On the east side of Lido Island, Adriatic Sea, Cohen and the fleet's senior officials stayed on the deck of a Cruiser, observing the entire process of the night attack.
After observing for a long time, the staff concluded three reasons:
The urban area is dominated by stone buildings, which are not easy to burn.
The entire city is divided into numerous neighborhoods by rivers, making it difficult for fires to spread.
People can get water nearby to put out the fire, which further weakens the killing effect of Rocket.
A staff officer couldn't help but sigh, "The cost of a heavy-duty Rocket is as high as sixteen Florin. Tonight's night attack cost sixteen thousand. It's really expensive to fight."
From the perspective of Cohen, sixteen thousand Florin are not in vain. Venice Lagoon has strong defenses and it is too difficult to capture the main island. This night attack will significantly weaken the enemy's will to resist and make them realize one fact:
Venice main island is no longer safe.
Venice has stood for hundreds of years and has never been captured by any foreign enemy. This is the reason why they call themselves "Most Serene Republic" (nma).
In 810 AD, Pepin, the successor of Charlemagne, attacked Venice. Franks's army was trapped in the complex terrain of Lagoon and was unable to land on the main island.
At the end of the ninth century, the Magyars people plundered the Northern Italy, looted and burned the towns on the shore, but they were unable to do anything about the Venice floating in the center of the Lagoon.
The third large-scale siege occurred in the last century. The Genoa fleet occupied Chioggia Fortress. The residents on St. Mark's Square could even see the bonfires of the enemy camp at night.
However, the Venice people scuttled the ships and blocked the waterway, miraculously turning defeat into victory. The enemy was not able to set foot on the main island after all.
It is now July 3, 1448, and the main island has suffered its first large-scale attack in history. Vast numbers of Rocket pierced the night sky, screaming and falling on Eastern District and the nearby lake. The one after another explosions lasted for half an hour, destroying the people's confidence in Governor.
"It's all because Governor colluded with Ottoman and Mamluk, causing Venice to lose the favor of God. We were implicated in Governor's crimes!"
"There is also Jacob, the eldest son of Governor. It is said that this man is extravagant and is studying Ancient Sorcery in private. Don't let him go!"
At dawn, all the Eastern District fires were extinguished, but the people's anger became more and more intense, and they urgently needed an answer from the aristocracy.
Originally, the nobles' idea was to temporarily keep Governor and let him be responsible for negotiating with Palaiologos. After Governor signed the surrender agreement, Great Council would find an opportunity to remove him.
Now that the public's emotions are on the verge of reaching the limit, Great Council has no choice. The aristocracy reached a consensus as quickly as possible: to remove Governor Foscari.
Next, Great Council faces a difficult choice: surrender, or continue to fight?
"The enemy hasn't invaded Lagoon yet, why are you in such a hurry to surrender?"
Young Loredan came to the center of the venue and called on the nobles to continue fighting and move the people of Eastern District to cities on land, such as Treviso and Padua.
If the enemy makes a Rocket with a longer range, the worst case scenario is that all the citizens will be moved to land. Venice owns most of the Po Valley, and there is plenty of place to resettle the people.
After hearing these remarks, the predecessor Governor Foscari was extremely speechless, "If Venice is evacuated, where should we choose the new capital? Po Valley has a wide terrain and the capital can easily be besieged by the enemy."
He sighed, leaned back slumped in his chair, and began to worry about the future of his family. As he lost his Governor title, Jacob's only way out was to move elsewhere, away from the core of Venice's power.
"Oh, that's fine. I hope Jacob can spend his life safely and smoothly and not get involved in politics."
After a long debate, the aristocracy temporarily appointed Young Loredan as the supreme commander, responsible for the defense of the entire Lagoon.
At the same time, they sent an envoy to negotiate with the Palaiologos fleet to obtain decent surrender terms.
In the afternoon, the messenger's boat hoisted a white flag and sailed toward the Eastern Roman Empire flagship. They found a transport ship not far away carrying many painters. They set up drawing boards to depict this difficult siege scene.
After sailing for a long time, the boat docked on the left side of the flagship. The messenger climbed up the rope ladder to the deck. He glanced at the epaulettes of these officers and found an officer whose epaulettes were embroidered with three golden olive leaves.
According to the military rank of Palaiologos, this tall and thin man with scars on his cheeks is the top general of the navy, Cohen Lostoria.
