1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 139 Vlad

Lead-gray clouds covered the entire sky, growing darker and darker, pressing down towards the ground.

It was drizzling from morning till night.

It is clearly late spring, but for some reason, this vast plain is still extremely cold.

On the muddy road, the sound of horse hooves came from far away, and the horseshoes made a sticky sound as they stepped on the mud.

The long ride made the riders exhausted. The sweat and rain mixed together and stuck to their clothes, making them feel very uncomfortable.

After climbing over a hill and crossing a small river, a dilapidated city appeared before our eyes.

The city was big, but there were not many houses. The roads were in a mess, with mud mixed with ashes and blood, washing out brown turbid streams.

It was dark all around. The sound of horse hooves could be heard and a few tiny lights shrank back into the shadows.

"Aga, this..."

The riders looked at each other.

The leader unfolded a map, and the rider next to him handed him a torch, the dim light reflected on the mottled parchment.

"It's right here, no mistake."

He put away the map, patted his horse's back, and looked around.

It seems that the plan to stay here overnight must be cancelled.

"Just keep on your way."

“Go to a Christian church and ask about the situation.”

The church is at the end of the road. It is quite large, beautiful and solemn. The exterior walls are clean and there are no weeds on the road. It is obvious that someone regularly maintains it.

However, it was also dark here, and there was no sign of anyone.

Just as the riders were hesitating, the wooden door of the church creaked open, and a night watchman dressed in black holding a candlestick walked out of the darkness.

He ignored the riders' drawn scimitars and slowly approached, sizing up the visitors with his filmy eyes. His gaze lingered on the turbans they wore, and he made no effort to conceal his disgust.

"Saracens, you are not welcome here, leave."

The riders glared angrily; they had suffered enough along the way.

The middle-aged man in the lead spoke in the standard local language.

"We are envoys from Edirne, coming to see Grand Duke Vladislav on the orders of the Sultan, with no ill intentions."

"We don't know what's going on here, and we won't interfere. We'll leave soon!"

"Please tell me how to get to Castle Drakush?"

The Night Watchman continued to study the messenger.

"The old Archduke is dead, and the new Archduke won't want to see you."

The messenger was startled and almost dropped the reins.

The attendants nearby were also surprised and looked at the messenger.

The messenger quickly calmed down, waved to his followers, and signaled them to stay calm.

Regardless, the Sudanese mission must be accomplished.

"You'll know only when you see it."

The night watchman was silent for a moment, then slowly turned around and pointed to the path to the northwest.

"Wish you good luck."

There was a hint of pity in his tone.

The messenger looked at him, seemed to want to say something but stopped, and finally just nodded.

"Thank you."

The riders turned their horses and galloped away.

The cold wind blew, and the biting chill made the messenger unable to help but wrap up his clothes.

He looked at the pack horses in the team. The poor animals were gasping for breath in the heavy rain.

The pack horses were loaded with the gifts, credentials and several letters that the delegation was ordered to carry.

He sighed softly and focused on getting on with his journey.

Just ten years ago, he had followed his father on a diplomatic mission to Wallachia and Moldavia on behalf of Sultan Murad II. The situation at that time was completely different from now.

The envoys sent by the Grand Duke would be waiting at the border early to welcome and escort them all the way. The nobles and landlords from all over the country would also be very respectful, entertaining them with delicious food and drinks, for fear that the delegation would be dissatisfied.

For each diplomatic mission, the gifts alone could fill half a carriage.

Compared with the cold wind and rain now, the grand occasion at that time is really nostalgic.

In recent years, so many things have happened in the Balkans and the Anatolian Peninsula that are jaw-dropping and difficult to accept.

In 1453, Sultan Mehmed II was defeated in Constantinople, and more than half of the jihadist fighters died in a foreign land, which dealt a serious blow to the Islamic jihad cause.

The consequences of the defeat in this war were disastrous for the Ottoman Empire.

The various powers in the Balkans and Anatolia saw the opportunity and rushed in from all directions, trying to take advantage of the empire's weakness to grab a piece of fat meat.

