As the battle between the Athenian city defense and the Ottoman army heats up, dawn gradually arrives. But this dawn is quite dark for the Empire. The dense fog on the sea doesn't last long under the sun,

Sophia was almost carried on the shoulders by Evelet and Eustina. John also specially assigned half of the secular knights and a small number of lightly armed scout cavalry to protect him. It's still some way to Moreah, and no one knows if Moreah has been attacked by "pirates" at this point.

Immediately after leaving Athens, John came to Publius with his guards. The flames in the port area were still burning, but Publius had temporarily withdrawn from the front line of battle under the protection of his own soldiers.

"Your Majesty, if we lose this battle...... Please dismiss me from the Holy See. "Publius' armor had a few scratches left by Caracha, and the two sides were at a stop, but for Publius it was the cruelest insult of all.

Paralyzing carelessness, underestimating the enemy, cutting off the back road, not doing any intelligence work, and even taking the initiative to attack to expose the source of reserves. If it weren't for Francesco and Latius noticing the anomaly, I'm afraid that there would have been countless wrecks of imperial ships in the Gulf of Piraeus by this time. And in this battle, Publius also made almost all the mistakes that a commander should not make.

"Before you are dismissed, even if you are tried by the Supreme Court, give me command of this battle!" John did not give Publius the slightest chance to repent, and if Publius lost his self-confidence as the supreme commander of a legion because of this battle, it would be the greatest loss of the Empire.

Publius' youth was a double-edged sword. One side had already scratched the empire, and on the other side, he had to cut the head of the Ottomans with his own hands.

John drew his hand and half a sword. He looked up and down, and then solemnly placed it in Publius' hand.

"Your Majesty John......" Publius was visibly flattered. As things stand, it makes sense for John to dismiss Publius directly.

"The mutual distrust between nobles, generals, and royalty has brought countless disasters to the Empire. I hope that this phenomenon will come to an end by the time of the Palaiologos, at this moment. John lifted his purple shoulder coat with a solemn expression and pointed directly at the Athenian city defenders who were fighting fiercely not far away, "Even if we are at a disadvantage right now, I hope that I can finally see you personally deliver good news for me." ”

The Ottomans had clearly gone to an extreme in their defense of the port of Piraeus, and even though the port area was already covered in smoke and flames, the Ottomans had no intention of retreating, and were still fighting the Imperial army. They knew very well that if they could hold the port area and wait for reinforcements to arrive, it would be a breakthrough offensive, and even if they were expelled by the city defense army, it would be the best chance to kill the city defense army at this time. When the time comes to re-attack the sea wall, the battle loss ratio will not be as cost-effective as it is now.

While organizing his army to re-establish effective resistance, Karacha focused on observing the terrain inside the port area. The only few commanding heights around are none other than the patrol towers of the port area, as well as the towers of the monastery not far away, which can directly launch a reckless attack on the outer city after rushing in, and the port area will be reduced to ruins after a fire, and there will be enough space for siege weapons to be deployed.

"General Karacha, the fog is slowly lifting!" The soldiers beside Karacha forced back the encirclement of several city defenders, pointing to the sea not far away, his expression was full of excitement, "Our reinforcements will arrive soon!" ”

However, Caracha did not seem to be as optimistic as his guards. If you look closely at the appearance of these soldiers wearing pirate smocks and pretending to plunder, it is not difficult to see that they are in fact the Sultan guards who originally guarded Edirne. This attack on Athens was a real revenge and the only chance to reopen the Balkans in recent years.

It's just that the resistance of the empire is much fiercer than he imagined.

"The Romans reacted very quickly, and not only reinforcements from other Greek cities, Morea, Edirne, Constantinople...... When the garrisons in these places receive the news, they will arrive as quickly as possible by sea or land. If our advantage here cannot be translated into victory, we will not only not be able to successfully take Athens, but we will not even have a chance to return to Asia Minor alive! Karacha's sense of unease was so strong that he had to send someone in advance to ask for reinforcements from the subsequent fleet.

"Remember...... I need to see the supporting fleet within an hour, otherwise, we will withdraw from Athens as soon as possible. ”

"General Karacha? But as long as we hold on a little longer......"

"Insatiable greed only makes us lose more!" Karacha roared, "Return to your battle sequence, I can't let the Sultan Guards lose all of their lives in this pointless defensive battle!" ”

"Admiral Francisco! It's a boat! Boat! The fleet of the Ottomans! The panicked sailor rushed into the cabin, and Francisco only squinted for a moment to ease the nerves that had been tense all night.

But the sailors immediately brought one news after another that he did not want to hear.

"They have a dozen ships, the deck is full of soldiers, and they are coming towards us at the fastest speed!"

Not only has the fog been dispelled by the light, but the raging waves have gradually calmed down. By this time, the pitifully small assembling of the Athenian fleet had been laid bare in the eyes of the Ottomans.

Francisco casually picked up a robe and put it on, hurried to the deck in three or two steps, and immediately grabbed the helmsman's collar: "Retreat...... Retreat first! We must not exchange fire with their fleet! ”

"Lord Admiral, their ships are faster than ours, and if they stick up, we're afraid we won't be able to retreat too far!" A few sailors only made a preliminary estimate of the Ottoman fleet and made a judgment. The quality of the hulls of both sides is not at all on the same level, and once the exchange of fire occurs, there is absolutely a possibility that the Greek fleet will be completely destroyed. Moreover, the Ebius Radiance had almost no combat power at this time, and it was still sealed in the port area, and it was a fool's dream to intercept it just by relying on these few small ships.

Latius made a final decision at this time: "Their speed is so fast, it is inconvenient to turn and pursue us, it should be something happened in the city of Athens, they want to go to reinforcements!" Let's go back to Athens first and help General Publius hold the harbor! Even if they have thousands of troops, they will stop the Ottomans in Athens, and behind us is Constantinople, and we have no way back! ”