A curved line snaked across the surface of Venice Bay, rising and falling with the sea level, rapidly approaching Venice.
In the waters ahead, a few fishing boats were sporadically cruising. Upon seeing the fully armed fleet, they immediately turned around and sped back in unison.
Watching this scene, Karl couldn't help but sigh, "If I hadn't met the Pope back then, would I have lived a simple and ordinary life like them?"
Suddenly, Karl shuddered: No! With a major battle imminent, since Venice had already received the declaration of war, it would naturally gather all its strength to prepare for battle. Both ships and sailors were extremely precious at this time, so how could Venice allow them to freely go out fishing?
Coming back to his senses, he looked at those few fishing boats again, but they were long gone. Such speed was not something ordinary fishing boats could possess, and it was too late to chase them. Karl frustratingly slapped the ship's mast and had to give up.
A light boat sped off, delivering urgent intelligence about the enemy. Hearing that the Papal States' fleet was less than 1 kilometer away, and learning the rough number of ships and personnel, Veronese's body stiffened slightly, but he quickly regained his immense confidence. He strode forward, drew his sword, and raised it high, "Engage!"
With a command, the Venice fleet, which had long been ready, slowly sailed out of the harbor in a column. After sailing for some time, they stopped sideways in front of a group of islands, stretching across the middle of the sea.
The islands were covered in lush vegetation, and nearly a hundred cannons were ambushed under the green canopy. This was almost all the remaining artillery Venice could deploy, apart from what was on their ships.
Deploying the fleet by relying on the island group not only allowed them to fully utilize their home-ground advantage, using as many large-caliber cannons as possible to destroy enemy ships, but also reduced potential casualties from sunken ships. Furthermore, in unfavorable sea conditions, they could retreat to the islands and organize a land defense.
The island group was covered with vegetation, and its terrain was far more complex than the main island of Venice. The Venetian side had already made ample preparations in advance. If the Papal States were to land and fight, they would suffer from unfamiliarity with the terrain.
Even if they ultimately couldn't hold out, they would surely heavily damage the Papal States' fleet. This location was still some distance from Venice. As long as the remaining ships of the Papal States could not project enough force onto Venice, this operation would be considered a failure, and Venice would gain a breathing opportunity.
This deployment maximized the use of geographical advantage. This was originally Lavallette's suggestion, who also proposed another idea: to have someone wear the Doge's attire and impersonate him to oversee the battle on the island group. Veronese, however, only adopted the former, considering the latter disrespectful to the Doge. Lavallette was helpless.
Pisani brought all the adult males of his family to this battle, including all three of his sons and four grandsons. After learning of the humiliation Pisani suffered in Ferrara and personally seeing the wounds Pisani sustained in Ferrara, the entire Pisani family, who had been holding their breath to avenge themselves and were full of fighting spirit, were repeatedly met with Veronese's cold sneers and ridicule, losing more than half of their enthusiasm for war.
Seeing Venice's fleet waiting in ambush from a distance through his telescope, Giovanni immediately ordered them to stop sailing, change from a column to a line formation, and prepare for battle. He then summoned Riccardo, Karl, and other officers to his flagship for a meeting.
After giving the orders, Giovanni raised his telescope again and observed Venice's fleet. Seeing that almost all the heavy warships were clustered in the very center, Giovanni rubbed his eyes, confirmed he hadn't misseen, and then fell into thought.
A moment later, everyone had arrived. Giovanni held out his telescope, gesturing for the officers to pass it around.
"I didn't expect Venice to still be able to field such a large fleet in such a short time. Their centuries of naval heritage are truly well-deserved!" Riccardo exclaimed with admiration, yet his face was full of disdain.
"It looks like they're prepared. The fishing boats we saw on the way earlier shouldn't have been real fishing boats, but Venetian patrol boats. By the time I realized, it was already too late," Karl said with some annoyance.
Giovanni nodded, "I noticed too, but they were all light oared galleys, small and fast, and out of range. The main force couldn't pursue them, and sending a small group of oared galleys to chase might not catch them and could even lead us into a trap, so we had to let them go."
"Instead of hunkering down in Venice for defense, they've actively chosen to intercept us. The Venetians still have some courage. Since that's the case, let's honorably turn their proud navy into dust!" Riccardo's excitement was irrepressible; he had waited too long for this day!
"Don't be hasty. I don't think things are that simple. The Venetians haven't come to intercept us; they're waiting for us here. There must be a trick to this." Compared to Riccardo, Giovanni appeared very cautious.
After being reminded, Riccardo thought it made sense. He picked up his telescope and observed carefully again, then speculated, "There are many islands in this area. Are there hidden reefs ahead? If warships repeatedly hit reefs during battle, it will surely cause chaos in morale. The Venetians must have checked beforehand. Geographically, we don't have the advantage."
"Not only that," Giovanni added, "the island group ahead is covered in vegetation, making it impossible to see what's on the islands. If the Venetians have set an ambush on the islands, rushing in unprepared would put us in a dilemma."
"How about I lead a probing attack first, get closer to observe the islands ahead, and immediately return if anything is discovered?" Riccardo volunteered, as he truly wanted to fight Venice.
Giovanni immediately refused, "No, it's too dangerous. I can't let you take such a risk."
If something happened and Riccardo got entangled and couldn't retreat, the Papal States' navy, considering the implications, couldn't just stand by. But if they tried to rescue him, they would fall completely into the trap.
"That's right! No matter what, fighting the enemy on a battlefield they've carefully chosen doesn't seem like a good decision," Karl also stated.
"Then what do you propose we do? Just sit here and watch?"
"No rush, let's keep watching, wait and see what they do. It's a good chance to study their formation and ships first," Giovanni said while observing the other side through his telescope.
"Speaking of formation, I find it strange. They also have a left, center, and right formation, but almost all their heavy warships are clustered in the middle. Are they planning to use overwhelming force to break through our fleet from the center?" Riccardo questioned.
"That's possible, but it also indicates one thing: the enemy commander doesn't trust his left and right flanks, otherwise he would never adopt such a desperate tactic."
Giovanni asserted.
"Assume the worst of the enemy. We can't hope for disunity on their side. What if they're deliberately putting on a show? We still need to think carefully about countermeasures," Karl said coldly.
...
"What are they playing at over there? They've come all this way, why are they stopping so far away and not coming closer?" On the other side, Veronese and others were also observing the Papal States' fleet through telescopes, hoping the enemy would walk into their trap.