1444, Byzantium Resurrects

January 14, 1446, Cape St. Vincent, Portugal.

The usually bustling port was now silent.

The main road near the port had been cleared by guards and covered with carpets and flowers, with a guard standing every three meters along the road.

On the left were Genoese crossbowmen, and on the right were knights from Southern France.

Near the port, a dozen warships were lined up in a row. The sailors stood in neat formations on the decks, and the purple double-headed eagle flags fluttered in the wind.

Isaac, accompanied by military and political officials and the captains of each ship, waited at the pier. Everyone was dressed in formal attire, with swords at their waists.

Isaac, dressed in purple robes and holding the royal scepter, gazed out at the distant sea.

Suddenly, a flash of color appeared where the sea met the sky. First came the masts, then the sails, followed by the hull and gunwales, until the entire fleet came into view.

At the head was Isaac's flagship, the Grand Duke of Moria, which had just completed its mission of transporting the colonization team.

Behind the Grand Duke of Moria was a dilapidated warship, whose name could still be vaguely discerned from the letters on its bow.

Saint Nicholas.

On either side of the Grand Duke of Moria, two new-style caravel ships, one on the left and one on the right, were guarding it at a distance of several meters.

Bringing up the rear were several transport ships, carrying today's main characters—

the crew and captain of the Saint Nicholas.

The Grand Duke of Moriah drew closer and closer until it filled half the sky above the dock.

Boom—boom—

The cannons by the port fired in unison, welcoming the heroes home.

On the largest transport ship, Captain Henry led 53 sailors slowly disembarking and walking toward the eagerly awaiting crowd.

Henry and the sailors were dressed in brand-new uniforms, lined up neatly, and saluted Isaac.

"Your Highness, the captain and crew of the Saint Nicholas report for duty!"

Isaac said nothing, walked forward, patted Henry on the shoulder, and helped him straighten his naval uniform.

Henry turned around, and a sailor handed him a scroll of parchment.

Henry took the parchment, knelt, and presented it.

"Your Highness, our ship has discovered a large archipelago. This is a map of the surrounding area, with all the known features of the islands marked!"

Isaac took the parchment and looked at it carefully.

The map was rough and difficult to make out, but from Captain Henry's description of the basic geography of the islands, Isaac concluded.

It was dry and barren, covered with limestone, and the two archipelagos in the north and south had different wind directions.

This should be the Cape Verde Islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Historically, this deserted island was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1456, who established a colony there. Prior to that, there were no indigenous inhabitants.

Most of the archipelago was barren land with little economic value, but its geographical location was extremely important.

It was a golden key to communicating with the New World.

Sailing southwest from the Cape Verde Islands, one would be influenced by the trade winds, making the voyage very smooth.

Once the empire had resolved its pressing survival issues, the exploration of the New World could be put on the agenda.

Isaac put down the scroll and asked.

"Captain Henry, since you were the first to discover this archipelago, how about naming it after you?"

Henry looked at the sailors behind him and pointed to the St. Nicholas floating on the sea.

"Your Highness, let's name the empire's new territory after it."

"Good! The name St. Nicholas Islands will appear on the map immediately."

"The small island with the small valley and forest will be named after your surname!"

Henry thanked him.

"Your Highness, there is one thing I would like to ask for your forgiveness."

"Go ahead."

"When we were stranded on the desert island, I secretly released the slaves on board and granted them their freedom. Please punish me, Your Highness."

Isaac looked at the sailors. The freed slaves saw Isaac turn his gaze toward them and shrunk their heads.

Some of the slaves were Slavs, and some were Turks.

Isaac clapped his hands, and the attendants behind him brought the contracts of the slaves who had been on board the ship.

"In the name of God, I break your shackles and unlock your chains as a reward for your good deeds."

Isaac tore the contracts into pieces.

"From now on, you are Romans protected by the empire."

The crowd behind him broke into applause.

Isaac then ordered his men to bring the prepared rewards.

The ordinary sailors were each rewarded with 50 ducats, equivalent to five years' income, and were promoted to new ranks and joined the newly formed fleet.

Captain Henry was made a baron and allowed him to choose any of the islands in the Saint Nicholas Archipelago as his fiefdom.

Of course, it was still a wasteland at that time and would need to be developed by Baron Henry himself.

He would provide troops in times of war and taxes in times of peace.

As for the governor of the archipelago, that would be decided later.

Boatswain Owen and other officers were also knighted and awarded 100 ducats.

A knighthood was a title extended by the Senate, representing only status, with no fiefdom or annuity.

After the rewards were handed out, everyone shouted "Long live the king!"

"The wreckage of the St. Nicholas will be kept here for future generations to see,"

Isaac looked at Henry, whose face remained calm despite being granted the title of baron,

"I have already ordered another Clark-rigged ship from the Genoese merchant of the Snowpia family, also named the Saint Nicholas, with you as captain."

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Henry's stern face finally broke into a smile.

The crowd gradually dispersed, the sailors slinging their arms around each other's shoulders, tossing their money bags in the air, chatting about dirty topics, and occasionally bursting into lewd laughter.

The senior officers of the other ships gathered enviously around the officers of the Saint Nicholas wearing their lord's insignia, congratulating them on their safe return.

This was the atmosphere Isaac wanted to create in the army, one of high spirits and optimism.

If you do something meritorious, His Highness will reward you.

