1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 57 A Feast for Crows

Saladin Citadel, Cairo.

A heated debate was going on in the Mamluk court.

The news that Grand Duke Isaac of Surt led his army to attack Birinci had spread throughout Cairo, and the people were immediately in an uproar.

You know, in their eyes, the Mamluks are the guardians of the two holy places, the guardians of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the strongest force in the entire Islamic world.

They defeated the aggressive Mongols, drove out the Crusaders who had been entrenched for many years, blocked several Christian counterattacks, and punished Cyprus for destroying Alexandria.

They monopolized the trade between the East and the West, bringing Indian spices and silk to Europe all year round in exchange for large amounts of gold.

How could such a powerful empire be invaded by a small pagan regime? !

For a time, under the deliberate guidance of the Sunni Ulema, the calls for launching a jihad against Surt became louder and louder, even alarming the reclusive puppet caliph.

Everyone, from the bottom to the top, unanimously demanded that Sultan Chakmak send troops to wipe out the Kafirs entrenched in Surt in one fell swoop.

Chakmak was forced into a corner and no longer paid attention to Yusuf who insisted on "fighting the enemy on his own", and officially announced a holy war against the Grand Principality of Surt.

However, when it came to the specific issue of sending troops, the central officials and the local emirs with real power became entangled and began to argue.

The central faction headed by Chakmak Sultan strongly suggested organizing a jihad, with the grassroots people who voluntarily participated in the jihad as the main force and the elite Mamluks allocated by the central government as the auxiliary force, and marching to Barqa.

The local emirs who hold real power, mainly the prime minister and the intelligence chief, insisted on directly allocating the central army, while allowing local emirs to lead their own private armies to participate in the holy war.

The Sultan himself did not want to hand over all his assets to the prime minister who was about to lead the troops to war, but he also wanted to take the opportunity to take the fertile land of Berkeley into his own pocket, and he seemed very conflicted.

Finally, the two sides reached a compromise and decided to split their troops into two groups based on the supply situation. The Sultan's son Mansur led two thousand royal Mamluks, four thousand mujahideen and five thousand tribesmen to assist Yusuf in deploying defenses first. Prime Minister Ashriff waited for the local private army to gather, and then followed up to defeat the Kafirs in one fell swoop.

Just over ten thousand, this is the maximum number that the northern coastal desert supply situation can carry.

On July 1448, 7, the ambitious Mansur set out from Cairo with an army of more than 20.

……

Roaring, screaming, wailing, mixed with the roar of artillery, resounded throughout the land;

The charred, rotten, foul smell, and the choking black smoke created by the burning kerosene filled the entire sky.

This is Tobruk, the eastern gate of Cyrenaica and the focus of contention between Orthodox Christians and Muslims.

Tobruk Governor Archi had always been at odds with Yusuf, and when he heard that Yusuf had been defeated, he gloated over his misfortune.

In his view, the entire Green Mountains region was between Tobruk and Birinci, and no matter how powerful the Christians were, they would not be able to threaten his rule in the short term.

Once the Christians have exhausted their forces in Yusuf's territory, he can reap the benefits!
The raids of Counts Yaroslav and Adnan shattered his dreams.

These Orthodox looters gathered together local tribes, raided everywhere, burned, killed, looted, and destroyed all the gathering places outside the city.

Governor Archie watched this scene in horror and did not dare to leave the city at all.

The situation at sea was equally bad. The ships sent out to purchase food and weapons were sunk one by one by the Christian fleet that was guarding the coast with a covetous eye.

He could only pray to Allah, hoping that these Orthodox Christians would just loot and then leave.

The Green Mountains region is so rich, why would they pick on Tobruk?
He was not idle. He gave an impassioned speech in the city, calling on citizens to take up arms to resist the invasion and vowing to fight the Christians to the death.

On July 1448, 7, Isaac led his army across the Green Mountains and arrived at Tobruk. After failing to persuade the city to surrender, he laid siege to the city.

As usual, they first forced the Muslim tribesmen captured from nearby to fill the trenches and consume the enemy's first wave of momentum.

The walls of Tobruk are tall, but the quality and quality of its defenders are average.

Faced with this situation, the best way is to use large artillery, but Isaac, who is lightly equipped, is obviously unable to do so.

Then we can only fight for our lives.

