Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1623

"You are the Knights Hospitaller established during the First Crusade? Your founder should be a French nobleman?" Chu Yun was somewhat surprised to see the Knights Hospitaller with a history of more than 500 years.

"To be precise, the nobles of the Principality of Burgundy created our Hospital Knights. It is an honor to meet you. A few years ago, our Hospital Knights fought against the Ottoman Empire with your fleet in the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, the Ottoman Empire The recent plan to make a comeback has caused a huge threat to us and other kingdoms in the Mediterranean. We hope to get your help."

Castella was very respectful when he met the owner behind the Fourth Fleet for the first time.In particular, Castella saw more steam ironclad ships in Portsmouth, and he was more in awe of the East. He also believed that with their help, he would definitely be able to repel the Turks' offensive.

Ottoman Turkey?

Chu Yun knew that this great Turkish empire with a population of 3000 million once monopolized the existence of the Eastern and Western Silk Roads. Because of its different beliefs from those of the West, the whole of Europe was shrouded in the shadow of the Ottoman Empire, and even Vienna was about to fall.

But then the Ottoman Empire was also defeated by the Europeans. In the 19th century, there were two populous empires, one was called the sick man of East Asia, and the other was called the sick man of West Asia.The Sick Man of West Asia was the Ottoman Empire, which was still quite powerful at this time.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire had passed its peak and began to show signs of decline.

Do you want to label the Ottoman Empire as the sick man of West Asia at this time?Chu Yun pondered that the Mughal Empire in South Asia had been split into hundreds of princes. The Ottoman Empire was obviously stronger than the Mughal Empire, and the technology of firearms was not at the same level. He wanted to split the Ottoman Empire into several It is not an easy task to have ten or hundreds of small forces.

"The war in the Mediterranean was six or seven years ago, right? Why did the emperor of the Ottoman Empire take revenge at this time?" Chu Yun asked.

"It happened like this. At that time, the Ottoman Emperor Murad IV was competing with the Persian Empire for the Mesopotamia. After he defeated the Persian Empire four years ago, he planned to take revenge on us and take back Egypt. But he defeated the Persian Empire After that, he died of liver disease in less than a year, and he was succeeded by his younger brother Ibrahim I. The Ottoman Empire had the intention of launching a war. The Venetian ambassador was in Constantinople and the new Ottoman Empire The emperor tried his best to resolve this war. But..."

When Castella said this, he showed some shame: "Our Knights of the Hospital caused a catastrophe, which gave the Ottoman Empire an excuse to march into the Mediterranean."

"Did you get into trouble?" Chu Yun asked curiously.

"Exactly. Maybe you don't know that the base of our Knights Hospitaller was originally a large island called Cyprus, whose area is 40 times the size of Malta where we are now. Back then, our annual income in Cyprus was less than Not a problem. The island of Malta where we are now is too small, and we need to maintain a fleet to deal with the Ottoman army that may attack at any time. Due to the real economic conditions, we have to attack the Ottoman Empire's ship subsidies Military spending. That is to say, we are also doing something similar to the Barbary pirates. It’s just that they plundered Europeans, and we plundered Ottomans.” Castella said that the majestic Knights were reduced to become A pirate-like organization is even more ashamed.

Chu Yun generally knew about the dispute of faith in the Mediterranean, the Europeans and the Ottomans attacked each other, and no one was on the right side.

Castella continued his story: "A few months ago, the fleet of our Knights raided an Ottoman fleet from Constantinople, the Dardanelles, and captured countless Ottoman prisoners. At that time We were so excited that we sailed to the island of Crete controlled by the Venetians, and after docking in the port, we sold the captives as slaves to Venetian merchants and made a fortune."

"For you, isn't this a good thing?" Chu Yun asked.

"But we didn't know the identities of these captives at the time. We found out later that there were 300 Ottoman nobles and 30 harem women of the Ottoman emperor. They went on a pilgrimage by boat, but they were captured by us halfway and sold to Venetian merchants. As a result Both our Knights Hospitaller and the Venetians are hated even more by the Emperor of the Ottoman Empire. The Emperor accused Venice of secretly joining forces with our Knights Hospitaller to embarrass him, so he has issued a mobilization for war, and a large number of galleys are launched, and it is expected that next year Carry out a huge war of revenge." Castella explained the cause and effect of the crisis faced by the Knights to Chu Yun.

Hearing this, Chu Yun understood the changes in the Mediterranean Sea in the past few years. The Knights of the Hospital were really unlucky. They even directly captured the wife and children of the Ottoman Emperor and sold them as slaves. It is strange that the Ottoman Emperor was not angry.No one can stand it instead.

"How is the military strength of the Ottoman Empire?" Chu Yun didn't care about the tragedy of the Ottoman Emperor's wife and children, but cared about the national strength of the Ottoman Empire.

"They have a strong centralized power system in the East, and they can concentrate a large number of troops. It is estimated that the Ottoman Empire's military strength can reach 20. Our Knights of the Hospital and the Republic of Venice have re-formed an anti-Ottoman alliance. Insufficient, the Venetians have only 5500 infantry in Crete, and our hospital knights have even fewer fighters." Castella said.

"20 troops..." Chu Yun made some calculations in his heart.

Without the support of other kingdoms, the Venetians and the Knights Hospitaller may not be able to cope with the massive attack of the Ottoman Empire.

Counting the first battle between the Fourth Fleet, the Royal Fleet, and the Knights Hospitaller in the Mediterranean and the Ottoman Empire, it is now the Second Mediterranean War.

It took almost a year for the Ottoman Empire to gather troops from various provinces and build warships. The first Mediterranean war completely defeated the Ottoman Empire fleet that rushed over when the opponent was caught off guard.This time, the opponent made careful preparations, intending to retaliate against Venice and Malta.

Chu Yun believed that even if the Knights of the Hospitaller had not attacked the emperor's pilgrimage ships, the Ottoman Empire would not give up the Egyptian province it had lost a few years ago, and the Barbary pirates who were gradually breaking away from the empire's jurisdiction.

"The anti-Ottoman alliance is a concept proposed by your fleet. We and the Venetians want you to be the leader of the alliance and defeat the Ottoman Empire again." Castella requested.

(End of this chapter)