Princess Alexandra ko Caniola looked gloomily at a messenger standing in front of her, a man who had just come from her fiefdom and brought Ruva from Northern Bosnia in addition to news of her husband? The message sent by the Marquis.

After Archduke Karl uncovered her plot in front of Princess Marchdovi, Princess Caniola simply moved to another house.

Archduke Karl did not stop her, and did not even send anyone to spy on her, because the Grand Duke knew that Princess Caniola did not have many options these days.

The break with Marchidovi was a blow to Princess Caniola, and once the previous confrontation with Karl due to the alliance between the two realms was broken, Karl's advantage as their monarch was fully revealed.

With Rowa? The collusion between the marquis was only more effective when it was carried out in secret, and now that it was completely exposed, Princess Caniola feared that the Grand Duke would use it to blackmail her.

Caniola was impressed by Alexander's army, and she knew that the Ottomans were not allowed to have even a decent number of men in their territory, and she was now worried that Alexander would take out his anger on her and her husband if he found out about what she was doing.

Revealing the news of a foreign army entering Northern Bosnia to the Ottomans was a slightly risky but more advantageous decision, if it was possible, even if it could not gain the trust of the Sultan, it could also be used as a bargaining chip to negotiate terms with the Sultan, and Princess Caniola did not think that Archduke Karl would be so kind to keep a secret for Alexander, on the contrary, her nephew would only be more eager to tell the Sultan when necessary, and she was just one step ahead of him.

It's just that I didn't expect the matter to be revealed, which made Carl grab the handle.

But even at this point, the princess was only worried that Carl would use this blackmail, but even then things seemed to be worse than she thought, Roy? The news of the message was both surprised and uneasy to the princess, and she could not have imagined that the Count of Montina would do such a thing that would surprise everyone.

When she learned that Viscount Helva of Zagreb had successfully captured Zagreb with the help of Alexander, Princess Caniola was shocked and regretted her decision.

Unlike Princess Caniola, who was only full of chagrin, Archduke Karl, who received the news, had a much more complicated mood.

He looked at the message he had just sent and weighed it repeatedly, and sighed softly after pondering for a while.

He didn't really have much hope for the foreign earl, from the beginning he only hoped that the man's army would be a chess piece that made the already chaotic situation even more complicated, but suddenly he found that the chess piece in his mind had unknowingly become a chess player, and even stirred up such a big storm that he didn't expect, which made Archduke Karl have to start wondering if the previous plans were too simple.

The Duke of Zagreb has the right to compete for the throne of the Bosnian king, and the thought made Karl's heart tremble slightly.

He hurriedly wrote a letter to his distant relative Ivo Drana, who was far away in Northern Bosnia, asking him about the details of what had happened in Zagreb, and asking him to get in touch with the soon-to-be-crowned Viscount Helva as soon as possible, and after granting Drana the power of his own plenipotentiary envoy, the Grand Duke asked Drana to express to Helva that he could secretly support him against the Ottomans.

"I didn't expect it to be more satisfying than I thought," the Grand Duke walked up and down the thick floor with some excitement, not caring at all about the marks left on the floor by the mud that he had stepped on outside when he just went out, "This count is simply an angel sent by God to save us Caniola, you know, maybe the Sultan will have to change his policy towards us before he even has time to get Dacaniola." ”

Karl knew that he could not openly support Helva, but this did not prevent him from using the future Duke of Zagreb to make some trouble for the Ottomans, believing that if that man was really willing to fight the Ottomans, success or failure would only be good for the Duchy of Caniola.

If he succeeds, the Sultan will probably have to face a protracted war that could bog down his army before the Ottoman army arrives at Kaniola, and Karl will be able to choose whether he should stand up and publicly express his support for the Duke of Zagreb, or possibly the future King of Bosnia.

Carl felt that the investment was totally worth it and that it paid off handsomely.

Conversely, even if Herva fails, Karl doesn't feel like he's going to lose anything.

Zagreb's resistance would have taught the Sultan the importance of the local nobility, and would have forced him to reconsider what policy to adopt to appease them.

"It all depends on Bucharest," Karl said to the people around him, seeing that the people around him were puzzled, and the Grand Duke, who was in a rare good mood, patiently explained, "how important Bucharest is to Bayezette, how important we are to him, if he must take Bucharest, then he must change his policy towards us, if in the Sultan's mind, those who are meeting in Bucharest are really his confidants, then in order to eradicate those people, he cannot but change his attitude towards us." ”

The Grand Duke's analysis made the people around him immediately praise the Grand Duke's wisdom and wisdom, and at the same time secretly prayed in his heart that the Sultan really took the people of Bucharest so seriously as the Grand Duke had guessed.

