Great Siege of Malta was in the original AOEIII campaign, the first 2 missions you (as Morgan Black) must do the impossible and drive the Ottomans out of Malta.
I looked up the statistics of the siege and the Ottoman's advantage in men is staggering:
The Ottomans
6,000 Spahis (cavalry)
500 Spahis from Karamania
6,000 Janissaries
400 adventurers from Mytheline
2,500 Spahis from Rouania
3,500 adventurers from Rouania
6,000 volunteers
4,000 "religious fanatics"
Various corsairs from Tripoli and Algiers
Total: 28,500 from the East, 48,000 in all
Then the Malta Defenders:
The Knights of St. John
500 Knights Hospitaller
400 Spanish soldiers
800 Italian soldiers
500 soldiers from the galleys
200 Greek and Sicilian soldiers
100 soldiers of the garrison of Fort St. Elmo
100 servants of the knights
500 galley slaves
3,000 soldiers drawn from the Maltese population
Total: 6,100
It's an near impossible battle in my mind how could the knights have won? Well, as an old friend of mine says, "It may seem improbable but nothing is impossible."
Let us dive deeper into the history of this siege.
Some of you may remember the St. Elmo, Morgan's flagship named after a fort in Malta. Well the Ottomans placed three dozen guns on Mt. Sciberras witch reduced to rubble within a week. The Ottomans then marched to the remains of the fort and captured what was left of it. All the surviving knights but 9 where killed. The 9 that lived was captured by spahis and were held hostage.
Then as word of the siege spread into the rest of Europe Queen Elizabeth I remarked
"If the Turks should prevail against the Isle of Malta, it is uncertain what further peril might follow to the rest of Christendom"
However no support was given to Malta.
The fighting resumed and for the next few months the Ottomans keep attacking but by September the Ottomans where in retreat. As they where packing the artillery the hot-headed knights of Malta randomly charged the Ottoman ending in a slather of the retreating Ottomans.
In the end Malta lost a third of its population and the Ottomans lost 35,000 men. The Ottomans never tried to besiege Malta again.
In the AOMIII game we don't see any real events of the battle witch kinda disappoints me.
If your a fan of the story of the Great Siege of Malta check our these items of fiction of the event:
* Angels in Iron by Nicholas Prata remains faithful to the historical narrative and tells the story from a distinctly Catholic point of view.
* The novel Ironfire: An Epic Novel of Love and War by David Ball is the story of kidnapping, slavery and revenge leading up to the siege of Malta. It takes a somewhat less sympathetic view of the Catholic Knights Hospitaller and maintains a more romantic approach.(British edition called,"The Sword and the Scimitar")
* The novel The Religion by Tim Willocks (2006) tells the story of the siege through the eyes of a fictional mercenary called Mattias Tannhauser, who is on Malta fighting (at times) alongside the Knights (referred to primarily as The Religion), while trying to locate the bastard son of a Maltese noblewoman. In this attempt his opponent is a high-ranking member of the Inquisition. The story presents a picture of both sides of the conflict without romanticising or sanitising the content for modern consumption.
* The novel Blood Rock by James Jackson tells the story of the siege with a focus on a fictional English mercenary called Christian Hardy. Throughout the siege, Hardy works to discover the identity of the traitor within The Religion who works to ensure a Moslem victory. The traitor works on behalf of the French king, Francis I, who believed that peace with the Ottoman Empire was in the French interest and that the marauding Knights Hospitaller, by annoying the Sultan, threatened the security of France.
* It is the main plot of Pirates of Christ, the historical novel by Edward Lamond.
* Dorothy Dunnett in "The Disorderly Knights" (book 3 of "The Lymond Chronicle") gives a detailed fiction account of the events of 1551 in Malta, Gozo and Tripoli. Although several of the characters are fictional, the bulk of the personages are historical.
I hope this was interesting to you and NOT drop dead boring.
Also I would have put this is the history section if it wasn't for the fact that I can't add new topics.
