European modulation mode

In addition, the largest is the Kingdom of Serbia. The entire huge empire that once occupied most of the Balkan Peninsula has fallen apart and can now only shrink in a corner of the map, becoming a vassal of the Ottomans. After successive sultans came to power, they had to marry a princess to them and become the canary in the sultan's harem. The recently married Princess Marah was even the stepmother who educated Muhammad and was his favorite.

The two families had been married for fifty or sixty years, and the whole country had taken on the shape of the Ottoman Empire.

In addition, there are Constantinople in the East Roman Empire, the Peloponnese Peninsula, Genoa, Rhodes, Evia, and Valkia in the Black Sea. These six have all been asked for help. The Venetians rebelled a few months ago, and the new governor is a pro-Ottoman faction, so there is no hope for this.

Apart from these, there were two remaining - a branch of the Komnenos that lingered in Epirus, and, a little further north, the King of Albania, Skander, who had defeated the Ottomans several times.

Aenarion immediately sent envoys with gifts to Epirus and Albania to seek alliance and support from the two families, and then returned to the military camp to continue training.

As the soldiers practiced spear fighting and physical training, Aenarion followed them, and only when they practiced formations, queues, and discipline did he train with others in his demon hunter's combat skills and the death knight's necromancy powers.

A few days later, Aenarion did not receive a return message from the messenger, but instead received a mysterious guest. The visitor was wearing a long black robe that covered his body tightly. He exuded a cold and ominous aura of death. Waves of creepy chills spread out in all directions, making the air around him much colder than the surrounding area.

"Greetings, the new Duke of Athens, Aenarion Angelos."

The visitor spoke calmly, and in the dead silence were intertwined the ominous sound of bones rubbing against each other.

During this time, Aenarion's name became famous throughout the Aegean coast, and everyone thought he was also a member of the royal family of Angelos.

"you are?"

Aenarion looked at the man in front of him in confusion.

"I am the former Doge of Venice, Blind Dandolo."

The mysterious visitor lifted his cloak, revealing a thin, bony face. His withered flesh clung to his bones, outlining a hideous skull shape. His two eyeballs had long since decayed, but in his empty eye sockets, a pinpoint-like crimson light still shone. He was wearing the gorgeous clothes and jewelry he wore when he was alive, but these clothes and jewelry had long since been tormented by time and were tattered and decayed.

A long piece of pitch-black silk cloth wrapped around his face, covering his eyes that were burning with the fire of death. Countless ant-sized, azure arcane runes densely covered his forehead and skull, flashing a mysterious light in the dark hall.

Aenarion's eyes widened. This was not some low-level skeleton soldier, but a top-level undead creature: a lich! Only a great wizard who had mastered the sixth ring of magic was qualified to transform and advance to an immortal being.

Wait, who did he say he was? The blind Dandolo who was overthrown by his own son and the Ottomans a few months ago?

Aenarion cast an identification spell, and the other party was also very calm, accepting Aenarion's investigation.

【Enrique Dandolo】(Lich)

Level 13 (12th level wizard + 1st level archmage)

Health 90, Mana 220

Death Touch +6 hits, damage 6~13

Protection 13 (Spell Lord Armor +8, Lich Bone +5), Magic Resistance 25

Strength 10, Agility 10, Constitution -

Intelligence 32, Wisdom 14, Charisma 14

"As you can see, I am a businessman at heart, and I am here today to discuss a deal with you."

Dandolo said calmly.

"You should have heard that my rebellious son, after being a

After the death of the crown prince, he could no longer help himself and became the Doge of Venice. He joined forces with an Ottoman army to overthrow me. Ha, I am an immortal, indestructible, and magical lich! No matter how many times I die, I can come back again. "

But the Republic of Venice, under his orders, has now sided with the Ottomans. There is even an Ottoman regiment of a thousand men stationed in the city of Venice, which is very tricky.

I need to first recapture the islands in the Aegean Sea that I conquered with my own hands, and then use them as a base to assemble a navy and retake Venice, but before that, I need the help of a fleet, such as your three caravels.

"As long as it means defeating the Ottomans, I, Aenarion, will gladly help, but what will I gain by helping you retake the islands?"

Aenarion gazed at the blind lich who stood in the center of the hall.

"The most noble republic of Venice has a large island of Crete and nine smaller islands in the Mediterranean."

