1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 407: The Great Wall of Cilicia
Northeast of the Cilician Plain, on the hills where the mountains meet the plains, a large camp is built against the mountain, stretching endlessly. Patrolling camel cavalry shuttle back and forth, infantry phalanxes drill in the open space, and the engineering regiment is in charge of the slave camp, building fortifications at important mountain passes.

This is the Amanus Gate, one of the three important mountain passes in the Cilician Plain, guarding the key passage between the Cilician Plain and the Mashriq region. Although the terrain is not as dangerous as the Cilician Gate, it is still an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack place where "one man can guard the pass against ten thousand men".

In the war at the end of last year, the Eastern Roman Empire drove a large number of Cilician refugees to the east. Ares, an agent of the Empire's intelligence department, mixed in with the refugees and, together with the army, captured the fortress of the Gate of Amanus. The gypsy tribes and the Slaves fast cavalry responsible for spreading the "Salt of Carthage" also entered the territory of the Dulkadir Bey State and the Aq Qoyunlu through this gate, turning large tracts of winter pastures into a land of death, forcing the nomadic tribes to fight a battle for survival for an entire winter.

Later, the Eastern Roman Empire regarded the province of Cilicia as a vital place. Except for the Belem Pass, which was still under the control of the Mamluk Dynasty and was not very important, the Cilicia Fortress and the Amanus Fortress were both expanded on a large scale. Money, materials, manpower... the engineers responsible for building the fortifications got everything they wanted.

Because Bayezid II was very decisive and did not confront the Eastern Roman army head-on, he chose to preserve his strength and fled to the east. The northern legion led by Gonzalo had basically ended the war on the plateau, and Mehmet's southern legion also forced the remnants of Karaman into the area around Karaman City. A total of 30,000 main forces of the two armies entered the Cilician Plain, and the remaining troops continued to carry out mopping-up and garrison missions.

At present, the Eastern Roman army in the Cilician Plain has reached 50,000, stationed in three camps. The camp in front of us is the Amanus Camp stationed at the foot of Mount Amanus, which is the camp with the largest number of engineering corps.

It was early in the morning. After Isaac had finished his breakfast and inspected the camp, he handed over the daily affairs to Mihajlo Angelos, the deputy commander of the Purple Guard who led his troops. He then entered the renovated Amanus Fortress and returned to his room.

This winter, Isaac had been immersed in busy military and political affairs, patrolling the Cilician Plain, trying to stabilize this fertile land as soon as possible.

In Isaac's strategic plan, Cilicia was the most important. The chaos and desolation of North and South Galatia were insignificant. The small piece of Cappadocia that was occupied was not even established as a province. Under Isaac's persuasion, the local Orthodox Christians migrated westward or southward, away from the front line of the conflict.

In addition, Isaac presided over the relocation of Adana's wartime workshops, the resettlement of Cilician immigrants, the dispatch of military supplies and the construction of large-scale fortifications. The ultimate goal was to make Cilicia an outpost for the Eastern Roman Empire into the Mashriq and make it indestructible.

As for government construction and other infrastructure, Isaac handed it over to various government officials. Although they did not have Isaac's foresight, they were still capable and outstanding people.

Pouring himself a glass of wine, Isaac took out a pen and paper and pondered the contents of the letter.

"Dear Alfonso, my godson, this is the first letter I have written to you this year. I wish you good health and good martial virtues. May God bless you."

The letter was written by Isaac to Alfonso de Albuquerque, the Governor-General of the East Indies, and its main purpose was to praise the East India Company for its huge financial and material contributions during the war.

The Great Turkish War was extremely costly. Since Isaac directly adopted the most violent method and implemented the destructive policy of "dying in harmony with the enemy", not only could he not collect any taxes from the newly occupied territories, he also had to rely on long supply lines to mobilize supplies. Every inch of territory was a loss. Without the supplement of colonies, Isaac could not afford such a war at all.

If it were any other monarch, Isaac was sure that they would definitely compromise with the large number of Muslims on the Anatolian Peninsula and would not have enough national strength to completely eliminate them. But Isaac would not do that. Even if it meant a loss of several million solidus, he had to incorporate Asia Minor into the core territory and leave more resources for future generations.

In addition, the East India Fleet is also a very important part of Isaac's great strategy. The first three plans have been completed and the final offensive is about to begin.

"You wrote before that the Malacca Sultanate's counterattacks had failed several times and had been forced to sign a peace treaty. The Malacca Governorate has basically stabilized. I am very pleased about this. The importance of the Malacca Strait is well known to everyone. Keeping this golden waterway will make a significant contribution to the country and the people..."

