Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 146

Became the Sultan of the Ottomans – Episode 146

The Red Flag of the Red Sea (1)

The atmosphere within the Rhodes Fortress grew increasingly grim with each passing day.

Amidst burying comrades who returned as corpses and tending to the wounds of those who were crippled, the enemy’s ramparts only increased in height.

It had reached a point where scaling the enemy walls barehanded was no longer feasible, and as food supplies dwindled, anxiety deepened.

“Your Excellency! We must devise a plan quickly! At this rate, we have no future!”

“Even the residents who sought solace in the church are now voicing their discontent towards the Knights.”

In response to his subordinates’ pleas, Caretto asked with a stern face.

“So, what solutions can you offer? Should we lead the knights and soldiers out of the fortress to slaughter the enemy? Or should we unshackle the three ships and sink the Ottoman fleet?”

Caretto’s question left those gathered in the conference room speechless.

Each knight was a one-man arsenal, proficient in handling firearms and various weapons, but as humans made of flesh and blood, they had their limits.

“Perhaps we should have all charged out together when the Vice-Grand Master did.”

If they had, they might have breached the enemy’s defenses and inflicted significant damage, and they wouldn’t be agonizing over dwindling food supplies like those on death row.

At least they could have prided themselves on an honorable death, but now it was too late.

Now, it would be nothing more, nothing less, than a dog’s death.

As meaningless time passed in a situation devoid of answers, a desperate voice echoed from outside the door.

“Y-Your Excellency! A great calamity! A fight has broken out! A fight between the knights and the residents!”

A fight between the knights and the residents.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but during wartime, it could become a significant problem. Caretto rushed to the scene, his face contorted in displeasure.

In the middle of the confrontation between the Knights and the residents, he saw a knight with blood dripping from the gauntlet on his hand and a resident on the verge of death.

“Sir Charles, why have you done this!”

“Your Excellency! That man insulted our comrades in the infirmary! He said they should have died rather than live on pathetically, burdening us!”

The faces of the knights, who were not yet fully aware of the situation, twisted in anguish.

Those lying in the infirmary, receiving care, should not be seen as burdens. They were the ones who had risked death for their fellow comrades, those who had returned with irreparable wounds.

They deserved to be treated with honor, not to be insulted; it was unbearable.

“He is a sinner who has insulted nobles and knights. He must be executed.”

At his subordinate’s advice, Caretto’s gaze naturally turned to the gathered residents.

Seeing the residents’ faces etched with anxiety, worry, and fear, Caretto felt a bitter pang.

It hadn’t been long since they had vowed to unite against the infidels, but now they were as fragmented as grains of sand.

“Have him treated.”

“Your Excellency!”

“We must not lose our compassion, no matter how difficult or insulting the situation. Do not mistake where you should be swinging your swords.”

At Caretto’s command, two knights approached the resident, who was foaming at the mouth, and checked his condition, soon shaking their heads.

“Too late. He is dead.”

Having been subjected to merciless violence by a knight whose entire body was a weapon, it was a predictable end.

The worst part was that he had died in front of the residents without receiving proper care.

“Sir Charles, I order you to be confined to quarters.”

“…Understood, Your Excellency.”

The knights were dissatisfied with the punishment of confinement for killing a resident who had insulted their comrades and nobles.

The residents harbored resentment that the punishment was only confinement, even though a family member, relative, or acquaintance had been brutally killed.

Feeling the atmosphere between them, Caretto looked beyond the fortress walls with a heavy heart.

He saw Ottoman troops gathering firewood from the island’s central mountains to prepare for the winter.

“This winter will be colder and longer than any other.”

Thus, a desperate year passed.

***

The discord between the Knights and the residents was not cooled even by the cold winter.

When burying comrades who had succumbed to their wounds became the knights’ main task, Caretto sent an envoy to the Ottoman army.

“Surrender and hand over the fortress, and in return, be granted an honorable retreat?”

Upon hearing the news from Rhodes Island, Yusuf sneered.

