The citizens of the Most Serene Republic of Venice have not left their homes for weeks, as German mercenaries trance through their streets laughing and drinking. The Battle of Venice looks more like an Oktoberfest gathering than a civil war.

The rebels, trapped in the Arsenal are hard at work, plotting their resistance. With the combined wealth of a dozen Venetian noble houses, they send letters to the mercenaries, offering massive wealth should they turn tail on their Contrarini masters. Only 524 of the roughly 6,000 mercenaries agree to these bribes, with 200 of those even joining the rebels, hoping for greater rewards. The Contrarini family, however, made an important decision with their wealth, distributing food to the citizens of Venice. Their stomaches were lightened but this act prevented any mass result as the blockade tightened.

The Venetian navy, led by Admiral Emo, failed to smuggle food into the Arsenal for the Rebels because of Venetian coastal defenses. However, the Venetian navy also prevented any ships from reaching the city proper, causing food shortages for both the besieged and the siegers. This stalemate seemed to be a fight to starvation until Admiral Angelo Emo got a letter from an old rival.

The Ottomans had decided to intervene in the Venetian Civil War, hoping to quickly end the Republic’s participation in the larger war. An Ottoman fleet carrying 20,000 men sailed for the city, quickly meeting up with Emo’s fleet. The combined fleet opened fire on the Venetian coastal defenses and fortifications. Cannonfire rained out across the waterfront, with smoke filling the air like a steaming pot of gumbo.

Meanwhile, at the Arsenal, the mercanaries extended an offer to the Rebels- surrender or die. Hearing the cannonfire echo from the blockade, the Rebels stood fast and strong. Also, seeing the Mercenaries grumble in broken Italian, they feared for their families and daughters if they were to give themselves up. At the first offer, only 7 of the rebels surrendered. The second time the Mercenaries offered peace, only 4 rebels surrendered, sneaking out of the Arsenal by swimming through the feces filled canal.

With the Venetian defenses sufficiently weakened by over an hour of bombardment, the Ottoman fleet sails towards the city, landing just West of the Arsenal. 20,000 Ottomans march off of their ships and are met by fierce resistance from Venetian citizens. The knifes and cleavers are no match for Ottoman lead and 1,207 Venetians are killed, with only 192 soldiers losing their lives.

The Mercenaries have no clue that the Ottomans have just landed as they organize an assault on the Arsenal. The Rebels manage to hold off the first assault, fighting frantically believing their lives are at risk. They kill 403 German Mercenaries losing just 283 rebels. As the Mercenaries regroup for another assault, the ground rumbles. They head the chanting march of 20,000 boots- the Turks.

The first German to see them barely has time to scream as a musket ball tears through his jugular, sending blood across his comrades. In mere minutes, the Ottoman horde descends on the Germans from three sides, massacring them. Some barely are able to life their swords and pistols. When all is said and done, 196 Ottomans lie dead in the street amid piles of bodies of Germans, utterly obliterated by the Sultan’s army, trapped between the barricades of the Arsenal and the sword of the Turk. Over 5,000 German Mercenaries lost their lives that day.

The Ottomans help the rebels solidify their defenses at the Arsenal and then turn to securing the city. A force of 10,000 marches to the Church of St. Mark, where they see their prize. The four bronze horses taken from Konstantiniyye in 1204…

The army quickly builds a scaffold to recover the horses. They manage to secure three of the four, but the forth is dropped from some height, landing on its head. The head shatters, but the body is- for the most part- intact. The horses are quickly carried to the harbor where they are loaded into Ottoman ships.

The Ottomans then proceed to capture the Contrarini family, tying their hands and legs and leaving them in the street. The Ottoman army reconnects around 10:00PM and continues to secure the city. The Istrian army, ordered back to Venice, makes the crossing with relative easy. Upon seeing Turkish banners, however, 436 soldiers desert. The remaining army, numbering some 19,000 make their way into the city to expel the Turks.

In the first meeting of the battles, despite massive casualties on the Venetian side, the Ottomans are unable to gain a foothold, and retreat to the opposite side of the city to regroup. They had killed 2,905 young Venetians, suffering only some 700 losses themselves. The commander of the Ottoman forces observed the city.

“I would like to live here…” he whispered. But before he had a chance to complete his thought, the Venetians were upon them again. More fighting ensued, but the Venetians fought furiously for their city, killing another 693 Ottomans and suffering few losses. The Ottomans retreated to the Arsenal, where they were resupplied by their Rebel allies, who had started to become despondent in the face of Ottoman losses. The Venetians attacked the Ottomans at the Arsenal, inflicting another 703 casualties and forcing the Ottomans to the harbor. The Ottomans, while retreating to their ships, are once again attacked by the Venetians. 2,847 Ottoman soldiers lose their lives, whether from Venetian gunfire or from drowning.

The eventually get to their ships and begin firing on the harbor to weaken the Venetian Istria army. The cannonfire utterly destroys the harbor and coastal defenses, killing 1,669 Venetian soldiers.

In the Arsenal, the Rebels hear the cannonfire. If the cannons are firing on the city, it means the Turks are back on their ships. Which means that the Venetians have secured the city. The Rebels know that they cannot survive another assault from the Venetian army, and fear what the bloodthirsty Istrian brutes will do when they lay hands upon the women and children. So, after a somber meeting, one of the original conspirators makes the order. In silence, all 749 surviving Rebels, men women and children, drink poisoned water. When the Istrian army forces their way into the arsenal, they are met with the bodies of every single rebel. The rebellion is over.

The Venetian fleet, seeing the Ottoman ships fleeing, is faced with a choice. Returning to the city will mean certain death at the hands of the vindictive Contrarini… Some sloops-of-war and frigates sail away with the Ottoman ships, ready to lend their services to the Sultan in Konstantiniyye. But Angelo Emo has another plan…

Commanding the Fama 66 gun ship of the line, he orders two other large frigates and about a dozen sloops of war to sail with him. They sail to the Mediterranean, where they establish themselves on a small uninhabited Greek island. Emo takes the standard of St Mark down from the Fama. He looks at it for a moment… and throws it into the sea.

The Ottoman fleet sails somberly cutting through the waves of the Adriatic. On one of the ships, a lieutenant notices someone is missing. The commander who was quite fond of Venice… The fleet sails back to Konstantiniyye with no incident.

The Contrarini family survived the bloodbath to rule another day. Fosco Contrarini just has a broken leg.

Results

• The Venetian Civil War ends, with the Rebels killing themselves
• Venice’s harbor is destroyed
• The Venetian fleet has disbanded, with about 80% of them sailing to serve the Sultan in Konstantiniyye
• Angelo Emo has become a pirate, with a 66 gun ship-of-the-line as his flagship
• The Ottoman army of 20,000 suffered 5,139 losses, leaving 14,861 men
• The Venetian Army from Istria suffered 4,574 losses, with an additional 436 dessertions
• The German Mercenaries in Venice are completely killed down to the last man by the Ottomans
• The Ottomans recover the Bronze Horses
• Refusing peace Status Quo Ante Bellum would be disastrous from a ruling family that has barely survived a civil war