Standing in a corner of the fortress, Alexander looked at the shadow of the Ottoman cavalry looming below, wondering about the current situation.

It is clear that the Ottomans' previous plans were almost complete, and that Bayezid II did not follow his father's previous methods, but was ready to settle Bucharest's problems once and for all with a much larger, and now more ambitious one.

Judging from the current situation, Bayezid did not hesitate to bypass Bosnia and Croatia, and even went all the way to the border of Caniola, which seems to be a big circle, but as long as you pay a little attention, you will find that when he really solves the problem of Wallachia and captures Bucharest, he can take the entire Balkan region, including Bulgaria, into his arms, and think about Moravia, which had to be attached to the Ottoman Empire because of the war with Poland, Alexander suddenly discovers that Bayezid II, who is said to be not very enterprising in history, actually has a huge ambition that is awe-inspiring.

"My lord, are we going to defend the city here?"

Beside him, Gompati interrupted Alexander's association with a puzzled inquiry, and he looked back at the artilleryman beside him, who had once again become without a single cannon, smiled and asked, "Then do you think we should defend the city here?" ”

"Your Excellency, you said before you came here that we came here for the copper mines," Gompati's voice was a little resentful, "but now we are helping these people defend this city, which is a little different. ”

"Copper," Alexander laughed, he looked north at the shadow of a mountain in the distance, Alexander turned back and waved his hand at Gompati, "Don't worry, Gompati, there will be results soon." ”

As he spoke, he suddenly asked, "Gompati, don't you think we've been out long enough?" ”

Gompati looked at Alexander with some astonishment, in fact, he had had this idea for a long time, and among both soldiers and low-level officers, homesickness was slowly spreading, although this was not to the point of affecting the entire army, but Gompati knew that this was a very dangerous signal, a strong expeditionary force would often collapse due to the sudden outbreak of homesickness, which was not without a trace in history, and even the great Alexander the Great had to finally compromise before facing this problem.

And what about the Alexander in front of him, can he avoid the danger caused by the homesickness of the army?

Although he didn't get an answer, the look on Gompati's face said a lot, and Alexander patted the stone stack in front of him lightly and nodded: "I'm homesick too, I think we should be ready to go back to Montina." ”

"But what about here, my lord? You don't want a big copper mine anymore? When Alexander said that he was going home, Gompati seemed a little unwilling: "We have paid enough, if we don't get anything, then what are we here for, you must know that many good soldiers have died in this damn place." ”

"So if we're going back, we've got to pay enough." Alexander slapped down the stone stack again, "Send someone to get Prato, now it's time to use him." ”

Prato walked down the street with a gloomy face, his eyes were dark, his cheeks were gray, his lips were purple, and his figure, which had been slightly fattened because of his good food and drink, looked like he had lost a lot of weight.

The Greek princess was simply the devil, this is Prato's conclusion, he did not know if the princess was sick in the brain, or as the church said, it was actually possessed by the devil, and every time the princess sent someone to summon him, the people around him would look at him with envy and jealousy, and even some rumors had spread in the tavern that the princess did not fancy the goods he brought, but the little white face herself from the West.

This even caused the indignation of many locals, who thought that the princess was still too young and only liked the appearance and did not know that it was the warriors who were somewhat manly.

But only Prato knew that it was not the case, and that every summoning of the princess was a torment for him, but he was sure of one thing now, that princess and the Count of Montina must have had an extraordinary or wonderful relationship as in those legends.

At the beginning of each summons, Sophia would prepare some delicious food for him, as well as a local ale that would cause a lot of bubbles, and then gesture to him and ask him to tell him something about Alexander.

But the bad thing is here, every good start brings a miserable ending, often I don't know why Sophia will suddenly burst into flames when she listens to it, and then she pulls out something and starts chasing Prato to fight, and all she has around her are some fatal things, long swords, clubs, and even a mace that I don't know where to find it!

Sofia's extraordinary strength makes Prato see the horror of the Amazonian warrior in Greek legend, and the princess's moodiness makes his heart tremble, but when he soon realizes that princesses only lose control of their emotions when they hear about women, Prato decides to cleverly avoid or vaguely perfunctory.

But that doesn't work, Sophia seems to have some kind of very strange masochistic tendencies, she obviously doesn't want to hear Alexander entangled with other women, but if she doesn't hear this, she will be cranky, once so blind and unpredictable, Palatto will be unlucky again, she will pull something around her and chase and fight while shouting "Ah! Yes! He roared angrily, and asked the hapless merchant if there was something he was hiding from her.

