Constantinople was built on a triangular area surrounded by the sea on three sides, and had a huge and strong wall on one side, which was extremely convenient for defending against the enemy on land, since only one side needed to be defended, and the city was constantly replenished by land and sea from three directions. [ads:This site has a new URL,Shorthand method:,.]

Attila the Huns, who broke the Danube defense line several times and ravaged the entire Balkan Peninsula, attacked the city of Constantinople three times, but was all troubled by this terrible terrain, in which the Eastern Roman naval power played an indelible effect.

But recently, the navy of the Eastern Roman Empire was really unfavorable, the battle of the mast near the coast of Lecia, the imperial navy of nearly 100,000, 500 ships of all sizes were destroyed by the Arab landlubbers, and more than 30,000 troops of only 200 ships, and the emperor Constans was only spared.

During the two precious years of peace, the empire gritted its teeth and built more than 200 warships, most of which were now taken away by Constans, leaving only 50 in Rhodes and 20 defensive bays in the Golden Horn of Constantinople.

Moreover, the Rhodes Island Navy, which is now a horn of each other, was destroyed by the Arabs, and only a dozen of the fifty warships returned.

Whether she can survive or not has become the biggest challenge for Anna to succeed to the throne.

The situation is still deteriorating.

At the end of July 655, the Arab fleet appeared in the Sea of Marmara for the first time in history, and after the defeat of the Byzantine navy in the Battle of the Mast, the Muslims also tasted the sweetness, using the cedar trees of the northern Caucasus Mountains as raw materials, and built fleets in Damascus, Cyprus and other places, and now the Arab fleet has reached 500 along the Turkish coast.

With the naval base of Rhodes, the Byzantine offshore barrier was lost, the Arab fleet easily reached the coast of Marmara on the Mediterranean side, and even when the Islamic warriors landed, the Byzantines did not stop them, and easily let them seize the beachhead.

In the evening, on the side of the walls of Theodosius in the west of Constantinople, the granges, wheat fields, vineyards, and olive groves that the Byzantine nobles and landlords had bought back at great cost had become the pastures of the Arabs, and the wheat that was not yet fully ripe was fed to the horses, camels, and even two African elephants.

The glorious afterglow of the setting sun reflected on the tall and majestic walls of Constantinople, looking at the panicked defenders of the city, wearing gold buns and the same golden chain mail, the founder of the Umayyad dynasty, Muawiyya, who was also ambitious, suddenly drew his sword and commanded loudly at his command.

"The Caliph doesn't want anything, he wants the city in front of him! Spread the true meaning of Allah to the greatest and greatest kingdom in history, and kill, soldiers! Kill! Kill! ”

"Kill! Kill! Kill! In response, the 40,000 Islamic warriors who were brought to the city of Constantinople also walked out of the tent, brandishing scimitars and cheering all over the sky, and the ten thousand sword lights flashed a continuous chill in the afterglow of the setting sun, and the thick walls of Constantinople trembled with a roar full of murderous intent.

Inside the city, it really seems like a scene of great disaster, since the great Hun Emperor Attila in the fourth century AD once attacked the city of Constantinople, more than 250 years Constantinople has not suffered a foreign attack, this time, it is indeed a soldier under the city.

Thousands of wealthy people threw everything behind and crowded into the Golden Horn in small clusters that could be moved, trying to escape from Constantinople and Thrace from where they were not yet surrounded by Arabs.

As for the city, churches large and small were almost filled with people, and the commoners who could not afford to flee had put their hopes in God's gifts, and there was no other way.

In the Grand Palace, the Senate was also in chaos, and the generals of the army were fighting with the elders, and this confusion had lasted for many days, but Anna seemed to be helpless, or no one paid attention to her opinion, so she could only sit on the throne every day.

As for Hou Jie, several Fujian envoys also have the right to attend this meeting of the highest power of Byzantium, but these Fujian guests are obviously not in good spirits, and in such a noisy environment, from Yang Xiong to Wu Yuanqing below, Zhengxiang can actually snort and fall asleep Whenever the elders in the argument look at him with hope, all he can see is a louder snoring.

"Our navy must strike and break the blockade of the Arabs on the strait, and if it goes on like this, we will all be trapped to death!"

"No kidding, with those more than 30 broken ships, can you compete with 500 Arabs?"

There are more than a dozen generals, and the commander of the legion is louder than the other, and he almost didn't fight, even Bernis, who was reactivated by Anna, seemed helpless, there was really no way, it was difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and there were too few soldiers in Constantinople, a total of less than 10,000 people, guarding the huge city walls, and having to defend the sea, which was really too much to take care of.

Seeing this scene, I was extremely worried, and after enduring it for a few days, the purple-robed patriarch Leonti walked out of his seat, respectfully and anxiously walked to Princess Anna, who seemed to have been watching all this with great interest, no, it should be in front of Anna, the co-ruling emperor, and bowed heavily.

"Your Majesty, such a critical moment is already the moment of life and death for the empire, and please ask Your Majesty to put the people of the country first, reach an agreement with the Min State in the east as soon as possible, and ask the King of Min to send troops to help me Byzantium tide over this difficulty."

"Yes, Your Majesty, please hurry up and send an envoy to the East."

