"Didn't the spies spot the enemy's recent movements?"

Mehmed II inquired about Ahmed Pasha, who was in charge of the navy and also had intelligence work.

"Lately we have often seen enemy ships coming and going, mostly from the Black Sea to Constantinople, and some from Athens to Italy, and the ships have been sailing on a relatively normal route."

Ahmad Pasha replied that, on the face of it, the Byzantine fleet was sailing on a similar route and that there should be no risk.

"Grain? How do you know it's grain? ”

Mehmed II had an idea and was keenly aware that something was wrong.

"It's very simple, look at the waterline, the waterline is generally grain..."

As he spoke, Ahmet also realized that something was wrong, and faced the cold gaze of Muhammad II, it was obviously a relatively hot day, but Ahmet shivered and did not dare to speak.

"Oh, that means that my naval commander, the man in charge of the Imperial intelligence system, actually judges the enemy's movements only by the waterline? Does the ship tell you what it is carrying? Is this what you should do if you are so careless? ”

Mehmed II's tone became more and more severe, so frightened that Ahmed's legs weakened and he fell to his knees.

"Your Majesty's forgiveness, I observed according to the usual practice, and there is absolutely no slackness!!"

Mehmed II's face was disappointed, and his tone returned to flatness,

"Get up, according to the law of the land, you should have been killed... But for the sake of being diligent before, I will spare you this time, and I will not take you as an example. ”

After beating Ahmet, the Sultan decided to let him go, not why, because he was a hardcore Sultan's party, not the Grand Vizier party, and Ahmet played no small role in the struggle against Khalil.

"Since the enemy's movements are unknown, then we have to think carefully, where will the enemy attack from?"

Muhammad II muttered to himself, and Mahmud Pasha next to him had an idea,

"As far as I can see, Lord Sultan, there is only one possibility for the enemy, and that is that they will land in Trabzon to help defend the city for three reasons,"

Mahmoud's face was full of confidence and looked high-spirited,

"First, the victory of defending the city is the greatest, no matter where the Romans come from, they will inevitably face the difficulty of attacking the city, and landing in Trabzon, the army to defend the city, with the national strength of the Romans, can also beat us, second, the logistics supply is easy, the economic system formed by the Romans allows them to easily get wheat and flour from the north of the Black Sea, third, the Roman fleet has been in a big attack on the Black Sea, many of our small fleets have been broken by the enemy, which proves my idea, there are these three points as proof, The enemy must have come from Trabzon, no doubt. ”

Mehmed II paced back and forth, thinking about something, while Mahmud was convinced of his conjecture and kept chattering.

"Lord Sultan, this is a rare opportunity, anyway, our goal is to take the city of Trabzon, as long as we launch an attack on Trabzon, Constantine can't care if he doesn't want to, this can pull the initiative of the war to our side, as long as we defeat Trabzon, we won't lose anything!"

Mehmed II stopped abruptly, and his tone was firm,

"Okay, then do it, Mahmoud and Ahmed, you two are responsible for all matters related to the attack on Trabzon, you bring 30,000 men and launch an attack on Trabzon, I will leave 10,000 people to live in Bursa, and the navy will fight with the Roman fleet on the Black Sea, since the enemy wants to fight, then fight."

Mehmed II was ruthless, but wasn't he? Then don't pass it all, and take down Trabzon, and at that time, it will be useless for the Roman emperor to do anything.

……

The Ottomans shifted their strategic focus to Trabzon, which was good news for Laszlo and Giovanni, which meant that even if Cilicia were attacked, the Ottomans' central army would not be able to reach the battlefield for a while, which gave them a lot of room to maneuver.

In the desert outside Antioch, the Byzantine soldiers had been gathered in the desert outside Antioch.

"Laszlo, you take these 10,000 people to Osmaniye, it's this time, you don't have to worry about your whereabouts, I will take the three thousand cavalry of the Mamluks to Adana, I will set off first, you will leave again every half a day, as soon as you take the city, immediately go to the mountains to the north to build a defensive line, and then just wait for the Ottomans to come, don't be reckless, we can just hold Cilicia, understand?"

Giovanni was very cautious, this operation belongs to the kind of operation that is very easy to reverse the situation if it succeeds, but if it fails, the whole war will be declared a failure, which can be said to be a crucial battle.

Laszlo also knows the importance of the matter, he is a little younger, but he still has a clear distinction between the more important and the more important, and he doesn't dare to come nonsense at this time,

"I see, I'll keep a close eye on the Ottomans."