The blind governor strode towards the map of the Aegean Sea placed in front of the hall. He stretched out his bony corpse hand and pointed at it.

"As long as you can help me recover these territories, I will exercise my governorship and cede Skopelos, Evia, and Andros, the three islands closest to Athens, to you. Every territory, land, and people I conquer will belong to me, and the gold, silver, and silk will belong to you.

At the same time, when the Ottomans attack you next year, the sea to the east will be the sea of ​​the Venetians, not the Ottoman islands, and you will have no worries on your flanks. At the same time, I will thank you for your actions today. When the time comes, I will send a group of mercenaries to help you fight the Dark Angels. How about that?"

Aenarion looked at the three islands on the map and nodded in agreement without hesitation.

"So, how many troops are there in Crete and the other nine island fortresses now?"

"Not many people, many of them are my old subordinates. With the help of your three large ships and 120 cannons, it won't take long for me to recover the entire territory."

"Okay, let's leave immediately."

Aenarion readily agreed. Under his command, more than 200 zombies, three carracks, and some transport ships, carrying his third regiment of 1,000 men, 500 green-skinned orc mercenaries, and three gorgons, headed for the sea in a mighty force. Before the Ottomans launched their attack, they would first remove the nails they had planted in the Aegean Sea.

Chapter 175: Comprehensive Understanding

The group first went to Evia and met the demon hunter: Soul Eater Allari again. The other party was a little amused. He was originally the governor of a small island under the jurisdiction of Venice. He was driven away by the Ottomans once. With the help of Aenarion, he fought back and became the lord of the island again. He saw the original Governor of Venice again.

As a result, the old governor's first words were that the island of Evia was ceded to Aenarion and that he was now his subordinate.

Forget it, working for anyone is not working.

Alleri assembled a fleet and took two galleys and three hundred people to join the expedition fleet. The group headed to Skopelos Island, which is Venice's northernmost territory in the Aegean Sea. The local Ottoman puppet regime was so scared when they saw such a huge fleet that the garrison ships retreated back to the port without saying a word. Relying on arrow towers and fortifications, they blocked the island's port to prevent the enemy from landing.

Aenarion waved his hand, ready to test his latest tactics. The large carrack ship Ulthuan came sideways and aimed its side at the port. Immediately afterwards, a devastating salvo of artillery fire was launched. Twenty shells were like the hand of death, tearing through the entire port with overwhelming force!

For a moment, the tower was shattered and flesh and blood flew everywhere, accompanied by the deafening sound of gunpowder explosions, the whistling of shells, the screams of soldiers, the island ground was plowed into terrible grooves by the flying shells, and the seaport was smashed to pieces by the powerful bombardment.

After destroying the fortifications, twenty cannons immediately fired a volley of shotgun shells. The black, heavy iron filings and iron sand were like a swarm of raging locusts, or like a dark wave, sweeping across the sky and earth, drilling bloody death holes in the enemy's bodies. The huge kinetic energy attached to the pieces of iron filings even tore their flesh and bones from their torsos! Let the dripping blood splatter all over the port.

"Defense! Defense!"

The local Ottoman puppet regime was so frightened that it quickly summoned more people to defend the port. Then, they saw two towering and terrifying giant shadows emerging from the rising white fog caused by the artillery bombardment.

Amid the sound of the endless blue waves, the Emperor's Pride and the Flying Dutchman, two eight or nine meter high carracks, burst out of the white mist like a nightmare, like two towering wooden castles.

Docked at the port.

The port side of the Emperor's Pride was close to the port. Huge sloping wooden boards were dragged by zombies and placed between the side and the ground, forming a huge slope.

Numerous broad planks extended from the starboard side, close to the Flying Dutchman, and the two ships were connected sideways.

Teams of orc armored cavalry from the Mongolian grasslands, riding their sturdy and handsome war horses, started from the Flying Dutchman. When they reached the Emperor's Pride through the wooden planks, they had already completed the initial starting acceleration of their war horses. Then they followed the huge landing board, like a torrent of steel, pouring down from the eight or nine meter high deck.

Before they even set foot on the island, the war horses had already started running, and after landing they were already charging at speed. Before engaging the enemy, the heavy cavalrymen clad in heavy armor first drew out their composite bows and shot three arrows at rapid speed, creating a rain of arrows that covered the sky and the sun. They then drew their bows and took out their spears, like hammers, and smashed heavily on the enemy troops that were disrupted by the artillery fire!

