1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 47: Siege of Surt

In the Mediterranean, a large fleet is cutting through the waves, with the Eastern Roman emblem painted on its sails.

The fleet consisted of two large carracks, eight escorting galleys of various types, and more than thirty large and small transport ships.

The extra transport ships were flying the blue double-headed eagle flag and came from the Monferrato trade fleet.

At the strong request of John of Isaac, the remaining shareholders of the Monferrato trade fleet finally agreed to allow Isaac to divert the fleet to transport the legion stranded in Pavia back to the country.

Isaac sat in the cabin, his eyes fixed on the map on the table. Next to the map were several urgent letters from the Minister of the Interior of Isult.

In the first letter, the situation could still be controlled for the time being. Isurt handled it very promptly. After looting, the Misrata troops confronted the tribal soldiers who rushed to the border and did not take any further action.

In the second letter, Isult explained in detail his arrangements for the various forces in Soult and expressed his concerns about a possible attack on Cyrenaica.

In the third letter, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly. Yusuf not only launched an attack, but also emptied the family's assets.

The Dobruja army assembled by Guhs and Saipan was unable to stop Yusuf's attack and fled to the port of Sirte for defense.

Isaac now regrets it very much. If he had known this would happen, he would never have been involved in two wars at the same time, causing the entire border to be flooded.

Now I wish I could fly directly to Surt Port and join in defending the city.

Isaac walked out of the cabin and took a deep breath of the salty Mediterranean breeze.

Don't let difficulties get to your head. You must always stay sober and make the wisest choices possible.

Isaac looked towards the south with a deep gaze.

The so-called bottomless abyss, if you go down, there is still a bright future ahead.

"Call all legion commanders and troop commanders to come and listen to my orders!"

……

Sirte port, parliament hall.

Isaac's main seat was vacant, and Iseult sat next to it.

Knight Conti stood with his sword in hand, leaning against Iseult.

The area below was filled with people, including Sheikhs from nearby tribes who had been summoned, as well as various forces in the city.

The Dobruja leader Guhes and his second son Saiban were among them.

"Isurte, you lied and called us together under the order of His Highness. This is blatant treason!"

"You are only the Home Secretary. What qualifications do you have to summon us?"

As expected, as soon as the meeting began, several tribal shekhs began to clamor and harp on the issue of convening tribes and vassals.

"When your highness leaves, allow me to take charge of the principality's affairs."

"Humph, when His Highness left, he asked you to take charge of government affairs and Count Mikhail to take charge of military affairs. Now that Count Mikhail is gone, why are you extending your hands to the army again?"

Isurt stood up suddenly and slammed the table.

"We are here today to discuss how to deal with the upcoming siege, not to discuss who will take power!"

"If what I did is considered treason, Your Highness will put me in jail when you return!"

"Before that, you all have to follow my orders!"

These words attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone knows that the Minister of the Interior is dedicated to his duties, works hard for the normal operation of the principality, and strives to integrate various forces within the principality so that they can play their appropriate roles in appropriate positions in order to repay His Highness for his kindness.

Isn't he afraid that after abusing his power this time, he will no longer have the trust of His Highness?
"Nonsense! Without your Highness' order, I will never obey you. Surt is about to fall. If you want to die, don't take me with you!"

The tribal sheikh who had just spoken stood up and strode out.

"stop."

Conte said coldly.

"what?"

The tribal sheikh turned around, he didn't understand French.

Conte walked forward and, in front of everyone's astonished eyes, chopped off his head with a sword.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the whole hall was filled with a fishy smell.

"Anyone who dares to leave the city will be regarded as surrendering to the enemy and will be killed without mercy."

Conte picked up the head, tore off his turban, and wiped the blood off his sword.

A group of soldiers ran into the hall, closed the door, and stood on both sides.

"After discussion between me, Baron Conti, and Chief Guhes."

Isurt spoke slowly.

"From now on, the entire city will enter a state of war. All supplies, manpower, and money will be placed under military control. All conscripted soldiers from the tribes will join the city defense and may not be taken away."

"Abshekh, what do you think?"

Isurt turned to Abu.

This Abu Sheikh was the first tribal Sheikh to be baptized in the entire Principality of Surt and was notorious in the Islamic world.

"I, uh, have no problem with that."

Isurt turned his gaze to the other shekhs.

Everyone nodded.

"very good."

"Then you should stay in the City Lord's Mansion for the time being to avoid being harmed by the war."

"Write a letter to someone you trust and transfer command."

"Sir, this..."

Conte intentionally or unintentionally dropped the head to the ground, which rolled across the ground, leaving a trail of blood.

"Is there a problem?"

silence.

