European modulation mode

"Oh - so there is a way out. As long as you go to Edirne and kiss the Sultan's boots, and leave one of your relatives as a hostage in Edirne, such as your mother-in-law, or your first child with your wife, and convert to Islam, the Sultan can support you, who is more powerful than Francisco, and make you the new Duke of Athens. At that time, it will be difficult for Prince Muhammad to punish you."

"Forget it. It's not easy for him to do it now, but when Muhammad becomes Sultan in the future, it won't take much for him to kill me. By then, I will abandon Christ and be hunted down by Islam. I will be caught in a dilemma and I will have nowhere to run."

Aenarion waved his hand and continued drinking with Luther. Using the friendship brought by charm, they talked about life, dreams, and family. Using spells and drunkenness, he slowly tore open the other's psychological defenses and obtained more information. Finally, when they were talking about their children, the drunk Luther suddenly shed a tear of pain.

"My wife was a colonial merchant from Italy. She died before me in a plague. I am old now and have no intention of remarrying. We only have one child. She is the apple of my eye and the only thing I miss about my late wife. The child looks like my German wife, with long hair that shines like gold and eyes as green as the forest. But her physique is as tall and well-proportioned as that of a Slav, slim and fit."

"Then your child must be very good."

Aenarion poured a glass of wine for Luther, who drank it all in one gulp. His elegant old face became redder and his burly body began to tremble slightly.

"Excellent?! That's right! She is very excellent! She is even stronger than me! But, but she no longer calls me father! I am no longer her father!"

The drunk Luther suddenly trembled in pain, and the nostalgic expression on his face collapsed in an instant, and he spoke with a choked voice.

"The Ottomans conquered my homeland, my proud people became servants of the Turks, those ogres turned the Kingdom of Serbia into their vassal, collected blood taxes from all of us, and took my child from me! My only treasure, she was only six years old at the time! Six years old!!!"

"I am a Serbian knight after all. I used up all my family wealth, all my connections and relationships, and spent seven years before I finally found her among the Turks.

She has grown up, and after ten years of brainwashing and training, she has become a fanatical Muslim, an excellent Janissary, and a new recruit of the First Legion. The Janissary Monastery is the most strictly guarded area of ​​the Ottoman Empire. Even if I knew she was there, I couldn't get close to her. "

"The only way to see her is for me to become a Janissary. The blood tax system of the Turks was changed after the Battle of Ankara in order to quickly restore the legions that were crippled by Timur. The traditional way of making Janissaries was too slow and the training cycle was too long, so they would also absorb the elite of other armies into the Janissaries.

In order to see my child again, I had no choice but to abandon my country of loyalty, betray my oath, and join the Ottoman army alone. Only in this way could I fight bloody battles for these damned Turkic ogres! Only in this way could I, in battle after battle, step by step, step by step, be promoted to the Janissary Corps with my military merits! Enter the Janissary Corps where my daughter was!

It took me another three years to finally succeed. With my outstanding achievements, I joined the First Legion and saw my child. At that time, we had been separated for a full ten years! I spent all my family wealth and fought bloody battles for three years to conquer the enemies of my motherland! Finally, I had the qualifications to see her again! She looks almost exactly like her mother, but she has inherited and even surpassed my martial arts skills! "

By this time, Luther's defenses had been greatly reduced due to the dual effects of drunkenness and charm. He even drank the fine wine of Thebes and slammed the table hard, like a drunkard, and poured out his heart to Aenarion.

"Have you seen your daughter? How is she?"

Aenarion was curious now.

“I saw it, and I didn’t see it.”

Luther drank one glass after another, pouring out all the emotions that had been suppressed for many years within the First Legion to his "friends" outside the First Legion.

"I took out her favorite toy - it was a wooden lion that I carved for her. When she was little, her favorite thing was to sit in my arms and play with this toy. But ten years later, when she saw me and this toy, the first thing she said was, 'You are such a grown-up, why are you playing with children's toys?! How can you be called a Janissary if you are so childish?!

Her eyes, the same green as her mother's, were so cold when she stared at me that there was no emotion at all! Nothing at all! She had already forgotten me!!!"

