The motive for this raid...... It was supposed to be an act of revenge for the defeat in the siege of Trabzon. Muhammad's prestige among the Ottomans was not precarious, and for the Turks, the stagnation of the offensive meant the demise of the Turks. Constantine XI sat on his throne and said indifferently, "Muhammad needs some decent victories to secure his position as sultan, and he needs to make his opponents in his court temporarily abandon their desire for power." Perhaps in the first place, Mehmed II did not think about capturing the Cutthroat Fort, and he preferred that the constant flow of reinforcements from the empire would form a tug-of-war east of the strait......"

"Your Majesty, this will not do the Ottomans much good...... Even if most of Anatolia were in their hands, they would never be able to supply the multi-front battles and years of attrition. Gingch made a brief draft, and continued, "Even if the empire loses all of Asia Minor, we will still be able to maintain the balance of power and even superiority on the sea. Once the Great Greek Sea Wall is rebuilt, it will be impossible for them to set foot in the Balkans, and it will do them no good to drag it out. ”

John also nodded: "Father, Muhammad has a strong desire to expand and ambition, and before he was under the walls of Constantinople, before he even became a sultan, he had already shown an unusual desire to attack...... Even if they have the intention of fighting us, we must be prepared to defeat or even destroy them as soon as possible. ”

……

The debate continued even into sunrise, and the question of how many troops to send and how much to supply, whether to defend or to take the initiative, was a matter of careful consideration for a financially stretched empire.

Eventually, at the insistence of Ossini and John, a battalion of 550 men, mainly infantry, was first led by two men, and went to the Cut Throat Fortress under the cover of the navy.

The most important task now was to obtain the enemy's specific dispositions and objectives, so that the Constantinople side could make the most effective response.

As the transports departed, the Empire prepared for the worst of the fall of Cutthroat. Constantine XI deployed a large number of warships in the Sea of Marmara in order to buy time for the evacuation of the crown prince and princess in the event of an accident.

"Your Majesty......"

It didn't take much time to drive from the Golden Horn to Asia Minor, and there wasn't much smoke of gunpowder after docking at the port. Even the defensive forces on the sea wall have not changed in the same way as usual. The part of the city wall that had been bombarded by huge artillery was repaired, but it still looked fragile.

"Didn't the commander here receive the news of the siege of Gebzel?" Sophia frowned slightly, the nonchalant expression on the defender's face clearly made him a little dissatisfied, and at the same time doubted the defender's ability.

"The defense of the Throat Cutthroat Fort was defended by one of the earliest Janissary commanders named Panito. He can't be blamed for this, after all, the Empire has limited troops, and the Cut Throat Fort is not at the forefront of the war...... The defenders here were more often draftees from nearby villages or Balkan peasants. They can draw a bow and shoot arrows, which is already considered elite. Ossini wiped the sweat from his forehead.

At this time, Panito trotted over from the central fortress and hurriedly knelt down to offer his salute to John and Sophia.

Obviously, Panito is quite sophisticated. The Praetorian Guard has become the honor guard of the Purple Palace, and it is his duty to diligently defend the fortress for the royal family.

"That's all there are in Cut Throat Fort? Don't you know that the Ottomans were wandering just outside the city? Sophia obviously wouldn't give this so-called general who looked oily and smooth-toned a good look, and immediately asked.

However, Panito seems to have prepared a set of explanations early: "Her Royal Highness the Princess...... There are only more than 300 people in the garrison of Cut Throat Fort at full capacity, and we have invested the most patrol soldiers at the outer gates and sea walls, and those on night duty are still resting in the camp. We have never slackened our efforts to defend the city. ”

After listening to Panito's explanation, John became even more strange: "More than three hundred people? The Empire had more troops deployed in Asia Minor than that. Cutthroat Fort is the most important fortress in the Empire, how can there be only so many people here? ”

"Your Majesty John...... We have a lot of forts to defend, and it's normal for our forces to spread out a bit......"

Hearing this, John laughed angrily: "Disperse? The Ottoman army is overwhelmed, and you don't even have the slightest idea of shrinking your defenses after knowing that Gebzel has fallen quickly? Waiting for all the fortress defenses to be broken by the Ottomans individually? Or do you fools think that the Cutthroat Fort Fortress, defended by more than 300 people, can be easier to defend than Gebzell, which is more than 400 men? ”

"Your Majesty......"

"Shut up! Send scouts now to mobilize all the troops you can contact, including the defenders and mercenaries, and abandon all the outer defenses except for the forts around Cutthroat! ”

"Those grain, grass, equipment, and baggage...... And the Ottoman prisoners that we captured in local battles......"

Ossini had also been made a little laughing by Panito at this time, and it seemed that the empire was really inappropriate in the arrangement of the guards in Asia Minor. Perhaps in the first place, it was handed over to the heirs of the Praetorian Guard in order to compromise, but now it seems that the unruly Janissary commander of Fera can always lead the empire directly or indirectly to collapse.

"What you have to do is carry out the order! His Majesty John Palaiologos took over all defenses from the moment he set foot in Asia Minor! Sophia glanced indifferently at Panito, who was still kneeling on the ground, "You are now, just like them, a soldier. ”

Panito's reaction made John extremely worried about the exact amount of defense that could be built up in the Empire of Asia Minor. With the ships arriving together, the light cavalry at Cutthroat Fort had been arranged by him for the first time to go to various places to reconnoiter the enemy's situation. Now that the empire knew nothing about the Ottomans' movements, it risked being ambushed and wiped out at this time to risk amassing troops.

It can be said that Panito's hindsight command made the empire at this time fall into great passivity. At this time, the Cut Throat Fort had not yet been surrounded, which was already the best news, and once the Ottoman army approached the city walls with siege artillery, it would be extremely difficult to break through or hold on, and the land that the empire had recovered with blood in Asia Minor would quickly change hands.

"Brother...... We must ask His Majesty Constantine for more assistance. It's too late to shrink our defenses, and we don't know how many more people we can gather to defend these forts......"

John and Orsini soon took command of Cutthroat Fort, while Panito was watched by a secular knight and pondered the fate of his own head.

"Hmm...... By the way, let the father write a letter to the Egyptians. ”

"What?"