In this way, the first attack of the Norman Empire ended in failure. The Thracians who fled back were depressed and demoralized. Even the other Norman soldiers became a little frustrated. The Emperor tried, trying to cheer up the soldiers. But it didn't work out very well.

"Such a house has enough garrisons and supplies. A morale-high and well-defended city. How can we break through it? Our largest caliber artillery can only shake off a little dust when it hits it. And if our army is to pass, it will have to withstand the attack of their crossfire. They are the same as our empire. Possession of well-made catapults and ballistas. And then there's the Greek firethrower, a terrifying weapon. Perhaps only God has the means to break through this city. ”

At that time, after hearing about the whole process of this matter. In the Greek peninsula, there were bards who wrote the lyrics in the tone of Norman soldiers. And it spread. This made the Norman army suffer from a strict military system. The Greeks, who felt very bad, saw hope again. They whispered, and the road was in sight. Pondering when the Normans would fail. It was as if other barbarians were trying to capture Constantinople, and they were bleeding in front of the fortified wall.

Even if the outer walls of Theodosius' wall could be broken, there would still be an inner wall to attack. Even if the interior walls are broken again. Then the Greeks still had a wall of Constantine to defend. They would rely on the walls to constantly reduce the morale, will to attack, and strength of the Normans. And when the Normans were weakened to the point of vulnerability, they were easily crushed.

In such a situation, the frontal, from the western side of the land direction, attacked. Not a good idea, I'm afraid. The artillery technology of the Normans was not enough to forge a giant cannon such as the Urban Cannon.

In fact, even if such a cannon were cast, it would not necessarily be able to blast open the fortress of Constantine - this is not a dilapidated city wall hundreds of years later, during the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, which was rarely maintained and lacked everywhere. Rather, it was a complete and intact system of Constantine's city defenses.

And even back then, it took months for the cannon to blast a small gap in the outer wall...... And after that, the cannon is unusable to explode. Constantine's defenders could naturally retreat to the inner walls at the back, as well as to the walls of Constantine to continue their defense. So if you calculate it carefully, the legendary vaunted god of the urban cannon actually did not play much role in the battle of the fall of Constantinople.

In this way, the superiority of the Norman army in equipment was neutralized by the strong defenses of the enemy. And the technological superiority of the Normans. Nor was it enough to destroy such a thick city defense of Constantinople. If it is forcibly attacked head-on, I am afraid that even the Normans will have another 100,000 troops. It doesn't always get a bargain. What's more, such a desperate war of attrition, such a loss-making deal. The Norman Emperor didn't want to do it either.

When the Thracian army retreated, Egil was not angry or annoyed. Instead, the corners of his mouth turned up, and a smile appeared. After seeing the garrison of the Greeks in front of the city. This emperor already knew. A frontal attack with his forces is an almost impossible task. If he had done so, the end result would have been the same as the other barbarians who had attacked Constantinople...... But the Norman emperor was not a stupid, brainless barbarian. On the contrary, the Norman Emperor was very clever.

The western side of Constantinople was too well defended. Then look for a breakthrough from the other direction - although the east side is relatively wide. But the defenses there are no less solid. It's not easy to break through. On the south side is the sea, rocky beaches and cliffs. Unable to complete the landing mission - that is.

"So every time, every time, every time...... It's all like that. In its original history, Constantinople fell twice. Once Venice, once Ottoman Turkey. It's all such tactics......"

After a little deliberation, the Norman Emperor made up his mind - the Golden Horn. The marina area of Constantinople. The walls are low and at the same time a natural harbor. After the docks were cleared, they could accommodate tens of thousands of troops! No wonder Constantinople fell twice that year. Dandoro the Elder and Mehmed II the Conqueror eventually made it the decisive place for victory.

"I have enough navy. In fact, so to speak. My navy is the strongest in the world. Conquering Constantinople with my navy was not too difficult. At the time, Egil said to himself. He maintained his usual self-confidence. And ordered the artillery units to continue the bombardment for a while. After a setback to the morale of the defenders of Constantinople. So he went back to his camp and rested.

Over the next few days, the Norman army was loose on the outside and tight on the inside. On the surface, the cover of large fire was still maintained, and the attack method of forcibly storming the walls of Theodosius was forced. And in the background. But began to concentrate their efforts. Prepare to bypass the city defenses of Constantinople and storm the Golden Horn to gain an advantage.

