1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 159: Shield of God
On the wide river, hundreds of ships were fighting in a group, crossbow arrows were flying, fire was blazing, black smoke was rising from the burning decks, corpses were floating on the water, and the shouts and screams of the sailors formed a cruel and bloody picture of war.

A fleet came down the river from the northwest, with about two hundred small rowing boats, flying the raven flag of the Hunyadi family.

Another fleet blocked the river. More than one hundred warships of various types blocked the surface of the Danube, cutting off the waterway to the downstream city of Belgrade.

This fleet is more professional, with two large warships leading the way, several medium-sized warships on the left and right, and the rest of the small paddle boats scattered around, cruising on the water.

The warships were flying the red star-and-crescent flag, clearly expressing their allegiance to the monarch of the Balkans and Anatolia, the most powerful monarch in the Islamic world, the shadow of Allah on earth, Sultan Mehmed II from the Ottoman family.

On a high ground in the lower reaches of the Danube, Mehmed II stared intently at the naval battle on the river, his fists clenched and his face grim.

After a month of siege, he failed to capture Belgrade before the arrival of the White Knights, leaving the soldiers in the city waiting until the reinforcements arrived.

Belgrade’s three-layer walls were not easy to deal with. Compared to the Theodosian Walls, the younger Belgrade had already taken into account the large siege weapons that might appear in the future when the city was built, and therefore designed some targeted measures, which prevented the Sultan’s artillery from achieving the expected significant results.

Despite this, the outer city wall was already crumbling under the continuous artillery fire. The most elite Janissary Corps climbed up the wall several times. The city defense commanders Hunyadi László and Sirági Mirali personally put on armor and fought to the death before they were able to destroy them.

On April 1457, 4, the White Knight Hunyadi led a mobile force by boat and sailed south along the Danube River, fighting a bloody battle with the Ottoman navy that came to intercept him, trying to break through the barrier and deliver reinforcements and supplies to the city.

At the same time, with the help of several priests, Brother Giovanni Capistrano organized a peasant crusade of tens of thousands of people, stationed on the north bank of the Sava River, and confronted the Ottoman army on the opposite bank.

When Mehmed II heard the news, he was furious and immediately ordered the fleet commander Bartoglu to go upstream and block the White Knight's reinforcements on the other side of the Danube.

Artillery fire was still heard in the distance, and the commander Mahmud was ordered to continue the siege. However, the sight of the Raven Flag and the Cross Flag in the distance gave the defenders a great boost of confidence, and it was feared that it would be difficult to achieve any results.

The Sultan's generals stood with him, silently watching the battle breaking out on the river, pursed their lips, and dared not say a word.

Water battles on rivers are the most boring. Compared with land battles, they do not have the magnificence and grandeur of knights' charge. Compared with naval battles, they lack the thrill and excitement of raging waves and roaring cannons.

On calm waters, there is only one rigid but useful rule.

When two men meet on a narrow road, the stronger one wins.

Hunyadi's fleet was mostly composed of small ships, most of which were conscripted inland fishing boats. The sailors fished on the river all year round and were more familiar with the water conditions here, and had a stronger desire to defend their country.

The Ottoman fleet consisted mostly of naval vessels that survived the Battle of the Golden Horn, as well as some inland vessels.

After the naval battle began, Hunyadi's fleet quickly dispersed and divided and surrounded the Ottoman fleet with its own mobility advantage. The large and medium-sized warships that were like fish in water on the sea failed to maintain their advantage. Their wide hulls and power designs that relied heavily on sails made them slow in movement and difficult to turn, making them sitting ducks for Hunyadi's inland fleet to engage in close boarding battles.

As time went by, the number of Ottoman ships gradually decreased, and several large and medium-sized warships were like trapped beasts, able to only fire their cannons in vain, trying to make their last wail.

"Asshole! Idiot!"

Mehmed II roared, drew out his scimitar and chopped hard at a small tree nearby, cutting the trunk into two.

Just now, another large warship was captured by Hunyadi. The sailors climbed up the mast in a show of force, threw down the star and crescent flag representing the Ottoman Sultan, and replaced it with the raven flag of the Hunyadi family.

The generals were silent as no one wanted to offend the Sultan.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the defeat of the Ottoman navy was inevitable, and the city of Belgrade was about to receive a large number of reinforcements ready for battle.

On April 1457, 4, the naval battle on the Danube ended with Hunyadi's great victory. More than 21 Ottoman ships were sunk, more than were captured, and the remaining fleet fled along the river.

