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Conquering land seems like managing your money. You gain a few countries through bloody and costly battles and reap great rewards of land and more goods. But just how far do you invest in a country, or in this case, 316 square km/196 sq. miles of barren land.

The archipelago of Malta is not rich in resources at all. You might even have difficulty locating it on the map. However, its history is written in very large fonts as old as 7,000 years. In a rise of an empire, more land, no matter what is positive. Malta, as we all believe, was an exception. Many strong conquests stood in their way: the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, the Knight of Saint John, the Arabs, the French, and the British over several millenniums. The Byzantine Empire was a powerful force here for about 400 years. Amongst all of the colonists, the Knights of St. John proved to have been the most formidable since 1530. The natives of Malta had accepted the Knights to stay with them for a while.

The Turks were invading then, and the year was 1565. The Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent attacked the ancient capital of Mdina at the time. The Turkish brought 35,000 top-notch warriors with them, while 541 Knights of St. John led by their Grand Master Lavalette and several thousand brave but untrained local volunteers made a rag-tag wanna-be club. To make things worse, a famous Ottoman tactic was to preach a religion that involved making everyone not afraid to die. In addition, the Turks had their own hand-to-hand combat style, and the troops all came through 3-5 years of military school. Yep, the veterans of many wars went against the newbies. The Turkish equipment was much better as well. Now, you might think the deal was sealed, and it wasn’t until a few surprises. The Great Siege of Malta lasted about four months of savage combat, which back then sounded pretty long. It doesn’t seem like today where a nuclear bomb just about settles all the land issues because there isn’t any land left! Finally, the Ottoman army escaped in disgrace, considering that the war was basically over because most of their soldiers were dead. There remained about 150 knights with their tenacity, but what surprised the Turks was the other figure. The Ottomans suffered a total loss of 30,000 men, depleting their force to a bare minimum. The Turkish army fled later, bearing in mind that they were too weak to be in any sort of defending on the island against any other force, large or small.

Around two centuries later, the ruler shifted to the French. Napoleon Bonaparte was writing history by pulling off a conquering streak like no other when he captured it on his way to Egypt in 1798. He conquered Malta in exactly 1 day, looting much of the gold and silver. Yep, 24 hours were all it got to take over land that once stood up to the mighty of Knights of St. John. The soldiers had surrendered, and not a single shot was fired. What comes around and goes around though. The Maltese sought help to fight away from a powerful dominant force and the British were the perfect ones to run begging to, which had a large and powerful fleet. They’ve got it. Check who wants to have colonial expansion. They’ve got it, too. Check who has a stupid, stubborn, and burning hatred for all people who are known as the following letters: F-R-E-N-C-H. The Maltese were simply poisoning all enemy water supplies. When the British reinforcements arrived and surrounded the fortresses, the French were poisoned and starving. Therefore, the French got a taste of their own poison and left without firing a single shot 12 years later. There, we have a perfect grocery checklist. So the beasts of Britain were on their way for the next 164 years, taking the mercy little time.

Malta was involved in both WWI and WWII as the navy dockyards. In the end, the Maltese people got their well-deserved independence from Britain surprisingly in 1964. They can finally stop saying “I’m a Turkish” or “I’m a British”, and now they are proud of Maltese. Good things really do come in small packages.

【红霞译文】

统治疆域好比管理财富，靠屠杀掠夺去蚕食别国利益，为的是扩张势力范围以满足私欲，但接下来的问题是如何促进国家发展，比方说眼前这片316平方公里即196平方英里不毛之地。

马耳他群岛自然资源贫瘠，你甚至很难一下子在地图上找到它，不过这些丝毫抹杀不掉其七千年悠久历史，对于一个新兴上升的帝国而言国土越大声誉越好，但大家一致认为，马耳他却需另当别论。几千年来，马耳他相继沦陷于腓尼基、古希腊、迦太基、古罗马、拜占庭、奥斯曼、圣约翰骑士团、法兰西、英国等人手中，其中一度被拜占庭帝国统治长达四百年之久；在所有殖民时期，1530年以来圣约翰骑士团领导下的马耳他被视为实力鼎盛的殖民地，圣约翰骑士团广为当地人所接纳。

1565年和平者国王一世入侵，希望依靠武力攻克古都默城，541名圣约翰骑士和数以千计从未受过训练的平民百姓自愿在大教长山谷人的率领下英勇抵抗35000名突厥族正规军，但事情坏就坏在奥斯曼派来的精兵强将笃信宗教，在战场上表现得视死如归，他们不仅拥有三～五年军校训练基础，而且发扬肉搏战民族传统，天不怕地不怕，毫无疑问这是一场久经沙场的老兵与初出茅庐的新手之间的殊死较量。土耳其部队装备精良，至此你肯定觉得他们必胜无疑，不过切莫妄下结论；经过浴血奋战，历时四个月的“马耳他大围攻”终于宣告结束，按照当时情形四个月相当漫长，哪像如今扔颗原子弹瞬间解决问题，差不多全部烧成灰烬！总之奥斯曼死伤惨重，以至于溃不成军，最后酿成奇耻大辱；约有150圣约翰骑士团成员顽强地活了下来，而敌对一方死亡人数超出人们想象，总计30000名土耳其士兵断送了性命，大大削弱了战斗力，奥斯曼军队不得不仓皇逃窜，无力再经受任何挑战。

大约过了两个世纪，殖民统治阶级改朝换代，这回变成法兰西人。1798年拿破仑一世在进军埃及途中不费吹灰之力一举拿下马耳他，欧洲历史就此重新改写，虽然他仅在那里逗留了一天，但却掠夺了足够的金银财宝。是啊，他在廿四小时之内目睹敌方投降，毋需浪费一颗枪子便推翻了显赫一时的圣约翰骑士团，只是事情来得快去得也快，马耳他人四处寻求帮助，而英国海军舰队实力雄厚，不久便成为马耳他的座上客，趁机完成了殖民扩张，那些自视聪明、不把别人放在眼里、招惹天下人憎恶的法—兰—西—人全部被驱逐出境，原来马耳他人暗中给敌人水源投入毒药，使法国佬因中毒饥饿致死，亲口尝到自己埋下的恶果，想不到在统治了十二年之后同样没有放一枪开一炮，马耳他人以其人之道还治其人之身。等到以上所有事项进行完毕，英国冠冕堂皇地开始了对马耳他实施长达164年的殖民政策。

作为军用码头，马耳他参与了第一次和第二次世界大战；1964年马耳他人得以摆脱英国统治，直到那时才敢拒说“我是土耳其人”或者“我是英国人”，命运之神终于降临，他们从今往后将以马耳他人为荣。好事多磨难。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2015: Medieval Mdina, Malta(马耳他古都先知之城)

2015: Capital Valletta, Malta(马耳他首都湾谷城)

2014 World Cup—the USA vs. Belgium(美国对比利时世界杯足球赛)