I Am Louis XIV

Alberto was picked up by Milady. After a group of rude sailors rushed past where they were, shouting, Alberto felt himself floating first, and then flying up. He crossed the side of the ship and faced the deep blue directly. The water was nearly black in color - it approached the young man's face as if falling, then stopped suddenly, and a pair of hands caught him firmly.

He was put on a small boat. Alberto recognized it at a glance as the small boat originally hung on the Sultan's ship. It was painted vermilion and decorated with gold edges. It was used to welcome guests at sea and carry goods at the dock. Two men dressed as Ottoman sailors were sitting on it. One man grabbed him from behind. He heard a shout and saw one of the sailors directly hitting the hull of the ship with an oar, and they flew away. As if he rushed out.

This boat was unreasonably fast. Alberto was a son of a noble in northern Sicily. The southern part of Sicily was mainly agricultural, rich in wheat, olives, wine and citrus, while the northern part was mainly focused on fishing and commerce. Of course, even if he was a Brazilian The youngest son of the Lemo family had to get on the boat. He pulled his soul back into his body, and he habitually and skillfully estimated their current speed - using only oars and two oarsmen. The boat cut through the waves at an even more astonishing speed than the sloop with its sail raised. His body was bumping endlessly, and his face seemed to be cut by a fine knife. The person who caught him was covering his face with a coat, but Alberto still raised his head stubbornly.

It's not that he was showing off his temper at inappropriate times, it's just that except for this time, he probably won't have such an experience in his life.

The iron-clad ships that once shocked Louis XIV and his children, French ministers and generals, and countless people were coming towards them.

The small boat Alberto took was a typical inland boat. The black ironclad ship was probably fifty times as high and a hundred times as long. The proportions between them were like a giant and a baby. The one coming towards them was not even a ship. Instead, there were two boats. They were running side by side, like two strong seahorses, which made people dazzled when they saw them. They might still be far away from Alberto, but the waves they stirred up already made the boat feel like it had encountered a hurricane.

No, even if they are far enough, the steam-driven ironclads are comparable to the large galleys with three masts and hundreds of oarsmen when the wind direction is good. They reminded Alberto involuntarily of the popular puppet theater in Palermo—— Although it was outlawed after the Ottomans came, because in the former belief, idols were not allowed to exist - those puppet plays would also show naval battles, or sailing, with ships moving on the blue cloth. Time, just like now, comes in just a blink of an eye or a blink of an eye.

"Turn!" cried Alberto in a high-pitched voice that had not yet changed, "we are going to collide!"

The sailors on the boat didn't seem to care at all whether the boat they were on would be overturned or pulled into the bottom of the boat. They laughed loudly, and the leading rower stood up and waved his hands. Alberto suddenly remembered-that When Lady Milady was said to be a witch and in charge of many terrible devil's apostles, their boat seemed to be held up by a huge invisible arm - it was a feeling that is difficult to describe, like Suddenly returning from the bumpy boat to the bed in the dormitory, the tension, uneasiness and discomfort all disappeared. As if in a dream, Alberto watched his boat glide lightly through the gap between the two ironclads.

Alberto could not react until it fell into the sea again. He looked at the people around him in a daze, and the sailor-or wizard just touched his head. The oarsmen had already sat down and began to row slowly. They seemed not to care that they were still on the battlefield and were in danger of being affected again. Alberto looked back and saw a pair of white wounds being cut on the sea. Ironclad ship.

As we all know, Louis XIV had at least thirty ironclads converted from the Grand Calais. They were divided into three or four forces and won great fame for France in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Leopold I reported to Mohammed King De IV promised to contain them in the Atlantic Ocean, and Mohammed IV believed it because he only encountered weak resistance when attacking Sicily. But now it seems that Louis XIV may... A surge of irritability In the young man's heart, because he suddenly realized that Sicily was both a bait and a auxiliary cage, just like a hunter dealing with those cunning beasts. In order to ensure that Mohammed IV could completely step into the trap, the Sun King sacrificed his life. Sicily.

Sitting on the small boat, he could see three ironclad ships surrounding the Sultan's fleet, and there might be more giant ships on the opposite side - flames and smoke were already rising from the sea.

Although Mohammed IV's fleet was huge, the ironclad ship he wanted wholeheartedly was still under construction. His flagship and the most impeccable ship in the fleet was the Spanish giant galley, also known as Galen. The warship, this large ship named Suleiman I, had a tonnage of more than 800 tons and had a fortress-like forecastle. Because of this, when Alberto was caught by Miledy on the deck, No one noticed - it was loaded with eighty guns, and fifteen hundred combatants.