So during this period of time, Prato only had three things a day, eating, sleeping, and being chased by Sophia.

The hard times finally came to an end with the arrival of a chasher, and Prato felt that he had never been so eager to do an errand for the Count, so that although he had heard that the Ottomans had appeared in the suburbs, he was still happy to go out of the city, and rode his donkey along the suburban road to the fort a quarter of a dozen miles away to meet Alexander.

Alexander was delighted by Prato's arrival, and although he thought he looked a little decadent, he didn't pay much attention to it, and then before the hapless merchant complained to him, Alexander gave Prato an unexpected "surprise".

"Wait, sir, who do you want me to see?"

Prato looked at Alexander in a daze, and at this time he thought to himself, "Should I go back to the city and continue to live a good life of eating, sleeping, and being beaten."

"Prato, you are a merchant, the Ottomans will not restrict your movements, and don't you already have a friend on their side," Alexander took Prato's shoulders and walked slowly on the fortress, listening to the noise coming from the Ottoman army that was building a camp in the distance, Alexander comforted the merchant with a shocked face, "I need you to go to the Duke of Herva now, and tell him my intentions, and there is another person you want to meet, the new Ottoman friend you made before, I have a letter for you to bring to him. ”

Prato moved his throat hard, he wanted to argue, but looking at the way Alexander looked at him, he suddenly lost his courage, but just as he began to wonder whether to agree to it, he immediately found a chance to slip away, Alexander leaned over and whispered something in his ear, Prato's originally gray face instantly turned red and full of spirit.

"Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will definitely get things done."

Prato almost clenched his fists to Alexander and even when he left, he was still chattering, but even if others understood it, he didn't know his "share...... Pricing power...... What are the ...... of the big copper mine talking about?

Sent away from Prato, Alexander sent another letter to the city, this time addressed by the Patriarch of Bucharest.

In the early years, after the final formal break between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, there were five patriarchates in the Orthodox Christian world, among which the Patriarch of Constantinople was regarded as the supreme patriarch of Orthodoxy, just as the Catholic Church had the Bishop of Rome as the supreme Catholic leader.

However, with the fall of the Eastern Territories, the Orthodox Patriarchate had already existed in name only, and the fall of Constantinople made the Orthodox Church lose the crown of the Supreme Patriarch all of a sudden.

In today's Orthodox world, all the diocesan patriarchs cannot claim to be the supreme patriarch, but they all look at this coveted title, but whether it is the Patriarch of Bucharest in the Balkans, the Patriarch of Moscow in the far East Rus, or the Patriarchs of the Eastern dioceses who are now only in vain, they all know that it is extremely difficult to obtain this title of Supreme Priest.

The Patriarch of Bucharest was ambitious, and he aspired more than anyone else to this title, because only then could he call on the Orthodox Christians everywhere in the name of the Supreme Patriarch to defend the city of Bucharest.

The Patriarch knew very well that under the pressure of the Ottoman army, he could not wage a holy war without such a name, and whether he could become the supreme patriarch became the key to the fate of Bucharest and the entire Balkan region.

So when he received the secret letter sent to him by Alexander, the patriarch couldn't help but hesitate when he looked at the contents, although he had made an agreement with Alexander before, but when he really had to face a choice, he was a little hesitant because of fear.

He had burned the letter, but its contents were in the Patriarch's mind.

“…… Dear Patriarch, I am sure you must also know the significance of my proposal, which is important to you and to me, and that a holy marriage with your blessing will be the beginning of a good thing for all of us, and that Bucharest needs such a good thing, and that the appeal of the Greek princess is very important to you......"

The Patriarch pondered the contents of the letter, and he confessed that he was indeed moved, not because of the benefits of a marriage to Bucharest, but because of the influence of being a Greek princess.

The Balkan aristocracy was not only in conflict but very strong in conflict with each other, and some were enemies with generations of grudges, even if they had to unite temporarily in the face of the Ottoman invasion, they still did not become real comrades-in-arms, and Ladislas II was more interested in his Bohemian and Hungarian interests.

Almost everyone knows these things, so at this time, the identity of the Greek princess has become a link that cannot be ignored by everyone.

The status of the Greek princess was unusually important at this time, and if legal evidence could be found for a marriage that might have been controversial, and even as a witness to the marriage and the blessing of doctrinal interpretation, then not only would the friendship between the princess herself and the Count of Montina be obtained, but also the special status of the person who gave the blessing would be highlighted.

This reminded the Patriarch of the time when Leo VIII crowned Charlemagne.

