1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 228: Breaking the Glacier
The fire burned fiercely, black smoke rose into the sky, and several mansions in the town were reduced to ruins. Several fierce and strong men walked in and out, moving valuable goods out of the mansions. The old owners of the mansions had long been beheaded, and their families and relatives stood helplessly on the side, tears flowing, but they dared not cry out loud, for fear of attracting the swords of the plunderers.

This is a town located on the south bank of the Danube. Its sovereignty belongs to the Bulgarian Bey Mahmud. The lower class people are mostly Bulgarians, while the middle class and those in power are Turks.

This is the largest Turkic gathering area in northern Bulgaria, with a total population of 3,000 and nearly 1,000 Turks. Due to its proximity to the Danube, it has gradually become the largest agricultural and pastoral distribution center and handicraft center in the vicinity. Over the past hundred years, Turkish merchants and craftsmen from Asia Minor have come here, settled down, and sucked blood from Bulgarian farmers. The town has become increasingly prosperous, and the Turks have become increasingly wealthy, but the lives of Bulgarians are still miserable. They have to pay heavy taxes and live under the rule of the Antichrist.

At the small port in the north of the town, more than a dozen ships of strange shapes were anchored. The soldiers loaded precious cargo onto the ships one by one, chasing and playing with each other, and laughing loudly under the hateful and desperate gazes of the Turkic nobles.

The largest mansion was ablaze with flames, and the money and works of art seized from the mansion were piled up like mountains and placed on a carriage at the door.

Whenever a carriage was loaded with goods, the driver would drive it to the port and then load it onto the ship.

In the most luxurious carriage, Justinian was lying on a pile of coins that filled half of the carriage, holding a can of expensive yogurt and gulping it down.

"Your Highness, what is this? The Turkic people's fine wine?"

Timur Tash was registering the goods. Seeing Justinian drinking happily, he walked up and asked.

"No, this Turkic lord is a devout believer. He doesn't drink alcohol, but he loves expensive yogurt."

"Good stuff, no worse than the fennel yogurt in Athens. Want a can?"

Justinian lifted up another lavishly decorated jar, shook it, and threw it casually at Timur-Tash.

Timur Tash caught it steadily, but did not open the lid. Instead, he picked up the jar and looked at it left and right.

"Oh, this jar is not ordinary, it is porcelain. Judging from the patterns, it should be something from the Yuan Dynasty."

"This is blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen. It is recorded in the books handed down in my family that it was probably exported here by Arab merchants and is very valuable."

"Like it? Here's a reward for you."

Justinian waved his hand casually, finished his yogurt, and threw the can to Timur Tash.

"These Turks are really rich. They are many times richer than the Tatars."

Timur Tash took it and couldn't let it go.

"Humph, this town is the largest production center of the Akh Brotherhood in northern Bulgaria, with hundreds of craftsmen and merchants."

"I told you there was money here, and I brought you all here. Why, do you believe it now?"

Justinian snorted.

"Look at how ignorant you all are. You can't take your eyes off the several larger villages on the road. Tsk tsk..."

"I've said it before, this is not the prairie. If we want to rob, we have to take them by surprise and try to reap the most wealth in the shortest time."

"If I really robbed villages along the way as you requested, they would have been ready by the time we arrived at these big towns."

"That's right. Your Highness is very resourceful. We are too stupid to be as good as you."

Timur Tash held the Jingdezhen blue and white porcelain in his hands and laughed.

"The town is big, and the news of our invasion will surely spread quickly. Hurry and load the goods. I will take you further up the river. There are several more towns worth robbing."

Justinian crossed his legs, looking pleased.

"However, the resistance of this town is too weak. There are more than 3,000 people in the town, but there are only a few militiamen."

"Your Highness, I asked someone. Your father made rapid progress in the south. Most of the troops here were withdrawn to defend Varna. That's why we don't see many well-trained soldiers."

Timur Tash said.

At this time, a childish Turkic voice sounded.

"If my brother and his men hadn't gone to the war, how could you barbarians have captured our town and taken our things?"

Justinian looked back and saw a half-grown boy among the family of the Turkish nobleman staring at him angrily, the hatred in his eyes almost turning into reality.

The boy wanted to say more, but his mother covered his mouth with her hands and forced him to his knees.

Seeing this, the surrounding Cossack soldiers drew their scimitars and surrounded them.

"Sir, we have no intention of rebelling. Please spare his life for the sake of his youth and ignorance!"

The mother knelt on the ground and begged bitterly.

Justinian smiled, drew out the crossbow hidden in his sleeve, and shot an arrow into the throat of the Turkic boy.

“I don’t understand Turkic.”

Justinian stood up and waved his hand.

"Kill all the men, and all the women will be given to you as rewards. Remember to hurry."

