Eagle’s Glory

After making up his mind, Aegron summoned his main confidants and conveyed his next combat instructions.

There is no doubt that since the international situation is developing in the direction he wants, then he has to take advantage of the situation - he knows that how much weight he can have on the stage next depends entirely on how much performance he has achieved.

Now although he has won a brilliant victory, it is not enough, he still needs to decorate himself with more and bigger victories.

He had taken Nafpaktos and held it, and he was about to march westward, as he had said in his letter to Teresa, to try to take Methoronghion.

After the previous battle was over, he let the entire army rest for a while, while calming down the inevitable exhaustion of continuous fighting, while taking the opportunity to replenish his troops.

After this period of rest, he felt that his men had been refreshed and it was time to take on new challenges - and in the meantime, by receiving volunteers and Greeks sent by Teresa from the rear, he The strength of the army has reached the scale of five or six thousand people, which not only compensated for the losses caused by the previous war, but was even larger than when he just set out on the expedition.

He was able to recover so quickly, partly because he used money to open the way, and partly because he had established his reputation in Greece, which had spread throughout Europe over time, and his victories had Those who were looking forward to the Bonaparte family saw new hope.

At the same time, after being tempered by the fire of war, although his army still has many deficiencies, at least it has the backbone - strict military discipline, generous treatment, and a united officer group, which is enough to ensure basic combat effectiveness.

To describe in one sentence - Aegron feels that he is much stronger than when he first set out on the expedition.

And this gave him the confidence to take the next battle.

Of course, it's not enough to just have confidence. He knows that it's definitely not an easy bone to gnaw.

After coming to Greece, he also had an in-depth understanding of the previous fighting between the insurgent army and the Turkish army, so he knew a series of stories surrounding Mesolonghi.

This place is located at the southwest end of the Greek peninsula, with plains on both sides, and the sea on the south. As long as you control it, you can control a large area around it, and then control the entire southwestern area of ​​the peninsula.

As early as during the Turkish rule, there were already garrison defenses here, and after the Greek independence uprising swept the entire peninsula, it quickly fell into the hands of the rebel army and turned it into its own key defense area.

Mesolonghi is topographically very dangerous. It is located on a long and narrow peninsula surrounded by a lagoon full of islands. Three islands, Marmaris, Chrysoswa and Etolico control the entrance to the lagoon. , which allows it to worry only about a frontal attack.

On the eastern side of the fortress toward the mainland, there is an open plain, but there are also some swamps and trenches that have been deliberately dug by the defenders.

After the efforts of the insurgents and the careful design of the designers, a series of forts were built around the front of Metholonghion, which formed triangular protrusions, so that when facing an attack, the defenders could Shoot in the same direction.

In this way, the fortress of Methorongion became the main fulcrum of the defense of the Independence Army, and in a sense even became a symbol of the Greek independence movement.

Of course, the sultan could not bear to lose Greece, and he soon sent an army to try to suppress the insurgent army, and Mesolonghi soon became the focus of contention between the insurgent army and the repressive army.

In October 1822, a Turkish army of more than 10,000 people led by Recid Mehmet Pasha, with the help of a fleet, besieged Mesolonghi. At first there were only a few hundred defenders, but they were tenacious. Resistance, while negotiating to delay time, finally, from the Peloponnese in the south, thousands of reinforcements rushed to the fortress, and together they thwarted the attack of the Turkish army at the end of the year.

The Turks were not reconciled to defeat, and in September 1823 they assembled another army and launched a second attack on Mesolonghi.

However, due to corruption and slack within the Turkish army, their attack was very disorganized, and the defenders, like the last time, thwarted their every attack with a strong defense.

Two months later, with the onset of winter, the Turkish army had to withdraw grumpily.

After resisting two rounds of Turkish troops, Mesolonghi became famous and became a holy place in the hearts of people throughout Europe who supported the cause of Greek independence.

Soon afterward, the great poet Byron also came here. He was ambitious and wanted to contribute everything to the independence of Greece and make a big career.