Accepting the surrender would save on the supplies being consumed, but Yusuf’s response was firm.

“Denied.”

He wasn’t one to leave behind future troubles just to save on current losses.

Yusuf’s will was conveyed to Rhodes Fortress, and the Knights of Rhodes sent envoys several times, softening their conditions.

They removed the term “honorable retreat” and even offered to leave their weapons behind and go empty-handed, requesting to be sent to Crete, a nearby Venetian territory, but were refused.

The Ottoman’s unwavering refusal to surrender led to the prevailing sentiment within the Knights that it would be better to die valiantly.

And this differed from the opinions of the residents.

“The situation inside the fortress must be quite chaotic if they are making such proposals.”

A resident who had escaped from the fortress late at night offered to open the gates from the inside if they sent a signal.

It was a proposal that indirectly revealed how wide the gap between the Knights and the residents had grown.

“What should we do? It could be a trap.”

“It could be a trap, or it might not be.”

Whether it was a trap or not, fighting the enraged Knights would be no different.

Yusuf smiled and made a decision.

“Feed them well and send them back to the enemy’s fortress.”

As Yusuf ordered, the Ottoman army fed the resident well, wrapped up the resident who was complaining about not wanting to go home, and delivered them to the enemy’s gates.

Soon after, chaos erupted in Rhodes Fortress as they realized the residents’ betrayal, and black smoke even began to rise.

“I never thought that the detestable *kahwa* [coffee] would become the best drink on the battlefield.”

Duke Ginzade looked at Rhodes Fortress with his commanders, sipping coffee.

“This land will soon be ruled by the Padishah [Ottoman Sultan], so I hope there won’t be too many sacrifices.”

“They are the ones who lived lavishly on the wealth plundered from the Empire’s citizens. They are no different from the Knights, so this incident will be an opportunity for them to repent for their past sins.”

Several days after the great commotion, a white flag was raised over the fortress, and those who had disarmed themselves with haggard faces walked out.

It was hard to find the image of knights on the faces of those who had killed the residents they had tried to protect with their own hands at the end of the war’s madness.

“…You are Satan. The Lord will punish your empire.”

Duke Ginzade laughed at Caretto’s rebuke.

“That’s quite a compliment compared to the atrocities you committed in the fortress. The Padishah will decide your fate.”

The Knights’ flag that had been flying over Rhodes Fortress was lowered, and the Empire’s red flag was raised.

It was about seven months since they had failed to consume all the food they had stockpiled.

The news that Rhodes Fortress had been captured quickly spread to the capital, and Yusuf smiled at the words attached at the end.

“The Grand Master of the Knights called me Satan. Since he evaluated me that way, I have no choice but to show him the appearance of Satan.”

“Are you planning to execute them all?”

Yusuf shook his head at Hadim Ali Pasha’s question, who was scheduled to hand over the Grand Vizierate to Duke Ginzade.

“Do you think I have a hobby of collecting heads?”

“Those in the West believe you have such a hobby.”

“That’s a foolish assumption. Would I need to do that for emotional release that doesn’t benefit me?”

Yusuf was capable of issuing cruel orders if it benefited the Empire, but he also disliked creating unnecessary losses.

Although the knights were second or third sons who had not inherited property, they were still nobles, and there was no need to kill prisoners and unnecessarily build animosity with hundreds of families.

“If you don’t kill them, what do you plan to do? Make them galley slaves?”

“Those stubborn people will only cause trouble even if they are reduced to galley slaves. I plan to experiment on them.”

During the Korean War, many American soldiers who became prisoners of the Chinese army became turncoats.

It was a psychological method that started with small things and grew into big ones, rather than torture and violence.

At first, they were asked to write on seemingly light topics, and then gradually induced to write on more serious topics.

If you look back on this process at some point, it is after writing an article that appears to be a betrayal, and the prisoners who believe that they have changed voluntarily, not under coercion, become turncoats from then on.

‘Rhodes Knights who have turned pro-Ottoman, that would be interesting.’

