Invincible urban management

At the end of February 1453, on the chilly Seres Plain in spring, a chaotic team was slowly advancing westward.

Although they hold the cross flag representing Christians and the double-headed eagle flag symbolizing the Eastern Roman Empire, and the equipment is not bad, everyone has swords and spears, as well as a surprising amount of armor, but no matter how you look at it, it still doesn't look like is an army.

——Except for a very small number of mercenaries and knights, the vast majority of people are laymen in war, including young and strong farmers, women and children, traffickers, poor priests, and even a large number of prostitutes and hooligans. It looks like a great migration of ethnic groups.

At this time, under the guidance of the slogan of "Jihad", they were walking crowded together on the Imperial Avenue from Constantinople to Adrianople.This road connects Constantinople and Europe. It was originally the most important strategic road in the Eastern Roman Empire. It was built quite spacious and strong, and there were perfect drainage channels on both sides.It is a pity that since the Turks invaded Europe, this land has gradually ceased to belong to the Eastern Roman Empire, and the roads and canals have long been in disrepair and dilapidated.Fortunately, the Turks had urgently repaired this section of the road in order to transport the heavy Urban cannon from the Adrianople smelter to the city of Constantinople, otherwise this section of the road would be even more difficult.

Even so, due to the lack of discipline, this "jihadi" team was dragged along like a long snake.And leading the team at the front of this endless snake is Emperor Constantine XI in purple robe and Patriarch Gregory holding a cross.

At this moment, the thick morning fog covered the emperor who was nearly fifty years old with a layer of icy moisture, but Constantine XI could not feel the cold at all.The desire for victory and anxiety about the future enveloped his whole body for a while, making his blood boil and his heart full of excitement.

——In order to earn a way out in the desperate situation surrounded by powerful enemies, Emperor Constantine XI frantically bet all his belongings and launched a Jedi counterattack that did not exist in history!

Judging from the current situation, the "miracle" of the sudden death of the Turkish army overnight really cheered up the citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire trapped in Constantinople, and once again believed that they were great Romans descendants, and the supreme elect, blessed by God.Under the blessing of the Virgin Mary, the double-headed eagle banner of the empire will never fall, and the walls of Constantinople will surely keep the pagans out of the east gate of Europe forever... For [Chinese] Chinese , especially for modern people, the degree of devotion and enthusiasm for religious beliefs of medieval Westerners is simply unimaginable.Just like many devout Western Christians, it is impossible to imagine how [Chinese] people without religious beliefs should live.

This kind of devout religious belief can bring believers the lofty concept of innate mission, fearless dedication, and unparalleled fanatical passion, making them aggressive and courageous to face all incredible challenges and difficulties and test.If the superiors make good use of this aspect, it will be able to bring amazing expansion momentum to the country and nation.From the European Crusades in the Middle Ages, to the westward movement of the United States in the 21th century, 〖ri〗's "[-] million pieces of jade" in the [-]th century, to the suicide terrorist attacks of Islamic "jihadists" in the [-]st century, you can It clearly shows the power of pious belief in the real world.

Of course, if this kind of fanatical external expansion eventually exceeds the limit that material technology can support, then the possibility of success will be lost, so the medieval crusaders eventually failed-but the surging spiritual power can push The momentum of this expansion is supported to the limit.

Today, the soldiers and civilians of Constantinople following the emperor and the Patriarch are in such a fanatical state of "natural mission". Should keep them going for a long time before hitting.

Fortunately, the distance from Constantinople to Adrianople is only 150 kilometers, which is shorter than the distance from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Even if you march at the slowest speed, it only takes about a week. .It is not on the same order of magnitude as the long journeys of the previous Crusaders from Western European countries to Jerusalem. ()

Even more fortunately, at least on the Eastern Seres Plain at this time, the Turks were unable to make any effective stop to them.

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In general, since leaving Constantinople, the general progress of this mob under the emperor's command has been relatively smooth.

And the reason why this mob advances smoothly all the way is mainly due to the chaos and extreme weakness of the enemy, who has almost become a frightened bird.

——Before, in order to gather troops to attack Constantinople, Mehmed II almost emptied all the mobile forces of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in Europe and Asia, and in order to show his determination to win and return, he moved his entire court to the Frontline battlefield...

Therefore, when this Turkish army, which assembled the elite of the whole country, together with Sultan Mehmet II himself, and the entire central government of Turkey, were all destroyed overnight in the Soman gas without warning, the seemingly colossal The Ottoman Turkish Empire suddenly looked like a giant whose head had been cut off suddenly and the blood was forcibly drained, completely losing the ability to deal with any situation.

——The two Turkish legions closest to Adrianople are located in Albania and the Peloponnese Peninsula, and the rest of the Turkish army is far away in Asia Minor. It is really difficult for them to rush to the capital in such a short period of time. It is powerless.Moreover, at this moment when the Sudan died suddenly, the imperial court fell, and the [Central] Central Army was annihilated, whether the generals on the border would still come back to obey orders is probably also a problem.

