Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Naval Warfare
This naval battle will become famous the world over. Whilst I believe we will win, I have no faith in destroying the entire fleet or capturing all the men who wish to retreat. The main issue is my fleet is not faster than the Genoese fleet, so yes, I can outgun them but that is all, we cannot destroy all the fleeing ships.
The use of cannons was not common in the 1340s European fleets, but there will be some richer merchants who carry not only iron cannons but hand cannons and small culverins. Their cannons will be mainly used to fire stones, unlike my well-advanced cannons which fire not only cannonballs but also grape shots, and some of my larger ships will have chain balls used to destroy masts and sails.
My navy is set up rather differently from the converted merchant galleys of the Genoese. Starting from the size of my ships, my average galley weighs 300 tons, instead of the normal 150-200 tons. This is to accommodate the weight of the five cannons located at the bow of the ship. The extra weight also made our ships slower, so we increased the number of rowers, so now our ships usually have around three slave rowers and one professional rower on every large oar.
The galleass is a new ship entirely this is a combination of a large sailing ship and the maneuverability of the galley. This will become my premier ship in the future, simply because it is a perfect ship for the Mediterranean Sea. These ships have cannons on the deck, inside the hold within gun ports, and also in the rear of the ship. With so many artillery pieces covering close to 360 degrees, with a ship of this size, you can even carry a sizable crew upwards in the 600-man range if necessary.
Whilst the largest of my ships is probably the great carrack. These carracks are large sailing ships with 3 masts and built using a caravel style build, unlike the clinker build of say Viking ships. Using practical knowledge of the warfare of this age, I placed their forward-facing guns on the rear castle firing past the front mast, allowing this ship to also fire forward, backward, and the main guns on the hull.
These hull side cannons are mounted in a straight line, on my carracks there can be as many as 20 cannons depending upon the size, and as small as 12 huge cannons. The great carrack and galleass's battle prowess shall be tested today I want to know if my navy is capable of successfully using such weaponry.
My new style of navy shall use new naval tactics as well. Just when our navy sighted the Genoese they began to form up. All galleys began to form up using the tactic "Line a-breast" this formation is all galleys lined up side by side with their prows pointed toward the enemy formation. This is only possible because galleys can be navigated independently of the wind.
Next, our galleass and great carracks lined up in front of the galley formation. They were in a line showing their prows to the enemy formation, they were lined up bow to stern staggered though so they may all fire forwards once the enemies entered their range of fire.
The is no difference between how the two ships will fight at the beginning of the battle. But once the ships enter enemy boarding range is when the fighting style changes, the large sailing vessels can fire from the hull using the many hull side cannons. This allows these ships to destroy any ship that crosses its hull side, so whilst the galleys are fighting hand to hand after they are close to enemy ships, the sailboats will be able to coast through the enemy formation destroying ships all the way.
Seeing all our ships lined up, and the enemies all formed up as well. The enemy predictably began to close the distance, because galleys are used to ram and then board vessels. But this will lead to their downfall, looking at our ships lined up you will notice the formation formed is 2 wings both with 20 ships and the center has a total of 40 ships.
The enemy seeing our formation split accordingly, the left-wing split sending 30 ships the right wing sending 20 ships, and the center has a total of 50 ships. I can see even as a naval amateur that the admiral leading the enemy is a veteran. He probably sent on the right wing where they do not have the numbers advantage veteran sailors used to hard battles and not willing to easily run away.
Now on the left and center, he has a numbers advantage so in the admiral's mind he made the correct choice as he now has an advantage in all theatres of battle. But little does he know his fleet is doomed to suffer hellfire like all who face the might of my cannon's wrath.
Quickly the enemies moved forwards soon entering the line of fire of my navy. But Evrenos bey did not allow the ships to fire just yet, as he is probably waiting for more ships to enter within their line of fire. Soon the enemies began to edge closer and closer, just when I began to question if all was well...
*BOOM BOOM X360* the world was rocked by the now smokey cannon barrels, leaving the enemy's formation cloudy. I cannot properly see the damage at the front of the enemy's fleet as the smoke in the air does not allow me to assess the damage. But according to how many ships fired just now upon unsuspecting enemies, I can assume the damage was extreme.
After a minute or 2, our ships fire another volley of cannonballs hurdling toward the still-approaching enemies. This time as most of the targets were outside the new smoke cloud I could see the damage taken by enemy vessels in real-time. The cannonballs either landed on enemy decks or into the prow, or some stray shots wandered into the ocean.
