The combat effectiveness of the Venetians was truly astonishing. In the Battle of Zara and the Battle of Constantinople, this maritime overlord issued a fatal warning to other countries that dared to challenge his sea power. After the Battle of Constantinople, they once suppressed

With Genoa, Pisa and other traditional maritime trade powers, it almost monopolized the entire Mediterranean trade, bringing huge wealth to this republic located in a place that "looks like an island but not an island, not like a lake but not a lake".

Although a country like the Eastern Roman Empire that relied heavily on trade revenue had an important channel (Constantinople) that controlled the trade routes between China and the West, its customs privileges were firmly controlled by the Venetians in the later period, which made the Eastern Roman Empire increasingly unable to control the trade.

Trade taxes have been raised, and those foreign businessmen are getting richer and richer.

For example, before Alexius I granted important customs privileges to the Venetians, if the Venetians wanted to bring Western goods to the East for sale (or bring goods imported from the East to the West), they had to go through Constantine

Fortress, and the emperors sitting in Constantinople naturally would not miss this good opportunity to make money, so they levied various tariffs on the merchants, so that the treasury had an important source of income. Those Venetian merchants

A business that could earn a hundred nomisms could only make less than one-tenth of the profit due to various taxes. The merchants stamped their feet in anger, but there was nothing they could do. After all, this was the only trade route.

(At that time, the Su Yinshi Canal had not yet been opened)

Alexius I granted Constantinople trade immunity and tariff exemption to the Venetians. Constantinople's income to the empire plummeted, and it became a prison of goods dumping and trade control. Local products suffered a fatal blow

.

So why didn’t the Eastern Roman Empire contain and take back its privileges in the later period? In fact, it was because the empire declined and its national power was not as strong as before, so it couldn’t be contained. What’s more, the Venetian navy even surpassed the Eastern Roman Empire, which made the Venetian people sail directly

Blockade of imperial waters. The tragedy that occurred in 1204 was closely related to the Latin Massacre in 1182, and was also the direct reason for the Venetians to retaliate against Rome.

In the battle just now, Alexios discovered that the sailors of the Venetian Navy are not only from Venice, but also come from all kinds of people. This is not surprising. Venice is only a small country with a population of hundreds of thousands, and even if it mobilizes a national force, it will only be in the tens of thousands.

People, and if all labor capacity is concentrated on the military, it will inevitably affect Venice's economy. Therefore, Venice is accustomed to using the mercenary system to replace its own citizens in the army, and pulls the saved population into shipbuilding, etc., to ensure the republic

The treasury's profit and income are stable.

In the battle just now, Alexios fought several Greeks with Dalmatian accents. These Greeks were hired by Venice with large sums of money, brainwashed and trained to become the "guards" of the Republic, and turned their guns against their own compatriots.

brother.

John's battle with a Turk was also noticed by Alexius. The appearance of the Turks was very obvious. They had thick oriental faces. Their faces were more than a foot wide, their complexions were red, and their eyes were like glass.

His face was broad and red, and he looked very much like a nomad who had been herding cattle and sheep all year round.

The Venetians dared to hire even pagans, and even the Pope was helpless against this behavior.

Venice is a troublesome problem that even Emperor Manuel has not solved. In addition, it was manipulated by some weird emperors, and the mess accumulated for hundreds of years was all thrown to him...

The longer the battle lasted, the more disadvantageous it was for Alexios. The Venetian sailors far exceeded him in both quality and quantity. Although his own soldiers resisted desperately, their casualties were also increasing. Only then did the battle begin.

Within ten minutes, several people on Theodore's side had been killed, and almost all of the soldiers were injured.

And those reserve troops could not be mobilized at this time, because he did not know whether the Venetians still had reserve troops, not to mention that the rain of arrows from the archers showed no sign of weakening.

He was waiting, waiting for an opportunity to see who could be more patient, the Venetian captain or himself, almost risking the lives of all the soldiers and refugees on the ship.

One soldier, almost on the verge of collapse, asked his emperor, "Is there still hope for this battle?" He simply urged the soldiers to get back to fighting.

The member of the Varangian Guards could hardly wait, and the anger in his heart became more and more fierce. If several militiamen had not held him back, I am afraid that his reckless behavior would have ruined Theodore's plan.

and life.

As for the Venetian Captain Conrad, his face was not good either. First of all, the casualties of his soldiers were increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. He originally thought that this was an easy battle, and that a Greek emperor would be him.

The biggest trophy became a good opportunity for him to transform into the upper class society; but reality slapped him hard. These Greek soldiers who looked like scumbags actually organized an effective line of defense, although it seemed that this line of defense was crumbling.

, but still blocked the fierce attack of the Venetian soldiers. The passing of every soldier's life made Conrad feel his heart bleed. These are the elites he hired with a lot of money! Whether they are pirates or pagans, their combat effectiveness

Far more than his own soldiers. But now, his soldiers have been reduced by more than half. Although the Greeks are facing the same situation as him, the Greeks who died in battle are just ordinary soldiers, militiamen and even civilians. They always value interests.