The Norman emperor organized an army of a total of 40,000 men. A long-range covering force consisting of 10,000 longbowmen, repeaters, heavy crossbowmen, and arsonist engineers. A total of 25,000 elite Norman infantry wearing plate armor and armed with tomahawks, and 5,000 Norman assault infantry. The emperor asked the Black Sea Fleet to transport these forces. And the fleet of hundreds of large and small naval guns as a cover firepower to assist the army attack. As long as it is possible to transport the army into the Golden Horn. It's victory.

Under Egil's budget, the attack on the Golden Horn would be extremely successful. Immediately afterward, the Norman army, which had occupied one of the walls of Constantine, would swarm in. Or the opponent will hold out for a while longer. Or their own army will be in Constantinople, fighting street battles with the Greek army. There were even remnants of the opposing forces holding on to a few towers of Theodosius' walls. But that doesn't change the big picture at all. The final result of this battle will be a complete victory for the Norman army. The Empire would be the first of the most glorious conquerors of Constantinople in a thousand years to conquer the unfailing capital.

The empire of the Greeks will completely collapse. The great Roman Empire, which existed before the Common Era, will completely disappear into the dust of history. Replaced by the Normans. At the same time, Egil will also receive the best reward for him, the coquettish Eastern Roman emperor Lilianu.

However, soon. A message interrupted the Norman Emperor's delusions—the latest report from the Norman spies arrived. The defenders of Constantinople seem to have sensed the Norman movement. It seems that it was thought that its fleet could not hold the Golden Horn on the north side of Constantine. So they made the decision to strengthen their garrison - dozens of huge and heavy chains, blocking the entrance to the entire Golden Horn. At the same time, the other side also sent three heavy infantry brigades in the direction of the Golden Horn, and nearly 5,000 professional troops to garrison it. to strengthen the power in that direction.

Before the Norman Emperor's strategy could be achieved, he was restrained. This made Egir feel a little annoyed and angry—after that, under the wrath of the Norman Emperor. The Norman army forced its way to the city of Theodosius for three days in a row. The Norman Emperor divided his army into more than a dozen waves, attacking non-stop and night after night. Exhausted the armies of the Greeks.

In this way, the two sides engaged in three consecutive days of high-intensity operations. More than a million arrows, crossbows, javelins and buckshot were fired at each other. More than 10,000 stones, ballistas and shells were thrown at each other. The moats of Theodosius' walls were almost completely destroyed. Several towers were also bombed and could no longer be used. It is not uncommon for a large number of bow strings to be broken, catapults and ballistas damaged, and even artillery boreholes. The Norman army consumed a lot of supplies, losing nearly three thousand of the most elite professional troops, as well as nearly ten thousand Thracian, Balkan and Hungarian servants. However, it was still unable to break through the defenses of Theodosius' walls.

After this, the Norman army changed tactics. No more troops were sent to attack. Rather, under Theodosius, a hill of earth was piled up in front of the moat. and the construction of wooden fences and earthen walls. It seemed that in such a way to counter the urban defenses of the Eastern Roman army. After the construction of the earth mountain, the artillery unit was moved to it. Directly bombarded buildings in the city of Constantinople.

Such a move made the Greek defenders a little frightened. But they thought a little more - the Norman army was not bad at engineering troops. But it was necessary to build a hill position nearly twenty meters high, strong enough to accommodate hundreds of artillery pieces. I'm afraid it will take a while. And even if it's piled up. Then the Eastern Roman army was not necessarily afraid.

In recent times, the Greeks have not been idle either. They re-fortified the various caves under the walls of Theodosius. to deal with the shells fired by the Norman mortars, with curved tracks. After using up a lot of stone and wood. The Greeks were convinced that such a defense would be sufficient to withstand the Norman bombardment - so they simply hid in the hiding hole while the enemy bombarded it. Wait for the Normans to charge and then go up to the city wall to defend it. If that doesn't work, you can retreat to the walls of Theodosius. There's no need to worry about it at all.

After such an idea spread, the defenders of the Greeks were a little slack. The continuous high-intensity combat made them tired. And the successive victories made them proud and looked down on their opponents. I saw that the dirt mountain on the opposite side was growing higher and higher. But it didn't feel too much. Bombardment with catapults and ballistae every day has become a routine response......

(To be continued)