Jerj Skanderbeg ......

Had it not been for Jeffrey's mention, John would have forgotten about the empire's newfound ally.

It seems that since the last time Gerdi gave the empire a Barcelisa in an ambiguous manner, the two countries have been cut off. One is that the Ottomans did not stop attacking the mountains of Albania in order to get rid of it, and Mehmed II also seems to be angry at Gyerj's betrayal.

Second, after the defeat of the Crusaders at Varna, the empire had been busy restoring its economy and forming a new line of defense, while also intervening in the Hungarian noble council. The Ottomans could tear up the armistice at any time, and the empire needed to make Janos Hunyadi the ruling king of Hungary and establish diplomatic relations with the empire before this happened, so that the empire could survive the next onslaught of the Ottomans.

In the end, John and the others chose to put off the pace of advancement. Although Jeffrey excelled in domestic affairs and law, he could not adopt all the strategies that were too aggressive, and he gambled his entire fortune at every step, and sooner or later he would lose everything.

……

"Her Royal Highness the Princess......"

Outside of John's room, Sophia also had another meeting. Standing opposite her was Pedro, who had come from afar.

At this time, he looked a little more vicissitudes than he did when he was in Constantinople.

"Let's talk about it here, what's going on?"

"It can only be said that it is very unoptimistic. Although the time was tight, in just a few days, the number of displaced people had far exceeded a reasonable range. Even when the empire won great victories in Greece and Thrace, there was no such pomp. ”

Pedro kept his voice as low as he could. In his eyes, even the manor was not so safe, and everything that had happened in the village of Biyes in recent days had some traces of manipulation.

Sophia thought for a moment and continued, "What do you think?" ”

"Your Highness, the first thing I noticed was behind Epirus...... There are shadows of the Ottomans. ”

"What?"

"Among the displaced people who poured into the village of Biyes, some people forged their imperial citizenship in a vain attempt to infiltrate. The Dark Sentinel spotted one four days ago. Again, as long as there is one, there will be two, three, four, five, or six...... This is dangerous for you and His Majesty John. ”

Sophia frowned slightly, the warlord division of Epirus would have become much more complicated if the Ottomans had manipulated it behind their backs.

These isolated warlords may appear vulnerable on the surface, but it is possible that they will unite under the Ottoman organization, and more likely to receive direct access to Ottoman mercenaries or even unpaid financial assistance.

In addition, Ottoman spies infiltrated the village of Bies, which posed a great threat to the safety of the people in the estate. Although there are usually secular knights and fierce generals like Giovanni and Vasica to protect them, accidents always happen inadvertently.

Sofia's spy force in Epirus was weak, and it was extremely difficult to limit the Ottoman invasion. In addition to strengthening the patrol of the army, there is no particularly good way to do it for the time being.

"It is impossible for us to withdraw from Epirus for the time being...... I will tell my brother about this privately. We should build up our own spy network as soon as possible, and we cannot afford to lose too many opportunities. ”

"I understand, Your Highness."

……

"You say...... Ottomans? ”

Sophia nodded with certainty.

John's expression grew serious. The Ottomans intervened in the warlord melee in Epirus, and to be honest, he didn't think about this possibility, but the probability of it happening was a bit low.

There is no doubt that although Mehmed II won the battle of Varna, he also had a lot of messes waiting for him to clean up. The actual results of the Battle of Varna were not as great as the Ottomans had imagined.

The main forces of the crusaders, partially fleeing the battlefield under the cover of the Empire, and many elite knights, boarded the ships of the Empire and returned to Constantinople.

In terms of territory, the Ottomans only recovered the areas previously occupied by the Crusaders in the western Balkans, and then tried to advance westward, but were met with stubborn resistance from the Hungarian army led by Hunyadi. Although Hungary's vitality has been greatly damaged, the core is still there, and it still has the capital to fight the Ottomans for a few years.

The areas reoccupied by the Ottomans were practically similar to those of Epirus, with frequent riots and religious conflicts, and the conflicts between Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Crescentism were extremely acute.

And within Edirne, Muhammad's brothers are too busy to intervene in Epirus, and most of them will be unskilled.

"Fortunately, we haven't had the brains to attack this group of warlords...... However, it seems to me that the Ottomans must have only recently intervened in Epirus, otherwise they would not have given us so much time to establish ourselves in the village of Bies. ”

"But now that the stakes are multiplying exponentially, it should be difficult for these self-proclaimed noble warlords to resist the temptations of the Ottomans. As long as they are promised enough benefits, they are willing to be anyone's lackeys......" Sophia said with some anxiety, "There are no walls here, there are civilians everywhere, and there are Ottoman spies mixed in there, and it will be difficult to guarantee our safety at that time!" ”

"It seems...... You'll have to do a second hand. ”

"Huh? What to prepare. ”

"Remember the Ottoman who ate and drank at the court banquet all day?"

Sophia struggled to recall that she didn't often attend such court banquets, but she quickly realized who John was referring to: "Orhan? ”

"Yes, write a letter to your father and ask him to give this great gift to Muhammad."

Orhan was a cousin of Muhammad, but he was exiled to Constantinople in his early years. Although he was an Ottoman, Orhan had a special affection for the empire.

Not only that, but as the elder brother of Mehmed II, he actually had a certain prestige in the Ottoman country. Arguably, he is one of the most formidable challengers to the throne of Muhammad Sultan.

At this time, the Empire could have negotiated with the Ottomans and made a gesture of wanting only a ransom for Muhammad to redeem his brother, and then the Empire could have incited Orhan to start a civil war.

Even defeat would greatly weaken the Ottomans' national power and drive them out of Epirus. Once successful, Orhan's ability to be modest, as well as his friendly attitude towards the Roman Empire, would give the empire more time to wait for the next opportunity to unite with the West to eradicate the Ottomans.