As the main route of trade between the East and the West, silk and pottery from the East, wheat from Egypt, sugar from Damascus, horses from the Arabs, etc. were transported to all corners of Europe by land and water through Constantinople, and it was impossible to protect such golden waterways without a strong navy, the imperial navy at its peak had hundreds of ships, enough to dominate the eastern Mediterranean, but by the eleventh century, the navy, like the empire itself, began to decline.

The Golden Horn, a gift from God, is the natural deep-water port of Constantinople, where more than twenty ships of all sizes docked, and is the only remaining navy of the Empire.

Constantine arrived, but his destination was not here, but the Genoan colony on the other side of the Black Sea - the Kuban, and at night, the emperor boarded an ordinary galleys and set out on his way to the imperial naval base.

Both the Sultan and the Emperor were well aware of the importance of sea power, and the Golden Horn was such an important port, and the Sultan would definitely send people to monitor it, so the Emperor secretly built ships in Kuban in order to control the sea power after the war.

The Emperor arrived at an obscure port on the Sea of Azov, a temporary residence that the Empire had borrowed from the Genoese, and General Husseppe had been waiting for a long time.

"How? My general. The Emperor asked.

"Is the construction of the sea ship going well?"

"It's going very well, Your Majesty, we already have eight large Clark galleons and more than twenty small galleys of all kinds." The general replied.

The Clark was a merchant ship used by the Venetians, with a high side and a lever that was difficult for ordinary galleys to defend.

"How's it going about the things I sent you to build?" The Emperor asked again.

"It's already loaded on the ship, and the Greek fire is well stocked."

That's right, the emperor is talking about the barrel that fires Greek fire, which has been used for a long time, is amazingly powerful, and can be described as invincible in naval warfare, in fact, it is something similar to oil, which can be attached to the hull of a ship, and once it is stained, it is almost impossible to extinguish.

And this time, the emperor chose to lengthen the launch pipe, and smeared a layer of egg white and quicklime, that is, cement, on the outside of the hull to prevent the fire from spreading, and loaded the launch tube on the front of the hull, when the time came, it could directly rush over and turn the Ottoman fleet into flying ashes.

"It's still too little, if I have a hundred warships, why take such a big risk?" The emperor's heart is still inadequate.

Indeed, this method seems to be good, but the fire does not burn by people, and it is extremely inconvenient for ordinary galleys to carry Greek fire, and only large ships can be equipped, which greatly reduces his effectiveness.

On the other hand, the construction of a choke fort for sea supremacy has been completed and is being inspected by the Sultan.

The Sultan was pleased with his work, and the newly built Cutthroat Fort perfectly fulfilled his purpose, which was to blockade the Bosphorus, the castle was triangular in shape, with four large towers and thirteen small towers, several artillery pieces were sent to the battlements, and a company of heavy guns was placed on the coast below the outer walls of the citadel, and these guns were fired at a wide range, and the ballistics of the heavy guns were flush with the sea, and from this time on, day and night, not a single ship could pass through the Bosphorus to Constantinople without inspection.

The completion of the Cutthroat Fort meant that the Sultan's strategy of domination of the sea was half successful, and the Byzantines were now restricted in the transportation of goods and could no longer enter and exit as they had before.

"How's the fleet built?" The Sultan asked.

"Several ports are under construction at the same time, and at least more than 100 ships can be put into service by next spring."

"Speed up, mention if you lack supplies, the sooner the better, you know?"

"Yes"

The Sultan nodded with satisfaction, at this point, Byzantium may not be able to return to the sky, the Sultan thought.

"Your Majesty" Khalilwizi reported to the Sultan: "The Sultan of Cairo and the Pope have sent a letter asking us to stop the war and restore it to its former state. ”

"If words could stop war, there wouldn't be so many atrocities in the world." The Sultan was disdainful,

"Ignore it, just do your own thing."

He didn't think they would do much, because they didn't have to deal with them, but simply because they were afraid that further Ottoman expansion would threaten their interests.

"The Byzantines haven't moved, have they?"

"As before, the gates are closed, but our insiders don't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"What about the Golden Horn?"

"The chains have been pulled up, and the ship is still moored inside, but there is one missing, presumably burned."

In naval battles, the dense fleet array was most afraid of fire, so it was normal for the Byzantines to burn several ships when it was guaranteed that the ships would be able to block the Golden Horn.

The Sultan was a little suspicious, this was his nature, otherwise, he would not have been able to sit in this position, but he didn't think much about it, after all, this reason is also very reasonable, and people can't find much criticism.

"Well, besides, send our men to stop the Byzantines, we can't let them easily repair the city defenses, and the war starts now." And the Sultan commanded.

Although the war has not yet broken out, both sides know that the war is not far away, so they are trying their best to hinder each other's actions, of course, due to the reason of strength, the Sultan's influence on the emperor is much greater than the emperor's influence on the Sultan, in the eyes of others, the outcome of this war is obvious, but only those who are in it understand that everything is unknown.

In both Anatolia and the Balkans, the Sultan's recruitment of soldiers went smoothly, and the people who believed in Allah rushed to receive the prize as if they were not going to war, but only the Christians were reluctant, but forced by the Sultan's great strength to obey.

Under the rule of the Sultan, the life of Christians has not actually deteriorated, in the Ottomans did not pay a heavy tax, but more than *** to pay a poll tax, the Sultan did not force people to convert, but people are inert, if faith does not bring them benefits, then conversion is not a big deal, there are many converted ministers in the Sultan's court, to put it bluntly, most people are not so religious, true believers are still a minority after all, the legend of the red apple is only to stimulate people's fighting spirit, In fact, it may not be as Tu Sultan said.

Now that everything is ready, at the beginning of the next spring, the Sultan is ready to gather an army and officially declare war on Byzantium, in order to take the red apple from Allah's mouth and the Sultan's heart, and officially inherit the entire legacy of this ancient empire.