As if to prove the speculation of Grand Duke Karl, soon someone brought new news from Northern Bosnia.

And this time, the news is about the Ottomans.

The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II, with his army, marched into the Naussava River on March 3, just before the surrender of the right-bank citadel of Zagreb to Helva.

The Ottoman army that had reached the Nausawa River numbered about 72,000 men, and in addition to the 5,000-strong forward, which had crossed the river ahead of schedule, the 70,000-strong army included an elite Ottoman core of 15,000 guards, about 40,000 Ottoman tribal troops, and less than 20,000 conscripts.

Slightly different from Western countries, the Ottoman army had its own unique structure and structure.

Although the Ottomans had established a state more than two centuries ago, their armies still maintained many traces of tribal states.

As the largest tribal leader in the country, the Sultan can command not many armies, and sometimes many of them are only temporarily recruited from some imperial nobles, which cannot fully guarantee smooth command, and sometimes even basic loyalty.

It was only later, with the establishment of the new Ottoman army, that the Sultan had an army of his own.

The new army, which was given hope by the Sultans, soon became a true elite army, which was not only completely under the Sultan's command, but also endowed with a wealth of state-of-the-art technology for the first time.

Whether it is weapons and equipment or war tactics, the new Ottoman army has created one world first after another.

The world's first formed firearms unit.

The world's first formed firearms cavalry unit.

The first unit in the world with a specialized separate artillery regiment.

The powerful firepower of the Ottoman army not only frightened the enemy, but also the Ottomans themselves.

This army showed great power in the conquest of Eastern Rome, and more importantly, their strong will to fight convinced many of the Ottoman nobles who had previously disagreed with them.

The new Ottoman army, which was often thrown into key battles at critical moments and positions, became an iron fist for the Sultan to win victories, while the Sultan did not neglect the tribal nobility that had been carried on in accordance with ancient traditions.

At the beginning of the founding of the country, the Ottoman monarchs keenly anticipated some changes that might occur in the future, and those wise sultan ancestors had instinctive precautions against the military aristocracy that might gradually appear in the future and the aristocratic group that would eventually lead to the end of the day, so there was no real military aristocracy in the Ottoman Empire.

The new nobles who had gained status and land by virtue of their military merits could gain wealth but could not maintain their position, and when they died, only a small portion of the land was allowed to be inherited until they could leave it to future generations, and most of the land that had been previously awarded was taken back.

The purpose of this is to prevent the emergence of a large aristocratic group gradually formed on the basis of land, and secondly, to stimulate the courage of the clansmen, who want to obtain honor, wealth and land, not by luck and reincarnation, but by galloping on the battlefield to kill the enemy and make meritorious achievements.

In the early days of any country, there will be a few wise monarchs and a large number of virtuous ministers and fierce generals who assist democracy, and it seems that God does favor the Ottomans, although there is some suspicion of boasting, but the emergence of the "Ten Founding Wise Monarchs" has indeed made the Ottoman Empire the most powerful country in this era.

Bayezid II was one of the most important of these virtuous kings.

As the son and heir of Mehmed II the Conqueror, Bayezid II's succession was not easy, and although the Greek-born prince was favored and favored by his father from a very young age, he still defeated his brother in a civil war before ascending to the throne of sultan.

And in order to ensure that his brother who fled to Europe would not trouble him, he did not hesitate to pay the Europeans a large sum of money every year as a "hard fee" for his brother's imprisonment, which was spent for more than ten years, until he heard that his brother Jem had died in a prison in Naples a few years ago.

The cruelty to his brother had led Bayezid to be portrayed in Europe as a ruthless and bloodthirsty demon, and although Europeans were more unbearable in this respect, this did not in any way detract from the stigmatization of the pagan monarch.

However, the ultimate cause of these ugliness is fear.

Compared to his father, who was known as the conqueror, Bayezid II was much milder.

At least for the first few years of his reign, he was more concerned with the internal affairs of his country than with the eagerness to expand his territory, which was mild compared to his father, who was eager to take the whole world into his arms.

And the Sultan showed a thirst for talent and a love that was unimaginable to Europeans.

When Queen Isabella of Castile waved the Victory Banner of the Reconquista to drive away the Moors who had occupied the Iberian Peninsula for centuries, a brutal persecution of the pagans ensued.

First Moors, then Jews, and finally even fellow citizens of the same faith, Isabella was merciless in eradicating every dissenting believer she encountered in the land she ruled, and when she sat in the high seat of the papal-chartered Inquisition, and watched the inquisition beheading and burning at the stake of those whom she regarded as devils and heretics, many people of extraordinary knowledge were forced to flee from the land she had cruelly ruled.