"WAAAGH!!!"

Amid the horrifying roars of the orcs, one defender after another was shot by arrows, pierced by lances, and knocked away by horses. The entire battle line collapsed in an instant. The friction sound of metal piercing through flesh, the bloodthirsty roars of the orc soldiers, and the screams of the Venetians and Ottomans intertwined and resounded through the sky!

Then, it was time to harvest. Aenarion sent out his mighty infantry army, six hundred heavily armored spearmen, and four hundred musketeers who were also equipped with heavy armor because Aenarion was wealthy from the silver mines he dug out. They entered the battlefield behind the cavalry. They faced only some lucky ones who did not die in the artillery bombardment and cavalry charge, but these lucky ones were also frightened and trembled in the two rounds of attacks. Their formation was directly smashed by artillery and cavalry, and they were in disarray without any formation. Facing the hordes of rich corpses coming, they were frightened and lost all morale. They threw away their weapons and weapons. Only death was waiting for them.

Aenarion stood on the deck, looking at his army with satisfaction. The Eastern Romans' tactic of using iron chains across their ships to allow the horses to run on the connected ships and directly charge and land was very effective.

Joan of Arc's three tactics of cannon bombing camps, cavalry charges, and infantry harvesting are also very useful.

I had only read about these two tactics in books before, but after actually putting them into practice, I gained more insights. All the war knowledge from my previous life was integrated into the real battles of iron and blood.

A few hours later, the entire island of Skopelos was captured, and all the local Ottoman airborne officers and Venetian surrenderists were killed. Aenarion re-established his rule here, and a garrison accompanied several Athenian officials and strode into the blood-stained governor's residence.

Then, the entire fleet turned around and rushed towards Andros Island. Aenarion used the same tactics, with cannons clearing the way, cavalry charging, and infantry harvesting, and easily recaptured the place. So far, the three islands promised to him by the Venetians were all in his possession, and he established his rule.

After using absolute violence to take over the two islands promised to Aenarion, Dandolo began to write letters to the governors of other islands, mailing out the heads, ears, fingers, cows and other odds and ends of the Ottoman governors, officials and tax farmers of Skopelos and Andros.

I don't care whether you were forced to obey my son's orders and surrender to Osman, or whether you had rebellious intentions from the beginning, but as long as you gather your army now, kill all those who are loyal to my son and Osman, and come to Athens with your fleet to surrender to me, I will forgive you all your mistakes!

Otherwise, when I bring my army over, it will be too late. You cowards who have betrayed God and your lord, your families, friends, and even your neighbors' dogs will all be crucified - I only give you seven days.

“Aren’t you giving them time to react and assemble? What if within these seven days, these scattered island governors don’t surrender like you, but unite and even ask the Ottomans for help? That will make it even more difficult for my soldiers to fight!”

Aenarion questioned his allies.

"I just wanted those traitors to think that we would wait in Athens for seven days for them to surrender."

The blind lich said calmly.

"Let's go! Duke of Athens, I have given you all three islands, fulfilling my promise. Now, while I am sending the letter, let's go directly to Crete! Conquer Heraklion - it is the capital established by Venice among the Aegean islands, and the most critical fortress among the islands and cities. As usual, the land and people belong to me, and the silk, gold and silver belong to you."

Chapter 176: Minotaur

Dandolo reappeared, occupied two small islands at lightning speed, killed all the Ottomans, and sent letters to all parts of the Aegean Sea, causing panic in the Aegean Sea region. At the beginning, he was the commander of the Seventh Legion: Sultan's Fist, and his most trusted son worked together to successfully kill this old blind man once. Only the Ottomans could kill him once! I don't have this ability, otherwise this old lich would not have ruled the Republic of Venice for centuries.

But in the midst of panic, the governors scattered across the islands felt a little relieved - that old man must have become a lich, and his brain had decayed, but he actually gave us seven days? It seemed that it would be in time to send a messenger to the Ottomans to ask for help immediately. A pigeon would fly to Asia Minor in a few hours, and the information

The contact was very fast.