It doesn’t matter if it fails.

It was just an experiment, so it was okay to release them after receiving ransom if it failed, and it was good if they became real turncoats.

Because it could be used as a tool for public opinion manipulation.

The most important thing was that they had captured Rhodes Island without major damage and removed the thorn in their side.

“I hope the canal is connected soon.”

Yusuf took out a letter to send to Shemsi.

It was a letter that Shemsi, who lived in an era without opt-out options, hated the most.

***

1520.

A solemn voice echoed in the ears of the man kneeling before the Archbishop of Cologne.

“Will you uphold the sacred faith?”

“I will.”

“Will you defend the holy Church?”

“I will.”

“Will you protect the kingdom?”

“I will.”

“Will you uphold the laws of the Empire?”

“I will.”

“Will you uphold justice?”

“I will.”

“Will you show due obedience to the Pope?”

“I will.”

The man who gave the same answer to the six questions placed two fingers on the altar and swore an oath.

As the man who would become the new emperor received approval, those gathered said in unison.

“Have you accepted him as your king!”

“We have!”

The repeated shouts continued three times, and the archbishop recited blessings for the new emperor and anointed him with holy oil.

“I anoint you as king in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.”

The man, like the figures in the Bible, who had been anointed with oil, put on the imperial robes, received the sword, orb, and scepter symbolizing the emperor, and knelt down.

The coronation, the most important step in the ceremony of receiving the crown, remained.

As the electoral archbishops placed the ornate imperial crown on his head, the man, Charles V, rose from his seat.

It was the day the new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was crowned.

***

The news that Charles V, the luckiest man of his time, had been crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire reached Yusuf as well.

“Neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”

This is what Voltaire, a philosopher of the 17th and 18th centuries, said about the Holy Roman Empire.

However, this was because the emperor had become a figurehead due to an unfortunate succession, and it was not a force to be underestimated now.

Perhaps because the Ottoman threat was greater than in the original history, Charles V’s coronation was brought forward by several months.

‘It’s not a significant change.’

It was the throne he ascended after borrowing 850,000 ducats [historical European currency] to buy off the prince-electors.

King Francis I of France mobilized a total of 400,000 ducats, 100,000 ducats more than in the original history, but it was not enough to twist the course of history.

“A new enemy has emerged in the Empire.”

Charles V of Spain will block the Atlantic route to America.

Ferdinand, his brother, who will take over the proxy rule of the Holy Roman Empire on behalf of Charles V, will be an obstacle on European soil.

‘It’s a new stumbling block, but not a pebble that I have to struggle to remove right now.’

Because the Empire has no intention of expanding westward to the New World yet.

Yusuf, who had taken his eyes off the letter, looked straight ahead.

He was standing on barren land. It was the same spot he had been standing on seven years ago.

A spectacle of deep pits that continued endlessly, so deep that it would be difficult to survive if you fell into them.

There was a change in this arid space.

-Kuurururung!

“P, Padishah! The water is coming!”

As the land that had blocked the lake and canal was breached, water rushed in like a wave through the canal.

It was the moment when the canal, which had been nothing more than a huge dirt pit, gained life, and many of those who had suffered because of the canal shed tears.

Over 20,000 prisoners died during the construction, and the opening was two years later than expected, but that was not important at this moment.

“Shemsi Pasha, you have worked hard.”

“No, Padishah. My heart is filled with divine emotion as what many said was impossible becomes a reality.”

“It would have ended as a mere dream if it weren’t for your hard work and the hard work of many others.”

Yusuf truly thought so, having heard about the numerous incidents that occurred during the construction of the canal.

Fearless desert tribes raided, epidemics broke out, and prisoner revolts occurred.

This difficult construction would not have succeeded without the numerous talents of the Empire.

Yusuf looked at the water filling the canal and declared.

“From today onwards, the world of the Empire will expand even further.”

Soon after, a fleet with red flags stepped into the Red Sea through the canal.

It was the most shocking event in Europe since the conquest of Constantinople.