For several consecutive days, Isaac drove the tribesmen to storm the city walls, and sent out elite Purple Guards to charge at the enemy's most tired moment, successfully causing large-scale casualties to the enemy.

There was nothing special about this siege; it was a dull and tough battle.

Due to Isaac's brutal behavior throughout North Africa, all Muslims regarded him as the incarnation of the devil and the god of death, and were unwilling to surrender until their backbones were completely broken.

Arrows and stones flew, swords clashed, and lucky tribesmen kept breaking through the barrage of arrows and muskets, climbing up the city walls using ladders, only to be hit hard by stones and rolling logs.

On the battlefield, countless lives fell, and countless successors rushed up to fill his place.

Under pressure from arrows from behind, the conscripted tribesmen desperately squeezed onto the city wall, hoping to get a glimmer of hope of survival from despair.

Behind them, the elite Purple Guards, wearing blue-purple robes and iron armor, stared intently at the city wall where the fierce battle was taking place, their weapons tightly clenched in their hands, covered with a thin layer of sweat.

After several days of siege, the enemy was exhausted and their numbers were drastically reduced. The most fanatical Islamists were the first to fall under the enemy's offensive, and now all that remains is a group of militias on the verge of collapse.

Religious fanaticism can greatly boost morale in the short term, but it cannot last long.

Because the blood and vitality inspired by religion will collapse in an instant after a long period of hopeless battle.

The assault vehicle is ready.

Under the cover of the Purple Guards and the First Guards Corps, Soult's army began the final assault.

There was chaos on the city wall. There was no way to deal a devastating blow to the battering ram like they had in the previous days. They could only watch pessimistically as the battering ram got closer and closer to the city gate.

thump -- thump -- thump --

The battering ram was raised high and slammed hard into the weak point of the city wall.

The city walls were shaking and stones were flying. Some soldier had knocked over a kerosene tank, causing a raging fire all around.

boom--

The last layer of stones was knocked away by the battering ram, and a big crack appeared in the city wall.

"The whole army is pressing forward!"

Isaac roared, deciding to end this meat-grinding war.

The Orthodox army poured into the city like a tide, instantly breaking through the hastily assembled defenses of the defenders.

At the same time, the soldiers' hearts were also broken.

The moment the city wall collapsed, it seemed as if something was also broken in the hearts of all the soldiers defending the city.

clang--

A knife fell and smashed on the stone slab, and its owner knelt on the ground, crying loudly.

Then, more and more defenders threw down their weapons and accepted their fate.

After ten days of fierce attack, this city located on a major transportation route finally fell into Isaac's hands.

Governor Archi and some Sunni Ulema took advantage of the chaos to escape, and Isaac did not chase them.

Next, repair the city walls, stockpile supplies, and sweep the surrounding area.

Wait for the Mamluk attack.

……

On the edge of the Green Mountains, a hundred-man cavalry team slowly advanced along the border between the mountains and the desert.

They wore a variety of slightly old armor, Italian, Greek, local Mamluk style, and other styles. Obviously from the enemies they conquered.
Over the armor was a red robe with their emblem painted on it.

An eagle holding a bloody blade in its mouth.

They are full of fighting spirit, extremely excited and confident of long-term victory.

Behind them were a large number of camels and horse-drawn carriages, with groups of captives walking dejectedly behind them. Many vassal soldiers followed closely at the end with simple weapons in hand. If the captives disobeyed, they would be beaten with whips.

The vassal troops looked at the cavalrymen in front of them who were talking and laughing loudly, their eyes filled with fear and envy.

Throughout June and July, this cavalry, clad in red tunics with bloody eagles painted on them, rampaged across the Green Mountain region, plowing through towns and countryside.

They called themselves Slaves, brought blood and death, and took away gold and slaves.

They would present their most precious treasures to their masters and send slaves westward to work on their lands in exchange for new armor and swords to continue killing and conquering.

Under their leadership, many nomadic tribes in the southern desert also joined the feast and joined the ranks of plunderers.

Isaac's policy towards local tribes who took advantage of the situation was very consistent.

Pledge allegiance to me, convert to Orthodoxy, provide some elite warriors, and hand over the looted proceeds in proportion.

At first, the tribal sheikhs were dismissive and did not take this rule seriously at all.

