Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 373, Section 120: For Rome

"Warriors, the Ottoman cannons may breach the city walls, but they cannot break the cross on your chests!"

"For Christ! For Rome! For this land beneath our feet, soaked in the blood of our forefathers—take up arms and show them what the backbone of the Roman Empire truly is!"

"My sword will stand at the forefront of the breach! My blood will flow with yours! We will live and die together! The glory of Christ will forever shine over Rome!"

On the city wall, the emperor raised his sword high, his hoarse voice filled with an unyielding will.

Wolff had never felt such intense emotion before.

He has never been a good speaker. At home and at school, timid and inarticulate is the unanimous assessment of him.

But war is always the crucible that tempers people the most. Even though he knew deep down that this was just a game and that he was just a chosen player, as time passed in the game, the overly realistic details gradually blurred the line between virtual and reality for him.

The blood he shed in battle was warm when he personally led the charge; the daily, orderly prayers of the city's inhabitants were a testament to their devout faith; and the warriors' desperate resistance was fueled by their burning anger.

He began to truly empathize with the last emperor, grieving for every fallen soldier and indignating at every attacking enemy.

"Since this is a game, then there must be a possibility of creating miracles."

"Rome will never fall!"

Inspired by the emperor's oath, the soldiers on the city wall slammed their spears into the ground and clashed their shields, creating a thunderous response.

The speech was a great success, and morale was greatly boosted.

Wolf breathed a sigh of relief. Speeches can follow a formula, but you can't say the same thing every time. That would treat people like idiots. Every soldier here is not like an NPC; they really have their own lives.

Therefore, he needs to prepare a draft in advance for each speech, truly memorize it, and then organize his inner emotions to deliver it with great expression.

So much so that he would memorize it during class, and sometimes he would get so excited that he would slam his fist on the table with his face turned red, which would inevitably attract attention and lead to a lot of ridicule and whispers after class.

The speech ended, and he returned to the internal affairs interface. Examining the city's supplies, Wolf felt a genuine sense of hope for the first time.

Although resources are already scarce compared to the early stages of the siege, his current reserves are a luxury compared to his previous playthroughs, making this undoubtedly his best chance to complete the game!
After several days of being stuck, he finally broke through the series of large-scale offensives on May 7th and 12th yesterday, and advanced the plot to May 27th, the eve of the final assault.

But he deliberately interrupted the progress and started over.

The reason, of course, was that he saw a hint that once he entered May 28th, he could not start over, which meant that he might only have one chance to pass the game.

He wasn't sure if he could continue playing after finishing the game, so he had to force himself to do his best.

The key is to survive these two rounds of attacks with minimal resources, so that he can bring more resources into the final battle.

In addition, he began to suspect the Chancellor, who kept urging him to use the victory banner, even after Wolfe clearly stated the consequences, insisting that "there is no victory without sacrifice."

Wolff understood this without him having to say it, but in his view, the victory banner brought unnecessary sacrifices and was a transaction that sold one's soul.

So in recent rounds of the game, he tried his best not to use the victory flag, and also investigated the prime minister, and then he actually discovered something unusual.

For example, there is a fixed event that occurs in the early stages of the game: the secretary-general reports that the prime minister has had almost no contact with the Orthodox Church recently.

There are three options here: [This is a good thing], [Send someone to investigate], [Inquire with the Orthodox Church].

The option that maximizes short-term gains is option one, which grants access to a batch of supplies and goodwill towards the pro-Latin faction.

However, if you have a good relationship with the Orthodox Church and choose the third option, you can advance a side quest with unclear rewards.

Before completing this side quest, you must maintain a good relationship with the Orthodox Church and make several decisions that require a significant amount of authority points; otherwise, this storyline will be interrupted and you will have no chance to continue it.

This will put players to a very high level, as many of the ways to obtain resources and support will displease the Orthodox Church.

Furthermore, if the pro-Latin faction is excessively disappointed in this process, it will cause the morale of elite mercenaries to waver and their combat effectiveness to decline.

This balance is like walking a tightrope, something most people can't handle, because you can't have epic victories every time you're on the battlefield.

But Wolf actually managed to do it, albeit with difficulty.

Once this side quest is unlocked, the Prime Minister will become even more eager to use the Victory Banner, and if the player refuses to use it, he may even become angry.

This deepened Wolf's suspicions about him.

