The Russians' victory spread far and wide, and in Greece, Orthodox Christians could see irrepressible joy in each other's eyes as they walked down the road and greeted each other. A legend began to circulate among them: "His Majesty the Great Constantine XI, the Orthodox Emperor of the Senate and the Roman people, did not die in battle in the siege of Constantinople. He was taken away by an angel and hidden in a cave and transformed into a marble statue that would return like lightning when the descendants of the Roman Empire returned to Constantinople. The clergy of Hagia Sophia also hid in the walls, and when the Orthodox Church regained Constantinople, they would come out to continue their worship. ”

In the church, during the liturgy of worship, Orthodox Christians gather together with uneasiness and anticipation in their hearts.

"Father Stefanos, we are all devout believers here, and there are absolutely no inner ghosts, tell us about the events of the Roman Empire!" A young man said.

"Okay." Elder Stefanos looked at the crowd, and these people who came to listen to his sermons were all children he had grown up watching, and there really would be no ghosts in them.

"I will tell you a little bit about the fall of Constantinople, when ......," began Elder Stefanos, until His Majesty Constantine XI, the last orthodox Roman emperor, the last Roman, charged at the innumerable infidels, with their spears held high.

"Our Lady!" Someone below whispered.

"Elder, some people say that His Majesty Constantine XI is not dead, an angel protected him, took him away, turned him into a marble statue, and one day, we recover Constantinople, recover the temple of God, His Majesty Constantine XI, will miraculously return. Is this true, Elder? ”

"Oh, my child, God has done so many wonderful things, and what can I know, just an ordinary old man? One thing I am sure of is that after the fall of Constantinople, the Turks did not find His Majesty's body. ”

"That must have been saved by an angel. Praise God, and may your kingdom come soon, Amen! Another farmer-like man also said.

"Elder, is it true that I heard that the Turks have just suffered a defeat in the north?" Someone asked again.

"How could I know about this thing, this kind of thing?" Elder Stefanos shook his head.

While everyone sighed in disappointment, Elder Stefano added, "But a friend of mine, who has just returned from abroad, knows something new......

……

Austria's new ambassador to France, Ludwig, has just paid a visit to French Foreign Minister Talleyrand. The current situation, especially the war between Turkey and Russia, tested the tone of the French.

Austria, of course, did not want the Russians to go all the way and finally smash the Yellow Dragon Palace, ah, Constantinople, to rebuild the Eastern Roman Empire, and by the way bring the Balkans and the Peloponnese into their sphere of influence. And he believes that the French should not want to see this situation as well.

So what he discussed with Talleyrand was how to stop the Russians from moving on.

In order to win the trust of France, Austria has really been lax in its armament over the years, so relying on Austria's army alone? Hehe, the number of troops in the whole country is not as large as that of the Russian front. And the equipment training or something, it is a little bit stronger than the Turks, and the level of the Russian army, probably, maybe, should not be too much different. In short, Austria's military strength alone is enough to suppress the people at home, and it is up to the Austrians and Russians to compete for the Balkans? That's thinking too much.

Therefore, in order to limit the expansion of Russia, it is necessary to pull in France.

For France, it is not a good thing for any country on the European continent to be too strong except for France. Therefore, the French are naturally equally reluctant to see Russia dominate the Balkans or even seize Constantinople, the center of the Eurasian continent.

However, at this time, the French were also limited in what they could do. Although their army was not heavily invested in a certain battlefield, the presence of the French army suppressed the British army. It was precisely in order to prepare for a possible landing operation of the French Army that the British had to maintain a large number of land forces on their homeland, and did not dare to send too many troops to reinforce Dublin, even in the face of the critical situation in Dublin.

But if the French now turn their faces on Turkey and Russia and throw their land forces into the East, they will certainly be able to force the Russians back, and even if the French army sets foot in the Balkans, the Russians themselves will retreat. But this would be detrimental to French interests in the West. Both Napoleon and Joseph believed that it was more important to take out Britain than to prevent the Russians from taking control of the Balkans or even to capture Justantium.

However, France is the first power after all, and it is still different from a pseudo-power like Austria, even if it does not use the army, there is a way to influence the situation of the war.

Joseph and Napoleon asked Lucien to gather information about the weapons and ammunition that the Russians had purchased over the years, as well as the construction of their own military factories, and then discussed the matter together.

"According to our intelligence, the situation of the Russians is not necessarily good. Their ammunition consumption is actually much greater than their production capacity. We are actually very restrained in their exports. So although they won a decisive victory, as long as we stopped exporting ammunition to them, the Russians would not have enough ammunition in their hands to support the next battle like this. Lucien introduced.

"In that case, we will cut off the export of weapons and ammunition to Russia. And to supply the Turks with weapons and ammunition in the form of loans. Joseph said.

"But it doesn't necessarily work." Napoleon shook his head, "Weapons are important, but what is more important is the person who uses them." Well, Joseph, isn't that something you often like to say? The Turks lost their most elite troops in this campaign, and even if we provided them with enough weapons, what would be the use of these weapons in the hands of the Sultan's own soldiers today? Maybe it helped the Russians solve the problem of insufficient ammunition. "Fate

Joseph was silent, he knew that Napoleon was right, and even if they gave the Turks the best weapons and ammunition, they might not be able to stop the Russians now. It's like the American Allied Army with American-style equipment in later generations is basically the scum of war.

