The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 346 Sicily

Sicily, located at the southern tip of Italy, is the crossroads of the Mediterranean. From the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean region) to Iberia, from North Africa to Rome, Sicily is an indispensable transit point.

Due to its key geographical location, Sicily has always been fought over by various forces around the Mediterranean. It can be said that the history of Sicily is half of the history of the Mediterranean.

In 1554, Charles V abdicated and divided the vast Habsburg Empire into the Spanish Empire and the German-Austrian Empire (i.e. the Holy Roman Empire). The Kingdom of Spain was given to his son Philip, the Holy Roman Empire was given to his brother Ferdinand, and Sicily and Naples were incorporated into the Kingdom of Spain.

In 1700, the Spanish Habsburg dynasty died out, and the War of the Spanish Succession broke out between the Bourbon dynasty of France and the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. Eventually, Philip, the grandson of King Louis XIV of France, became King Philip V of Spain, but the price was that France and Spain were not allowed to merge, Naples was ceded to the Holy Roman Empire, and Sicily was ceded to Savoy.

However, in 1713, the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire forced the Duchy of Savoy to exchange territory in order to acquire the richer and more populous Sicily, and used the poor and barren Sardinia to gain control of Sicily.

In 1717, King Philip V of Spain, with the support of Prime Minister Cardinal Alveroni and the instigation of his second wife, Elisabetha Farnese of Parma, sent a large army to occupy Sardinia and Sicily in an attempt to regain Italian territory.

However, this move was strongly opposed by England, the Netherlands, France and Austria, who jointly sent troops to thwart the Spanish Kingdom's attempt and ultimately made it return empty-handed.

However, the Kingdom of Spain did not give up and remained dormant, waiting for the right opportunity to get involved in Italy again.

Finally, when the Polish succession crisis broke out last year, Spain immediately joined the French camp and, under the pretext of opposing Austrian interference and manipulation of the Polish succession, jointly declared war on the Austrians with France and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

After nearly six months of preparation, the Kingdom of Spain mobilized more than 1734 naval and merchant ships, carrying more than 4 army officers and soldiers, and landed at the Port of Salerno in the Kingdom of Naples in early April . It then divided its troops into two routes, one heading north to attack the Royal City of Naples, and the other heading east to attack Bari, an important city southeast of Naples.

After more than two months of hard fighting, the Spanish army defeated the Austrian army in the Battle of Bitando, and subsequently captured the royal city of Naples, almost occupying the entire Kingdom of Naples. Archduke Don Carlos of Parma moved into the royal palace with great pride and announced that Naples would be incorporated into the Bourbon dynasty of Spain.

After capturing Naples, the Spanish navy and army prepared to turn south and occupy the Kingdom of Sicily.

However, the Spanish commander, Count Alvaro Morata, received shocking news from Sicily.

The State of Qi was "invited" to send troops to Sicily!

It is reported that just as the Spanish army was triumphantly entering the royal city of Naples, the State of Qi, at the "unanimous invitation" of the Austrian authorities and local nobles, dispatched a total of more than 6,000 naval and land forces and Berber mercenaries to land in Messina and Palermo respectively to assume the responsibility of defending Sicily.

Duke Carlos and Count Morata were shocked beyond words when they heard the news.

Damn it, our Spanish army fought to the death in the Kingdom of Naples and almost attracted all the Austrian troops in Italy. Unexpectedly, in the end, Qi State took the advantage and seized the almost undefended island of Sicily.

Isn’t the way you eat in Qi state really too ugly?
This is clearly taking advantage of someone's misfortune!

You said that Qi was invited by Austria to send troops to defend Sicily, but this excuse was too poor.

Everyone knows that in Europe, the Austrians hate you Qi people the most. If it weren't for the long distance and insufficient naval strength, the Austrians might have declared war on Qi and entered a state of war because of the Ottomans.

A few years ago, your Qi State seized the Istria Peninsula of the Republic of Venice, which directly offended the Austrians and angered the Emperor. If the Austrians had not just ended the war with the Ottomans, resulting in an empty treasury and tight finances, and were afraid that Qi State might use its superior naval power to attack the Empire's territory in Italy, they would have been forced to forbear and not take military action.

Given the tense bilateral relationship between Qi and Austria, the Spaniards would never believe that the Austrians would take the initiative to invite Qi to send troops to assist in defending Sicily.