Luther choked and lay on the table, even started crying. Aenarion sighed, patted Luther on the shoulder and comforted him. He just wanted to come here to get some information, but he didn't expect to get such a big melon.

"It's normal for a child to forget memories before the age of six, but they can remember them at least, right? You then stayed in the First Legion for another eight years, and at least accompanied your daughter from the age of sixteen to twenty-four. Doesn't she remember you yet?"

"No! Not at all!"

Luther was a little crazy at this moment.

"Guess why I gave my mount to the Lord of the First Legion eight years ago? Even though I was hit by thirty-three arrows, stabbed sixteen times by spears, and chopped twenty-two times by scimitars, I still risked my life to wade through the water to save a Turk? Because the Lord of the First Legion, the Queen of the Knights of the Army, is my daughter! She is a true genius, a sixteen-year-old legion commander! Even in the Ottoman Empire, this is a very terrifying achievement."

"That time, I almost died trying to save her, and I suffered from illness for the rest of my life. My only wish is to become her personal guard, to stay by her side forever and protect her. Even if she doesn't recognize me, I can always watch over her and protect her, which can be considered as fulfilling my last wish in life.

But guess what, when I told her this request, how did she respond?

No, Luther, you are too old, and you have been injured this time. You are not worthy of being my personal guard. I will arrange a very easy job for you, but one with great power. Go to the logistics department and be the chief of the new recruits of the First Legion! Don't follow me to the battlefield!!!"

Luther imitated the speech of a little girl very vividly, mocking and ridiculing himself crazily, and blurted out all the words that he had been holding back in his heart for eight years. Then he picked up the wine barrel and drank from it, as if he wanted to drown himself in the wine and never wake up.

"I worked so hard to join the First Legion, but ended up being a logistics officer inside the legion. It's hard for me to even see my daughter! But, but, this is the first time my daughter has asked me for a favor in so many years. What else can I do?"

Chapter 145: Fallen Angel

Looking at the drunk and extremely sad middle-aged man in front of him, Aenarion comforted the man who had lost everything like a normal person, as if they were the closest of friends.

As time went by, even though Aenarion's emotions were distorted by Slaanesh due to the price of the Demon Hunter's power, he was able to pretend to be as normal as an ordinary person.

At the same time, a plan was gradually taking shape in his mind. This time, he just wanted to use charm to find some information, but he didn't expect to catch such a big fish!

"Is your ultimate goal to reunite with your daughter? Do you hate the Ottoman Empire so much? Even if you join the Janissary Corps, you can't be with your daughter? For eight years, you have been training new recruits in the First Corps for a full eight years! Not to mention fighting with her and protecting her, it is extremely difficult for you to even see your daughter!!!

"Since your method doesn't work, let's try mine. You have met Estariel Angelos. She was once a loyal Janissary, but now she stands by my side!"

When the opponent's mental defenses were at their weakest, Aenarion used charm and suggestion to whisper his thoughts. He first used the example of Astariel's betrayal of the Janissaries as an example to tell Luther the feasibility of the matter.

"Yes, Astariel! I remember she was from the Angelos family? She was also a Janissary. How did you snatch your wife away from those Turks?"

Luther climbed up from the table drunkenly, put his hands on Aenarion's shoulders, his eyes red from crying, flashing with hope.

"Use decisive strength to defeat her fairly!"

Aenarion said firmly.

"You are her father! Not her soldier! Don't think you owe your daughter anything. She sent you to do logistics work, and you really did it for eight years? You didn't do anything wrong! You don't owe your daughter anything! She was taken away by the Ottomans! You didn't abandon her!

Since Osman used violence to take your daughter away from you, you should use violence to take her back!!!"

“You are kidding! Even at my peak, I couldn’t beat a Janissary army commander! My old and damaged body is no match for my daughter, not to mention that she has an entire Janissary army at her disposal…”

Luther refuted on the spot, but then he suddenly froze.

More than forty years ago, almost all the Janissary legions accompanied Bayezid the Lightning and fought a thrilling Battle of Ankara with Timur the Lame in Asia Minor. That was the worst defeat the Ottoman Empire had ever suffered. Sultan Bayezid was captured, and the Second and Eleventh Legions were surrounded and annihilated by Mongolian orcs. Their organization has not been restored until now.

