Let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend, the Israeli boxing champion

"Good, it looks like everything is fine." Khalil, the boy's mother, breathed a sigh of relief.

The cannons exploded when fired, and nearly one-third of the Yericheni men were killed in the battle, as well as the precious cannons that they did not have time to take away. But none of these could compare to the good news that the Sultan had woken up.

"What's the situation now?"

Sultan asked again seriously, but seeing Khalil's heavy look, he suddenly understood something.

"We... lost?"

"Yes, Sultan, we lost."

The person who answered this question for Khalil was Shehabuddin, the most loyal member of the war faction. At this moment, he no longer had his former charm and was only confused.

"The heavy artillery that we had high hopes for exploded, killing all the gunners and Urban, the designer, at the firing site. Sultan was blown away by the air wave generated by the explosion and fell into a coma. We don't know whether you are alive or dead. Three of the five artillery positions composed of 69 artillery pieces were lost, and one-third of the most elite Yericheni was killed..."

"After that, we were chased by the Teutonic Knights. We lost a lot of baggage in a hurry, and our morale dropped to the lowest point."

"Wait, the Teutonic Knights? Shehabuddin, are you right?"

This is impossible! Shouldn't the Teutonic Knights be preparing for war with Poland and Prussia?

"That is exactly the case, Sultan. The army has now retreated to a station thirty kilometers outside Edirne. We have already lost this war."

"But we want to know how we lost."

Sheikh Akshem stared at Fatih and Khalil, wondering why the Sultan, who was always full of wisdom, would do such an outrageous thing.

"We need an explanation, Fatih."

Faced with the religious leader's questions, Fatih knew that he had to give an explanation, but before that, he needed to ask one person's opinion.

"Teacher Khalil..."

"Go ahead, it's no big deal."

After seeing the interaction between Fatih and Virgil, Sheikh Akshem suddenly had a bad feeling, and sure enough, the next second, what he was worried about happened.

"Janos Hunyadi and the combined forces of Austria and Poland are advancing towards Varna."

It all made sense.

The Sultan's irrational act of forcing Urban to obey orders was completely contrary to his previous code of conduct. The reason was that the famous Hungarian general János Hunyadi sent an envoy, which made the Sultan's need for a quick victory even more prominent.

Soon after the Sultan ascended the throne, he signed a three-year peace agreement with Hunyadi, then the Hungarian regent, to ensure that he would not be attacked by land from the west during his attack on Constantinople. Hunyadi, in turn, strived for a relatively stable political situation to resolve the increasingly prominent religious and political crisis in the country.

However, the arrival of the envoy now gave Fatih a headache. His father had mentioned his name many times when he was still alive. János Hunyadi was not the kind of person who only talked about war on paper. On the contrary, he was a very wise commander. Now that the Hungarian envoy took the initiative to come to him, there was definitely no good news for him.

"Guess what he said? The messenger said that Hunyadi had resigned the position of regent and returned power to his guardian, Laszlo. Because he was no longer the regent but the commander-in-chief of the army, he had the audacity to declare that the contract was invalid?"

Hunyadi's cutting off of the Sultan's resources had almost suffocated him, and now he could no longer contain his anger.

"You despicable Hungarians! Hunyadi, you cunning devil! Laszlo is only 13 years old, only 13 years old. Didn't you teach him everything?!"

"If that's the case, then we have to be on guard against Varna. Your Majesty, we have to consider the possibility of new Crusaders crossing the Danube. Constantinople is much stronger than we thought, and we don't have many options left."

"The Hungarians must be instigated by the Vatican, or more likely by Caesar of the Holy Roman Empire."

"I agree. Your Majesty, do you remember the threatening letter from the Holy Roman Emperor? If the Holy Roman Army really went out, it is very likely that it would have joined the Hungarians and marched towards Constantinople."

After venting his inner dissatisfaction, Fatih quickly calmed down. He listened carefully to the analysis of his ministers. As a conqueror, he was not a monarch who could not control his emotions. It was just that the difficulty of Constantinople was beyond his imagination.

"How many men do we have now, Shehabuddin Pasha?"

"The Yericheni, light cavalry, heavy infantry, artillery, and the reserve troops stationed in Edirne add up to a total of 110,000 troops. The maximum force we can mobilize is only 100,000."