After he settled here, he used his wealth to recruit a small army, and then formulated an offensive plan to use it as a base to capture Nafpaktos and completely liberate northern Greece.

However, Byron did not expect that he would die of illness here in April 1824 soon after, and his plan was aborted (of course, even if he wanted to execute it, with his weak force, it may not be able to be realized. ).

Not long after Byron's death, in the spring of 1825, the Turkish army, unwilling to fail, came to besiege the Greeks again, and this time, the general was led by Recid Mehmet Pasha, who had returned after the first siege.

When sending troops, the Sultan gave the Pasha a death order, "Either take Methorongion or chop off your head" - the Sultan will never tolerate the failure of the third siege.

Recid Muhammad Pasha, with his 20,000 troops, came to the city of Messolonghi again and started the third siege campaign.

And so began a tragic battle.

Perhaps because of the threat from the Sultan, this time Pasha worked very hard, and immediately asked his men to build many trenches around the front of Metholonghi, and then let his men gradually approach the fortress through the trenches, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

However, the Greek defenders in the fortress, although far inferior in strength to the Turkish army, knew that they were fighting for their lives and their homes, so they still resisted as desperately as before, whenever there was a gap in the defense line , the defenders would launch a ferocious counterattack to push the enemy back, and all the civilians of Methorongion, men and women, worked together at night to help the defenders fill the gaps.

In this way, despite several rounds of attacks by Recid Mohammad Pasha and his subordinates, he was still unable to do anything. He made little progress in a few months, and was unable to break the will of the defenders at all.

In the autumn of 1825, this time the Turks had an additional ally - Ali Pasha of Egypt also sent troops to participate in this expedition. After the Egyptian army joined the war, the Greek Independence Army, which had already lost its strength due to infighting, was in the situation. Even worse, the Egyptian army, as a fresh force, swept almost the whole of Greece.

In January 1826, Ali Pasha's son Ibrahim joined the siege of Mesolonghi with an Egyptian army of about 10,000 people. His army also carried a large number of cannons and even a small Sea Fleet Support.

The Turkish army, which had been exhausted during the siege, was reinvigorated this time. Under the orders of the Turkish and Egyptian officers, the siege army launched several more attacks. Thousands of artillery shells swept the houses in the fortress almost to the ground. The gunboats at sea also cooperated to help out, destroying the will of the defenders together.

With the advantage of landing at sea, the Turks finally took control of all the supply lines of Metholonghi, and in the course of the year-long siege, the reserves of the defenders had been exhausted, and hunger inevitably came to these. on the head of the Greeks.

Under the ravages of starvation, the soldiers and civilians in the city ate all they could eat, including cats and horses, and Ibrahim Pasha now demands that everyone in the city surrender, and people can choose to be sold as slaves or converted *** teach, at least you can escape death.

However, the Greeks in the city refused this request, and even though the situation was so desperate, they still insisted on resisting, and they repelled several enemy attacks, causing many casualties to the enemy.

However, everyone knew that resistance was useless, and after deliberation, the leaders of the garrison decided that everyone would break through and flee.

The besieging Turkish army discovered the defenders' escape plan, but in order not to arouse their determination to fight to the death at the end, Recid Mehmet Pasha deliberately played a trick of "encircling three and missing one" and did not take the initiative to stop the defenders and Residents flee.

On the night of April 10, 1826, the defenders began to assemble and withdraw according to plan, and they launched a desperate offensive, hoping to break the enemy's encirclement and **** the civilians away.

However, the marches and operations at night were completely undisciplined, and the entire breakout operation fell into chaos from the very beginning. When these breakout soldiers and civilians crossed the front line, they were immediately blocked by the besieging Turkish troops. The chaos at night The Greeks were killed and wounded, either being trampled to death or falling into trenches and drowning.

At this time, the siege army, which was already ready to go, finally launched a general attack. They took advantage of the chaos of the defenders and entered Methorongion, and then slaughtered the remaining defenders and citizens while setting fires everywhere.