The other eighteen legions also suffered heavy losses, and several legion commanders were killed. In order to quickly replenish their troops and restore their combat capabilities, all legion commanders no longer obsessed with the traditional blood tax system - capturing people, training them, and brainwashing them from a young age could certainly cultivate extremely loyal and capable soldiers, but the replenishment rate was too slow.

More than forty years ago, the First Legion began to absorb powerful armed forces such as feudal knights and armored cavalry from the conquered areas, and hurriedly joined the legion to restore its combat effectiveness. Among them were Orthodox Christians like themselves and even rebellious Crusader knights.

This move did restore the First Legion's strength in a short period of time, but it also led to the rise of factions within the Dark Angels. Various organizations, associations, inner and outer rings, six wings, companies, and hundreds of arts were intricately intertwined and they disliked each other.

The new generation of children all respect me as a teacher and accept all the knowledge I teach them... Maybe I can really

He was able to instigate a group of Dark Angels to serve as his own armed force, and use them as a basis to slowly plot, defeat the Dark Angels, and take his daughter back from the Turks!

However, the Dark Angels were stationed in the Thessaly Basin, with the Ottoman homeland to the east, Serbia, an Ottoman vassal state to the north, Epirus, which they were not familiar with, to the west, and only Aenarion's Principality of Athens to the south. If they wanted to plot against the First Legion, their only ally would be Aenarion in the south.

"I will help you to weaken the power of the Dark Angels and even persuade a group of them to rebel so that you can survive the crisis."

Luther's brain was thinking at high speed, and he sobered up a little. He looked much more sober, but his elegant and easy-going face was full of desperate madness, and his eyes were full of bloodshot.

"But I have one condition! You must fully assist me and take back my daughter! And after that, I want you to give me a noble title and a piece of fertile land."

"It's a deal. I will make you a count right away! As long as you defeat the Dark Angel, I can reward you with the most fertile land in the Principality of Athens and a castle!"

Aenarion knew that Luther was determined to rebel, so he loosened Luther's chains on the spot, returned his weapons and armor to him, and in order to win him over, gave him the highest title he could currently bestow.

Afterwards, the two men swore an oath of blood. They cut their fingers with a knife and let the blood drip into a bucket of wine. Then they poured the blood into two exquisite wine glasses. The two men crossed their arms, drank the wine soaked in each other's blood, and made the most solemn contract.

After being freed from his prisoner status, Luther did not immediately go back to incite rebellion. Instead, he waited here to see who would be the first wave of dark angels to attack Thebes.

A day later, news came that the Dark Angels' action was finally approved. Faced with Aenarion, which had only a thousand people, the Janissaries generally did not take them seriously, and the seal holder Vichiel was unwilling to allocate too much military funds and food for this small group of enemies.

The last time, it took a legion ten months to resolve the rebellion in Athens. That was because there were two real dragons, Constantine and Thomas, who were more difficult to deal with. They could let the soldiers defend the front line, while the two brothers went around frantically to burn the food roads, which dragged on for ten months.

This Aenarion is just a pirate. Sending the Janissaries to quell the rebellion is a great honor to him.

What's more, the Dark Angels have bigger enemies to deal with: the Gold Dwarves in the Balkan Mountains, who have always been a high-quality source of troops for the Seventh Legion, the Sultan's Fist. But now, a Janissary of the Seventh Legion has launched a rebellion and now becomes the Albanian Warmaster: Skanderbeg.

This most notorious Janissary traitor in history, led the Albanian gold dwarves, and fought hard against the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the mountain fortresses of Albania. Murad II had to carry his seriously ill body, with his throne legion: the Seventh Legion Sultan's Fist, and the First Legion Dark Angels stationed nearby, to suppress the Albanian gold dwarves and kill the damn rebellious Janissary: ​​Skanderbeg.

You see, their Seventh Legion is so weak that a gold dwarf Janissary they trained actually rebelled. There will definitely not be a traitor in our First Legion.

