1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 161: Natural Disaster
The red sun rises, and the warm sunlight shines on Constantinople in the early morning, illuminating the endless Theodosian Walls, the streets that extend in all directions, and the magnificent Grand Palace and Hagia Sophia.

Outside the walls of Theodosius, a large army was gathering, forming square formations in batches, waiting for the inspection of the two emperors.

Isaac and Constantine XI walked side by side and greeted the soldiers on the Theodosian Walls.

There were ten phalanxes in total, each consisting of a thousand soldiers. In addition to several infantry legions of the Guards and the Purple Guards, there was also a Slaves thousand-man team and three thousand Berber servants.

After the Battle of Constantinople, the Ottoman army retreated, leaving behind a pile of ruins.

The Theodosian Walls, which had collapsed in many places, were rebuilt and improved in the following years. Isaac summoned architects and military scientists from the East and the West, combined with some of his own experience from later generations, to replan the dilapidated walls and gradually put them into practice.

The middle section of the city wall, which was the most severely damaged, was improved first. Isaac not only raised and widened the original city wall, but also built several new protruding prismatic towers, on which he installed cannons and crossbows as large defensive weapons.

Looking from a distance, the newly built middle section of the city wall looked like a monster with bared fangs and claws, extending its tentacles towards the attacking enemy.

A bastion is a special type of city wall in the age of firearms. In essence, it transforms a fortress from a convex polygon into a concave polygon. In this way, no matter where the enemy attacks from, it will be exposed to two or three bastion surfaces and thus be suppressed by the concentrated firepower of the defenders.

Before the gunpowder era, engineers and military scientists had only a superficial understanding of city walls, and the methods of strengthening city defense were very simple and crude:
If one layer is not enough, add multiple layers.

Constantinople had double walls, Belgrade had three, and some Crusader fortresses in Spain even had four or more walls. In this way, the nobles tried to lock themselves in layers of stone lumps. The defensive strategy was mainly to delay time and wait for things to turn around.

Historically, the Battle of Constantinople in 1453 marked the official obsolescence of the medieval city defense system. Relying on the advantage of artillery, the Ottoman army conquered Constantinople, which was known to be unbreakable, in just two months, causing an uproar throughout Europe.

In the half century that followed, artillery began to be widely used as a violent siege weapon, breaking through seemingly indestructible castles and greatly shortening the time spent on sieges. For a time, no one could control it.

Later, military engineers realized that instead of building multi-layered city walls, which was time-consuming and costly, it would be better to improve the original city walls and unleash the power of firearms for counterattack.

Thus, the bastion came into being.

To be honest, Isaac's improvement of the middle section of the Theodosian wall was just a simple reference to the bastion model, but it was completely sufficient.

In addition to the Theodosian Wall, Isaac also transferred money, food, and slaves to the Corinth Wall and the Ohlonian Military District to carry out the same bastion modifications.

As for the North African territory, the surrounding enemies are all nomadic tribes without large-scale siege weapons, so there is no need for this for the time being.

The short military formation was quickly completed, and seeing Constantine's puzzled face, Isaac stopped and waited quietly for him to speak.

"Isaac, are you honestly planning to lead them to attack Adrianople?"

"Yes."

Isaac nodded.

"Where is your Spartan heavy artillery? Has it been transferred?"

"No, I loaned them to Ferdinand."

"Where are the Ironclad Paladins?"

"The army was formed too recently and is not proficient enough. We are currently undergoing emergency training."

Constantine was silent.

"Can your little trick really succeed?"

Isaac smiled and rolled up his sleeves, revealing the strange scar on his shoulder.

Except for Isaac, all the civilians, soldiers, nobles and merchants in Constantinople, Attica, Surt, Cyrenaica and Africa had the same scar on their shoulders.

"I always say that the more you play tricks, the more you realize that human ability has its limits."

“And the power of nature is infinite.”

Isaac spent a year setting an example and using force to plant such scars in every corner of his territory. This was not a trick as Constantine said.

This ugly scar comes from a tiny creature.

Vaccinia virus.

Now, the first group of light cavalrymen who had been vaccinated against cowpox had thrown blankets, clothes and various daily necessities carrying the smallpox virus into the wells, squares and markets in the villages around Edirne. These would then spread to the surrounding areas with the flow of the crowd and into various cities and villages.

The smallpox virus was Isaac's ultimate weapon against the Ottoman Empire.

Throughout human history, the smallpox virus has played an important role in every historical period. It originated in the Nile River Basin and gradually spread to the entire human world with wars and trade.