"Maybe we can help the Turks connect some mercenaries? For example, the Italians? Lucien spoke suddenly.

Over the years, because of the long period of peace, the mercenary business has decreased, and now most of the mercenaries have changed their careers, even in the southern part of Italy, where there are many states, there are far fewer mercenaries than before.

"Italian mercenaries? How many more can there be now? If you can have one or two thousand, you will be able to reach the sky. Such a little person, there is a use for a fart? Napoleon shook his head.

"Italy? Ah, isn't there an army of 20,000 men under the Pope's crown? Although it is not as good as our army, nor is it as good as the army of the Republic of Northern Italy, it is better than the Sultan's own army, and it should be enough to pull them over, plus to ensure logistics and supplies. Joseph suddenly slapped his thigh and said.

"I said Joseph, you don't have a fever, do you? Do you think the Pope is us French? In any case, the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church still believe in one God, and you let His Majesty the Pope send troops to support the Star and Moon Cult, this ...... Pope: Can he agree? Although the people of the Holy See are the most shameless in the world behind their backs, they are still very faceless on the surface. ”

"Lucien, don't meddle if you don't understand politics!" Napoleon said, "What is a face compared to profit?" If there is anyone in this world, apart from the Turkish Sultan, who is most reluctant to see the Russians, more precisely the Orthodox Christians regain Constantinople, it must be the Holy See. If the Russians really regained Constantinople and established the universal Church again, it would not be a good thing for the Holy See. So as long as our Sultan can show some sincerity, come up with something that shows sincerity enough, the Holy See can support him. ”

"The Sultan probably doesn't have any money now." Lucien said.

"We can lend him money, but it's not enough. Like you said, the Holy See still has to face on the surface. The Sudan also needs to come up with something more sincere. Joseph said.

"What do you mean by something sincere, Joseph?" Lucien asked.

"Jerusalem, or at least some important holy place in Jerusalem." Joseph said, "Do you think that if the Turkish Sultan gave the sovereignty and management of the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulchre, and the other holy places, to the Holy See, and could contribute a sum of money, would the Holy See not be tempted?" Joseph replied.

This was indeed a very feasible plan, so Napoleon handed over the matter to Talleyrand, and asked him to liaise with the Turks and the Holy See to promote the implementation of the matter as soon as possible.

At this time, Sultan Selim III was in a state of panic. The biggest question brought about by this big defeat is not only who can stop those Russians, but this question is important, but it is not the most important, the most important question is: what to do at home.

One of the key reasons why Sultan Selim III was able to push through the reforms of Ottoman Turkey in the face of the discontent of the conservatives at home was that he had a new army loyal to him and supporting him. Although this army was far inferior in numbers to the Sultan's own troops, it far surpassed them in combat effectiveness.

The conservatives who opposed his reforms knew this, so they were very dissatisfied with his reforms, but they did not dare to oppose his rule openly, and at most they relied on the practice of acting in a way that added chaos to his reforms.

But after this war, the situation was completely different. His new army, which he had used to suppress these opponents at home, was completely wiped out in this battle, and now the balance of power in the country has been completely reversed. This means that if the problem is not solved quickly, not to mention his reforms, not even his own life, may not be saved. In the history of Turkey, there are not too many sultans who died from various abnormal causes.

So when the Turkish ambassador to France offered him the proposal of the French by telegraph line, he agreed almost without hesitation, and what was it if he could quickly obtain an army that could support his position, borrow a debt, and send out a few more churches, and pagan churches?

He immediately called back to the ambassador to France, and made every effort to promote this matter and implement it as soon as possible.

Soon, under the arrangement of Talleyrand, the Turkish ambassador to France and the representatives of the Holy See held secret talks, and because both sides were very sincere, the two sides soon reached an agreement. and initialled the agreement.

Then the Holy See organized the 20,000 troops at hand, of course, for the sake of face, they could not say that this was the army of the Papal States, to rescue the infidels. Turkey was advertised as having a "Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre", as well as a condition for the freedom of Catholics to make pilgrimages, to obtain permission to solicit mercenaries in southern Italy.

Then the entire army of the Papal States, numbering 20,000 men, became mercenaries and began to prepare to go to Turkey to help the pagans in their fight against the heresy of the Orthodox Church. Of course, this army also changed its name and was called the "Southern Italian Volunteer Army".

The actions of Sultan Selim III, his enemies in the country naturally would not be unaware of them. They knew that if His Majesty Sultan Selim III really got such an army, then the balance of power that had been tilted in their favor with great difficulty would change again......

It was also at this time, in the Greek region, that a group of people began to use the cover of the Orthodox Church to contact each other and prepare to launch an uprising in pursuit of independence and freedom. The uprising first took place in Bernebennese, followed by several uprisings in Greece within a few days. The rebels attacked the Turkish garrison and government institutions, and quickly took control of nearly half of Greece.

In order to suppress the Greek uprising, Sultan Selim III had to send out a new army of several thousand men who were left around him. After all, Greece is too close to Constantinople, and if the Greek uprising cannot be suppressed as soon as possible and allowed to be active there, then the Turks will fall into a state of being attacked from the back, and it will be almost impossible to stop Russia and keep Constantinople.

But the move also gave his opponents a golden opportunity. Shortly after new reinforcements arrived to suppress the Greek uprising, a coup d'état took place in Constantinople, and the Sultan's own soldiers stormed the palace, and Selim III became emperor.