Hindering Construction

Vitus brought up the events of two years ago, "Back then, Manuel II and Murad II signed a truce that contained no provision forbidding us from constructing walls in the Peloponnese. What is the meaning of this?"

The envoy lifted his chin haughtily, "This is a newly added clause. You are limited to restoring this place to its original state within one month, or you shall bear the consequences."

Having said this, the envoy turned his horse and departed.

Vitus watched his retreating back, calculating to himself:

The Ottoman Empire was currently facing war on three fronts. First, in the Balkans, the Ottomans were mired in border friction with Serbia and Hungary, with small-scale conflicts occurring constantly.

Second, in the Aegean Sea, the Venice fleet was wantonly slaughtering Ottoman warships, merchant vessels, and fishing boats.

Then there was Anatolia in the east. Due to the centralizing policies of Murad II, the Turkic nobles in various regions were dissatisfied, with Aydin, Germiyan, and Menteshe being the most troublesome. Rumor had it that the main Ottoman force was busy suppressing internal rebellions.

I refuse to believe you can handle a fourth front.

Vitus ignored the Ottoman warning and continued the construction in an orderly fashion.

In early 1426, scattered Turkic cavalry began to appear in the open space outside the city. A junior officer rode near the construction site and shot an arrow into the air, with a declaration of war tied to the shaft.

Vitus found it hard to believe; he had never imagined the Ottoman resolve would be so firm as to initiate a fourth war!

At this time, the construction team had only completed 2.3 miles of the eastern outer wall, and the west had to rely on the existing inner wall for defense. The garrison commander, Psilos, found Vitus.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?"

"Prepare for battle. You and your troops are under my command!"

Aside from Psilos's eight hundred garrison troops, Vitus's field army was present in full, totaling sixteen hundred men, divided into five melee companies (a mix of spears and halberds), five Matchlock companies, one artillery company (twelve 3-pounder cannons), and one heavy artillery company (six siege cannons).

The heavy artillery company was of no use and had been dismantled by Vitus in advance, with the personnel dispersed among the eight militia battalions to serve as militia commanders.

"Marcus, Damien, Uranus, assemble the troops!"

Accompanied by the noisy sound of gongs, the eight thousand workers who had been constructing the walls returned to the camp, forming eight thousand-man phalanxes in the open space, then proceeded to the warehouse to collect spears and simple crossbows.

The combat effectiveness and fighting spirit of the militia were extremely poor, suitable only for city defense. Taking advantage of the fact that the main enemy force had not yet arrived, Vitus had his officers provide them with temporary instructions on the essentials of defending a city.

Five days passed, and a massive, chaotic camp appeared outside the city. Judging by the number of tents, there were an estimated ten thousand soldiers.

The forces were evenly matched, and since the enemy had poor discipline and a small number of cavalry, Vitus conceived a bold idea.

He found Psilos, "You take your troops and the militia to guard the inner wall and the eastern half of the outer wall. My Tuna Legion will remain in place, waiting for an opportunity to sneak out of the city and launch a surprise attack."

"Uh, is that really a good idea?" Psilos wanted to decline, but Vitus held a higher status, so he could only obey the order while sending someone to Mistra to inform Theodore of the situation.

Another week passed, and artillery was gradually transported to the Ottoman camp. On the eve of the attack, Theodore arrived with two thousand reinforcements. Vitus was overjoyed and asked him for two hundred cavalry and one thousand infantry.

"You are responsible for guarding the walls; you don't need these. Lend them to me for command for the time being."

Theodore retorted, "How can I not need them? Do you think those militia are reliable? At critical moments, only soldiers clad in iron armor can be placed at the front!"

Vitus: "That is precisely why I intend to sneak out of the city for a surprise attack. Once the Ottoman forces commit fully to the assault, I will strike their flank, destroy their supplies, and force them to retreat."

On January 15th, the Ottoman army finished assembling, and the commander, Sudak, patrolled outside the city with his entourage. He first observed the new-style wall on the eastern half. Based on his first impression, he felt this thick wall was specifically designed to withstand shelling, so he bypassed the eastern outer wall and led his team to the west side instead.

Suddenly, Sudak raised his horsewhip and pointed at a section of the wall.

"In 1422, Turahan Bey used artillery to blast through the Hexamilion Wall and invaded the Peloponnese in one stroke. Even if the Greeks patched the gaps, the defenses in these sections are far inferior to before. Position the artillery here."

At the commander's order, the Ottoman army hauled over forty cannons of varying calibers. Compared to the Battle of Constantinople, the scale of the artillery this time was even larger.

At ten in the morning, the bombardment officially began. All cannons concentrated their fire on the patched section of the wall. The defenders above clearly felt the wall shaking and were forced to evacuate the area.

Sudak had guessed correctly; the defensive strength of the patched wall was far inferior to before. The bombardment continued until three in the afternoon, and the wall finally could not hold. After a loud crash, a large amount of brick and stone poured down. When the dust settled, a ten-meter-wide gap appeared before them.

Seeing this, a thousand-man unit poised for action charged toward the gap. They held their round shields at an angle to deflect crossbow bolts from above the wall, quickly covered the two-hundred-meter distance, and climbed the steep slope formed by the collapsed masonry.

Behind the gap, the Eastern Roman Empire army had temporarily piled up a low wall with carts and earth, and had also dug a two-meter-deep trench. Theodore held his longsword, supervising the battle from the rear and strictly forbidding anyone from retreating.

Soon, the Ottoman army rushed over the slope, only to be met with crossbow bolts, Hand cannon fire, and lead pellets from the Ribauldequin. Large numbers of soldiers fell, and the survivors were hesitant, but were pushed by their companions behind them through the gap.

"No retreating!"

Under Theodore's urging, the Eastern Roman Empire soldiers used spears to stab the continuously surging enemy. The garrison on the walls on both sides of the gap also threw stones and fired crossbow bolts from their high vantage point, occasionally tossing down a clay pot filled with black powder, instantly clearing a small area.

In just two minutes, the casualties of the Ottoman thousand-man unit increased sharply. The surviving soldiers ignored their officers' orders and retreated one after another to their starting positions.

The assault failed, but Sudak did not lose his temper. He ordered the artillery positions to be moved, preparing to blast more gaps, at which point the ten-thousand-strong army would attack together to completely crush the Greek defenses.

On January 20th, the Ottoman artillery had cumulatively blasted seven gaps, with the most severe one exceeding twenty meters in width. Sudak drew the scimitar at his waist and ordered the various units to launch a general offensive according to the predetermined order.

In a tower on the east side of the wall, Vitus confirmed the Ottoman movements and instructed his commanders: "It is time for us to move."

As the city gates slowly opened, twenty-eight hundred soldiers arrived in the open space outside the city. There were a small number of light cavalry wandering nearby, but Vitus paid them no mind, leading his army to move west to begin flanking the rear of the Ottoman army.