Conrad didn't even have to think about it. Without Theodore as a "big cake", this would definitely be a costly "deal".

"Why don't we all go into battle? Kill the Greeks at once?" Conrad thought in his mind. When he asked the adjutant next to him "whether the Greeks still have reserve strength," the adjutant replied seriously: "Even the emperor of the Greeks has

When we go to the battlefield, we definitely don’t have the strength to prepare.”

A Greek archer expressed objections. He suggested that the resisting Greeks on the deck should be eliminated first, and then the entire ship should be searched. As long as Theodore was captured, even if there were Greek soldiers on the ship, their resistance would

The will also quickly falls apart.

"The Greek's suggestion seemed reasonable, but my adjutant insisted on a quick victory. He swore to God that the Greeks would never have other soldiers, and ridiculed the Greek for being ignorant and 'intentional,' so I accepted it.

Adjutant’s advice.”

——This is how Conrad explained it when he was punished later.

As for Alexios, his waiting was not in vain. It seemed that he was better at playing with patience. The Venetian captain made the stupidest decision in his life. When he could have won steadily and gradually, he failed.

He lost his mind at the last moment and threw all his troops into the battlefield in a desperate move. If Alexius did not have the courage to put the reserve force into the battlefield in advance, he would face concentrated fire from Venetian archers and eventually be defeated.

Seeing Venice concentrating all its power on its ship, Alexius finally showed a smile that made Conrad feel incredible.

The Venetians actually put all the soldiers who could fight at close range on their ships. This was a massacre for the Varangian Guards, who were fierce in combat, a massacre against the Venetians.

Under the order of Alexius, all the reserve forces were mobilized. The Varangian warriors who had long been unable to hold back rushed out of the bunker, followed by the remaining militiamen. The Venetians did not pay attention at all.

Faced with a terrifying threat from their flanks, this Varangian warrior armed with dual axes will make these arrogant Venetians witness the devastating blow from the Vikings.

He bore the brunt of the blow and swung his ax at an unsuspecting Venetian sailor. The soldier's head was split open on the spot, and his brains were splashed on the face of the same kind of man. The same kind of man just wanted to reach out and touch the thing on his face.

, fell into the same fate as the former in an instant.

"It's the Varangians!" a Venetian sailor who participated in the Battle of Constantinople screamed in panic, pointing in the direction of the Varangian warriors.

Varangian Guards! These ferocious warriors who impressed the Crusaders deeply in the Battle of Constantinople have the blood of their ancestral Vikings. These ferocious beasts who were born to risk their lives have defeated the Crusaders' attacks many times, and finally

It was the Crusader Knights who finally defeated their offensive.

Why are the Varangians here?

This is the most terrifying question for every Venetian soldier.

A Venetian sailor who was facing a Varangian soldier wanted to protect himself with a shield, but the "monster" with a big ax unexpectedly smashed his shield open! Then he cut the soldier in half with an axe, only to

The remaining half of the soldier fell to the ground, squirming in pain, holding the thighs of his comrades beside him and crying for help. The sailors turned pale with fright, and even the most courageous Venetians on the scene became frightened.

"Be careful!" A Venetian soldier wanted to sneak attack the Varangian warrior from behind, but before he could swing his sword, he suddenly fell to the ground with a "uh" sound, and an arrow missed his back.

It's our archer!

Looking over there, the only archer was shooting at the enemies not far away. Almost every arrow could hit. All enemies who wanted to sneak attack the Varangian warriors were eliminated by this archer.

"Roman warriors! Defeat them in one fell swoop! Victory belongs to Rome! Long live Comnenus!" Alexius raised his sword and shouted. The originally low morale quickly rose with a series of chain reactions.

The enemy was actually suppressed by them at this moment, and this trend continued to soar.

The Venetians were in chaos. Due to the large number, they were almost crowded together. As the Greeks approached step by step, the space for them to move became smaller and smaller. Naturally, the battle could not be carried out normally. In a very short time

The number of dead in the battle was far beyond what they could bear, and some soldiers began to evacuate without permission. They scrambled to climb back to their ships, but completely exposed their reserves to the archers, who took away their lives one by one.

From unauthorized retreat, to a small collapse, and then to a big collapse, this process only took a few minutes, but these few minutes have become the most unforgettable memory for everyone present.

A Roman soldier wrote in his diary: "The battlefield at that time was extremely tragic. The morale of the Venetians completely collapsed. They were scrambling to escape from this hell. Some people were trampled to death, and some people were too nervous and failed to step on the guardrail firmly and fell.

into the sea, but most of the people were killed by us, and there was a river of blood on the deck... I was so killed that my eyes were red and I couldn't control myself at all! The first thing I did after arriving in Trebizond was to

Church, I ask the Almighty Lord to forgive my sins, because I have killed too many people..."

The naval battle, which lasted for an hour, ended in victory for Alexius, while the defeated Konrad withdrew from the battlefield in disgrace with his remaining strength. He quickly disappeared from everyone's eyes by virtue of the excellent wind direction.

Conrad's prestige will be severely damaged, and his military career may even be in jeopardy.
Chapter completed!