1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 60: Royal Flag Flying
"On August 8, the siege officially began. Since the defenders in the city lacked large-scale defensive weapons, they were at a disadvantage."

"The Mamluk Vizier Ashreif attacked with moderation, causing considerable casualties to the defenders of the city."

"On September 9, the decisive battle broke out between the two sides. Ashriver put all his cards on the table and disguised the elite Royal Mamluks as ordinary tribesmen. The defenders were caught off guard and their defenses were breached."

"The Mamluks rushed to the city walls, and the defenders did not have many reserves."

"Grand Duke Isaac led the guards, holding high the banner, and personally went on the field to boost morale, barely stabilizing the situation."

"At the critical moment, the long-lost Slaves Legion appeared like a ghost to the south of the siege camp, not to the west as Ashriver expected."

"This fresh force rushed into the camp, killing people indiscriminately and setting fire everywhere."

"The morale of the defenders in the city was boosted, while the Mamluks began to collapse."

"In an emergency, Ashrev ordered the retreating jihadists to take over, and he himself fled to the east with his elite private soldiers and Mamluks."

Zagan Pasha closed the report, picked up a glass of water and drank it all.

Mohammed, who was sitting in a chair next to him, was still immersed in the battle of Tobruk, deep in thought.

"Your Highness?"

"Zagan, I was thinking, if it were me, I might not be able to resist taking action when the fool Mansur leads the troops."

"But this won't hurt the Mamluks."

Mohammed sighed, not sure whether it was out of regret or admiration.

"Isaac is such a daredevil."

Zagan nodded.

"Although the Mamluks did not lose their elite troops in this battle, they suffered heavy losses in finance and reputation."

"We spent a huge amount of money to invite the Venetian fleet, but only got this result. I'm afraid the whole of Cairo is in a mess now."

"Ashriver's reputation has been severely damaged. The Ulema regard him as an enemy. Sultan Chakmak probably has mixed feelings."

Muhammad agreed.

"I'm not sure what Chuck Mark thinks."

"But it is certain that the Mamluks will not be able to organize such a large army for a long time."

"This time, they invested nearly 40,000 troops, and it was all wasted."

"Isaac's battle really brought about a long period of peace."

After a while, Muhammad seemed to have thought of something.

"By the way, Zagan, why is today's intelligence so detailed?"

"Your Majesty, have you come to your senses?"

Zagan Pasha remained silent and shook his head.

Mohammed was stunned.

"Did you pay for it yourself?"

"All I have is placed in your hands. Your wishes are my wishes."

Zagan Pasha bowed deeply.

Mohammed stood up, looked solemn, and patted his good comrade.

"Zagan, I remember you were from the navy."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Your Majesty doesn't pay much attention to the navy. There's nothing I can do."

"Well, I'll put up the money myself, and you'll form a fleet, and you'll be the captain."

Mohammed paused.

"If I ever get to that position,"

"You will be the Grand Vizier and also command the navy."

Zagan was so touched that he knelt down to express his gratitude.

Muhammad lifted him up.

"Okay, okay, now let's return to reality from the thrilling experience of Baierge and face the enemy in front of us!"

"The White Knight Hunyadi... Oh, how majestic!"

The door opened.

"Your Highness, the envoys of the Grand Duke of Serbia and the Grand Duke of Wallachia have arrived!"

……

At the same time as the Tobruk War, turmoil broke out again in the Balkans.

In September 1448, the Hungarian regent "White Knight" János Hunyadi, who had stabilized the domestic situation, joined forces with the Albanian Alliance and Wallachia to launch a new round of attacks on the Ottoman Empire, attempting to make a final struggle.

Upon hearing about the war, Ottoman Sultan Murad II withdrew from the Svantegrad fortress of the Albanian Alliance and rushed to the northwest border.

For unknown reasons, Serbian Prime Minister Borankovic refused to allow Albanian troops to enter the country to participate in the war, leaving Skanderbeg helpless.

On October 1448, 10, the Battle of Kosovo broke out.

Hunyadi waited for Skanderbeg for a long time but still did not arrive. In desperation, he led 24,000 Hungarian and Vanuatu troops to fight a decisive battle in Kosovo with 50,000 troops led by Ottoman Sultan Murad II.

In this battle, Hunyadi, who was at a numerical disadvantage, fought back and forth with the Ottomans, and the situation was repeatedly stagnant.

At the critical moment, the Wallachians rebelled, joined the Ottoman side, and turned their knives against their Christian brothers.