Isaac chose his words, recalled the information revealed in Albuquerque's last letter, and continued writing.

"I heard that you and a Sri Lankan girl gave birth to a baby boy, named Perseus. As your godfather, I hope you will not discriminate or be prejudiced based on race or skin color. God treats every Christian equally. You can send him back to the empire to receive a better education..."

Over the years, due to the accelerated development of great voyages and colonization, the Romans' footsteps spread across half of the world, and the number of mixed-race ethnic groups gradually increased. From the very beginning, Isaac firmly advocated the acceptance and leniency of mixed-race Romans, and provided them with many opportunities, so that they were not in the embarrassing situation of being "unwelcome by both sides" as in the original time and space.

The Eastern Roman Empire was not the British Empire in the original time and space. It did not have such strong racial discrimination and skin color prejudice. As long as the indigenous people were willing to believe in Eastern Orthodoxy, use Greek, and honestly respect the rule of the Eastern Roman Empire, there was really no need to kill them all.

Against this background, the number of mixed-race ethnic groups naturally increased. Although in most cases they existed in the world as illegitimate children, their partial Roman blood and innate Orthodox beliefs enabled them to gain more opportunities in the colonies and obtain a higher social status.

As for names, naming illegitimate children after ancient Greek or Roman figures has become a trend in the Eastern Roman Empire in the past decade or so, especially among Western European immigrants who respect classical culture. For example, Albuquerque's illegitimate son Perseus, Gonzalo's illegitimate son Jason, and Fugger's illegitimate son Crassus.

Isaac has always been encouraging of this "Renaissance" with Eastern Roman characteristics. Ancient Greek and Roman mythology had long lost their religious significance and evolved into a historical culture that was integrated into the blood. Both the Eastern and Western churches were relatively open-minded in this regard, and the Vatican even played an important role in the Renaissance.

Next, Isaac responded to the topics mentioned in Albuquerque's letter one by one. From the letter, it can be concluded that this "Lion of the East" is doing well in the Indian Ocean and is preparing to establish more achievements with great ambition.

"You said in your letter that you plan to adopt a religious policy of 'spreading Christianity, uniting Hinduism, and fighting Islam' in the East Indies Governorate. I am very pleased about this. India has a large population and is also a member of the civilization of the Old World. We cannot extend the policy we treat towards the Mexican natives to them. It is necessary to unite local forces..."

Isaac dipped his finger in ink and continued writing.

"This letter is a private letter from the godfather to his godson. When I wrote this letter, the official document sent by the central government of the empire to the Governor-General's District of East India must have arrived on the way. We transmitted information to the Indian Ocean through the Egyptian letter network. The new Mamluk Sultan has angered many people, and they are willing to continue to provide services for us..."

"When you read this letter, you must have learned my entire plan from the official documents that arrived earlier. I have put a lot of thought into it, with only one goal, which is to force the Muslims in eastern Asia Minor onto the battlefield of a decisive battle, wipe out as many of their manpower as possible, and get rid of the long-term security war and border harassment."

"I have done a lot to achieve this goal, but whether it is the fortification of Cilicia, the uprising in Cappadocia, or the attack on the winter pastures, it is far from enough. The civil war in the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty has ended. Jacob is probably not willing to start a large-scale war right after he ascended the throne. This is not in line with our fundamental interests."

"We must take advantage of the fact that the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty has been severely weakened and force them onto the battlefield. The mission assigned to you is the most important one. As long as it can be successfully completed, the Muslims in eastern Asia Minor will have no chance of recovery."

Isaac suppressed his excited emotions and wrote faster.

"The fortification project in Cilicia is progressing at a rapid pace. Before the spring, I will arrange everything and firmly guard the pass fortresses, blocking the nomadic tribes in the Mashrik region outside the Amanus Mountains and bringing them together."

"The winter of lack of food and clothing has caused them serious confusion. Cilicia is the nearest good pasture they can reach, and I will make it into a golden shield."

"After the spring, I will lead my troops on an expedition. Due to the backward roads and the chaos that lasted for a whole winter, it will be difficult for my army to get enough supplies from the local area. I will only carry two months' worth of food and fodder."

"If I fail to annihilate the main force of the Muslims within these two months, all my previous preparations will be wasted. I may have to flee westward in a hurry like Manuel I did. I don't know when the next large-scale war will start."

"I'm almost fifty and I don't want to wait any longer."

Isaac was silent for a moment and continued writing.

"Alfonso, you are my godson, my wife's cousin, my son's cousin and friend. I entrust the future of the empire and the glory of my family into your hands. May your martial virtue prosper."

Isaac finished writing the letter, sealed it, and stamped his personal seal on the wax.

