1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 231: Varna Decisive Battle

Under the gloomy sky, rows of elite cavalry stood in a row, neatly dressed, with spears raised and swords drawn.

The knights were no longer riding horses for traveling, they had already changed into strong war horses, ready for the final charge at any time.

The war horses snorted in the wind and snow, exhaling bursts of hot air.

At the forefront of the cavalry formation were the Derry Knights. For the sake of speed and flexibility, this group of brave and combative cavalrymen abandoned their heavy armor and carried a giant cavalry shield on their chests, with most of their bodies hidden behind the shield.

They were already dressed, some wearing tiger-head masks, some wearing wolf-skin cloaks, and more had a pair of black wings tucked behind them, looking hideous under the dark sky.

The most elite Kapikulu cavalry were located behind the Delhi Knights. They were dressed in fine armor and wore iron helmets covered with traditional Muslim white turbans. They held lances or sabers, revealing their sharp cold edges.

The Akıncı cavalry were divided into two wings, using their mobility advantage to protect the flanks, while the Sipahi cavalry were at the end, responsible for the subsequent suppression.

In any aspect, this cavalry of 6,000 people is a first-class strong army. Under the leadership of the war commander Mahmoud, their strength can be maximized.

Mahmoud mounted his warhorse and walked from the end of the battle line to the front, glancing at the rows of soldiers. There was pride, satisfaction, and an indomitable determination in his eyes.

"The followers of Allah, the holy warriors of Sudan!"

Mahmoud pulled the reins of his horse and began pre-war mobilization.

"I am Weli Mahmoud Angelos, Grand Vizier of His Majesty the Sultan, Bey of Bulgaria, your commander-in-chief and comrade-in-arms!"

The soldiers looked at Mahmoud with enthusiasm in their eyes.

"Eight years ago, we suffered a setback in Belgrade, but we still killed the famous White Knight Hunyadi and forced the Serbs to surrender to us!"

"But just when we returned victorious, the Greek emperor launched a surprise attack. He made a deal with the devil and brought demons from hell. He made us lose our homes and our relatives and friends."

Mahmoud paused.

"He made us lose everything."

"After this, His Majesty the Sultan will return to Anatolia and let me continue to lead you, continue to fight against the devil, and complete the unfinished great cause."

"Over the years, we have fought against the Greek army several times and achieved considerable success. We defeated the enemy in Burgas and marched straight to Edirne."

"However, the Greek army quickly came to our rescue, and we had to retreat to Bulgaria and preserve as much manpower as possible."

"Then, as expected, the Greek emperor once again turned his greedy eyes to Bulgaria, to our last homeland in Rumelia!"

"As of today, the Greek army has occupied half of Bulgaria. They are conquering cities and slaughtering people in the east. They are colluding with the mobs in the west in an attempt to overthrow our rule!"

Mahmoud's sharp eyes swept across every military formation.

"But they don't know that we have formed an alliance with Vlad III long before the war began. We have been hiding in the dark like a pack of lurking wolves, ready to deal a fatal blow to the Greeks and drive them out of our homeland at any time!"

"For this purpose, we have waited until today, until they suffered heavy casualties at the gates of Varna and their morale was low, until winter came and the land froze hard, until the sky was filled with snow, in order to limit their muskets."

"Now, the Greek emperor is outside Varna, enjoying wine and pleasure in his warm tent, continuing his dream of unifying the world."

"Right now, the Greek army is outside Varna, besieging our city in the snow and wind. They are already exhausted and their morale is low."

"This is the gift of Allah, this is the blessing of the Sultan, this is our best chance and our last chance!"

Mahmoud shouted loudly, his voice hoarse.

"During these years, the Greek emperor kept writing to me, constantly promising me wealth and land. He brought my mother to Constantinople and appointed my brothers to high positions."

"But my steadfast heart has never been shaken by this. My soul belongs to Allah, my wisdom belongs to the Sultan, and my sword and armor belong to you, my dearest soldiers!"

