The Restoration of Rome: In the Name of Augustus

Chapter 108 Naval Encounter at Jaffa

In late December of 1182 in the Julian calendar, the afternoon air in Constantinople began to cool, but still retained enough warmth.

At the dock, Imperial Foreign Minister Ioannis conducted a brief and ceremonial farewell ceremony on behalf of the royal family.

Marshal Cantostefanos, who was supposed to attend with Ioannis, was absent. He was busy dealing with the bizarre prisoner escape incident in Venice the previous night at the naval factory prison and had no time to spare.

"May the sea god and saints protect Your Highness on this journey." Ioannis's blessing was polite, but he couldn't hide a hint of absent-mindedness. His gaze kept glancing towards the upper reaches of the Golden Horn, clearly more concerned about the troublesome mess that was in the prison.

Lyon sent Jacob to the warship that Zahir had taken, while he and Count Raymond boarded the flagship of the mission fleet—a giant round ship, fully loaded with the mission, goods purchased in Constantinople, and three canisters of Greek fire that Lyon had secretly brought on board.

Of course, one round ship wasn't enough to hold them all, so there was a second one, on which Archbishop Heraclius and Lyon's mother, Maria, were.

These round boats have wide hulls and extremely deep drafts, making them stable to navigate but with questionable maneuverability.

The two round ships were escorted by only three warships. Two of them were Venetian galleys that were already with the delegation and carried more than fifty crossbowmen. The other was Zahir's light warship, the Salandi, which had a goddess statue and a ram on its prow and carried more than 120 mercenaries, including more than seventy Catalans and more than fifty Danes.

"Why didn't the Bohemians come?" Leon asked Zahir.

"The Bohemians are all landlubbers; they were seasick as soon as they got on the ship," Zahir waved his hand, making a disgusted face. "I don't want to bother cleaning the deck, so I'll just leave them in Jaffa."

Yes, that fits Lyon's stereotype of Bohemians.

The fleet set sail and initially sailed smoothly, thanks to the detailed nautical charts provided by the Empire and the intelligence brought by Zahir, the fleet traveled safely.

However, as the familiar outline of Jaffa Port finally appeared on the horizon, the lookouts of the three frigates almost simultaneously issued urgent alarms.

Using the telescope invented by Lyon, they spotted four discordant black dots in the mist off the starboard side of the fleet from a distance of five feet (about 1 kilometer).

As they drew closer, they became clear that these were four typical Ayyubid Navy Sarandi heavy warships, similar to Zahir's ships, with long hulls and towering bulwarks, suitable for carrying large numbers of infantry for boarding operations.

"It's the Egyptian navy!" Zahir's alert voice came through the bugle. "Maintain formation, speed up and get to port!"

The round ship was too cumbersome and difficult to turn. Although they had scouted out the enemy ships in advance with their telescopes, all they could do was speed up and try to reach the port as soon as possible. Turning or staying put would only be more dangerous.

Zahir walked to the ship's railing and shouted to the adults in the two round ships, "The other side also has two escort ships and one round ship. I guess they're just responsible for resupply and won't easily start a war with us!"

However, things don't seem to be going as Zahir predicted.

Perhaps because the port of Jaffa was so sparsely defended due to the departure of the fleet, or perhaps because they were attracted by the two extremely cumbersome round ships in the Lyon fleet, the Egyptian supply fleet turned around, and more sails appeared from behind the capes along the coast of Jaffa.

One, two... eventually, a full ten Sarandi warships completed their encirclement, cutting off their shortest route to the port.

Lyon's fleet was like a giant elephant caught in a pack of wolves; the slow turning speed of the round ships became a fatal weakness at this moment.

At Raymond's command, he led Lyon and the kingdom's envoys into the cabin.

On the other side, Zahir's light warships, the Sarandi, and two other frigates were struggling to maneuver between the round ship and the enemy vessel, but their overwhelming numerical disadvantage left them struggling to hold their own.