In addition, on the entire seres plain between Constantinople and Adrianople, although there are still a considerable number of Muslim tribes scattered, they neither have decent leaders to stand up and shout, nor The vast majority of the young and strong were wiped out (all died on the outskirts of Constantinople), and they were in the boundless fear of "heavenly God's punishment", and they were completely unable to resist the counterattack of the Eastern Roman Empire for a while.

——Although in this era without gas masks and the concept of resisting poison gas, the killing effect of Soman gas is surprisingly good, but the 14 Turkish troops under Mehmet II are distributed in a large range after all, so how many There are still some caught fish: for example, the sentry patrols sent out on the periphery, the messengers responsible for delivering official documents, the food delivery team that came later, and so on.

Among these people, of course, there were some mindless guys who bumped into the poisonous mist in a ignorant manner, and then died of poisoning as well.But there were also some clever people who sensed something was wrong, and hurriedly turned around and fled to nearby villages and towns, shouting and declaring their horrible experiences.There are also some unlucky people who were mildly poisoned and ran into the mosque before falling down with convulsions, twitching hands and feet, and foaming at the mouth. No matter how those imams jumped up and down, chanting scriptures to drive away evil spirits, it was useless... As a result, "heretics Rumors that the gods have sent down magic spells quickly spread like wildfire.And the mental impact of the sudden death of 14 troops overnight made the originally high-spirited Turks feel like a deflated ball, and suddenly lost all self-confidence-for visible enemies, it was okay Chop into pieces with a machete.But how to resist the invisible and intangible gods?

Generally speaking, for things that cannot be understood by common sense, the first reaction of normal people is to hide and avoid them, and Muslims are no exception-so, at least when a leader with status and reputation emerges Before the people, the Turks in Seres' countryside were temporarily powerless against the emperor's march, and the atmosphere was full of panic... It was like the rats on the ship scrambling to climb to a higher place to escape for their lives on the eve of a ship sinking.

What is more, the Ottoman court at Adrianople was also in turmoil, unable to give its loyal subjects any direction or help in the immediate crisis - due to the ruthless Sultan Mehmed II, He drowned his younger brother when he ascended the throne, and almost killed his uncles and elders... So, after his violent death in the outskirts of Constantinople, the current Ottoman Turkish royal family suddenly became alone, except for one Apart from Prince Orhan, who was held as a hostage in Constantinople, only a few orphans and widows of Mehmet II remained, and no adult male could be found. It was impossible to suppress those who only used force The respected sturdy soldiers.

According to the practice in Western history, this situation is often the prelude to a certain military general's rebellion to overthrow the royal family and usurp the country.

Although due to the sudden news, the unknown situation in the capital Adrianople, and the power left by the Ottoman Turkish sultans, the pashas (titles of Turkish military nobles) in the surrounding areas have not acted rashly for the time being, but in the seemingly calm Underneath the surface, all kinds of conspiracies and transactions have already begun to swell, but there is only a lack of a suitable fuse.

——In view of the current situation, even if the counterattack of the Eastern Roman Empire is not considered, a tragic massacre among the Turks is already inevitable and imminent. Even the country of Ottoman Turkey will collapse, I am afraid It's also hard to say - in the past history, I don't know how many countries that were once prosperous for a while, because they didn't handle the issue of succession right, which led to the final disintegration.

What's more terrible is that if the goal of the Eastern Roman Empire's expedition to Adrianople this time is to support Prince Orhan to become the next Ottoman Turkish Sultan, and this Orhan, who has been a hostage in Constantinople for a lifetime Prince Khan, if he really entered Adrianople in the end and succeeded in ascending the throne.Then the Turks who spontaneously stand up to resist at this time and prevent the emperor and the new sultan from advancing, will not be praised for their loyalty and patriotism in the future, but will be extremely cruelly liquidated for wielding swords at the new sultan without authorization—— According to the usual practice, it is usually full of copying...

Therefore, in this chaotic and difficult situation, most of the tens of thousands of Turks scattered on the Eastern Seres Plain all stuck to towns or fortresses in order to protect themselves.There were only a few groups of Turkish cavalry with dozens of people. Under the call of the imams, they attacked the Christian team several times and made some gains. However, because the number was too small, they did not give the Eastern Roman Empire cause too much trouble.

On the other hand, the emperor also knew very well that his subordinates were a bunch of unreliable youngsters and mobs, so his goal was only Adrianople, and he didn't want to waste time entangled in these small villages and towns——As a result, this The two sides are barely in trouble.

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On the other hand, although the Turkish Muslims who moved to the Seres Plain generally feel distraught and thunderous about this incredible reversal outside the city of Constantinople, but on the other hand, the bad news for Muslims is Christians. good news.

So, on the way that Emperor Constantine XI marched to Adrianople with a mob, the Greek Christians who had lived here for generations came to worship under the emperor's double-headed eagle banner , voluntarily asked to join the army.And Emperor Constantine XI also generously used the surplus captured ordnance to arm them all, so that this "Holy War Army" quickly expanded to more than [-] like a snowball.

