홍해의 붉은 깃발(1)

The atmosphere at Rhodes Fortress was growing increasingly dire with each passing day.

As I tended to the graves of comrades who had returned as corpses and examined the wounds of those who had fallen into despair, the enemy’s castle walls only rose higher.

We could no longer scale the enemy’s fortress barehanded, and with dwindling food supplies, anxiety began to gnaw at us.

“Your Excellency! We need to come up with a strategy quickly. At this rate, there’s no future!”

“The residents, who were previously calmed by the Church, are now expressing dissatisfaction towards the Order.”

In response to the pleas of his subordinates, Careto asked with a stern expression.

“So what can we come up with? Shall we dash out with the knights and soldiers to slaughter the enemy? Or should we unleash the chains and take down the Ottoman fleet with three ships?”

At Careto’s query, those gathered in the meeting room fell silent as if they had eaten honey.

Each knight was a living weapon capable of taking on hundreds, proficient with numerous weapons including guns, but as human beings made of flesh, there were limits.

“Perhaps we should have all gone out when our vice commander led the charge.”

If we had done so, we would have pierced through the enemy’s defenses, and we wouldn’t have been wracked with anxiety over food supplies dwindling like a countdown to our expiration.

At the very least, we could have considered it a noble death; now, it was too late to say such things.

Now it was nothing more than the death of a dog, and nothing less.

As meaningless time flowed in a situation with no answers, a frantic voice was heard from outside.

“Y-your Excellency! We’ve got a big problem! A fight has broken out! It’s between the knights and the residents!”

A fight between knights and residents.

Under normal circumstances, this would be a huge problem, especially in wartime, and as Careto rushed to the scene, a grimace spread across his face.

In the standoff between the Order and the residents, I could see a bloodied knight with a gauntlet on his hand and a near-corpse of a resident.

“Sir Charles, what on earth has caused this chaos?”

“Your Excellency! That man insulted our comrades who are lying in the infirmary! He said they would rather die than live dishonorably and make things difficult for themselves!”

The faces of those from the Order, who were still unaware of the situation, distorted in horror.

Those lying in the infirmary should not be treated as burdens. They were individuals who had resolved themselves to die for their fellow comrades, those with wounds that would never heal.

To insult them was utterly intolerable, especially when they deserved nothing less than respect.

“It is a crime to insult nobility and knights. That man must be punished.”

At the suggestion of his subordinate, Careto’s gaze naturally shifted to the gathered residents.

Seeing the residents’ faces marked by anxiety, worry, and fear, Careto felt a bitter sadness.

Just a short while ago, they vowed to stand united against the infidels, and now they were as divided as grains of sand.

“Treat that man.”

“Your Excellency!”

“Even in difficult and humiliating situations, we must not lose our mercy. Don’t mistake where to swing your sword.”

At Careto’s command, two knights approached the resident who was foaming at the mouth and soon shook their heads.

“It’s too late. He has passed away.”

Having been subject to merciless violence by a knight with a body full of weapons made this an expected outcome.

The worst part was that the resident died without receiving proper care amidst so many people.

“Sir Charles, I hereby commend you.”

“…Understood, Your Excellency.”

The knights were dissatisfied with being punished for the crime of killing a resident who had insulted their comrade and nobility.

The residents, too, felt resentment that their family, friends, and acquaintances had been horrifically killed yet the punishment was merely suspension.

Feeling the atmosphere between the two sides, Careto gazed beyond the fortress walls.

He could see the Ottoman army in the central mountains of the island gathering firewood to survive the winter.

“It’s going to be a colder, longer winter than any before.”

Thus passed a year filled with despair.

*

The discord between the Order and the residents did not even warm up in the cold winter.

As burying comrades unable to withstand their wounds became the knights’ main duty, Careto sent an envoy to the Ottoman army.

“Please allow us to surrender and hand over the fortress, so we may retreat with honor?”

Upon receiving the news from Rhodes Island, Yusuf scoffed.

Allowing a surrender could save supplies that were being consumed, but Yusuf’s response was resolute.

“Absolutely not.”

He wasn’t the type to leave future troubles just because he felt sorry for the current losses.

Yusuf’s will was conveyed straight to Rhodes Fortress, and the Order sent numerous envoys, softening their conditions.

They even dropped the phrase “honorable retreat” and requested to be sent to nearby Crete, leaving their weapons behind to go unarmed.

The Turkish attitude, which refused surrender like an iron wall, made the knights contemplate a noble death instead.

And this was different from the residents’ opinions.

“The situation inside the fortress seems to be quite a mess. This kind of offer is flying about.”

A resident who had escaped the castle late at night suggested that if they signaled, they would open the castle gates.

This was a clear indication of how wide the rift had grown between the Order and the residents.

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

“It could be a trap or it could be genuine.”

Either way, fighting against the Order, where tensions were already high, would remain unchanged.

Yusuf smiled broadly as he made a decision.

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

Following Yusuf’s order, the Ottoman army fed the residents until they were full and beautifully packaged those unwilling to go home, delivering them to the enemy’s gates.

Shortly after, chaos erupted within Rhodes Fortress, and ultimately, black smoke began to rise.

“I never knew that tiring qahwa would become the best drink on the battlefield.”

Dukaginzade sipped coffee as he surveyed the Rhodes Fortress.

“I hope the sacrifices are not too great, as this is land that the Padishah will govern from now on.”

