1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 93 Eye of the Storm

Boom boom——

Amid the sound of cannon salutes, a brand new galley slid down the sea along the rolling logs and floated steadily on the waves of the Adriatic Sea.

This galley is streamlined, with a three-layer structure and four sails of different sizes and shapes. It has high sides and a large bottom cabin space, which can carry more rowing slave sailors, thereby increasing the speed of the ship during combat.

There are twelve cannons on the three decks of the ship, with a crossbow at the bow and stern, and many battlements on the side for sailors to place muskets and crossbows.

Greek fire jets were installed on the side of the ship to prevent possible boarding attacks by the enemy.

It is obvious that this warship is designed for near-shore combat.

"Your Majesty, please give her a name."

On the dock, at the front of the crowd attending the ship launching ceremony, Isaac and the Hussite ship designer Mansreti stood side by side.

"How about calling it Theodosius?"

"May the first warship you build for me defend the empire's sea borders like the famous Theodosian Walls."

"She will."

Mansreti nodded and said firmly.

Theodosius was the first real warship built by Isaac himself. The ship was modeled after the Grand Archon, which was once built in the Genoese shipyard. It was designed and manufactured by Mansreti.

This battleship is different from the warships Isaac had purchased and captured before. It was specially designed to cope with the turbulent and complex water conditions in the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Aegean Sea, and can perform escort, transportation and patrol tasks well.

The plan to build the new battleship was approved two years ago. It was repaired and modified along the way, costing nearly 4,500 ducats, and it was not officially launched until today.

"Mansreti."

"Your orders, Your Majesty."

"If we use the Theodosius as a template to build the second ship, how long will it take?"

"If we have a mature template, we can save a lot of time. We have a lot of ready-made wood prepared three years ago. As long as there are enough workers, we can shorten the shipbuilding time to less than ten months."

"What about the funds?"

"Three thousand five hundred ducats will be enough."

Isaac made a silent estimate and made up his mind.

"I'll give you 8,000 ducats. I need to see two identical galleys before next Easter. Can you do it?"

"We try our best."

By now, Isaac's Mediterranean fleet has grown to a small size and has surpassed many countries in number.

Of course, due to the diverse sources of ships, varying quality is inevitable.

As the fleet expanded, naval maintenance costs became increasingly high. Looking at the increasingly shocking reports, Isaac decided to streamline his fleet, eliminating the inferior and retaining the good.

Isaac divided the Mediterranean Fleet into two squadrons, with the Duke of Morea led by Captain Fidel and the St. Nicholas led by Captain Henry as flagships, and several various types of galleys under them.

Among the galleys, several large and medium-sized galleys built in Genoa and Venice were of better quality and all were preserved.

Of the several warships captured from the Ottoman Empire and Tunisia, except for the large three-decker oared ship Ichel, all were scrapped and sold to pirate gangs loyal to Isaac who had privateering licenses as the second-line force of the Imperial Navy.

As for the eight fire battleships converted from large transport ships, since their scope of application is too narrow, they are usually sealed in the naval port of Bilinchi and will be pulled out for use when the fleet is in a decisive battle.

In the war against the Ottomans, the struggle for sea control was crucial.

Then, at the invitation of the military district commanders Maurice and Maruna, Isaac came to the military fortress named after them, Emperor Isaac's Fort.

The place was heavily guarded, with towers connected to each other, a sentry every five steps and a guard post every ten steps, and swords and knives neatly arranged, which made Isaac very satisfied.

In the Battle of Kruje Castle, although the Albanian Alliance won the final victory under the leadership of the famous General Skanderbeg, the domestic situation became even worse.

In the previous siege, the Ottomans sent cavalry to almost completely wipe out the entire Albanian countryside, leaving countless people homeless. This made the already poor economic situation of the Albanian Alliance even worse. Many local princes began to express dissatisfaction with Skanderbeg's long-standing anti-Ottoman policies and flirted with the Ottoman border forces.

It can be said that the huge disadvantage brought by the size of the country meant that although Albania had a rare genius commander like Skanderbeg, it could only hide in the mountain fortress, and it was difficult for it to defend the city, let alone go down the mountain to counterattack and pose a threat to the Ottoman Empire.

After listening to Baron Maruna's report, Isaac met with local merchants and gentry in the Emperor's Castle, took a good night's rest, and left the city of Aulon on the brand new galley Theodosius.

The journey was calm and everything was normal except for the increasing number of Ottoman patrol ships and Venetian merchant ships in the Sea of ​​Marmara.