"In addition, as soon as you enter the city, you should contact the church organizations and monasteries in the city, ask the priest or bishop to calm the situation, do not suppress Sunni prophets and other figures, properly protect the church and the mosque, and try to mediate if there is a conflict between the two, but do not take obvious sides, which will be extremely detrimental to us."

Giovanni chattered, his mind was more delicate, and he thought more, there were so many mosques in Anatolia, if the Sunnis rebelled, the local Christians alone might not be able to suppress it, and if they were driven away by the militia and ruined Constantine's plan, the two would really be to blame.

Seeing Laszlo accept them one by one, Giovanni temporarily put his mind at ease,

"Then I'll go first, and you will go later."

Giovanni, assisted by his attendants, mounted his horse and set off with the Mamluks, their hooves kicking up clouds of dust.

Along the way, the surrounding environment has also changed from an endless desert to a lush countryside, and there is a harmonious scene everywhere.

Giovanni came to the distant hillside outside the city of Adana and looked at it a few times,

"The Ottomans haven't been under martial law yet? It seems that we are doing a good job of secrecy. ”

Giovanni grinned, the thing was already halfway there.

At this time, there were still people coming in and out of the city gate of Adana, and maybe the Ottomans did not expect the enemy to appear from here, after all, Adana is not yet the front line, no matter what way it is.

"Ibrahim, do you have the guts?"

Giovanni turned his head to look at the head of the Mamluk cavalry, who was none other than Iprahimbey.

"What do you want me to do?"

Ibrahim didn't answer, but asked what Giovanni thought.

"You took a few soldiers, pretending to be peddlers' pawns, and went to guard the city gate, and I arrived with the soldiers and took Adana in one fell swoop, do you dare?"

"What's so hard about that?"

Ibrahim was reluctant to weaken his voice, and he was a little resentful of Katona's assignment to distant Cilicia, but this was also an international image of the country, and he was reluctant to show his timidity.

After a little disguise by Ibrahim, with a few men, he approached the city gates,

"Stop, you... What for? ”

The soldiers guarding the gate stopped a few people and stopped with the carriage.

"Big brother, we are transporting supplies, just small merchants, just small merchants."

As soon as he looked up, Iprahim lost the dead fish face he had just now, and his face was full of flattery, making it completely impossible to connect him with the people before him.

"Supplies? What supplies? ”

As the soldier approached, Ibrahim was nervous, but his face remained unmoved,

With a "whew", the cloth on the carriage was picked open, revealing the underneath... Wine.

"Yo, and wine? It's pretty good, come on, I'll try it. ”

As he spoke, the soldier was about to open the altar, but Ibrahim glanced to the side, touched his waist with his hand, and stepped forward with a smile.

"Come, I'll help you open it, how dare you bother you... Yes! ”

As soon as he got closer, Ibrahim drew his dagger and plunged it directly into the enemy's chest, and the enemy let out a scream, alarming the other soldiers.

"Not good, enemy attack! Belch... Yes. ”

With a lift of his hand, he threw out the dagger and slit the man's throat, and took out the weapon hidden in the carriage.

"Kill! Hold the gates, and the victory will be ours. ”

With a loud roar, Ibrahim rushed up, the hanging door was wide open, Ibrahim raised and fell, the chains of the drawbridge were cut, and then he turned around,

"Push the cart over, put it under the hanging door, hold against the door, and leave a way out."

With shouts and shouts, the enemy rushed like a tidal wave, and Ibrahim gritted his teeth and took his shield to the front line.

At this time, Giovanni in the distance saw this scene and stood up and shouted,

"Hop on your horse and prepare for battle."

With the assistance of their attendants, the heavily armored cavalrymen mounted their horses with difficulty, and then rushed down towards Adana, their heavy bodies carrying up even the turf.

On the city tower, the disheveled mayor of Adana staggered up the city tower, lying on the stone battlements, looking at the army in the distance,

"What should I do? What can I do? Can't you finish killing the enemies downstairs? ”

The mayor's tone trembled, he had just gotten up, and he didn't know what was going on, and now he only knew that the enemy was about to enter the city.

"Give me whatever it takes, I must kill the group of people downstairs before the cavalry arrives, and leave no one alive."

The mayor is a little hysterical, according to the law of the Ottomans, if he loses the city, as the mayor, he will definitely be executed, and the family will be affected,

Most of the laws of this period were severe, often with severed hands and feet, beheadings, or the extermination of the three tribes, and even theft was punishable by capital punishment in some areas, even if the theft was insignificant.