Across the Sea of Marmara, in the city of Bursa, the Sultan also convened a royal council,

"Your Majesty the Sultan, we have just discovered that someone in Trabzon has escaped, and they must have gone to Constantinople to ask for help."

Ahmed Pasha said with a look of shame.

Mehmed II sat upright, with a scruffy beard on his chin, giving people a sense of calm.

7

"Khalil Pasha, how are the preparations for war?"

Khalil Pasha stood up tremblingly,

"Most of them are ready, the Venetian merchants will sell everything as long as they have money, and the warehouses in Bursa are full of strategic supplies, and we can do it at any time."

"In that case, then... Let's talk about the march. ”

Mehmed II stepped down from his high seat and stood in front of the map.

"Come and see, the group of Romans on the other side of the sea will definitely intervene, should we fight them first, or should we take Trabzon first?"

"Lord Sultan, the city of Trabzon is small and outnumbered, there is no money and no soldiers, the main point of this war is obvious, that is, the Roman Empire, if the Roman Empire can be repulsed, then we can spend a single soldier, and the city of Trabzon will surrender without a fight."

Ahmed Pasha jumped out first at this time and said confidently.

"I am willing to find a basis for the Sultan to fight against the infidels from the Prophet, so that the people will be willing to actively join the army."

Caliph Baxter stood up to provide a legal basis for the conquest of Muhammad II, the caliph is the supreme religious leader of Sunniism, and generally before the sultan decides to send troops, the caliph is required to perform divination, predict good fortune and evil, and then declare that he is doing a righteous cause, which has a great impact on morale.

And going on a campaign in the name of jihad can also prevent being stabbed in the back by Uzun Hassan, and in general, everyone will abide by this rule, unless Uzun Hassan really wants to tear his face with Muhammad II and beat Muhammad II despite religious condemnation, then that's another matter.

Mehmed II nodded in satisfaction and instructed Admiral Mahmud Pasha,

"Surround the city of Trabzon with the navy, do not allow any ships and personnel to enter and exit, and send another part of the fleet to attack the Roman fleet, so as not to let the other side land easily, we will retreat and advance, and fight a defensive counterattack."

Mehmed II was also very cautious, perhaps because he was afraid of losing money, he did not want to cross the strait to fight Constantine, but waited for the other side to come, first, he could take the name of an anti-invasion army, second, to lengthen the other party's supply line, his own supply line would be short, and third, he could learn about the other side's information, and the other side was easy to know nothing about us,

The three elements of war: information, logistics, and morale, occupy these three points, and basically you can win all battles, and even if you don't win, it will be a draw, and there is no such thing as a big defeat or loss.

"Ahmed Pasha, you don't have to rush to Trabzon with your troops, just surround Trabzon, that is, let Constantine not know the situation, so that it is possible to win."

Mehmed II again commanded Ahmed Pasha, and the two men immediately took the order to retreat.

"Khalil Grand Vizier, do you have anything else to add?"

Mehmed II seems to have sought his advice, but the recent behavior of the Sultan has made it clear that he is not very fond of the Grand Vizier.

"I have nothing to say, Your Majesty the Sultan, the old minister is old, the first king has been dead for several years, and when this battle is over, it is time for me to abdicate and make way for the virtuous."

Khalil shook his head, he looked very old, but he made Mohammed II extremely vigilant, he had suffered more than once from this seemingly harmless old man.

Thinking of this, Muhammad II smiled without smiling, and the corners of his mouth stiffened,

"What the Great Vizier said, you are in good health, you should do more for the country, and you don't have to be in such a hurry to retire."

Khalil muttered a few words, and after a while, he fell asleep.

Mehmed II blushed, snorted, and left.

The contradiction between Muhammad II and Khalil has been a long time, Mehmed II ascended the throne twice, the first time was when his father Murad II voluntarily abdicated, he ascended the throne for the first time, he was a young man, tried to make a big career, but was overthrown by the Janissaries soon after, his father Murad II re-ascended the throne, and the second time was after the death of his father, he rushed to Edirne and re-ascended the position of sultan,

The feud between the two of them has existed since the first accession to the throne of Mehmed II, who advocated military conquest, and his faction, led by Ibrahim Pasha and Zaganos Pasha, advocated the conquest of Europe, and military operations could not be stopped, while Khalil Pasha was the head of the pacifist faction, and advocated peace with the countries of Europe,

After the Battle of Varna, it was Khalil Pasha who plotted to bring Murad II back to the throne, because he was afraid that the victory at the Battle of Varna would make the young sultan's head hot, which was different from his political views, and relatively speaking, Murad II, who did not like politics very much, made Khalil feel safer, so Mehmed II was overthrown for the first time, which he regarded as a great shame.