The next day, Hunyadi led his army into the city, completely extinguishing the Ottoman army's ambition to destroy Belgrade in two months.

……

A military meeting is being held in the Belgrade Palace.

The White Knight Hunyadi sat on the throne that once belonged to the King of Serbia, and below him were his generals.

The White Knight, who rose from humble beginnings, was a veteran minister of the Kingdom of Hungary for four dynasties. When he was young, he followed Sigismund I of the House of Luxembourg in his campaigns and gradually gained fame.

Sigismund was a generous monarch who never hesitated to reward his subordinates. Hunyadi rose rapidly in wars and became the largest landowner in the Kingdom of Hungary.

Later, Hunyadi successively assisted Albrecht II of the Habsburg family, Władysław III of the Jagiellon family and the recently enthroned little king, the "posthumous son" Ladislaus, and had absolute power in Hungary.

At this time, he was nearly 70 years old, his hair and beard were all white, the lines on his face were getting deeper and deeper, and his body was getting weaker, but his eyes were still sharp, his spirit was still vigorous, and when he was angry, he was still like an angry tiger.

The two people standing on the left side of the throne are Siraj Milali and Laszlo Hunyadi, the brother-in-law and eldest son of the White Knight Hunyadi, the two commanders of Belgrade, who with a force of more than 6,000 men held out for more than a month under the fierce attack of the Ottomans.

To the right of the throne are the two leaders of the Peasant Crusade, Franciscan Friar Capistrano and Gray Cardinal Alexander.

In the six months before the Battle of Belgrade, they used their influence and appeal in the Catholic and Orthodox worlds to organize a holy war, and raised a 40,000-strong peasant crusaders' army from the Kingdom of Hungary and the Balkan countries, who are currently stationed on the north bank of the Sava River.

"Father, the Ottomans have just been defeated and their fleet has suffered heavy losses. They can no longer pose a real threat to our water transportation. As a result, they will have to fight a war of attrition with us on the city walls."

"Although the Ottoman army far outnumbers us in both quantity and quality, the losses will be huge."

Laszlo spoke up.

"In my opinion, as long as there is a problem in the Ottoman rear, Mehmed II will have no choice but to withdraw. We can chase him and recover the lost territory. This is our chance to break the deadlock."

The White Knight snorted and made no comment.

"Your Highness, I suggest that you contact Emperor Isaac of Constantinople as soon as possible and ask him to send troops to harass as soon as possible. It would be best if you can directly besiege Edirne so that Mehmed II cannot take care of both ends."

The mature and steady Siraj looked serious.

As the de facto commander of Belgrade, he knew very well that although the Ottoman fleet was still as unsatisfactory as ever, its army still maintained super high combat effectiveness, and its tactics, morale and professionalism were much higher than those of the defenders, and its tolerance for casualties and adaptability to protracted warfare were obviously stronger.

This is something that neither Hunyadi's mercenaries nor Capistrano's peasant crusaders can match.

"I asked you to come here today just for this matter."

The White Knight picked up a letter from the table and handed it to his eldest son Laszlo, then closed his eyes tightly, with the veins in his head throbbing.

"read."

Laszlo picked up the letter and read it aloud.

"Your Highness."

"According to your order, I have compiled the information from North Africa and Constantinople. The situation is not optimistic, so I have urgently sent it to the front battlefield for your decision."

Laszlo recognized this handwriting; it came from his father's intelligence chief.

"According to the spy report, Emperor Isaac has arrived in Constantinople by ship, accompanied by more than 7,000 soldiers."

"Including the original garrison troops, there are now more than 10,000 soldiers in Constantinople."

After reading this, Laszlo raised his voice noticeably with a hint of disbelief.

"Ten thousand people?"

Siraj was stunned. "What can we do with such a small number of troops?"

"The garrison that Mehmed II left in Edirne alone numbered 5,000. Adding the militia recruited during the war, it would not be difficult to temporarily reach 12,000 people."

"Edirne is the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The military and civilians have strong cohesion, the city walls are well-developed, the moat is wide, and the commander who stayed behind is Zagan Dawizi, who is known for his steadiness."

"If we only send 10,000 people, I'm afraid we won't even be able to reach the inner wall of Edirne."

Siraj frowned.

"You know, the Ottomans are not as weak and vulnerable as the Berbers in North Africa."

"Is our Emperor Isaac a little too arrogant?"

"Humph."

Brother Capistrano at the side couldn't help but hum.