The Ottoman Turkish sailors still retain the so-called Barbarossa style. Just like the ancient Romans, they are still not good at and not accustomed to using the power of artillery. They still like to get close to enemy ships and slap on the springboard with nails. Rush up and fight the enemy face to face, which is why the Ottoman galleys are always crowded with soldiers and sailors.

Alberto had never seen how the Ottomans fought at sea, but it was obvious that the French did not intend to sacrifice their strengths for shortcomings. Even the decks of their ships were covered with iron plates. Even if the Ottomans could get close, they would not be able to get close. The springboard is fixed, and they will rarely get close to enemy ships. The French artillery range has always been considerable. Even if the huge Galen ship cannot be taken down in a short time, they can still maintain 120,000 points of patience. , wearing away the enemy's will and courage bit by bit.

In a naval battle, no, it should be said that in any battle, when the distance between the two sides cannot be easily shortened, range and lethality become the most critical things. The Ottomans found that neither themselves nor their own ammunition could hit them. When the enemy was able to hit them, let alone collapse - although they could indeed hold on for a long time, resisting from noon until late at night, on the black sea, there was not even a single ship. The ship sank.

"Let's break out." The Grand Priest said, "Don't get entangled with those French people."

Mohammed IV was a little reluctant, but he also knew that he could not do anything to the French. Not only did they have ironclad ships, but they also seemed to never have to worry about lack of ammunition. He was about to nod, but there was a flash of sharpness in the corner of his eyes. With the sharp red light, he thought it was another cannonball and couldn't help but look in that direction.

"Is that... Sicily?!"

The Grand Priest was frightened and rushed to the window. After a moment, he went on the deck again.

Mohammed IV was right. That is indeed the direction of Sicily.

The Grand Priest prayed to their gods. This had better be a ship that was standing between them and Sicily. It didn't matter even if it was an Ottoman ship, but as he chanted the name of the prophet At this time, the fire was ignited bit by bit.

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From the vast sea, from a place dozens of nautical miles away, the fire you see may be a pinhead, a point the size of a grain of wheat, but in Sicily, every point is a fire that covers the sky and the sun.

Since the Marquis of Lovas followed the king's will, the French army no longer lives at the mercy of the enemy - if it is not to leave after plundering, but to rule for a long time, then this method must be more able to win the trust of the local people, but it is relatively Yes, the king has to pay more and more trouble than simple plunder. They have to ensure that the roads are clear and the warehouses are full and safe to ensure that the soldiers will not become disorganized or even mutiny.

Mohammed I also followed this approach, but the Sultan, who had to provide his own supplies for an army of 200,000 men, and even weapons and tents, was not stupid enough to bear all the burden on himself like Louis XIV. He just learned In order to open up and repair roads - the local people will perform labor; build warehouses - the empty ones will of course be filled by the lords and nobles he conquered. Of course, unlike Louis XIV, Mohammed I will not go out for this. A penny.

Sicily's wealth and the Spanish Succession War have made the nobles and civilians on this island rarely look like fat sheep without shaving. Wheat was originally produced here, and warehouses were built one after another. They rose up, and then the golden wheat grains filled them like river water. After calculation, Mohammed IV's scribes believed that adding the harvest of Naples would be enough to meet the needs of the army.

If Mohammed IV was a little wary at the beginning, by the time the Palermo family presented their youngest son, he had already settled down and thought that these dark-skinned locals had completely submitted to the rule. , management and enslavement, the Ottoman Turkish sultans have passed down their experience for hundreds of years. Muhammad IV never thought that things would change - maybe this is the case for anyone. Before the change came, they You will think that the world is always the same.

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Not only in Palermo, but also in major cities in Sicily, wherever the Ottomans built warehouses, people set fire to them. Not only did they set fires, they also threw simple clay pot grenades or laid traps. The organized soldiers fought head-on. The Ottoman officers wearing tall white hats or luxurious coats cursed in the firelight, but there was nothing they could do.

Sicily was a very strange place to them. Those who burned down the warehouses would have no chance of catching them as long as they ran to the olive groves and the seaside.

"Wait until tomorrow! Wait until dawn!" they swore, "I will put them on poles and hang them on the city wall!"

These officers' ideas were not wrong, but as soon as they returned to the room, terrible rumors spread in the Ottoman camp.

Some people said that their warehouses were burned down.

Some say their sultan has fled.

Others said that their Sultan not only escaped, but also became a prisoner of the French, or was dead.

Some people even say that the army still stranded in Naples will return to Sicily. They will have no wheat and will welcome more hungry people. They may fall into famine.

It was more likely that they would never return to Istanbul—the Sultan had taken all the ships, which had sunk in the Ionian Sea.