Cepes felt as if he were dreaming, just as he often dreamed of becoming the true Grand Duke of Wallachia, and not just the lord of Transylvania, and even though he had walked out of the hall into the courtyard of the castle, surrounded by nobles congratulating him, he felt that what had just happened was too unreal.

The task of saving the Holy Land really fell into his hands, which was something that Tzepes did not expect, in fact, as early as the night before, when he heard that Dembvica was facing a crisis, the first thought in his mind was to immediately lead troops to Dembvica to relieve the siege.

And even at the meeting of the nobles just now, he did not hesitate to express his desire to save the Holy Land at all costs.

Dembvica was so important that his father's mausoleum, the holy site itself had an immeasurable influence on the Balkans, and whoever became the one who defended Dembvica could easily become the leader of the Balkans.

Chipes himself knew this, and naturally understood that Ladislas II could not be unaware of this, so although he actively proposed to save the Holy Land, he did not say anything more detailed, because the most difficult thing next was this person to save the Holy Land.

Chipes did not think that the king would support him, and was likely to even oppose it vehemently, or that whoever wanted to hold the office would be opposed by others.

If there is one person who is the most suitable, it is Alexander.

Because Alexander was not a Balkan, even if he gained great prestige in this war, he would not pose a threat to others.

But Tsepes did not expect that in the end, Ladislas II unexpectedly chose to support him as the commander of the siege army, although this meant the inevitable risk of a head-on battle with the Ottomans, but the huge rewards and opportunities were enough to turn the most timid man into a warrior.

Supporters of Cepes continued to congratulate him, even some nobles who were not usually close to him also showed appropriate kindness, a Wallachian Grand Duke was enough to be worthy of their respect, and the status of the defender of the Holy Land could make Cepes gain incomparable prestige that others could not match, but these were enough to make those who were not usually optimistic about him take the initiative to show goodwill.

Alexander stood on the steps of the hall and watched the scene, which had been so complimented not long ago, and now that they had pounced on Chipes, which made Alexander feel that the seemingly upright Balkans were no different from the Italian nobles who had seen the wind and steered the rudder, and perhaps they were not tactful enough in some things, but that was only because the Balkans were isolated and informed.

A young nobleman approached Alexander and nodded slightly, and Alexander recognized it as a Greek whose name seemed to be Djilas, and he had some impression of this man because he was one of Sophia's staunchest supporters.

If Cepes's support for Sophia was as somewhat exploitative of her status as Ladisas II, then this Djilas was purely loyal to her, or rather a representative of the weakest Greek remnants of the coalition today.

There are many nobles who have gathered in Bucharest because of Sophia's identity, but they are really purely loyal to the identity of "Greek princess", and they are still only those old and young, these people are Sophia's "descendants", the real "own people".

These people see Sophia as their hope and future, and they long for this princess to lead them back to reclaim the land and country that belonged to them, they have lost their country for too long, not to mention some young people, even many middle-aged Greeks who have no memory of what their homeland is like, they have become wanderers everywhere, and there is nothing left but a dream of restoring their homeland.

Djilas looked at Alexander with wary eyes, he knew about Alexander's existence before anyone else, and he knew some of the secrets between him and Sophia.

And the fact that he can know this naturally has something to do with the fact that he is a Greek.

Perhaps it was the same experience that was more resonant, and Sophia felt closer to the wandering Greeks, and the enthusiasm and expectation they showed for her made Sophia feel very different from the others, and even Cepes did not make her feel the need that seemed to be for her.

This made Sophia feel that the Greeks were trustworthy, and Djlas was regarded as a close confidant by her, and it can be said that Dellas was as important to Sophia as Ulliu was to Alexander.

Djilas knew that Alexander was due to Sophia's bad temper.

This sounds a little strange, but if a person is always practicing chopping and shooting, and at the same time, it is difficult to remember to carve some strange names on those targets, and after a long time, it will naturally attract the attention of others.

So Djilas knew not only Alexander, but also Jisha and Barondi, although they were just simple names, but this did not prevent Djilas from thinking about the relationship between these people.

But that's what made him wary of Alexander.

Although they may have different minds, Djilas shares Chipes's concern that Alexander's influence on Sophia may be detrimental to their interests.

At least Djilas knew that Sophia could give up them for Alexander's sake.

Because of this, when he heard the news in Bosnia that it might have been about Alexander, Djilas also commissioned Roy? Inquire about your whereabouts.

And after Alexander's entry into Bucharest, Djilas was not in a hurry to get too close to Alexander, he needed to watch carefully to see if the young count would really cause trouble.

But now Djilas had to take the initiative to meet with Alexander.

"The Earl." Djilas nodded.

