Ottoman attacks on Fort St Michael and Medina forced the defenders to improvise against siege engines and bombardment. Maltese troops tunnelled through rubble and destroyed a shielded assault engine and a siege tower with point-blank chain shot. A proposed retreat to Fort St Angelo was vetoed; avoiding exposed movement across open ground is one possible explanation for that decision. At Medina, crowded walls and early long-range cannon fire persuaded the approaching Ottomans that defenders and ammunition were plentiful, despite reported shortages. Spanish reinforcements arrived as the Ottoman force was already struggling, turning retreat into a damaging final encounter.
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Fort St Michael, Medina, and the Great Relief
Failed assaults on Fort St Michael and Medina, followed by the Great Relief, show how fortifications, morale, and reinforcement interacted in 1565.