Mark Bregu - Tribuna Shqiptare

NE KUADRIN E JUBILEUT TE MADH TE 100 VJETORIT TE SHPALLJES SE PAVARESISE
KALAJA E SHKODRES
Foto : Franz Baron Von Nopçe, 1903.
On June 4th, while lightly armed soldiers
were surrounding the town with a vanguard and
many men were running in all directions to loot
and plunder, and while volunteers were making
themselves ready for war, the (Ottoman)
commander himself made his appearance with
the other part of the army. This man, if we can
call a man someone who was a eunuch and who
once guarded the sultan's harem, is said to be
healthy, robust, and more courageous than clever
as a soldier in carrying out his duties. The sultan
had promoted him to this level of merit for his
achievements in war. He brought with him men
skilled in the martial arts, strong of body and
courageous. They were followed by equipment
and one thousand camels loaded with bronze for
casting cannons which are usually used to batter
and knock down ramparts.
When this huge army arrived, the whole
coastal region was terrified. Even the inhabitants
of the coastline of Illyria and Macedonia were
petrified, fearing that they would fall prey to the
barbarians. Some of them fled into the rugged
mountains, while others, having escaped the
town, took refuge on the islands with the
women, children and cattle. Some had made their
way to the mouth of the river and were waiting
for ships to take them anywhere, wherever fate
should wish.
When the Senate received the news, the fine
and noble leaders of Venice recruited new
soldiers and gathered a great deal of money
without any difficulty. They did not hesitate in
giving generously to provide all material
necessary to repulse the enemy. They sent money
and help in particular to those leaders who were
ruling over large parts of the lakeside so that they
might be able to resist barbarian attacks in
perilous gorges and canyons.In addition to him
was Triadano Gritti (Triadanus Grittus),
commander of the fleet and an octogenarian,
who despite his advanced age, showed fine
resistance and was well concentrated on carrying
out his task as best he could. No one believed
that he could do it because it was a singular feat.
At that time, he was travelling in
the Aegean Sea, checking up on the islands
thereabouts, and had just arrived at Chios when
he heard that Shkodra, a town of great
strategic significance, had been surrounded.
Turning back, he set off for the Adriatic Sea,
gathered his naval forces and entered the mouth
of the Buna River,
giving orders that his triremes and biremes
should sail up the river, using oarsmen, because,
in addition to the current of the river, the winds
were blowing in the opposite direction. When he
arrived at a certain spot where stone
embankments had been built out into the water
to slow down the current and where fishermen
had constructed little huts to catch fish, he
realized that the boats could go no further. He
decided, in order to be on the safe side, to spend
the night near the old church of Saint Sergius
(Shirq), which is situated about five miles from
the town. He intended the next morning at the
break of dawn to embark upon caiques and small
boats to see if he could find some route so as to
come to the assistance of those under siege.
When the enemy found out about the plan from
some escaped oarsmen, and realized that the
whole fleet could be blocked by them throwing
logs into the river at the point at which it was at
its narrowest, and thus stop the triremes from
advancing, orders were given without delay that
all other activities be suspended, that trees be cut
down, and that most of the army cross over to
the other side of the river so that our soldiers
could be attacked from both banks with all sorts
of missiles and weapons
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In the midst of such preparations, and while
all paths were being strictly guarded to prevent
the Venetians from using their spies and
escapees to find routes in, a Greek fellow, once
taken prisoner by the Turks and forced into
servitude, but later appointed by the pasha as a
high-ranking official of the region, reflecting on
the religion in which he had been raised and
educated, jumped onto the pasha's steed, stole
his lance and galloped off to the place where the
ships were anchored. He asked to speak to the
commander of the fleet and, having boarded one
of the triremes, he revealed the enemy plan and
informed the Venetians that they were in great
danger. As soon as the Venetians heard this,
orders were given that the whole fleet be armed
and made ready for battle. Ropes were
unfastened, anchors were weighed and the sterns
of the ships were turned around. The triremes
were positioned in a line so that, at an
appropriate distance from one another, they
could advance against the current. But the
moment the sun came up, they could hear from
all sides the neighing and galloping of horses, the
firing of military equipment and arms glimmering
in the distance, and such was the din and
clamour that anyone not used to it would have
been crippled by fear. The Turks then began
shooting arrows and slinging stones at the fleet
wherever they could reach it, some using their
bare hands, others using equipment.
Nonetheless, the fleet advanced, but so great was
the amount of stones and missiles hurled at the
ships that it seemed that a hailstorm had
broken out and covered the vessels. Those who
were further away and could not shoot, urged
their comrades on with screams and shouts. The
Venetians for their part, seeing that they were in
a difficult position and were being shot at from
both sides, began to attack the enemy with
scorpions and rifles and other pieces of invented
recently equipment, called bombards and
spingards.
The enemy attack was thus repulsed. They
landed on the riverbank and chased the foe for
over ten thousand paces, breaking their force.
Both sides hastened to gain control of a certain
site where the river flows through a narrows
between two hillocks. There, the two banks are
so close to one another that a trireme can hardly
get through. The barbarians, with their remaining
forces, endeavoured to arrive there first and take
up position. They realized full well that they
could impede the advance of our ships by
throwing logs and harpoons into the water. The
Venetians for their part, with the oarsmen
rowing as fast as they could, sailed forth with
their biremes and triremes, hoping that their
great efforts would pay off once they passed the
narrows, upon which the barbarians had set their
stores. However, whether it was the will of God
or it was due to the virtue and courage of the
two sides, both the Venetians and the barbarians
arrived at Scala (this is what they called the
narrows between the two prominent hillocks) at
almost the very same time, and a terrible battle