the difference between White Sheep and Ottoman.
The two sides have similar ancestry, but their political systems and customs are very different.
White Sheep is a feudal dynasty with a strong tribal flavor. Its strength depends on the ruler's personal ability. If the ruler has outstanding abilities and surrounding tribes come to join him, this power will expand rapidly.
When this powerful monarch dies, assuming that his successor is less capable and unable to control the tribes under his command, there is a high probability that he will face civil strife and the dynasty will decline.
This process is similar to the rise and fall of Steppe Khanate. It rises at an extremely fast speed and declines at an extremely fast speed, like a bright meteor.
The birthplace of Ottoman is the west of Anatolia. It borrowed part of the system from the Eastern Roman Empire and gradually grew into a centralized military empire.
Ottoman has a unique Devshirme System: officials regularly recruit Christian children from the private sector and train them in categories.
The brightest children enter the inner court school of the Topkapi Palace, and the learning period lasts for more than ten years, and finally enter the civil service class. The strong children enter the New Army preparatory camp, and eventually become members of Janissaries.
Based on this "Deshemime" alone, Ottoman's civilian and military officer qualities are significantly ahead of the White Sheep Dynasty's, and the strengths of the two sides are not at the same level at all.
"Today, times have changed. New firearms, Trace Italienne, have appeared one after another. Although Uzong Hassan has military talents close to Timur, he cannot achieve similar achievements to the latter.
The affairs on the eastern front are put on hold for now. If White Sheep Dynasty defeats the Black Sheep and Timur coalition forces, I will personally go over and deal with him."
Vitus said to himself and walked out of the hall, ending this annual meeting.
During lunch, Agnes suddenly mentioned something, "Florence sent a letter to inquire about the comparison of the naval strength of Rome and Venice. Asking when the war will end."
"Venice cannot give up Ionian Islands and Crete. We can only keep fighting. At least this year, there is no possibility of a truce."
Before 1204, Venice competed fiercely with Italy city-states such as Genoa, Pisa, and had not yet formed a monopoly.
After Enrico Dandolo's planning, Venice acquired numerous overseas territories and built a huge Trade network, quickly widening the gap with other city-states.
According to the data, the population size of Venice in the twelfth century remained at 40,000 to 50,000.
Beginning in the 13th century, Venice entered a period of prosperity. Goods and taxes from overseas territories poured into the mainland. The number of urban residents exceeded one hundred thousand, making it the most prosperous commercial center in Europe.
If they lose their overseas territories, it will trigger a chain collapse of the commercial system, most of the population will lose their livelihood, and they will not even be able to maintain the scale of the city in the twelfth century.
Therefore, Vitus feels that it is impossible for the enemy to compromise and will definitely persist until the last moment.
In early February, Mediterranean Sea, Scala.
Felix was sleeping in the hammock in the captain's cabin. The hammock was shaking slightly, and there was a small pool of dried wine stains on the ground.
At some point, noisy footsteps were heard above the deck. Felix was woken up. He yawned and came to the open deck, where the crew was adjusting the sail cables and complaining about the changing wind direction.
Felix walks to the stern of the ship and uses a telescope to observe the sea on the east side.
The leaden sky was low in pressure, and the waves on the sea were undulating. With his eyes wide open, he saw the occasional shadow of a sail behind the sea fog.
"Damn Venice people, why are you still chasing?"
Two months ago, Battle of Antikythera ended, and Scala suffered minor damage. It continued to cruise around Eastern Mediterranean, hunting the ships of Venice and Mamluk.
On a certain voyage, Scala was lucky enough to encounter two Venice warships. One of the warships was in poor condition. It seemed to have been damaged in a storm, and it tilted significantly while sailing.
At that time, Felix seized the opportunity, used the wind direction to circle to the stern of the damaged warship, and after firing multiple rounds, successfully sank the warship.
Among the crew members who fell into the water, two were wearing gorgeous Venice costumes, and five others were wearing clothes that were obviously Mamluk aristocratic style. Felix was so excited that he celebrated that he had solved the Mamluk mission.
Facts have proved that his guess was roughly correct.
