/Devilish/ City States Thread

File: Based Doge.jpg (113KB, 891x960px) Image search: [Google]

113KB, 891x960px

So often these crafty little bastards manage to outmaneuver forces 10x their size - ITT share your favorites!

I'll start -
>be Enrico Dandolo, ~64 year old Venetian merchant
>He's brilliant and built like Rambo, despite his age
>sent on an expedition to punish the Byzantines for sacking the Venetian merchant quarters in Constantinople along with the Doge
>fuckingdisaster.wav
>be appointed ambassador in charge of fixing the mess with the ERE
>finally manages to negotiate a half-decent treaty with the Byzantines after 14 grueling years of diplomacy

>Finally returns to Venice
>but the fire of vendetta burns bright within
>go blind, but the blindness only fuels your hatred
>the Byzantines will pay

>elected Doge of Venice in 1192
>builds a sweet armada for the 4th Crusade for sweet profits and because deus vult
>crusaders are broke so they can't afford the ships
>so Dandolo gives them an offer they can't refuse & turns the Crusaders into his own personal hit squad
>turns them on the city of Zara as a test run
>the knights absolutely stomp the defenders - which is what happens when militia try to fight off a surprise crusader attack from the sea

>excommunicated by the Pope for slaughtering a bunch of hapless Catholics with his gang of knights over Adriatic trade rights
>Dandolo doesn't even care
>his hate-boner for the Byzantines compels him to press on

>sicks his gang of knights on Constantinople, along with the Venetian armada
>promises to install the Emperor's son on the throne to gain easy access to the city
>instead he sacks the city, personally commanding the Venetian soldiers despite being like 90 years old and fucking BLIND

>loot the Romans like they looted his countrymen 3 decades ago
>partitions the Empire and take 3/8ths of its territory for the Republic, sets up trade deals in all the rest

>his thirst for revenge sated, finally dies in 1205 at the age of like 98
>buried in Constantinople as a last fuck you to the Empire

Pic related. Guy was a beast