In this way, amid the wailing and explosions, Metholonghion finally returned to the hands of the Turks.

As for the soldiers and civilians who broke through the line of defense by chance, their nightmare is still not over. After the day came, the Turks sent cavalry to hunt down and intercept the fleeing defenders and refugees in the wilderness. Men were killed, women and children were killed. Captured, sold into slavery - only a thousand or so people managed to escape the disaster, leaving the rest to face such a fate.

However, although Methorongion eventually fell and the defense of the defenders failed, their tenacity in repelling the enemy's attack several times for several years would not be obliterated.

Although they were destroyed, it was only because of the huge disparity in strength between the enemy and the enemy. In terms of will, this defeat has indeed been called an epic of heroes, and there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of for those losers.

In other words, if every Greek Independence Army can show this will to fight, if their leadership is not thrown into chaos due to endless infighting, perhaps the cause of Greek Independence would not have fallen into such a dark and desperate situation...

After finally capturing Mesolonghion, the Turkish and Egyptian troops vented their accumulated desire for destruction and killing. Then, most of the troops left and threw themselves into a new war with the insurgent army, leaving only the Part of the army continued to stay here.

Aegron currently does not know how many enemy troops are stationed in this fortress, but he guesses that the number should be between several thousand.

However, considering that the terrain of Methorongion is so dangerous and solid, even if there are only a few thousand people, it is enough for him to have a headache.

Fortunately, he is not without good news - before, the defenders of Methorongion had marched from the west and participated in the siege of Nafpaktos, and in a series of battles, he severely damaged the army that besieged him. .

Although the defenders of Methorongion were not annihilated, and most of them retreated back, they must have suffered a lot of losses - and they must have been psychologically afraid of themselves, which would make them not originally. The high morale became even lower.

But even so, Aigron still did not dare to be too optimistic, because the previous record of this fortress was brilliant enough - the Greeks repulsed the attack of the Turkish army many times with inferior troops, and the defenders did not report until they ran out of ammunition and food. collapse.

The benefits of getting Methorongion are great, but if you are not careful, you will also suffer heavy losses here, so Aegron does not dare to be too big.

Although he gambled a lot, he knew that his gambling book was very small, so every time he seemed to bet boldly, he only acted when he felt that he was sure enough.

And this time, he had to be more cautious.

After some deliberation, Aigron summoned his confidant, Edmund Dantès, Count of Monte Cristo.

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" Edmund Dantes asked respectfully after seeing him.

"Edmund, do you know where our army's next goal is?" Aigron asked.

"Yes, you want to lead us to capture Methorongion." Edmund Dantes was stunned for a moment, then replied.

"Then do you know what happened there before?" Agron asked knowingly.

In fact, the fortress did not fall until 1826, and it has only been more than a year since now. Of course, Edmund, who has been in Greece for so long, knows it.

"I know."

Edmund Dantes nodded, then looked at the young man, waiting for his instructions.

"Then are you afraid? We may have to attack a really strong fortress with our flesh and blood." Aegron asked him with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I have never been afraid in my heart." Edmund replied immediately, "If you ask me to go on an expedition to hell, I will immediately go on a horse."

"Hahahaha! That's nice!" Aegron couldn't help laughing.

Then, he lightly patted Edmund's shoulder, "Edmund, even if you are willing to die, I don't want to waste your life easily, because I need you more in the future... So I think we have to do our best. It's in our interest to possibly take it with less bloodshed."

"Then what are you going to do?" Edmund asked quickly.

"I don't know that yet." Aegron shook his head honestly, and then added, "But I think there must be some Greeks who know—don't forget, it's only been over a year since the fall of Methorongion, and inside A lot of people escaped, and we can definitely find some people who are familiar with it."

Then, he increased his voice, "Go and find me, whether it is a Greek in our army or a Greek outside, bring this kind of person to me as soon as possible!"