Because most of the Dark Angels were accompanying the Sultan to fight in Albania, in the end only ten companies, a thousand Dark Angels, and five times that number of auxiliary soldiers, a total of six thousand people came to suppress Aenarion's rebellion in Athens - although the scale of both rebellions was not large, it was obvious that a rebellious Janissary would attract more hatred than a pirate.

This is already very respectful. The Ottoman legion system imitated the ancient Roman Empire, but with some improvements. Theoretically, a legion had only 60 companies. Each company had a company commander, an eagle flag bearer, a priest, a military musician, 1 veteran guards, and then 1 squad leaders and 1 soldiers under their command, a total of 1 people. Logistics, secretaries, and auxiliary units were counted separately. Together, they had a maximum of 6 people. Some incomplete legions did not even have a thousand people.

In order to fight Aenarion, the First Legion dispatched one-sixth of its elite troops at once, which was more than enough.

However, there are exceptions to everything. For example, Prince Muhammad's Throne Legion, the XIII Legion: The Ultramarines, was based in Izmir and Manisa, the richest and most densely populated cities in Asia Minor. It gradually expanded to 199 companies, an extremely exaggerated scale.

The leader of this counter-insurgency team was named Zahariel.

Before Zahariel arrived in Thebes, he was already discovered by Luther.

"This man is like me. He was not a brainwashed child who joined through blood tax. Instead, he was promoted to the Janissary from other places through military merit. He is a Yugoslav from Serbia. His beastly power is the same as mine, that of a black eagle. When his dark wings spread out, they cover the sky and the sun. The shadows he casts are terrifying. But he is not an Orthodox Christian. I don't know what kind of nonsense he believes in.

Well, he is a level 12 sorcerer. This profession requires selling one's soul and signing a contract in exchange for power. I don't know what he signed the contract with."

Level 12, the same as Mahmoud Anglos, a hopeless level. A thousand professional elite warriors starting at level 4 were also a threat to Aenarion.

It was a despairing number, but the only thing that did not make people feel despair was that they could hide behind the high walls of Thebes and fight this powerful enemy to the death with the support of the caravel's artillery fire.

And, if I remember correctly, the Albanian general, the Janissary traitor Skander, relied on the mountain fortresses of Albania, and the Ottomans did not defeat him until he died of old age and illness.

Chapter 146: Battle of Thebes

A few days later, the expeditionary force of the Dark Angels arrived at the city. They set up camp outside the range of the artillery and then sent out a large number of light cavalry and some bird-like beastmen like Luther to conduct reconnaissance and exploration.

Thebes is located in an extremely dangerous terrain. It is close to the mouth of the Kiphissos River in the north, with only a stone bridge leading to the north bank. To the east is the Aegean port, and to the south are mountains and hills. Only the west side can allow infantry to launch an attack.

On this side, there was a six-meter-high and eight-meter-thick wall, as well as countless arrow towers. It was not a small fortress like the Marathon Castle. Aenarion moved all his fifteen extra cannons to the top of the city through simple lever mechanics. Under the cover of the arrow towers, he aimed at the invading enemies outside the city. Based on all the knowledge he had learned, he prepared rolling logs and stones, and even spent money to recruit a group of people who valued money over their lives. He used wooden barrels to collect the feces of the residents in the city, mixed it with sea water, and prepared to boil it into golden juice to pour down the city. Except for the strong smell, everything was fine.

While the Dark Angels were conducting reconnaissance, the auxiliary troops were unloading various siege weapons from the carriages and began to assemble them. After a while, the artillery positions were set up and ready to attack at any time.

But the problem was that their artillery consisted of twenty 12-pound stone-throwing cannons, with similar specifications to Aenarion's artillery, and without the protection of battlements or towers. They could bombard the walls of Thebes, but the artillery on the walls of Thebes could also hit them, and a terrible artillery battle broke out.

Amid the deafening sound of gunpowder explosions, stone cannons fired at full speed at the efficiency of one shell every five minutes. Granite shells whistled across the sky and slammed heavily on the eight-meter-thick walls of Thebes. The horrific impact force shattered rocks and tore apart the walls. Dust and gravel gushed out from the cracks in the walls like waterfalls, and the violent bombardment made the entire wall tremble.

