Ch.200Eastern Roman Empire (5)

“Words like ‘invincible city’ make people stupid.”

Munglig looked at me with a nauseated expression.

“What… urgh… do you mean by that, brother?”

“It’s just how things are. Besides… tsk tsk. This is why I told you to practice sailing beforehand.”

“Urrrgh…!”

Munglig continued to retch on the ship.

Behind him, all the Kheshig were suffering as well.

The Ulus were people of the steppe who had never experienced the sea before.

So it was only natural that they were suffering from seasickness and vomiting.

“Urrrgh!”

“Gaaaargh… urgh…”

“…They’re certainly vomiting with enthusiasm.”

Given their poor condition, it seemed they wouldn’t last long.

If we landed like this, we would all be slaughtered.

Fortunately, Muqali’s Venetian merchants had created chaos inside Constantinople with rebellion, so we wouldn’t suffer heavy casualties even if we landed now.

If we hadn’t made these arrangements in advance, the Ulus might have become fish food before conquering Constantinople.

“But are you alright?”

I looked at Temujin with a worried expression.

Temujin waved his hand with a pale face.

“Don’t worry. As the Gurkhan… urgh. I’m fine. If the Gurkhan can endure… urgh!”

With those words, my son vomited as well.

I patted his back reassuringly.

“It’s difficult for people who have lived their entire lives on the steppe.”

At my words, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to me.

Their looks seemed to ask why I was fine.

“I have been chosen by the gods. Even these waves cannot affect me.”

I said this without even wetting my lips with saliva.

Whether I truly had divine blessing or not, I wasn’t experiencing seasickness.

The body I had possessed, Yesugei, was originally a steppe person who should naturally get seasick.

However, I who had possessed his body was someone who had been born in my country and visited the East Sea coast every summer.

Since I regularly enjoyed marine sports and sea fishing, I knew techniques to reduce seasickness.

So before boarding the ship to the Byzantine Empire, I had taken all possible preventive measures.

Thanks to that, I could remain fine on the ship.

If others saw this, they might ask why I was the only one who did these good things.

But I had my own grievances. I had ordered the soldiers and commanders to reduce their meals and follow my preventive measures.

Yet despite following these actions, everyone was still suffering from seasickness, so I didn’t know what to say.

Anyway, our destination was the Byzantine Empire.

To be precise, it was Crete, the core fortress of the Byzantine navy.

“I can see Crete Island in the distance!”

At the sailor’s shout, I nodded.

Then I turned my head to look at Crete, the island of the Minotaur legend.

Crete was an important city for the Byzantine Empire.

If it were to be captured, they would lose control over the entire Aegean Sea.

In fact, after Crete was captured by Islamic forces in the 9th century, the Byzantine Empire was frequently plundered by the Islamic navy.

Now it was the 12th century, three centuries later, but this trend hadn’t changed much.

This was because the Byzantine Empire’s main warship was a wooden vessel called the Dromon.

“And the Byzantine Empire’s main weapon is none other than Greek Fire.”

At my words, Temujin, who was still retching, looked at me.

With a struggling expression, he asked me a question.

“What is Greek Fire, Gurkhan?”

“It’s the weapon that has protected the Byzantine Empire until now.”

Greek Fire.

Currently, its manufacturing method had been lost.

Typically, records indicate it was used by throwing it in jars and setting it on fire, or used like a flamethrower.

This might sound like an ordinary incendiary weapon, but it wasn’t.

The characteristic of Greek Fire was that it wouldn’t extinguish even on water.

Thanks to this feature, it was used as the Byzantine Empire’s secret weapon against the Ottoman’s Urban cannons even during the 20th siege of Constantinople, which heralded the end of the medieval era.

Being such an important weapon, its manufacturing method was naturally kept secret.

It was so shrouded in secrecy that there were rumors that the emperor’s legitimacy was based on knowing the method to produce Greek Fire.

However, this was an exaggeration, as it would be nearly impossible for all Byzantine emperors to know this manufacturing method, especially considering how many times the emperor had changed.

Just looking at Andronikos, he didn’t know how to make Greek Fire.

If he had known, he would have fired it at the rebelling citizens.

“If it’s such an important weapon, it must be highly valued by the Byzantine Empire.”

“That’s right. However, that doesn’t mean it has never been leaked.”

In actual history, there were records of Islamic forces using Greek Fire during the First Crusade.