Subsequently, the Balkan Agreement was formally signed in Constantinople, and various vassal states broke away from the control of the Ottoman Empire in various ways, including Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia... For a time, the Balkan backyard was on fire and smoke was everywhere.

Mehmed II lost his dignity and was short of troops, so he had to withdraw his forces and temporarily give up his control over the Balkan countries in exchange for temporary peace.

Mehmed II quelled the unrest near the capital as quickly as possible, and took the opportunity to confiscate the property of many old aristocratic families and exiled them. He used the funds obtained to establish several new Janissary armies, vigorously promoted young officers with outstanding abilities and loyalty, and strengthened his control over the central army.

After basically stabilizing the domestic situation, Mehmed II began to deal with foreign threats.

He summoned his civil and military officials, formulated the strategy of "east first, west later", led his army across the Bosphorus Strait, marched towards the Anatolian Plateau, and prepared to deal with the Karaman people who were taking advantage of the situation.

The Karaman people learned their lesson this time and did not fight a decisive battle with the Ottomans right away. Instead, they broke up into small groups and made full use of the advantages of the Turkish light cavalry. They penetrated deep into the Ottoman countryside to plunder and harass, and attacked the Ottoman army's supply lines from time to time, which caused the Sultan and the Pashas a lot of headaches for a time.

On December 1454, 12, the Ottoman army approached the city of Konya, trying to open a gap here.

However, Karaman Bey got a large number of strong slaves from somewhere and built a huge slave army. He also stockpiled a large amount of food, fodder and weapons in Konya in advance. The Ottomans besieged the city for more than ten days but made no progress.

The army had been attacking for a long time without success and its morale was low. Rebellious forces at home were resurfacing. Mehmed II had no choice but to lead part of the army back to the country to stabilize the situation. The remaining troops were led by the Sword Vizier Mahmud Pasha to continue dealing with the Karamanians.

Mahmud Pasha knew that he did not have enough troops to continue the siege, so he withdrew his troops, looted the area around the city, and disappeared deep into the Anatolian Plateau.

The defenders of Karaman believed that the Ottoman Empire was short of troops, so they withdrew their troops and there was thunderous cheering and great joy. Ibrahim II held a grand banquet in the city of Karaman to celebrate the long-awaited victory.

On January 1455, 1, Mahmud Pasha, who had disappeared for a long time, suddenly appeared at the gates of Karaman with a small group of elite cavalry. The Ottoman soldiers bypassed the semi-arid desert and reached the soft hinterland of the Karaman Bey Kingdom.

The dusty Ottoman soldiers were full of anger. They looted the area near Karaman City, drove the civilians to attack the city, and then disappeared again, leaving only a small group of elite cavalry to continue harassing.

The nobles who were drinking and having fun in Karaman were suddenly terrified. Although the commander of the garrison repeatedly stated that the other side was short of troops and had no siege weapons and the capital Karaman was safe, the panicked nobles still forced Ibrahim II to order the outer troops to return to defend the capital.

On January 1455, 1, General Karaman, who was leading troops outside, had no choice but to lead his troops back for support. Mahmud Pasha harassed along the way and burned granaries. Karaman's army was exhausted and could not capture Mahmud Pasha's main elite forces, and their morale gradually declined.

General Karaman explained the pros and cons to Ibrahim II several times, believing that this move was extremely inappropriate and hoping that the Bey would revoke his order. However, this instead aroused Ibrahim II's suspicion, and he sent letters urging him to withdraw troops one after another.

On January 1455, 1, the Karaman army, after stopping and marching, finally arrived near the city of Karaman and set up camp in an open space outside the city. After a long and hard fight, the soldiers finally saw the city wall of the capital, and they immediately relaxed and fell asleep.

Mahmud believed that the time was ripe, so he personally put on armor and led his elite cavalry out of their hiding place in the Taurus Mountains and attacked the Karaman camp at night.

The elite Kapikulu cavalry broke through the hastily assembled defense line of the Karaman people in just a moment. The morale of the slave army, which was the first to be hit, collapsed like a tide, and was driven to the rear by the Ottoman cavalry. Tents were lost one after another, and Karaman's army of more than 20,000 collapsed directly.