After the damaged warship sank, another Venice warship seemed to go crazy and pursued Scala fiercely.
The Venice battleship is larger in size, has fifteen side guns, and has a larger crew. It is best at hunting light Cruiser like Scala.
Helpless, Scala fled westward. Three days ago, it passed through the sea area between Sicily Island and Tunisia and officially entered Western Mediterranean.
The first mate came over and asked in a low voice, "The enemy ship is still pursuing us, what should we do now? Take refuge at Florence, or continue to the west?"
Felix raised his head and looked at the wind direction. It was northeasterly. Scala could only continue driving west, hoping to get rid of the pursuers as soon as possible.
In the afternoon, heavy dark clouds accumulated in the sky, and the sea became violent, which was a precursor to the coming heavy rain.
It stands to reason that the crew should furl most of the sails, then adjust the bow of the ship and adopt a "slow sail against the wind" strategy to keep the ship floating slowly and safely weather the storm.
But Felix decided to take a gamble and wanted to use this storm to escape the enemy's pursuit.
During the voyage, the captain's orders cannot be questioned.
The crew was busy in silence, sealing the gun windows, tying the gun carriage with double ropes, and furling the easily damaged sails...
After all this work, most of the crew retreated into the cabin to avoid the wind and waves, and only a few of the most skilled crew members stayed on the deck waiting for orders.
Not long after, the sky suddenly darkened, cold raindrops fell from the sky, and the rain gradually increased. Felix tied himself to the steering wheel with a rope and faced the storm personally.
"The waves are coming!"
Along with the shouts of Felix, Scala was first lifted to a high place by the waves, and then plunged into the valley of the waves. The cold sea water overflowed the deck, and the hull of Oak made a tooth-gripping moan.
The waves continued, and Felix stared at the undulating sea with his eyes, occasionally turning the steering wheel to avoid being hit by waves sideways.
The sky is dark, and sometimes a bolt of lightning breaks through the clouds, and the world suddenly lights up for a moment, and then goes dark again.
The crew on the deck desperately grabbed the ropes around them, and the cold waves came one after another, washing everything on the deck endlessly.
"May you have mercy on me and let me weather this storm..."
The deck echoed with the crew's whispered prayers and confessions. Felix didn't bother to do this. He roared the vulgar boat songs of the fishermen in his hometown. The stronger the wind and waves, the louder his voice rose accordingly.
After a long time, Felix's voice became hoarse. At this time, the storm gradually slowed down, the rain stopped, the sea surface was rolling with turbid white waves, and a thin golden line quietly appeared in the clouds in the distance.
After the most dangerous moment passed, the crew in the bottom tank went onto the deck, cleaned up the debris, and re-unhooked the sails high on the mast.
Felix handed the steering wheel to another officer, walked to the stern of the ship and observed the sea on the east side, and found that the enemy ship was still following behind!
The first mate sighed, "Captain, you really made the other side anxious this time. If you continue like this, the brothers will flee to Atlantic Ocean."
Felix shook his wet short hair, took off his two boots, and poured out the seawater inside. "Even if I escape to the underworld, I will never surrender."
After saying that, he couldn't wait to return to the captain's cabin, noticed a large amount of red wine flowing on the floor, and hurriedly opened the locker.
"My treasured wine!"
The most tragic thing happened. A small wine barrel was damaged in the bumps just now, and the bright red wine flowed out from the crack. Felix quickly picked up the wine barrel and drank the remaining wine quickly.
"Fortunately the other barrels were not damaged."
He burped loudly, put on another crisp officer's uniform, and returned to the hammock to catch up on his sleep.
Subsequently, Scala continued to sail westward. The food on the ship was getting worse and worse. The bread was as hard as ballast. The crew used daggers to cut the bread into the smallest possible pieces and threw it into the broth to soak it until soft.
The meat was Salt Beef in barrels distributed by Admiralty. Because it had been stored for too long, the color of the bacon was dim and it tasted like chewing cardboard.
The supply of alcohol has also been reduced, and crew members can only receive half a glass of wine or beer every day, which is not enough to moisten their throats.
