Several soldiers carried arrows and forage out in bundles from the underground warehouse of the Cutthroat Fort. But as the materials were piled up to a certain height in the center of the castle's vestibule, a smell of wood decay spread.

The quartermaster of the Fourth Legion trotted all the way to John and Osini, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and reported aloud: "Your Majesty, I am afraid that there will be no more than a thousand arrows in the fortress, and if they are allocated, it will not even be enough to fill each soldier with a quiver. There are many arrows whose bodies have been eaten by silverfish, and they break when broken, and they cannot be used as weapons at all. ”

John and Orsini glanced at each other, then locked their gaze on Panito, who was trembling in the corner.

"What about the other things?" Sophia glanced at the soldiers who were still toiling outside the door. It was once the most important first-line fortress of the Ottomans. The empire had little trouble capturing the city with the might of its cannons, and Muhammad naturally did not have much time to move supplies. It's just that the rest of these things are no different from scrap metal to the soldiers of the Empire.

"If there's something of value, it's still in the cellar...... Some scimitars of good condition, there is no gap in the blade, at least seventy or eighty percent new, which should have just been used to supply the army. These things are also in the accounts, and they should be the least depleted of the remaining materials. ”

The scimitar in the quartermaster's mouth is the Schescher scimitar, which is popular in Central Asia and has the shape of a crescent moon. Cut into clay, cast by experienced Persian craftsmen, were widely armed in the Ottoman army. In the past, when the imperial army gradually moved towards mercenaries, the technique of using the Scher scimitar was also popularized among the people. These cutlass are simple and durable, and are popular with some cheap mercenaries.

John took a scimitar from the quartermaster and flipped it casually. It's lighter than you think, and it shouldn't be too difficult to get started.

"From the Cut Throat Fort outward, if we were to lay out a complete line of defense, our forces would be stretched. This was our last fortress east of the Sea of Marmara, and the walls were not to be easily accessible to the Ottomans. John glanced back at the map on the wall, "We need to make the most of the resources we can use to delay Muhammad's attack, and to defend is to die." ”

Although Sophia usually does not express an opinion on John's decision, this battle was a crucial battle for the empire to completely establish itself in Asia, and it was a very risky choice to force a limited number of troops to stretch the front.

"Brother...... If it's too scattered...... Will it be broken by the Ottomans one by one? We can expect General Giovanni to come with reinforcements. Even if the Fourth Legion didn't have much time to recuperate, holding on to a relatively well-fortified fortress would have a better chance of success. ”

"Your Majesty...... The allocation of troops should still wait for news from the scouts before making a decision. ”

"The solutions are all thought up by people, and no matter how much time we have, we can't sit still here, right?"

Just after the autumn harvest, grain storage is not a problem. Osini, of course, understood that John was focusing on the peasants and militia. The inferior materials that were counted were not suitable for the corps, but if they fell into the hands of the peasants, there was no problem in forming a little combat effectiveness worth looking forward to in the short term. After all, it's just a scimitar or a spear, and no special skills are required. Even if the arrows were pulled out and mounted on a stick, there were enough of them, and it would be a phalanx of spears that would allow the Ottoman cavalry to retreat.

"The military pay is given to the treasury first, and the supply line is only a few nautical miles, and the pressure on Constantinople should not be so great...... In addition to the supply lines, the surrounding villages, let the affairs officer count the population of the appropriate age for another round, and if not, let the priest go to probation. Since there is a surplus of equipment, don't let them sit idle. Let's go and prepare. As long as he could stop this attack, Muhammad would not have been able to play any other way. The vast coastline east of Shbakeri seemed to beckon John, and of course, John had his own selfish intentions in this war, which could change at any time.

As long as the Mamluk half-hung sultans still had a modicum of prestige and cohesion, they should be able to put together an army to put more pressure on the Ottomans. Even at this time, the knights who had been waiting in Cyprus for a long time would probably rush to participate in the feast - although such a situation would need to be based on the premise that the empire could achieve an initial victory, John would not be left with only one strategy of defense.

It was only after Ossini had retired with a few officers that John took another letter from his pocket.

"Sister, you know, it's a very abrasive thing to wait for help. But as long as reinforcements are still on the way, our army will naturally carry out a raid-style defense with high morale. ”

"What do you mean?" Sophia was a little confused about John's thoughts, the outer defense was already quite risky, and without the support of reinforcements, the collapse of the army and the riot would soon occur. Similar to the tactics of guerrilla warfare, it is also difficult to supply supplies, and sometimes even requires soldiers to find food in the deep wilderness and forests on their own, which is a great test of the soldiers' willpower, especially since John also hopes to recruit more peasant soldiers, who will definitely become the main force of the mutiny once they can't fill their stomachs.

"Sophia, what is the purpose of our defense of the Throat Cutout...... Or to put it another way, what is the point of the existence of the Cutthroat Fort? John casually picked up a pen from his desk and circled the east coast of the Aegean sponge.

"Fort Cut Throat, of course, was the bridgehead for the Empire's attack on Asia Minor...... In itself, it was just a fortress with no natural dangers to defend and no long-term garrison. The humid air of the coastline makes the supplies stored here spoil quickly......"

"That's right. The Ottomans are probably also looking forward to a decisive battle with us in this so-called bridgehead, and the best outcome is to pull out the nail in their eyes. So at this time, the main fleet of the Ottomans, I am afraid, is in the Sea of Marmara, preventing the Imperial Navy from launching a full support on the east coast. Sophia ...... You haven't forgotten what the Ottomans did to the city of Athens, right?"

John touched his chest. Through the robe, the marks after the scab of the wound scab off can still make the palm feel the horror touch. The pen in his hand increased a few points, and made a great mark in the sky above the cities of Ephesus and Yalova.

"As long as there are more and more gaps on the East Coast, the value of Fort Cut Throat will become smaller and smaller. The Holy See and the Order of the Phoenix. Giovanni and Angelo, it shouldn't be enough to get a city back, right? ”

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