Part 29, Word from Pechino
Late December: Francis begins to prepare for war with Spain. He is weary to openly attack Charles first because of Henry’s announcement of his intention to intervene against the first party to break the peace in the continent. Instead, he turns to more covert support for incursions into Imperial and Spanish territory.
In the east, by the glory of God the Portuguese armada reaches India from Zanzibar without encountering another Otto-Venetian attack. They’re given the latest update on the situation in the region, which is significantly dire. Without reinforcements, the Portuguese forces haven’t been able to replenish after each assault, and their defenses in the region are considerably weakened. The newly arrived armada however has proven more than capable at defeating the enemy, and intends to quickly break the Venetian stranglehold on the vital trade route.
January, 1521: The Veneto-Malaccan diplomatic mission arrives in the port of Canton. The Malaccans board the shore first and explain to the local administrator the situation. The official address of the Malaccan Sultan is taken to the Chinese Emperor. The Chinese administrator of the port is fearful to make any decision by his own accord, and the Venetians are instructed to wait in the harbor area until word from the Emperor.
February: As Manuel learns of the tremendous success his forces had over the Venetians off eastern Africa, his confidence in Portuguese victory in the Indian Ocean is restored. Convinced that further events in the region will follow a similar fate, he orders a smaller reinforcement fleet to depart Lisbon for India this February instead of another large and costly oceanic armada. Using the rest of the moneys that would be spent for another large Indian Ocean fleet, Manuel opts to send a large galley force into the Mediterranean as retribution for Venice’s stunt in the Far East. The vengeful king promises many boxes of treasure from India for any captain whose ship manages to strike the lagoon city itself.
Late February: The Emperor’s word arrives back in Canton from his court in Pechino (i). The Chinese blatantly refuse to entertain any requests for trade with the new arrivals. They are cynical in the Venetian request for trade as their sole intention in the region, as the Portuguese had said the same thing upon their arrival. Initially the Venetian request to enter into joint military action was refused by the Emperor as well, but he was finally swayed at the insistence of his many influential Muslim eunuchs (ii).
The Venetians are frustrated with the Emperor’s decision, but quickly rationalize that breaking the Portuguese monopoly on the republic’s rightful trade route is of primary importance, and Chinese assistance is expected to expedite the process. Further diplomatic and economic ties desired with the Chinese will have to be thought about after the war.
March 11: The weather is clear in the Ionian Sea off the cost of Cephalonia. Antonio Grimani, commander of the Venetian Mediterranean fleet, is alerted of the nearing Portuguese brigade. The commander takes a long time to think about how his fleet will proceed. His fellow commanders advise that they wait for an Ottoman fleet scheduled to meet with them tomorrow. Though they believe that meeting the Portuguese attack now will ultimately end is victory, they argue that any losses, however small, should be shared with the Ottomans.
Holding out until the very last minute, Grimani decides that he will attack the Portuguese now. Assured of victory, Antonio’s decision is made with the intent to capture some of the glory that the great seafarer --and his Ottoman counterpart--, Hayreddin Barbarossa seems to seamlessly always achieve; the Venetian commander also obviously still harbors feelings of jealousy towards his role of being Marco Maranazzo’s subordinate.
The Venetian forces, while well trained and possessing a Mediterranean fleet that rivals that of the Portuguese in every way, lack one thing as the battle develops: proper leadership. Despite a strong start, Grimani’s inexperience of command quickly begins to throw the Venetian position into disarray. Discipline quickly breaks, and Portuguese forces begin to recover initial losses while some petty Venetians are looting their captured ships. By mid day the battle that looked to be in Venice’s favour just hours ago looks to now be a disaster. The situation deteriorates further as Grimani’s ship is hit, and a falling piece of wood seriously injures the captain. The Venetian forces then retreat north towards Otranto, followed in hot pursuit by the Portuguese.
March 12: The two fleets are northeast of Lefkada as the sun rises. By late morning the Portuguese, now again within reach of the Venetian fleet, renew their attack. Venetian resistance is strong, but the loses are great.
In this pocket of the Ionian Sea, it would be previously unimaginable that the boost to Venetian morale would come from where it does, considering the events here just over 20 years ago. As smoke begins to rise from the back of the Portuguese flotilla, St. Mark’s sailors breathe a collective sigh of relief. The Ottomans have arrived. As the Portuguese flotilla reorients itself to face the threat attacking from behind, the wounded Grimani gives the order for his fleet to push on against it. Being attacked from both sides as the ships turn, the hammer and anvil that forms around the Portuguese is dooming, especially facing the marvelously capable Barbarossa to its rear flank. By day’s end the badly beaten Portuguese retreat west, followed by Hayreddin and the remaining Venetian ships. Grimani is shipped to Otranto to receive further medical help.
March 15: East of Catanzaro the Portuguese and Ottoman forces face off once again. The fierce struggle ends in a stalemate, with both sides having incurred large amounts of damage in the last week’s worth of fighting. Barbarossa routes his forces to Algeria as the Portuguese head back to Lisbon.
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(i): Venetian for Peking.
(ii): Emperor Zhengde, the current ruler of Ming China, is infatuated with Muslims and all things Islamic, just as IOTL. He holds his Muslim eunuch’s opinion in the highest regard.
