Michal looked back and forth several times, and carefully looked at the fire paint seal on the envelope, before he determined the identity of the owner of the letter.

"How? Do you still have doubts, Lord Michal? ”

“… Why me? ”

Michal still didn't resist the temptation, but he still had the last doubts.

"Because you were once a believer in the Lord, and now the Lord has chosen you, you are destined to fight for the gospel of the Lord."

Edmund held his head high with a strange smile on his face, and Michal in front of him lowered his head after a short thought,

After a confessional ceremony tailored to local conditions, Michal converted to the Orthodox faith in this small tent and became "one of his own".

"Your Excellency Michal, I heard that you and the Turahan Patriarch are in charge of the supply and transportation of the Trabzon front, right?"

Putting away the "Gospel" and the cross in his hand, Edmund said to Michal.

"That's right... It has always been so. ”

Michal was puzzled, he didn't know why Edmund asked,

"With all due respect, Edmund, if you want to achieve the goal of unraveling the siege of Trabzon by attacking the transport lines, it is impossible unless you can conjure up 50,000 troops at Van Lake."

"Don't rush to conclusions, Michal, if you can, can you tell me about the transportation of supplies?"

The clerk on the side understood, immediately took out a pen and paper, and prepared to start recording.

"Ahh No problem, Your Majesty Edmund,"

Michal smacked his lips, the change of identity made him have to do so,

"In general, the departure of supplies from Ankara is half a month, there are several stops along the way, each of which has at least five hundred soldiers, and there are more than a dozen such stations,

Each transport was either led by me personally, or by the Turahan patriarch himself, and there were more than 3,000 soldiers accompanying him, and there were beacons along the way, if you want to start with the supply route, I am afraid that you are thinking wrong. ”

Listening to Michal's description, Edmund fell into deep thought, and suddenly, he raised his head,

"If Patriarch Michal is willing..."

"Alas, alas..."

Michal waved his hand again and again, his tone was full of rejection,

"I can't do this, every supply line has a handover procedure, and if the supplies don't arrive for a certain time, the latter site will light a beacon fire, alarming the front-line troops, and we are all dead."

Michal didn't want to be sent to death, although Constantine's conditions were tempting, but he also had to have the strength to take it, if he really wanted to give his life, don't expect Constantine to avenge him and seal his descendants, this is the tacit condition of the two.

"Okay!"

Edmund's tone was full of regret, it was good to follow Constantine's plan, but if he could do better, he would definitely get more rewards, but now, it was clear that the goal that Edmund had just thought of was stillborn.

"Since this method doesn't work, let's talk about another, when is the weakest defense of Ankara's city?"

"The weakest? It must have been the time when the supply was just set out, when the number of troops in Ankara would drop to more than a thousand, and everyone was generally more relaxed at this time... Wait, you ask this? You wouldn't be so crazy, would you? ”

"Your Excellency Michal, you must keep in mind who you are."

Edmund was smiling all the time, but it seemed to Michal that an endless chill welled up in his heart.

"Crazy, really crazy, unless God himself goes to war, how can you get to Ankara?"

"Isn't there a river west of Ankara?"

"It's dry season, counting on transporting troops from the river? If you want to take a big city like Ankara, you can't take it without ten times the number of troops, and you want to transport 10,000 people by this river, oh God! Either I'm crazy or you're crazy. ”

"Then it's not for you to think about it, His Majesty Constantine has already arranged everything, besides, I need to know if Mehmed II has already sent troops to Cilicia?"

Edmund's answer was painless, which made Michal a little more worried, but he still replied honestly,

"Yes, Sultan... Mehmed II had just learned of the fall of Cilicia, and in order to ensure the supply of food, he specially sent some of the most elite Janissary legions to prepare for Cilicia. ”

"In that case, Michal, I need your help."

Edmund Masaki said.

"Please, Your Majesty, I will do my best."

Michal also became serious.

"In July, we will launch an offensive against Ankara, and at that time, we need you to relay information on the city to us and send us a message at the right time to cooperate with our operation."

Edmund said slowly, his tone unfazed.

"What time? How many people are there? Where did it come from? ”

Michal asked again and again, and Edmund shook his head slightly,

"No comment, Lord Michal, you just have to do what I say, and then you will understand everything."

Michal was angry, but soon, he was relieved,

"I see, that's... I'll go get ready. ”

Turning his head and just about to leave, he seemed to think of something again,

"There is one thing I need you to convey to His Majesty Constantine for me."