Of course, it was probably used by Greek soldiers who had surrendered to them.

Anyway, given this precedent, we also had a possibility of obtaining Greek Fire.

The place with the highest possibility of obtaining the manufacturing method was none other than Crete.

“That’s why we’ll attack Crete first.”

Greece was a country where petroleum was produced.

Unbelievably, even in ancient Greek mythology, there were legends of flames erupting from the ground, showing how closely Greece was related to petroleum.

Among the legends related to petroleum, the most famous one was from Crete.

In Greek mythology, Crete was considered the base of Hephaestus.

Of course, in mythology, the island where he fell was Lemnos, but it was likely that Hephaestus used Crete as his forge.

This was because the base of the Roman god Vulcanus, who adopted Greek polytheism, was Crete.

Anyway, with such mythology, Crete had a close connection with fire.

My guess was that petroleum was behind this.

In modern times, the most mentioned ingredient for Greek Fire was petroleum or tar-like substances extracted from petroleum.

So there was a high possibility that the manufacturing method for Greek Fire was here.

“We’ll occupy Crete to gain control of the Aegean Sea, then recruit all the craftsmen there to obtain the manufacturing method for Greek Fire.”

At my words, Temujin nodded.

And he looked at the mythical island of Crete that was gradually approaching.

* * *

Ding ding ding.

Crete was in chaos.

This was because barbarians had invaded without any declaration of war.

Such an attack was the first since the attack of the Sea Peoples, which remained only in ancient mythology.

As a result, people were all surprised and in disarray.

In response, the Doux of Crete summoned his soldiers.

“Barbarians have invaded without declaring war! Everyone, grab your weapons and board the ships! Push them back into the sea before they destroy this land!”

At the Doux’s shout, the soldiers moved quickly.

As they were moving, one of the adjutants approached.

“What is it?”

“Your Excellency. They seem to have come from the western part of the Anatolian peninsula. And among their fleet, there were also Dromons.”

“Does that mean… could that fleet belong to Emperor Alexios and his guardian, the Gurkhan?”

“It appears so based on the circumstances.”

At this, the Doux fell into contemplation.

He was not a follower of Emperor Andronikos. But neither was he someone who would rebel against him.

In short, he was neutral.

However, he knew that it was impossible to maintain neutrality in such a chaotic situation.

So he immediately sensed that this was the moment of choice.

Should he maintain his loyalty to the emperor?

Or should he follow the cause and be loyal to the returned emperor?

His future would be determined by this choice.

“Still, prepare the soldiers for now.”

“Your Excellency!”

“Don’t worry. I will board a ship and speak with them directly at sea.”

The Doux of Crete was not a fool.

No matter how just their cause might be, he had no intention of foolishly allowing them to land on Crete.

So he made this choice.

He decided to meet the returned emperor and the barbarian king in person before making a decision.

If the returned emperor and the barbarian king were proper figures, he intended to surrender to them.

But if not, he would maintain his loyalty to Andronikos.

With these thoughts, he boarded the command ship with his adjutant.

Then he sailed near Crete to meet the enemy.

When the two fleets gathered in one place, the Doux raised his hand.

And he ordered his adjutant to raise a white flag.

As the white flag went up, a white flag also rose from the barbarian fleet.

After confirming each other’s white flags, both fleets used hand signals to point to a small uninhabited island between them.

It was a space within the attack range of both fleets, making it suitable for a meeting.

Anyway, after exchanging signals like this, a signal of acceptance arrived from the barbarian side.

“Prepare a small boat. We’re moving.”

At the Doux’s order, two adjutants and five soldiers prepared to disembark.

As a small boat approached the side of the ship, the Doux, adjutants, and soldiers disembarked.

And they rowed straight to the middle island.

There, the barbarian king, Alexios II, and barbarian soldiers were already standing.

“Testing us. How disappointing, Doux.”

Alexios said this, criticizing the Doux of Crete.

In response, the Doux bowed and explained the situation.

“I needed to confirm Your Majesty’s intentions for proper national defense.”

“Does that seem like an appropriate excuse?”

“It does not. However…”

The Doux said this and turned his head.

There stood a man with a massive build.

Prester John.

Seeing him, the Doux greeted him with proper etiquette.

“I am honored to meet Your Highness, Prester John.”

At this, the barbarian king smiled.

And he replied in clear Latin.

“This welcome greeting seems sufficient, so let’s get straight to the point.”