Those who had fled across the Mediterranean to the Ottomans awaited the restless fugitives with the warm reception and appeasement of the Sultan.

"The Europeans are so generous, they have expelled the craftsmen, the doctors and the clever and the accountants, and even those who can make powerful weapons out of their homes, so why should I refuse this God-given treasure, let me accept those whom you regard as abandoned, I will treat them as treasures, and you will regret what you have done in the end."

In his letters to the Vatican, the Sultan used to speak in such a joking way of his joy at acquiring those talents, and his high hopes for them proved to be completely unfulfilled in the following decade or so.

Up to that time, the reputation of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II sounded reliable, but he had not shown much ambition.

Although the encroachment in the Balkans never ceased, and unlike his father, the sultan adopted a more severe but flexible approach to the conquered lands, and even the blood tax, which had previously been levied only in a few places where his rule was firmly established, was only widely implemented after his accession to the throne, all of this was always done only in the territories he had already conquered by the Ottomans.

So, although the Europeans were always afraid of the sultan, until the second half of 1498, Bayezid II was only a legendary pagan tyrant to the Europeans.

Suddenly, however, the Sultan sent an emissary to the Vatican, and then, amid all the speculation that the Ottomans might attack the heart of Europe, the Sultan did indeed assemble a large army out of the Balkans.

And the cause of all this is only because of a rumor about a Greek princess that has been circulating for a long time.

For this reason, except for those ordinary people and low-level aristocrats, those with a little bit of brains will not believe it.

At least the Grand Duke of Wallachia Tzepes does not believe.

Watching several maids in hunting skirts pass by in front of him, Cepes looked behind him, and sure enough, a familiar figure did not appear in a moment.

Sofia rode on a not-so-tall horse, and she wore a women's hunting dress, which is now popular at the Prague court.

This hunting dress is cut in two, a sleeveless thick waistcoat on the upper body wraps Sophia's overly plump body that is somewhat inconsistent with her age, a row of wooden buttons from the neckline to the hem fastens the waistcoat tightly, and the cork is lined with a layer of gorgeous wool on the outside of the shoulder, which looks like her waist is much thinner than usual, but the obviously tight and bulging breasts make people a little worried that she may fall forward because of "loss of balance".

The lower body of the hunting skirt is a very wide skirt with a split in the middle, but this skirt is more used to hide the thick inner skirt inside, because the middle is slit, so it is very convenient to ride on the horse, and when the horse gallops, the gorgeous skirt that hangs down on both sides of the legs will rise like wings, blowing in the wind, the sideburns fly lightly, and the hunting skirt flutters, that kind of scene often makes a knight immediately kneel down on the spot, and complain to his favorite lady.

But despite wearing such a beautiful hunting dress, no one complained to Sophia, because everyone knew what kind of trouble it would cause.

At the thought of trouble, Chipes couldn't help but frown slightly.

Not far away, Sophia raised a finely crafted musket, the arquebus on the musket was shining with a hint of light, if it was the other young ladies at this time, either they would have screamed in fright when they saw the burning arquebus, or even if she was known for her bravery, she closed her eyes tightly and her hands trembled, but Sophia held the short musket steadily.

Her eyes were fixed on an elk in the bushes in front of her that she didn't know that disaster was coming, and it was only when the arquebus finally burned out that her big eyes instinctively narrowed slightly.

There was a muffled sound of "bang", and the pungent smoke rose immediately.

Then to the exclamations of the people, the elk ran away.

This shot was missed.

The people around him let out a sigh of regret, but before he could sigh to the ground, Sophia suddenly clamped her legs firmly on the horse's belly and chased after the fleeing elk.

The sigh immediately turned into an exclamation, and some of the attendants hurriedly followed, and seeing the appearance of several young nobles who were eager to try but seemed to have some scruples, Chipes could not help but snort secretly, and then urged his horse forward and chased after Sophia, who was almost out of sight.

Sophia's horse followed the fleeing elk at a distance, her eyes narrowing slightly, and she took out the crossbow she had been carrying with her from the bag by the saddle.

Sophia didn't like muskets because they reminded her of someone she hated, and she preferred to use the short crossbow she was used to.

The fleeing elk slowed down, and Sophia's crossbow was raised.

An imperceptible sound of bowstrings, as the wind swept by, and the crossbow bolts struck the elk accurately.

Chipes seemed to hear a muffled sound from Sophia in front of him, but when he came to her, he saw Sophia staring at the short crossbow in her hand with a slight distraction.

Alexander, Sophia thought to herself,