"Knight." Alexander responded with a smile.

"Count, why don't you fight for command of the Holy Land?" Gilas asked suddenly, and he looked over to Chipes, and said in a somewhat gloomy tone, "I don't believe that man, he approached the princess just to get enough benefits from her." ”

"And what do you want from the princess?" Alexander looked at Djilas, who seemed to be angry when he heard his words, "Knight, no one is without a purpose, even if the purpose is noble. ”

Djilas looked at Alexander with a blank face, he wanted to refute but was speechless for a while.

In the end, he said in a somewhat resentful tone: "We are here to restore the country, the princess is our hope for the future, we are willing to follow her, and we can even sacrifice ourselves for the princess." ”

Alexander nodded slightly, although what Djilas said may not be what all Greeks think, but for those who are old and young, Sophia's status as a "Greek princess" does have more practical benefits than giving them hope, so this can explain why these Greeks call themselves Sophia's descendants.

"You should fight for that position," said Djilas again, "defender of Dembvica, a title that is enough to grant you any wish." ”

Alexander's heart moved, and he vaguely sensed that there was something else implied in this Djilas's words.

"You say wish, so what do you want? Restoring the glory of the Greek or Roman Empire? Alexander asked.

"Or find a place where we can stay," a hint of gloom flashed in Djilas's eyes, "we are tired, many of our parents and even grandparents were not born when they were driven out of Greece, and now their children are about to grow up, but we are still wandering around, we have had enough of this, we don't want to end up like those bohemians and end up without a home, so the princess is too important to us." ”

Alexander nodded silently, he could understand and even sympathize with the Greek's plight, but that didn't mean he was willing to have too much to do with them.

The situation of the old and young in Greece here is actually a bit embarrassing, not only because they are exiled nobles who have lost their country, so it is difficult to be taken seriously, but also because of Sophia.

Although the identity of the "Greek princess" condensed the Balkans, in the eyes of the vast majority of local nobles, Sophia was more of their spiritual leader, and they would not allow the emergence of a emperor who completely pressed on their heads and even put his hand into their respective territories, even if it was the last blood of the Roman Empire.

Although it seems unrealistic to achieve the great Greek revival, the establishment of a country ruled by Sophia and them on this land has become the greatest pursuit of those Greek remnants today.

This would undoubtedly offend the interests of the locals, and with the Ottoman invasion, many of the traditional noble domains disappeared in the war, and people began to worry that the Greeks would take the opportunity to make territorial claims, after all, if they wanted to or had the strength to do so, they could claim the entire Balkans in the name of the successors of the Roman Empire.

This possibility was small but always existed, and as the hope of restoration became slimmer, so did the Greek aristocracy in exile eager to establish a new state.

This is why legends about the last descendants of the Roman Empire have been hanging over the Balkans for decades, and the mysterious identity of the "Greek princess" has become the most favorable proof that the Greeks have established their claims.

With Sophia's appearance, the Greeks seemed to see hope.

Alexander nodded to Djilas and walked down the steps, Sophia was left by Ladislas II in the name of the queen, probably facing a reprimand at this time, after all, it was a very serious matter to shoot in the solemn hall where the nobles gathered, although everyone looked at Sophia slightly differently after that shot, but this was obviously not the result that Ladislas II wanted to see.

The king needed a puppet at his mercy rather than a princess who might really influence the nobles, who perhaps knew it, so when Sophia showed a strong will to be independent, the reaction of the Balkans became a little complicated.

Although Cepes was given a golden opportunity to get rid of Denbvitsa, this did not mean that he would necessarily become the leader of the Balkans, and Cepes himself was well aware of this, and even wondered why the king gave him this opportunity.

Tempes could not guess the king's intentions, but whether it was out of necessity as protector of the Holy Land or fearing that his father's tomb would be ravaged by the Ottomans, he was eager to relieve the siege of Dembvica.

So despite all the doubts in his heart, he actively organized the army and prepared for a big war with the Ottomans.

The coalition army in Bucharest was complicated, and relations were so chaotic that even those who were most confident in dealing with the situation were close to collapse.

Years of mutual conquest have often led to a lack of trust among the Balkans, and to make matters worse, many families have multi-generational grievances that require a lot of energy to think about which army to lead or how to resolve the troubles that can lead to bloodshed at the slightest trouble.

Although he was nominally the Grand Duke of Wallachia, Chipes did not have any more advantages in Bucharest, and even the city had some kind of inexplicable hostility towards him, which of course stemmed from the brutal rule of Vlad III and the bloody massacre of dissidents, so when Chipes's army collected all kinds of needed supplies in the city, their progress was not optimistic.

But the Ottomans eventually helped him,

If the Ottoman army does not move, it will be the key point that the coalition army will save.