Not willing to be outdone, Aenarion used his fifteen stone-throwing cannons to attack the enemy's artillery positions with all their might. Some of the granite shells landed in the air, plowing hideous furrows on the ground, while others accurately struck the enemy's artillery and artillerymen. The terrifying force directly shattered the wooden gun mounts, smashed the flesh and blood bodies, and shattered the artillerymen in an instant, causing the bronze gun barrels to plummet to the ground!

When Aenarion saw that the enemy had five more artillery pieces than his own, he immediately ordered the zombies of the Ulthuan to remove ten more artillery pieces from the ship, transport them to the top of the city, and begin bombarding the city.

Seeing that the enemy's artillery force was so powerful, Zahariel, the executive officer of this expedition, could not help but frown and ordered the soldiers to continue the attack. The parts of the six seven-meter-high siege towers were also unloaded from the logistics wagons with the assistance of thousands of auxiliary soldiers and built on the flat ground. A large number of auxiliary soldiers rushed into the siege towers and slowly advanced towards Thebes under the cover of their own artillery fire. If this thing gets close to the city wall, then the height advantage of the Thebes city wall will no longer exist! Enemy soldiers can easily climb the city wall through these six high towers.

At the same time, two battering rams equipped with giant battering rams slowly moved towards the two gates of Thebes.

Various auxiliary soldiers, carrying simple seven-meter ladders, headed towards the city walls. Their numbers were so large that they covered the land outside Thebes like a white ant carpet.

Cannons broke through the walls, siege towers and ladders climbed up the stairs, and then two battering rams broke down the door... The first round of offensive launched by this man using auxiliary troops made Aenarion's scalp numb. The truly elite dark angels hadn't even taken action yet!

Looking at the dense crowds and siege equipment outside the city wall, Aenarion took two deep breaths, calmed himself down, and responded to Zahariel's fierce attacks one by one.

First, he ordered the artillery to ignore the siege towers and continue to fire at the enemy's artillery positions. If they allowed the cannons to blow up the city walls, everything would be over. Then, he and Astarielle used fire magic to attack the six siege towers, igniting their wooden structures with magical flames to obstruct and destroy these heavy and tall siege weapons.

Afterwards, he sent the ogres to guard the city gate, preparing to crush the enemy with lead shotgun shells inside the narrow corridor after the city gate was broken. Some civilians picked up heavy rolling logs and stones, and took advantage of their height to smash them down hard, making the top of the battering ram uneven and breaking it. The soldiers responsible for pushing the battering ram were also smashed into a bloody mess by huge rocks falling from high altitudes!

The auxiliary cannon fodder that rushed over with ladders all over the mountains were the easiest to deal with. The 400 elven matchlock musketeers on the top of the city all learned the trick of wrapping paper bullets, which greatly optimized the firing rate.

, at a rate of one round every 20 seconds, they blasted thousands of auxiliary soldiers with a torrential rain that covered the sky and the sun, causing the front-line soldiers to fall down like weeds! In just five minutes, they fired horrible lead bullets outside the city, causing the auxiliary soldiers to bleed like a river and corpses to be scattered all over the ground.

This time, Zahariel was a little shocked. Some Janissaries were also equipped with new weapons such as matchlock guns, but novices could only fire once a minute, and experienced veterans could only fire twice a minute. What was going on with the other side? They fired three times in a minute? Were those elves wearing leather armor more elite than his Janissaries? ? ?

However, the difference in numbers between the two sides was too great. The 400 musketeers could not stop the advance of thousands of troops. Ladders were still set up on the city walls, and auxiliary soldiers began to climb the walls one by one.

At the same time, the four siege towers that had not been blown up also moved over, and a solid floating bridge was built between the city wall and the siege towers. A large number of Ottoman auxiliary soldiers wearing white turbans and felt clothes waved scimitars and shields, and charged forward accompanied by passionate war shouts!

"Allah! Hu Akbar!"

"Heavy Armored Spearmen! Hold the Line!!!"

