At the end of February 1453, on the plains of Thrace, a chaotic army was slowly advancing west.\\

Although they carried the cross flag representing Christians and the double-headed eagle banner symbolizing the Eastern Roman Empire, and were fairly well equipped, with swords and spears and a surprising amount of armor each, they still did not look like an army by any means.

-- With the exception of a very small number of mercenaries and knights, the vast majority of the men were laymen of the war, including young peasants, women and children, peddlers and pawns, poor priests, and even a large number of women and hooligans.

At this time, guided by the slogan "Holy War", they crowded and walked side by side on the Imperial Avenue from Constantinople to Adrianople. Connecting Constantinople with Europe, the road was originally the most important strategic highway of the Eastern Roman Empire, and was built to be quite spacious and sturdy, with well-designed drainage channels on both sides. Unfortunately, since the invasion of Europe by the Turks, this land has gradually ceased to belong to the Eastern Roman Empire, and the roads and aqueducts have long been in disrepair and dilapidated. Thanks to the fact that the Turks had rushed to repair this section of the road in order to transport the heavy urban cannons from the Adrianople smelter to the city of Constantinople, otherwise this section of the road would have been even more difficult.

Even so, due to the lack of discipline, this "jihad" team was dragged like a long snake. At the forefront of this endless serpent were Emperor Constantine XI in purple robes and Patriarch Gregory holding a cross.

At this moment, the thick morning fog covered the emperor in his fifties with a layer of icy moisture, but Constantine XI did not feel the cold at all. The desire for victory and the anxiety about the future enveloped his whole body for a while, making him can't help but be enthusiastic and excited.

- In order to fight his way out of a desperate situation surrounded by powerful enemies, Emperor Constantine XI frantically staked all his belongings and launched a Jedi counterattack that did not exist in history!

Judging from the current situation, the "miracle" of the violent death of the Turkish army overnight really made the Eastern Roman emperors trapped in Constantinople cheer up all of a sudden, and once again believe that they are the descendants of the great Romans and the supreme elect blessed by God. With the blessing of the Virgin Mary, the Empire's double-headed eagle banner will never fall, and the walls of Constantinople will forever keep the infidels out of the eastern gates of Europe...... For Chinese people, especially modern people, the degree of devotion and fanaticism of Westerners in the past century is simply unimaginable. Just like many devout Western Christians, they simply can't imagine how a religiously unaffiliated Chinese can live.

This devotion to religion can give believers a noble idea of a natural mission, fearless dedication, and unparalleled fanatical passion, which makes them enterprising and brave to face all incredible challenges, difficulties, and trials. If the superior uses Haode in this regard, it can bring an astonishing impetus to the expansion of the country and the nation. From the crusades in Europe in the 10th century, to the westward expansion of the United States in the 10th century, to the "100 million jade fragments" of the Japanese in the 20th century, to the suicide terrorist attacks of the Islamic "mujahideen" in the 21st century, we can all clearly show the power of pious faith in reality.

Of course, if this fanatical external expansion eventually exceeds the limits of what the material jishu can support, then the possibility of success is lost, so the crusade of the century ultimately fails—but the surging spiritual power can support this expansion to the limit.

Now, the soldiers and civilians of Constantinople, who accompanied the emperor and the patriarch on the expedition, are in such a state of fanaticism of "natural mission", although the dream of the spiritual shijie cannot hide the cruelty of the real shijie, but at least before they are hit hard, they should be able to hold out for a long time.

Fortunately, the distance from Constantinople to Adrianople was only 150 kilometers, which was shorter than the distance from Shanghai to Hangzhou, and even the slowest pace of the march would take only about a week. It is not at all on the same order of magnitude as the previous crusaders who traveled from the countries of Western Europe to Jerusalem.

It was even more fortunate that, at least on the East Thracian plain at this time, the Turks were powerless to make any effective resistance to them.

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In general, since leaving Constantinople, the rabble under the emperor has generally progressed quite smoothly.

And the reason why this rabble has advanced smoothly all the way is mainly because of the confusion and extreme weakness of the enemy, which has almost become a frightened bird.

- Previously, in order to gather forces to attack Constantinople, Mehmed II had evacuated almost all of the mobile forces of the Ottoman Empire in Europe and Asia, and in order to show his determination not to return, he had moved his entire court to the front lines......

Thus, when the Turkish army, which had gathered the best of the whole country, together with Sultan Mehmed II himself, and the entire central Turkish government, were all destroyed without warning in the night of Soman's poison gas, the seemingly behemothic Ottoman Turkish Empire suddenly became like a giant whose head had been violently cut off and his blood forcibly drained, and completely lost the ability to deal with any situation.

-- The two closest Turkish armies to Adrianople, one in Albania and the other in the Peloponnese, and the rest of the Turkish army in Asia Minor, were unable to get them to the capital in such a short time. And at this moment when the Sultan died violently, the imperial court collapsed, and the central army was annihilated, whether the generals on the border were willing to come back and obey their orders is probably also a question.