It is obvious that the people of Qi also took a fancy to the strategic location of Sicily, and wanted to take over the largest island in the Mediterranean while the Austrians were at a loss and unable to cope with the situation.

They are no longer satisfied with occupying only some marginal territories in the Mediterranean region, and have begun to blatantly seek to seize strategic locations such as Sicily, which are fought over by many forces!
It can be imagined that once the Qi people occupied Sicily, their influence and control in the Mediterranean region would be elevated to a new level, and they could even interfere more deeply in the affairs of the European continent.

But the problem is, it was obviously us in Spain who first set our eyes on Sicily and invested countless efforts and energy in it, so how come in the end, the people of Qi got there first?

Duke Carlos immediately suggested sending troops to Sicily to expel the Qi people and thus monopolize Naples and Sicily.

However, the mature and prudent Count Morata dissuaded Prince Carlos from taking any military risks, believing that he should first negotiate with the people of Qi to find out their final attitude.

If the people of Qi are just trying to get some advantage by intervening temporarily, then promise them some benefits and ask them to withdraw from Sicily.

If the Qi people really intend to occupy Sicily and want to incorporate it into their many overseas territories, then our Kingdom of Spain will...

What can I do?

Are we going to fight a war with the people of Qi?
But the question is, can we defeat Qi?
Sicily is an isolated island surrounded by water. As long as we cannot defeat the Qi Navy and gain control of the surrounding waters, even if our Kingdom of Spain sends more troops, we will not be able to land in Sicily smoothly.

It is reported that the Qi people deployed at least ten warships in the Mediterranean, all of which were extremely flexible steam warships, and even one ironclad ship. In addition, they also deployed a large-scale naval fleet in the Qishan Islands (now the Canary Islands), the Shaohua Islands (now the Cape Verde Islands), and the Xiling Islands (now the Azores Islands). In addition, their naval forces stationed in the Kingdom of Ireland, even if the Kingdom of Spain put all its efforts into it, it might not be able to win the battle.

Needless to say, the Spanish American territories were also under direct threat from the several governorates of Yinzhou in Qi and the State of Qing. Any carelessness would inevitably bring great disaster to the entire kingdom.

How could the people of Qi, who were once gentle, humble, introverted and tolerant, suddenly become so aggressive and expansionist?
In late July, the Spanish sent an envoy to Palermo to request a meeting with the head of the Qi army in Sicily to confirm the other side's military intentions. However, the commander of the Qi army in Palermo informed the Spanish envoy that he did not have the proper diplomatic authorization and could not hold bilateral talks with the Kingdom of Spain on the issue of Sicily.

The commander informed the Spanish envoy that he could go to Dehua (now Tangier, Morocco) to meet with Qi's general representative for Mediterranean affairs to discuss the subsequent handling of Sicily.

At the same time, the people of Qi also tactfully told the Spaniards that the Qi army entered Sicily at the invitation of the Austrian government and the local aristocratic parliament to protect the island from invasion by foreign forces and to help the local government maintain normal production and living order.

As for subsequent matters, a decision will be made after Qi's diplomatic envoy to Europe consults with relevant parties.

Upon hearing this, the Spanish envoy was overjoyed.

The people of Qi meant that Sicily was negotiable and they were willing to resolve the issue through diplomatic means.

Then, the real intention of the Qi people was probably to use Sicily to demand benefits from Spain in other areas.

The Spanish envoys then returned to Naples to report to Duke Carlos and Count Morata.

The two men did not dare to act on their own, and sent people to report to Madrid, asking His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister to arrange for envoys to go to Tangier to negotiate with Qi's general representative in the Mediterranean to deal with the issue of Sicily.

However, just as Spain was actively seeking diplomatic channels and trying to ask Qi to withdraw its troops from Sicily, Qi continued to draw troops and mobilize supplies from Egypt, Morocco, Ireland and other places, and continued to converge on Sicily.

By the end of August, when Qi's diplomatic envoy explicitly refused to withdraw, the number of Qi troops on Sicily had exceeded 10,000. For the Spanish army, even if there was no obstruction from Qi's navy, if the army wanted to forcibly launch a landing operation, there was no guarantee that it would be able to successfully seize the beach and then drive the Qi people into the sea.

The people of Qi were serious about seizing Sicily!

The trader Di Lorenzo watched as the Spanish envoys boarded a three-masted sailing ship in a rage, weighed anchor and set sail, and soon left the port of Messina and headed for Rhegium on the other side of the strait.