"As for the businessmen, you know how much money you have earned from the Surte United Chamber of Commerce over the years. Donating money and materials and organizing relief for the wounded, I don't need to worry about these things, right?"

"Don't worry, sir. We will do our best to complete it."

Isurte nodded.

He raised his head and stared at the ceiling with tired eyes.

We have done everything we can, and now it all depends on God's will.

……

Port of Soult, the walls of Lancelot.

After two years of construction, the city walls of the port of Surt have reached a considerable size.

The city wall was built under the supervision of Minister of Works Lancelot, and was assisted by Italian stonemasons and engineers who subsequently migrated from Italy.

The city wall is semicircular and stretches across the south, and together with the Gulf of Surt in the north, it forms the defense line of the capital of the principality.

The walls of Lancelot were originally built by dismantling houses outside Surt. They were mainly made of grass and stone and had very average defensive capabilities.

With the influx of a large population, the walls of Surt were expanded, and castles and watchtowers were built at three strategic locations, where troops could be stationed and food and fodder could be stored, thus enabling the city to engage in long-term combat.

In order to build the city wall as quickly as possible, all the houses outside the city were cleared out, the quarry outside the city worked overtime, and thousands of slaves fell at the base of the wall.

The three castles are equipped with crossbows, cannons, and small catapults. Musketeers and archers can also be stationed on the battlements. They are armed to the teeth.

Outside the city wall, Isult mobilized the people to dig several trenches, which was better than nothing.

Knight Conti and his guards patrolled the city walls.

In the distance, Yusuf's camp was endless, like a black cloud, surrounding the city of Surt.

Conte leaned his hands against the wall and remained silent.

The enemy had 8,000 troops, while ours had only 1,000 regular troops and 2,500 tribal militia.

The two sides had a huge disparity in military strength. If it weren't for the natural barrier of the Mediterranean Sea, Conte could say with certainty that there was no chance of winning at all.

just now……

Now, we can only see whose side time is on. If His Highness can rush back with the main force in time, then defending the city will be safe.

If we don't get back in time, I'm afraid the entire principality will cease to exist.

After losing the port of Sirte, the Jufra oasis group will be isolated from the Christian world and will only be slowly eroded by Islamic forces.

"The enemy has arrived. Gather the commanders of all combat units in the city to come to the White Castle. I will arrange the defensive tactics."

Half an hour later, the commanders of the Orc Corps, tribal militia, city guards, and merchant guards arrived at the white castle in the center of the city wall.

This castle is the largest of the three cities of Lancelot. It is heavily guarded and has high walls, serving as the command center for the defense.

In order to make the city wall defensive as soon as possible, Isaac allowed the Minister of Engineering Lancelot to demolish any building in the city and use it as materials for repairing the city wall.

Lancelot thought about it and finally focused his attention on the city lord's mansion. The old city lord's mansion of Surt had been built since the Fezzan Kingdom period. It was all white, with solid bricks and stones, which were rare and good materials.

The stubborn Minister of Engineering did not hesitate and directly demolished half of the City Lord's Mansion. It took him a year and a half to build this fortified city.

Since the main building materials were dismantled, the entire castle is not beautiful, but rather looks ferocious.

Conte walked into the hall of the White Castle and stood beside the main seat.

Everyone below looked at him with anxiety on their faces.

"I believe Lord Isurt has informed you,"

"From now on, I will be the commander-in-chief of the entire defense war and will be in charge of all military affairs."

"In this defensive battle, the enemy came out in full force, totaling more than 8,000 people."

"We have nearly 5,000 soldiers, and the food and fodder in the city is enough to last for three months, which is more than enough to defend the city."

"We just need to hold off the enemy and wait for His Highness to return."

Conte looked at the people in the audience; their faces looked slightly better.

"I will divide the entire city's military into four battle groups. Three of them will be responsible for defending three sections of the city wall and stationed in the three cities of Lancelot."

"I will be stationed in the center and in charge of the reserve forces."

Conte pulled out a piece of parchment.

"Next, the person I'm calling will be the commander of the three sections of the city wall."

"Commander of the western section of the city wall, Gu Hez!"

"As ordered!"

……

On the middle section of Lancelot's wall, the battle had been going on for the entire morning.

Emir Yusuf wrote a letter of persuasion and sent it to Isurt's palace.

The next day, the messenger's head was hung at the gate of Surt.

On March 1448, 3, after the enemy failed to persuade the city to surrender, they officially began to siege the city.

Since early morning, the Cyrenaica army has been driving the people captured from nearby tribes to fill the trenches while consuming the ammunition of the defending troops.

After the cannon fodder was used up, the conscripted tribesmen began to replace them, divided into several echelons, and continuously charged towards the city walls.

