A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"If we absolutely must rely on their power, I'm afraid the only option is to use them as mercenaries. But... the Venetians have already quoted a price: 500,000 florins a year for a squadron. The Genoese offer isn't much different."

Damn, this is really... such a rip-off! The Knights simply can't afford it!

"It's too late to say anything today. Demetrios, does our navy need time to familiarize themselves with the new warships?"

"These two are very common galleys. They should be able to form a combat force immediately without requiring special familiarity."

"In that case, let's allocate the personnel. Tomorrow our new fleet can go out and inspect the surrounding area."

"Grandmaster, this is absolutely impossible. If we sail half a day's distance from Rhodes Island, five Crescent Moon Cult ships will surround us! Please be patient," Demetrios said, horrified. "We need to gather at least half the squadron's strength before..."

"I've made up my mind!" Thomas interrupted. "It's even better if the Crescent Moon Cultists come. I've never commanded a naval battle before!"

Demetrios stared at Thomas in despair, not moving for a full ten seconds. But Thomas's expression didn't change at all.

"Follow your instructions," he said with difficulty.

Chapter 69 First Battle 2

A military castle by the sea on the Anatolian Peninsula.

This was once Byzantine territory, but is now part of the Sultanate of Rum.

Hanging high on the castle is not the current double-headed eagle flag of the Rum Sultanate (the double-headed eagle wears a star and crescent emblem on its chest), but the star and crescent emblem and scimitar.

On the terrace high up in the castle, someone was looking down at the naval port below.

Watch the waves lapping against the rocks on the shore.

Dozens of warships are already anchored in the port.

"Master Ferdinand!" a voice rang out, and the attendants excitedly rushed up the steps to the castle terrace. "New news!"

In his hand he held a rolled-up, sealed letter.

Ferdinand turned and looked at his followers.

"Sir...why, are you in a bad mood?"

"No, nothing," Ferdinand replied.

"Have you received any news from Spain?" the attendant asked. But as soon as he said it, he knew he had made a mistake. "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay, give me the news." Ferdinand forced a smile, took the scroll from his follower and opened it.

As he read the letter, the corners of his mouth couldn't help twitching.

"My Lord, what's the news?"

"The team we sent out failed," Ferdinand sighed. "We couldn't intercept the Grand Commander. He has returned to the island."

"Ah..." The follower wanted to say something.

"Forget it, it's no big deal. He's just a core-level soldier! At most, he's an elite!" Ferdinand said.

"Sir, why did you fail?"

"We're short on manpower. Sigh," Ferdinand said. "We're short on time. And because the enemy is so weak, everyone feels it's unnecessary to send a large force. Ultimately, we're short on strength. We can't even eliminate a weak target."

If they wanted to intercept them mid-route, they would have to split their forces into multiple routes, as it was difficult to predict which route the Grand Commander would take to reach Rhodes Island. Therefore, they had to establish multiple defenses, effectively spreading their forces across different routes. While their overall strength was overwhelming, when spread across each route, the advantage wasn't significant.

The Byzantines' unexpected intervention put the intercepting forces at a disadvantage.

Because they were at a disadvantage in terms of combat power, they had to resort to opportunistic methods and use insiders who had infiltrated the Byzantines to take action.

This kind of behavior is inherently risky and has a high chance of failure.

The result was that two of the three accomplices died and one was expelled.

If they had persisted and reinforced the intercepting forces, they would have had a greater chance of killing the commander. But the problem was that the risk-reward ratio was not high.

The more people there are, the greater the risk.

After all, it is an action within the control of others, so there are definitely risks.

If they were discovered, they would be besieged by a large army.

"However, the most troublesome one is Byzantium!"

……

On the vast ocean, Thomas stood at the bow, looking at his warship.

This is a typical warship. The ship itself is more than thirty meters long and has two masts.

Because this voyage was also intended as a sea trial for the ship, although the wind was moderate, thirty-six large oars stretched out from both sides of the ship, fighting the wind and waves in an orderly manner. The entire ship, driven by the dual forces of sails and oars, moved forward at an extremely fast speed.

Of course, this was extremely fast by the standards of the era. For Thomas, the speed was just passable.

Although there were two ships, a minor problem was found on one of the ships and it needed to be repaired.

This situation is very common for new ships.

So Thomas had to wander around alone on his own ship.

Originally the ship was leaving the port with the Byzantine fleet, but now the Byzantine warships were no longer visible.

"Grand Master, what are you thinking about?" Secretary Demetrios looked resigned to his fate.

Fortunately, Knight Andrea told him some of the things he encountered during his journey last night, which gave him a glimmer of hope.

"I'm wondering whether we should warn the Byzantines?" Thomas narrowed his eyes and looked in the direction where the Byzantine fleet was going away.

"Warn them?"

"Well, because the Star-Moon Cultists are about to take action against them," Thomas said.

If it weren't for the incident with the prince along the way, Thomas felt that he would have formally warned them, but now, he had to think about it.

The Byzantines were not to be trusted.

