13th March 1657
A small island on the southern coast of Albania
Hidden behind the small island were three battleships from the Ottoman Empire, waiting silently to launch an ambush.
A few weeks prior, the Ottomans had received confidential information from a spy about the Venetians purchasing a large number of battleships from the Indian subcontinent, but the later intelligence sent by the spy seemed a little ridiculous. After all, how could the Venetians buy more than 20 ships from a subcontinent that didn’t even have a proper navy a few years ago?
Assuming that the spy was trying to deceive the nation, he was immediately arrested and put into jail.
However, despite this, Mehmed IV, with a cautious heart, took precautions and arranged for the three battleships to wait in ambush behind a small island on the northernmost coast of Greece because, even if the exaggeration wasn’t true, the Venetians buying three to four ships from the subcontinent could have been possible, given that both nations were currently in the heat of battle.
For this reason, Captain Nazaruddin Hyder Khan, an experienced naval commander, was personally appointed by His Majesty to lead the operation.
Nazaruddin Hyder Khan was relaxedly leaning in his cabin, not expecting the Venetian warships to actually show up. In his opinion, His Majesty was being overly cautious. After all, how could a nation that wasn’t even able to produce a proper frigate be capable of producing more than a dozen battleships, as the intelligence stated? Isn’t this like a fairy tale used to fool children?
However, in the next moment, his complacency was completely wiped from his face.
"Your Excellency, we have received news from the spies in Morocco that the Venetians have indeed entered the Mediterranean Sea with battleships," an informant said with a grave expression.
Nazaruddin immediately began to take the matter seriously as he asked, "Do we know how many battleships the Venetians bought? Did the spies see how many there were?"
The messenger sadly shook his head as he replied, "Unfortunately, we do not know, Your Excellency. Apparently, the Venetians did not come alone but also brought hundreds of merchant ships with them. For this reason, the Venetian ships, which were disguised among the large merchant ships, could not be identified."
Nazaruddin, hearing the reply, wrinkled his brows in annoyance. But then again, considering that it would be impossible to produce so many ships in such a short time, Nazaruddin did not even consider there to be more than five battleships.
He made the decision to fight hard. " Men! To the battlements; we are going to meet with the enemy anytime now," he ordered as he went to prepare himself.
---
A large fleet of naval vessels had just entered the mouth of the Ionian Sea. The Venetian naval fleet commander, Ferruccio Da Romano, was having a casual discussion with Leonardo Bellini while observing the random merchant ships from different nations following their fleet.
"What do these guys want? They have been following us since we entered the Mediterranean Sea," Leonardo Bellini complained.
Ferruccio, looking at the small and large merchant ships swarming around his fleet like a group of fleas, couldn’t help but laugh out loud. "Haha! Isn’t it normal, Your Excellency? We entered the Mediterranean Sea with such a large fleet, and I’m sure most of the countries on the coast of the Mediterranean were alerted by our actions.
So, it’s natural that they sent someone to find out about the situation, If anything it would be very suspicious if they did not do such a thing ."
---
Just as Ferruccio had guessed, the random merchants of various nations conducting routine business operations in the Mediterranean Sea were alerted by the huge fleet of warships. They were curious and went over to inquire, meanwhile maintaining a distance to avoid provoking the fleet for no apparent reason.
"I wonder which countries these ships are from," John Brown exclaimed as he looked at the unfamiliar warships, which looked nothing like the ships he had seen. If he were to guess, he would say they were made by the Dutch, as they resembled Dutch man-of-war battleships a little, Unfortunately, there wasn’t a flag on the ship, maybe it was used to disguise the owner of these ships.
"Hey, look, the flags are being put on! " a man suddenly shouted. Looking in the direction he was pointing, the flag being hung up caught the attention of nearly all the merchants observing these unique warships.
John Brown, recognizing the familiar flag, couldn’t help but mutter with an amazed expression on his face.
"Stendardo di San Marco" (Standard of Saint Mark)
"These ships belong to the Venetian Republic. Who would have thought?" John Brown exclaimed. He did not expect the Venetians, who had become accustomed to renting ships from other nations, to be willing to splurge on so many warships.
On a large merchant ship a few hundred metres away from the main Venetian fleet.
"Ten warships and fifteen armed merchant ships, and judging by their condition, they should be new. Are the Venetians determined to fight an all-out war with the Ottomans?" Felix Aquilaus, a Roman merchant, exclaimed with his mouth wide open.
Even though he knew that the Ottomans and Venetians had conflicts and that the war had been ongoing for many years, he had only thought that the Venetians would suffer defeat and then proceed to maintain their own Republic without bothering anyone. But now, it seemed the Venetians were really preparing to fight back, staking their existence on the line.
