“…… Although there is only so much I can do for this war due to the barrier between the sea and the land, as the guardian of Rome and the monarch of the western shijie, I hope that your country will carry forward the great spirit of Christians who have the courage to meet the challenges and continue to defend the eastern gateway of the Christian shijie.

On this battlefield that will determine the fate of Shijie, every European who truly believes in God will be moved by your great spirit of perseverance and pray to the gods from the bottom of their hearts that you will defeat these turbaned infidels and win the victory that belongs to all Christians......"

-- The sender of this letter, Friedrich III, now Holy Roman Emperor, wrote in a letter of condolence, which apparently did not move the addressee Constantine XI in the slightest...... After reading it hastily, he smiled coldly, and threw the diplomatic letter, which had been sent with the Turkish fleet invasion alert, into the roaring fireplace without hesitation.

“…… Hmph, the writing is quite elegant! But the emperor, though full of beautiful words as soon as he opened his mouth, did not provide Constantinople with a single warship or a single soldier's aid, nor did he send a single coin or a loaf of bread, not even a single hypocritical promise, only a bunch of sensational empty words...... When did this descendant of the Germanic barbarians become an orator in ancient Greece? ”

Constantine XI sarcastically said so bitterly, but in the next moment it turned into self-pity, "...... Alas, his Western Roman Empire was just a joke, but my Eastern Roman Empire was even more of a tragedy...... Belch. That one...... Miss Birdie, they won't have a problem! ”

In this cramped, gloomy chamber, there were the few powerful ministers of the miniature empire - Secretary of State Franz, Imperial Navy Commander Lucas, Imperial Army Commander John, Treasurer (Chancellor of the Exchequer) Metochet, and Orthodox Patriarch Grigory.

Patriarch Gregory was not supposed to be here, in the history of the Emperor, who would have fled to Italy in August 1451 in a fit of rage because of a falling out with the emperor. And never returned. However, in this space, since the emperor's soul was replaced in February 1451, Patriarch Gregory was able to remain in office to this day...... Whether this is a blessing or a curse for him. It's hard to say for now.

However, although these men held almost all of the military power in the Eastern Roman Empire, it was not they who were the protagonists of this battle meeting - the moment. These five important ministers of the Eastern Roman Empire, all like walking corpses, collapsed unconsciously on the back chairs, and there was only a haze in their eyes. Even the emperor himself stood respectfully on one side of the throne and bowed to former Japanese Prime Minister Kotori Yumashiro, who was sitting on it.

At this moment, a hazy halo was flashing in the golden pupils of Xiao Bird You Zhenbai's right eye, as terrifying as the breath of a giant dragon.

――With the close cooperation of the Emperor of the Traverser, the number one traitor, the court of the Eastern Roman Empire has been controlled by her with the "True Eyes of the Evil King".

I have to admit that this kind of evil king's true eye is dedicated to manipulating people's hearts. It's really useful on this occasion.

“…… Rest assured, I'm just giving them a hint so that your ministers can accept our command and advice! ”

In response to the concern of the Emperor of the Traverser, Kotori Yu Mayahiro yawned boredly while dangling his white calves on the chair. “…… Excuse me! This time it grabbed your seat...... But I really can't help it! The machismo psychology of medieval Europeans was too much! Under normal circumstances, I, a weak woman of an alien race, would not be able to participate in the planning of such a military event! I really don't understand how the French accepted Joan of Arc back then...... By the way, when the siege of Constantinople is lifted, how about you also give me a saint to play? ”

“…… Hehe. As long as you like it, anyway, the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire has no glory to speak of. As long as I can eliminate the Turks and save the city from the crisis, it will be no problem for me to kneel and kowtow to you...... Ahh ”

A gust of cold wind blew from the cracks in the wall that had fallen into disrepair, making the emperor couldn't help but sneeze, so he had to wrap the shabby purple imperial robe again, and then pointed to the logo on the map table, and said with a wry smile helplessly, "...... The situation has gotten so bad that I don't know what to do about it. ”

――On the map table in front of the throne, the contrast between the two sides has been clearly marked with wargames and small flags:

No matter how you look at it, the Eastern Roman Empire was a one-sided despair.

For this 1453 attack on Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II of Turkey apparently made considerable preparations.

After ascending to the throne, the young sultan quickly put down the rebellion in Asia Minor and stabilized the situation in the heart of Asia, and then concluded a peace treaty with the Hungarian king, promising not to build a new fortress on the Danube in exchange for the neutrality of the Hungarians during the war in Constantinople.

By this time, Sultan Mehmed II had fully mobilized the great power of Turkey, and had formed three attack clusters in one go, using troops in three theaters at the same time - first, a small Turkish army was stationed in Albania to intercept reinforcements that the Albanian ruler Skanderbeg might send to save Constantinople; A Turkish army of about 20,000 men had penetrated deep into the Greek theater of operations and had passed through the Corinthian Lower to launch a massive all-out assault on Moria in the Peloponnese, a possession of the Eastern Roman Empire.

