The long, narrow Lido Island lay across the southeast of Venice Island, forming a natural barrier.
The Papal States Navy's original plan was to pass through the strait between the southern tip of Lido Island and Chioggia, directly striking the head of Venice's dolphin-shaped island.
Now, the Papal States Navy had rounded the north of Lido Island; as long as they defeated the Venice Navy in front of them, passed through the strait between Lido Island and the protruding part of Jesolo, and then sailed southwest along Lido Island, they would reach the dolphin's tail of Venice's main island.
However, the Papal States Navy's primary target was naturally not Venice's dolphin tail, but the Doge's Palace located in the dolphin's belly.
A gentle sea breeze blew from south to north, with both sides' sails and hundreds of flags fluttering in the wind.
The golden lion on the Venice flag, with its back-sprouting wings, held its head high proudly, as if declaring Venice's centuries-long sovereignty over this sea area, and its right front paw held a sword, as if flaunting the powerful military might of the Venice Navy.
Once upon a time, Venice's golden lion flag struck fear into sea merchants and despair into Venice's enemies; Genoa, after several encounters, ultimately suffered a disastrous defeat, and even as strong as the Ottoman Empire, it recoiled from the Venice Navy.
Yet, in this sea area where the Venetians were most confident, the enemy before the Venice Navy showed no fear, and even launched an unprecedented challenge.
The blessing of faith, a scale not inferior to the Venice Navy, long-term preparation, and the advantage of striking first gave the Papal States and Tuscany inexhaustible courage and unshakeable confidence in victory.
Both fleets maintained their formations and slowly advanced.
Minutes later, the Venice Navy was still advancing, but the Papal States Navy stopped first, turned its ships sideways, and launched the first round of cannon fire.
The roar of cannons reverberated through heaven and earth, and the spreading gunpowder smoke billowed out from the formation, drifting north with the south wind.
Due to the excessive distance, this round of cannon fire was largely for show, with most cannonballs skipping on the water; only a very few hit enemy warships, and their power was greatly reduced due to distance decay, causing only minor casualties.
Nevertheless, this sudden round of cannon fire still had some impact on the Venice side.
As cannonballs flew head-on, the speed of almost all warships was affected to varying degrees, causing the formation to become somewhat scattered for a time.
However, the Venice Navy, which had run rampant in the Mediterranean, was not famous for nothing; after the cannon fire, it quickly recovered its formation under command and continued to advance at an even faster speed.
They started firing cannons at this distance? The battle-hardened Lavallette remained outwardly calm, but was inwardly surprised: Had the Papal States' artillery technology developed to such an extent?
After a rough estimate of the casualties, Lavallette shook his head with certainty: Such cannon caliber and quantity caused only such minor casualties. This was absolutely not what should happen after entering the effective range of the Papal States' cannons; the Papal States must be showing off, trying to gain an advantage and create deterrence by rashly firing outside of range, further shaking his own side's already wavering morale.
Having understood the Papal States' motivation, Lavallette still had doubts: The Papal States must also know that a harmless cannonade, no matter what, would not cause the Venice Navy, which was skilled in naval warfare, to directly collapse, and cannonballs do not grow on trees, so how could they be wasted so casually?
The Papal States daring to fight like this indicated another issue: For this battle, the Papal States had prepared an extremely abundant supply of cannonballs.
And compared to Venice, the Papal States, which were not good at naval warfare, would certainly prefer to use cannon fire to win, relying on firepower, rather than engaging in boarding actions at sea, which heavily depend on naval combat skills and soldier quality!
Venice was responding hastily to this battle, with a very limited number of cannonballs on its ships, and it had not updated its cannons in time; a cannon duel would inevitably put them at a disadvantage.
Therefore, playing to their strengths and avoiding weaknesses, Venice should avoid cannon battles as much as possible and seek boarding actions, fully utilizing the advantage of their soldiers' naval combat ability, rendering the opponent's advantages useless or even turning them to their own advantage.
Gazing forward, Lavallette also noticed that the Tuscan Navy in front of him had not updated its cannons like the Papal States and they were still relatively old; the previous cannon fire was entirely a bluff, with not a single cannonball hitting its target.
Besides, the opponent's ships were also the fewest, almost only one-third of the other two teams, and they were participating as allies; it was expected that their will to fight would not be too strong.
The Tuscan warships left behind along the way earlier were presumably also because the Admiral of the Navy of Tuscany wanted to preserve his strength and passively avoid battle, deliberately not letting nearly half of his ships participate in the final decisive battle.