The battle erupted with the sharp sound of an arrow piercing the air. Taking advantage of their numerical superiority, the Ayub warships swiftly deployed to encircle Lyon's fleet from both flanks, raining down arrows and javelins like locusts, attempting to completely divide Lyon's fleet.

The ship's tall freeboard became its only barrier, but wood chips flew everywhere and screams could be heard from the deck from time to time.

Zahir stood at the bow of the ship, calmly observing the battle situation.

In pursuit of speed in encircling the enemy, Ayub's navy created too much distance between the enemy ships' flanks and the central fleet, resulting in a brief vulnerability at the flank junctions.

"Hard port!" Zahir shouted. "Target, enemy ship's starboard side! Catalan, prepare suppressive fire! Thorfinn, prepare axes!"

The mercenaries moved at the command, their long oars plunging deep into the sea in unison. The slender hulls shot off like arrows, and thanks to the lightness and agility of the ships, which had been specially modified by Zahir, they instantly accelerated and cut into the waves.

The ram, its copper plating covering its bow, cleaved through the waves, aiming directly at the enemy ship's vulnerable midsection.

Just as the two ships were about to collide violently, Zahir issued a second command: "Javelins, launch!"

The Catalan mercenaries, who had been waiting in full battle array on the starboard side, instantly unleashed the first wave of dense javelins.

These light infantrymen, skilled in mountain warfare, were naturally good swimmers due to their coastal home. Having also undergone special training by Zahir, their javelins were accurate and deadly, whistling through the air as they covered the enemy ship's deck like locusts.

The Ayub sailors, who were preparing to throw grappling hooks and launch arrows, were pinned down by this sudden long-range attack and their formation was thrown into chaos.

"boom!"

A violent impact resounded as the Zahir warship's ram, with precise angle and immense kinetic energy, slammed into the enemy ship's propeller compartment.

Wood chips flew everywhere, the enemy ship jolted violently, its hull tilted, and one of its oars shattered in the impact, losing most of its power.

At the moment of impact, Zahir regained his balance and roared, "Thorfin, board! The heretic's skull is a glittering dinar!"

"Zakari, what about me?" Accord said sullenly. "I can't be the only one doing nothing!"

Zahir patted Jacob on the shoulder: "You? You can just stay on the ship and pray for us."

"For Valhalla and the dinars!" the Danish warriors on board roared like the war cries of their Viking ancestors.

These burly men from Northern Europe, wielding giant axes and large round shields, were like tigers descending from the mountains. Using the momentum generated by the collision of the two ships, they swung over the mooring lines or leaped directly over the ship's side, crashing heavily onto the enemy ship's deck.

Their tactics were simple and brutal: round shields to block, giant axes to chop, instantly clearing a bloody vacuum on the enemy ship's deck.

The Catalan javelin throwers quickly followed, continuing to clear out any Ayyubid officers and archers attempting to organize a counterattack from behind the Danish lines.

The entire boarding maneuver lasted less than fifteen minutes. After confirming that the enemy ships were incapacitated and the surviving enemy soldiers had jumped overboard, Zahir did not linger and decisively ordered: "Take stock of casualties and retreat to our ship!"

The Danish soldiers, carrying their spoils and the lightly wounded, retreated to their warship in an orderly fashion.

Zahir immediately ordered, "Reverse! Disengage!"

The ram of the light warship Sarandi slowly withdrew from the wreckage of the enemy ship. At this moment, the other two enemy ships had just managed to adjust their course and attempt to attack from both sides.

Zahir immediately directed the warship to use the angle created during the breakaway, cleverly employing the wind and current to swirl the ship around, not only avoiding the pincer attack but also gaining an excellent position to strike the side of one of the enemy ships.

Zahir used the same tactic again, ordering his warship to ram the side of the enemy ship. The Catalans threw javelins, the Danes boarded, and then sailed away laden with spoils and prisoners.