As a parasite, the evolution of the smallpox virus can be considered relatively successful. The airborne infection route ensures its high infectiousness, and the mortality rate of about one quarter is just right. It will not die in harmony with its enemy like Marburg and Ebola due to their high mortality rate.

This has also led to the continuation of the smallpox virus from the ancient Egyptian period to the present, always popping up from time to time and announcing its existence in an extremely vicious way.

In Europe, the smallpox virus has rewritten history many times, and countless kings and nobles have died from it.

The death of Austrian king Joseph I completely deprived the Habsburg family of the possibility of regaining the Spanish throne. His father, two sisters, four nephews and nieces, and three great-nephews also died of smallpox. The Austrian Habsburg family came to an end from then on. Within a few years, it officially became extinct and the throne was taken away by a side branch.

The death of the grandson of King Louis XIV of France allowed the "favorite" Louis XV to ascend the throne. After Louis XV made France a mess, he was also killed by smallpox, and the throne was passed to Louis XVI.

During the decades when the smallpox virus was most rampant, a British queen, an Austrian emperor, a Spanish king, a Swedish queen, a French king and a Russian tsar all succumbed to smallpox, setting off a wave of monarch-killing craze on the European continent.

However, as a DNA virus, the structure of the smallpox virus is quite stable and not prone to mutation, which also laid the groundwork for its eventual demise.

Vaccinia virus, another poxvirus, is a close relative of smallpox virus and has similar antigenicity to it.

This virus was originally only spread among livestock, mainly cows. After infecting humans, it only causes mild symptoms and is not fatal. There are no sequelae except for the scars left.

However, humans who have been infected with the cowpox virus have since acquired antibodies against the smallpox virus and have become resistant to smallpox within three to five years.

As early as a year ago, Isaac searched for smallpox patients and cows infected with cowpox in his territory to prepare for today's use.

The smallpox virus is very resilient and can survive for up to a year at room temperature. Half a year ago, Isaac's spies found several smallpox patients who were about to be buried in fire pits in the Mamluks. They stole their clothes and blankets soaked in saliva and scabs and stored them on a ship.

Vaccination against cowpox was carried out gradually. Isaac first infected a large number of cows to obtain the original virus, and then he and other nobles set an example by being vaccinated first. They then implemented it in every city and village by force, claiming that it was the grace of the Holy Father.

These strange behaviors certainly attracted the attention of foreign forces, but they had never seen such methods before and simply regarded it as a joke of the young monarch and did not investigate further.

Even if they dig deeper, they will probably still be confused.

In fact, as early as the Battle of Constantinople, Isaac had thought of using this method to make the Ottoman army collapse without a fight, but he had never found a suitable Primarch, and finally left it until now.

This time, Isaac ignored the request for help from Grand Duke Durand, deliberately left his elite troops in North Africa, and watched the White Knights and Mehmed II fight to the death, abandoning his own prestige and political reputation, and waited until today. There is no antidote for the smallpox virus, and once infected, one can only leave it to fate.

Just yesterday, express mail reported that the first cases of infection had appeared in an Ottoman village west of Constantinople. Patients will suffer from vomiting and diarrhea, rapid heartbeat, high fever and physical weakness within two weeks of infection.

At this time, they may still be lucky enough to think that this is just an ordinary cold, but soon, the measles and blisters that appear on the body will plunge them into the abyss of despair.

"Father, we are about to set off. May the Holy Father bless us."

Isaac looked at Constantine XI and swore a solemn oath.

Smallpox alone would not kill all the defenders of Edirne, but it would make them lose their basic combat effectiveness for a considerable period of time. Unable to even lift swords, they would be unable to stop Isaac's army.

The White Knight died, Mehmed II fled, Serbia fell into internal strife, and the other small countries would not become an obstacle to Isaac.

This was the perfect moment he had been waiting for.

"Father, I have ordered several legions in North Africa to prepare. They will soon land on the Morea Peninsula with the transportation of the Mediterranean Fleet and launch an attack northward from Athens."

The two armies, one in the south and one in the north, formed a giant pincer, cutting off the entire Thessaly, Macedonia and Thrace from the Ottoman Empire's Balkan territory in one fell swoop.

"set off!"

Isaac raised his eagle staff and pointed to the west.

You've been fighting for so long, it's time you had enough.

It's my turn.

……

In the early summer of 1457, a plague struck Edirne, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. In just two months, it swept across Thrace and quickly spread outward with the fleeing crowds.