Just when everyone thought they still had a seven-day buffer period and were still plotting what to do and asking the Ottomans for help, Aenarion's fleet consisting of three large ships, some troop transports, and 1,500 soldiers had already arrived at Crete, heading straight for the capital of the Aegean Sea: Heraklion.

As the center of Venetian rule in the Aegean Sea, this is a city that is more prosperous and solid than Athens. It is far from an ordinary small castle. The port's guard facilities are very complete, like a huge pot. The only mouth of the pot connecting the open sea and the port is very slender. In addition, there are 20 huge turrets built to guard the harbor of Heraklion. Each turret is equipped with two cannons.

The defensive firepower of this port was almost equal to that of Aenarion's entire fleet. Attacking the port was unwise. No matter how solidly built the wooden ships were, they could not fight against the stone turrets. One ship after another bypassed the port and unloaded all the soldiers and supplies onto the island.

Aenarion personally commanded the soldiers to launch a siege on Heraklion. The enemy's walls were extremely tall and thick. A thousand infantry surrounded the city and built artillery positions. Five hundred Mongolian orcs were directly sent out to plunder. Crete is the largest island in the Aegean Sea, with villages scattered all over the place. If they could rob food locally, they could greatly ease their logistical pressure. Athens had a lot of silver, but not much food, so they used this method of burning, killing and looting to force the enemy to fight.

Walter whistled, and five hundred Mongolian orcs rushed out happily like wild horses, galloping along the road built by the locals. For a moment, a corner of Crete was filled with billowing black smoke accompanied by raging flames.

Aenarion's sudden attack stunned the newly appointed Governor of Heraklion. Didn't they say they would give me seven days? How come they called me just after I received the letter? ? ?

He watched as these people prepared to burn the entire island of Crete to ashes, so he decided not to hide all the time. He calculated that he had a hundred knights, two hundred knight attendants, five hundred Italian spearmen armed with giant shields and spears, and five hundred Italian giant shield crossbowmen carrying giant shields, pulley crossbows, and long swords. If necessary, he could also pull several hundred elves out of the city to fight.

In addition to these 1,300 regular forces, there are also Tzeentch pirates affiliated with the Ottoman Empire, a total of 300 people. Some captains and deputy captains are powerful psychics and are very brave and good at fighting.

Now, there are already 1,600 people, and if you count them, there are also the Minotaur from Crete.

Minotaur was born in ancient Greece, after a blasphemous and lascivious mating ritual between a noble queen and a terrifying demon. They are extremely strong and ferocious, with a strong sense of territory. They have the burly body of a bull, but stand on two feet like humans. The average height is over 2.3 meters, and the weight is over 300 kilograms. A pair of horns are as sharp as a lance!

At first, the number of these minotaurs was small, but after the demon god Baphrodite and the queen gave birth to dozens of minotaurs, these minotaur brothers and sisters began to engage in a lot of inbreeding. After thousands of years of inbreeding, they had already become an extremely large independent ethnic group, living in an intricate maze underground in Crete.

These monsters have signed mercenary contracts with Sparta, Alexander the Great, King Pyrrhus, the Roman Republic, and the Eastern Roman Empire, using racial force in exchange for high rewards and more opportunities for bloodthirsty killings.

However, when the Eastern Roman Empire gave the entire island of Crete to the Venetians in a transaction, the contract was transferred from the Eastern Roman Empire to the then Governor of Venice. Now the number of Minotaur who can fight is about four hundred.

The Governor of Heraklion thought to himself, I have 2,000 men, and their quality is not bad, while the other side seems to have only more than 1,000 people. Even if that old blind man is awesome, I have a whole fleet of Tzeentch pirates! Even if their mages are not as good as the other side, their numbers can still suppress them!

The governor who defected to the Ottomans felt that he had a greater chance of winning. He carefully observed Aenarion's troops and confirmed that he had only more than 1,700 people, of which more than 200 were on the ship, blocking their own port, and 500 cavalry went to plunder the village. He immediately ordered his men to gather all the troops that could be assembled and prepare to go out of the city to meet the enemy.

No matter how you put it, this battle is two thousand versus one thousand, and the advantage is on my side!

The Governor of Heraklion felt that he had a great advantage and did not want his rich island to be burned down by these damn Mongols, so after spending half a day gathering his troops, he opened the city gates, and teams of Italian soldiers, Tzeentch pirates, and the assembled Minotaur who moved through the tunnels, rushed out of the city in a mighty force.