With the conclusion of the trade agreement between the Ottoman Empire and Venice, Venetian merchants successfully obtained trade privileges for many commodities in the Ottoman Empire and began to advance into this huge market.

Isaac had no idea what kind of return the Ottomans received from the Venetians for giving up such huge benefits.

On May 1451, 5, in the late spring, Isaac landed in Constantinople and went straight to the Grand Palace.

In the council chamber, Emperor Constantine XI happily welcomed his son and introduced the ministers to Isaac.

The ministers came forward one by one and saluted to pay tribute to the co-emperor who had made a great name for himself overseas.

Isaac comforted each minister with gentle words, speaking in a formatted manner that made no sense.

With the death of Murad II, the dark clouds that had long shrouded Constantinople were finally lifted, and the ministers breathed a sigh of relief, with happy smiles on their faces.

They did not believe from the bottom of their hearts that Mehmed II, who had thrown the entire Ottoman Empire into chaos the last time he ascended the throne, could stably control this complex empire. They were confident that the Ottoman Empire would inevitably be in civil strife.

"Your Majesty, it is a pleasure to meet you. May you always be in good health."

As George Sfrangis stepped forward, he exchanged glances with Isaac, and both sensed deep worry in each other's eyes.

In the late empire, Foreign Minister George Sfrangis was one of the few capable ministers who still retained excellent strategic vision and diplomatic skills. Many times, his thinking was ahead of others, even surpassing Constantine XI.

At present, he is the only important official who believes that Mehmed II is a greater threat than his father.

"I heard you just returned from a visit to Trebizond. How was it?"

Isaac asked in a low voice.

"John IV received a promise of peace from Mehmed II and happily invited me for a drink."

Sfrancis shook his head in disdain.

“A frog in a well is doomed to failure.”

Isaac's expression remained unchanged as he made his comment indifferently. In the original time and space, this local separatist regime established by the Komnenos family survived a few years longer than Constantinople by virtue of its diplomatic strategy of marrying off daughters and seeking compromise, but its ending was very pathetic.

The Komnenos kings of Trebizond were far from being as resolute as Constantine XI was to die bravely, and they directly paid tribute to the Ottoman Empire.

Later, David, the last monarch of the Komnenos family, for some unknown reason demanded that Osman return the taxes he had paid.

The Komnenos family's erratic behavior angered Mehmed II, who sent a large army to attack and destroy this lingering small dynasty and execute all of Komnenos' descendants.

Compared with royal families such as Palaiologos and Kantakouzerus who were thriving in the Ottoman Empire, the Komnenos family was extremely miserable.

If you don't strive for excellence, your enemies won't respect you.

After a simple lunch, Isaac rushed to the construction site of the Theodosian Wall.

Under Giovanni's arrangement, defense facilities such as canals, trenches, battlements, towers, and catapults were steadily improved. Slaves from Africa carried heavy building materials and fell under the walls of Constantinople.

After obtaining Constantine's consent, Isaac sent the Purple Guards and the First Legion of the Guards to station in the Lycus River Valley and began to gradually take over the defense of the city walls.

Walking side by side with Giovanni on the towering walls of Theodosius, looking at the magnificent fortifications stretching from north to south, Isaac felt a little more relieved.

With the city walls reinforced by themselves, even if Muhammad tried his best to attack, it would probably not be easy to take it, right?
In the evening, Isaac had a long talk with his old father Constantine, forcing him to temporarily abandon his plan to use Orhan to make trouble for Mehmed II, and instead devote his energy to the defense of the capital.

At present, Constantinople, which could accommodate 500,000 people in its heyday, has less than 50,000 people left. Most of the land has been abandoned for many years, and the land utilization area is seriously insufficient.

Under Isaac's suggestion, Constantine XI agreed to gradually relocate people from other places around Constantinople to the capital, reclaim wasteland, and provide sufficient food for the garrison.

In addition to a small area in Thrace near Constantinople, the Eastern Roman Empire also controlled several small islands in the Sea of ​​Marmara and the Aegean Sea.

These islands were sparsely populated and without fortifications as strong as the Walls of Theodosius, they were impossible to defend.

In Isaac's strategy, these islands would be abandoned and sold to the Venetians to see if they were willing to pay a substantial sum.

In this way, Isaac settled in Constantinople and began to participate in the political affairs of the capital.

In the following weeks, the diplomatic envoys sent by Isaac completed their journeys one after another and returned to Constantinople to report.

As Isaac had expected, almost all the monarchs expressed sympathy for the situation in Constantinople and condemned the Ottoman invasions over the years.

