1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 303: Assault on Mendres
The sun is shining and the autumn breeze is refreshing. The hot and dry summer in the Mediterranean world has passed. The autumn rain not long ago washed the earth, the temperature dropped, the relatively warm sea water formed a low pressure, and the westerly wind belt once again prevailed.

For the whole of Anatolia, 1471 was an absurd and difficult year.

The Eastern Army led by Prince Bayezid retreated all the way and hastily attacked Nicomedia, but was defeated by the army of the Eastern Roman Empire and fled in embarrassment, destroying the last bit of the Eastern Army's vitality. Uzum Hassan could devour the eastern remnants of the Ottomans without scruples.

However, the White Ayun Dynasty did not have smooth sailing. Their territory was too vast and the battle line was too long. From Ankara to Tabriz, even if they traveled day and night and spared no effort, a round trip would still take several months.

For a country that has expanded its territory countless times in a very short period of time, it is a very dangerous thing for the monarch to be away all year round. Governors in various places have their own ulterior motives, and ambitious sons are trying to profit from it, wishing their father would never return.

Uzungol Hasan is now in a very awkward position. There are numerous mountains between Anatolia and Tabriz, and it is difficult to transport supplies from the capital. He has to rely on the supply of local people.

In the initial period, Uzung Hasan invaded Anatolia on a large scale as a "Muslim liberator" and "Orthodox Christian fighter", helping the Turkic nobles to recover their homeland in various places and quickly won their support. But as time went on, these local nobles began to dislike the oppression and plunder of the Aries people and hoped that they would leave as soon as possible.

Of course, they also knew that Uzum Hasan was the only Muslim monarch who could protect them from the invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire. On the surface, they remained respectful and suppressed their inner dissatisfaction.

The two princes who followed Uzung Hasan on the expedition also caused their father trouble. The second son, Khalil, who had great ambitions but no talent, was defeated in Nicomedia. He was furious and insulted the local Turks in his own jurisdiction, believing that they were cowardly and incompetent and deserved to be ruled by the Greeks.

The third son, Jacob, was relatively calm and knew how to win the hearts of the people. He married the daughter of a local Turkic noble and funded the reconstruction of the mosque, thus basically stabilizing the situation in the area under his jurisdiction.

However, his Sivas jurisdiction was adjacent to Gonzalo's activity area on the Black Sea coast. He led his soldiers in battles with Gonzalo's army many times, but was defeated all the time, which instead made the opponent famous.

Uzungol Hasan was very annoyed about this. On the one hand, he had to keep the most elite soldiers in his hands to prevent the Eastern Roman army from besieging Bursa. On the other hand, he had to pay attention to the domestic situation and had no energy to deal with the troubles of his two sons.

News came from Tabriz that his eldest son Ugulu, who served as the governor of Fars, had secretly contacted local forces in the Persian region and plotted to launch a rebellion, and each letter was more urgent than the last.

Ugulu's mother had passed away. For the sake of her own son's future, his stepmother had been slandering Uzung Hassan and used her power to withhold Ugulu's military pay and money in order to force him to rebel.

Uzung Hasan had heard about this, but far away in Ankara he didn't know who to trust. It was too far away from Tabriz, and the information exchange was severely distorted and delayed, which made him upset.

Uzungol Hassan now feels a little regretful. He should not have protected their status for the so-called title of "King of Kings" and the nominal submission of the Ottoman family. There was no need to drag his army here and fight a protracted war with the Greeks.

Gather a large army and charge? Where? The Greeks occupied most of the coastal areas in Anatolia, where they could get supplies from the sea. They could not quickly break through the city from the land. On the contrary, they might lose the main force of the army if they were isolated and deep in the enemy's territory.

Retreat to central and eastern Anatolia? It seems feasible. It is impossible to bring western Anatolia under direct jurisdiction. Let the Turkic tribes on the plateau block the Greeks' offensive and slow them down.

On the coast, Uzung Hasan believed that he was not capable of fighting a protracted war with the Eastern Roman Empire, which had the advantage of sea transportation, but the Anatolian Plateau was still dominated by rangers. The sea transportation system that the Greeks relied on was unusable, and their supply lines would be attacked one after another, and ultimately they would return empty-handed.

However, Uzung Hassan had always been an extremely proud man. The great results achieved in just four years deepened this idea. He was unwilling to admit defeat easily, and even more unwilling to admit defeat to an Orthodox empire. He fled back to his hometown in disgrace.

