All the clock hands pointed upwards, the midday sun was exceptionally dazzling, piercing through the thin clouds, scorching the land and sea of Venice, and in this vast container with the sky as its lid, the sea as its walls, and the land as its base, the crowd boiled like water.
The canal entrance was densely packed with Papal States warships, and the chains Venice had prepared beforehand to block the entrance had already sunk to the seabed.
The garrisons in other areas had no time to react, nor did they have unified command; the combined forces of a few hundred men and a few cannons cobbled together on both banks bravely launched only one ineffective attack before being overwhelmed by the massive firepower network of over a hundred Papal States warships, with some dying and others fleeing, leaving them with no power to fight back.
Under a huge disparity in strength, a completely unequal landing battle began.
The roar of hundreds of cannons signaled to the garrisons in other parts of Venice that the battle had begun, but without orders from Othello, most of the commanders at various points dared not act on their own initiative, remaining in place, while a very small number of bold commanders led their troops to reinforce, but it was too late and too little.
After clearing the enemy forces on both banks, the Papal States navy completed the landing in a very simple and rough manner, with a large number of warships directly rushing onto land, quickly establishing a foothold, and then immediately fanning out in all directions.
Karl's National Defense Force was unable to exert much power during the naval battle, but now that they had landed, they were all full of inexhaustible energy.
Learning from captives that the Doge of Venice had vowed to live and die with Venice and remained in the Doge's Palace, the Doge's Palace, not far from the east bank of the canal entrance, became the primary target for Karl himself to lead the charge. Guided by Wyatt, Karl's army went straight to the Doge's Palace without any detours.
Facing the Papal States army that had already landed, the scattered Venetian garrisons along the way had no desire to fight; almost all of them turned and ran, encountering no decent resistance, and soon Karl was less than a hundred paces from the Doge's Palace.
"Your Excellency, the Governor, this is bad!" Inside the Doge's Palace, a terrified chief guard knelt frantically before Donato, "The Papal States soldiers are attacking from the west! They are densely packed, all people, there must be tens of thousands!"
"What? How could they come so quickly? Where is Othello?" Recalling Othello's recent solemn assurances, Donato astonishingly grabbed the chief guard by the collar and lifted him, demanding.
"Lord Othello… I, I don't know where he went, but I heard that Lord Othello's conscription of militias had little effect, and some people saw him heading towards the Free Bridge…"
"Damn it! This coward, scoundrel, traitor! He actually abandoned us and ran away himself, 'perish with the city,' perish my ass! I will confiscate his property and exterminate his clan!"
Before the chief guard could finish speaking, the furious Donato interrupted with a curse, throwing the chief guard heavily onto the floor, the anger of betrayal temporarily masking the deep fear within Donato.
"Your Excellency, the Governor, let us also escape quickly! Only if you escape can you plan a counterattack; if you also fall into the hands of the Papal States, Venice will truly be finished!" The chief guard sincerely advised, both for Venice and for himself.
If the Governor fell into the hands of the Papal States, due to his status and role, he might still be preserved, but as for himself, having received national grace for generations, surrender was absolutely impossible; if he sat here waiting for death, there was only one path: to die in battle.
"Council, Cabinet, Council of Ten, Council of Forty, Senate, Grand Council, quickly summon them to discuss countermeasures!" Donato's voice was desolate, majestic, and hoarse, like a dying lion.
"Your Excellency, the Governor, most of them have already fled! Now, in the entire Doge's Palace, there aren't many people left besides us!" Facing the Governor, who seemed to be still dreaming, the chief guard was both anxious and helpless.
"Damn it! Why didn't anyone tell me!" Donato blurted out in exasperation, but quickly regretted it: it was he himself who, due to excessive fear, did not want anyone to see his cowardly appearance, and thus ordered no one to disturb him, locking himself in a dark room, isolated from the outside world.
Coming to his senses, Donato immediately changed his words: "Then what are we waiting for? Organize people, and quickly escape!"
No sooner had Donato and most of the remaining Venetian nobles left than Karl led his army in, leaving only a few small fry who had no time to destroy important documents in the vast Doge's Palace.
After searching the Doge's Palace and failing to find any trace of Donato, Karl was somewhat disappointed but not discouraged: "Riccardo has completely blockaded Venice; they cannot escape!
They just left, so they must be hiding somewhere in Venice, search every street, palace, and canal carefully. Even if you have to dig three feet deep, you must find him! Whoever finds Donato, I will personally ask His Holiness the Pope for a reward for him. His Holiness the Pope is never stingy with brave and skilled soldiers who have rendered meritorious service!"
From a broad perspective, as long as Donato could be captured, it didn't matter who captured him, but subjectively, Karl did not want Donato to fall into Riccardo's hands, even if he were captured by Giovanni's troops.
Capturing the Doge of Venice alive was one of the most important strategic objectives of this battle and could be considered the greatest achievement. The Tuscans fought very hard in this battle, suffering extremely high casualties, and if they also seized the greatest achievement, if they demanded too much in post-war profit distribution, he would have nothing to say, and his brothers under him would have to go hungry.
At the same time, other Papal States forces were also busy taking control of various iconic buildings in Venice, especially churches and palaces, which were not only excellent places for the Venetian garrisons to retreat and hide but also small centers of governance in various regions of Venice.
The long-oppressed Venetian clergy, seeing the mighty army of the Papal States, were like a daughter who had married out years ago seeing her family, and they cooperated with the organization of stability with extreme enthusiasm.
Most of the Venetian nobles who had not yet fled were those with ties, unwilling to abandon their ancestral property in Venice, and a considerable number were willing to cooperate with the Papal States, eager to help the Papal States work, each more diligent than the last, in order to preserve their wealth and status.
The pre-war unrest and turmoil in various parts of Venice gradually subsided after the arrival of the Papal States army. With strict orders from the Pope, the Papal States army did not harm the common people, preserving Venice's prosperity and stability to the greatest extent possible. It could be said that wherever the army went, the people welcomed them wholeheartedly, full of vitality, and everything flourished.
Of the two thousand scattered Venetian garrisons, very few decided to fight to the death against the Papal States after realizing that defeat was inevitable and their leaders had abandoned the city; a small portion laid down their weapons, took off their uniforms, and blended into the crowd, while most surrendered after receiving assurances of preferential treatment for captives from the Papal States.
Thus, under the Papal States' sweeping offensive, various regions of Venice fell into Papal States control almost without bloodshed, and with the cooperation of the Venetians, a new order was quickly rebuilt.