The remaining Karaman soldiers rushed towards the capital with screams and howls. The defenders on the city walls witnessed the collapse of the army outside the city in horror. They were so frightened that their legs went weak and they dared not open the door no matter what. They watched their comrades die tragically under the Ottoman sabers.

In this battle, Mahmud Pasha defeated Karaman's army of more than 20,000 with 4,000 elite cavalry, killing thousands in battle and leaving countless others trampled and missing, while he himself lost only more than 1,000 cavalry.

When Mehmed II heard the news, he was overjoyed. He married his daughter to Mahmoud and appointed him as war marshal.

He used inferior forces to directly attack the enemy's weaknesses, outflank the enemy, mobilize the enemy's main force back and forth, accurately grasp the best time for a decisive battle, and defeat 20,000 with only 4,000 men. "War Marshal" Mahmoud became famous in one battle.

After this battle, Karaman Bey Ibrahim II hurriedly sent envoys to seek peace, returned the occupied Ottoman towns and captured Ottoman soldiers, and signed an agreement with the Sultan to stipulate that the vassal state would remain forever.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the White Sheep King Uzung Hasan withdrew his troops from the Dulkadir Bey Kingdom and returned north. He also sent envoys to make peace with the Ottoman Sultan.

The Komnenos dynasty of Trebizond followed suit, returned the taxes owed in previous years, presented generous gifts and humble words, scolded the two emperors of Constantinople, and asked for forgiveness from the Sultan.

With the momentum of victory, Mehmed II quickly pacified Anatolia and reaffirmed the supreme authority of the Ottoman Empire in the Anatolian Peninsula. After resolving the border troubles in the east, the initially recovered Ottoman Empire began to turn its attention back to the Balkans.

According to intelligence, Hungary was plagued by domestic conflicts, with the Habsburg and Hunyadi families on the verge of a split, and the Greek emperor was leading his army to North Africa to deal with the Hafsid dynasty. The two most powerful Christian forces on the Balkan Peninsula were unable to extricate themselves.

This is the best time for the Ottoman Empire to restart its Balkan strategy!
This was also the reason for the diplomatic mission's trip to Wallachia.

For a long time, the Grand Duke of Wallachia was a vassal of the King of Hungary. It was not until the early fifteenth century that the rise of the Ottoman Empire gave this small country the opportunity to become independent and jump back and forth between the two great powers.

For the Grand Duke of Wallachia and other nobles, Hungary and the Ottoman Empire were respectively a heresy and a paganism, so there was no question of any religious sentiment. They basically took maintaining independence as much as possible as their starting point and chose sides according to changes in the international situation.

At the Balkan Conference held in 1453, Vladislav, then Grand Duke of Wallachia, signed the agreement, openly standing on the side of the Christian Alliance.

But at the same time, he was also very dissatisfied with the Hunyadi family's move to take in Vlad III, and repeatedly asked them to hand him over to him, but was rejected by Hunyadi.

As a result, Vladislav began to contact the now weak Ottoman Empire, hoping that Mehmed II could ensure that his position would not be taken away by Vlad III again.

The main purpose of the delegation's visit was to discuss specific diplomatic details with Grand Duke Vladislav.

Now it seems that it is too late.

The messenger shook his head, woke up from his thoughts, and looked at the road in the distance.

At the end of the road, Drakush Castle is in sight, and Vlad III should be inside.

Vlad III... This man is insidious and cunning, bold and careful. He was betrayed once by the Hunyadi family. His father was killed by the White Knight Hunyadi. It is impossible for him to always submit to their tyranny. You can try to talk to him.

"Aga, what...what is that?"

The messenger looked back and saw an attendant with a terrified look on his face, pointing at the flat ground on the right.

"What are you making such a fuss about, you—"

He looked in the direction of his follower's finger, his pupils suddenly contracted, and an unprecedented fear flashed in his eyes, as if he had seen an endless hell.

A forest of corpses.

Hundreds of bodies were impaled on towering stakes, including nobles and commoners, old people and children.

The expressions on their faces were so hideous due to the pain that it was hard to imagine what kind of suffering they had gone through before death.