"The Greek emperor is determined to destroy us. They are afraid of our iron hoofs and try to completely destroy us in various ways!"

"But we will resist firmly until the last second of our lives."

"We will never surrender!"

Mahmoud drew his scimitar and raised it high forward.

"Go! Allah's devout believers, use your tenacious fighting spirit to defeat those weak Christians!"

"Go! Sultan's loyal warriors, use horses and swords to measure our land and defend our homeland!"

"Fight! Warriors who have nothing left, use the blood of the enemy to wash away the shame and hatred, and take back what is ours!"

"For Allah, for the Sultan, follow me,"

"Kill it!"

Mahmoud roared, squeezed his horse's belly hard, took the lead, and rushed forward.

……

The cavalry passed through the jungle, their horses' hooves trampled the ground, and the military flags fluttered in the wind and snow. In the wind and snow, a black whirlwind swept across the fields and rushed towards the distant city.

Anand, the Delhi Knights' chief commander, quickened his pace and came to Mahmood's side.

"Grand Vizier, we have entered the range of the Greek Rangers. The Slaves cavalry have discovered us."

Adnan said loudly.

Mahmoud looked around and saw the Blood-Cloaked Cavalry in the distance. They also noticed Mahmoud and started to get agitated.

"It doesn't matter! They are slow and can't keep up with us!"

Mahmoud shouted loudly.

"Speed ​​it up! Leave them alone!"

The Turkic cavalry increased their speed and gradually distanced themselves from the Slavic Rangers on the side and rear.

After passing through a jungle and crossing a hillside, Mahmoud saw lights in the distance and heard bursts of shouting and killing.

The city of Varna is in sight.

"kill!"

The well-trained Turkic cavalry were divided into several groups and rushed towards the continuous military camps.

"The Greeks are not prepared at all! Overwhelm them!"

The Turkic cavalry leaped over the trench and ignored the arrow towers on both sides, and the military camp was right in front of them.

In the outermost military camp, the Berber servants and Bulgarian civilians who were eating and resting were frightened when they saw the Delhi knights in strange costumes. They had no intention of resisting at all and either knelt on the ground and waited for death like clay sculptures or screamed and fled in all directions.

The Delhi Knights broke through the outermost line of defense like a hot knife cutting cold oil. They raised their sabers high, and every swing brought up blood. Their horses rushed forward, knocking the fleeing civilians to the ground, causing them to vomit blood.

The Kapikulu cavalry followed closely behind, with their lances raised forward, picking off the enemies one by one and pressing down on the tents one by one.

The Turkic cavalry charged through several military camps in succession, killing hundreds of enemies without encountering any hindrance.

"Grand Vizier, there are shooting troops ahead!"

Anand had sharp eyes and recognized the flag of the Shooting Army.

"Keep charging! We haven't encountered the regular Greek troops yet!"

Mahmoud roared.

In front of the Turkish cavalry, the Constantinople Archers, under the command of their officers, formed a battle formation, set up their planks and axes, raised their muskets, and revealed their black muzzles.

bang bang bang-

The muskets fired in unison, the smoke obscured the vision, the horses neighed sadly, and the Delhi knight who was in the front fell down, and was then crushed into meat paste by the hooves of the horses behind.

The momentum of the Turkish cavalry was slowed down, and Mahmoud shouted loudly when he saw this.

"Don't be afraid! In the snowstorm, their muskets are greatly restricted. They can't load gunpowder, and each musket can only fire once at most!"

"Keep rushing!"

bang bang bang-

There was another burst of gunfire. In the wind and snow, gunpowder was easily affected by moisture, but the loaded muskets were not restricted. The shooting army adopted a multi-line tactics and could still fire.

The number of shooting troops was limited, and the Turkic cavalry gritted their teeth and continued to charge, and the distance of several hundred meters was passed in a flash.