The messenger walked up to Cohen and truthfully described the task assigned to him by Great Council. The reply he received was:
"Decent? When you looted Constantinople in 1204, have you ever thought about being decent? Listen carefully, we only accept the surrender of Venice, not the so-called negotiation."
Cohen threw over a pamphlet, which recorded the treasures Venice had stolen from Constantinople.
First there are the four most famous gilded bronze horses, then Fragments of the True Cross, the gold enamel scepter, the altar gold screen inlaid with thousands of jewels, the remains of saints, bronze statues...
When the envoy turned to the bronze statue section recorded in the booklet, he suddenly took a breath of cold air.
Constantinople was in chaos at that time, with a total of 20,000 Venice sailors and Crusaders soldiers. They not only looted the entire city, but also demanded more rewards from the top leaders of the coalition forces.
Therefore, Enrico Dandolo had many bronze statues knocked down and melted them into copper coins to pay the wages of the bottom soldiers.
Many statues were destroyed, including ancient Greece mythological statues such as Hera, Helen, and Hera-cles, as well as various Municipal Square animal sculptures, such as "Nile River Ox and Crocodile" and "Eagle and Snake Fighting."
Obviously, Venice is not as good as these statues.
The second half of the book records the huge gilded canopy and sacred altar of Hagia Sophia. These large treasures were dismantled and divided by soldiers. Some parts are missing and cannot be repaid.
At this time, Cohen urged from the side, "Have you finished reading? The emperor knows that you have not repaid certain treasures and does not want to embarrass you. Venice can also choose to repay the gold coins."
The messenger's tone was low. "I am not qualified to make decisions and need to report to Great Council. Moreover, you have overestimated Venice's financial resources. We really have no money and cannot afford war compensation and treasure compensation."
The envoy spent a long time complaining, and before leaving he said, "During the peace talks, can the attack be suspended?"
Cohen turned around and left, ignoring the envoy's request.
Before the expedition, the emperor emphasized in the edict that as long as Venice did not surrender, the fleet must persist in the attack without any slack.
"The fleet still has a thousand Lagoon Rocket. If stored for a long time, the gunpowder may get damp. It is best to launch them all tonight."
Cohen took out the telescope and shifted his sight to the direction of Marine Battalion.
Up to now, Marine Battalion on the island have received reinforcements, and the total force has been expanded to two thousand people. They are busy building fortifications, erecting Nine-Pounder Cannon and Twelve-Pounder Cannon to respond to the enemy's counterattack at any time.
Bang! Bang!
Inside Lagoon, the fleet commanded by Young Loredan is firing at the position of Marine Battalion, with little effect. The earthbags outside effectively absorb the impact of the shells, like a thick and solid breast wall.
The shelling continued until nightfall, the vision was dim, and the firing frequency of Venice gradually decreased. The soldiers of Marine Battalion drilled out of the trench half a man deep and continued to build defensive positions.
The surface soil of Lido Island is loose and has high water content. The trench can only be maintained at a depth of half a person's height. If you dig deeper, water will easily seep from the bottom.
Therefore, the soldiers focused on filling the earth bags. The higher and thicker the earth bag barrier on the ground, the higher the probability of survival tomorrow.
They were exhausted after working until midnight. They sat inside the trench, munched on dry food, and silently watched the crew members carrying Lagoon Rocket.
At two o'clock in the morning, the crew launched a second round of rocket offensive. The lagoon rockets passed over the dark lake and flew screaming towards the east city of the island, waking up the sleeping defenders.
July 4th, morning.
Cohen received a report from the lookout: All the people on the island Eastern District had fled, and people in other urban areas were also fleeing in large numbers. The lake was filled with numerous Gondola boats.
"If this continues, the island's workshops will also be moved to the mainland, and then Great Council, Senate and other administrative agencies will be moved. To a certain extent, Republic of Venice is moving its capital.
Thousands of years ago, the first batch of Venice people migrated from land to Lagoon, and now they migrate from Lagoon back to land. Alas, fate is really unpredictable."
As Cohen was talking to himself, a small boat appeared in the northern channel of Lagoon, with a white flag hanging on the top of the mast.
Compared with yesterday, the Venice messenger's attitude was more respectful, "Your Excellency, Great Council is willing to surrender. We are discussing specific terms and begging the Rome fleet to suspend the launch of Rocket."
The fleet's Lagoon Rocket was exhausted, and Cohen agreed to the request. "Before sunset, if you pay an indemnity of two hundred thousand Ducat gold coins in advance, I can cancel tonight's launch plan."
For the next twenty days, Venice Great Council was busy discussing the matter of surrender.
