Invincible urban management

>

In front of the experienced professional navy, the amateur landlubber navy, which hastily pulled up, is still vulnerable even if it has a large number of people.

——For example, in the Sea of ​​Marmara on the outskirts of Constantinople, the Venetian fleet, which was less than one-tenth of the opponent, rallied under the impetus of a strong sea wind with a kind of astonishing courage. With full sail, he threw himself at the stunned Turkish navy.

Such a brave, or such a crazy charge, made the Turkish fleet, which was gathering its troops and preparing to retreat, not ready to turn around to deal with the Venetian fleet killing from behind, and was involved in an unexpected battle. During the naval battle.

Next, it was almost just a face-to-face meeting. The eight Venetian galley warships flying the golden lion flag on the red background cut the messy Turkish fleet into pieces as if they were cutting solidified butter with red-hot sharp blades.

The defenders of the Eastern Roman Empire standing on the shore watched in disbelief as the Venetian fleet rushed left and right among the Turkish ships, like a hungry wolf hunting a flock of sheep, easily slaughtering the Turkish fleet ten times its own !

Under their noses, a huge Turkish transport ship barely turned half of its body surrounded by countless small boats, when it was slammed into it by a rushing Venetian warship. The ram of the ram pierced into the waist of its hull!

All of a sudden, there was a terrible roar, before the Turks in that boat even had time to utter an exclamation.The entire ship has been severed from the middle by that huge force!Then there was another tooth-piercing dull sound, the broken hull crashed into the water, and the people on board were also thrown into the turbulent sea water, each holding broken pieces of wood, struggling desperately between the waves.

The Venetian battleship, which had just achieved its first victory, had already continued to drum up its full sails and row its oars, rushing past the wreckage and drifters floating on the sea.He aimed his ram at the next target...

At the same time, the Venetians were still firing rockets at Turkish ships with ballistas, or spraying Greek fire at them at close range-since they broke Constantinople with the Fourth Crusade in 1204.For the Venetian fleet, the Greek fire in the Eastern Roman Empire was no longer a secret—in just a split second, at least dozens of Turkish ships had fallen into a hell of raging fire.

Therefore, under this storm-like blow, the Turkish fleet, which was originally demoralized and chaotic in command, almost collapsed as a matter of course.The Turkish sailors, who had no experience in naval warfare, were depressed for a while, and their only thought was to cry and run for their lives separately, and try to stay as far away from these sea killers as possible.

Although the Turkish officer holding a machete was still bluffing and ordering a counterattack, after a day of floating at sea, these nomads on horseback were already seasick and weak in their feet.Not to mention fighting on board with the Venetians, even standing still is not stable.

On the Sea of ​​Marmara, the massacre of more than 100 Turkish warships by eight Venetian warships continued in an orderly manner... Whether it was a fire attack, a collision, or a boarding battle, the ignorant Turks were all defeated.Not to mention defeating the opponent, sinking the Venetian warship, or even slowing down the Venetian's attack speed a little bit!

——The Venetian Fleet, which dominates the Mediterranean Sea, is indeed not in vain. It is worthy of being called the "Bride of the Adriatic Sea".

————————————————————————————

In this era, a mere 20 Venetians were able to dominate the entire Mediterranean.It relies on an invincible sailing fleet.

Most of the other European countries at that time were still obsessed with castles and knight games in the Middle Ages. They did not have a decent navy, let alone a regular national navy. A group of water thieves came to sell their lives.

However, the Venetians, the "people of the sea" who make the sea their home, spared no expense to build an extremely elite and powerful standing navy.

From about the end of the tenth century, the Republic of Venice organized dozens of conscription districts across the country and overseas colonial cities based on the dioceses assigned by the church. All adult men aged 20 to 60 were registered on the conscription roll, according to The registration order subdivides the roster into groups of 12 people. Every time the country mobilizes for conscription, one-twelfth of the men will be drawn to join the fleet. Those recruited will be provided with salary and board and lodging subsidies by the country, but they need to bring their own weapons.If the conscript is unable to accept the conscript because of something or something, he needs to pay zhengfu a sum of service money, or negotiate a commission with other men in the same group to replace his service quota—roughly equivalent to the modern military service system.

These urgently recruited strong men from Venice will be assigned as paddlers of galley warships. In addition, they may also be assigned to the crossbowmen of the Venetian Navy. The main force in the naval battle.Occasionally, he also served as the police of the coastal colonies.In addition to the citizens of the city of Venice, the government of the Republic of Venice also recruited volunteers who were proficient in water from its colonies or allied cities, such as Dalmatia, Greece, Crete, and Cyprus, to serve as the standing navy.