Raising his glass and slowly drinking the wine, Isaac called his servant and handed the letter to him.

Opening the door, Isaac walked out of the room and came to the commanding point of the castle, overlooking the entire plain from the mountains.

The current Amanus Castle is not very big and was damaged in previous wars. The engineering corps is stepping up repairs and continuing to build small and medium-sized castles on the mountains on the north and south sides for defense.

Isaac called the guards, left the city through a side door, and headed quickly toward the mountains in the north.

There were many troops stationed near the Castle of Amanus. Isaac came to the base of the Catalan Mercenary Corps and found the new grand commander Nathan.

A large-scale project is also underway here. The engineering corps and slave camps are constructing small fortresses. This is part of the Cilician Wall. When the series of fortresses are completed, this place will become a restricted area for Muslim nomadic tribes.

"Your Majesty, the situation is okay."

Nathan rode his horse, following behind Isaac.

"The construction method you provided was very efficient and fast."

Nathan said with a smile.

"We have tested it with small Ottoman-style artillery, and the defense is sufficient."

Isaac nodded, looked at Nathan's graying hair, and patted his shoulder. Nathan was a Western European who had served as the captain of the Catalan Guard of the former King Afonso V of Aragon. He had led his troops to participate in the Battle of Constantinople, and had burned Galata with Isaac to bury the conspiracy of the Grand Vizier of Khalil.

The trips to Egypt in recent years have made Nathan much more stable and he has a high prestige in the Catalan Mercenary Corps. Due to his hard work and great achievements, his family has been well treated by the royal family in Constantinople. Although they have not reached the level of top families, they are still frequent guests at the Queen's banquets.

After the fall of the Nubian allies, the Mamluk civil war ended and the two major mercenary groups were forced to return to the empire. Nathan took all the blame, but Isaac did not impose any punishment. Instead, he provided new orders for the mercenary groups, requiring them to garrison many fortresses in Cilicia and free up the main army.

The local troops in Cilicia had not yet been formed, but the task of blocking the nomadic tribes was imminent. In addition to the Catalan and Navarre mercenaries returning from Egypt, Isaac also made use of Western Europeans and supported Lloyd Stafford from England to form the Taurus Regiment to jointly undertake garrison tasks.

Isaac came to a construction site. Muslim slaves were responsible for moving construction materials to designated locations, while engineers mixed cement, river sand, aggregates and gravel produced by Adana's wartime workshop into raw concrete for the construction of the fortress complex.

After the innovation of construction technology, the General Staff Shogunate conducted a lot of research on military buildings under the instruction of Isaac, and finally divided military buildings into three types according to the selected building materials, each with its own advantages.

The first type of building is a traditional stone building, which uses granite and marble as the main materials, with cement and mortar as adhesives. The advantage is that it is extremely strong and the stone bastion can withstand artillery bombardment. The disadvantage is that it takes a long time and is relatively expensive.

The second type of building is concrete building, which uses steel bars and concrete as the main building materials. Its advantage is that it can be formed quickly. Although its strength is not as good as marble, it is more than enough to face the Muslim army that lacks artillery. It can build a fairly good military fortress in a short time.

The third type of building is wooden building. Under the guidance of Isaac, some engineering troops made some improvements to the traditional wooden wall. They filled the dense wooden array with concrete, which could effectively improve the strength of the building while preventing fire attacks.

At present, except for the two large fortresses controlling the mountain gate, the rest of the fortress groups of the "Cilicia Great Wall" are built with concrete, medium-sized castles use steel bars, and small castles and the walls between castles use wooden bars. Since the price of steel bars is not low and the Muslim troops that come to invade the border are mostly nomadic cavalry with poor siege capabilities, most of the buildings still adopt the special method of wooden reinforced concrete.

"What about the new discoveries of the Imperial University of Mining? Have they been utilized?"

Isaac asked Nathan as he continued walking.

"Don't underestimate additives. Although they are not the main component of concrete, they can facilitate construction and improve strength."

"The head of the Engineer Corps told me that they were all used, Your Majesty."

Nathan replied.

"We also strictly followed your instructions. All asbestos fibers were transported, processed and added by Saracen slaves. Soldiers had little contact with them."

"Very good. I'll go check it out."

Isaac nodded, walked towards a city wall, and touched the solidified concrete wall.

Since the Eastern Roman Empire launched the New Village Movement in Thrace, the construction industry has ushered in an explosion. A large amount of capital has poured into the building materials market. Cement plants, lime plants, quarries, sand mines...all kinds of workshops or mines have emerged. Demand has stimulated production, and a complete industrial chain has been gradually established. Costs have been spread out step by step. Up to now, the price of cement is not too high, and river sand and marble have also continued to drop in price with this spring breeze.