The Cossacks cheered and surrounded dozens of Turkish nobles with grins.

With a wave of his hand and a slash of his knife, heads flew up in the cold wind and fell to the ground.

Crying, screaming, wailing, the Cossacks' wild laughter and heavy breathing could be heard from time to time.

"Your Highness, isn't this a waste of time?"

Timur Tash stood beside Justinian, watching everything that was happening with indifference.

"It's okay, I'm keeping track of the time."

Justinian chuckled.

"We have been patient for months, finally waiting until their troops are depleted, and finally waiting until the northeast wind blows."

"When we entered the Danube estuary from the Black Sea, the Turkish rangers must have discovered us, but they are not as fast as us. I'm afraid it will take them another two days to get here, not to mention the towns behind us."

"The current in the lower Danube is gentle and the river is wide. Plus the prevailing north wind in winter, we are running very fast on the river and they can't outrun us."

"No wonder you waited until winter, it turned out to be for this."

Timur Tash suddenly realized.

"Yes, the wind usually blows from the southwest here. Although we can sail against the wind, the speed is too slow and we cannot launch a surprise attack."

Justinian nodded.

"What a pity! I have always wanted to ask my father for a few more ships, but I have never succeeded."

"But it is also true. In order to protect the long trade routes, the Imperial Navy is distributed in various sea areas. A large number of ships have gone to the Adriatic Sea to stop the Venetians. I'm afraid he can't spare any troops."

"On the inland river, the particularly large ships are slow and have no advantage, and the galleys rely on rowing, so they are not as fast as us."

"Let's hurry up and load all the cargo onto the Emperor Zeno and several transport ships. We need to ensure speed, as long ships cannot be loaded."

Justinian looked toward Timur Tash.

"Also, send some scouts along the Danube to explore the front and investigate the enemy situation. We can't just run into a heavily guarded town."

"Don't worry, they have already been sent."

Justinian nodded, his eyes far away, continuing to look at the flames and smoke above the luxury residential area.

"By the way, inform all centurions that they have robbed enough Turkic tycoons. Do not expand the looting activities to Bulgarian civilians. We do not have the time or the need to do so."

"Also, remember to gather all the craftsmen and scholars and lock them up together. According to the old rules, they are all mine."

"Collect all the books as well. They are the treasures of civilization. You are an oriental noble, so you should know their importance better than I do."

"Haha, Your Highness, don't worry, I'll do as you say. The Bulgarians are so poor, it's not worth robbing them."

Timur Tash laughed.

"That's good to know. I never thought about making money from poor people."

The carriage was full, Justinian jumped off, patted the body of the carriage, and signaled the coachman to drive to the port.

"Everyone has their own value. The hatred of the Turkic nobles towards us is too deep to be used for their own benefit. Value lies in money."

"I slaughtered them all, and it would be easier for my father to rule when he conquers this place."

The killing in the luxury residential area gradually subsided, and blood was everywhere.

"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have caused so much slaughter. I could have made a fortune by selling them to the slave market in Bilinchi."

"Now... without the energy, they can only die."

Justinian looked at the Turkish nobleman lying on the ground with some regret.

"This is a Turk nobleman, his value is much higher than that of an ordinary civilian."

"Your Highness is kind and generous, even the saints of ancient times were no more kind than you."

Timur Tash praised seriously.

Justinian smiled and shook his head.

"As for the Bulgarian common people, their value lies not in their wealth but in themselves."

"As of now, how many Bulgarian men are willing to join the Cossacks?"

Timur Tash flipped through the book.

"They are all penniless people. Their wealth has been taken away by taxes from wars. If we hadn't killed the Turkic nobles, many of them would not have survived this winter." "A lot of people signed up, but not many met the criteria, only about a hundred or so."

"Remember, I don't want farmers, preferably herders, followed by hunters and fishermen."

Justinian warned.

"Don't worry, we know it all."

The sky was gray, the northeast wind was howling, and snowflakes were falling to the ground and on the wide Danube River.

"It's snowing and the wind is blowing from the northeast, which is a good thing."

Justinian muttered.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, and in a blink of an eye, the ground was covered with a light layer of silver.

When the Cossack men in the town saw the heavy snow, they cheered, took off their clothes, exposed their strong chests, smeared their chests with ice and snow, and chased and played with each other.

There was a sound of horse hooves on the road in the town, and several Cossack cavalrymen rushed to Justinian, dismounted, and knelt on the ground.

"king."

"Don't worry, calm down first."

Justinian picked up a bottle of wine and threw it at the Cossack captain.

The Cossack captain bit open the cork, drank the wine in gulps, wiped his face, and sighed comfortably.

"Go ahead."

"Your Highness, we have been ordered to conduct reconnaissance in the west. There are not many villages on the south bank, but there is a large town on the north bank. They call it Klerashi."