But when the envoys really asked them to provide some assistance, these people began to find ways to refuse.

In Eastern Europe, Grand Duke Casimir IV of Lithuania had only received the Polish crown a few years ago and was trying to stabilize the domestic situation while dealing with the threat of the Teutonic Knights in the north. He did not want to become an enemy of the Ottomans for the time being.

In Central Europe, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III was in a mess at home and did not have this ability.

In Western Europe, the Hundred Years' War between England and France was still going on, and princes such as Burgundy were trying to profit from it and were unable to extricate themselves.

On the Iberian Peninsula, Aragon and Castile didn't want to get involved in this mess at all. Isaac's brother-in-law, King Alfonso V of Portugal, was very interested in the holy war, but was stopped by the domestic nobles.

An agreement had already been reached when the two sides entered into the marriage, stating that the Portuguese had no obligation to support themselves in a head-on fight with the Ottomans.

On the Apennine Peninsula, Sforza, Duke of Milan, has recovered from the previous chaos with his superb political skills and began to show his fangs towards the surrounding forces.

John IV, Duke of Monferrato and Parma, wrote a detailed letter to Isaac, explaining the difficulties he was facing and hoping to gain Isaac's forgiveness.

To this, Isaac accepted.

This time, both sides were under great pressure at the same time. Everyone had to go all out and there was no way to spare troops to help each other.

In the Balkan Peninsula, only Skanderbeg was willing to help Isaac. Isaac thanked him, but it was better than nothing.

The Hungarian governor, the White Knight Hunyadi, did write a letter to Isaac, praising him for his holy war for Jesus Christ in recent years, but regretfully expressed that he might not be able to provide him with direct help.

After the Battle of Kosovo, Hunyadi abandoned his people and fled back to his country. His prestige was no longer as high as before, and he was indeed powerless.

As for the other small countries, Isaac also sent envoys, but it had no effect. Some countries that were friendly with the Ottomans even directly drove away the envoys and ordered them to leave.

The only success in this diplomatic campaign was the alliance with Karaman.

On May 5, envoys from Karaman secretly arrived in Constantinople, met with the two emperors in the Grand Palace, and formally signed an alliance treaty between the two countries.

Under the agreement, Isaac would provide assistance to Karaman in his upcoming war, helping them improve the combat effectiveness of their army while using the fleet to provide protection for their merchant ships.

In return, Karaman Bey would recognize Isaac as the King of Armenia, agree to a population exchange, and allow Isaac's trading company to settle in Karaman's port.

Regarding the military agreement, both sides intentionally left it vague, agreeing that when one side was attacked by the Ottomans or Mamluks, the other side should join the war as appropriate to tie down the enemy's forces.

After the treaty was signed, Isaac's first batch of aid departed from the port of Famagusta in Cyprus and arrived in the Ichel area of ​​Karaman that evening.

Matchlock guns, strong bows, armor, swords, food... these war materials will be provided to the Karaman army at the lowest price, in an effort to cause more trouble to the Ottomans.

On May 1451, 5, Karaman Bey, who was supported by Isaac, and the ambitious Ibrahim II assembled their troops, crossed the western border and attacked the Ottoman Empire.

Isaac was not optimistic about this war and could only hope that with his help, Ibrahim II could last longer than in history.

In the original time and space, Karaman's army was unstoppable, conquering many important towns in succession, and its military strength was unmatched.

Mehmed II urgently led his army to the battlefield and fought a fierce battle with Karaman.

In this battle, the muskets and artillery of the Janissary Guards taught Karaman's cavalry a good lesson, defeating them and forcing them to flee in panic.

Ibrahim II immediately asked for peace and vowed eternal alliance.

"Your Majesty Emperor Isaac, I am honored to receive your letter, but I have to regretfully decline your request..."

Every time Isaac read another polite but cold rejection letter, he couldn't help but sigh.

It has to be said that Mehmed II chose a perfect timing to attack Constantinople.

In the mid-15th century, the entire European Christian countries were in a general depression and could not pose any effective threat to the Ottoman Empire.

Not only that, in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, there was no force that could threaten its survival and growth.

This allowed the Ottomans to attack with all their might at once without having to worry about border defenses.

If they waited another ten years, Uzun Hasan could tie up the Ottoman forces in the east; if they waited another twenty years, the Black Knight Matthias could be called in for support; if they waited another fifty years, Ismail I would be enough to make the Ottomans hesitate.

However, history has no ifs.

It is now May 1451, 5, the year of the Lord’s incarnation, and there are still two full years left before the fall of the Roman Empire in the original time and space.

(End of this chapter)