"Keep going! Keep going! They're going to collapse!"

Mahmoud roared.

"U-la--"

The shooting troops did not collapse. They were drunk and had no idea what a strong enemy was. Without even having time to reload their bullets, they just rushed forward with their big axes raised.

Mahmoud cursed inwardly, then steered his horse, rushed towards a shooting corps soldier, and chopped off his head with one blow.

Although the archers were tenacious and violent, they were infantry after all. They were not equipped with heavy armor, and their numbers were outnumbered by the Turkish cavalry. They were quickly wiped out in the black wave.

Even so, they still posed a considerable obstacle to the Turkish cavalry, causing their speed to begin to slow down.

"Grand Vizier! The enemy is reacting quickly, more and more legions are surrounding us!"

Anand looked around and shouted to Mahmood.

"Let's not gather together! Let's not let our own people limit our speed!"

"We must quickly defeat their army, causing them to lose their composure, and then lead the defeated troops forward!"

Some of the Turkic cavalry quickly dispersed and continued to charge in a fan shape.

Outside the fan formed by the Turkic cavalry, several legions slowly surrounded them, each at a certain distance from the other, forming a larger fan.

They were in neat uniform and fully dressed.

There was not a trace of panic in their eyes, as if they had already expected the current situation.

The Turkic cavalry quickly rushed into various military formations and quickly achieved certain results, but the enemy's fighting spirit was also very tenacious. They rushed up one after another, chopping the horses' hooves from below and the cavalry from above, holding them back.

After Mahmoud led the central army to continue to break through several scattered military formations, several neatly-organized legions stood proudly on the open ground ahead.

The leading legion was wearing heavy armor, holding spears and halberds, and the emblem of a crowned lion was engraved on their armor.

The other three legions were dressed in thick cotton uniforms and carried spears and heavy muskets.

"Guards, large square formation."

Mahmoud muttered to himself.

"Grand Vizier, something's wrong!"

Anand came forward and leaned against Mahmood, looking anxious.

"Except for the initial group of stragglers, the rest of the regular army had already made preparations. They were not as panicked as we expected!"

"I'm afraid they have learned the news in advance!" Mahmoud bit his lip and clenched his saber in his right hand until his knuckles turned white.

Boom——Long——

A cannon shot was heard from the giant ship on the sea, and the golden-red double-headed eagle flag rose proudly and fluttered high.

"The Greek emperor must have discovered us a long time ago. I wonder where the news leaked out!"

Mahmoud looked at the double-headed eagle flag and gnashed his teeth in hatred.

"Grand Vizier, do we still need to continue the charge?"

Anand asked.

Mahmoud looked around. When the Turkish knights saw the double-headed eagle flag, their eyes turned bloodshot. The strong hatred almost became tangible. The horses under them seemed to feel their master's intentions and began to speed up for the final charge.

"Of course we have to charge. We can't turn back now."

Mahmoud clenched his teeth.

"If we don't disperse them, we will face endless troubles and it will be difficult to escape!"

"Keep going, there is still a glimmer of hope."

After saying this, Mahmoud waved his saber and roared loudly.

"Allah's holy warriors! The Greek emperor is before us, take revenge! Kill them!"

The Delhi knights spread to the sides, revealing the fully armored Kapikulu cavalry. They roared, clamped their horses' bellies, lowered their lances, and their eyes were bloodshot.

The horses' hooves kicked up gusts of mud, and the biting wind and snow slapped the knights' faces. The enemies in front had already formed a battle formation, with five-meter-long spears forming a spear formation, and the tips of the spears flashed sharp cold light.

“Allahu Akbar!”

The Kapikulu cavalry charged forward with an indomitable momentum. The musketeers in the large square fired one after another. The cavalry in the front row fell to the ground without a sound. The cavalry in the back took over his flag and continued to move forward.