In addition, the Venetians will also catch people who owe debts and are unable to repay them on board, forcing them to paddle to pay back the money, but the treatment is much better than that of slaves-because the smart Venetians cannot let debtors die easily It's over.

Generally speaking, the sailing warships that were commonly used on the Mediterranean battlefield at that time required 60 to 100 oarsmen to provide power for each ship. Therefore, the scale of human resources that can be mobilized can be said to be an important factor in determining the strength of a country's navy. constraints.And Venice, with a population of only 20, had to fight against the Eastern Roman Empire, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and the Kingdom of France and Spain, which had a population of tens of millions, and had to be like the ancient Greek city-states.Every adult male citizen can be sent to the battleship when necessary.

——It should be noted that it is not just a matter of catching some farmers casually and letting them go to sea—that would be a waste of warships!The professional sailors needed by the navy can only be provided by countries with developed shipping industries.

Although this kind of professional navy formed by appropriating funds from the treasury to build ships and compulsively enlist citizens to serve, the cost of maintaining its operation is extremely high (generally it is impossible to let warships do their own business to earn maintenance costs), for medieval countries with weak financial capabilities.It is no different from an extremely expensive gold swallowing beast, but when a naval battle breaks out, this kind of fleet also has obvious advantages-compared to other galley warships that use slaves or prisoners of war to paddle.The Venetian navy was not only composed of experienced navigators, but because the oarsmen were armed and paid, they could serve as soldiers in battle.This allowed each Venetian warship to have two to three times the number of people in battle than other countries, which was very advantageous in hand-to-hand combat (if weapons were issued to rowing slaves, it was likely to cause immediate rebellion for other countries).

The Athenians in ancient Greece relied on such a standing navy to establish their own maritime empire on the coast of the Aegean Sea.

The Venetians of the Renaissance era, through this expensive and fierce fleet, successively defeated the Viking pirates, the Arabian fleet, the Eastern Roman Empire fleet, and other Italian coastal city-states such as Genoa, Pisa, and Sardinia.

Those pirate nations who claim to be good at sailing are in the long competition.After all, they lost to the highly organized Venetian navy, and were defeated one by one, allowing the Republic of Venice, the "Bride of the Adriatic Sea", to finally ascend to the supreme throne of the Mediterranean overlord.

--------------------------

Standing on the seaside tower shrouded in twilight, looking at the rapidly disintegrating Turkish fleet.There were also wrecks of ships floating and sinking on the sea, and Turkish sailors struggling desperately holding planks. Emperor Constantine XI couldn't help but feel entangled for a while.

And the former Prime Minister of Japan, Kotori Yumashiro, who did not know when he stood next to him, also looked at the Venetian with a surprised expression of seeing a ghost, watching the Venetian defeat ten on the battlefield, invincible.Just like a cat hunting a mouse, it beat the Turkish fleet to the ground in an instant.

"...God! Is this really an Italian? Who the hell said Italians can't fight? He should come here and see!"

"...Haha? Italians don't know how to fight? Miss Xiaoniaoyou, you haven't watched "Hetalia" too much!"

The emperor looked back at Xiaoniao Youzhenbai, and sighed with a wry smile, "...the Italians these days are very arrogant!"

——Although in modern history, especially during the two world wars, the various street performances of Italian "noodles" are almost a joke.But if we go back to the [-]th and [-]th centuries, these lovely Italians also had a glorious period of vigor and high spirits in the country.

If we say that after the opening of the Age of Discovery, the main theme of this world is Europeans exploring, conquering and ruling the earth.Then in the fifteenth century on the eve of the Age of Discovery, or the Renaissance era, the main theme of the Western world was the Italians leading Europe!

In the European Renaissance era, the once great and powerful Roman Empire had long since disappeared, leaving only a medium-sized country with Constantinople at its core still lingering.And the Holy Roman Empire established by the Germanic people has also been disintegrated amidst endless divisions.However, the Italians, who inherited the heritage of ancient Rome, gradually picked up the lost treasures of civilization from the late Middle Ages, sounded the horn of the Renaissance in the dark fog of the Middle Ages, and illuminated the road to modern civilization.

Italy during the Renaissance is a lot like ancient Greece in the golden age with many city-states, and it’s a bit like a miniature version of modern Europe—in such a small piece of land, it has accumulated huge wealth and a powerful army at the same time. , advanced science and technology and enlightenment ideas, as well as Da Vinci, Michelangelo and other outstanding artists who have left their names in history.Banking, Academy of Sciences, standing army, school education, diplomatic mission system, joint-stock company system, overseas trade and colonial models in modern Europe almost all originated from the Italian peninsula.