Aenarion immediately ordered a scout to pull back Walter's Mongols, and then led the first regiment he had originally established and trained to an elite level, to form a square Spanish square on the battlefield. In the middle was a 20x30 heavy armored spear square, and at the four corners were four 10x10 heavy armored musket formations. Aenarion handed over the command to the leader of the first regiment, and transformed a blade of change into a five-meter-long spear, and stood in the first row of the square so that all the spearmen could see his back.

In the spear phalanx, not one

The neat and square formation was slightly distorted because it also contained the command post of the commander of the first regiment, two mages, Astariel and Blind Dandolo, and a beautiful Gorgon that was thirteen meters long and three or four meters tall when standing upright.

Chapter 177: Aenarion's Thunder

The Governor of Heraklion skillfully used traditional European tactics. He first sent out his 500 giant shield crossbowmen and 500 spearmen. After they stuck to the enemy and created a gap, he sent cavalry to go around and launch a devastating charge from the flank or rear to seal the victory.

As for the Tzeentch Corsairs and the Minotaur, you can keep them as trump cards for now.

However, he felt something was wrong after he sent out the order. Huh? I have never seen this formation before. Why are all four sides frontal? What about the flanks? What about the rear?

He had not yet figured out that his one thousand infantrymen, organized into companies with ten large flags and arranged in ten fairly regular arrays, were crawling forward in a mighty force, like ten metal carpets made up of marching ants, or like metallic sea tides, with footsteps as orderly as drumbeats and thunder, approaching the Athenian army. Ten golden winged lion flags of the Venetians were fluttering in the Aegean Sea breeze!

The melee spearmen's formation is compact and tight, suitable for close combat; the long-range crossbowmen's formation is loose and wide, suitable for precise shooting.

The commander of the First Athens Regiment was none other than the former Grand Duke of Athens, Francisco from Spain. Although he did not want to admit it, this man was indeed the most capable fighter and leader among the Athenian nobles. When the nobles became officers and rushed towards militarism, he relied on his personal abilities to fight his way to the position of commander - after all, he had his wife and children in his hands, so he was not afraid of rebellion.

"First and second musketeer companies! Form a line in three!"

Seeing that the two sides had reached a distance of 400 meters, Francisco's thin body erupted into an earth-shaking roar through the magic loudspeaker, and ordered the two musketeers facing the enemy to start changing their formations and prepare to shoot.

The two musketeer captains also roared after receiving the order. Their voices were clear and loud in the area of ​​10 people, and they ordered their men to stretch from a 10x33 square to a 3x horizontal line. The first row knelt on the ground, and the two rows behind them had their heads staggered to form a standard three-line formation. This was the musket warfare method written by Aenarion in the musket training textbook, which would not be invented in Europe until about two hundred years later - "Gustav's Thunder".

The matchlock gun cannot be fired like a bow and crossbow. After the formation, only the musketeers in the first row can shoot. This three-line formation can ensure that all musketeers fire at the same time, maximizing firepower.

The Italian soldiers were somewhat confused and continued to advance. Francesco estimated the distance and when the enemy marched in a neat formation and advanced to two hundred meters, he roared again!

"Aim at those crossbowmen and fire!!!"

"Aim at those crossbowmen and fire!!!"

After hearing the order from the regiment commander, two hundred musketeers pulled the trigger under the order of the two company commanders. More than two hundred lead bullets, accompanied by deafening thunder and rising white smoke, formed an extremely dense net of death fire, whistling, flying, and spinning, hitting the crossbowmen one by one!

In an instant, wood chips flew everywhere, blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and the huge wooden shields could not withstand the penetrating power of the bullets and were blasted through one after another. Countless sharp wood chips and fragments of lead bullets spread backwards like shotgun shells, making the crossbowman's entire chest a bloody mess. The fragments of wood and lead bullets easily tore their cloth clothes and sank deeply into the chest cavity. Warm and dripping blood splattered everywhere. The horrific impact force made him fall backwards and hit the crossbowmen in the second row.

With one volley, the two hundred musketeers killed almost fifty crossbowmen!

The Governor of Heraklion had a dazed look on his face. He had seen muskets before, and although they were powerful, only the first row could fire, which was a huge limitation.