It was the almost entirely impromptu coronation of the pope that brought about a seismic change in the status of the Catholic Church, which, if until then had been a dog before the monarch, had not only been completely freed from the king's shackles after the coronation of Leo VIII, but had even become a giant that secular monarchs had to take seriously.

Although the Patriarch was well aware that he could not compare himself to Leo VIII, he felt that doing so would at least make his position more prominent among all the Patriarchs.

The marriage blessing of the last blood heir of the Eastern Roman Empire is a special honor in itself, and the current situation has given this honor a special meaning.

Unless they made peace with the Ottomans, everyone had to admit that Sophia was the only one who could keep them together.

And Alexander's previous battle on the Alger River had completely closed the door to peace between Bucharest and the Ottomans.

Thinking of this, a trace of horror suddenly swelled in the patriarch's heart.

Could it be that the earl had planned all this a long time ago?

Forcing Bucharest to fight to the death against the Ottomans, was the count's seemingly reckless move ultimately aimed at such a result?

The Patriarch felt that it was entirely possible now, at least in Bucharest at the moment, and no one could justifiably propose peace anymore.

The siege of Bucharest launched by the Ottomans after the battle at the Alge River speaks for itself, and by this time the two sides could only end everything with a victory or a crushing defeat for one side.

"A blessed holy marriage," muttered the Patriarch, "if a blessing can make a union full of filth sacred, then with what is it to wash away the filth of this blessing?" ”

Alexander didn't know what the Patriarch was slandering him, but he didn't care about it.

Alexander VI was able to openly admit that he had many illegitimate children, and he was able to openly use his power for the sake of his children's glamorous interests, only because he had papal power.

Now Alexander does not have the power of his father-in-law, but the wonderful situation in Bucharest gives him a rare opportunity to be so "reckless".

To be Sophia's husband is what Sophia needs, and to be the husband of a Greek princess is what Alexander needs.

Montina's army suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Sissou Valley, with the exception of Gompati, who once again lost all his artillery, and the Genoese suffered heavy casualties due to the heavy attack.

However, it also gave Alexander a new perspective on the Genoese, although these old soldiers did not seem to be very pleasant, but when he learned that the Genoese had only broken through the flank after suffering so many casualties, Alexander felt that maybe these people were not so bad.

In fact, the Genoese showed enough bravery, especially when they were forced to retreat, perhaps stimulated by the ferocity of the reinforcements of the Balkans, and the Genoese sword and shield soldiers even summoned up the courage to take advantage of the favorable terrain they occupied, and took advantage of the enemy's exhaustion to launch a small but really frightened Ottoman commander with a counterattack on the Ottoman commanders.

At the thought of the possibility of being driven back into the waist-deep muddy water, the Ottoman commander immediately gave up the idea of pursuing the victory, and ordered his troops to go on the defensive, firmly holding the position they had just captured.

Although this was short-lived, it had bought precious time for the retreat of the left flank of the Montina army, so when Sisuggu's troops finally came out of the swamp, he was confronted by the Montina army, which had retreated to the outskirts of the fortress and was ready to fight a defensive battle.

Although this situation did not meet Sugu's expectations, it made him very dissatisfied.

In Sisughu's view, with him and the Ottoman army on the Dembvica River flanking at the same time, even if the Montina army was able to retreat, it should be the result of paying a heavy price.

In addition, Sisugu was also ready to take advantage of the enemy's unstable foothold to pursue the enemy fiercely, and take advantage of the situation to sweep the entire Bucharest outlying fortress with the troops on the river.

"A stubborn enemy," Sissou thought it was not an exaggeration to say of the Count of Montina, but then he said with a little regret, "but if he is clever enough, he should leave the city as soon as possible." ”

There was certainly a reason for Sisughu's "advice", and with the Ottomans completing the siege of Bucharest on the northern and southern flanks, Bayezid II finally issued the order for a general attack on the city of Bucharest on April 25.

Also on the same day, the Ottoman army, which had full control of the lower reaches of the Dembvica River, quickly transported groups of soldiers across the river, and the Ottoman right flank first launched an attack on the weakly defended city on the east bank of the Dembvica River.

The left flank of the Ottomans, while sending troops to closely monitor the movements of the fortresses along the river, also launched a fierce attack on the city of Dembvica.

For a time, the Bucharest plain was full of gunsmoke, and there were battlefields everywhere.

However, this had nothing to do with Prato, and the night before the Ottomans attacked, Prato quietly left Bucharest with two letters written by Alexander, he did not know what was written in both letters, but he knew that the contents must be important.

Looking at the back of Prato who disappeared into the night, Alexander whispered to Gompati next to him: "To live or to perish, now it is a serious question for us." ”