"Your Majesty, the Ottoman defenders of Edirne have received a call for help from this army, and they have sent 10,000 men to cross the Rikas valley and prepare to attack the Golden Gate."

"What?"

Constantine XI never imagined at this time that the Ottoman army under the city walls today was not from the inner city of Edir! And when Edirne learned the news, he sent an additional 10,000 reinforcements! There were only about 10,000 people in Constantinople, and now the door of St. Romanus was wide open!

A war of reinforcements has turned into the biggest threat the empire has faced since the loss of the Balkans!

"Your Majesty need not panic, General Latius has completed the fortification of the Golden Gate and the Charisius Gate, and the defenders on the first line of the sea wall have also been transferred to the Theodosius Wall. There is no threat in the direction of Quanyuanmen for the time being, and more reinforcements will be sent here. ”

"Inform Latius...... No, pass on the oracle of the Golden Gate, and never let the walls be breached! ”

After much thought, Constantine XI issued a new order, temporarily abandoning the defense of the sea wall, and leaving all the defenders of the Golden Horn, including the sailors of the Byzantine fleet, to reinforce the wall. If this siege had not been premeditated, the Ottoman fleet should not have attacked the Golden Horn in a short time.

It's another gamble, but in any case, once the city wall is lost, even if the Ottoman navy is completely annihilated, it doesn't make any sense.

"Father, don't worry...... They shouldn't be able to take it. Zhou Heng, who was a little angry, forced himself to calm down, then thought for a while and said, "This is Edirne's troops, and the main goal should be to cooperate with the retreat of the Ottoman army from nowhere, and they also know that Constantinople cannot be captured so easily." ”

Zhou Heng looked at the Golden Gate in the distance and continued: "If this siege was premeditated, then the Ottomans should have brought a large number of siege equipment and artillery. But Edirne's reinforcements must have arrived in Constantinople so quickly, and they must have been lightly armed. And make a slight attempt, if the situation is not right, you should cooperate with them to withdraw immediately. Otherwise, they would not have turned to the Golden Gate, but would have concentrated their forces on the already defenseless Porta de San Romanus. ”

Hearing this, Constantine XI also nodded. He could also guess what the Ottomans thought, but he didn't dare to take it lightly. Although Murad II is still dealing with the Karamans in Anatolia, there is no guarantee that he will not secretly show up and mobilize a large army to turn around and attack the city.

Constantinople, which the Ottomans had coveted for long enough.

Reinforcements from the Fountain Gate quickly plugged the gap created by the Ottomans, and the reinforced phalanx, encouraged by the reinforcements, began to shrink to repel the Ottoman onslaught. To the surprise of Constantine XI, there was also the defeated Wallachian army that had been rescued back to the city. After making improvised arrangements for the elderly, weak, women and children, the leading knight immediately mobilized the remaining soldiers under his command to help the empire strengthen its defenses, and he also personally rushed to the front line to kill some of the Ottomans who wanted to break through from their weak points.

"Looks like a warrior." Constantine smiled indifferently, "Until my legion suffers even greater losses, this deal is well worth it. ”

The rest of the Ottoman soldiers, because they were not equipped with siege equipment, could only rely on their shields under the city walls to support the attack with bows and arrows, but because the positions were dispersed enough, the artillery was really limited in its striking power. Remembering the meagre balance in the Imperial coffers, Constantine finally reluctantly called off the bombing.

The deafening sound of artillery came to an abrupt end, and the sound of fighting became even more abrupt in the night. On the first line, the corpses piled up by the Ottomans had gradually disappeared past the waists of the Imperial soldiers, and the infantry phalanx was in danger of collapsing at any moment.

On the surface, Constantine commanded from the city wall, but only Zhou Heng, who was closest to him, could feel that this king was trembling. Maybe it's excitement, maybe it's nervousness, or maybe there's a hint of fear.

The reinforcements of the sea wall are filling, but the Ottomans are still pouring into the city, this kind of hand-to-hand combat, the imperial legions will not take much advantage, in the case of numerical disadvantage, how long the empire can hold out, Constantine has no bottom in his heart.

At this time, the sound of artillery in the distance told Constantine that the battle for the Golden Gate had also begun, and it was unlikely that reinforcements from the north would be counted on in the short term.

The mountains of corpses were still getting higher, and in some places the Ottomans were even able to climb over the corpses to the rear of the Imperial army. Constantine had to order another expansion of the encirclement to prevent the collapse of the front, and this came at the cost of faster casualties on both armies, which was even better news for the Ottomans, who had a sufficient numerical advantage.

Apparently, the Ottomans discovered this.

"There! Go over the encirclement! ”

Suddenly, the Ottoman general, who was still hidden in the crowd, shouted loudly and personally led the guards around him to attack the gap that appeared due to the pull of the line.

Constantine saw all this, and knew that if there was only one rout, the array would soon collapse.

"Praetorian Guard, make up for it with me!"

This was an instinctive reaction, and in the midst of imperial crises, as emperor, one had to lead by example. This was true when Rome was a small state on the Apennine Peninsula, and it was still true when Rome was threatened with annihilation.

But Constantine didn't make a move, and was immediately pulled by Zhou Heng.

"Father, wait a minute. It's not time yet. ”

Not only the Ottoman generals, but also the knights from Wallachia quickly rode their horses and slammed their scimitars into the Ottoman commanders who were too far ahead.

The Ottoman general swung his sword to block, but at the moment when the men and horses staggered, the knight lay in mid-air with his backhand, and at an incredible angle, pierced his neck from behind, which was not covered by armor.

"Beautiful!" Constantine and Zhou Heng shouted almost at the same time.

The Ottoman attack was slightly halted by the scene in front of them, and the Imperial infantry, which had been greatly reduced, immediately took this opportunity to strengthen the defense, and the remaining 300 soldiers who arrived from the Spring Gate were also immediately put into the defense.

"Father! I'm going to have him join my new legion! Zhou Heng almost blurted out and prayed to Constantine.

"Hahaha, okay, I promise you! But now this battle is sudden, and in the end, it is not certain how many people you can give your legion. Constantine was also overjoyed, and immediately agreed. The Wallachian knights fought beautifully, always saving the Empire's crumbling front from the dire straits.

"Father, it seems that there is more than this good news at the moment."

Suddenly, Zhou Heng heard the dense and heavy sound of horses' hooves coming from afar.