“…… According to reliable information, my brother Demetus has now completely defected to the Turks, giving up half of Moria to ......"

Emperor Constantine XI pointed to the map and explained the current war situation to the former Prime Minister Kotori Yumashiro, "...... My other brother, Thomas, was still organizing troops to fight the war, but half of the Peloponnese was limited in manpower and material resources. And he didn't have a fortified city like Constantinople to rely on. If nothing else, Moria's defeat is only a matter of time. ”

“…… Oh, those distant battlefields located hundreds of kilometers away. It doesn't seem to have much to do with the city under our feet! ”

Mashiro Kotori yawned again, "...... The only enemy we really need to deal with is the siege corps led by the Sultan himself. ”

“…… That's true, no matter how the battle between Moria and Albania develops, there is no direct connection for us. ”

The Emperor nodded in acknowledgement, "...... But the question is, the strategic posture on the side of Constantinople. It's worse than the other two! ”

-- Although the number of troops held back by the other two battlefields was still quite large, the army that the Turkish sultan had gathered under the city of Constantinople was still quite large. Among them were at least 80,000 infantry, 40,000 servants, and 20,000 sailors. There are also 20,000 of the most elite "Janissarys".

The so-called "janisary" was a characteristic branch of the Ottoman Turkish army, literally translated as "new army", also known as the proselytizing army. They were a mass-trained army of young children recruited by the Turks from Christian families in Greece and Anatolia. These children, who came from Christian backgrounds, were first forcibly converted to Islam, then underwent rigorous military training day and night, inculcated with fanatical religious ideas, and were isolated from the outside world for a long time, and served the Sultan for the rest of their lives. Zuihou became a war machine that only knew how to carry out orders - and these "janissaries", who were once Christians, often behaved more fanatically than real Muslims on the battlefield against Christian armies.

In short, the siege force under the command of Sultan Mehmed II was as high as 160,000. It also had a complete military composition, with hundreds of naval vessels, and the unique "Urban Cannon" was cast to cut through the fortified walls of Constantinople.

At present, Mehmed II has led the 160,000 troops to conquer Constantinople by land and sea.

And on the other hand. Due to the failure of the outpost battle, the defense in the hands of the Emperor of the Traveler was even less than that of Constantinople at the same time in history.

-- Due to the failure of diplomatic assistance to the West, the infighting and betrayal of his two brothers, Emperor Constantine XI was in a miserable situation with no internal or foreign aid. His poor standing army of the Eastern Roman Empire had only about 500 men left, and after the conscription of the whole city, the militia that could be mobilized was only a pitiful less than 3,000 men. In addition, a small number of foreign volunteers went to war.

But the problem is that Genoa's reinforcements have been routed by the Turkish fleet in the Dardanelles, and Venice has been hesitant to rescue Constantinople, and has been unable to make up its mind to completely turn the other cheek with the Turks. Therefore, at present, the only foreign reinforcements that can really assist the Eastern Roman Empire in defending the city are a small number of Western expatriates who were originally stranded in the concession, about 200 to 300 people.

At sea, due to the defeat of Genoese reinforcements, the Emperor had only 14 ships on his side, including 10 Imperial Naval ships, 2 Venetian ships, and 2 Genoese ships. This small fleet is currently lined up, behind the chains at the entrance to the Golden Horn.

In the situation where the contrast between the two sides is so great, another round of Constantinople offensive and defensive battles has been like an arrow on the string and has to be sent.

The "international observers" of the time were generally pessimistic about the future of the Eastern Roman Empire, and a diplomat based in Constantinople reported to his own government: "...... The country is so weakened that it seems that even a breeze can bring it down, and it is about to be swallowed up by the enemy! ”

And Constantine XI also lamented to the little bird Yu Zhenbai, "...... I had less than 4,000 troops and 14 ships, but I had to defend more than 20 kilometers of walls. Even if there are no reserves and no consideration is given to changing shifts and resting, the average number of people per kilometer of the city wall can only be spread out to more than 100 people, and it is not enough to plug the gap...... If there are no special countermeasures, the city will not be able to hold on for even a week! ”

However, even the same situation, from the perspective of different people, often leads to diametrically opposed conclusions.

“…… Big husband, cute **** (Japanese transliteration: it's okay, no problem)! Just wait for our good news! ”

Kotori Yu Mahaku stretched out on the throne and said to the emperor with a smile, "...... Mr. Emperor, please don't be overly pessimistic, the current situation should be very good! What's wrong with having more Turks? The denser the grass grows, the less effort it will be to cut! ”

- Although her smile is so cute and sweet, it exudes the smell of death in it............)

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