The two armies were not far apart, and the Capikulu cavalry quickly rushed in front of the Eastern Roman elite. Under the control of the riders, the horses burst out with amazing power and rushed straight towards the forest of spears regardless of everything.

In front of the formed spear phalanx, the Kapikulu cavalry who were at the front failed to maintain their previous good luck. The spears pierced into the horses' bellies, causing the horses to scream and throw their riders into the crowd, killing them in the blink of an eye.

The heavy cavalry in the rear continued to charge, like black waves, crashing into the purple reefs one after another, bringing up bursts of bright red.

The three large phalanx legions had only recently changed their equipment and were not equipped with full body armor. With the limitation of muskets, it was obviously impossible to completely stop the charge of the heavy cavalry with spears alone, and casualties gradually increased.

The situation of the First Legion of the Guards was slightly better. They were covered in heavy armor, had better overall quality, were experienced, and well-trained, making them more adept at dealing with heavy cavalry.

Two thousand heavy cavalrymen charged the four military formations. Although this did cause heavy casualties, they were unable to directly break up the formations. As the momentum of the charge gradually weakened, they were still held back and trapped in the crowd, unable to move.

"Grand Vizier, the situation is bad! We can't move forward!"

At the rear of the army, Anand chopped down a guard soldier and looked at Mahmoud anxiously.

"The enemy is closing in! We must retreat!"

Mahmoud raised his head and glanced at the big flag in the distance, his eyes full of unwillingness.

"Withdraw the cavalry from the battle formation! As many as possible!"

Mahmoud looked around, searching for weaknesses in the army's formation.

"Their encirclement is not perfect. Let's find an opportunity and try to rush out with more people!"

At this time, Mahmoud no longer cared about the soldiers who were caught in a tough battle. He just hoped to save a few more elite troops for the Sultan's army before the encirclement closed.

Seeing that the cavalry were preparing to withdraw, the Eastern Roman soldiers on various battlefields immediately summoned up their remaining courage and tried to hold them back.

Mahmoud watched more and more soldiers fall in the crowd, feeling heartbroken and filled with regret.

"Tell them to come to me quickly! There is a big hole in the encirclement at the rear! Let's turn our horses around and run out from the rear!"

Mahmoud shouted to several officers.

However, the Turkic cavalry had already been blinded by bloodlust and only wanted to deal with the hordes of enemies in front of them as quickly as possible. Mahmoud waited for a long time before only a thousand or so cavalrymen gathered around him.

Mahmoud continued to stare at the anxious battlefield, hoping that more soldiers would return to his side.

"Grand Vizier..."

"what happened?"

Mahmoud looked at Anand, then turned his head and looked behind him in the direction of his finger.

On the distant skyline, a small group of blood-stained cavalrymen were trotting slowly towards this side with firm and powerful steps.

"Slaves cavalry? They only have a few hundred people, and their combat effectiveness is very average. They can't stop us."

Mahmoud didn't look closely, but frowned and waved his hand.

"Grand Vizier, I'm afraid those aren't Slaves cavalry. They don't have camels, and their mounts are much taller than the Barb horses."

Anand swallowed.

"That's the Ironclad Paladin."

The armored paladins trotted off, and the dull sound of horse hooves and the iconic giant lance announced their arrival.

They stopped on a gentle slope, blocking their last retreat.

Mahmoud laughed bitterly.

"Well, they're probably just waiting for us to die."

"I was wondering why the Slaves cavalry didn't try to stop us just now. It turns out they had other intentions."

As the war went on, the Turkish cavalry lost the speed advantage brought by the charge, while the numerical advantage of the Eastern Roman army became increasingly obvious. The legions worked together and pressed forward step by step. The encirclement gradually closed, and the remaining Turkish cavalry was compressed into an open space, surrounded by enemy troops on all sides.

There was another roar of artillery fire, and the First Legion of the Guards opened a path. Isaac, dressed in iron armor and riding an Andalusian warhorse with a purple horse coat, slowly walked out of the army formation.

