My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 813 Arriving in Venice

Under the cover of darkness, two small smuggling ships quietly left Port Mufas.

Barcelona sat in the cabin, looking out the window at the dark sea in a daze.

He had cheated and finally persuaded Beluga to send him out to sea, and Beluga personally escorted him to Cyprus. After all, in Beluga's view, Barcelona had an opportunity for him to make a fortune, so he would not let it go easily.

The two ships slowly left the port. Even at night, there were Ottoman ships patrolling. However, beluga whales have a lot of connections. When those patrolling ships saw a flag with a white whale hanging on the ship, they pretended not to see it. Let them leave the port.

After leaving the port, Barcelona finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was already early in the morning, the eastern sky had turned slightly white, and there were a few rays of light on the sea.

The two smuggling boats rushed to the island of Cyprus as quickly as possible under the morning light.

Port Mufas is not far from the island of Cyprus, so just a few days later, Barcelona and their ship approached the island of Cyprus.

But as soon as their ship approached this large island in the Mediterranean, they encountered an Ottoman warship patrolling the waters outside the island. Fortunately, they discovered it early and turned and accelerated in time, and then they got away from the Ottomans.

After getting rid of the Ottoman warships, Beluga, Barca and others were so frightened that they broke into cold sweats. Then they changed directions and made a long circle before approaching the island of Cyprus again.

This time it went relatively smoothly, and they did not encounter any Ottoman warships. Finally, their ship arrived at a small port called Fama Port. This was also one of the strongholds established by the Venetians on the island, and a large number of Venetian warships were stationed there. Boat.

As soon as the two smuggling ships docked, Basa got off the ship on the pretext of discussing business, and then came to the military camp at the port alone. After identifying himself, he was immediately received by the garrison general.

"General Zino, in the name of the Governor, I order you to immediately arrange for a warship to take me back to Venice. I have extremely important information to hand over to the Governor!"

When Barcelona saw General Zino stationed here, he immediately issued an order.

He was the governor's confidant and a powerful figure in Venice, so he was qualified to issue orders to the garrison generals.

"Mr. Bassa, we are at war with the Ottomans. There are often Ottoman warships patrolling the island. It is very dangerous to leave Cyprus at this time!"

General Zino frowned and said that he did not doubt Barcelona's identity because he had met Barcelona once in Venice and knew that the other party was deeply trusted by the governor. Therefore, for the sake of the other party's safety, he did not recommend that Barcelona leave the city at this time. .

"When did the sea become the domain of the Ottomans? Do our Venetian navy have to avoid the Ottomans when they see them?"

Barcelona asked somewhat unhappy after hearing this.

He came back from Han Dynasty with great difficulty, finally arrived in Cyprus, and met the Venetian admiral, but the other party advised him not to go to sea. How could he not be annoyed?

"Mr. Basa, you don't know something. The Ottomans don't know what's going on recently. They went crazy and concentrated their forces to attack us in Cyprus. Several ports on the island were all attacked by Ottoman warships. I'm worried that they just sent a ship out of the port. You will encounter the opponent's interception."

General Zino replied solemnly.

"That's not right. When I came to the island by boat, although I encountered an Ottoman warship patrolling, it was far away from here. And when I entered the port, I didn't see an Ottoman warship?"

Basa asked with some confusion.

"That's because our main force came to support a few days ago, and the Ottoman navy rushed to Crete, preparing for a decisive battle with our navy, so now most of the Ottoman warships around Cyprus have been reduced, but if we want To return to Venice, we must pass through Crete, and then we will face the Ottoman army.”

General Zino said with a helpless smile.

Compared to Cyprus, Crete is more important to Venice, and it is also blocked between Cyprus and Venice, so if Barcelona wants to go back, it must pass through Crete, which is the main battlefield of the two navies. It would be impossible to cross that sea.

"This is troublesome. When will this war end?"

When Basa heard this, he also frowned and asked again.

"It's hard to say. The Ottomans' attacks are becoming more and more fierce. This time they attacked Cyprus. If the reinforcements from the rear had not arrived in time, they might have captured a port. Now the navy on the island has suffered heavy losses and is simply unable to fight again. The Ottomans are at war, so now we can only see the outcome of the battle between the reinforcements and the Ottomans.”

General Zino sighed at the end. As the naval admiral of Venice, no one knew better than him the fact that the Ottomans were getting stronger and stronger, so he was equally worried about the future fate of Venice.

"Where is the area where we are fighting with the Ottoman navy? Can we find a way to bypass the fighting area?"

