In this day and age, the transmission of information is almost entirely human. Even if the light horsemen of the herald had been on the road without incident, going back and forth to the various cities and receiving support, it would have taken at least a few more days to get to Athens by the time the army was assembled, on the road, and then to Athens.

Obviously, Athens could not afford to wait. When the Ottoman fleet officially arrived on the shores of the port of Piraeus, Publius was unable to take control of the port area from Karacha, which meant that thousands of Ottoman troops would attack the outer city of Athens without any hindrance, and the empire, which had only a few city defenses, would not be able to resist.

Latius, who finally rang the bronze bell on the roof of the side building of the Doge's Palace. All citizens living in the outer city must enter the inner city of Athens in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, when the Minato defense collapses, no one can guarantee their safety.

This time will not be more than an hour, and the citizens will not even have time to sort out all their belongings. Since the Ottomans were prepared, the subsequent offensive would only become more rapid.

"Your Majesty...... Evacuate Athens first! The Holy See Guard can hold out here for a while, and if anything goes wrong in Athens, the Phoenix fleet must regain control of the sea, and then surround this isolated group of Ottomans from the 6th side......" Publius's words were more like a dying prayer. At this time, there was no anger in his tone, but there was a determination to live and die with Athens.

How long the walls of Athens could hold under the onslaught of the Ottomans is unknown. However, even if the city defenders were able to withdraw to the inner city of Athens, heavy catapults, battering rams, and numerical superiority would seem so far away.

In the end, I am afraid that it will only be under the ruins of the Acropolis, stained with the blood of the imperial soldiers.

But Publius would not surrender.

This has nothing to do with victory or defeat, this is the blood nature of the imperial generals.

However, John did not pay attention to Publius's impassioned plea. Although he cherishes life, he is still thinking about how to solve the crisis. The inner city walls were only a badly wounded decoration in front of the large siege engines, but it did not mean that John would flee in a hurry.

"How many people are left now?" John raised his head and stared into Publius' eyes, "I said that Athens must not fall, and reinforcements will definitely come. Stick to it for a day at most. Thebes and Thessaloniki aren't too far away! ”

Publius was a little dazed, let alone him, I am afraid that Giovanni is here at this time, even if Belisarius is reincarnated to command this battle, he can only sigh. The absolute power gap is not something that faith and courage can make up for.

"Say!"

"Counting the reserved city defense army, plus the militia that can be temporarily conscripted and withdrawn to the inner city, the final strength we can command should not exceed 4,000 people. Moreover, the tug-of-war in the port area has consumed a lot of physical strength of our main soldiers, and they have not even been given a second of rest all night. Judging by the size of the current Ottoman fleet, they transported at least 20,000 men to the battlefield. There is also a large number of sophisticated siege equipment waiting to be assembled...... Pessimistically. We don't have any chance of winning......" Publius had already begun to retreat his troops back echelons.

Now that the Ottomans have successfully ascended to 6, the empire is no longer able to stop the Ottomans' continuous advance, and the port area has no defense against the attack, which is only adding death to the empire that is at an absolute disadvantage in numbers.

Publius' hand holding the sword trembled slightly, but the reality was already quite cruel in front of him.

"Your Majesty...... Retreat. This time, I'm afraid the Holy See won't be able to protect you......"

"Hmm...... Order the troops, and withdraw with me to the inner city. Be prepared to defend to the death. ”

"Inner City?!" Publius subconsciously turned his gaze to Morey, who was standing beside John. He even looked forward to Morey knocking John unconscious and carrying him back to Constantinople.

Unfortunately, the secular knights were only responsible for protecting the safety of the co-emperor and would not interfere with any of John's decisions. For them, even if John ordered to take Karacha's head at this time, they would not hesitate.

"Why are you so excited? I've brought you to Athens, and I'm going to take you out well......" John patted Publius on the shoulder, but the scene seemed somewhat ironic, "No matter how fragile the walls of the inner city are, it will never be a problem to withstand a half-day onslaught, and in this half-day, before noon, we can do a lot." ”

"Your Majesty John. Your life is far more important than this city of Athens. But the inner city of Athens is an isolated high ground, and it will not be such a simple problem to evacuate when the time comes. Finally Publius tried to persuade him, but John shook his head and refused.

War seems to be beginning to unfold in an uncontrollable direction.

……

The inner city of Athens is not the inner walls of Edirne. When Latius received the title of Duke of Athens, he did not intend to renovate the inner city of Athens. And of course, the city walls. The traces left by the Empire when it recaptured the city of Athens from the mercenaries are still faintly recognizable.

After the emergency evacuation of the port area of Piraeus, Francisco and Latius quickly arrived in the inner city with all the sailors and city defenses. At this time, the inner city was also home to almost all the citizens of Athens, and there were not even any buildings left to house the wounded who had been evacuated from the first line of the port.

"Your Majesty, the density of people here now, even if the Ottoman catapult throws a boulder, it is possible to injure a large number of soldiers or civilians...... I'm afraid the collapse of the defense of the inner city is only ......," Latius's worries were all written on his face. Breaking through is not without the possibility of success, but holding on to it is more like sitting and waiting to die.

"If we withdraw, we will be giving up all the advantages we have had in the Balkans. Unlike Edirne, Athens was blessed with a unique transportation advantage, and the presence of the port of Piraeus allowed the Ottomans to send a steady stream of excellent soldiers from the Armenian plateau and Asia Minor to the Balkans. Judging from the current state of the empire, if you cede Athens, in just two years, Rome will become a city with only one Constantinople left! Are you willing to watch things turn out like this? John said this through gritted teeth. No one wants to see the gains of the empire in three years come to naught.

In the end, it is too underestimating Muhammad's courage. At the beginning, the empire took advantage of the danger of the Ottoman civil strife to attack the Yellow Dragon, and today Muhammad has come to govern his own way.

"Your Majesty, what else can we do?"

"Hold on...... Waiting for help. ”

Lewen