In addition, in the entire Thracian plain between Constantinople and Adrianople, although there were still a considerable number of Muslim tribes scattered, they had neither a decent leader to stand up and shout, but they were also drained of most of their young men (all died outside Constantinople), and were in the boundless fear of "the punishment of the pagan God", and for a time they were powerless to resist the counterattack of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Although the lethal effect of Soman gas was surprisingly good in this era when there were no gas masks and no concept of protection against poison gas, the 140,000 Turkish troops under the command of Mehmed II were distributed over a large area, so there were still some fish that were caught: for example, the patrol sentry sent to the perimeter, the messenger responsible for the delivery of the public, the food convoy that arrived later, and so on.

Of course, some of these people have no brains, who crashed into the poisonous fog in ignorance, and then died of the same poison. But there were also some clever people who sensed that something was wrong and quickly turned around and fled to nearby villages and towns, shouting and shouting about their horrors. There are even some unlucky people who are mildly poisonous, who have run into the mosque all the way to the mosque, before they fall down with convulsions, convulsions of their hands and feet, and foaming at the mouth...... As a result, the rumor that "the pagan gods had sent down evil magic" spread in an instant. And the mental impact of the violent death of 140,000 troops in one night made the originally high-spirited Turks lose all their self-confidence like a deflated ball -- for a visible enemy, they can also be split into pieces with a scimitar. But how can we resist the gods that cannot be seen or touched?

In general, the first instinct of a normal person to hide away from what is incomprehensible to common sense is to hide away, and Muslims are no exception - so that the Turks in the Thracian countryside are temporarily powerless against the Emperor's march and are in a state of panic, at least until a leader of high standing and prestige emerges...... It's like a ship sinking on the eve of the ship's sinking, and the rats on board scramble to climb to a high place to escape.

What's more, the Ottoman Turkish court in Adrianople was also in disarray, unable to provide any guidance or assistance to its loyal subjects in the current sudden crisis, as the ruthless Sultan Mehmed II drowned his brother and nearly killed his own uncles and elders when he ascended the throne...... As a result, after his violent death on the outskirts of Constantinople, the current Ottoman Turkish royal family suddenly became alone, except for a prince of Orhan who was taken hostage in Constantinople, only a few orphans and widows of Mehmed II remained, and there was no adult male to be found, and it was impossible to suppress those fierce soldiers who only respected force.

According to the practice of Western history, this situation is often the prelude to a military general to rebel and overthrow the royal family and usurp the country.

Although due to the suddenness of the news, the uncertainty of the situation in the capital Adrianople, and the legacy of successive Ottoman Turkish sultans, the heavily armed Pasha (Turkish military aristocratic titles) in the surrounding areas have not yet acted rashly, but beneath the seemingly calm surface, various conspiracies and deals have already begun to surge, and they are just missing a suitable fuse.

-- In view of the current situation, even without taking into account the counter-offensive of the Eastern Roman Empire, a fierce battle among the Turks is already inevitable and imminent, and it is difficult to say whether even the Ottoman Turkey will collapse - I don't know how many countries that were once prosperous in the past have finally fallen apart because they did not take care of the issue of inheritance.

What's even worse is that if the goal of the Eastern Roman Empire's expedition to Adrianople this time is to support Prince Orhan to become the next Ottoman Turkish Sultan, and this Prince Orhan, who has been a hostage in Constantinople all his life, Zuihou really entered Adrianople and successfully ascended the throne. The Turks, who spontaneously stood up at this time to resist and prevent the emperor and the new sultan from marching, were not to be praised for their patriotism, but were to be subjected to a cruel reckoning for wielding their swords at the new sultan, as is customary......

So, in this chaotic situation, the tens of thousands of Turks scattered across the plains of Eastern Thrace, most of them, invariably clinged to towns or fortresses in order to protect themselves. Only a handful of Turkish horsemen, numbering in the dozens, at the call of the imams, made several attacks on the Christian ranks, with slight gains, but they were too small to cause much trouble on the part of the Eastern Roman Empire.

On the other hand, the Emperor was well aware that his men were a bunch of unreliable two-and-fives and rabble, so his target was only Adrianople, and he was not willing to waste time pestering these small villages and towns - and as a result, the two sides were barely at peace.

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On the other hand, although the Turkish Muslims who had moved to the Thracian plain were generally devastated by this incredible reversal outside Constantinople, on the other hand, the bad news for the Muslims was good news for the Christians.

So, on the way of Emperor Constantine XI to Adrianople with a rabble, the Greek Christians who had lived here for generations came to bow down under the emperor's double-headed eagle banner and voluntarily asked to join the army. And Emperor Constantine XI also generously used the surplus captured ordnance to arm them all, so that this "holy army" snowballed, quickly swelling to more than 30,000.

