100 Historical Stories That Unlock Teenage Wisdom

Chapter 80 Seven Turkish Army Sneak Attack on the Golden Horn

Chapter 87 The Turkish Army Sneaks into the Golden Horn

——If you are wise, there will be one loss. There is no absolute thing in the world. The impregnable city wall will also be leaked, and Napoleon will lose Waterloo, so we should not be superstitious about "seamless clothes", and we must think, think, and reassess in everything we do. Think, then act.

After the division of the Roman Empire, Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.It faces the wide Marmara Sea to the south, and the coast is full of steep cliffs.To the northeast is the Golden Horn with a very narrow entrance.In order to prevent invasion, the Romans blocked a thick and strong iron chain here, one end was tied to Constantinople, and the other end was tied to Galatia. Without breaking the iron chain, warships could not enter at all.Only the western part of the whole city is connected to the mainland, but the Eastern Roman emperors of all dynasties built two extremely strong city walls here. The city walls were all made of hard boulders, tens of meters high, and moats were dug in front of each city wall, as deep as 170 feet.Constantinople was an almost impregnable fortress in the Middle Ages.

The Ottoman Turkish Empire, established at the end of the 13th century, was keen on outward expansion from the very beginning. In 1363, the Turks repeatedly defeated the Eastern Roman Empire, encroached on its territory in Asia Minor, and soon controlled almost the entire Balkan Peninsula, leaving only the capital Constantinople to the Romans. In 1451, Muhammad, who was only 21 years old, inherited the throne of the Ottoman Empire and became the new Sultan.Soon after he took the throne, he was determined to occupy Constantinople and completely destroy Eastern Rome.

On April 1453, 4, Muhammad led an army of 6 and more than 20 warships to launch a fierce attack on Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.The gunfire on the warship immediately plunged the ancient city into smoke.But after the bursts of gunfire, the solid city walls were not damaged much, and the Turks were shocked.

The impatient Muhammad thought that the cannons were not powerful enough, so he ordered the construction of more than 20 giant cannons at the fastest speed, and launched a fierce attack again, but it was still to no avail.

Muhammad racked his brains to think hard, and extensively solicited opinions, and soon came up with a brand new combat plan.He decided to cross the headland occupied by the Genoese from the open sea, then enter the inner harbor inside the Golden Horn, and attack from the city wall built on the beach.They bribed the insatiable Genoese to help the Turks build a road through the Pella Mountains and spread a layer of greased boards on the road.Then the Turks began to transport their warships. Two rows of buffaloes pulled in front, and many soldiers pushed behind. In this way, more than 70 warships entered the inner harbor of the Golden Horn smoothly.At the same time, in order to prevent the enemy from discovering the Turks' shipping operations, Muhammad ordered the ships on the sea to continuously fire at Constantinople to attract the attention of the Eastern Roman army.

In the early morning of the next day, the Turkish fleet seemed to have fallen from the sky and suddenly appeared in the inner harbor of the Golden Horn.The Eastern Romans, who were petrified, hastily dispatched troops from the western front to reinforce, which made the already tight western front even weaker. On May 5, the Turkish army launched a fierce attack from the sea and land at the same time, and Constantinople was caught in a two-sided attack. Although the soldiers fought bloody, they finally ran out of ammunition and food, and finally failed to stop the Turks' attack.After more than seven weeks of fierce fighting, Constantinople finally fell.The Turks entered the city, burned, killed, looted, and destroyed this historical and cultural city, and the Eastern Roman Empire also perished.

Wisdom Interpretation:

Constantinople was built by the Eastern Romans for thousands of years. Just from the surface, the defense is extremely complete and strong, and even violent artillery fire cannot cause much damage to it.But for such a city, the Turks still found a loophole and broke it. "Seamless" and "impregnable" can never be achieved. Any system has its loopholes. As long as the loopholes are identified, the system will be easily destroyed.Therefore, we must be cautious in our words and deeds when we do anything, think twice before acting, and know that "a wise man will make a mistake if he thinks a lot", we should "think" again after "thinking a thousand times", only in this way can we Fix the "loopholes" in life and move towards success step by step.

(End of this chapter)