Then the rest of the patriarchs also worshipped, they supported Anna, completely because of the special relationship between Anna and Li Jie, they wanted to keep their homes and wealth, but they couldn't do anything, but it seems that in the process of coronation, Empress Anna and the envoys of Fujian also had a conflict, this moment of life and death, looking at the four sleeping Zhengxiang, you can know how unhappy it is.

Even if Anna is crowned as a co-emperor, in the eyes of the elders, she is still the naughty and naughty and unreliable princess Anna, and now Leonti is leading many elders to beg, but I just hope that Anna will rush in and put down the identity of the eldest lady, pay a soft face to a few Fujian masters, and send troops to save the lives of themselves and others as soon as possible.

However, seeing that many senators bowed and bowed in front of her, holding the golden scepter, Anna stood up with a smile on her face, dragged the corner of her skirt and walked two steps to the front, looked around the eager eyes of the Senate, and then asked softly, "Are you asking Caesar's opinion?" ”

Caesar is the honorific title of the co-ruling emperor, listening to Anna's rhetorical question, Leonti and the others' fat heads were about to shake off, and they almost didn't say yes, Your Majesty, you hurry up and marry the King of Min, whether you are his seventy-room concubine or eighty-room female slave, just let the King of Min send troops to save our nickname!

"I'm sorry everyone, although the letter of submission has been sent out, now is not the time to ask for help from Fujian."

Listening to Anna's categorical veto, all the patriarchs were anxious all of a sudden, this is not the time to be petty, but it is about hundreds of thousands of heads in Constantinople! Without waiting for Leonti to anxiously ask for something, Anna stopped his words with a wave of her hand, and asked again: "How far is Fujian from our country?" ”

All of a sudden, the anxious patriarchs were stupid.

"Caesar I have been to Fujian, where to go, need to pass through the long Persian border, pass through the steppe and desert, and also to avoid the war, I walked for two months before I arrived in Punjab, Fujian is also a big country, the territory is vast, the army is scattered, even if the king of Min now receives a Byzantine distress letter, he still needs half a month to gather troops, a month to attack the windy and sandy Khorasan, this can attack the important position of the Arabs in the rear of the two river basins."

"And how long will it take for the distress letter from the two river valleys to reach Constantinople, thousands of miles away, at least a month, and what if the Arab barbarians who receive the call for help do not give up and continue to attack the city?"

A series of time differences were calculated from Anna's mouth, and Leonti and several other senators simply sat on the ground and muttered: "Then my Eastern Rome is not finished?" ”

"Of course not!" Her face quickly became serious, and Anna, who was wearing the golden scepter, suddenly opened her arms, and shouted at the elders in a sharp voice: "Where is our home? Constantinople! New Rome! Since the great Constantine the Great moved the capital, it has endured no less than ten sieges, and even the terrifying barbarian Huns who swept Europe under the leadership of Attila hit the city of Constantinople three times, what is the result. ”

"Three times, three times! Now that we still have a vast western land, and my father, His Majesty the Emperor, and my brother Constantine, are still gathering armies in the Balkans, Great Greece, and other places, don't you have the confidence to surround your homeland? ”

Seeing that many patriarchs were stunned by the questioning, Anna strode forward even more angrily, and the golden scepter pointed at their noses and asked: "The current situation is more dangerous, is it dangerous than Hannibal hundreds of years ago?" At that time, our ancestors were only a small city republic on the banks of the Tiber River, more than half of the men were killed in battle, all the legions and soldiers were lost, and the brave and fearless Rome did not give in. ”

From a small seaside city, it has developed into a large empire across Europe, Asia and Africa, Rome itself is a legend, Anna's heart-wrenching speech, listening to the eyes of many senators, they can't help but wrap the purple robes on their bodies, after looking at each other a few times, Leonti took the lead in raising his thumb, and then followed by the senators behind him.

One, two, three...... Three hundred and nine, when all the thumbs were raised, an overwhelming cheer rang out in the spacious hall of the Senate.

"Empress Anna!"

Hou Jie, who was sleeping on the pillar next to the seat, opened one eye coldly, looked at the lively Senate twice, and couldn't help but shake his head and mutter: "This little girl is quite a means, she has captured the hearts of the people so quickly, the regime, if you want to marry her back, it is estimated that the harem of the Queen of Min will be lively." ”

"However, my sister doesn't fight anyway, what's the matter with me?"

turned over, Hou Jie actually fell asleep again......

The night in Constantinople was destined to be unpeaceful, and all kinds of commotion flowed violently through the city, which continued until the next morning.

Outside the city, the tenacious warriors from the Arabian desert slowly walked out of the barracks one by one with their lazy waists leading horses and camels, and the great caliph and Mu'awiyah also walked out of his golden tent under the service of his attendants, and rode his handsome war horse to the front of the whole army, but looking at the walls of Constantinople, his eyes couldn't help but shrink.

Compared with yesterday's panicked and sparsely scattered city walls, this day, it was several times denser, and the immobile army seemed to have landed on the fortress out of thin air, and the city walls with the army were like giants more than ten meters high, looking at themselves mockingly and defiantly, and Muawiyeh's eyelids couldn't help jumping.

"Offensive !!"