Then just keep waiting. His expeditionary force has already looted countless treasures. Carts and teams of livestock are heading eastward from Ankara to Tabriz. The carts and horses are filled with the blood and sweat of the Anatolian people.

Anatolia is very vast, and there are still many places that have not been explored. The tribal leaders of Uzunghasan have not robbed enough and are not willing to return easily. They are even reluctant to gather and make excuses.

Uzung Hassan secretly vowed that after defeating the Greek emperor, he would establish a complete administrative system and management system in Tabriz to integrate his bloated dynasty and make the newly surrendered tribes respect his authority, just as he had done in Diyarbakir.

However, Uzon Hassan also knew that his territory was too vast and that there were too many local forces involved, including more than ten cultures, five or six beliefs, countless languages, and countless factions.

The more people eat, the greater the resistance to reform and centralization.

What's more, Uzon Hassan was nearly fifty years old. The struggles and wars in his early years had devastated his body, and illness followed, gradually dulling his mind and dragging down his body and mind.

While Uzungol Hasan was in a dilemma in Ankara, the army of the Eastern Roman Empire was secretly gathering on the Aegean Sea in the west.

This is Chios, one of the larger islands among the more than 2,000 islands in the Aegean Sea, with an area of ​​about 830 square kilometers. It has its own water source, arable land and seaport, which is suitable for growing wheat, grapes and citrus, and can achieve self-sufficiency to a certain extent.

After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the Aegean islands that originally belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire were gradually occupied by the Latins. Chios and Lesbos to the north were both colonies of the Republic of Genoa and belonged to two Genoese families.

With the revival of the Eastern Roman Empire and the sharp decline of the Republic of Genoa, Isaac used blood ties and alliances to induce the overseas colonies of the Republic of Genoa to break away from control and pledge allegiance to him when the Kingdom of France attacked the city of Genoa.

After converting to Orthodoxy, these great families served as hereditary governors of various governorates, retaining their island territories and most of their privileges.

The Aegean Islands are very important to the Eastern Roman Empire. The scattered islands are not only the best barrier, but also provide the Eastern Roman Empire with many good ports and are of high value.

Of course, these islands also provided a good hiding place and stolen goods sales den for Aegean pirates, and were one of the most important pirate gathering areas in the entire Mediterranean. To this day, there are still some pirate forces here, some of whom obey the orders of the Eastern Roman emperor, while others refuse to obey. There is nothing that can be done about it.

As the Eastern Roman Empire's navy grew stronger, its control over the Aegean islands became increasingly stringent. Although it was unlikely that Aegean pirates would completely disappear, their influence was declining.

The most important thing is that the Eastern Aegean Islands, mainly Lesvos and Chios, are very close to the Anatolian Peninsula, only a few kilometers to a dozen kilometers away, and can be reached overnight.

On the eve of the Great Turkish War, Isaac summoned the governors of Lesvos and Chios to exchange ideas in order to make the best use of these islands and better harass the Ottoman coast.

At that time, Lesvos and Chios belonged to the Gattilusio family and the Giustiniani family respectively, and both had close relations with the Eastern Roman Empire.

There is no need to say much about the Gattiluccio family. They had intermarried with the Eastern Roman royal family many times. Isaac's mother Catherine was from this family. Members of their family also served as the hereditary governor of the Azov Governorate and the mayor of the Free City of La Spezia. With Isaac's support, they have gradually grown into a giant in the Black Sea white slave trade, and their relationship with the Palaiologos family has become increasingly close.

The Giustiniani family was also a friend of the Eastern Roman Empire. They sold all their belongings to come to the aid of the Eastern Roman Empire during the Battle of Constantinople in 1453. However, two middle-aged heirs of the family died in battle on the Theodosian Walls, and the family was almost in danger of extinction.

In order to prevent his meritorious officials from being discouraged and their relatives from rebelling, Isaac adopted a conciliatory policy towards them, hoping that the two families would voluntarily give up their hereditary territories on the islands of Lesbos and Chios and hand them over to the Eastern Roman government.

These two islands were not originally seized by the two major families. Lesvos was a dowry given to them by Emperor John V of Palaiologos when he married the Gattilusio family. Chios was also transferred to the rule of the Giustiniani family through exchange of interests. The two families also fulfilled the alliance and provided a lot of help to the Eastern Roman Empire in its fight against the Ottomans.

Therefore, it was impossible for Isaac to treat them in the same manner as he treated the Venetians, and he proposed "land exchange", exchanging a small amount of shares of the East India Company and large tracts of land in the colonies with them in exchange for two large islands in the Aegean Sea.