At the same time, for some unknown reason, the smallpox virus began to spread throughout the Mediterranean world. Cairo, Paris, Venice... major cities broke out in the plague without warning and became hell on earth.

The local civil affairs chief was very puzzled by this. He had clearly incinerated several infected people as quickly as possible, but he was unable to stop the spread of the plague, which even became more and more serious.

Miraculously, the plague seemed to have eyes and deliberately avoided the territory of the Roman Empire. While the European continent was devastated by the plague, Attica, Cyrenaica and Africa were enjoying warmth and tranquility, as if they were blessed by God.

Many people began to believe that the Roman Empire, which had lasted for thousands of years, was protected by God. Driven by fear, they brought their families and boarded ships to Carthage, Birinci and Athens, asking for asylum from the local Orthodox churches and being baptized.

Isaac, the co-emperor of the Roman Empire, who was at the forefront of Edirne, immediately issued a statement to European countries, believing that the plague was God's curse on the brutal acts of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, and suggested naming it the "Great Plague of Mehmed."

When Isaac led an army of 10,000 to the city of Edirne, Zagan Dawizi was quite confused. He could not understand why this Greek emperor with such great military achievements dared to be so arrogant.

Despite this, he still made the most stringent defense. Not only did he move the people outside the city into the city to prevent them from being used by the enemy, he also recruited a garrison of 13,000 people and prepared countermeasures such as fire attacks and flooding in advance to ensure that nothing could go wrong.

After smallpox began to spread, Zagan Pasha remained calm. He ordered people to be quarantined and sent envoys to Isaac outside the city to demand a withdrawal of troops.

Until this point, he had no idea where the plague came from.

During wartime, it was not uncommon to release plague into a city to aid in sieges, and generals around the world had already used it.

However, this method would hurt the enemy by a thousand and hurt yourself by a thousand, so generals would usually be extremely cautious to avoid hurting themselves.

Knowing the harmfulness of the smallpox virus, it is impossible for Emperor Isaac to use this highly contagious virus for which there is no antidote as a weapon of war.

Generally speaking, when such a virulent plague that does not distinguish between friend and foe occurs, both sides of the war will tacitly withdraw their troops and return home to avoid unnecessary damage.

Zagan Pasha thought so.

However, the Roman army outside the city walls was not affected by the plague. Instead, they were full of energy and their morale was high.

Isaac ordered the army to seal off the city and prohibit the movement of people, making this city with a population of more than 100,000 a hotbed for the spread of the virus.

Loopholes soon appeared in Zagan Pasha's blockade policy, and the plague began to spread to every corner of the city. The defenders weakened rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the number of soldiers still active on the city walls decreased sharply.

As of June 6, there were only more than a thousand soldiers in Edirne who still retained their combat effectiveness and patrolled the empty city walls in panic.

It didn't matter whether they were survivors of a previous outbreak of smallpox or had accidentally been exposed to the cowpox virus while milking.

What’s important is that under the attack of smallpox, Edirne, a city that had been occupied by the Ottoman Empire for nearly a hundred years, is now like a weak lamb and can no longer withstand Isaac’s army.

On June 1457, 6, the already frail Zagan Pasha fell ill and died. The Sultan's reinforcements were nowhere to be seen. The defenders' faith completely collapsed and they opened the city and surrendered.

Walking in the bloody sunset, Isaac's army lined up, stepped into the devastated city, singing triumphant songs, and headed straight for the palace of Mehmed II.

Constantine XI stood beside Isaac, looking at the magnificent palace and the large throne, and was a little dazed for a moment.

He walked forward and touched the armrest of the throne, feeling the cool and solid touch, and gradually came to his senses.

"Isaac, you are..."

Constantine XI had a complicated expression and looked at his eldest son worriedly.

"History is written by the victors."

Isaac understood what Constantine XI was thinking and spoke slowly.

"Don't worry, in the history books that follow, you and I will be the restorers of Adrianople and the revivers of the Roman Empire, and we will be praised by thousands of people."

"Most importantly, the cowpox vaccination method I invented will help hundreds of millions of potential infected people get rid of the disease in the future and completely eradicate smallpox."

Isaac smiled, pulled Constantine, sat on the exclusive throne of the Ottoman Sultan, and accepted the worship of all the ministers in the palace.

"Lake, come here."

Isaac waved to the historian in the audience.

"Your command."

Lake took out a pen and unfolded the book he was writing, "The Balkan Wars".

"I said, you write."

(End of this chapter)