Today's Byzantine royal family is arrogant and domineering, looking down on everyone, and still thinks they are the invincible Rome of the past!

Forget it, I'd rather die than let my friend die! Let the Byzantines die.

In fact, we should think about it the other way around, how to get the most benefit from this matter!

While Thomas was thinking about this problem, the lookout on the high ground suddenly shouted.

"There is a situation!"

Sure enough, a few minutes later, a white sail appeared on the horizon!

Not one, but two...three!

Three ships!

Demetrios immediately became nervous, "Sir, be careful!"

"Go get ready!" Thomas replied, taking out his telescope and looking at the three ships from a distance.

The same three-gallant ship.

The difference between warships and non-warships of this era can be easily distinguished by their appearance: warships appear slender, while non-warships appear round and plump.

However, due to angle and distance issues, it is currently impossible to determine whether those ships are warships.

"It's the Star-Moon Cultists!" the lookout shouted again.

Although it was still unclear whether it was a warship or a merchant ship, it was already possible to see that the flag it was flying had a star and crescent symbol on it.

Thomas also saw it at this time, but it was a very unfamiliar flag.

Star, crescent and scimitar.

"What's that?" Thomas handed the telescope to Demetrios.

"It's the Sword of the Star and Moon!" Demetrios recognized the banner immediately. "Grandmaster, it's the enemy! Turn around immediately! It's three against one, and we're at a disadvantage!"

"What is the Star-Moon Sword?"

"It's a branch sect within the Star-Moon Cult, and its members are all fanatical believers who advocate holy war. Although they're not very powerful, they have good relations with other sects, especially those that advocate war, and have the support of more than one monarch... and that... that traitor..."

"Ferdinand?" Thomas asked.

After coming here, I found that everyone in the Knights Order was very reluctant to mention this name.

"Yes, that traitor was instigated by the Sword of Stars and Moon!"

"Interesting." Thomas smiled, watching his battleship turning around while the three enemy ships were speeding up.

Chapter 70 First Battle 3

Three against one, a simple chase.

There is no need to talk about any special skills, it mainly depends on the wind speed and paddling speed.

As long as one ship comes close to the enemy, it will greatly slow down the enemy's sailing speed, giving the second and third enemy ships a chance to approach.

Once the second ship approaches, it will have a two-to-one advantage. Of course, the third ship can also come over, forming an overwhelming three-to-one advantage.

"Demetrios," Thomas said, pulling out his own magical banner from his pocket. "Hang up my banner!"

"Grand Commander?" Demetrios didn't understand what this meant, but he knew very well what it meant to raise the flag.

There's no need to fly a flag when escaping. "They have three warships!"

One to three, this is a power difference that is clearly visible to the naked eye.

There is a huge disparity in combat power between the two sides.

The Knights' warship didn't have any elite configurations. In other words, it wasn't crewed entirely by knights.

If all players are knights, then one on three is no problem.

Even if we can't say that there are advantages, at least we can say that there are no disadvantages.

However, since they were not prepared to challenge the extremely difficult mode, the crew ratio on the ship was based on the normal mode. They were definitely stronger than ordinary pirates, but only slightly stronger than ordinary pirates.

He looked at Andrea beside him in despair, but the latter gave him a look in return.

Demetrios immediately remembered what the other person had said.

"Hang it up!" Thomas handed him the flag.

After taking the flag, you can see that it is a very special flag, a scarlet cross in the shape of a sword.

The star, crescent and cross are the most prominent symbols of the two religions.

In the Mediterranean today, if you see a cross on a flag, you know it's Christian, and if you see a crescent, you know it's the Crescent. It's easy to understand; no one can mistake it.

"Andrea, prepare for battle. Have everyone put away their oars...save your energy," Thomas ordered.

"Captain...speed is of the essence now..." This time, Andrea was also anxious.

In naval battles, the most important factor is the speed of the ship.

The ocean is so vast that it has almost infinite room for maneuver.

In other words, if speed has the advantage, it means I can hit you but you can't hit me.

The faster side advances when advantages are available and retreats when disadvantages arise, naturally placing them in an invincible position. The slower side, on the other hand, is the opposite. Even if they possess a wealth of skills, they have no opportunity to display them. This is especially true in small-scale battles.

"God will be with me!" Thomas ignored him. "Go now!"

Faced with the order from the Grand Commander, even if Andrea was unwilling, he had no way to resist.

He could only hope that the magic flag was as useful as he imagined.

Seeing that there was no one around, Thomas immediately cast a spell.

Second-level spell: Wind Creation!

Before, Thomas really didn't dare to use magic carelessly - it would be terrible if someone found out.

Apart from those spells that bless himself and are difficult for others to detect, he dares not use other spells because there is a risk of being exposed if seen by others.

If someone finds out that I can cast spells infinitely... I'll probably be sliced ​​up and studied.

But now, I am the commander-in-chief and have the magic flag as a cover, so there is no need to worry about anything.

Don’t think that Thomas can only access the fifth layer of the magic network.

However, if magic could be used at will, a fifth-tier spell would be very powerful!