1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 97 The troops are approaching the city
Spring in Constantinople is beautiful.

At the end of every year, a cold current would move south from the north, from the distant East European plains all the way to Constantinople on the Black Sea coast. Combining with the humid air here, it would turn into snowflakes, falling on the dome of Hagia Sophia, dyeing the entire city silver-white.

It snows in Constantinople almost every year, but never for too long. One more is too much, one less is too little, just right.

It seems that God is particularly fond of this city. He is willing to share the romance of snow with her, but cannot bear to let her endure the cold of winter.

The sky was clear and the air was fresh. The gentle sunshine of early spring melted the remaining snow, and the brook gurgled, making light musical sounds.

In several agricultural areas of the city, farmers began to carry their farm tools and head to the fields to work hard for their livelihood in the new year.

In several ports along the coast, fishermen tied up their small boats and sailed into the wind and waves.

In the Lycas River Valley at the edge of the city wall, the flags of the First Guards Legion and the Purple Guards were flying high. The soldiers took advantage of the good season of early spring to practice their martial arts and rehearse battle formations.

The city is full of greenery, and the trees are stretching out new branches, some are tall and handsome, while others are slanted and slanted.

When the empire was strong, whenever the snow melted and spring returned to the earth, the nobles and wealthy businessmen of Rome would put on expensive clothes, ride on luxurious carriages to the outskirts of the city, feel the vigor of spring, travel by mountains and rivers, and admire the clouds and mist.

As the country's power gradually declined and its mountains and rivers were lost, the once beautiful land was trampled by the iron hooves of the Turks, the former royal relatives and nobles retreated to the city, and the former wealthy businessmen now all looked like Latins.

But no matter what, this is indeed the best time of the year in Constantinople.

On the Theodosian Wall, Constantine XI and Isaac stood side by side, looking at the construction site in full swing in the distance.

The commanders of the city wall, Giovanni and Theophilus, stood behind the two emperors with their subordinate generals. They also had serious expressions and did not say a word.

In the spring of 1452, on the west bank of the Bosphorus, opposite the Anatolian Fortress, the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II officially began to build this large military fortress and named it "Rumeli Fort", which means "European Castle", corresponding to the Anatolian Castle.

Among the people, this castle has a more popular name - Cutthroat Castle.

Last winter, Mehmed II was busy making plans in Edirne, surrounded by a large group of Westerners, especially Italians.

These scholars and technical experts from Europe provided advice to Mehmed II and put the Sultan's crazy ideas into practice step by step.

At Muhammad's command, the huge machine called the Ottoman Empire instantly moved. The trees from Smyrna, the stones from Gallipoli, and the wheat from Thessaly, through the well-developed road network in the Ottoman Empire, gathered in the land on the west bank of the Bosphorus, north of Constantinople.

Mehmed's engineers used the abandoned Michael Church as the foundation of the castle and rebuilt it with bricks and stones.

More than two thousand stonemasons, carpenters and architects, four thousand helpers and a large number of slaves moved into the barracks set up by Mehmed II, erecting scaffolding and working day and night.

Isaac looked at the Ottoman flag flying in the distance and felt heavy in his heart.

The consequences of the Cutthroat Fortress were disastrous for Constantinople.

From a military perspective, the fortress brought the Anatolian and Balkan parts of the Ottoman Empire closer together, allowing the Ottomans to more easily and quickly transport cannon fodder and military supplies from Anatolia to Constantinople, making the siege more convenient.

Politically speaking, this fortress, combined with the Anatolian fortress on the opposite bank, firmly blocked the only passage between the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Marmara, making it impossible for the Eastern Roman Empire to obtain supplies from the Black Sea coast and completely separating it from the rest of the Orthodox countries.

From an economic perspective, after the construction of the Fortress of Cutthroat, the only remaining commercial taxes from Constantinople's cross-sea trade were taken away by the Ottomans, and it was completely reduced to a large rural area.

"From then on, no ship could cross the strait without the Sultan's permission."

So wrote the historian.

Of course, Isaac knew very well that the impact of this fortress was far more than that.

The fortress is not far north of Constantinople and can be seen directly from several high points in the city.

As the construction of the fortress accelerated, the panic of the citizens of Constantinople grew, and emotions of pessimism and despair began to spread among the lower classes.