After Basa thought for a moment, he suddenly asked again.

He had a heavy responsibility and could not wait any longer, so he had to find a way to return to Venice as soon as possible no matter what.

"The fighting area is mainly concentrated in the east of Crete. If you want to bypass the fighting area, you have to go around the west side of Crete. You also know that route. Even if everything goes well, you still need to take one more route. It takes a month to reach Venice.”

General Zino thought for a while before answering.

If you sail from the west side of Crete, not only will you have to go further, but the route is also unsafe. In addition to pirates, the route is also full of reefs. If you are not careful, the ship may be destroyed and people killed.

"One month is just one month, I can't wait any longer!"

Barcelona thought about it for a moment and made a decision. Even if it took a long way around, it would be better than waiting for the war on Crete to end. After all, they had been fighting the Ottomans for many years. God knows when it would end?

"Well, since Mr. Basa insists, I will send a fleet to take you away tomorrow."

General Zino finally nodded.

So early the next morning, General Zino prepared three warships for Barcelona. One of the large warships was the main one, and there were also medium-sized warships to assist. The three warships lined up in an arrow, with the fastest Hurry to Crete.

Half a month later, Barcelona's fleet finally arrived on the west side of Crete. In order to avoid the possible appearance of the Ottoman navy, Barcelona's fleet did not dare to approach Crete at all and could only follow the outer circumference. A big circle.

Of course, if Barcelona and the others are willing to take risks and directly enter the waters near Crete, they may also encounter Venetian warships. Then they will not have to take a long way and return to Venice directly under the escort of the warships.

But Barcelona felt that this was too risky. After all, if he encountered an Ottoman warship and could not escape, it would not matter if he died. If the letters from the Han prince and Helen could not be delivered to the governor, the entire Venice Your destiny may change as a result.

Therefore, Barcelona would rather take a long way than take risks. Of course, the long way is not safe and there may be pirates. But they have three warships and they are under the flag of Venice. Ordinary pirates would not dare to take their ideas, so as long as Be careful not to deviate from the route, just stay away from the reefs on the route.

So under this situation, it took Barcelona and the others another month to circumnavigate Crete, cross the Ariad Sea, and reach the city of Venice.

The city of Venice originated in the seventh century AD, when the Western Roman Empire collapsed. Several communities in the lagoon area formed an alliance to resist the Lombards, Huns and other invaders. Eventually, after many years of development, the current Venice was formed. republic.

When he saw the bustling port of Venice, Barcelona was also moved to tears. In order to find Helen's whereabouts, he had been away from his hometown for many years, and even almost died outside countless times. He never thought that he would one day come back.

As soon as the warship docked, Barcelona immediately jumped off the ship and took a deep breath of the moist and warm air of his hometown. His whole body felt like he was reborn.

After Basa's excitement subsided, he immediately called a carriage and rushed to the Governor's Palace as quickly as possible.

In the Doge's Palace of Venice, Governor Francesco rubbed his forehead and felt that his whole brain was about to explode.

For Francesco, there has been almost no good news recently. First, the Ottomans went crazy again and sent a navy to besiege the island of Cyprus. After he sent reinforcements, instead of withdrawing their troops, the other side took the initiative to fight near Crete, fighting with Francesco. The reinforcements he sent launched a decisive battle.

What Francesco didn't expect was that the naval battle that he had the upper hand in the past turned out to be a stalemate this time. The Ottoman navy was more powerful and extremely tenacious than before. The navies of both sides fought near Crete. In a group, each other wins and loses, and no one can gain the upper hand.

Now the navy on the front line has sent people to Francesco for help, hoping that he will send another navy to support, otherwise they will not be able to defeat the Ottomans.

However, there are not many warships that Venice can use now. Unless he orders to recruit more merchant ships to join the battlefield, this will definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the Great Council, and then he, the governor, will also face parliamentary questioning.

In addition to official business, what troubled Francesco even more was that his wife fell ill again. As for the cause of the illness, everyone knew that it was because of his beloved daughter Helen. Since Helen was captured by the Ottomans, he Because my wife misses her so much, she becomes thinner and thinner, and her body becomes worse day by day.

Thinking of his sick wife and his missing daughter, Francesco also felt his heart tightening. In order to find his daughter's whereabouts over the years, he had sent out all his most trusted officials, and even secretly thought about the Ottomans. The deal, as long as he can get his daughter back, even if he gives up some benefits.

(End of this chapter)