The Orthodox monks seemed to have discovered something after their investigation, but they didn't report it to him, only saying that they needed some time to verify the situation.

The last game ended on May 27th, but the final result wasn't revealed then. It seems the result won't be until the 28th.

Since the conditions for this side quest are so demanding, it may truly be a golden opportunity to rewrite history.

He had already made a plan: if he could survive this battle and ultimately not use the victory flag, then he would take this side story into May 28th.

Wolf finished organizing his thoughts and began preparing for the final large-scale attack before the general offensive.

At dawn on May 12, there was no sunrise.

The walls of the Brachini district trembled under the Ottoman army's artillery fire. The Urban cannon could only fire a few times a day, but each time it fired a stone projectile that was like a mountain, and the terrible impact was accompanied by a loud bang as bricks and stones shattered.

boom!
An unlucky fellow was struck on the city wall by the stone, which continued forward with the impact, leaving behind a steaming pool of flesh and blood.

Many of the city wall's towers had been blasted flat, and the wall was covered with spiderweb-like cracks. The widest gap was big enough for three people to pass side by side. The rubble and corpses were mixed together and piled up like mountains at the foot of the city wall.

"Allahu Akbar!"

"Siege!"

"Come on!"

Oh oh oh!
The shouts of the Ottoman army pierced through the smoke of battle. Soldiers holding shields swarmed towards the city walls like ants. Squadrons were erected on the ruins, and battering rams slammed into the city gates near the Brachine Palace. Each muffled thud was awe-inspiring.

The complex terrain of the Brachina district walls, connecting the royal palace with the outer city, was Mehmed II's main point of attack, where he was determined to break through the defenses.

"Your Majesty! The breach is about to fall! Use the victory flag!" The vizier's image appeared on the strategic map, his voice urgent and hoarse. "The soldiers can't hold on much longer! If we don't use the flag soon, the Ottomans will storm in!"

Wolf ignored the urging, focusing all his attention on battlefield micromanagement.

His gaze was fixed on the gap.

Three Ottoman soldiers had climbed the rubble and slashed down two civilian militiamen, widening the gap. He had already called in a detachment of his personal guard fifty meters to his right for flanking support.

This unit was elite, but limited in number, and every deployment had to be precise. The fighting was far more brutal than imagined.

A soldier was stabbed in the chest by an enemy on a ladder. The craftsmen of the engineering team had just filled a crack with stones when they were shot by an arrow and fell limply onto the newly repaired wall, their blood staining the newly laid bricks.

The hand-to-hand combat at the breach had become a stalemate. The defenders and Ottoman soldiers were locked in a fierce struggle, and amidst the flashing blades, men kept rolling down, letting out shrill screams.

"Your Majesty! Their elite guards are coming! Use the flags, use the flags to inspire the soldiers to fight without fear!"

Wolfe saw that the Sultan's guards, clad in heavy armor, were rapidly approaching the breach; ordinary arrows could not penetrate their armor at all.

He gritted his teeth and, instead of choosing the victory flag icon, mobilized the few remaining incendiary bombs and Greek fire.

He also personally micro-managed the throwing.

The incendiary bomb traced an arc in the air and landed below the rubble at the breach, instantly igniting flames.

The guards paused, screams of agony from the burning flames rang out, and those in front began to sway, eventually falling to the ground, knocking down a group of them who were then engulfed in flames.

Wolf breathed a sigh of relief, then tensed up again. Another breach had been torn open by Ottoman soldiers, who had rushed inside the city walls and begun street fighting with the defenders.

He did not panic. He immediately tightened the defensive line, ordering the defenders in the street fighting to retreat to the second line of defense. At the same time, he mobilized the catapults on the city wall and aimed them at the dense enemy forces that were trying to come to their aid. A volley of catapults felled a large number of them, temporarily halting the enemy's offensive.

"Your Majesty! Wake up! Soldiers' lives are meant to be sacrificed! If we don't raise the flag now, everyone will die after the city falls!" The prime minister's persuasion was almost a roar.

"Shut up! I am the emperor!" Wolf finally couldn't hold back and shouted angrily.

The prime minister was somewhat taken aback, seemingly stunned by this unprecedented forceful approach.

Wolf continued to employ micromanagement and meticulous calculations.