"Please speak"

"Khalil Chandal recently approached the people of our four families, and he coerced us to overthrow Muhammad II and let Prince Orhan succeed him as sultan, and this matter has already been supported by several other families, whether they like it or not, in short, in the next period of time, the Bursa court may usher in a great change, I hope His Majesty Constantine knows."

"The information you give is very important, and His Majesty Constantine will definitely not be stingy with you."

Michal nodded, wrapped up in a cloth and left the small camp.

"Khalil...?"

Looking at Michal's distant back, Edmund muttered to himself, and the deputy head of the regiment behind him stepped forward,

"Where do we go next?"

"Disguise yourself and let's go to Ankara."

"Of course, before that, you have to drink a bowl of mutton soup from Van Cheng."

Edmund smacked his lips and stroked his beard, today is the time when the city of Van is a market, in ancient times, several towns would be a market with each other, today here trade, tomorrow in another town trade, in this kind of market activities, as if the East and the West are the same, this also reflects the commonality of culture.

"Uh... Yes, under the Patriarch. ”

The deputy head of the regiment saluted respectfully, turned around and went to pack his things, ready to leave.

……

Soon after, on the island of Chios, Constantine had already received information.

"Two, take a look, the real scene is often unexpected."

After the two circulated, Skanderbeg stood up with an embarrassed face,

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I didn't think it through."

Constantine waved his hand, and did not mean to mock Skanderbe, after all, Skanderbeg only learned knowledge in the Ottoman court, Anatolian geography, hydrology, etc., these are things that teachers can't teach, and you have to come and see for yourself.

"On the contrary, I think your idea is still a rare good idea, and it can be implemented successfully.

What is known now is that Muhammad II reacted very much to the fall of Cilicia, and Khalil Pasha was also ready to move in the country, and recently there have been envoys from Anatolia who have demanded the release of Prince Orhan in the name of Muhammad. ”

"Your Majesty is stupid, please make it clear to Your Majesty."

Skanderbeg lowered his head, as if embarrassed, but soon he adjusted his facial expression.

"We already have an internal line in the Ottoman court, you still go up from this river, come down when you encounter an impassable place, and march all the way to Ankara, when the time comes, naturally someone will cooperate with your actions, do you dare?"

"Even if it's a bad situation, it's just a death, why don't you dare?"

Skanderbeg was not afraid of battle, he had fought many battles with the Ottomans, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he had experienced a hundred battles, but he was not intimidated by the battlefield.

"Good! You can't bring too many soldiers on this trip, and to ensure a relatively secret advance, you can bring... Three thousand, how? ”

Three thousand??? Even if he doesn't know the specific situation of Ankara, Skanderbeg doesn't think that such a heavy town will be defenseless, the city is high and the walls are thick, and three thousand people are afraid that it will not be enough to fill the gaps, thinking of this, Skanderbeg fell into thought, not afraid of death is not afraid of death, but it can't be sent to death in vain, right?

"What? No way? Still don't dare? ”

Constantine sat tall with a calm expression, and even if Skanderbeg refused to go, Constantine would not be angry, at most he was just a little disappointed.

"Follow your orders, Your Majesty, and I will give my life for you."

Thinking about it, Skanderbe's reluctance to back down at such a critical moment was complicated, perhaps a little bit of competitiveness, or a desire to make a difference, or a dislike of the Ottomans, in any case, just as he dared to openly confront the Ottomans when the Ottomans were strong, and now he dared to strike a fatal blow against the Ottomans.

Speaking of which, this is indeed a very curious place, Skanderbeg as the object of careful cultivation by the Ottomans, and even the governor of a region, but he did not hesitate to raise the banner against the Ottomans, if this is a national plot, then I am afraid it will make everyone feel incredible, Albanians are descendants of the Illyrian people, and the characters who have received Ottoman education will not be too entangled in the national complex,

The Ottomans' favorite thing to do was to gather the young people of the infidels, force them to convert, let them concentrate on training and exist, as the Sultan's Guards Legion, that is, sufficient manpower, but also promote social stability, which is also the secret of the Ottomans' continuous development and growth in the early stage, at least compared to the policy of other countries to massacre infidels, the Ottomans' policy towards the infidels is still more secure, after all, for ordinary people, nothing is more important than life.