Taking Rhodes will require a large fleet of Imperial ships, otherwise transporting a sufficient army to the island will take many years and cause a severe delay to the Crusade. With our Adriatic fleet sunk, we will have to build a completely new fleet in order to accomplish this. The Venitian war galleys are more than a match for our own ships in combat and they already have a significant fleet in Venice. Even after Duke Leopold takes the city, that fleet will remain and it will surely be reinforced by the Venetian ports at Ragusa, Durazzo, Iraklion, and Rhodes. It will require a significant investment of Imperial funds to build a fleet capable of defeting the Venetians, sailing to Rhodes, and transporting the Crusade to the island without danger. This does not even take into account the difficulty we would have in enciting Rhodes to revolt in the first place. I would not be opposed to such a plan, but I doubt whether it will be feasible without a Chancellor who is wholely dedicated to its success.

Regarding mercenaries, we must remember that the Reich Treasury is not bottomless. During my Chancellorship, I have often had great difficulties in meeting the financial needs of all of the Houses. The Crusade will add another significant financial burden. While mercenaries do not cost much more than normal regiments for annual upkeep, their initial hiring cost can be excessively high. If I were the next Chancellor, I would be most displeased to receive constant requests for mercenary recruitment from an army in a far away land which drained monies from our coffers without contributing anything of worth. I think we should attempt to do without mercenaries for as long as we are able. If the decision is made that we simply must recruit them, it might be wise to consider sacking a nearby Muslim city in order to pay for the cost. We can always abandon the city to rebels when we leave.