It is said that thousands of Spanish expeditionary forces are gathering across the strait, ready to cross the sea and attack Sicily at any time, expel all the Qi people, and incorporate this big island and Naples into the Kingdom of Spain.

But Di Lorenzo believed that if the Spaniards really dared to launch a landing operation in Sicily, they would surely suffer a bloody defeat.

Because, since mid-June, when the Qi army entered Sicily almost without bloodshed, they had recruited a large number of island residents and built various defense facilities.

Messina is located at the eastern end of Sicily, at the narrowest part of the strait. It is an important pass for entering Sicily from the mainland. The Qi people spent a huge price to transform the original city into a solid fortress. The top of the city is full of powerful heavy artillery, and there are 3,000 Qi soldiers stationed in it. Even if the Spaniards successfully land, they may not be able to capture this bridgehead of Sicily, let alone gain a foothold and advance into the inland of the island.

As a native Sicilian, Di Lorenzo was not actually very averse to the Qi people. Instead, he was full of disgust towards the Spaniards and Austrians.

Some old people in the city often mentioned that under the rule of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty, Sicily had long suffered heavy taxation and mismanagement, which had dealt a heavy blow to the economy of the entire island. During the 100 years from Charles V to Philip II, most of the resources needed for Spain's military operations in the Mediterranean, especially those in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, were collected from southern Italy, including Sicily, which further increased the economic burden on the local people and repeatedly caused widespread famine.

The Spanish's wanton exploitation also caused the decline of all industries in Sicily, and the few handicrafts that existed to begin with also went bankrupt.

After the War of Spanish Succession, Sicily passed through the hands of Savoy and then to the Austrian Habsburg dynasty. However, the Austrians focused on Naples and were indifferent to Sicily. Sicily, which did not receive any government support or commercial capital, was still unable to escape from its economic difficulties.

In addition, the region's ancient agricultural structure is deeply rooted, but it has failed to receive support from the central government in Vienna or attention from local rulers, causing agricultural output to decline sharply. It is no longer known as the granary of the Mediterranean and has become one of the poorest regions in Italy.

On the contrary, merchants and small nobles on the island of Sicily generally had a favorable impression of the Qi people. Although they had close and deep relations with the Ottomans, the enemy of the Catholic world, their merchants were extremely humble and their goods were very popular among the Sicilian residents.

Soft cotton cloth, fragrant daily chemicals, smooth silk, fragrant tea, gorgeous oriental porcelain, exquisite industrial products, amazing mechanical equipment..., there are so many things, almost everything is included, which attracts countless residents on the island of Sicily.

Over the years, thanks to its advantageous geographical location, Sicilian merchants have made a fortune through entrepot trade and transit trade, vaguely seeming to have returned to the prosperous Mediterranean trade of the 13th to 16th centuries.

You see, the Venetians, who had fought a war with Qi six years ago, not only reconciled with them, but the two sides also made rapid progress in maritime trade. By acting as agents for Qi's goods, Venice's commercial tentacles were extended to northern Italy, the Holy Roman Empire, France, and the Central European states. Countless wealth poured in, making the nearly bankrupt finances of the Republic of Venice miraculously break even.

The Istrian Peninsula, which was ceded to the State of Qi, quickly restored normal production and living order under the effective governance of the people of Qi after the initial two years of social turmoil and collapse of order.

Moreover, the Qi people also redistributed land to the landless farmers in the region, and announced the abolition of the church's tithes, the feudal lords' numerous donations, and the poll tax and twenty taxes levied by the royal family, leaving only the agricultural tax at a rate of 15 percent.

This move enabled the economy and people's livelihood of the Istrian Peninsula to surpass the pre-war level in a very short period of time. Industry and commerce also achieved rapid development, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, the area gradually became prosperous, and won the unanimous support of local residents.

Looking at Egypt under the control of Qi State, it was completely different from the Ottoman rule. The implementation of replacing grain with cotton in agriculture increased the income of local farmers to the greatest extent. Benefiting from the prosperous Red Sea-Mediterranean trade, Egypt once again became an important trade transit channel connecting Asia and Europe, with countless commodities and gold and silver flowing through it.

The Mamluk cavalry and local lords, who once knew only how to fight and kill, also became loyal partners of the Qi people. They lay in their magnificent mansions, drinking fine wine and counting their lovely gold coins.

So, if Sicily fell into the hands of the Qi people, would it also bring an unexpected surprise to hundreds of thousands of local residents?
(End of this chapter)