~FabianScarus
Never run to battle with only one sword at hand
~My friend, Lord Farwell
Visit my story sites http://overdales.blogspot.com/& http://ian-overdale.blogspot.com/
I looked up the statistics of the siege and the Ottoman's advantage in men is staggering:
The Ottomans
6,000 Spahis (cavalry)
500 Spahis from Karamania
6,000 Janissaries
400 adventurers from Mytheline
2,500 Spahis from Rouania
3,500 adventurers from Rouania
6,000 volunteers
4,000 "religious fanatics"
Various corsairs from Tripoli and Algiers
Total: 28,500 from the East, 48,000 in all
Then the Malta Defenders:
The Knights of St. John
500 Knights Hospitaller
400 Spanish soldiers
800 Italian soldiers
500 soldiers from the galleys
200 Greek and Sicilian soldiers
100 soldiers of the garrison of Fort St. Elmo
100 servants of the knights
500 galley slaves
3,000 soldiers drawn from the Maltese population
Total: 6,100
It's an near impossible battle in my mind how could the knights have won? Well, as an old friend of mine says, "It may seem improbable but nothing is impossible."
Let us dive deeper into the history of this siege.
Some of you may remember the St. Elmo, Morgan's flagship named after a fort in Malta. Well the Ottomans placed three dozen guns on Mt. Sciberras witch reduced to rubble within a week. The Ottomans then marched to the remains of the fort and captured what was left of it. All the surviving knights but 9 where killed. The 9 that lived was captured by spahis and were held hostage.
Then as word of the siege spread into the rest of Europe Queen Elizabeth I remarked
"If the Turks should prevail against the Isle of Malta, it is uncertain what further peril might follow to the rest of Christendom"
However no support was given to Malta.
The fighting resumed and for the next few months the Ottomans keep attacking but by September the Ottomans where in retreat. As they where packing the artillery the hot-headed knights of Malta randomly charged the Ottoman ending in a slather of the retreating Ottomans.
In the end Malta lost a third of its population and the Ottomans lost 35,000 men. The Ottomans never tried to besiege Malta again.
In the AOMIII game we don't see any real events of the battle witch kinda disappoints me.
If your a fan of the story of the Great Siege of Malta check our these items of fiction of the event:
* Angels in Iron by Nicholas Prata remains faithful to the historical narrative and tells the story from a distinctly Catholic point of view.
* The novel Ironfire: An Epic Novel of Love and War by David Ball is the story of kidnapping, slavery and revenge leading up to the siege of Malta. It takes a somewhat less sympathetic view of the Catholic Knights Hospitaller and maintains a more romantic approach.(British edition called,"The Sword and the Scimitar")
* The novel The Religion by Tim Willocks (2006) tells the story of the siege through the eyes of a fictional mercenary called Mattias Tannhauser, who is on Malta fighting (at times) alongside the Knights (referred to primarily as The Religion), while trying to locate the bastard son of a Maltese noblewoman. In this attempt his opponent is a high-ranking member of the Inquisition. The story presents a picture of both sides of the conflict without romanticising or sanitising the content for modern consumption.
* The novel Blood Rock by James Jackson tells the story of the siege with a focus on a fictional English mercenary called Christian Hardy. Throughout the siege, Hardy works to discover the identity of the traitor within The Religion who works to ensure a Moslem victory. The traitor works on behalf of the French king, Francis I, who believed that peace with the Ottoman Empire was in the French interest and that the marauding Knights Hospitaller, by annoying the Sultan, threatened the security of France.
* It is the main plot of Pirates of Christ, the historical novel by Edward Lamond.
* Dorothy Dunnett in "The Disorderly Knights" (book 3 of "The Lymond Chronicle") gives a detailed fiction account of the events of 1551 in Malta, Gozo and Tripoli. Although several of the characters are fictional, the bulk of the personages are historical.
I hope this was interesting to you and NOT drop dead boring.
Also I would have put this is the history section if it wasn't for the fact that I can't add new topics.
~FabianScarus
Never run to battle with only one sword at hand
~My friend, Lord Farwell
Visit my story sites http://overdales.blogspot.com/& http://ian-overdale.blogspot.com/
[This message has been edited by FabianScarus (edited 09-15-2009 @ 09:51 PM).]