At Aenarion's command, the heavily armored spearmen formed a dense spear wall, blocking the four floating bridges. The spears thrust forward fiercely and pierced into the bodies of these unarmored light infantrymen, creating streaks of scarlet blood. They fought wildly with the dark elves who rushed into the city wall!

At the same time, some citizens who were temporarily recruited also began to attack the soldiers climbing the ladders. They poured pots of boiling seawater and feces down the ladders. In an instant, the boiling feces and salt water poured directly on the heads of the auxiliary soldiers like a waterfall! They screamed in pain, and their exposed skin was burned with scarlet blisters. The rough salt particles caused secondary damage, and the fecal toxins invaded their bodies through the wounds on their skin.

One by one, the soldiers, like withered leaves, screamed, wailed, and shrieked as they fell down the ladders, accompanied by the golden juice falling from the sky, leaving shocking streaks of blood on the ground. The bodies of the soldiers who were severely burned and had broken limbs twitched twice and fell silent immediately. The soldiers behind them, looking at the ground and ladders covered with feces, began to hesitate whether to continue climbing.

It's a bit difficult to use this ladder that's covered in manure.

“Is there something wrong with our intelligence system?”

Zahariel looked at the bloody and horrific battle on the city wall with an incredible expression.

"Aenarion, he knows how to command artillery, how to destroy siege towers with fire, how to smash battering rams with rolling logs and stones, how to block the mouths with heavily armored spearmen, how to boil golden juice and seawater to pour on ladders, and even trained a musketeer and gunner with shooting efficiency that surpassed the Janissaries. He perfectly responded to every siege method I used!

In the entire world, more than 90% of the people don't even know how to read, and have never been to school! Even among the Janissaries, only those children who are qualified to become officers, or those who have been promoted to the level of company commanders, will learn these war knowledge of attacking and defending cities. Ordinary Janissary soldiers don't need to learn this at all.

But those damn spies told me that this kind of person is just an ordinary pirate who became famous a few months ago???"

Chapter 147: Ravenwing Knight

The auxiliary forces of the Janissaries were suppressed by Aenarion. At this moment, dozens of cannons were moved from the ships to the city walls, increasing the number of their own cannons to 25. They launched a more fierce bombardment on the enemy's artillery positions, suppressing the Dark Angels' artillery units and forcing them to withdraw from the battlefield to avoid greater losses.

The ladders were irrigated with golden juice, the siege towers were burned by flames and were mostly destroyed. The two battering rams were smashed by rolling logs and stones falling from the city walls. When the enemy's siege facilities were almost completely destroyed and they were about to win, the Dark Angel took action.

Under the cover of auxiliary soldiers, two hundred Raven Wing soldiers quietly moved behind the burning siege towers, and then transformed into half-beast state. Pairs of black wings that covered the sky and the sun stretched out from behind them. Along with the sound of flapping wings, a group of people flew up to the city wall like black lightning, and fell into the crowd, letting out a terrifying war cry that made people tremble with fear!

"Repent! Today is the day you die!"

If the Crusader Knights of the Knights Hospitaller gave up the heavy and sturdy plate armor in pursuit of speed, they would rush into the battlefield wearing only light chain mail and tunics.

In pursuit of speed, the Ravenwing Knights under the Dark Angels did not wear chain mail, but wore a large winged helmet decorated with black wings on both sides, a very light black leather armor, and a white robe engraved with the Dark Angel's emblem. They flew into the battlefield with the power of the beastman's black eagle.

In their left hands they held a kite shield that could cover their entire bodies, replacing the protective function of armor, and in their right hands they held a pitch-black raven hammer - this hammer had two ends, a war hammer on the front and a long cone on the back. The flat hammer heads slammed heavily on the chests of the heavily armored spearmen, directly smashing the soldiers' ribs and rupturing their internal organs through a layer of chain mail and a layer of leather armor. The sharp cone heads on the back could also cause horrific stabbing damage, easily piercing into the gaps in the chain mail, squeezing and smashing the welded chain mail buckles, and the sharp long cones pierced deeply into the heart!

Under the sudden attack of the Ravenwing Knight, the heavy armor spear