“They are living off the plunder taken from the Empire’s subjects. They are no different from the knights, and this may serve as a chance for them to repent for their past sins.”

A few days later, a white flag was hoisted on the fortress, and those who emerged, disarmed and looking haggard, had faces that were hard to recognize as knights.

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

At Careto’s rebuke, Dukaginzade laughed.

“That’s quite an excessive compliment compared to the atrocities you committed in the fortress. Your punishment will come from the Padishah.”

The Order’s flag that had flown over Rhodes Fortress was lowered, and the Empire’s red flag was raised.

It was still about 7 months since they had not even consumed all the food they had stockpiled.

The news of the capture of Rhodes Fortress spread quickly to the capital, and Yusuf smiled as he looked upon the horse beneath him.

“I hear that the Grandmaster of the Order called me a demon. Since that’s how he views me, I suppose I’ll have to show him what that looks like.”

“Are you planning to execute all of them?”

Inquiring was Hadim Ali Pasha, who was to hand over the Grand Vizier position to Dukaginzade, but Yusuf shook his head.

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

“Those in the West seem to believe such a hobby exists.”

“What a foolish imagination. Is there any need for that to relieve emotions that offer no benefit?”

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

Even though the knights were the second or third sons without inherited wealth, they were nonetheless nobles, and there was no need to raise enmity with hundreds of families by killing prisoners.

“What will you do if you don’t kill them? Make them into laborers?”

“Those stubborn individuals will only cause disturbances even if they are reduced to laborers. I plan to experiment.”

There is a way many American soldiers taken prisoner by the Chinese during the Korean War became turncoats.

It’s not through torture or violence, but through a psychological method that starts small and gradually grows bigger.

At first, they are asked to write on seemingly light topics, then gradually guided to write on more serious subjects.

Once they have written what appears to be traitorous content, they become convinced that they changed voluntarily, not through coercion.

‘It’s going to be interesting to have the Rhodes Knights turn traitorous to the Ottomans.’

It wouldn’t matter if he failed.

Since it was merely an experiment, it’d be fine to let them go after accepting a ransom, and if they truly became traitors, that’d be good too.

They could be employed as tools to stir public opinion.

The most important thing was that they managed to conquer Rhodes Island without significant damage while removing a thorn from their necks.

“I hope the canal gets connected quickly.”

Yusuf pulled out a piece of stationery for Shemsi.

It was a letter that Shemsi, living in an age where there were no refusals, hated the most.

*

1520.

A man knelt before the Archbishop of Cologne, and a majestic voice echoed in his ears.

“Will you uphold the holy 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 proper submission 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 confirmation, those gathered spoke in unison.

“Have you accepted him as king!”

“Yes!”

Following three repetitions of the shout, the Archbishop invoked a blessing for the new Emperor and anointed him with holy oil.

“In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I anoint the king; Amen.”

The man, anointed like a biblical figure, donned the royal vestments, received the sword and scepter symbolizing the emperor, and knelt.

The coronation ceremony, however, had one final crucial step.

As the electors crowned the magnificent emperor with a crown, the man, Charles V, rose from his seat.

It was the day a new emperor of the Holy Roman Empire took the throne.

*

News that the great fortune of Charles V had just been crowned as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire reached Yusuf as well.

“It is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.”

This was a statement made by the philosopher Voltaire in the 17th and 18th centuries regarding the Holy Roman Empire.

However, this was due to an unfortunate succession, which led to the emperor becoming a puppet, and now it was not a force to be underestimated.

Perhaps due to the heightened threat from the Ottomans compared to the original history, Charles V’s coronation was pushed forward by several months.

‘It’s not a significant change.’

Having borrowed 850,000 ducats to bribe the electoral princes to ascend to the throne.

King François I of France mobilized an additional 100,000 ducats, totaling 400,000 ducats, but it was insufficient to twist the course of history.

“A new enemy has emerged in the Empire.”

Charles V of Spain would block the path across the Atlantic towards America.

The land of Europe would be an obstacle for his brother Ferdinand, who would serve as the proxy ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in place of Charles V.

‘While it’s a new obstacle, it’s not a stumbling block that needs to be removed immediately.’

The Empire still had no intention of extending itself westward towards the New World.

With his gaze diverted from the letter, Yusuf looked straight ahead.

He was standing in a barren land. In fact, it was the same spot he stood seven years ago.

A spectacle of deep pits unendingly continued to the point where one could hardly survive a tumble.

Change began to occur in this desolate space.

-Kururung!

“P-Padishah! The water is coming!”

As the land that blocked the lake and canal was breached, water surged in like waves through the canal.

It was the moment when what had once just been a huge dirt trench gained life, and many who had suffered due to the canal shed tears.

More than 20,000 prisoners had died during construction, and though the opening was two years overdue, that was not what mattered at this moment.

“Shamsi Pasha, you’ve worked hard all this time.”

“Not at all, Padishah. The impossible task many said would not happen has become a reality, and my heart is overwhelmed with the divine spirit.”

“Without your effort and the efforts of many, it would have ended as just a dream.”

Yusuf genuinely thought so as he heard of the many incidents that occurred during the canal’s construction.

Fearless desert tribes would raid, plagues would arise, and revolts of prisoners would occur.

This grueling endeavor would not have succeeded without the Empire’s many talents.

As Yusuf watched the water filling the canal, he declared.

“From today, the Empire’s world will expand even further.”

A short while later, a fleet bearing the red flag set foot in the Red Sea via the canal.

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