"Hey brother, forget about the Venetians fighting back. Have you wondered where those stingy Venetians got so much money to buy so many ships? Just from these 25 ships alone, the naval tonnage of the Venetians increased by 25,000 tonnes. I wonder which country manufactured these ships," Felix’s brother Marcus Aquilaus commented with a doubtful expression on his face.
Just then, a merchant who had previously decided to board their ship, overhearing the Aquilaus brothers’ conversation, commented, "I heard that these ships were not manufactured in the European continent but were manufactured in the Indian subcontinent, and the Venetians bought them from there."
"What!" Marcus and Felix exclaimed simultaneously, finding the news unbelievable.
Looking at the astonished expressions on the Aquilaus brothers’ faces, Aaron Heartthorn, a merchant from Ireland, replied, "It’s surprising, isn’t it? I was also shocked until my brother-in-law informed me that this was indeed the case."
"Why did the Venetians buy the ships from the Indian subcontinent when they could obviously buy from many countries in Europe, or better yet, build them themselves? It’s not like they forgot how to build warships," Felix asked, and Marcus agreed with the question as he looked at Aaron in doubt.
Aaron did not answer the question directly but asked a question of his own. "Do you know the price of these ships?" The Aquilaus brothers shook their heads. "Then I will tell you.
The warships are called San Marco Class Battleships, priced at around 44,250 ducats (155 kilograms of gold) per ship, and the armed merchant ships called La Serenissima are priced at 43,750 ducats (150 kilograms of gold) per ship. So tell me, will you get such prices anywhere in our European nations?
Maybe you could get a relatively well-maintained and newer second-hand ship, but this is a new ship built only a few months ago. These ships are absolutely amazing in their competitive pricing."
Marcus and Felix were stunned once again. This price was almost 30% cheaper than the merchant ship they were using themselves. "Where can I buy one?" Marcus immediately blurted out.
Aaron let out a chuckle and stated, "It is very hard to buy these ships, as they can now only be bought by countries themselves, and there are no private channels to purchase them. That’s why I’ve been following the Venetian fleet from the Strait of Gibraltar. My brother-in-law owns a shipping company you see, and he’s looking to expand his trade routes.
He’s interested in acquiring a nice armed merchant ship, so when he heard about this La Serenissima Class armed merchant ship, he was quite interested and asked me, since I was closer, to inquire about it from the Venetians."
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Marcus nodded, thinking it was a good idea, and immediately decided to follow along. But then Felix stopped his enthusiastic brother, "Stop it, Marc. Although the ships look impressive from the outside, and considering that they came from the subcontinent, their performance and reliability should be high, We could never be too sure since they have never been tested in battle.
Although we do not require warships and only need armed merchant ships, it is better to be safe than sorry. So let’s not act hastily. We can make a decision after the Venetians utilize these warships on the battlefield against the Ottomans. I believe it will not take too long to get the results we want. By that time, we can use our connections to further inquire about these warships."
Marcus immediately came to his senses and thought that what his brother said was right, so he agreed.
---
"Your Excellency, there is a situation," a lookout on the mast of the main battleship yelled loudly, getting the attention of Captain Ferruccio Da Romano.
"Captain, look at this. There seem to be a few warships hidden at the estuary," the lookout said as he handed over the 10X telescope to the captain, who climbed onto the platform. The telescope, manufactured by Pillai Optics, was a gift from the Bharatiya Empire, one for each battleship.
Ferruccio curiously put the telescope near his eye and looked in the direction the lookout was pointing. As expected, there was a vague silhouette of a warship, only the size of a small pigeon even after magnification. Although he could not tell to which country these warships belonged by the flag, being an experienced naval commander, he immediately recognized the unique hull design of the ship.
"Damn Ottomans, these Blasphemers actually set up an ambush for us," he said through gritted teeth. He then ordered the lookout to take a small boat and confirm how many battleships were hidden.
"Your Excellency, there aren’t many—only three."
Hearing the news, Ferruccio let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, there weren’t many battleships participating in this ambush, and he was also grateful for the telescope, which allowed him to see the vague silhouette that would normally be impossible to discern with the naked eye.
"I should recommend His Excellency Doge to buy the technology of these telescopes from Bharat," he thought to himself.
Then, thinking about the Ottoman vessels, a scheming expression appeared on his face. "Order the captains of Battleship One and Battleship Two to move forward in the intended direction. The rest of the fleet, hard right rudder—we’re going to the Greek islands," he ordered.
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