Emir Yusuf stood outside the range, looking at the tense siege situation from afar.

The enemy's artillery fire was fierce, and there was plenty of kerosene and arrows. The soldiers were a little unfamiliar, but overall they were doing pretty well.

Under the threat of the supervising team, the tribesmen he had recruited kept rushing up the escalator with strange cries, and then screaming as they were hit by arrows or stones.

Soon, more than half of a fully-strength team suffered casualties.

"grown ups……"

Sheikh, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and looked at Yusuf anxiously.

The tribesmen were his private property, and every loss of one was a pain in his heart.

Yusuf raised his hand to stop Sheikh's pleas.

After a while, the tribesmen had completely lost their fighting spirit. They rushed forward in a daze under the pressure of the supervision team, knelt on the ground numbly, waiting for death.

"Let the Gele tribe attack and replace the Jalu tribe."

Yusuf then spoke slowly.

A reorganized troop stepped forward and rushed towards the escalator shouting.

Yusuf looked at the increasing casualties of the enemy with a cruel smile on his face.

It’s not that he doesn’t have powerful siege equipment, it’s just that the time has not come yet.

Yusuf narrowed his narrow eyes and looked at the pale-faced tribal shekhs standing beside him.

It is also a good opportunity to consume these local forces and strengthen one's control over the territory.

Yusuf was not worried about having no one available. When the city of Sirte fell, he would have plenty of cannon fodder.

He ordered his servants to bring a chair, and sat down to watch this tragic scene.

From morning till now, the casualties of the defending troops began to increase, and their physical and mental weakening caused the war situation to shift in favor of the Cyrenaica army.

it's time.

"Have the cannons and catapults brought up!"

He sat up.

"Sir! My tribe has not withdrawn yet!"

Jalusheh on the side hurriedly stopped him.

"Let them sacrifice themselves for the holy war."

Heavy horses pulled the catapults onto the battlefield, and the gunners opened the gun covers on the cannons.

boom--

Cannons roared, huge rocks whistled, and the soldiers on the city wall cried and fled in all directions, hiding in the corners.

Soon, the cannons and crossbows on the castle began to fight back. For a while, the air was filled with smoke, and on the city walls, the enemy and our side were fighting in a melee, creating a chaotic mess.

"It's time to let my guards charge!"

Yusuf ordered.

As soon as the elite guards came on the field, they showed their extraordinary qualities.

They formed groups of three or two, two people holding huge shields and one shooting arrows, and they quickly reached the city.

The first guard soldier to arrive climbed up the ladder excitedly, fantasizing about looting the city and receiving rewards from his lord.

Yusuf's bloodshot eyes stared at the top of the city wall. His soldiers were about to take control of the city wall, then the white castle, and finally the entire city.

"it is good!"

More and more elite soldiers climbed up the city wall, and the enemy's hastily formed formation was crumbling.

Then, his smile froze on his face.

Two teams of soldiers in blue-purple robes rushed out from the castles on both sides, with long-handled halberds raised in their hands and the Cross of Constantine painted on their breastplates.

They shouted and rushed towards the enemy troops in the middle.

puff-

The long-handled halberd easily pierced through the unarmored tribesmen, was blocked by their bodies for a moment, and then went towards the elite guards who had just climbed the city.

The first dozen or so guards who rushed up did not panic. They formed a formation and tried to resist the charge of the halberds, but unfortunately they achieved little.

They were soon forced to the edge of the city wall.

"Retreat! We still have time!"

Yusuf punched the chair hard and knocked it down, then walked back to the camp angrily.

The enemy army, which had been so powerful just now, slowly retreated, leaving behind the ruined city walls.

The defenders on the city wall had no joy of victory, only relief at having survived the disaster.

Conte leaned aside, breathing heavily, while the monks tied cloth around his wound.

The enemy was much stronger than expected, and their reserve troops were forced to come to the rescue on the first day.

He looked around; everyone had gloomy faces and was in complete silence.

As a soldier who had experienced many battles, he knew that at this time there should be a commander with charisma to give a speech to boost the morale of the soldiers.

I opened my mouth but didn't know what to say.

"Drive out the invaders. Long live France!"

He remembered that whenever morale was low, Joan would shout this slogan and lead them in a chorus of Orleans ballads.

What will Isaac say?

That young face appeared in Conte's mind.

He always patted the soldiers on the shoulders affectionately.

"Follow me, and I'll ensure you a prosperous next life!"

Then he emptied his pockets, took off his sword and crossbow, and distributed them to his left and right.

The whole of Soult, without His Royal Highness the Duke, is like losing its soul.

Conte sighed and directed the cleaning of the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)