In the suburbs of Constantinople, some Orthodox Christians saw how fast the Ottomans were building and thought that their God had abandoned them. They burst into tears and converted to Sunni Islam on the spot.

Beyond that, the chain reaction from this fortress could well change the positions of the Latin Republics.

Apart from the Eastern Roman Empire, the country that was most hurt by this fortress was the Republic of Genoa. After the construction of the Cutthroat Fort, they could not keep any of their colonies on the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, and the Black Sea white slave trade on which they depended for their survival also declined.

Will these Genoese people rise up to resist? Or will they give in? It is hard to say.

At least in the original time and space, they were intimidated by the powerful Ottoman Empire and basically did nothing except inciting jihad sentiment among the people.

The Venetians had been driven out of the Black Sea by the Genoese long ago and did not have much interest here. In addition, they had just reached a trade agreement with the Ottoman Empire and could not lose sight of the important interests.

In short, this fortress has been under pressure from all sides since its construction. European Christian countries strongly condemned it, and Constantine XI even sent several letters in succession, asking the Sultan to stop the construction of the Cutthroat Fort.

However, Mehmed II ignored all these discordant voices and did not care about the bluffing threats of the Christians. He relied on his perseverance to push forward his plan step by step.

As it turned out, the Sultan's guess was correct. The Christians had already been defeated in previous wars and were riddled with internal conflicts, so they were unable to have any impact on him at all.

"Let's go back."

Constantine whispered as he walked down the wall and got into the carriage.

As the carriage drove through the central street, Constantine hid his head deep in the shadows, as if ashamed to face his people.

Isaac sighed and said goodbye to his father.

The carriage stopped in front of the purple noble palace. Isaac straightened his clothes and walked into the palace with a heavy heart.

Some things must be arranged as soon as possible.

In the early spring garden, wisteria and redbud trees are in full bloom, the flowers of the chestnut trees are like white stars, and nightingales are singing in the trees.

On the grass, little Justinian lay in the cradle, his eyes wide open, looking at the white clouds in the sky.

Leonor sat aside, reading a book quietly, but her eyes would occasionally glance at the baby in the cradle.

Isaac motioned for the eunuch to leave, sat down on the spot, and looked closely at his son.

The child was very healthy. His pale complexion and the fine light blue blood vessels beneath his skin revealed his noble status. His brown curly hair was inherited from his father, but his deep blue eyes came from his mother.

The little guy is less than one year old and can't speak. He twisted his body under his father's touch and made dissatisfied protests.

"The Ottomans are advancing. You must leave."

Isaac grabbed Justinian's chubby little hand, leaned over, and gave it a gentle kiss.

“Has it really come to this?”

Leonor asked worriedly, looking at her husband's expression.

"Our spies in the Ottoman Empire reported back that Sultan Mehmed II began to attach importance to the naval fleet and invited many craftsmen and instructors from Europe to build ships for him,"

"In the short term, their fleet will still not be as good as ours, but the Ottomans, with their dense naval bases and repair shops along the Aegean coast, are able to deal with us."

"As long as they avoid a decisive battle, they can still cause us great trouble by frequently harassing our transportation system."

"Moreover, their naval strength is still increasing." "For your safety, you must leave this troubled place as soon as possible and keep a little spark for the empire."

Leonor bit her lip, looked at Isaac's determined eyes, picked up little Justinian, and nodded gently.

"I have written three letters. When you return, give them to Count Mikhail, Prime Minister Isurt, and Butler Andrei respectively. They will take care of the matter."

"Tomorrow morning, the Grand Duke Morea and the Theodosius will come to pick you up. It's going to be a bumpy ride, so take care of yourself."

Isaac took off his purple robe and covered his wife and children with it.

……

The construction of the Cutthroat Fort lasted from early spring to midsummer. Watching the powerful fortress built from nothing and from short to tall, Constantine and his ministers were helpless and distressed all day long.

In the Grand Palace, Isaac and Constantine urgently summoned important officials to discuss the matter.

Prime Minister Archduke Lucas, Foreign Minister Sfrancis, city defense commanders Giovanni and Theophilus, Cardinal Isidore, and commanders of several legions.

Just the day before yesterday, a group of refugees poured into the city, bringing bad news.

Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II began a premeditated massacre of the few Greek Orthodox Christians who remained outside Constantinople.