Since this was the case, it truly seemed that Heaven wanted him to achieve merit.
The Tuscan Navy opposite was clearly an excellent breakthrough point; with his command level and Venice's naval combat ability, even though Veronese only gave him 45 galleys, he had enough confidence to defeat the opponent in a short time and then attack the weak flank of the Papal States Navy!
After a brief analysis, a general battle plan was already finalized in Lavallette's mind.
While Lavallette was contemplating, the Venice Navy had already endured three more rounds of cannon fire from the Papal States.
After entering range, the damage inflicted by the Papal States on Venice was no longer so light: 8 Venetian galleys were sunk, and nearly a thousand Venetians were directly or indirectly killed or wounded.
At this point, Venice's range was also reached.
Veronese had endured three rounds of cannon fire for nothing, holding a belly full of anger, and finally, he could open fire in return.
How could Veronese continue to endure?
With a command, Venice's warships also roared.
In a single volley, the accuracy of the cannonballs was even superior to that of the Papal States Navy, and one cannonball landed squarely on Giovanni's flagship.
Pisani, however, remained expressionless, but the soldiers guarding him and the officers on board were terrified: If this errant cannonball had truly taken Giovanni's life, everyone would be doomed.
Seeing this, Veronese laughed heartily, "Good! Good! Well done! Which soldier from which ship fired the cannonball that hit the Papal States' flagship? Both the soldier and the captain will be handsomely rewarded upon our return! Reload! Again!"
Veronese was having a blast, but Lavallette was depressed.
Due to the pre-battle configuration where all large ships were with Veronese, Lavallette and Pisani had only a handful of usable cannons, and their caliber and power were relatively small.
Therefore, even when Venice entered range and began to return fire, Lavallette and Pisani's two flanks were still passively taking hits.
The Papal States also seemed to have pinpointed this, directing most of their cannonballs towards the two flanks rather than the center, sinking two more ships in one go.
Lavallette wanted to go to Veronese's flagship and explain his idea to him, but he had to remain on his own flagship.
Helplessly, he could only signal Veronese with flags, requesting a boarding action.
Veronese, who was enjoying the battle, would not tolerate this.
From such a distance, and wanting a boarding action before the cannon fire was even finished, was Lavallette out of his mind?
Each time Lavallette signaled, he was rejected, and watching his fleet being furiously bombarded, he nearly vomited blood in anger.
Meanwhile, Pisani was very carefully hiding in a relatively safe place on his flagship, enduring the bombardment painfully while organizing a disorganized counterattack.
On the vast sea, two mighty fleets were engaged in a fierce artillery battle, with dense smoke billowing, cannons roaring, and constant screams and wails as lives were lost.
The Papal States side seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of cannonballs to unleash, with a much higher firing frequency than Venice, and although their accuracy was much lower, they gradually gained an advantage in firepower and psychological pressure.
The sea fish and seabirds that originally resided there had vanished without a trace, fleeing their homes—now a human battlefield; some would never return, while others might. Attracted by the strong scent of blood, perhaps more ferocious marine predators would arrive here later.
After several rounds of exchanges, due to damage to some warships, crew reductions, and wavering morale, the sound of cannon fire was no longer as uniform as at the beginning, showing some disarray. The unpredictable sound of cannons and the unpredictable fall of cannonballs added an unknown fear to the cruel battlefield.
"Commander, Lavallette sent me to deliver a message." Lavallette had repeatedly signaled with flags to no avail, and having no other choice, he dispatched a messenger to convey his words.
Veronese's eyebrows raised slightly, and he coldly asked, "You've come at a good time; I was just wondering, what's going on with Lavallette? What does he mean by wanting to launch an all-out boarding action before the cannon battle even began? He's been signaling non-stop; what, is he trying to command me?"
"Commander, please forgive me, Lavallette absolutely did not mean that!" Faced with the sudden questioning, the messenger was so startled he almost lost his footing and hastily explained, "Lavallette is just anxious about the battle, but the information that signal flags can convey is very limited, and he kept not getting a definite reply, which is why he sent me to clearly convey Lavallette's thoughts to you."
"So, if I don't give him a definite reply today, it won't do?" The messenger was caught off guard by the sudden questioning and, trying to explain, only made things worse. Veronese's voice rose several more octaves.
The messenger was at a loss for words, frantically trying to explain, but not knowing where to start.
Seeing this, Veronese magnanimously waved his hand and said, "Alright, tell me what Lavallette wants you to convey. I need to know his thoughts to decide how to respond."