Obviously, they were pierced with sharp wooden stakes while they were alive and hung here. The victims would twist constantly due to severe pain, damaging their internal organs and dying slowly in extreme pain.

The messenger finally understood why there were only broken walls and ruins in this area.

Under the cover of his supporters, Vlad III sneaked back to the country and launched a rebellion directly in the capital, giving Vladislav no time to react.

During the civil war, these people chose to support the old archduke and were impaled by Vlad III and nailed here as a warning to future generations.

"In Allah..."

Everyone in the delegation murmured to themselves.

"Aga, there are still...there are still living people!"

The messenger looked in the direction of the sound and saw victims with their last breath twisting their bodies on the back rows of wooden stakes, spitting out blood and pieces of internal organs from their mouths.

"Kill... me..."

They saw that the members of the delegation were already suffering from agony and were seeking relief.

Everyone looked at each other and no one dared to step forward.

"Aga, how about... let's go back, this..."

A young teenager whispered, his voice filled with fear.

The messenger looked at the road in the distance, and the gloomy Drakush Castle seemed to be glowing with a bloody light.

He looked at the forest of corpses around him and swallowed.

"Give them some relief, and we'll go back."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, dismounted, picked up their swords, mustered their courage, and walked towards the forest of corpses.

"Thank you...be careful..."

When the victims saw the attackers approaching with knives, they smiled in relief.

"If you free them, who will free you?"

A row of black-armored soldiers emerged silently from the darkness. The soldiers' faces were unclear, and the emblem of the Dracus family was engraved on their armor.

A black bird holding an Orthodox cross in its beak.

The leader was smiling, holding a dim torch, with a slender noble sword on his waist, and there seemed to be blood stains on the sword.

When the envoy saw the visitor, his legs unconsciously went weak, but he still pretended to be calm and maintained his dignity as an envoy of the Ottoman Empire.

Although it was not stated explicitly, the messenger recognized the identity of the visitor at a glance.

"Hello, respected Grand Duke of Wallachia, I come here on behalf of the master of Rumelia and Anatolia, the great Sultan Mehmed II, to discuss important matters with you!"

"If you—"

"Where's the diploma?"

The man in black continued to smile and extended his hand generously.

"Lost on the road."

The messenger gritted his teeth.

"I'm afraid it has Vladislav's name on it."

The messenger was speechless, secretly thinking that something was wrong.

This matter could be big or small, and most monarchs would not dwell on such trivial details. There are many things to discuss, and at most they would hint at rewriting the letter.

The other party being so difficult can only mean one thing.

People didn't want to talk at all.

"What a pity, he is no longer here. Let me think about it, it seems that he was in the third row, and it was me personally..."

The man in black looked towards the forest of corpses, as if he was really searching hard.

"Your Excellency, we come here with sincerity, please..."

The man in black suddenly turned his head and stared at the messenger, which scared him.

"I feel unhappy when the headscarf is taken off."

what?
The messenger felt insulted and blood rushed to his forehead. He even forgot his fear for a moment.

"Only the Sultan can order me to take it off."

he said coldly.

"Then keep wearing it."

The men in black clapped their hands, and the soldiers rushed forward like wolves and tigers, pinning the members of the delegation to the ground.

Several thin nails suddenly appeared in the hands of the man in black and were thrown in front of the messenger.

"Help him."

"Yes!"

The man in black turned around and listened to the messenger's screams, but the smile on his lips gradually faded, his eyes turned, and he seemed to be in deep thought.

It seems that with the civil unrest in Hungary and the expedition of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Ottomans, seizing the opportunity, seem to want to extend their evil hands to the Balkan Peninsula again to wash away the shame of two years ago.

Who is the target?
Constantinople? Impossible.

Athens? There's no point in conquering it.

Serbia? Albania? Wallachia?
He thought for a while, but came to no avail, so he shook his head with a smile.

Turning around, he looked at the messenger who was gradually losing his life and the other members who were frightened and motionless, and suddenly felt bored.

Grand Duke Vlad III Drakush of Wallachia waved his hand behind him, rode on a black horse that had arrived at some point, headed towards the castle, and disappeared into the shadows.

(End of this chapter)