At noon on 12 April, the Ottoman left flank advanced towards Dembvica, and the Anatolian light cavalry, as spearheads, even advanced to the outskirts of the city, where the towering spire of the Dembvica church could already be faintly seen.

When the news reached Bucharest, everyone was shaken, and for a while, the Balkans, who were originally enemies of each other or had all kinds of disputes and contradictions, finally temporarily let go of their mutual hostility and turned all their eyes to Dembvica.

Sofia is probably the only person in the city who doesn't care about the fate of Dembvica.

Even Alexander was concerned about the situation in Dembvica, because whether or not he could hold Dembvica was directly related to the morale of the people of Bucharest.

And he didn't want to run into such an unfortunate thing as the destruction of the city.

Ladislas II surprisingly did not choose Alexander as commander of the siege of Dembvica, which led many to believe that the reason should be Alexander's remarks at the meeting of the nobility.

But Cepes did not think so, and when he learned the reason why the king was anxious to go to war with the Ottomans, he realized the eagerness of Ladislas II to prevent the Ottomans from invading Hungary.

Now in the face of a sudden offensive by the Ottoman army, Tzepes did not believe that the king would abandon Hungary because of the crisis in Dembvica.

Sure enough, Ladislas II soon gave the order again, and this time he gave Alexander the task of pinning down the right flank of the Ottoman army.

"It is possible that the Ottomans will enter the Dembvica River from the mouth of the Danube and then attack Bucharest against the current," the king, expressing concern about a possible change in the tide of the battle, finally stated his purpose, "Count, I hope that your Montina army will stop the Ottomans in the south of Bucharest." ”

After Ladislas II finished speaking, he looked at Alexander with blazing eyes.

With almost everyone's attention drawn to Dembvica, it was easy to overlook the threat posed by the Ottoman army's right flank advance into the Danube estuary.

However, not everyone is attracted to Dembvica, and some people are still aware of the hidden crisis.

The approach of the right flank of the Ottoman army on the mouth of the Danube made the situation even more serious, and the danger of a possible breakthrough from the river into the city of Bucharest was no longer just speculation.

To make matters worse, given the precedent of Mehmed II's siege of Bucharest in attempting to capture the city from the river, almost most of the riverside forts on both sides of the Dembvica River were built along the upper banks of the city's north side.

The entire southern part of the city, from the Dembvica River to the mouth of the Danube, is almost an undefended blank!

Ladislas II sensed danger, and it was no longer whether Hungary would face invasion, but the possibility that Bucharest would fall.

The Ottoman Ladislas II was actually feared from the bottom of his heart.

Although he was secretly glad that the Battle of Varna with the Ottomans had not resulted in the death of King Władysław III of Poland, which had allowed his father Casimir IV to ascend to the throne and thus become King of Bohemia and Hungary, the horror of the Ottomans also penetrated deeply into the body of Ladislas II.

He considered himself not as brave as the ancestors of the Argiello Dynasty, and for the ancestors of Pingduzhenlu, Ladislas II was more secretly glad that he did not need to sacrifice his life on the battlefield like them.

But now he found himself suddenly faced with exactly what he feared most, and at the same time that an invasion of Hungary could be launched at any moment, the Ottomans launched an irresistible attack on Bucharest, which made Ladislas II worried about the situation he faced.

This made him decide to stop the Ottoman army anyway, at least to get out of this troublesome place before they completely surrounded the city.

"This is a very large area," Alexander said, looking at the map, although it was very cursory, he could see that there was almost no danger along the banks from the lower reaches of the Dembvica River to the mouth of the Danube, "Your Majesty, I must ask that you give me enough troops. ”

"Plenty of troops," the king frowned, for this request seemed too extravagant to him now, "Count, you know that everything we do now must be focused on rescuing Dembvica. ”

"Then give me the Greeks," Alexander thought for a moment and made a request that surprised the king slightly, "and I need you to give me the right to recruit soldiers freely in the region." ”

The king hesitated, thinking about the worrying situation at the moment, and finally nodded in agreement.

"I can promise you, but you have to promise me that you will stop the Ottoman invasion."

Alexander shook his head helplessly, he could feel that this Ladislas II was indeed frightened by the Ottomans: "Your Majesty, nothing can be guaranteed on the battlefield, but please rest assured, Bucharest will not fall so easily." ”

Alexander's words eased the king's nervousness somewhat, but soon he fell back into a state of panic as new news arrived.

On the morning of 13 April, the Ottoman army, approaching the outskirts of Dembvica, launched its first assault and was met with a fierce counterattack from artillery fire from the fort batteries on the outskirts of the city.

The battle for Dembovica began.