This negotiation in the palace of La Opalsian seems to have been doomed from the beginning. Although the Empire was well aware of the Genoese bottom line, when the Venetians came to the front of the stage from behind the scenes and stood by the Empire's side, even if he refused to be the noble governor of Genoa, he would never be a match for the combined fleet of the Empire and Venice.

It was a forcible buy and sell deal, and the empire very "politely" signed a redemption agreement with Genoa. In the beginning, the Genoese used capital to cut off the islands of the empire in the East Aegean Sea little by little, and now, how could Constantine XI let go of such an opportunity to humiliate the governor of Genoa?

A total of thirteen Ducats were auctioned in front of Yodri, which, based on the current purchasing power, could probably lead a good traveling horse from the Anatolian horse market.

"You will pay the price!"

Like all losers must go through the motions before they leave, Jodri did not accept the "gift" of the Empire, but left Constantinople overnight with a sense of grief and indignation.

This farce set off by Ingalata stopped here, and the empire could finally enter the final stage of preparation for war with peace of mind.

……

"Lilacs! How many times have I said it! Don't take a dead rabbit into Fort Gombrine and eat it! Sophia looked at the rabbit fur in her and John's bedroom, and Lilac and Gooseberry did not know when they had developed a habit, and always liked to bring their prey to the castle to play with it first, "It was the velvet carpet that Saloniki had brought in, and it was a hassle to wash!" ”

"Your Highness, it's time for you to have breakfast too."

Hearing movement in the room, Eustina and Evelet pushed the door open in unison. Sophia clinged to Evelei's left and right for more than a month before she was completely freed from her autism.

After all, the conditions in Gombrigne are slightly different from those in Constantinople, and there is no way to change tricks every day to bring delicacies to the two purple-clothed nobles. Fortunately, there was an Albanian cook sent by Jerdi Skanderbe, otherwise John would have been afraid that Sophia would have suffered from anorexia.

"Your Majesty John, Your Royal Highness the Princess, the Constantinople urgent mail has been delivered to the table in the outer hall."

"There seems to be a lot going on in Constantinople lately, staying in Epirus is about to die of boredom......"

"If you have nothing to do, you can be content, I haven't seen anyone looking forward to chaos every day."

Under duress from the Empire and Venice, Genoa eventually withdrew its troops from the islands of the East Aegean Sea and gave up all trade interests in the Aegean Sea. As compensation, the empire gave the Genoese "welfare" free passage through the Bosphorus and in and out of the Black Sea. Even now the Bosphorus is not yet fully in the hands of the Empire.

The decay of Genoa was already a fact, and even if the empire did not move, the Venetians would castrate the remaining trading ports of Genoa one by one. I am afraid that in the next few years, Venice will become the only powerful commercial republic in the Mediterranean.

The Empire seemed to be the most well-fed of the war, at the cost of two ships in exchange for countless valuable strategic resources in the East Aegean Sea. In reality, however, the islands were separated from the coast of Asia Minor, and the Ottomans would only strengthen their defenses along the coastline, which would not be conducive to a surprise attack, and the imperial fleet would not be sufficient to completely secure the many shipping routes in the East Aegean Sea. The cession of these islands did not bring tangible benefits to the Empire.

As a result, there is only one way left for the empire.

Tear up the armistice with the Ottomans, seize Edirne, and first completely remove the most immediate threat to Constantinople. The date had already been set for the end of the year, and since it was an offensive on all fronts, the governors of the major regions, including Epirus, prepared for their own battles, and then launched a surprise attack from different angles with Hungary and Albania.

As long as the battle is won, the empire will not only completely remove the threat of the infidels in the Balkans, but even have the opportunity to kill Mehmed II alive in the Ottoman court in Edirne, plunging the Ottoman Empire into a succession crisis. When the time comes, the fragile Anatolian Pasha and satraps will probably fight each other for the title of sultan, and the empire will be able to expand its territory to the point of 700 years ago without much effort.

"Does it sound like there's still a little bit of blood pumping?" John glanced through the windowsill at the Cambrine camp not far away, "But the probability of us winning this battle is only 50%. Hungary has not recovered from the defeat of Varna, and although Albania can become the god of war in the mountains under the command of Derti, the combat effectiveness of a real frontal war will be greatly reduced. The Empire's military resources have not yet been resolved, you see, even if that Bishop of Sextus helped Giovanni recruit troops on a large scale, in addition to meeting the replenishment of the Phoenix Legion, he can only recruit more than a thousand eligible soldiers. ”

"Brother, didn't you say that if you control the coastline, the Ottomans won't be able to get reinforcements? Such a siege network, even if Murad II personally commanded it, I'm afraid there is no way to break through, right? ”

"Now it looks like an island in the Balkans, but the beasts in the cage are often the most ferocious, aren't they?"

In the afternoon, Giovanni, who had finally had time to glance at the letters, had to hurry to the Fort de Combrigna. Vasica, Jeffrey, and Admiral Francisco, who had just completed his confinement in Constantinople, had been waiting in the hall for a long time.

"It can be said that this is an ultimatum given by my father to the Ottomans. The only allies we can count on are Hungary and Albania. It's not that we didn't send people to the Holy See to lobby, but this time the Pope suffered a loss, saying that he would not agree to organize the army again...... It's the Venetians, who are willing to help us guard the coastline. It seems that the Doge of Venice was generally satisfied with the volume of trade in these months. John repeated the general situation.

Epirus was to be in charge of the southern part of the siege, and according to the request of Constantine XI, John, because of his limited forces, was mainly defensive, and did not allow the Ottomans to break through the line and withdraw or transfer from Epirus, even if the mission was successfully completed.

Obviously, everyone here is slightly unhappy with the assignment of this task.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid you have miscalculated the combat effectiveness of Epirus' army." Giovanni nailed his cane to the table, "Your Majesty, the Phoenix Legion will not defend, but will only crush the Ottoman defense line from the front!" ”