Furthermore, with Isaac's funding, the Stone Department of the Imperial University of Mining and the Engineering Department of the University of Constantinople are constantly exploring better raw material ratios and better cement additives to maximize efficiency through advanced technology.

At present, the Eastern Roman Empire mainly mastered two natural materials that can be used as concrete additives, namely borax and asbestos. The former can facilitate large-scale construction by prolonging the setting time of concrete, while the latter can greatly improve the stability and toughness of concrete buildings, and also has good results in anti-freeze and anti-cracking.

Lime, marble, river sand, borax, asbestos, pyrite slag... For the Eastern Roman Empire, this series of building materials were simple and easy to obtain. Although the Aegean coast lacked high-quality coal and iron, building materials were extremely abundant. Anatolia had the world's largest reserves of borax and the largest reserves of marble and granite. Asbestos used as concrete additives could be mined from New Thrace, and pyrite slag used to make cement was extremely cheap due to the prosperity of the iron smelting industry.

In addition, both limestone and borax can be used in the glass manufacturing industry, which is not only a pioneer of the chemical industry, but also a door to the microscopic world. The Eastern Roman Empire was uniquely positioned in this regard.

Climbing up a hillside, Isaac looked at the fortresses rising from the ground and felt a sense of pride in his heart. After the Cilician Wall was completed, if the Muslim nomadic tribes wanted to go west to plunder, they could only enter North and South Galatia from the desolate Cappadocia - with Isaac's tacit consent, there were no valuable cities and towns there.

The sun hangs high above our heads, spreading warmth over the entire earth. Winter is about to pass, and the snow in the mountains is quietly melting.

……

Northern Indian Ocean, south of the South Asian subcontinent, Sri Lanka Island.

Sri Lanka Island is one of the ruling cores of the Eastern Roman Empire in the Indian Ocean. The Governor-General's Office of East India is located in the port on the west side of the island. Although the resources here are not abundant and the commercial value is average, it at least has a superior geographical location. It does not need to be deeply involved in the land disputes among Indian countries. It can rely on the advantages of the strait to watch the fire from the other side of the river and maximize its naval hegemony.

At present, the Governor-General of East India, Albuquerque, has subdued the Sri Lankan princes through soft means and military power. The southwest including Colombo is directly governed by the Governor's Office, and the rest of the land is still ruled by local princes. They will sign protection agreements and trade treaties with the Governor's District and obey the control of the East India Company.

As for beliefs, Theravada Buddhism is the main religion on the island of Sri Lanka. Under the instructions of Isaac, the Governor-General of East India, Albuquerque, implemented a policy of religious tolerance. He did not use force to force them to convert to Orthodoxy, but adopted a more moderate missionary policy, protected the holy city of Kandy from infringement, and gave the monks there a lot of autonomy.

Of course, as a person from later generations, Isaac possessed foresight that transcended his time. He knew very well that Buddhism in Sri Lanka had been severely damaged in previous foreign invasions. Although it had been revived to a certain extent, its internal organization was no longer as good as before. He could gradually convert them through gentle means, and there was no need for large-scale persecution.

In the original time and space, Sri Lanka's several Buddhist revivals, without exception, absorbed a large number of Buddhist monks and Buddhist knowledge from neighboring Myanmar. Although the Governor-General's District of East India was tolerant of local Buddhism, it held a strict prohibition against foreign monks and expelled them immediately once they were discovered.

After several years, under the guidance of moderate policies, Sri Lanka Island has gradually stabilized and is becoming a solid bridgehead for the East India Company to enter the Indian subcontinent.

Outside Colombo, in the Governor's Palace on the hillside, Alfonso de Albuquerque looked at the city below and the tea plantations outside the city, smoking a cigar quietly.

Just recently, in early March, he received a government document from Egypt, learned of the imperial central government's war plan, and immediately began his own preparations.

"Your Excellency the Governor, everything is ready."

A voice came from behind, it was his secretary.

"It has been confirmed that the Governor of Mozambique and the Governor of East Africa have also received the official document and are also making final preparations for the plan."

"very good."

Albuquerque said briefly.

"I heard that some agents arrived in East Africa a long time ago. They will also participate in this plan. Is that right?"

"Yes, Your Excellency."

The secretary replied.

“They will be at your beck and call and provide you with assistance in the program.”

The secretary paused, recalling.

"They seem to be from a newly established intelligence branch. There are very few of them. They seem to be called Hades."

"Hades... God of Death, Hades, what a nice name."

Albuquerque smiled, threw his cigar aside, and put on his cloak.

"In the name of God and the Emperor, follow me."

(End of this chapter)