June 10, Blachernae Palace.
Privy Council compiled battle reports from various places and suggested that the emperor approve the frontline's request and formally attack Venice Lagoon.
"Yes, inform the fleet to act safely and beware of the enemy's desperate counterattack. Lagoon has many ships. If converted into a fire attack ship, it can still threaten our main fleet."
As the war progresses to the final stage, Vitus pursues stability.
Eastern Mediterranean's Trade and fisheries are recovering, and the impact of the war is gradually dissipating. It is expected that Finance will reach breakeven this year, and may even have a surplus. Vitus does not want to put too much pressure on the front line, and there is no harm in delaying it until next year.
One week later, Corfu received a reply from Central Administration.
Cohen summoned the middle and high-level officers of the fleet, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and said slowly, "Two hundred and forty-four years have passed since 1204, nearly two and a half centuries. We are so lucky and honored to be able to participate in this war. Remember, the entire Rome is watching us."
As early as last month, the staff formulated a plan to attack Lagoon. Cohen asked the officers to circulate these documents to each other and announced that they would set off in five days.
This time, Eastern Roman Empire dispatched twenty Battleship, thirty Cruiser, twenty transport ships, and twenty large Medium Galley, with a total force of sixteen thousand people.
Leaving Corfu, the fleet passed Strait of Otranto smoothly.
The sea water in the Adriatic Sea is lighter in color and the wind direction is changeable. The coastline of Dalmatia in the east is zigzag. There are numerous islands, shoals and reefs marked on the map, and the hydrological conditions are complex.
In previous operations, Eastern Roman Empire occupied three large islands, and the enemy still controls some scattered islands. Some areas are suitable for ambushing fire attack ships, which may threaten the safety of the Eastern Roman Empire Battleship.
There are no complex fjords on the Italy coast in the west, and the terrain is low. It is mainly composed of open beaches and a small amount of shallow water Lagoon, making navigation safer.
Led by Galley and Cruiser, the fleet formed two columns with a total length of more than nine kilometers and sailed slowly along the west coast.
The sun was high, and Cohen was sitting in the shade, blowing the sea breeze, holding a copy of "Golden Horn News" to pass the time. The crew chatted with each other, discussing the bounty and personal whereabouts after the war.
"Brindisi!"
The lookout's shouts dispelled Cohen's tiredness. He took the telescope to the port side and instantly recognized Brindisi's landmarks - two stone pillars from the Rome period. After thousands of years of wind and rain, they still stand at the entrance of the harbor.
Dang! Dang! Dang!
The fleet discovered Brindisi, and the defenders at the harbor also noticed this huge fleet. They rang the bells desperately, causing a large-scale commotion at the dock.
"Timid Latins."
Cohen recalled that during the Michael VIII period, House of Anjou of Naples tried to invade Constantinople, and an urge arose in his heart to bombard the port.
Twenty Battleships can fire nearly 500 shells in one salvo, which can destroy the port in an instant. The enemy only has five coastal defense guns. Although naval guns are not suitable for shooting at coastal defense guns, under the absolute suppression of numbers, this statement no longer applies.
"Kill Venice first, and then I'll take care of you when I get the chance."
The fleet moves all the way north, and at intervals of half a day to a day, the outline of a town will appear on the coast.
The largest town is Bari, which was once an important seaport in the classical period. The houses on the shore are densely packed together, and the copper-green dome of the bell tower reflects dazzling luster in the midday sun.
Every two days, Cohen sends Galley into the harbor to purchase supplies and replenish fresh water and vegetables. The towns along the way did not dare to refuse, and the city council gave an extra generous gift to express their respect for Roman Navy.
Unconsciously, Adriatic Sea narrowed around Ancona, and the two sides were less than eighty miles apart.
The breeze blew, and the sea conditions here were calmer, as if driving on an inner lake. Cohen stood on the port side and looked at the coast. A huge limestone arch stood on the edge of Ancona's port. Historical records indicate that this was a triumphal arch built by Emperor Trajan.
One day further sailing north, the fleet entered the coast of Venice, and the atmosphere became tense and serious.
July 1st, late at night.
There was still half a day's flight before Lagoon. Cohen personally served as the night officer and stayed on the deck to enjoy the cool night breeze.
As early as three days ago, Eastern Roman Empire's reconnaissance fleet arrived at the entrance of Lagoon, always alert to the enemy's movements. Once a large-scale fleet leaves Lagoon, the advance fleet will return to report as soon as possible.
While anchored at night, the main fleet put down numerous armed Longboats and cruised slowly in the surrounding waters. If the crew of Longboat spotted suspicious fire or black shadows, they would immediately fire warning shots and row the famous Longboat over to intercept them.