"One hundred thousand? That's enough. Zagan Pasha, take all the light cavalry troops north to the Danube area. At the same time, order the legion responsible for guarding the Byzantine enclave in the Morea region to transfer part of it to Albania to deal with Skanderbeg. This legion will be under the command of Salija Pasha."

"As for the rest of you, I would like to ask you to help me calm our troops."

After hearing Fatih's order, the two Pashas who received the order left the tent without saying anything. The remaining three people were waiting for the Sultan's words, or orders.

"Fatih, you really can't forget Constantinople."

"It's the same for people like you who have never seen her, let alone me who once had the honor of seeing her real face." Fatih said slowly, his eyes shining when he talked about Constantinople.

"The Eternal City, the City of World Desire, is worthy of its name. It is very suitable to be the capital of our empire."

"......We can still accompany you to go crazy once more, Your Majesty the Sultan, tell me your plan."

"It is already difficult to capture Constantinople by ordinary means, so I am going to hire someone who will make three-year-old children in Europe afraid to cry at night when they hear her name."

"'God's Whip' - Attila."

PS1: Sir, times have changed, and the lazy Attila has entered the scene.

PS2: No, has no one thought of a way to break the impasse for Fatih?

Chapter 137: Glory to Greece, Honor to Rome

"The war is over?"

At the St. Romanos Gate in the Lycus Valley, when Constantine XI returned after calming the residents of the city, he saw Ottoman cannons being dragged in by the soldiers.

"His Majesty."

"What's going on?" he asked a soldier. "Where did these artillery pieces come from?"

"The heavy artillery that the Ottoman barbarians placed outside the gate exploded, killing many people. The general took this opportunity to rush out of the city and defeat the most elite Yericheni. According to Mr. Alvin, the artillery captured today is about one-third of theirs. Following us are the baggage captured by the Germans. Your Majesty, we won!"

"Have we won? No, not yet. Now we have only ended the strategic defense phase, and we still have a long way to go."

On the outer wall of the Theodosian Wall, Alvan and Giustiniani were walking on the marble walkway.

"It is hard to imagine that this wall could withstand the attack of nearly 200 solid bullets every day. Although a section of the outer wall collapsed and the two towers collapsed, it still stood here."

"Although our army was initially frightened by the artillery fire and almost blew up the camp, thanks to them, they gradually regained their confidence under the increasingly frequent bombardments. Even the most powerful artillery was still weak in the face of the unreachable inner wall. The Wall of Sighs once again proved the Purple Empire's ingenious technology and unparalleled strength a thousand years ago when the Turks still ate raw meat and drank blood."

Giustiniani had fought in many wars and seen many fortresses, but none of them was as impressive as the Walls of Theodosius. Now he finally understood the meaning of that sentence:

Glory to Greece, honor to Rome.

"'Our soldiers feel the power of the Sudanese war machine every day, and they are no longer surprised. They have not shown any fear or cowardice.' Haha, General, you were really optimistic at the time. It's just that the emperor didn't have time to come up and take a look, otherwise he would have been convicted of deceiving the emperor."

"Although the actual situation at the time was not so good, the problems I concealed were for the sake of stabilizing the morale of the army. Besides, with Archon Minoto and you backing me up, there is really nothing to be afraid of."

Repairing the broken city walls under artillery fire was tantamount to becoming a living target, and after discussing with Leonardo da Vinci, Giustiniani quickly came up with a way to effectively solve the problem of the collapse of the outer wall.

"We built a temporary rampart with pointed wooden stakes, and then piled up whatever we could get our hands on. Stones, wood, firewood, brushwood and a lot of earth were all fine, which we could carry to the other side of the wall to block the gap. At the same time, in order to prevent the Ottoman army from destroying the temporary rampart with fire, we also covered its outer surface with a protective layer of mortar and earth made from volcanic ash."

"When the temporary ramparts were built high enough, our troops placed wooden barrels filled with soil at intervals on top of them to protect them from the Ottoman army's bows and muskets. At the same time, we could persuade the emperor to start a civil war in his name. When the Ottoman army's offensive weakened after dark, the citizens, including church members, were mobilized to carry wood and stones all night to fill the fortifications that were broken during the day."