The places Isaac chose for them were also rich places. One was located in the Kingdom of Brazil, with open-pit copper mines and a small amount of gold mines. The other was located on the coast of Venezuela, with abundant precious gems. If they were willing to go inland, they could also find huge amounts of gold.

The Gattilusio family quickly agreed. As relatives by marriage, they reaped all the benefits from Isaac's business system. The family's other two jurisdictions had long surpassed Lesbos in profitability. They had no reason to anger the emperor for an agricultural island.

However, perhaps because they were unwilling to develop, they did not accept the colonies provided by Isaac, but instead asked Isaac to provide them with priority purchasing rights in the white slave trade of the Circassian Kingdom.

Isaac knew that the Gattilusio family had always been a strong supporter of Crown Prince Justinian, and his son had never treated them unfairly, so the priority purchasing right itself was not difficult to obtain.

Since they were so sensible, Isaac did not need to persuade them any further and specially gave them two large manors on the outskirts of Constantinople.

As for the Giustiniani family, they also chose to accept it and selected a planned area of ​​the Kingdom of Brazil as the exchange territory.

In fact, Isaac even hoped that the nobles of the Eastern Roman Empire would develop colonies. Such a vast land was simply not something that the royal family could take over, and they had to rely on private colonial groups composed mainly of nobles, merchants and explorers.

Didn't they spend the money they earned in Constantinople? Didn't they buy goods from the Eastern Roman Empire?

In this way, Isaac used some means to completely control the two governorates of the Aegean Sea and set up the Aegean Region to be responsible for its jurisdiction.

During the Great Turkish War, these scattered islands played a significant role. The navy of the Eastern Roman Empire could set out from the islands at any time and harass the Ottoman coastal areas, and could quickly return to the islands before the arrival of the Ottoman army, leaving them helpless.

It feels so refreshing to draw the coastline at someone else's doorstep.

After the Nicomedia War, the Ottomans gathered their last troops around Bursa to defend their capital, while the Aq Qoyunlu watched covetously, ready to attack from the side when the Eastern Roman army besieged the city of Bursa.

In this stalemate, Isaac began to seek another way. He tried to launch a landing operation in the already disrupted southwestern Anatolia, open up a second battlefield, capture the last source of money and food for the Ottoman Empire, further drain the Ottoman national strength, and force the army of Bursa to retreat south to defend, thus creating opportunities for the army of Nicaea.

Currently, after reinforcement and expansion, the Anatolian Front of the Eastern Roman Empire has exceeded 65,000, with 40,000 troops stationed in the Nicea region to put pressure on Bursa, and 5,000 troops responsible for guarding the banks of the Sakarya River to guard against sneak attacks by the Aq Qoyunlu.

The remaining 20,000 have been secretly transferred south and are distributed in the Eastern Aegean Islands, mainly Lesvos and Chios, waiting for an opportunity to act.

Although it was a "secret mobilization", the Ottomans were not fools and could not be completely defenseless against the sneak attack from the southwest. Their Aegean Sea barriers still played a role, and parts of the southwest coast were still protected by the fortress. Of course, the Ottoman Empire was on the verge of collapse at this time, and it was difficult to support the huge military expenditures, and there were not enough troops to guard every beach.

Moreover, the essence of the Aegean Wall is the northern section of the defense line from Canakkale to Remus Castle, especially the city of Nicomedia, which was the first to start construction and had more sufficient funds. The southern defense line was much weaker, and the artillery batteries and arrow towers were relatively simple.

The idea of ​​opening a second battlefield has been unanimously approved by the top military leaders of the Eastern Roman Empire, but no consensus has been reached on the choice of landing site. There are too many coasts to choose from, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.

However, in any case, the preliminary work for the landing operation has begun, including the mobilization of naval ships and inland waterways, the preparation of military supplies, and the implementation of amphibious training... all in full swing.

Half a year later, the Eastern Roman Navy once again launched a large-scale attack on the southwest coast of the Ottoman Empire, repeatedly testing the strength of the Ottomans.

At the same time, the Eastern Roman Empire continued to stir up trouble among the Ottoman people and funded internal rebels and insurgents in various ways, thereby destroying the basic production capacity of the Ottoman Empire, making their mobile troops exhausted and making their garrisons dare not leave the city easily.

At this time, Chios Island had become a large military camp, with dozens of ships of various types anchored and waiting, and more than 8,000 soldiers stationed here.