"It seems that the Emperor of Constantinople is quite confident in his own ability."

Alexander ignored the sarcasm of the two Catholics and looked at Laszlo who continued to read the letter.

"What is the quality of the troops he brought? How many artillery pieces are there?"

"It is reported that among the 7,000 people brought, 3,000 belong to the Guards Corps, 1,000 belong to the Purple Guard Corps, and more than 3,000 are Berber servant soldiers."

Laszlo continued reading.

"That is to say, not only is the quantity small, but the quality is also uneven?"

Siraj now seems to understand a little bit why the coach has been in a bad mood recently.

"Where are his elite troops?"

"Crown Lion Legion? Saint Simon Knights? Chariot Unit? Spartan Heavy Artillery Company? And the newly established Ironclad Paladin?"

Obviously, this veteran general was quite familiar with Isaac's military system.

"According to North African intelligence, except for the Crown Lion Regiment of the Guards who followed Isaac to Constantinople, the rest of the elite troops remained in North Africa."

"The Knights of Saint Simon have acquired several castles and manors near Gafsa and Bizerte. Most of the members, including Grand Master Conti, are running around to maintain stability and strengthen control over the new territories to prevent a counterattack by nomadic forces."

"The chariot unit and the Spartan heavy artillery company were loaned by Isaac to Duke Ferdinand who was besieging the city of Bejaia, and they did not go to Constantinople."

"The armored paladins seem to have become a tool to intimidate those who disobey. After Isaac went north, they escorted Prince Justinian. While training, they patrolled between cities. They appeared in Tripoli last week."

"As for the Morea Peninsula, Isaac also did not add many troops. He only transferred the Second Legion of the Guards and some vassal soldiers to Athens to take on the garrison mission together with the Sixth Legion."

Laszlo couldn't read any more, so he tore the letter to pieces, his face flushed with anger.

"Father, I'm afraid the treacherous Greeks have no intention of attacking the Ottoman mainland. Instead, they choose to sit back and watch the fight between us and Mehmed II!"

"I was wondering why the Ottomans didn't retreat after their defeat. It turns out that they saw the weakness of the Greek emperor!"

"We helped him before, but he didn't want to repay us and was so cold-blooded. I hate it so much—"

"okay."

Hunyadi opened his eyes and looked at his hot-tempered and irritable eldest son with regret.

"The Greek emperor is indeed treacherous, cold-blooded and cunning, with an active mind and deep scheming, but he is not an unwise man and should be able to understand the current situation."

"If he doesn't rely on the quantity and quality of his troops to win, then he must have something else to rely on."

"Sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight? Maybe."

"Let Osman become bigger? Impossible."

Hunyadi spoke slowly.

"It's not Isaac I'm worried about."

"What worries me is, since when did we start to pin our hopes of victory on outsiders?"

His hawk-like eyes swept over his son and brother-in-law, and they quickly lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the face.

"Even if Isaac really adopts a policy of appeasement, will we not fight? Surrender to the Ottomans?"

"Even if others are afraid of the might of the Ottomans and the power of the Janissaries, I, János from the House of Hunyadi, will never back down!"

The White Knight looked at the two priests on the right and his tone became much softer.

"The nobles in my country have received many favors from me, but when the time of crisis came, they abandoned me."

"The Greek emperor saved Constantinople because of me, but he regarded me as a part of his own plan and tried his best to plot against me."

"You have never received a single favor from me, yet you are willing to pay out of your own pockets and lead a large army to help."

"I promise that if we can successfully overcome this difficulty, I will share the glory and money with you."

Hunyadi placed his right hand on his sword and bowed slightly.

Capistrano and Alexander were somewhat moved and quickly returned the gift to express their gratitude.

"Your Highness, this is not our credit. If you want to thank us, please do not forget those people who are loyal to God."

Capistrano said.

"But I must remind you that although the Crusaders are devout and enthusiastic, they are poorly equipped and have not received professional training. I am afraid they will not be able to last long."

The monk spoke very cryptically, but everyone present knew it very well.

Chaotic command, lack of military orders, doing things their own way, not listening to orders, easily collapsing when encountering setbacks, and being unable to fight for long periods of time... these are all the weaknesses of the peasant army.

"If you're going to fight, you have to fight fast."

The White Knight nodded and spread out the map.

"The Ottoman army has not made any moves in the past few days. I'm afraid that Mehmed II also doesn't want to fight a long war of attrition."

"They will most likely launch a general offensive soon. I hope you will all work together when the time comes."

(End of this chapter)