Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 288 The Bride of the Adriatic
"Which path do you think they will take?" Gelis had his own military meeting, and Saladin also had his own military meeting. In his military meeting were various powerful emirs and his own confidants.

The map in front of Saladin was not as accurate as Gellis's, but at least all the necessary rivers and mountains were marked.

Just like Garys and his team took logistics, supplies, and food into consideration when formulating the marching plan.

When Saladin received news that the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was gathering, he realized that war was coming.

The straight-line distance from Tyre to Jerusalem is 160 kilometers. In this vast land of Palestine, there seems to be no checkpoints and people can rush around without restraint.

But that is the thought of a reckless person.

"Victory or defeat is determined by God, but it also depends on preparation, strength, health of soldiers, and clean drinking water. In the hot summer sun, the problem of drinking water is even more serious. If they want tens of thousands of troops to get enough drinking water along the way, there are actually only two ways for them to reach Jerusalem."

As he spoke, Saladin pointed to the Jordan River and the coast on the map.

"If they march from the Jordan River, they won't have to worry about drinking water. If they maneuver from the coast, the Venetian fleet will be able to replenish their supplies. If you were the commander of the Franks, which of these two routes would you choose?"

Saladin asked his subordinates in his military meeting. He actually had an answer himself, but brainstorming was indispensable. This was an important reason why he was able to stand out among the Saracen warlords.

"The Jordan River? It would be more convenient and safer to get drinking water from the Jordan River than by ship, and they would be able to join forces with the Franks in Transjordan, and then they would have more troops to fight."

A Turkic emir expressed his opinion.

Saladin was somewhat satisfied with this answer, but did not make a clear comment. At this time, Adil said: "They will march along the coastline."

"Why?"

"The villages in the Palestinian region have been severely looted by our tribe. We can also build strong defenses and clear the areas near the Jordan River, creating large uninhabited areas to aggravate this trend. The population and food output of the Transjordan region alone cannot sustain the long-term operations of tens of thousands of troops."

Hearing this reply, Saladin expressed his agreement, saying that what his brother said was reasonable and well-founded. He not only considered the enemy's actions, but also inferred what countermeasures the enemy would make based on his own response.

But Adil had not yet finished what he wanted to say.

"And if they choose to march along the coast, it will actually be an opportunity for us."

"How to say?"

"If we can't win on land, then at least we have a chance to win on the sea."

It was under Adil's governance that Egypt, under the Ayyubid dynasty, accumulated a huge fleet of galleys.

……

The navy of the Kingdom of Jerusalem really has little presence. Even its ships were exchanged with the Venetians not long ago. After such a long time, compared with the booming army, the navy cannot even get enough rowers.

Even though the Navy's allowance is 50% higher than the Army's, the Navy has only a thousand people at most.

A 30-meter-long paddle boat requires at least 90 people to row, and a 40-meter-long paddle boat requires at least 160 people. If other people on the boat and rotating rowers are included, the number can be doubled to exert full combat effectiveness.

In other words, a navy of a thousand people can only fill five large galleys.

On weekdays, the main task of the navy is naturally not to rob people on the road, but it is also impossible to stay on the shore and train every day.

Finally, he started working on a merchant ship, traveling back and forth between Cyprus, Latakia Port and Haifa Port. While delivering newspapers for a newspaper office in Tyre, he also often transported goods to earn some extra money to supplement the family income.

However, there is another advantage to doing this, which is that the route from Cyprus to Haifa Port actually has a regular escort navy.

Galleons of that era were basically equivalent to warships. The 40-meter-long flagship, although not the largest, was already quite large. You should know that the only successful ship Magellan took to circumnavigate the world was just an 18 to 21-meter caravel with a crew of about 55 people.

Most pirates, as long as they are not crazy, would not think of confronting such a large galley head-on. Even if it is a 30-meter-long standard ship, the pirates will avoid it. After all, it is better to avoid things with high risks and low returns.

The Mediterranean sunshine shines on the blue sea, and the breeze blows gently, creating layers of sparkling ripples.

On this Mediterranean bathtub, the kingdom's navy, just as Adil had expected, cruised along the coast of the Levant.

However, the fleet led by Water was not going to fight pirates, but to face the Ayyubid Egyptian fleet. Even though there were as many as 20 Venetian galleys accompanying them, many people were quite nervous, after all, this was their first battle.

Even Walter himself was a little nervous.

However, the Venetian liaison officer sitting next to Water was unusually relaxed, and he enjoyed eating some hard candies and preserved fruits produced by Tyre from time to time.

"Are you not anxious at all? Aren't you worried about the battle you might face next?"

Walter was a little helpless and asked Arnault next to him.

"What's there to worry about?"

Looking at the endless sea, Arnault yawned.

"The Saracens' army was a waste which was a result of its later development, but their navy was a waste from the beginning."

"I admit they are good at business, but the ocean is a beast they don't know how to tame."

Since the First Crusade, the Eastern Mediterranean has been like a back garden to the European Christian world.

Basically, it was a place where you could come and go as you pleased. If you encountered a Muslim navy, you could go up and fight and seize new ships. It was only in recent years that Saladin managed Egypt well and built a systematic navy, which made the navies of the Christian world fearful, but that was just fear.

"They see the sea as their enemy and think of naval warfare with the same tactics as on land, but we, Venice, are the bride of the Adriatic."

The Bride of the Adriatic is a ceremony and also a nickname for Venice. It is impossible to know exactly when this ceremony started, but it should be around 997 AD. After all, the Venetians conquered Dalmatia in AD under the leadership of Doge Pietro II Orsello.