The engineering team prioritized repairing the walls on both sides of the breach to prevent it from widening further. Civilian militia were responsible for transporting the wounded and supplies. Elite troops focused on defending the breach.

Time passed second by second, the sun gradually rose to mid-sky, and the battle entered a white-hot phase.

The defenders suffered increasing casualties, and their morale began to slowly decline, falling from high to moderate, and then approaching a low. The Ottoman army continued its relentless attacks, seemingly without end.

Wolf's eyes were bloodshot, but his will remained unwavering. He knew that if he could hold out for another half hour, the Ottoman offensive would weaken—a pattern he had observed in previous rounds.

"Your Majesty! Morale is collapsing! If we don't use the flags soon, Constantinople will fall!" The vizier's voice was filled with despair and suppressed anger. "Are you really going to watch Rome fall in your hands?!"

At this moment, a prompt appears on the screen: [The morale of the defending troops is about to plummet. Do you wish to use the victory banner?]

"Do not."

Wolf didn't hesitate and clicked "No".

It was time. He took a deep breath of the gunpowder-scented air and clicked the "Join the Battle" option.

The perspective instantly switches to first-person view.

Wolfe, controlling Constantine XI, drew his longsword, the blade reflecting the blinding sunlight. He turned and shouted to his guards, "Warriors, Constantinople—never falls! The glory of Rome lies on our swords! Charge with me!"

"Charge! For Rome!"

The imperial guards roared in unison, raising their battle axes and longswords like a forest, following closely behind the emperor's figure, transforming into a sharp blade, and fiercely plunging into the fiercest battle at the breach!

The city wall beneath my feet was covered in blood and corpses, and every step was muddy and slippery.

At the breach, an Ottoman officer was brandishing his scimitar, cutting down a defender and preparing to expand his gains. A ruthless glint flashed in Wolf's eyes, a seasoned veteran of the battlefield. He gripped his longsword and charged forward.

clang!
The longsword clashed with the scimitar, sparks flying. He used the momentum to sidestep, dodging the opponent's slash, while simultaneously thrusting his sword towards the enemy's throat.

Caught off guard, the Ottoman officer was pierced by a sword, and blood splattered on his face, warm and sticky.

Killing someone can be difficult in some ways, but it can also be easy in others.

The still-high-spirited imperial guards escorted their emperor, charging into the enemy ranks like tigers descending a mountain.

Battle axes cleaved through the enemy's armor, and longswords pierced precisely into the gaps in their defenses. Their bravery inspired the surrounding defenders, and the previously demoralized soldiers were rekindled in their fighting spirit, roaring as they launched a counterattack.

"For Rome!"

"For the Emperor!"

The emperor's leading by example inspired the soldiers on the city walls to roar and launch a counterattack in response to his voice.

The Ottoman offensive faltered; they could not comprehend how these collapsing enemies could still unleash such terrifying power.

Wolf led his personal guard in a fierce charge through the breach, tearing apart the enemy's formation. More and more Ottoman soldiers began to retreat, and those climbing the ladders abandoned their posts and turned to flee.

Half an hour later, to the sound of drums, the last Ottoman soldier withdrew from the battlefield below the city walls, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

On the walls of the Brachine district, corpses lay strewn everywhere, and blood flowed in streams through the cracks in the walls.

Wolf leaned on his longsword, panting heavily. His armor was covered in blood and dust, and a third of his personal guard had been lost.

"I did it."

This is the first time we've tried to use the victory flag after so many attempts.

[May 12th Defensive Battle - A Resounding Victory!]

Is this considered a resounding victory?
Wolf looked around at the devastated scene and the exhausted soldiers, and felt that this great victory was somewhat undeserved.

Following this attack, the Ottomans began preparing for a general offensive while simultaneously waging tunnel warfare.

This isn't too difficult; we have experts on our side who deal with tunnel warfare.

The Ottomans also sent an ultimatum: if the city surrendered, the lives of the citizens would be spared and the city safe. If the city fell, the people would be massacred.

Wolf is not given a choice here; the plot directly rejects him.

On May 27, the last few incidents triggered a final Christian procession in the city, during which the emperor delivered his final speech, reiterating his determination to hold the city as long as the people live.

"Let posterity sing: The banner of Rome never flew low, until the last knight fell, it charged on! For our faith! For Rome! For all that we love! I will live and die with you!"

(End of this chapter)