The Hungarian army was defeated and Hunyadi fled alone, but was captured by Serbian Archbishop Borankovic on the way.

At this point, Hungary, the Shield of God, declared a complete failure in its last attack on the Ottoman Empire, and from then on it switched from an offensive to a defensive position.

After this battle, the Ottoman Sultan became the most powerful person in the world and his reputation shocked the entire Balkans.

……

Bilinchi, Cyrenaica.

After seeing the tattered Mamluk flags and groups of captives in the hands of the soldiers outside the city, Yusuf knew that he was finished.

The residents of the city began to riot, countless people covered their faces and cried, kneeling on the ground to pray, as if the end of the world had come.

The soldiers on the city wall were in a daze, staring at the cavalry shouting and running below the city with lifeless eyes.

The arrogant Mamluk Sultan Chakmak, the ruler of Egypt and Syria, whom they had placed high hopes on, was actually defeated.

The jihadists from Cairo not only failed to drive out the invaders, but were defeated and massacred.

At this point, Bilinqi became a completely isolated city, with ferocious cavalry outside the city and fleets eyeing it covetously on the sea.

The reason they are not surrendering now is simply because they are afraid of the possible massacre by Christians.

Except for the city of Bilinchi, several large cities along the coast were also at a loss, relying on the last bit of faith to defend the city.

Faced with the desperate struggle of Muslims in coastal cities, Isaac had no good solution.

Although he won the Battle of Tobruk, he also suffered heavy losses and needed time to recuperate. He was unwilling to waste troops on siege.

On October 1448, 10, after consulting with representatives from the political, religious, and business communities, Isaac signed the Green Mountain Act.

The bill stipulates that a conciliatory policy should be adopted towards the remaining Muslim forces in the four major coastal cities.

Muslims who are willing to convert will be directly considered as legal citizens of the principality. Those who do not want to convert can leave the Cyrenaica region by ship and go to Cairo or Tunisia, and the Mediterranean Fleet will no longer stop them.

Emir Yusuf, as the main culprit of the war, was not included in the amnesty.

This bill is valid until November 11nd and will not be accepted after the deadline.

Isaac ordered his men to shoot arrows carrying the Green Mountain Decree into several cities and to withdraw the fleet patrolling the periphery to show his sincerity.

At first, no one was willing to believe Isaac's guarantee.

In the minds of Muslims today, the name "Isaac Palaiologos" is almost equivalent to the devil.

As time went by, after realizing that there were indeed no warships to stop them, some brave Muslims began to try to escape the city by sea.

As a result, they discovered that the decree was actually true.

Suddenly, several cities were in an uproar.

From morning to night every day, countless panicked residents headed to the port, took what belongings they could take away, left their hometowns, and headed for an unknown distance.

The great migration lasted for nearly a month.

During this month, nearly 10,000 Muslims embarked on the journey, drifting on the Mediterranean Sea. Some successfully arrived in Tunisia and Cairo, while others were attacked by pirates and died at the bottom of the sea.

Isaac did promise not to attack them, but he did not guarantee their safety. Genoese slave traders and pirates from the Knights Hospitaller came when they smelled the scent.

In the last week of October, the cities of Marj and Bayda opened their gates and surrendered.

The docks of these two cities were small and far away, making sea transportation inconvenient, and there were still many stranded Muslims.

After several rounds of negotiations, Isaac reached a consensus with the local forces of the two cities, allowing them to return to the Mamluk Sultanate by land, and Isaac would supply the necessary water along the way.

Of course, it's not free.

All the property in the city belonged to Isaac and Muslims were not allowed to take it away.

Want to keep your belongings and land?

No problem, just convert to the Orthodox religion.

Under Isaac's diplomatic manipulation, several large business families announced their collective conversion to Orthodoxy and abandoned their belief in Allah.

On October 10, the merchants in Derna united in rebellion, opened the city and surrendered, and the governor and ulema fled by boat.

At this point, there was only one lonely Bilinchi left in the entire Cyrenaica region.

……

clang--

An empty wine bottle was thrown to the ground and broke into pieces.

Yusuf was lying on the bed, the room was filled with wine bottles and the floor was littered with debris.

He stared at the dark wall with his empty eyes.

It's all over.

If the Mamluk reinforcements win, a large piece of their territory will certainly be taken away, but Bilinchi and the surrounding areas should still be retained.

But now, let alone the territory, even his life is in danger.

The Christians offered a high price for his head, and all the forces in the city kept a close eye on the palace, not letting Yusuf leave.

If they had not been afraid of the still loyal and combative guards, they would probably have taken action.