At the same time, Eastern Roman Empire Marine Battalion continued to build fortifications on the sandbank, and deployed forty artillery pieces on the side facing Lagoon. They fired at Galley inside Lagoon, gradually gaining the upper hand.
On July 24, a small fleet of reinforcements was sent from the mainland, headed by a ship Battleship suspended Purple Double-Headed Eagle Flag, representing the royal family members who were present at the scene.
"This is Venice? What a unique view."
Romanus stood on the bow deck and used a telescope to observe Lagoon on the west side of the sandbar. Although the two sides were enemies, he couldn't help but admire the creativity and construction capabilities of Venice people.
Soon, Cohen and a group of fleet executives came to greet him, "Your Highness, how is the war at Crete?"
Romanus: "Last month, Rethymno's food was exhausted. The mercenaries mutinied and surrendered. The mercenaries who participated in the mutiny were freed and the rest became prisoners.
Candia is still insisting. Our army dug three Parallel Trench outside the city and built an additional wall, completely trapping the enemy in the encirclement. Whether they hold on until next year or the year after that, Konya Legion will accompany them until they are exhausted."
Afterwards, Romanus asked about various matters on the front line. Knowing that the noble Venice was still stalling for time, he couldn't help but curse a few words.
Not long ago, the enemy sank more ships loaded with rocks at the entrance of Lagoon, which cut off the Eastern Roman Empire fleet's idea of attacking Lagoon. Their goal was to delay time and strive for a relatively favorable negotiation condition.
With the end of the war still far away, Romanus's attention turned to fleet supplies, "Will the fleet have enough dried peas and pickled cabbage after one month of expedition?"
Cohen replied, "I regularly send a fleet to purchase supplies, and the transaction objects are Rimini, Ancona and other coastal towns."
For hundreds of years, Venice was the trading center of the Aria Sea and had a long-term monopoly on the trade of various commodities.
Now the Eastern Roman Empire fleet is blocked outside Lagoon, Venice's sea trade has been cut off, and related transaction needs have been transferred to nearby towns. Ancona on the west coast and Rijeka and Zara on the east coast have the greatest profits, and their stance favors Eastern Roman Empire.
Cohen handed over the purchase ledger for this period to Romanus with a relaxed tone:
"These towns have been suppressed by Venice for too long, and they hate Venice merchants. They are willing to supply all kinds of materials for a long time, including vegetables, grains, meat, and gunpowder."
There was no error in the logistics supply. Romanus put down his worries and accepted the situation.
In the past two years, Romanus has continuously accumulated combat experience and gradually grown into a qualified commander. For the current war situation, he could not find a better solution and could only block it for a long time.
In early August, Milan.
"Galeazzo, do you still remember what you learned in class yesterday?"
In the back Garden, Duke Sforza is accompanying his four-year-old son, teaching him to recognize the coat of arms of each family.
Galeazzo liked these brightly colored pictures and said excitedly, "Sea Monster Devouring a Man, this is the crest of our family. The lion with wings represents Venice, Greece. The letter β represents Palaiologos, this represents House of Habsburg, and this represents Valois."
The child talked for a long time and suddenly realized that his father was in a daze. He was very angry, grabbed the pictures and ran away quickly.
For a long time, Sforza sighed, "What should we do?"
In the past twenty years or so, Duchy of Milan has lost two large-scale wars in a row, and its territory has shrunk repeatedly, falling to the level of a third-rate power.
Even though Venice was severely damaged, Sforza still did not have the confidence to send troops alone.
Recently, House of Habsburg and Venice have both sent visitors. House of Habsburg made an alliance request to Sforza to jointly attack the land of Venice in Po Valley.
Venice is trying to dissuade Sforza. As long as he remains neutral in this war, Venice is willing to return part of his territory in the future.
"Austria's strength is acceptable and can defeat the remaining Venice Army. The key lies in France's attitude. If French Army takes the opportunity to attack Po Valley, everything will be over!"
Milan's national power is weak, and there is still the risk of internal rebellion. Sforza has no courage to fight against the French Army. If things develop to this point, he can only choose to surrender and become a vassal of the King of France.
"No matter what, the war is about to begin. First purchase some weapons, metal ingots, and food to strengthen the defense of Milan City."
Sforza heard that Venice and Palaiologos were popular in building new city walls. He planned to build an outer wall to improve Milan's city defense level.
After Austria defeated Venice's field troops, Sforza took the opportunity to attack Venice and regain the lost land.