Historically, after the conquest of Constantinople, the first thing Mehmed II did was to push Khalil Pasha from the position of Grand Vizier, which shows how deep the feud between the two is.

But now it can't be done, Constantinople was not taken, but lost a lot of territory, which made Mehmed II's prestige in the country plummet, and Khalil was also secretly fueling the troubles, although Mehmed II was also very clever in politics, but he could not bring down Khalil for a while.

On the other hand, at the request of Constantine, Genoa, Venice, Naples and other countries leased more than 50 large and small ships, plus some merchant ships from their own countries, and the Byzantine navy could reach about 80, which was already a very powerful force in the Mediterranean.

"Our plan is for the navy to fight in the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, to attract the attention of the enemy, to pursue as much as possible to open up the sea transport route from Trabzon to Constantinople, and for the army to land in Cilicia in southern Anatolia through Cyprus, and to use Cyprus as a supply point, and to replenish grain and other large goods from the Egyptian region of the Mamluk and the province of Moria."

In the war room, Cecipe, with his baton, spoke to the rudimentary map of Constantine, Laszlo, Husseppe, and Giovanni sitting around.

"The Mamluk Sultan Katona privately supported us, so the logistical supply problem should not be too troublesome, but for the sake of insurance, we decided to send a batch of grain from Moria to Cyprus first, in order not to arouse the alarm of the enemy, in the name of grain export."

"I have a question,"

Giovanni raised his hand and after getting Constantine's consent, he voiced his doubts,

"What about gunpowder? Huge quantities of gunpowder exports will definitely be discovered, how can we explain it? ”

Some people may not know very well, why it is so easy to be discovered, there are only a few natural harbors in the coastal areas, and if you want to transport a large number of goods, you must go to the big port, and the enemy only needs to send a few spies to keep an eye on these places every day.

And the most basic use of gunpowder is to use it for war, I haven't heard of any other use, even if there is a need, it is probably something that the gods chatter, such a large batch of gunpowder to Cyprus, if it is not the action of the Byzantines, then it should be the Cypriots who want to capture the holy city of Jerusalem.

"Well, the Mamluks will help us, and the Sultan of Katona is going to provide us with five thousand pounds of gunpowder, which is not far from the city of Antioch, closer to Cilicia, and when the time comes, we can land from there and get it directly."

Constantine whispered, Giovanni was slightly shocked, and then reacted,

"Then I don't have a problem."

"In this operation, our goal is to keep Trabzon, not to let the Ottomans get this good port, and the second is to weaken the Ottomans as much as possible, but we still have to seriously emphasize that military discipline cannot be corrupted, and all generals can use any tactical tactics on the basis of ensuring victory, summing up experience, everyone writes a summary to me after the war, and I will review it at that time."

Constantine's words put an end to the meeting, but the action had just begun, and the prices of materials in many places had increased to varying degrees, and those who were interested had already noticed that a tense atmosphere hung over the two countries.

I have to say that the timing of the choice of both sides is very good, the Pope is deep in the quagmire of Italy and cannot get out for the time being, the Mamluk dynasty is afraid to avoid war after being taught a lesson, and will not want to participate in the war unless it is absolutely necessary, Uzun Hassan and Said joined forces to flank the Black Sheep Dynasty, and they will not be able to free up their hands for a while and a half, except for small countries such as Cyprus and Trebizond, it can be said that this is the personal duel between Constantine XI and Mehmed II, the battle of fate.

Charles VII of Western Europe was busy centralizing power, the Portuguese were opening new routes, Frederick III was preparing to make a move against the new king of Bohemia, Georg's wanton nationalism made Frederick III feel threatened, plus Georg was unrepentant and adhered to the Hussite faith, and the source of the throne was unorthodox, Frederick III naturally did not mind having another crown on his head,

The war between the Baltic Prussian Union and the Teutonic Knights had not yet ended, and the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Kamičži, naturally had no time to deal with Anatolian affairs, and the entire international situation created good conditions for war between the two.