Amid endless complaints, the sea ahead gradually narrowed, and Scala arrived at the exit of the Mediterranean Sea - Gibraltar Strait.
It is noon now, the daylight is dim and pale, a gray-blue sky stretches to the horizon, the sea surface is gray-green, and the swells are steady and low.
The direction on the port side is Africa, Berbers. The white houses climb up the hillside in layers from the coast, looming in the mist, like a pile of shells scattered on the brown ridge.
The crew mainly gathered on the starboard side, looking at the Rock of Gibraltar in the north and shouting, "Hera-cles Pillar!"
The height of the giant rock is about three hundred steps. The cliff facing the sea is gray-white, with some low bushes growing on the top, like a Titan that has been forgotten by time.
Hera-cles is the most famous demigod hero in ancient Greece mythology. According to legend, he split Atlas Mountains and connected Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
Therefore, the Rock of Gibraltar on the north side of the Strait and Jebel Musa on the south side are called the Pillars of Hera-cles.
(Note: In the early days of the Roman Empire, many monarchs had the title "Hera-cles", such as Commodus, Maximian, to show their strength and bravery.
Although the official belief of the Eastern Roman Empire is Eastern Orthodox Church, the deeds of classical heroes have been circulated among the people. The name Heraclius is derived from Hera-cles.)
After a while, the lookout on the mast issued a warning. "The damn Venice battleship is catching up again! Ten miles away."
Is this a plan to kill everyone?
Felix laughed angrily and ordered the second mate at the helm, "Full sail forward, enter Atlantic Ocean!"
The ocean current on the surface of the strait is from west to east, and the sea water continues to flow from Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea. Scala sails against the current, and the speed is greatly affected.
Driven by the northeasterly wind, Scala slowly drove past Gibraltar Strait and entered a strange and open sea area.
Felix found the navigation manual from the captain's cabin and turned to the last few pages. Here is a brief summary of the sea conditions of Atlantic Ocean, as well as three charts from different eras.
"When Admiralty wrote the manual, he would never have imagined that an unlucky ship would be chased Atlantic Ocean."
He called a meeting with the officers on the ship to discuss the next battle plan.
Atlantic Ocean has bigger winds and waves, and extreme weather is frequent and violent, which requires higher wind and wave resistance and maneuverability of the ship.
When designing ships such as Scala, emphasis is placed on wind and wave resistance to ensure that they can operate in severe weather.
The enemy ship has more artillery and a larger hull. The disadvantage is that its center of gravity is slightly higher, which weakens its resistance to wind and waves and cannot withstand the harsh sea conditions of Atlantic Ocean.
Finally, Felix concluded:
"There is no need to fight head-on with the enemy ship. After a while, it will most likely be damaged. Then we will find an opportunity to kill it."
In the afternoon of that day, the wind direction changed to west wind, and the speed of Scala suddenly slowed down.
Suddenly, Felix remembered the ocean currents mentioned in the navigation manual:
From the Iberia peninsula in the north to the Sahara Desert in the south, the sea water flows from north to south, which is the case all year round. The Portugal people went to Africa to explore, taking advantage of this north-to-south sea current.
He ordered the sails to be furled and asked the crew to throw a fan-shaped plank with a long rope tied to the sea. He found that the plank spontaneously drifted southward.
"Hey, the book is right!"
Felix excitedly made a record in the voyage log, but suddenly felt confused in his heart.
The civil servants of Admiralty have never visited Atlantic Ocean, how do they know the ocean currents and wind direction here?
After thinking about it for a long time, Felix felt that it was the fault of Cyprus Despot and the second prince Theodore.
Theodore has funded the expeditions of Portugal people, and has kept in touch with several Portugal captains all year round. Perhaps someone mentioned this in a letter, which eventually became the source of information for Admiralty.
Another possibility is that Admiralty personally contacted the captains who had been to Atlantic Ocean and spent money to buy such information.
"The civil servants did a good job, but the information is a bit lacking."
Felix read the ocean currents, wind directions, and special landmarks on the coast recorded in the book, and decided to sail south along the coast.