I could even see giant splinters spraying about the decks of some galleys that were hit directly by a cannonball. But the damage was not enough to deter the enemies who rowed forwards with an iron will. Now seeing the front of the enemy formation leaving the smoke-filled region, I witnessed the devastation caused by that first volley, the enemies' numbers shrunk by 1/3 in the center formation and a little less than 10 on the wings.
In just two volleys the enemy's number advantage was crushed, and from now on it can only get worse. A smart man would abandon the city and regroup keeping his fleet somewhat intact and avoiding a devastating loss here. But maybe I misjudged this man maybe he is experiencing his first loss and his pride is making him avoid facing reality.
Just before another volley was fired by our ships, the enemy's cannons were now in range, and they fired from all wings. *Boom Boom x18* About 18 ships fired one or two cannons each, into our formation and successfully damaged a few vessels and killed many a man aboard those vessels. But the stone shot they are using just doesn't pack the punch needed to destroy a well-built ship at that range.
Soon the enemies sped toward our formation looking to engage in close-quarters battle, looking to capture our ships with force, I guess. But as soon as the enemies closed in on our ship's positions, my vessels fired their 3rd volley, and in the process destroyed or damaging many enemy ships. This not only curbed the Genoese momentum but disoriented the formation no seamen of this time is used to seeing so many ships destroyed or damaged at once.
Some enemies even ran directly into their comrade's sinking vessels, leading to even more chaos and damage. Seizing upon the loss of momentum on all flanks my navy moved forward with haste, looking to engage the enemies in close-quarters battle. As our right approached the enemies, they began to surrender waving a white cloth, showing their surrender.
Whilst on the left wing the enemies managed to shake away from the sinking ships in front of them and remain the course. Soon our vessels and the Genoese vessels rammed into each other *Boom* and some of our galleys have smaller breech-loading swivel guns mounted on their decks so as they rammed each other arrows were flying, hand cannons were shot, and swivels were fired into the enemies on the deck.
Soon the left wing turned into a close-quarters skirmish and melee, a fight for survival was fought between my navy and the Genoese on this flank. *Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh* *Boom Boom Boom* *Clink Clink* Soon an all-out brawl was fought this was probably the most brutal fighting the sea has experienced since antiquity.
Due to our numerical superiority on this flank, the enemies were fighting on two sides, and one of our ships would be docked on both sides of their galleys. These battles led to the capture of slaves and the enemy's vessels and hold, which may house gold, supplies, or weapons.
But not all, some ships did not engage in close quarters, they rowed into position and were firing their main cannons into these galleys' flanks destroying their hulls in the process. And forcing my men to evacuate back to their ship whilst keeping the enemies on their sinking vessel. Soon the battle on the left wing was finished due to our numbers advantage and the galley's ability to maneuver to the enemy's flanks.
In the center, the battle was not as difficult as on the left, but there were casualties caused by the enemy's cannon fire. These cannons firing stones all about was not good for our galleys who were closing in on the enemy's positions. But the casualties were not enough to stop the inevitable, The larger carrack and galleasses were wreaking havoc on the enemies.
The hull side cannons were only fired once in the battle, but this was timed perfectly before the rest of the galleys could reach the enemies the sail ships sailed deep into the think of the enemy's formation. Taking fire from all sides they barreled toward the center of the formation, and soon the first carrack reached the destination and fired. *Boom Boom* one by one all sail ships fired into the enemies' hulls and decks, with the hull side cannons and the swivels mounted atop the castles on the decks.
Located near the center these ships drowned the enemies in cannonballs on both sides of their hulls, leaving many ships and their crews to a deep-sea burial. And once the smaller galleys arrived the cannon fire, they launched nearly crippled the enemy's ability to fight, and before we could reach the rear of the center formation. Those ships at the rear turned their ships around and fled as fast as they could, my sail ships seeing this gave chase and destroyed or captured 4 out of 7 ships escaping.
That is all I could see from the shores, any more details will have to wait for my subordinate's reports to come in. I am surprised by how well the battle went, not losing a single ship to the depths of the ocean is already a victory, though from what I have seen at least 20 ships need immediate repair.
Looking at the walls of the city I can see the small Genoese garrison is petrified by what they have just witnessed, a thundering hell was thrown upon what seems to be the national fleet. A navy of a hundred ships is for sure the maximum a republic like Genoa can produce in this age. Though they could recover eventually, I do doubt their enemies will give them that opportunity. I believe my new ottoman state will be far more known for this naval battle than even the conquests I made on land.
"Do just once what others say you can't do, and you will never pay attention to their limitations again."
— James Cook
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