Upon hearing this, Army Commander Erdosh announced a halt to the operation and would focus on guarding the wealthy villages and towns and cracking down on the looting tribes.

After several battles, several large tribes were wiped out. The strong ones were incorporated into the Slaves Legion, and the weak ones were sent to Tobruk to participate in the brutal siege.

From then on, no one dared to challenge Isaac's majesty.

The remaining tribes either moved south or surrendered.

Population cleansing is an important part of Isaac's long-term strategy.

The Green Mountain area has fertile land and is a good farming area. It would be a waste of resources to let Muslims occupy it.

They captured some, beat some, and killed some. The prisoners were either sold, sent to the west to work, or sent to the east to be cannon fodder.

The vacated land was used to house the Greek immigrants and the local converts to Orthodoxy.

To preach, we still have to use swords.

Afif was riding on a horse, holding a book in his hand and muttering something.

A comrade nearby snatched the booklet and returned it to him indifferently.

"Afif, learning Greek again,"

He turned around and looked at everyone, winking

"It looks like we're going to have a scholar on our team!"

Everyone laughed, but Afif remained expressionless.

His Royal Highness the Duke has arranged military chaplains in each century to be responsible for daily religious and ideological issues. He also runs language classes to teach Greek for free.

There was an unwritten rule in the Slavic Legion that in order to become an officer, one had to learn Greek.

For this reason, many soldiers memorized things with only a short-lived enthusiasm, and finally gave up cursing.

Only Afif has persisted until now.

He is no longer the green recruit he was when he first joined the army, and he will not change his mind because of everyone's jokes.

In the past six months, he first followed the team on a westward expedition and looted the area around Misrata to avenge the town of Linton.

During a battle, Afif rode forward, killed a fleeing centurion of Hafs, and trampled him into a pulp with his horse's hooves.

After this battle, Afif obtained his first piece of land, which was registered in the name of the Centurion.

The ownership of this small piece of land belongs to Duke Isaac, and Afif himself has the right to use the land, whether to graze, farm or leave it empty, as he pleases.

In return, Afif needs to provide military service, ready to assemble and attack at any time and in any place.

Therefore, most Slaves did not have time to take care of the fields. They usually handed over the land to their family members for supervision and bought slaves as labor.

Afif also brought his mother and younger brother to his land, bought three Bedouin slaves, built a simple house, and bought lambs and camel calves.

The headquarters of the thousand-man team he belonged to was located in Ashtar Oasis, a medium-sized oasis located in the west of Saint Josephland.

The thousand-man team built a town here, invited blacksmiths and leather workers, and set up a school to teach Greek and theology to the children of Slaves.

His mother helped manage the ranch, his younger brother attended school in town, and he brought home large sums of gold.

This kind of day seems pretty good?
If I become an officer, I will have more land and more slaves, right?

Afif smiled and continued reading the booklet.

……

"What? Are you blind? This is the Saad Oasis?"

Haru, the commander of a thousand men who served as the Mamluk vanguard, looked at the "oasis" in front of him and angrily grabbed the collar of his guide.

"Captain... I was here two months ago, and it wasn't like this at all..."

The guide panicked, apparently not knowing why.

Two months ago, this place was picturesque with green mountains and clear waters, herds of camels and sheep roaming nearby, the tribesmen here were kind and pious, and the tents were lined up in a continuous line.

Now, the place is littered with corpses and dead livestock, the wells emit a foul stench, and rotting dead pigs float in the oasis.

The grass was completely burned, all the trees were cut down, and there was no one living there, only wilderness.

The Ulemas in the army hurriedly led the believers in prayer and led them away from these unclean things.

"Captain! We found a living person!"

Haru dismounted and walked up to the dying man.

The survivor was smelly and covered in feces, obviously having hidden in a dirty place.

Haru frowned. He was a devout Muslim and was very disgusted by such filth.

"what happened?"

"Devils...we are driven out...fire...destruction..."

Haru felt confused.

This place is far away from the battlefield, with several big cities in between. Would Christians go to a distant place and ignore the rich land to attack an oasis in the desert?
Haru shook his head and signaled the soldiers to carry him away.

"This place is polluted, you are not allowed to drink the water here!"

Haru looked at the foul-smelling pool of water. Both his teachings and his intuition told him that he could not touch the water.

"Let's head to the next supply point!"

(End of this chapter)