1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 19: Battle of Corinth

The Isthmus of Corinth, located at the junction of the Peloponnese Peninsula and the European continent, has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

The Isthmus of Corinth is extremely narrow, with a huge limestone fault separating the Gulf of Corinthia and the Gulf of Thessaloniki.

This place has natural geographical advantages, and the land is fertile, so soldiers can be stationed here for a long time to cultivate the land.

The terrain in the middle of the Isthmus of Corinth is rugged, and seawater can be diverted into trenches on both sides of the coast. With a little renovation, it will become a natural fortification.

From ancient times to the present, many wise rulers have built walls and canals here to connect the two oceans on the one hand and to resist enemy invasions on the other.

As early as the ancient Greek era before Christ, the prototype of the city wall had been built here. It was later destroyed and rebuilt until it formed the current six-mile city wall.

The Eastern Roman Empire, which now rules here, has been strengthening the city walls and establishing farmlands in the surrounding areas since it expelled the Latins and recaptured the Isthmus of Corinth to deal with the increasingly approaching Ottoman troops.

From the south of the Wall of Corinth to Mystras, the capital of Morea, there is fertile land in between. The entire peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and only a small section of the Wall of Corinth connects it to the mainland.

Before the Ottoman navy grew stronger, the Eastern Roman Empire could have kept the small granary of the Peloponnese Peninsula as long as it had defended the Wall of Corinth.

This is also the only remaining territory of the empire besides the capital and a few small islands.

At this point, Duke Constantine of Morea and Duke Thomas of Achaia have completed the initial transfer of wealth in the Athens region and returned Athens to the former Duke of Florence, hoping that he could resist at all.

The two brothers Palaiologos gathered their troops and prepared to defend the Walls of Corinth.

At this time, Constantine and Thomas were sitting in the tent, listening to the reports from their subordinates.

"Your Highnesses, the news has been verified. The defenders of Thebes and Athens surrendered to Murad II immediately after we left, and are now attacking us as the vanguard."

"These traitors!"

Thomas slammed the table.

Constantine signaled Thomas to stay calm.

"What about the navy? Does the Ottoman Empire have the ability to deploy soldiers across the sea on a large scale?"

"Your Highness, this is not clear yet. Venice and Genoa have clearly refused to send out their navy to intercept the Ottomans. The day before yesterday, fishermen in the south saw the Ottoman fleet bypassing the Morea Peninsula and heading towards the Gulf of Corinthia."

Constantine's heart skipped a beat.

"The water in the Gulf of Corinthia is calm, and the island controlled by the Ottomans is very close to the southern city of Patras. Is it possible for them to land?"

No one could answer for a moment.

"Your Highness, I think the Ottomans sent out their fleet only to escort the transport ships and prevent Venice or Genoa from suddenly joining the war. It should be impossible for them to land."

Someone sitting next to him stood up.

"Oh? Mikhail, why are you so sure?"

The person who spoke was Isaac's former captain of the guard. Before Isaac went to Rome, he assigned him to train the army and attack north at the same time.

More than a year of fighting made him seem more confident.

"Your Highness, after more than a year of border conflicts between us and the Ottomans, I have a general impression of the Ottomans."

"tell me the story."

"First, their troops come from a variety of sources. The most elite are the Janissary Guards, who only obey the Sultan himself."

"In addition, they also have the private armies assembled by various pashas, ​​and then there are the Christian vassal armies used as cannon fodder."

"With such a complex military composition, it was difficult for the Ottomans to form an experienced marine corps."

Mikhail finished speaking and looked at Constantine's expression.

"Go on."

"Secondly, the fortifications of Patras are relatively complete. During the Latin rule, many crossbows were set up here specifically to prevent the navy from landing. It was difficult for the Ottomans to land successfully."

"Third, and most importantly, the entire Ottoman army has an extremely contemptuous attitude towards us. They do not take us seriously at all. Judging from their current strategic situation, they should want to directly bring the army together and break our defense line in one fell swoop."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the audience fell into deep thought.

Constantine looked at the map for a long time without saying anything.

"So, there are still many Latin industries in Patras. They probably don't want to see the Ottomans invade the town, so they told the merchants in the city to raise a guard at their own expense to resist a possible landing."

"Mikhail, you and your Prince's Guard, a total of 500 people, rush to the western section of the Great Wall. Ibrahim's Legion is already stationed there."

"Yes!"

Mikhail took the order and left.

"Thomas, you will be stationed in the middle section. Make sure to make good use of the ancient city walls and trenches. The terrain here is rugged, and the Ottomans should only be feinting."

"As for the flattest eastern section, I will be stationed there personally, and the militias in the villages along the Great Wall will all be under my command!"

The generals received the order and dispersed.

……

"Go! Go, you Greek scum!"

North of the Isthmus of Corinth, an Ottoman Bey was whipping an old Greek peasant with a whip as he struggled forward carrying a bag of soil.

There were many Greek civilians around the old farmer, both men and women, young and old.

They were being driven to fill the trenches.

The old peasant ran madly under Osman Bey's whip, and fell to his knees after a few steps with an arrow stuck in his chest.

On the distant wall of Corinth, Hakan raised his eyebrows and took out another arrow from his quiver.

After retreating south of the Wall of Corinth, Ibrahim reorganized the legion.

Because of his excellent archery skills, Hakan was assigned to the archer team.

At this time, there were still many archers guarding the city walls, blocking the Ottoman army in the distance.

Some Greek soldiers could not bear to shoot their compatriots, so they drew the sign of a cross every time they shot an arrow, asking God for forgiveness.

