Sebastian Veniero upheld Colonna with great vehemence, and the two Venetian commissaries Barbarigo and Quirini, and then D. John breathed freely, because once the two other Generals of the League were agreed, he, as Generalissimo, only had to make up the quarrel. He, however, allowed all to talk who wished to do so, some for and some against, and when they had finished, he contented himself with saying, "Enough, gentlemen; all that remains to be done is to hasten the departure and set out in search of victory." Very simple words certainly, but they were undoubtedly the most heroic in all the story of Lepanto, because it required superhuman courage to undertake the responsibility of an enterprise so dangerous, that men of the stamp of Gian Andrea Doria recoiled before it. D. John began his preparations for his departure by visiting all the forts and the vessels anchored in the port, which amounted to 200 galleys, fifty-six ships, six formidable galliasses, and more than 80,000 soldiers, counting mercenaries and volunteers. D. John found all the fleet well supplied and prepared, except the Venetian galleys, which were very short of soldiers; this the Generalissimo remedied by dividing among them four Spanish regiments, two of veterans and two of recruits, which wounded the pride of the Venetians, and was the cause of the trouble and danger we shall hear of later. In the galley "Marchesa," of the Pontifical fleet, D. John passed an obscure soldier, whom he did not particularly notice, but whose fame, nevertheless, was to compete with his own in the coming ages; he was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. So it happens sometimes in life; two geniuses brush against each other without knowing it, separate personages to whom Providence allots similar destinies. D. John distributed the monks sent by the Pope among the various galleys, the Capuchins to the Pontifical ships, the Franciscans to those of Genoa, Venice and Savoy, and the Jesuits to the Spanish ones. On board the "Real" was the Franciscan Fr. Miguel Servia, confessor to D. John, and two other Jesuits, H. Briones and Father Cristobal Rodriguez, a man of great learning and virtue, who had been a prisoner of the Turk. Pius V much esteemed Father Cristobal Rodriguez, and entrusted him to tell D. John very privately and with great insistency what he had conveyed to him by other channels: not to hesitate to give battle, as, in the name of God, he promised victory. He also conveyed from the Pope a piece of the True Cross, an inch long and half an inch wide, in a clumsy reliquary of silver with two angels at the sides: it was the wish of the Pontiff that D. John should wear it on his breast during the battle. Meanwhile Mons. Odescalchi promulgated a plenary jubilee which the Pope had granted to all on board the armada who had confessed, communicated, and prayed to God for victory against the Turk.