Part 8, An End to War, Ptolemy Lives Again
May: Gonzalo de Cordoba, Great Captain of the Spanish force in Italy, has exhausted a great deal of manpower fighting the French on the peninsula. He is under intense pressure from the crown to end the war. Still camped outside of Gaeta, and eager to attack again from the recent win over his rival, de Cordoba instructs his men to build a similar bridge made of boats and barrels that successfully allowed the Spanish to cross the Garigliano river in December of last year. After the completion of the bridge, he commands some units to “retreat” towards the Volturno River as a distraction tactic.
Night of June 1-2: The Spanish bring the bridging materials to a place near the castle of Suio, in a position invisible to the French, some six kilometers north to the latter's camp. D'Alviano, commander of the Spanish vanguard, orders the construction to begin at dawn. By 10 AM some 4,000 Spaniards cross the Garigliano. In the ensuing battle, French losses amounted to nearly 8,000, with 8,000 missing or captured, the Spanish losing just over 5,000 men.
While costly, the Spanish victory is decisive, and the French offensive capability is destroyed.
June 6: French troops of King Louis XII surrender Gaeta to the Spanish under Gonzalo de Cordoba.
September 31: France and Spain agree to a ceasefire.
With the war now over with France, the Spanish crown turns its attention towards Venice’s holdings in Puglia. Spain is low on military and financial resources thanks to its expensive war with France. De Cordoba is well aware that Venetian forces are intensely entrenched in Otranto and Brindisi, as well as having updated the fortifications of those cities. Fearing a similar situation as that encountered against the French stationed in Gaeta, he knows capturing the cities will be challenging.
November 26: Isabella I of Castille, Queen of Castile and Aragon, dies. The Crown of Castille passes to her daughter Joanna. Disruption in the court due to the death of the queen delays action against Venice.
December: After nearly a full year of deliberation, planning, and discussion, Venice and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt agree to push forward with a jointly built canal, connecting the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Though the canal will be expensive, both sides are in agreement that it will increase the speed and ease of trade, and lead to greatly increased profits.
The canal will be built by both skilled laborers and slaves alike, the latter making up the vast majority of the labor effort. Mostly from the Balkans, North Africa, or the Crimean Khanate, the slaves will be purchased by Venice and Egypt and will work tirelessly to complete this outstanding feat of human ingenuity. While no set completion date is established, Mamluk engineers estimate that it can be open for trade in just 5 years. Da Vinci scoffs at their assessment, approximating that it will take double that, conditions allowing.
The revenue sharing structure will depend on the expenses each country contributes to the overall completion of the canal, however; as a deal sweetener, the Venetians promise that whatever the result, an extra 5% ownership will go to the Sultanate for the use of their land. This was a major driver in Mamluk acceptance of the project.
It will be called the Ptolmeic channel, after the great Ptolmeic Dynasty of Egypt.
February, 1505: Venice continues its push to rid itself from dependence on mercenaries. The Secretary of War alerts Loredan that the province of Veneto can now be completely defended by a standing army of loyal Venetian citizens. He estimates that at the current rate, the entire Stato de Terraferma will be independent of the need for mercenaries in 3-4 years. To assure the development, Venetian spies in Florence continue to observe and report on the development of Machiavelli’s army.
Stationed with the Venetian fleet at Brindisi, Capitano Generale da Mar, Marco Maranazzo, waits ready in case of a Spanish attack. With the news of the growing standing army and the agreement to the Ptolmeic Channel, he is fearful that any future funds his navy may need will not be available.
