Water Margin people

"Don't dare? Why are you coming with so many people if you don't dare?"

Ruan Xiaoqi looked at Theodore and sneered, these Western white people were full of lies.

"You dare not take responsibility for what you did, you are a piece of trash!"

All the generals looked at Theodore with contempt. If he was an enemy, he was an enemy. Only strength could earn respect on the battlefield. Such spineless people were the most despised.

Theodore could not understand what the Qi generals were saying, and the translator consciously filtered out all of it without translating it.

Although no one could understand what was said, everyone could sense the contempt in his expression and tone.

Theodore could only smile along. He didn't dare to show any disrespect as the Qi army in front of them was too terrifying.

"What kind of battleship is this? It's made entirely of steel!"

Theodore looked at the steel deck beneath his feet. They didn't even dare to think about these things.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

Suddenly a horn sounded.

"Marshal, the enemy is trying to escape!"

A general pointed to the distant sea and said that some people in the Byzantine fleet could no longer hold on and had begun to set sail to break through.

"Want to run? Kill them!"

Ruan Xiaoqi gave the order directly.

Inside the battleship's cabin, the telegraph machine immediately rang, and orders were sent to all ships.

On the vast sea, Qi's ships moved in an orderly manner, with hundreds of warships performing their respective duties.

"Boom boom boom!"

The sound of artillery fire rang out, and the Qi fleet began to bombard the ships that attempted to escape.

Theodore's eyes were as big as bells. He had never seen such a battle. He knew that the Qi fleet was powerful, but he didn't expect it to be so strong.

"It sank? It just sank like that?"

Theodore was shaking like a sieve as he looked at the sinking ship. What sank was not just a small boat, but the main battleship of their Byzantine Empire, which was also the most advanced in the Mediterranean. However, it was sunk at a mere encounter, and it was obvious that the Qi State had not yet made any serious moves.

The Qi fleet began to rush towards the Byzantine ships. For a while, there was chaos on the sea. The Byzantine ships were at a loss and ran around on the sea like headless flies.

But the Qi fleet seemed to have opened its eyes in the sky. The ships were interspersed in teams, dividing and controlling the Byzantine ships.

As for those ships that wanted to escape, they were all sunk without exception.

In the face of absolute strength, the naval battle is no longer a foregone conclusion.

"Vulnerable!"

Ruan Xiaoqi looked at the sea that had calmed down again and laughed.

"General, please spare us! We are willing to surrender!"

Theodore quickly knelt on the deck and begged for mercy from Ruan Xiaoqi. He had finally seen what strength was. They, the Byzantines, were no match for him at all. If they wanted to survive, surrender was the only option.

"No wonder they dared to enter Venice with only a few thousand people, and were not afraid of the encirclement of more than 200,000 Crusaders! With a navy like this, what else can we be afraid of in this world?"

This thought emerged in Theodore's mind, and he now felt that he was very stupid. Why should he lead troops to deal with the State of Qi? They, Byzantium and the State of Qi had no grudges against each other, and it was really stupid to get involved.

"Surrender? It's not up to you now!"

Ruan Xiaoqi looked at Theodore and said with a smile that it would be difficult for him to take action if these people surrendered before, but now that these people want to run away, that is another matter.

"General, spare my life. We, Byzantium, dare not be the enemy of Qi!"

Theodore spoke, he knew very well that now it was no longer a question of whether their navy would surrender, but whether the entire Byzantine would surrender. The Qi navy came to the Mediterranean to conquer it.

"Can you represent Byzantium?"

Ruan Xiaoqi looked at Theodore and asked, "I...I can! I am the son-in-law of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius III, and I am the admiral of the Byzantine Empire!"

Theodore spoke quickly. He was a little timid at first, but soon gathered up his courage.

"very good!"

Ruan Xiaoqi looked at the sea and nodded.

On the sea, Byzantine ships continued to sink, and the Qi navy showed no intention of stopping.

"General! General!"

Seeing that Qi was still slaughtering people, Theodore begged for mercy.

"What are you yelling about? These ships are already our spoils of war, so I have the final say over them. I now think these ships are an eyesore and want them to sink to the bottom of the sea!"

Ruan Xiaoqi said it lightly, his tone was ordinary, but it sounded like an icy cold wind to Theodore's ears, revealing the iron-blooded ruthlessness of Qi.

Ruan Xiaoqi's purpose was very simple. He had to go to support Yue Fei and had no time to take care of these ships. It was impossible for him to let these ships stay or leave. The best option was to sink these ships into the sea.

Watching his ships sinking continuously, Theodore's heart was bleeding. These were the accumulation of the Byzantine Empire over the years. After this battle, there was no Byzantine navy in the Mediterranean anymore.

The State of Qi did not sink all the enemy ships, but left some to hold the Byzantine soldiers on board. The soldiers on more than a hundred ships were hit and concentrated on ten ships, which seemed particularly crowded.

But Ruan Xiaoqi ignored all this and the fleet went straight into the bay and headed towards Venice.

"General, the Holy See has summoned 250,000 Crusaders!"

When Theodore saw that the fleet was going to Venice, he immediately spoke up, saying that he wanted to show his worth.

Ruan Xiaoqi ignored Theodore. No matter how many enemies there were, they were nothing compared to their navy.

Theodore didn't expect that the Qi navy had no interest in his intelligence at all, so he could only squat aside obediently.

By the Po River.

"Your Majesty, the Venetian nobles are here to surrender!"

A general reported to Conrad III.

"Bring it up!"

Conrad III sneered and said that their army had just set out and someone came to surrender. It seemed that their reputation was enough to intimidate others.

"Your Holiness the Pope! Your Majesty the Emperor! We were all forced to do this. It was the Governor-General and the State of Qi who forced us to do this!"

When the nobles and merchants saw Pope Eugene III and Emperor Conrad III, they immediately spoke up and blamed everything on the Doge of Venice and the State of Qi.

"And the traitor Baldwin IV, he is the mastermind, he planned everything!"

Someone shouted again.

"So it has nothing to do with you? You didn't betray the church?"

Pope Eugene III looked at those people and spoke.

"Your Holiness, we are all baptized and devout believers of God!"

Those people immediately spoke piously about the cross.

"It seems like you are really being forced! The Lord is merciful! He will forgive his poor believers!"

Pope Eugene III raised his scepter and said that this was considered as pardoning these people.

"Why? Why did His Holiness forgive these traitors?"

An archbishop said with murderous intent on his face that he was in charge of the Vatican Guards and that his men who had gone out before were killed by these people in Venice.

"Venice only has a few thousand Qi troops, but hundreds of thousands of civilians. It's easy to defeat a few thousand Qi troops, but it's not easy to deal with these hundreds of thousands of civilians. So we have to give them some hope. God will forgive his poor believers!"

Eugene III whispered. (End of this chapter)