Although the Italian city-states at that time had a small territory and a small population, their financial revenue was unbelievably far better than that of the huge countries such as Britain and France.And turned the entire Mediterranean world into its own sphere of influence and colonies, just like the early version of European colonization of the world in the future.In terms of military affairs, Milan's elite army has long been known in Europe for its bravery and combat skills, and Venice's Armada suppressed the entire Mediterranean Sea.

In short, the "spaghetti" at that time was really not "noodles" at all.When other European countries see these prosperous and powerful Italian city-states, it is almost like the modern Asian, African and Latin American countries see the "upper civilized people in Europe"-they are afraid.And jealous, and a little envious.

More specifically, Venice and Genoa have been fighting for sea power for hundreds of years.It's like Britain and Spain in the future.And Milan, which lacks a seaport and has a strong army, is very similar to Germany in the future-because the entire Mediterranean Sea has been almost divided, in order to seize its own colonies and maritime spheres of influence.The Milanese have been trying to annex Genoa, and for a time succeeded.There is also the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of France across the Alps. In the eyes of Italian city-states, it is a bit like the Soviet Union in the eyes of Europeans in the future-barbaric, backward and huge.

According to the views of European politicians at that time, if these Italian city-states in the Renaissance era can be effectively united, just like the Roman Republic in BC gradually integrated many Italian city-states and tribes, then a new Western Empire will be born again

However, like ancient Greece in the past, Italy in the Renaissance era.After all, it still failed to take the crucial step from city-state to empire.

Many brilliant Italian city-states, although often joining hands to fight against foreign invasions, are also seeking their own hegemony and want to restore the glory of the great Rome of the year.So, the descendants of these Romans.In this way, generation after generation, blood was wasted on killing brothers. Countless great heroes went to the battlefield with their dreams and shattered their dreams on the battlefield——Milan, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Genoa...continued in Italy In the millennium of civil wars and foreign wars, one city after another rose and then fell, but no one was able to become the real victor.

Just like Europe's global colonial hegemony, due to the delay in the unification of Europe as a whole, blood was finally shed due to the two world wars.As a result, the entire colonial system was unsustainable and quickly collapsed.The frequent melee between the Italian city-states failed to form a unified Italian kingdom in the end, but was successively invaded by France, Spain, Austria and even Turkey, which led to the economic bankruptcy, political weakness and military laughing stock of the whole of Italy The bleak ending of the European Union (like the modern European Union?), the countless trading colonies that once spread across the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea were either rebelled by du li, or taken away by Spain and Turkey-so much so that the hazy idea of ​​​​"unified Italy" was triggered.For example, the famous political theorist Machiavelli said that his greatest wish is to assist a Ming lord to unify Italy. Only a unified Italy can compete with the European powers.

And a "League of Nations" that included more than half of Italy was indeed once established-first by the leader of the Republic of Florence, "Luxury" Lorenzo.Medici took the lead in forming the prototype of the Northern Italy Alliance, and clearly stated that the peace in Northern Italy must be based on the balance of power among the states (like the core idea of ​​the European Union?).After Lorenzo's death, this balance of power structure collapsed for a while, and attracted a large-scale invasion of the French king Charles VIII.But the Venetians once again restored their alliance and succeeded in destroying the invading French army.

The European Community and the European Union in the future were also born during the Cold War in order to be able to form a sufficient volume to compete with the United States and the Soviet Union.

Regrettably, it is precisely because of the advancement, wealth and brilliance of the Italian city-states that the European countries that had not yet escaped the ignorance of the Middle Ages were generally worried about the birth of a new powerful country, let alone the resurrection of another Roman Empire. Do everything possible to obstruct the unification of Italy, coupled with the Italians' own disappointment, many peace alliances and military annexations in history, all ended in failure-the Northern Italian Alliance formed by Florence and Venice at the end of the fifteenth century, only lasted After a short period of time, it was disintegrated under internal and external difficulties.

In the following history, with the advent of the Age of Discovery and the prosperity of Western European countries, the Italian city-state, as the pioneer of the times, could no longer maintain its advanced nature and was gradually abandoned by the times.The successive invasions of Italy by France, Austria, and Spain completely destroyed the vitality that the Italians had accumulated from the Renaissance era.In modern times, the scattered northern Italy region was completely reduced to the hunting grounds and colonies of Napoleon and the Austrians.When Garibaldi, the modern Italian national hero, finally shouted the slogan of "unifying Italy" and made Italy no longer just a "geographic term" in the middle of the nineteenth century, it was too late...

(According to the historical fate of the Italian city-states, it seems that some kind of future prospect of the European Union can be glimpsed... After the end of the Renaissance era, the exhausted Italians degenerated into noodles. After the end of the global colonial era, the exhausted old What is Europe like?)

. )