After a night of worry, Cohen stayed up until the early morning of July 2. Boatswain rang the ship's bell to remind the day shift sailors to take over the night shift duties. The sailors on the stern of the ship were turning the capstan to raise the heavy anchor from below the water.
After breakfast, Cohen handed over the command to his deputy, "I'm going to catch up on my sleep. Wake me up when you arrive at the Lagoon entrance."
Returning to the captain's cabin, Cohen was lying on the swaying hammock. He was extremely excited and finally forced himself to fall asleep. He was woken up by the officer not long after.
"Arrived at Lagoon?"
Cohen walked quickly to the top of the deck. The blazing sunshine made him squint his eyes, and the excited chatter of the crew rang in his ears.
Under the summer sunshine, the sea surface in the nearshore area is calm. In front of it is a narrow sandbar running north to south and more than ten miles long, which has become the natural breakwater of Venice Lagoon and is called Lido(l).
Dark green salt-tolerant shrubs and wild grasses grow on the sandbank, and a small number of pine trees grow in some areas. The beach glows white in the sun, and a strong smell of sea wafts in the air.
Its maximum width does not exceed four hundred steps, and some areas are only dozens of steps wide. There is also a narrow channel in the middle that can be used by small fishing boats. It is currently blocked by sunken ships and iron chains. The real main channel is located at the southern and northern ends of the sandbar.
There are some fishermen's shacks scattered on the sandbank. Close to the inside of Lagoon, a small amount of salt fields have been reclaimed. Under the sun, the white salt crystals sparkle.
On the west side of the sandbank is the vast Venice Lagoon. From a distance, a majestic city seems to be floating on the light blue lake.
The most conspicuous building is St. Mark’s Campanile, with a golden angel placed on the top of the brick-red spire, attracting the attention of the crew, followed by the Governor’s Palace, St. Mark’s Basilica and other large landmark buildings.
In this battle, the fleet specially brought reporters from "Roman Monthly" and "Golden Horn News". They were placed on board a Armed Merchant Ship and sketched with charcoal.
Some painters set up wooden frames on the deck, quickly sketched the outline in front of them with quills, and then colored it with watercolors as materials for future oil paintings.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, the captain of a Cruiser came over and reported, "Your Excellency, the channel at the southern end of the sandbank is blocked by iron chains and sunken ships. The Chioggia Fortress behind it has been reinforced, with new city walls and numerous artillery."
In 1379, Genoa sent a navy to occupy Chioggia Fortress.
This was the most dangerous moment for Venice. There were Hungary troops on land and Genoa fleets at sea. At that time, Governor wanted to surrender, but was rejected by the Genoa fleet.
In a desperate situation, Venice recruited a large number of civilians to join the army, revitalized the navy, and forcibly blocked the southern exit of Lido Island. After several months of siege, Chioggia Fortress's Genoa army surrendered, and Venice got rid of the crisis.
Today's Venice has learned the lesson of losing Chioggia. It is difficult for the Eastern Roman Empire to replicate the success of the Genoa people and easily capture this fortress.
Subsequently, another ship Galley came to report that the channel on the north side of the sandbar was also blocked. The enemy's fortress had strong firepower and was not suitable for a fierce attack.
The channels at the northern, middle and southern ends were all blocked, and the Eastern Roman Empire fleet could only stay outside Lagoon. Cohen issued an order to the fleet's senior management:
"Stop the attack and execute Plan Three tonight."
The core area of the main island Venice is 3.6 kilometers away from Lido on the east side. The fleet is anchored on the sea more than 300 meters away on the east side of Lido. The distance between the fleet and the core area of the main island is nearly four kilometers.
If the fleet launches Rocket now, Rocket needs to fly four kilometers, which is almost its ultimate range, and the hit rate is extremely low.
Cohen's plan is to attack at night, send Marine Battalion to land on Lido Island, occupy a small unguarded area, and then launch Rocket from Lido Island to shorten part of the launch distance.
In the next half day, the main force of the Eastern Roman Empire was anchored off the coast of Lido Island, while a few warships sailed north and south along Lido Island to scout the island's defense situation.
"Greece people!" On the south side of Lagoon, the defenders of Chioggia Fortress saw a Battleship approaching, and hurriedly fired it. The iron bullets fired by more than ten heavy cannons passed over two kilometers of the Caspian Sea, causing small splashes of water near the battleship.