——In the 21st century, the Eastern Seres Plain, which belongs to the Republic of Turkey, has long been completely Islamized.The surviving Orthodox believers from the Eastern Roman Empire were basically expelled to the Greek-controlled Seres Plain and Bulgaria in the north.

But at this point in time in 1453, it was only about a century since the Turks crossed the sea and invaded Eastern Europe, and the Turks’ rule over Seres during this period was repeated several times and was unstable, so the local Christians still an absolute majority.

Although the Greeks in the Seres area should not have much resistance to the Turkish Empire when they were first conquered, they were even more pleased with their religious tolerance policy. Many Christians even believed that the rule of the Ottoman Sultan was better than the Eastern Roman emperors—because the tax rates of the former were much milder.With the passage of time, many local Christians simply converted to Islam in order to gain political rights in the new country, but the problem is that almost all Islamic countries have the same problem—— Sometimes, they will adopt a policy of religious tolerance for the pagan subjects under their rule, and lightly pay taxes to appease the hearts of the people.But once the country is stabilized, there will be more and more blatant restrictions and suppressions from all sides, plus all kinds of excessive taxation specifically targeting infidels. One of them is "destroy the heretics, destroy the heretics, use all means to destroy more and better heretics"!

Therefore, as the Ottoman Turkish Empire's rule over Eastern Europe gradually stabilized, the treatment of the local Christian natives was not as good as that of one day. Like most Islamic countries, the Ottoman Turkish Empire also pursued "pagan dedication." Money and labor, Muslims fight for Allah" dual system.In order to cope with continuous foreign wars, the Turkish sultan must support a huge army, and poach all kinds of talents from Europe with high salaries (such as the talented cannon maker Urban), coupled with the extravagant life of the Turkish court ...Obviously, all these expenses will eventually fall on the common people.And the small number of Turkic Muslims who moved to Europe are the main strength of Ottoman Turkey, just like the children of the Eight Banners of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, they must be given preferential treatment-so they can only be searched from the pockets of Christians.

In this way, as the main source of taxes and corvee providers of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, in addition to the basic land tax and poll tax, the Greeks on the Seres Plain also had to pay pagan taxes for their beliefs .What's more terrible is that although this pagan tax was very light at first, it is becoming more and more heavy now-especially in the past five years, the Turks have fought almost year after year, first against the Western Crusades, and then against Albania , but also to quell the rebellion in Asia Minor, and finally spent a huge sum of money to cast heavy artillery, and stormed Constantinople with all the troops and horses of the whole country. In addition, His Majesty the Sultan has not forgotten to build a luxurious and magnificent palace... The resulting huge It is not an exaggeration to say that the expenses are golden mountains and silver seas.

Therefore, in recent years, the Greeks in the Ottoman Turkish Empire are slowly losing their original lenient treatment, and gradually began to suffer from the heavy tax exploitation and heavy labor of the Turks. Some unbearable villages and towns have begun to gather together And resist.

And the Seres Plain, which is the closest to Adrianople, has become the key target of His Majesty the Sultan's search for supplies and money. The Greeks on the Seres Plain, for this series of long and protracted wars, paid pagan taxes that rose again and again, and undertook far more onerous corvee than Muslims—the goal was to assist pagans Destroying Constantinople, the holy place of his faith, was already somewhat uncomfortable.

Then, the result of all these wars was that the Turkish Sultan was condemned by God, and he was killed by the angry God together with his army... For the Greeks on the Seres Plain, this "miracle" was both inspiring and inspiring The good news is also a frightening warning-since even the noble Turkish sultan and his 14 army were vulnerable under the wrath of God, and all of them lost their lives overnight.Then, those sinners who assisted the heathen to attack the Lord’s temple and betrayed the Christian faith, what kind of appalling punishment should they bear before the Lord?

So, seeing this messy "jihad" team passing by the house, in order to avoid uneasiness of conscience, to avoid being severely punished by God's wrath, and to prevent their souls from falling into hell and suffering, the locals joined the jihad team one after another to make up the numbers. , only to be able to "keep safe" before God.

As a result, under the influence of many comprehensive factors, this absurd parade, which should have been ridiculous like a "poor man's crusade", turned into a smashing victory when the people along the way greeted them. big march...

Seeing that Adrianople was already in the distance, His Majesty the emperor received a new piece of good news.

"...What are you talking about? Franz? The Turks in Adrianople are actually having internal strife these days?"

Next to the blazing bonfire, the emperor looked at Franz, the secretary of state in charge of the intelligence team, in disbelief, and didn't even notice that the biscuit in his hand fell to the ground. "...Don't they know that our army is approaching?"

"...No way, this is the succession law of the Ottoman family." Franz shrugged his shoulders, "...the sultan who just died in Constantinople once publicly announced that anyone who ascended the throne as sultan, All my brothers should be executed to maintain the throne and the peace of the country..." (To be continued.