Twenty-three years earlier, in 23, Pope Alexander III confirmed the existence of the ritual by giving a gold ring to the Doge of Venice, Sebastiano Ziani, after the war with Barbarossa.

And said to him: "My son, Doge of Venice, here is your marriage ring, marry the sea. From now on, we wish you and your successor to marry her every year."

Every year on Ascension Day, the fortieth day after Jesus’ ascension, the Doge of Venice would board a large galley, wearing a brocade cloak made of ermine, a ducal horn (an exquisite linen hat) on his head, and a scepter in his hand.

The Doge of Venice sat at the stern, with the Papal legate on his right and the French ambassador on his left. Members of the Venetian Senate occupied four rows of seats.

When the ship sails out of Venice, the Bishop of Venice will come on board to bless the wedding, and then the Doge will throw the ring into the sea.

"O sea, we embrace you, and this shall be a pledge of eternal dominion."

When the galley returned to Venice, they would be greeted by a feast famous throughout Europe for its splendor and wealth, as well as a large-scale rally held in St. Mark's Square.

Arnault has naturally participated in such festival celebrations, and when he describes the relationship between the Venetians and the sea in a nostalgic tone, one can't help but immerse himself in it.

"I'll go take a look when I get a chance."

While they were chatting, someone suddenly shouted from the bow: "General Water! Enemy ships spotted!"

Walter hurriedly took Arnott to the bow, where the captain of the ship was holding a monocular telescope, staring fixedly at due south.

"At 01-50 miles due south-west, the enemy fleet is spotted about 2 leagues away. It has been confirmed that the number of enemy ships exceeds 8, and they are moving from south to north. If both sides do not change direction and speed, they will engage in battle in about 40 minutes. The enemy will confirm our identity in about 25 minutes at the earliest."

As a more precise unit, mil can provide a better reference on a large scale. For example, when the artillery intends to shoot at a target 1800 meters to the right of a reference object 50 meters away, it will be calculated that 00-28 mils should be adjusted to the right, which is equivalent to 1.28°. However, it is very troublesome to use 1.28° to adjust the angle of the artillery.

This kind of systematic knowledge is exactly what is lacking in this era.

Moreover, this knowledge can not only be used by artillery, but can also bring advantages in naval battles.

Arnott, who was standing by, was extremely surprised when he heard this, because even he was surprised by the professionalism displayed by the captain.

When Arnott took the captain's telescope and saw the enemy fleet under his guidance, he put down the telescope and found nothing.

It was even more astonishing, and it was obvious that the thing he held in his hand would change naval warfare.

That’s identifying the enemy half the time in advance!

At this time, Watt also said to the flag signalman beside him: "Send a signal to other ships, we will go around to the open sea and inform them that we have discovered the enemy fleet."

As a Venetian, Arnot had no doubts about Water's order. He obviously knew that once he discovered the enemy ships, it would be more advantageous to control the wide open sea rather than engage in battle close to the coast.

He gave orders to the other ships through the Venetian signal transmission system, asking them to follow the flagship's actions.

It’s just that the Venetians are a little more primitive than the Kingdom’s navy, and they can’t explain what their flagship discovered.

When the order was delivered and the entire fleet, led by the flagship, left the coastline and headed for the open sea, Watt ordered people to take out the map, calculate and draw the approximate positions of both sides on the map, and then calculate the data of relative movement.

"Arnot, we will observe the enemy fleet in the open sea, calculate their exact speed, and then calculate the timing of the attack to cut them off directly. For this naval battle, we will be divided into two teams, one for you Venetians and the other for us Jerusalem."

"When they attacked, the five ships of Jerusalem went ahead, slowed down at a distance of about 500 steps, fired at them, and disrupted their deployment and formation.

"When your Venetian fleet is close to them, you should speed up and overtake our five ships, ram them directly, and then open fire when you are close to them. From then on, you can decide for yourself."

There are a large number of oars on both sides of a galley, making it difficult to arrange gun positions. Therefore, unlike a sailing ship, the cannons of a galley are generally concentrated at the bow or stern. This means that when a galley uses cannons, their advantageous shooting position during combat is not the upper horizontal line of the T-shape, but the lower vertical line.

However, seizing a favorable position for artillery fire was a very dangerous thing for galley battles in those days.

In order to ensure the accuracy of artillery fire, it is necessary to reduce the speed of the ship. In naval battles, speed can be said to be the fatal factor in victory or defeat.

A sailing battleship can use its dozens of cannons to teach enemy ships that rashly approach a lesson about the doctrine of firepower superiority, but a galley only has a few cannons in total.

Therefore, it was impossible for all the galleys to carry out bombardment. Although the Venetians had artillery, they did not have much training. There were only some army artillery from the Kingdom of Jerusalem providing guidance on those ships.

Instead of letting all the galleys participate in the bombardment, it would be better to let the kingdom's navy take the initiative and then fight in the same way as before. In this way, the Venetians can take advantage of their experience in long-term naval battles.

……

The Arabs set foot on the ocean much later than they conquered the land, and the long-standing political fragmentation, when reflected on the ocean, produced strange results.

Although the Arabs had developed maritime trade, they were unable to maintain a long-term and stable navy.

This means that the naval heritage in the Muslim world is often interrupted. The traditions accumulated by the ancestors often disappear without a trace with a political turmoil, and in the end they have to cross the river by feeling the stones all over again.

When they didn't know how to fight a naval battle, they often used the same method to understand naval battles as they did land battles, often doing some ridiculous things, such as trying to set up a defensive line with galleys at sea...

(End of this chapter)