Slave contracts, baron and lord titles, and a newly ordered Clark sailboat were all prepared in advance by Isaac when he received the news.

All for today.

Next, they would wait for the second Clark-class ship to arrive, then gather their forces and march back to Corinth.

Isaac watched the warships with their banners flying a sense of accomplishment welling up inside him.

...

February 1, 1446 AD, Port of Huda.

Isaac summoned all his ships and troops, gathered all the military and political officials, and prepared for the next steps.

Pushing open the conference room door, Isaac walked forward confidently.

The officials attending the meeting stood up and saluted.

Walking to the main seat, Isaac motioned for everyone to sit down.

Seated to Isaac's left and right were Captain William and Captain Fidel, followed by the captains of the various ships, Commander Maruna, and Knight Conti.

Governor Lotter and Governor Gosia had also sent representatives to attend.

"Anders, report on the current situation."

Aide-de-camp Anders stepped forward and saluted.

"Your Excellencies, currently, the navy has two Clark sailing ships, the Grand Duke of Moria and the Saint Nicholas, six Caravelle sailing ships, the La Palma..."

"Three paddle warships, the Marquis of Gian, the Sparta, and the Northumbria, of which the Northumbria is currently on a mission off the coast of Epirus."

"One converted Kirk ship and eighteen transport ships, including newly purchased ships."

"On the land side, there are 150 French cavalrymen commanded by Count Conti and 350 infantrymen,"

"and 500 mercenaries commanded by Commander Maruna."

"Additionally, Captain Mikhail and General Ibrahim have arrived south of the Corinthian Wall, but their numbers are currently unknown."

"This is the current state of our forces."

This was the largest military force Isaac could temporarily muster.

Commander Maruna, using funds provided by Isaac, has merged small mercenary regiments in northern Italy and recruited knights from the lost lands, totaling over 500 men.

However, the quality of the soldiers varies greatly. The initial Genoese crossbowmen are naturally experienced soldiers, and the military capabilities of the knights from the lost lands are also assured, but the rest of the mercenaries are a different story.

Perhaps they are not much better than the old farmers of Constantinople.

The French regiment trained by Conti and 14 other knights over half a year was much better. The 150-man cavalry regiment was composed entirely of brave men from among the refugees. Isaac spent a large sum of money to equip them with horses and saddles.

The 350-strong infantry regiment was somewhat inferior, mainly composed of French vagrants and Slavic slaves, with some Portuguese recruited to serve as officers.

These Frenchmen had undergone prolonged warfare and had been weeded out in the chaos, so their abilities were still quite good.

Soldiers who had undergone formal training were much better than Maruna's mercenary corps in terms of morale and strategic tactics.

This was why Isaac wanted to recruit Conte and his men.

Isaac strictly forbade religious strife from spreading in the army and required all refugees to be baptized by the Greek Orthodox Church before joining the legion. He also hired priests to teach Greek.

This arbitrary behavior did not cause much of a stir, as these starving refugees probably no longer cared about such things.

Overall, although the army was no match for the Ottoman army in open battle, it was still capable of defending cities in cooperation with friendly forces.

Isaac stood up and cleared his throat.

"Next, the envoys from the Lapalma Governorate and the Bigero Governorate will begin their reports."

"The Lapalma Governorate has currently received five batches of refugee settlement groups, totaling 965 civilians and 63 black slaves. They have already established a piece of farmland, fenced off three pasture areas, and completed the basic infrastructure of the port area. With an increasing number of passing exploration fleets, it is expected to become increasingly prosperous."

The envoy from Governor Lothair spoke first.

"Due to its distance, the Governorate of Bigez has only received one group of refugees, totaling 200 people. When I left, Governor Gosia had already established a residential area and built several canoes. He plans to travel to other islands to survive the initial difficult period by raiding them."

Isaac nodded in satisfaction.

"Speaking of pastures, there are many islands near your two governorates. You can choose an uninhabited small island and transport a herd of livestock there. They will reproduce quickly, and you won't need to manage them daily."

"When the herd grows large enough, you can go to the island and slaughter them."

The two envoys hurriedly nodded and took out their pens to record the information.

The meeting then discussed other matters, such as military wages and military supplies.

At the end of the meeting, Isaac tapped on the table to signal everyone to wake up.

"I have decided to formally establish the Mediterranean Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet."

"The Mediterranean Fleet will be commanded by Fidel, with Henry as his deputy, and will include all warships except for six caravels and ten transport ships."

"The Atlantic Fleet will be commanded by William, and will include six caravels and eight transport ships, with the La Palma as the flagship."

After arranging the fleet assignments, Isaac paused for a moment.

"News has arrived from Mistras that the Ottoman army has assembled, Ottoman scouts have appeared on the border of Thebes, the first wave of mass migration from the Athens region has been completed, and the Great Wall of Corinth has been repaired."

"Our Roman compatriots are waiting behind the Corinthian Wall for our rescue. I have decided to set sail on a chosen day, with Corinth as our destination."

"The rise and fall of the empire rests on this battle!"

"Gentlemen, you must fight bravely!"

Isaac bowed deeply to everyone.

Regarding the Senate, let me elaborate on the titles of the nobles.

Some have been translated as "nobles," "distinguished ones," or "outstanding ones," which are quite awkward. For the sake of clarity, I have uniformly translated them as "lords."

If anyone has objections, I can revert the changes.

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