00:00What if I told you the greatest warriors of Christendom once faced the unstoppable might
00:05of the Ottoman Empire and chose death over surrender? It was the year 1522, and the island
00:12of Rhodes stood as the last crusader fortress in the east. For over two centuries, the knight's
00:18hospitaller had ruled its walls, knights in white cloaks marked with a red cross,
00:24the last remnants of the crusades. But their defiance had long angered Sultan Suleyman,
00:29the Magnificent, who now sought to finish what his ancestors began, to wipe the crusader flag from
00:36the Mediterranean forever. That summer, more than 200 Ottoman ships filled the horizon.
00:42From their decks marched 100,000 soldiers, janissaries, artillerymen, sappers, surrounding
00:49roads like a steel tie. Inside the city stood barely 7,000 defenders, knights and civilians,
00:55led by Grand Master Philippe Villiers de Lille-Adam, a man of faith and fire. The siege began with
01:02thunder. Day after day, Ottoman cannons shattered the walls. Stones turned to dust, towers collapsed,
01:10yet the knights fought like men possessed. They patched walls with their own bodies, fired guns from the
01:16ruins and swore to hold until death. As the months dragged on, the city became a graveyard of heroes.
01:24Smoke choked the air. Blood filled the moats. But while the knights fought above ground, something
01:31darker stirred below. The Ottomans were digging. Tunnels crept under the fortress, filled with barrels of
01:37barrels of gunpowder ready to explode. Conclusion. Cliffhanger. The defenders stood tall on broken walls,
01:45unaware that the real danger was beneath their feet. Inside the tunnels, the Ottomans were already below
01:51known. Follow them. Follow for part 2.