Conte followed Isaac closely.

Isaac stopped and looked at Mahmoud from a distance.

"Mahmoud, surrender. You have given everything for Mehmed II. You are loyal and worthy of your title of war marshal."

Isaac spoke slowly.

"You let me live, but what about my brothers? Will you let them live too?"

Mahmoud sneered.

Isaac thought about it and shook his head slightly.

"Oh, as expected, let's fight. As a true general, I will not abandon my soldiers."

Mahmoud laughed out loud, with anger and sadness in his laughter.

He pointed his saber at Isaac.

"Greek Emperor, how did you find us?"

"From what I understand, you didn't find out our whereabouts at first, otherwise your advance wouldn't be so slow."

Isaac smiled but said nothing.

In fact, Isaac was quite frightened after seeing the performance of Mahmoud's elite cavalry.

If he had not known the news in advance, he would not have placed the barracks of the civilians and servants on the outermost periphery to attract firepower, nor would he have temporarily equipped the large square formation of musketeers with spears to increase the proportion of spearmen.

The most crucial thing is that in this situation, the sudden appearance of a large number of cavalry from the rear would have a fatal impact on morale. It would be difficult for the soldiers to reorganize their formation in a short period of time, and they would most likely sit back and watch Mahmoud kill many people and leave in style.

"If I hadn't arranged it ahead of time, you would probably have succeeded."

Isaac nodded to Mahmoud.

"However, I could have broken down the walls of Varna a long time ago. If I hadn't learned the news in advance and decided to set up a trap, by the time you came, we would have occupied Varna, and you would still be empty-handed."

"Oh? Then you—"

Mahmoud wanted to continue asking questions, but was interrupted by Isaac.

"Okay, you just want to delay a little longer, find a loophole, and restore your power. Don't you think I can't see it?"

Isaac smiled casually.

"I don't see any wavering in your eyes."

"You never thought about surrendering."

Mahmoud looked at Isaac sarcastically and wiped the blood off his saber casually.

"It's good to know. I just want to live my life with a clear conscience."

"His Majesty the Sultan raised me from humble beginnings and never let me down. Honor, money, fame, I had nothing until I met him."

"I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of feeling guilty."

Isaac nodded slightly.

"I give you two choices, either surrender or die."

Mahmoud laughed and looked at the remaining cavalry around him.

"What is your choice, warriors of Allah?"

"war!"

Mahmoud raised his saber and led the remaining Kapikulu warriors to charge towards the armored paladins behind him.

The encirclement continued to gather, and the Armored Paladins began to charge. In the wind and snow, the shouting and killing became intense and then stopped. Finally, the only sounds between heaven and earth were the gasps of the wounded and the whistling of the wind and snow.

On December 1464, 12, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, the Bey of Bulgaria, and the war general Mahmud led the last thousands of elite cavalry to launch a surprise attack on more than 23 Eastern Roman siege troops, but the news accidentally leaked and they fell into a trap.

In the evening of that day, the war ended, Mahmud's army was completely wiped out, some Akıncı cavalry and Sipahi cavalry surrendered, and the elite cavalry were almost all killed or wounded.

They fulfilled the promise they had made to the Sultan and fought to the very end, causing great losses to the Eastern Roman Empire, killing and wounding more than 8,000 people.

In this battle, the general Mahmud died on the spot and his blood was spilled on the battlefield. His incomplete body was pieced together by the Eastern Roman soldiers and buried on the spot with the ceremony of a duke, at the place where he died, next to the warriors he treated sincerely.

The next day, an uprising broke out in Varna. The defending general was killed and the rebels opened the city and surrendered.

At this point, the Battle of Varna ended. There was no longer any Bulgarian general who could make the Eastern Roman Empire wary, and there was no longer any army that could resist the Eastern Roman army.

(End of this chapter)