"It's not like we can't rob the Wallachians, what's wrong?"

Justinian asked, recalling the geographical knowledge in his mind.

"We discovered that a large army is crossing the river at the ferry south of Klerashi Town!"

Justinian's eyes suddenly widened, and Timur Tash quickly handed over the map.

"What flag does the army fly? How many people are there? How is the crossing going?"

Justinian asked rapidly.

"There are three flags: the Ottoman flag, the Bulgarian flag, and the Wallachian flag."

The Cossack captain answered quickly.

"There are a lot of people. Together with the auxiliary civilians, it is estimated that there are tens of thousands of people."

"When we went there, they were building a floating bridge. Now it is probably completed and ready to cross the river."

Justinian stared at the map in silence for a long time.

"Mahmood Angelos, Vlad Drakush."

He looked up at the gray sky with an expressionless face.

"Your Highness, they have been planning for a long time, and their target is probably Varna City."

Timur Tash said.

"Pramu, have they discovered you?"

Justinian asked.

"Discovered."

Brahmu nodded.

"However, we all wore the clothes of Turkic nobles and spoke Turkic, so they were quite polite to us and revealed some information."

"what's the message?"

"The army will cross the river in two waves. One part will be the elite cavalry as the vanguard, and the other part will be the follow-up manpower, crossing the river one after another."

Brahmu said.

Justinian frowned and pursed his lips.

"Yes, there is no need to keep it secret at this time. Even if you are spies of the Empire, it is too late in time."

"Your Highness, Varna is very close to here. If the Turkic vanguard does not care about horsepower, one person has four horses, and they take turns to rest, I'm afraid they can reach the siege camp under Varna tomorrow."

Timur Tash said in a deep voice.

"If your father had not been informed of the news in advance, he would have been caught off guard."

Justinian nodded and looked at the map carefully.

"We have to do something."

"What are you going to do?"

Timur Tash asked.

"We have limited manpower. If we directly confront Mahmoud's elite troops, I'm afraid we won't gain any benefit."

Justinian pondered.

"Besides, there isn't enough time."

"We quickly mobilized our troops and headed for the ferry. By the time we get there, Mahmoud's elite vanguard should have left, but their main force is not that fast."

"The Danube is very wide, and it will take some time to cross the river. Their second wave of soldiers is large in number, so it will take until night anyway."

"By then, we can strike them halfway across the river and achieve extraordinary success."

A sarcastic smile appeared on Justinian's face.

"Mahmoud and Vlad probably never thought that when they thought everything was going well, a magical army would come along and tear their plans to pieces."

After saying this, Justinian laughed.

"Holy Father, be kind to me. If we had come three days earlier, Mahmoud would have taken precautions. If we had come three days later, the war would have been over."

Timur Tash also agreed with this.

"Mahmoud was waiting for the final moment of the siege of Varna, waiting for the besiegers to relax their vigilance due to the heavy snow."

"We are waiting for the northeast wind and an opportunity to go up the river."

"We are all waiting for winter. This is accidental, inevitable, and a gift from the Holy Father."

"But, Your Highness, if we let Mahmoud's elite troops go, can Your Majesty handle it?"

"Don't worry. If they want to achieve the goal of surprise, the elite vanguard can only be the best cavalry, with a maximum number of 4,000 to 5,000."

Justinian said.

"After these cavalrymen charge, if there is no follow-up troops, even if they can achieve certain results at the beginning, it will be difficult to directly defeat the army."

"My father is blessed by the Holy Father and has a strong military. He will be fine."

Justinian waved his hand to call for his guards, who brought over war horses.

Justinian climbed onto his horse and looked at the men.

"It's almost time. Gather the Cossacks and we will head west."

"In order to ensure maximum casualties on the enemy, we will be divided into two groups, advancing from land and river respectively."

Justinian raised his scimitar.

"Gather the war horses and confiscate all the horses in this town. We will organize an elite cavalry of 2,000 men and charge westward along the southern bank of the Danube."

"Timurtash, take the rest of the soldiers who are proficient in water warfare, hoist the sails, and attack from the river. Disrupt their formation and make it difficult for them to take care of both ends."

"The Prince Zeno and the transport ships will all stay here. You only take the remaining longships. Be quick!"

"Yes!"

Timur Tash should claim to be.

"Pramu, go find the Orthodox priest in the town and ask him to mobilize the Bulgarian people to follow us and attack the Turkic crossing troops together."

"Tell the Bulgarians that we have all the food and firewood. If you don't want to starve or freeze to death in the winter, just follow us!"

"If we can time it well, by the time they reach the battlefield, the troops crossing the river should have been defeated by us. We can then hunt down the defeated troops and turn our advantage into victory!"

"There is no time to lose, speed up!"

"Mount your horse and charge with me!"

(End of this chapter)