Just yesterday, the envoy sent by Constantine XI was killed by Mehmed II, and his coachman had his nose and ears cut off and was covered with scars.

Mehmed II released him and delivered the Sultan's letter.

Mehmed II's message was simple and brutal.

"Either surrender the city or prepare for battle."

As early as a year ago, Isaac began to gradually move the surrounding residents into the city of Constantinople to protect them from the impending massacre by the Turks.

However, there are still some residents who are unwilling to leave their fields and houses and are stubborn and refuse to listen to advice.

The Ottomans needed a large amount of building materials to build the Cutthroat Fort, so they began to turn their attention to the surrounding churches and other buildings.

In this way, the Ottomans forcibly removed the stones of the church, which led to the first round of conflict with the Orthodox Christians who remained in the area.

Then, deliberately instigated by Sultan Mehmed II, the Ottoman cavalry began to rampage through the countryside, trampling fields, stealing food, and leaving a devastating mess in their wake.

Ottoman cavalry tied the bodies of Orthodox Christians to their horses' tails and ran around Constantinople, shouting and screaming.

Everyone knew very well that this was to lure the defenders in Constantinople out of the city to fight, so as to defeat them in one fell swoop and avoid a siege with huge casualties.

Constantine XI originally attempted to lead his army to attack, but was dissuaded by Isaac and other ministers.

Go out of the city to meet the enemy? What a joke! The Ottoman army outside is larger than the population of Constantinople.

“Just the day before yesterday, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II ordered his troops to charge a group of unarmed peasants and brutally massacred them all.”

Constantine looked around and looked deeply at the ministers, as if he wanted to remember what they looked like at this moment.

"It can be said that the Ottomans have completely torn their faces with us. Mehmed II broke his promise and ignored the peace agreement."

"Mohammed told me to surrender the city or prepare to fight."

"We will not continue to send messengers to die, but we will use practical actions to make our answer!"

Constantine XI stood up and tore Mehmed II's letter to pieces.

"I declare that from now on we are at war with the Ottomans."

"I declare that all troops shall be assembled and all civilians shall be mobilized."

“I hereby declare that all property of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople shall be confiscated and all Ottoman expatriates and travelers in the city shall be detained.”

"I declare that the Theodosian Gates shall be closed, the chains of the Golden Horn shall be raised, and we shall fight to the bitter end with all our might."

"We will fight for honor, we will fight for survival,"

"We will fight for the citizens, for the capital and for the empire."

"We will fight for God."

"We will never surrender!"

Isaac stood beside Constantine, looking at the dark clouds on the face of the nearly fifty-year-old emperor, filled with deep anger and resolute determination.

There was no applause, no vows, no doubts or worries.

Their willingness to stand here in times of crisis has proven their loyalty.

"Your Majesties, please give your orders!"

……

On August 1452, 8, the last stone of the Cutthroat Fort was placed on the top of the tower, and Mehmed II's new fortress was finally completed.

This fortress is huge in scale. It doesn’t look like a fortress, but more like a small town, connected to the land and controlling the strait.

The fort is triangular in shape, with four large towers and 13 smaller towers, walls 22 feet thick and 50 feet high, and tower roofs covered with lead.

From an architectural perspective alone, this fortress is a feat of engineering, having been built in just four and a half months.

Mehmed II's ability to coordinate and complete large-scale projects with astonishing speed astonished the entire Europe and would continue to astound them again and again.

On August 8, four hundred soldiers entered Cutthroat Fort, and the mature and prudent Firuz Bey was appointed commander, with orders to intercept all ships sailing in the strait and collect tolls from them.

To increase the deterrent power of the Cutthroat Fort, the Ottomans built several cannons and towed them to the castle.

The Ottomans had a wide variety of artillery, from small long-barreled cannons to breathtaking heavy guns that could fire giant stone shells powerful enough to penetrate the wood of a ship.

Under the guidance of experts from Europe, these guns were placed in specific locations in Cutthroat Fort and Anatolian Fortress, flush with the sea surface, ensuring that every corner of the nearby waters could be covered.

From that time on, no ship could pass through the Bosphorus unchecked, day or night.

From this moment on, Mehmed II tore off his once gentle veil and officially revealed his ferocious fangs.

From this point on, the Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire officially went to war.

The Battle of Constantinople began.

(End of this chapter)