The city was in a mess. The wealthy businessmen and ulemas ignored his desperate pleas and boarded ships to Cairo early, leaving him to rot in the city.

The army was completely dispersed, the tribesmen began to loot the city, some of the militiamen ran away, and some joined in the looting.

The Mamluk elite, who were treated as treasures, did not obey his orders. Not only did they fail to quell the riots in the city, but they occupied several blocks and collected protection fees.

Why……

I have made so many efforts, but I always fail again and again...

Yusuf couldn't understand.

He was driven off the throne of the Sultan, from Cairo to Alexandria, and from Alexandria to Birinci.

I tried hard again and again, but was crushed again and again.

Now, where can I escape to?

Yusuf smiled bitterly.

There was a noise outside the door.

A figure rushed in, covered in blood, holding a knife in one hand and a fresh head in the other.

"Marzia, you killed your brother-in-law?"

Yusuf pointed to the head being carried.

The head belonged to the captain of Yusuf's personal guard, a loyal old minister.

"The old man is stubborn and deserves death."

Marzia said coldly.

"We have discussed with several officers and are ready to support your brother, Yeer Gubai, son of Barsbe, as the monarch to continue the resistance."

"What are you going to do?"

Yusuf smiled bitterly.

Continue to resist?

How could a ten-year-old continue to resist?

"Are you ready to abandon Allah?"

"It's none of your business."

Marzia said stiffly.

"Marzia, I'm pretty good to you, right?"

A trace of guilt flashed in the deputy captain's eyes, and he pursed his lips tightly.

"That's why they let me come."

"The owner of this place is about to change, please leave."

Clearly, Marzia did not want to kill Yusuf.

"Marzia, do me a favor..."

Yusuf got up and fell heavily under the bed.

He hadn't eaten for a long time and survived on the fermented grape juice left by his father.

Yusuf used his weak arms to support his weak body and crawled towards the armor stand.

He slowly stroked the armor that Sultan Barsbey had once worn, feeling every crack on it with his fingers.

He put on the plates, the lining, the greaves, the breastplate, and finally the helmet with great effort.

After doing all this, Yusuf sat upright on the edge of the bed, breathing heavily.

He took out the sword left by his father from the broken glass and gazed at it affectionately.

He drew his sword and struggled to his feet.

There was a glimmer of fear in Marzia's eyes, as if she saw the once famous former Sultan Barsbey.

Yusuf thrust his sword forward in a strange way, and Marzia instinctively raised her sword to block.

blah-

The sword easily penetrated the already damaged armor and pierced Yusuf's chest.

A look of relief crossed Yusuf’s face.

He held up Balsby's sword in both hands.

"Leave it to...Yer Gubai..."

clang--

Marzia's face was filled with horror, she dropped her sword and looked at her hand that had killed the monarch.

On October 1448, 10, Yusuf, the Emir of Birinchi, was killed by the rebellious deputy captain of the royal guard, Marzia. The forces in the city nominated the ten-year-old Yargubai, the son of Barsbe and brother of Yusuf, as the new Emir.

That night, Ya'ergubai abolished the title of Emir and announced his surrender to Isaac.

The next day, Isaac led his army into the city of Zhamrinchi and accepted Yergubai's allegiance.

At this point, the Cyrenaica War came to an end.

In this battle, both sides deployed a total of more than 60,000 troops, and fought repeatedly around the city of Tobruk.

Due to the lack of large defensive weapons, the casualty ratio was not good. The Soult army suffered more than 6,000 casualties, and the Mamluk army suffered more than 15,000 casualties.

Through this war, Isaac successfully resolved the threat from the Mamluks in the east, reversed the absolute strategic disadvantage, and obtained Tobruk, a strategically important city.

Unfortunately, the Mamluk commander Ashriver was extremely decisive. He directly abandoned the cannon fodder on the battlefield and fled to the east with the remaining elite Mamluks and local private troops. He was picked up by the fleet and successfully returned to Mersa Matruh, failing to give Isaac a chance to annihilate the Mamluk elite.

By robbing the Green Mountain area of ​​a large amount of wealth, Isaac's dry purse gradually became full, enough to support the next move.

The only drawback is that after this battle, I'm afraid the Venetians will really remember me.

Naval expansion is imminent.

On October 1448, 10, Isaac declared the establishment of the Kingdom of Cyrenaica, with the city of Birinci as its capital.

On the same day, Emperor Ioannis VIII died suddenly at the age of fifty-eight.

(End of this chapter)