Seeing the embarrassing appearance of the enemy ships turning around and fleeing, the morale of the fortress defenders was greatly boosted. Governor took the opportunity to appease the nobles:
"I swear, it is impossible for the enemy fleet to enter the interior of Lagoon. If it takes half a year, Emperor Greece will agree to our request for peace talks sooner or later. Venice has existed for hundreds of years and has experienced countless wars and hardships, and will continue to exist in the future."
At dusk, the Eastern Roman Empire fleet sailed away from the offshore area of Lido Island and found a relatively safe coast to anchor.
As night fell, fifteen transport ships and ten Cruiser quietly returned to Lido Island. The full moon hung high, and the sea surface reflected the silver-white moonlight. The Longboat was lowered on both sides of the transport ship. The soldiers of Marine Battalion stepped on the rope ladder to the inside of Longboat, and carefully paddled to the beach two hundred steps away.
After daytime investigation, they found that Lido Island has a long and narrow area, and a defensive stronghold was built close to the waterway, which concentrated most of the remaining Army in Venice. The remaining area was not taken seriously and there were very few troops.
"Pull quickly!"
The sergeant stood behind Longboat at the helm, urging the soldiers to row as hard as they could. After Longboat rushed onto the beach, a few people carried Matchlock to guard, while most people took out shovels and cloth bags from inside Longboat, went to the higher pine forest, and began to dig the soil desperately.
The soil in Lido Island is soft and moist, making it easy to dig. The soldiers put the soil into cloth bags and piled it outside the shallow trench as a bunker.
The sea breeze blows from the west, carrying the unique rotten smell of Lagoon. The lake reflects the full moon and stars. At the intersection of all the stars, a city with bright lights floats.
The battalion commander and staff members discussed in low voices and identified the direction of St. Mark's Square, where there was a denser halo of light, warm and fuzzy.
On the west side of the square, a string of dimmer lights spread along the main canal. On both sides of the main canal were noble residences, which were brightly lit. The area a little further away was populated by civilians, who were dimly lit.
"Who!"
An angry shout interrupted the silence of the pine forest. A group of Venice soldiers on patrol passed by and suddenly discovered these Longboat hidden in the bushes. Someone immediately fired a gun into the sky to attract the attention of the remaining patrolmen.
"Kill them all!" Black Sea Marine Battalion's soldiers picked up their weapons and swarmed forward, knocking down most of the enemies with a round of volley fire. The remaining enemies were stabbed to death with spears, and no one escaped.
Fierce gunfire and shouts of killing echoed in the night sky, arousing the vigilance of the Venice people. The fortress located at the northern end of Lido Island sent more soldiers southward along the narrow sandbar.
It was two o'clock in the morning. Marine Battalion had been busy for three hours, building numerous fortifications with earth bags and tree trunks. With the help of bunkers, they defeated the reinforcements sent from the northern fortress.
The battalion commander huddled behind the bunker and ordered his soldiers, "Send a signal and notify the fleet to send Rocket over!"
Phew~
A red firework shot into the sky.
After receiving the signal, a large Galley outside Lagoon launched a beach wash.
After Galley ran aground, the crew used iron axes to break open the cabin planks and transported one thousand Rocket to the launch site one after another.
At this time, the galley battleship inside Lagoon fired at the hillside. The shells passed over the dark water and hit the earth bags piled by the Eastern Roman Empire soldiers, making only a muffled sound.
The battalion commander saw more Venice warships approaching from the inside of Lagoon, so he urged the friendly forces, "Don't waste time, hurry up and light the fire."
Hiss~
A bunch of orange sparks shot upward along the fuse, and the crew member who started the fire instinctively took a few steps back.
The next moment, the Rocket on the stand trembled violently, and its tail sprayed out a flame that was several feet long, illuminating the entire open space as white as day. With the help of the reaction force of the gunpowder jet, it screamed and flew towards the distant island, drawing a crooked trajectory in the night sky.
The first batch of fifty Rocket were fired, and their screams were superimposed to create an extremely terrifying sound.
Not long after, they trailed dazzling tail flames down. Some Rocket deviated from the target as expected and landed on the surrounding lake. Some Rocket landed on the east side of the island, blooming more than a dozen orange-red flames.
The second batch of Rocket rose into the night sky and flew towards the island in the center of Lagoon again...
Finally, Rocket was launched, and the position fell into an eerie silence. The soldiers slumped on the ground and gasped, looking at the small fire on the east side of the island.
Marine Battalion Commander and the officers used telescopes to observe and found that the fires on the east side of the island were scattered with each other and there was no sign of spreading.
The battalion commander slammed the earth bag and said to himself, "Their city is divided into dozens of areas by rivers. The Rocket salvo cannot achieve the expected effect. I think the Rocket should be aimed at the areas where ships gather, and the damage effect will be better."