The Eagle of Eastern Europe

"God bless, hopefully this works."

Nikephorus prayed to the statue of Jesus in the cabin of the ship, and this was the first time since the creation of the navy that he faced off against the powerful Venetian navy. If it fails, it will cause a big blow to the empire. At the same time, this is also the first time the new tactic is used. I don’t know if it will be effective.

"Sir, they are coming."

At last Nikephorus was waiting, and he was ready to show the Venetians what was new in Rome.

Alvio is also a senior naval admiral in Venice. He has made many military exploits in the Chiggio War. He is also confident about this war against Rome. After all, the dozens of small ships in Rome pose no threat at all. .

Obviously, they did not pay attention to the navy developed by Wallachia. So when he saw the opponent's fleet spread out in a straight line, he thought it was just Rome's death struggle.

"It's true that God is also helping Venice, ordering the fleet to charge forward."

"yes"

The fleet led by Alvio charged directly towards the opponent. What they were best at was boarding operations. Although they were the first to use artillery, they did not have large-scale equipment. They still relied on bows and crossbowmen for long-range firepower.

"They're coming!"

The scouts at high places reported the situation of the Venetian fleet. Seeing that this inexplicable tactic really underestimated the enemy's advance, Nicephorus ordered a red flag to be raised. This was a signal he sent to other ships to follow his command. Walk.

When the Venetian fleet came within range, Nikephoros ordered the ships to open fire. Hundreds of artillery were fired at the Venetian fleet. Fortunately, the Venetian fleet was all in one position, otherwise the hit rate would have been low.

Several ships were hit by too many shells and sank first, and the enemy fire was fierce, which made Alvio serious. But it has not deviated from the original plan, and the boarding operation is considered correct.

However, in order to reduce losses, Alvio ordered the fleet to disperse. However, the order took a long time to spread, and temporary changes also took time. While they were still adjusting their formation, the enemy's artillery did not stop. The straight line shape transformed into a crescent shape, gradually surrounding these fleets.

The Roman fleet moved, and Alvio Jean quickly adjusted his tactics and prepared to board the ship for combat. All soldiers picked up their bows and arrows and shot at each other, while preparing their weapons for close combat.

But just when the ships were about to collide, a fire dragon sprayed out from the middle of the Roman ship, which scared some Venetian soldiers and fell into the sea.

"What, what is this?" A Venetian sailor was so frightened that he had never seen such a thing. The flames spurted out all of a sudden and caused the hull to burn. Both the Venetian fleet and the Roman fleet began to put out the fire.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"

A Venetian soldier was accidentally set on fire. He screamed so loudly that the surrounding soldiers stayed away from him. However, a brave man stabbed him into the sea with a wooden stick, thus avoiding further casualties.

"Get ready, the time has come for a decisive battle with the Romans."

Venetian soldiers and sailors picked up daggers, daggers and other melee weapons in preparation for a naval exchange with Rome. Rome has been using artillery, Greek fire, bows and arrows to prevent them from fighting at close range.

Just as Alvio was about to continue charging, his men reported to him in horror that they were surrounded.

This was hard for Alvio to believe, but it was what it was. Armed merchant ships carrying Roman flags attacked from behind, gradually forming a siege network around the Venetian fleet.

"Quick, break out, break out quickly."

Alvio immediately panicked. He ordered the fleet to break out to the southwest, but it was too late. The artillery of the rear fleet also began to fire, and more than a hundred ships became turtles in the urn.

The once victorious Venetian fleet was surrounded by the now weak Roman navy, and the opponent made full use of its artillery to continuously attack the Venetian fleet. The more they struggled, the heavier the casualties became.

After a day and night of fighting, the Roman navy sank 34 Venetian warships, 72 armed merchant ships, and 4,200 casualties at the cost of 11 warships, 23 armed merchant ships, and 400 casualties. And captured the admiral Alvio, which broke the myth of the invincibility of the Venetian navy and proved the usefulness of the new tactics of the Roman navy.

----Dividing line----

While the naval battle was going on, Prime Minister Angel and Patriarch Antony followed Mircea's orders and began to instigate an uprising among the believers on the Aegean Islands. Protests have occurred on many islands, including Chios, and the two city-states have to maintain their rule first, which makes them exhausted. Especially in Genoa, the already poor funds are even more scarce. This made the Parliament, which had just declared war, begin to initiate peace talks.

Florence and the Republic of Siena paid close attention to this war, and they wanted to see if they could gain anything from this war. The Papal State is on the side of Venice. After all, they are of the same religion. It would be good for Venice to continue to expand the Catholic territory.

Before news of the naval battle had spread, the Knights Hospitallers, under the influence of Venice and some of its members, declared war on Rome. And blocked the nearby sea area, which directly restricted the use of Smyrna port. This allowed the Dragon Knights to seize the opportunity and directly attack Rhodes Island with Andrei. The Anatolian Church also allocated part of the poor church property to fund them.

In addition to the Romans, naturalized Turks and those of different faiths in the empire also joined in, because compared to Western powers and Eastern pagans, Rome was already their paradise. (Jew: I *****)

The religious policies adopted by Mircea and Peter were actually a combination of the policies of previous regimes, which not only collected an extra tax, but also allowed them to stabilize. Large-scale assimilation cannot be achieved, so this is the only way for the time being.

Armenians are the most enthusiastic about fighting except Rome. The bishop of the Armenian Church called on believers everywhere to resist and welcome the Roman army into the city. There were sporadic resistance movements from Cilicia to Yerevan. But most of them were suppressed by the local sultan and emir, and so was Muhammad. Faced with such danger, he decided to take a dangerous approach and sent troops to Konya to destroy Karaman.

At this time, Karaman was declining rapidly. After the death of the previous ruler, his sons started fighting over the uneven distribution of the spoils. The entire country was divided into several places, which also gave Muhammad the opportunity. He wanted to use the mobility of the cavalry to quickly capture Karaman. This would not only expand the territory, but also absorb the local population to expand its strength. Kill two birds with one stone.