Chios Island is only eight kilometers away from Anatolia and is an ideal forward base.

To the north of Chios, the situation was similar on Lesvos, which was also stationed with ships and soldiers.

Chios Island has beautiful scenery, lush flowers and grass, fresh air, and a mild and comfortable climate. It is an ideal holiday resort for many wealthy businessmen and nobles of Constantinople.

However, at this time, the island of Chios had added a sense of iron and murderous atmosphere. The soldiers were conducting simple amphibious training on the flat ground, and the roars were deafening. The residents of the island squatted on the side with their plates, watching while eating.

Martial law has been imposed here for a long time. People are allowed to enter but not leave, and there is no possibility of leaks.

Chios Island is composed of volcanic rock and limestone, with a mountain range running from north to south. The capital, Chios City, is located on the east coast. It is the largest port city on the island and the capital of the Aegean region.

A military meeting was being held in the Governor's Palace in Chios. Isaac sat at the top of the square table, with the generals and staff sitting on both sides.

Seeing that everyone was present, Isaac waved his hand and the maid brought coffee and Louis Boss tea to everyone. Some generals who loved smoking also received lit Cuban cigars.

"Everyone, it is autumn now, which is a good time to send troops. We must successfully open up a second battlefield before winter comes and disrupt the layout of the Ottomans and Aries."

Isaac knocked on the table.

"The Minister of War Ibrahim is on standby in the northern city of Nicaea. According to him, the legions near Nicaea have completed repairs and replenishment, and heavy weapons such as artillery are in place. We can launch another siege on Bursa."

"Our operations on both sides will begin simultaneously, catching Muhammad by surprise to the greatest extent possible."

Isaac took a sip of coffee and looked at everyone.

"Where do you think we should land?"

Isaac's face was grim.

"We can't delay any longer, we have to confirm it today!"

After a moment of silence, a middle-aged man sitting at the end stood up. His military uniform was a little different from the others, with a blue taimen badge on his chest.

This is Captain Canute of the inland navy, who has just arrived at the island of Chios. His sailors' performance on the ocean is not satisfactory, and many naval sailors secretly look down on them.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, we should launch the landing from the mouth of the Mendres River."

It was the first time for Canute to attend a military meeting of this level. He straightened his back nervously and did not even dare to smoke.

"Tell me your reasons."

Isaac ordered his men to spread out the map and find the Menderes River on it.

"On my way here, I held a similar meeting among the sailors to discuss possible landing sites. In the end, they decided that the Mendres River should be the first landing site."

Canute said.

"Brainstorming, great, keep going."

Isaac nodded.

"First, the current in the lower reaches of the Mendres River is gentle, which is suitable for the operations of the inland navy. Your Majesty, please trust us. We will definitely be able to play our due role on the inland river!"

A blush appeared on Canute's face.

"Secondly, the lower reaches of the Menderes River are all fertile river valley plains. It is one of the most important agricultural areas in the southwest of the Ottoman Empire, with many large cities such as Serke and Aydin."

"If we can gain an advantage at the Mendres River, our troops can advance along the river, capture the major cities along the coast, and divide the southwestern Ottoman region into two halves."

"In this way, if we can gain control of the inland river, the Ottoman army in Smyrna will be locked in the north by us, and they will be caught in a dilemma."

Canute pointed to the map with some excitement.

"In fact, in my opinion, the Mendres River can be used for both offense and defense. It can threaten both the important city of Smyrna in the north and the vast territory to the south of the river. It is a very good choice."

"Third, according to the intelligence you distributed, our espionage operations in Ottoman territory are also mainly concentrated in this area, and our landing operations have an inherent advantage."

Canute thought for a moment and continued.

"I know there is an Ottoman fortress at the mouth of the Mendres River, but I heard from the navy that it is not as strong as the fortress in the north. With the help of the inland navy, it is not impossible to quickly conquer it."

"that's it."

Canute sat down.

"Very good. That makes sense."

Isaac looked at him and smiled.

“In fact, the Great Mendres River is also my first choice.”

"Canute's suggestion is very valuable. Do you have any objections?"

Isaac looked around and saw the generals who had previously favored the Mendres River nodded repeatedly, while those who had other considerations remained silent.

The emperor has made the decision, and no one dares to object.

"No, fine then, it's settled!"

Isaac waved his hand.

"I have already drawn up a preliminary plan, but it is just a simple framework for now. You will be responsible for supplementing and improving it after you go down."

"Two weeks later, attack Mendres!"

(End of this chapter)