-- In the 21st century, the plain of Eastern Thrace, which is part of the Republic of Turkey, has long been completely Islamized. The remnants of the Orthodox Christians from the era of the Eastern Roman Empire were largely expelled to the Greek-controlled plains of Western Thrace and to Bulgaria to the north.

But at this point in 1453, it was only about a century before the Turks crossed the sea and invaded Eastern Europe, and the Turks' rule over Thrace during this period was also repeated and unstable, so the local Christians still made up the absolute majority.

Although at the time of the initial conquest, the Greeks in Thrace were not too resistant to the Turkish Empire, and were quite happy with their religious tolerance, and many Christians even believed that the Ottoman Sultans ruled better than the Eastern Roman Emperor, because the former had a much more moderate tax rate. Over time, many local Christians simply converted to Islam in order to gain political power in the new country, but the problem was that almost all Islamic countries had the same problem - they would adopt a policy of religious tolerance towards their pagan subjects when they were initially unstable, and they would reassure the people with little money. However, once the country is stabilized, there will be more and more blatant restrictions and repression from all sides, plus all kinds of wanton extortions and extortions specifically against infidels...... Don't forget, one of the fundamental tenets of Islam is to "exterminate the infidels, destroy the infidels, and destroy the infidels by all means."

Thus, as the Ottoman Empire's rule over Eastern Europe became more secure, the treatment of the indigenous Christian populations became worse by the day – and like most Islamic countries, the Ottoman Empire pursued a dualistic system of "pagans giving money and servitude and Muslims fighting for Allah." In order to cope with the constant foreign wars, the Turkish sultan had to support a large army, recruit talents from Europe with high salaries (such as the genius gunsmith Urban), and the extravagance of the Turkish court...... Obviously, all this cost will eventually fall on the heads of the people. The small number of Turkic Muslims who had migrated to Europe, and the Ottoman Turks were the main dependents of the Liliang, like the Manchu Eight Banners, had to be treated preferentially - and had to be scavenged from the pockets of the Christians.

As a result, the Greeks on the Thracian plain, who were the main source of taxes and providers of conscription in the Ottoman Empire, had to pay pagan taxes for their beliefs in addition to the basic land and poll taxes. What's more, this pagan tax, though initially small, is now becoming more and more heavy - especially in the last five years, when the Turks have been fighting almost every year, first against the Western Crusaders, then against Albania, and to quell the rebellion in Asia Minor, and Zuihou has to spend huge sums of money to cast heavy artillery, and to storm Constantinople with all his troops, and Sultan Bixia has not forgotten to build a magnificent palace...... The huge expenses incurred as a result are not an exaggeration to say that they are a sea of gold and silver.

Therefore, in recent years, the Greeks in the Ottoman Turkish Empire are slowly losing their original lenient treatment, and gradually begin to suffer from the heavy tax exploitation and heavy labor of the Turks.

The Thracian Plain, the closest to Adrianople, became the focus of Sultan Bixia's looting of supplies and money. The Greeks on the Thracian plains, for this series of protracted wars, paid pagan taxes that rose again and again, and took on a much heavier burden of conscription than the Muslims—but the goal was to assist the pagans in destroying their holy place of faith, Constantinople, and their hearts were already somewhat pimpled.

Then, as a result of all this war, the Turkish Sultan was condemned and killed by the angry God along with his army...... For the Greeks on the Thracian plains, this "miracle" was both inspiring news and a fearsome warning that even the noble Sultan of Turkey and his army of 140,000 men had been struck by God's wrath and had lost their lives overnight. So what kind of terrible punishment should he, the sinners who helped the heathen attack the temple of the Lord and betrayed the Christian faith, suffer before the Lord?

So, seeing this chaotic "jihad" team passing in front of their homes, in order to avoid uneasy conscience, in order to avoid being severely punished by God's wrath, and in order not to cause their souls to fall into hell and suffer, the locals joined the jihadist team one after another to make up the numbers, just hoping to "keep peace" in front of God.

As a result, under the effect of a combination of factors, this absurd procession, which was supposed to be as ridiculous as the "Poor Man's Crusade", turned into a victorious march when the people along the way came to greet him......

Seeing that Adrianople was already in sight, the ambitious emperor Bixia received a new piece of good news.

“…… What did you say? Franz? The Turks in Adrianople have actually been engaged in infighting in the past few days? ”

Next to the roaring bonfire, the emperor looked in disbelief at Franz, the secretary of state in charge of the intelligence team, and did not even notice that the biscuit in his hand fell to the ground...... Don't they know that our army is approaching? ”

“…… No way, this is the inheritance law of the Ottoman family. Franz shrugged his shoulders...... The Sultan, who had just died in Constantinople, had publicly declared that all those who ascended the throne should have all their brothers put to death in order to preserve the peace of the throne and the country......" (To be continued.

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