Only a week has passed since the Venetians began their siege, but the castle of Monemvasia is already a pile of rubble.

- No, this small castle is not as strong as Constantinople with its high walls.

When the Cannons of Urban carved the first gap in the walls, the Eastern Roman soldiers in the castle bravely swarmed up and filled the gaps with everything they could find: bricks and wooden blocks dismantled from houses, linen bags filled with sand, and all sorts of clumsy furniture that were not needed...... However, before the first gap could be filled, and the second gap was opened by the cannons, the morale of the defenders in the city immediately began to decline rapidly. By the time the third and fourth gaps appeared, the desperate soldiers had scattered and had no confidence to hold on.

Today, under the repeated bombardment of Urban's artillery, the more than 200-meter wall of Monemvasia Castle facing the mainland has been razed and smashed, and the broken masonry has rolled down the hillside into the sea, completely losing its defensive ability. Most of the towers in the castle have also been destroyed, the trenches have been filled with rubble, and the siege troops, not to mention the infantry, even the cavalry can charge directly into the city!

The reason why the Venetians, who were now victorious, did not launch a ground offensive for a long time was that they wanted to force the defenders to surrender themselves and avoid the large number of casualties that would inevitably occur in the street fighting; On the other hand, the Shiyan field, which intends to use the castle of Monemvasia as a new weapon, will test the power of the urban cannon as much as possible - it is not so easy to find a castle that can be destroyed casually without being prepared to start a war, and the defenders are weak and unable to fight back. And if you build a castle yourself as a target, the cost is too expensive......

The above considerations of the Venetians gave the defenders a few more days to breathe. But it could not change their fate towards destruction.

At least, now lying on the bed and dying, Thomas. Prince Palaiologos has no heart to continue struggling.

After the shock caused by the shelling had completely subsided, Thomas faintly heard a messy footsteps beside his bed, and he groaned and opened his hazy eyes, and among the several blurred figures that kept shaking, he recognized one of his most trusted lieutenants, his wife Catherine? Princess Zacharya, several of his usual maids and servants, and a black-clad priest with a silver cross on his chest.

At this time. Everyone present had a sad look on their faces, and even sobbed slightly from time to time, just barely holding on to their calmness.

Then Thomas understood that this was a dying prayer for himself!

With a sigh, he closed his eyes as if resigned. Quietly waiting for an important ritual in his life.

Around Thomas's hospital bed, the crowd was silent for a while. They exchanged a few glances. Then, at last, the black-clothed priest shook his head helplessly, stretched out his hand and drew a cross, then took out a Bible from his clothes, and opened his mouth first.

“…… Noble Thomas. Palaiologos, your fate has no regrets. Your faith is still pious, may the Lord protect you, may the Lord forgive! ”

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A few more hours later, at dusk that day. Escorted by the lieutenant, Princess Catherine, with red eyes and tears undried, stepped up to the tower of the castle of Monemvasia. Looking out through the thick battlements, the entire battlefield can be seen.

-- On the nearby beach, the bronze mortar cannon that had just been fired was filling the air with a large white smoke; A little farther away, in the wilderness, the tents of the Venetian mercenaries and traitors Prince de Metus, spread to the end of the sight, like a forest of golden lion flags hunting and fluttering in the humid sea breeze; On the other side of the sea, the fleet of the Republic of Venice firmly blocked the sea and completely cut off the lifeline of the defenders.

The dust soaked in the golden glow of the setting sun was slowly drifting towards the city, like a golden shroud that gently covered the castle of Monemvasia.

“…… Is there really no way to stick to it? Checkmate? I remember that there were many more supplies stored in the cellar. ”

Princess Catherine patted the battlement with a look of amazement, and said with a look of reluctance - here she is still a noble princess, but once she loses her territory, she is only a disgusting widow on the run, especially since she has not yet given birth to any children to Prince Thomas. Even if you want to fight back with the help of external forces in the future, there is not enough righteous name...... If there is still a glimmer of victory, she really doesn't want to give up the home where she has lived for many years.

In the face of the princess's expectations, the deputy general moved his mouth, as if he wanted to say some comforting words, but Zuihou still turned into a helpless sigh.

“…… Sorry, we can't hold it anymore, Princess! Although there is still a lot of food in the cellar, the castle has been reduced to ruins, and the fighting spirit of the soldiers has fallen to the bottom! He shook his head and continued, "...... Your Highness, I know that you must be very sad and sad now, and very unwilling to bow your head to the enemy and admit defeat...... But there's no way around it, after all, we all want to keep living......"

“…… Alas! Yes, in this endless war, I don't know how many people have lost their loved ones, some people are like walking corpses, paralyzing themselves, escaping reality, some people are like crazy people, they want to die with an invincible enemy, and some people choose to live strongly. ”

Princess Catherine let out a long sigh of relief and muttered to herself, before waving her hand in resignation: "...... Well, raise the white flag! Checkmate! There is no need to make any more sacrifices! Let's put an end to it! ”

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On May 19, 1453, Thomas. Prince Palaiologas died of illness, and the white flag was finally raised at Monemvasia Castle.

At this point, a stronghold in Zuihou in Moria fell. The Eastern Roman Empire thus lost an overseas territory of Zuihou outside of its capital. Venice, on the other hand, received several excellent naval bases on the Peloponnese and was able to completely control the Adriatic coast.

Liliang, who relied on the Venetian army, Prince Demetus, who proclaimed himself the vassal of Moria, came to power shortly after coming to power. He ceded a series of dangerous harbors such as Lefado and Monemvasia to Venice, and at the same time declared Moria a vassal state of Venice and disassociated from the Eastern Roman Empire.

The double-headed eagle flag, representing the Eastern Roman Empire, was replaced with the golden lion flag of the Republic of Venice.

At the same time, Princess Catherine, the widow of Prince Thomas, escorted her husband's coffin aboard a ship bound for Constantinople.

A few days later, as Princess Catherine arrived in Constantinople with her coffin, the Emperor finally learned of the bad news. Although full of grief and indignation, although angry and angry, Constantine XI's representations and protests against the Republic of Venice were still fruitless.

-- In the face of strength, the binding force of morality is insignificant. Whoever has a hard fist is the truth, and this has been the case since ancient times.

Today, the sea power in the Mediterranean is in the hands of the Venetians. Without the tacit approval of the Venetians, the small armada of the Eastern Roman Empire would not even be able to drive the Dardanelles. For Moria, who is far away on the other side of the Aegean Sea, Emperor Bixia is really powerless.

Therefore, in the face of the hypocritical smirk of the Venetian ambassador, Emperor Constantine XI could only knock out his teeth and swallow in his stomach, pinching his nose to accept the tragic fact that Moria fell, Prince Thomas died, and the entire Peloponnese became a Venetian colony.

“…… That's a ...... There is no diplomacy for a weak country! If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't beat you at the moment...... Ugh—"

Facing his brother and daughter-in-law who came to cry, the emperor smiled helplessly, but secretly gritted his back molars with hatred, "...... Wait, arrogant Venetian! Even if you drag the whole shijie to hell together, I want to make you look good! (To be continued.) )