"The decision on what reply to give him rests with me, not with him." After speaking, Veronese did not forget to add a sentence, asserting his authority.
The messenger respectfully bowed and then repeated, "Lavallette believes that the Papal States came prepared this time, not only updating their cannons in a timely manner but also preparing a very ample supply of cannonballs, attempting to win through firepower.
In contrast, while we in Venice have a deep naval heritage, the Papal States' naval tradition is not long-standing, and they lack rich combat experience. The Papal States will undoubtedly be weaker than us in boarding actions, so we should play to our strengths and seek close-quarters combat with the Papal States Navy."
Knowing that Veronese was famously fond of showing off his achievements, the messenger selectively omitted some details, such as all the large ships being under his command, both flanks being under attack, and Lavallette's opposite flank having very few ships, making it an excellent breakthrough point.
Indeed, Veronese knew Lavallette was capable and still considered his words very seriously. He scanned the battlefield, observing that Lavallette's words were not false; Venice, responding hastily, indeed did not have the upper hand in the cannon battle.
Even with all the large ships under his command, he could not suppress the Papal States' center opposite him, and the two flanks, without large ships, were almost defenseless against the Papal States' bombardment. More importantly, Veronese clearly knew that his ammunition supply was not abundant.
Veronese cleared his throat twice to cover his embarrassment, then asked, "Then, in Lavallette's opinion, should we directly push forward with the entire fleet under cannon fire? You know, if we do that, we will suffer heavy losses again before we even get close to the Papal States Navy."
"Lavallette's idea is that the center, which has a large number of cannons, can close in and fire, expending all cannonballs as quickly as possible. As for the flanks, which don't have many cannons, they can advance at full speed to attack the Papal States' left and right flanks."
Veronese nodded, as if enlightened: "The Papal States' center, from its Commander to its soldiers, and its warships, are undoubtedly the strongest in all aspects. The left flank and the right flank—one is reinforcements sent by Tuscany, with pitifully few ships, and their fighting spirit will not be stronger than the Papal States, so it should be the weakest; the other is led by an army general, using our detained warships, and the personnel are all temporarily conscripted, so they must be far inferior to the center."
The messenger was slightly startled; he had deliberately not said it, but Veronese had still seen through it. In that case…
"Good! Then let's do it!" Just as the messenger felt hopeless, Lavallette unexpectedly agreed, "The opportunity to make achievements is yours; don't disappoint me!"
"Thank you, Commander, for your approval!" The messenger bowed sincerely.
The Papal States continued their bombardment, striving to unleash all their cannonballs. Meanwhile, on the Venice side, flag signals changed, and they finally began to advance.
Lavallette, who had endured for half a day, had already lost over a dozen warships, and many of the remaining ones were also somewhat damaged.
However, upon receiving the signal to attack, Lavallette was overjoyed. Without waiting for the messenger he had dispatched to return, he personally waved the battle flag, organized all the warships under his command, and, at the fastest speed, charged towards Riccardo like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey.
Pisani, aiming to redeem himself and wipe away his past disgrace in this battle, also refused to fall behind. His unit followed closely, charging towards Karl's unit in front of them. The belief in the Venice Navy's invincibility was deeply ingrained in Pisani's heart, and facing this group of landlubbers, Pisani had ample confidence.
Seeing such a scene, Giovanni couldn't help but exclaim, "After enduring such a level of bombardment, to still have such high organization and launch such a fierce charge, the Venice Navy's centuries of heritage are indeed well-deserved!"
After a brief thought, Giovanni had a countermeasure: "The center moves forward, the two flanks retreat, forming an arrowhead formation. All cannons prioritize striking the Venice charging flanks. The flanks prepare for boarding actions, and the ships on both sides of the center are ready to support the flanks at any time!"
Facing Lavallette's formidable and renewed unit, Riccardo understood and felt a surge of fighting spirit: "Soldiers, the Venetians opposite are treating us as a breakthrough point! Tell me loudly, can we let them break through?"
"No!"
"Can we disgrace Tuscany?"
"No!" the surrounding soldiers responded in unison.
In fact, due to Venice's lack of understanding of Riccardo and their intentional or unintentional downplaying of the impact of the events in Ferrara on Tuscany, they severely underestimated Tuscany's will to fight.
At this time, although the Tuscany Navy indeed had few ships, in terms of fighting spirit and combat power, they were absolutely not inferior to the Papal States.