Hakan always smiled contemptuously at this.

Once they have filled the trench and captured the city wall, you will be the next one to fill the hole.

This was already the fourth day since the Ottomans began their siege of the city. There were only a few conscripted laborers left, while the outer defensive fortifications hastily dug by the Eastern Roman side had been almost completely lost.

This is the last trench near the city wall. After it is filled, the Ottoman artillery can be pushed forward and bombard the city wall.

Hakan fired another arrow, hitting an Ottoman soldier who had moved too far ahead.

Whistling, Hakan saw that the Ottoman cannons had been pulled forward in the distance, and the soldiers nearby were busy setting up the gun carriages.

"Ready the artillery! Ready the muskets! Archers retreat and prepare for the bombardment!" Centurion Mehmet roared.

On several of our city walls, engineers pushed up artillery and faced the Ottoman artillery from a distance.

On the city wall, a team of musketeers rushed up with muskets and began to set up their weapons.

Seeing that the trench was basically filled, Osman Bey swung his sword and fired a volley of cannons.

Boom——Boom——

The heavy stone bullets flew through the air and landed heavily on the city wall.

The stone wall shook violently, and some debris fell off.

Fortunately, the city walls, which had been repeatedly reinforced, withstood the first and most violent round of bombardment.

"Show the Ottomans some color. Fire the cannons!"

The centurion Mehmet roared.

Boom—Bang—

On the city wall, the Eastern Roman cannons also roared.

A solid bullet hit one of the Ottoman rams and smashed it to pieces.

There was a cheer from the city wall.

Then, taking advantage of the interval between reloading the artillery, the Ottomans began to charge with shouts.

Bump—Bump—

The matchlock guns on the city wall began to fire, but of course, whether they could hit the target depended entirely on luck.

The main function of this early firearm was to deter.

Ottoman soldiers were constantly hit by muskets and bows and arrows, but more of them raised their shields and moved forward slowly.

In the short 100-meter distance from the trench to the city wall, the Ottomans left dozens of corpses.

But there were too many enemies, charging forward one after another, and some soldiers holding ladders were already in sight.

"Greek Fire, set off!"

Commander Mehmet ordered.

On the city wall, flames spewed out from strangely shaped nozzles, flew several meters away, and attached themselves to Osman's ladder.

Suddenly, the fire spread to the nearby Ottoman soldiers.

The soldiers howled and rolled on the ground, but they could not put out the fire.

The soldiers nearby were so frightened that they dared not move forward.

Osman Bey looked grim as he watched this tragic scene from a distance.

The adjutant at the side stepped forward and looked at Bey's expression.

"Sir, our main firearms force has not yet arrived, and we have no way to deal with this small but powerful weapon for the time being."

"Let them retreat, and continue to forcibly recruit the Greeks tomorrow, and let them use up the Kafirs' kerosene!"

A trace of ferocity appeared on Osman Bey's face.

The Ottomans carried the wounded and slowly withdrew from the battlefield.

The defenders also breathed a sigh of relief and replenished their strength and military supplies as quickly as possible.

In the next few days, the attacking and defending sides had their wins and losses. Although the Ottomans suffered heavy casualties, they were large and powerful, and after defeating one group of soldiers, more would rush up.

Instead, the smaller Eastern Roman side was the first to give up.

The most dangerous time was when a small group of Ottoman soldiers rushed up the city wall under the cover of musketeers.

However, due to lack of reinforcements, the Ottoman team that climbed onto the city wall became an isolated force.

Centurion Mehmet led his personal guards and fought hard to annihilate all the Ottomans who had not yet established a firm foothold.

By the tenth day of the Ottoman siege, Ibrahim's Corps and the firearms reinforcements that had been sent to them were completely out of ammunition and food.

At the critical moment, Captain Mikhail's flag led 500 members of the Prince's Guard with military supplies and food to the scene, thus stabilizing the defense of the western half of the city wall.

"Captain Ibrahim, my troops have been ordered to take over the defense of the western section. You just need to assist from the side."

"Is there anything we should be aware of with the Ottoman army across the way?"

Legion Commander Ibrahim's Greek was not very good. He could roughly understand it, but he stammered and couldn't speak it.

"The Ottoman army is large in number, but the number that can be deployed at the same time is limited. Usually, when one unit is wiped out, another one will take its place. I suspect there is something wrong with their food supply."

Centurion Mehmet on the side took over the topic.

"You speak Greek?"

"I have been a slave to many people and learned many languages."

Mikhail nodded.

"Are you saying that there is a problem with Ottoman food?"

"Yes, this is also thanks to our previous plan of clearing the countryside. Now the entire Athens and Thebes region is seriously short of food and grass, and they have to be transported from the rear. This makes it impossible for the Ottomans to deploy all available troops at the same time."

"Besides, we previously relocated people from the Athens area to the south, making it difficult for the Ottomans to recruit enough cannon fodder in the local area in the short term, so they had to do it themselves."

"That's why we were able to hold out for so long and inflict nearly 2,000 casualties on the Ottomans."

Mikhail was silent.

"What if the Ottoman navy delivers food directly to the north of the isthmus through the Gulf of Corinthia? What should we do?"

Everyone looked at each other and no one dared to answer.

If that day really comes, I'm afraid the Ottomans will be able to crush the Eastern Romans with their numerical advantage.

By then, all Isaac's previous efforts were in vain.

"The only option is to fight to the death."

Mikhail put on his helmet and walked out of the tent.

He looked at the warm and calm sea in the distance, his eyes full of worry.

(End of this chapter)