THE SWORD AND THE SEA 147with strict orders to avoid an engagement. The next morning the Ottoman
fleet entered Marsasirocco Bay at the southeastern end of the island and
landed unopposed. Though the siege was to begin, the blockade of the
island was incomplete and a few Christian reinforcements arrived from
Sicily and elsewhere through June.
The first Ottoman target was the small fort of St. Elmo. The capture of
this fort would open one of Malta’s two best harbors to the Turkish fleet
and provide a good position from which to bombard the main defenses
from the rear. Mustapha thought that this tiny fort would only take four
days to reduce and capture. On May 24 the Ottomans dragged their guns
forward to blast St. Elmo. With them was the largest gun; the “basilisk”
which fired solid stone cannonballs weighing 160 pounds, plus two 60-
pound, and 10 80-pound culverins. In the following days the Turks
brought up a further thirty-six guns. On an average day they fired 6,000–
7,000 shots at St. Elmo. La Valette did not yield it lightly though, and
each night boats crossed the harbor to bring in fresh Knights and withdraw
the wounded. Eventually after a four-week slugfest and 8,000 Turkish
casualties, the shattered remains of Fort St. Elmo were overrun, and the
main siege could begin.
The attack on St. Elmo had distracted the Ottomans from the real target,
St. Angelo. A few days later, Dragut, a fine old pirate commander sent
from Istanbul, arrived and criticized the earlier decisions that had left the
north of the island unoccupied and permitted the Knights to maintain
contact with Sicily. The arrival of this famous and successful leader greatly
inspired the assaulting troops. On June 18, when the old gentleman was
sighting a gun against St. Angelo, a counterbattery shot killed him and
several of his staff. The effect on the besiegers was considerable. There
was no one of his stature to give spirit to the attackers.
The Ottoman siege effort now turned against St. Angelo and St. Mi-
chael. Though the Marsamusecetto harbor, on the sheltered side of St.
Elmo was now safe for the Ottoman fleet, the Knights still controlled the
bulk of the harbor space. This allowed yet a further 1,300 soldiers and
knights to arrive from Sicily before the first major Muslim attack,
launched on July 15.
The Algerians attacked the southern end of Point Senglea, guarded by
St. Michael, while ten ships of Janissaries moved from Mount Sciberras
to attack the tip of Point Senglea. These ships proved easy targets for the
guns of St. Angelo, where a battery smashed nine of them. A total of
3,000 Turks died that day for no gain.
Mustapha Pasha then took personal charge of the attack against St.
Michael. The guns were again brought up and the bombardment went on