Although the continuous night labor proposed by Leonardo da Vinci made the citizens increasingly tired, they continued to work under the strong inner belief, and the degree of mobilization was comparable to a war pushed by a wheelbarrow.

The earthworks built by the army and citizens were surprisingly effective in resisting the devastating impact of stone shells. When the stone shells fell on the earthworks, they lost their power just like stones thrown into mud.

"If she had been born in peacetime, Ms. Mona Lisa would have been a painter or designer. From her accent, we can tell that she is from Florence."

At this point, the Genoese patted Alvin's shoulder heavily and said, "The girl followed you from Florence to Constantinople. If you refuse her again, be careful that Barto and I will team up to beat you up. According to him, Ms. Mona Lisa came here by land at her own expense. You can imagine how hard it was."

"No, it was agreed that the Venetians and Genoese would be irreconcilable."

Alvin raised his eyebrows. He no longer wanted to explain what happened between Da Vinci and him. Even he himself was confused about his attitude towards this.

Well, about how I said I was pledging allegiance to Romani but I did something like this next time.

Is it possible that humans are really fickle?

"Sometimes you can stop the war and keep fighting. Putting this aside, how did you mobilize the citizens of Constantinople?"

"It's simple, just faith."

"When I first arrived in Constantinople, I did three things: go to the city, find a house, and work."

"The religious fervor of this city has reached a height rarely matched in the history of Christianity. General, you may not believe it, but every craftsman and slave in this city is a theologian."

"If you ask a man to change money, he will tell you the difference between the Son and the Father."

“If you ask the price of a loaf of bread, he will argue that the Son is less than the Father.”

"If you ask if the bath water is ready, someone will tell you that the Son was born from nothing."

In the 10th century, people who came from Kiev to seek the truth witnessed the beauty of the worship ceremony in the St. Sophia Cathedral, which eventually led to Russia's conversion to Orthodoxy. The amazing splendor and magnificence of Orthodoxy contrasted sharply with the simplicity of Islam.

If Islam offers the abstract simplicity of the desert, a place where worship can be done wherever the sun is visible, and direct communion with the divine, Eastern Orthodoxy is rich in imagery, color, and music, intoxicating metaphors of a mysterious force that leads the soul to heaven.

Both religions are equally determined to convert the entire world to their beliefs, and the key to victory or defeat is the Eternal City.

"General, take a good rest these days. As a bus parked by the Sea of ​​Marmara, it's time to prepare for a counterattack."

PS1: I originally wanted to refuse to buy skins in the Dead or Alive collaboration.

——But they are really too big.

PS2: Is the GTA6 folder being built? I'm curious.

PS3: The adapted version of Hikaru no Go can probably be considered a masterpiece among comic adaptations.

Chapter 138 Boudica - Goddess Britannia

At the Charissius Gate, Alvin and Justiania parted ways. As a general, the latter still had to deal with many post-war matters, including restoring the defenders' fighting spirit.

The war is not over yet, the counterattack is about to begin.

"Greetings, Lady Boudica."

"You too, Alvin."

He always had respect for noble warriors like Boudica.

"Seeing these warriors so relaxed reminded me of myself in the past."

The Charissius Gate was the closest city gate to where Alvin and his men lived. After ordering the soldiers to rest for a day, Boudica, wearing purple robes, and Alvin walked along Military Avenue No. 4 toward Theodosius Square.

"If you go back through this door, you have to pass through Theodosius Square, Constantine Square and Augustus Square. Although this road is a bit long, you can see a lot of scenery that you can't see normally."

"Was it the same in Britannia at that time?"

"That's right - if there hadn't been that Catu Decianus, I'm sure life would have continued like this."

Having said this, her mood became low. Although she had learned a lot of things after emerging into the world, this matter was like a thorn in her throat.

"As a child of Britannia, do you know how they slandered me at that time?"

"Ah, after meeting you I think what they say is nonsense."

She was tall, scary-looking, and had a raspy voice. Her hair was thick and red and fell to her knees: she wore a thick, braided gold necklace, a tunic of many colors, and over it a heavy cape fastened with a brooch.

This is the record of the Roman historian Dio Cassius. However, judging from the Romans at that time, they probably did not regard the Celts as part of the Roman citizens.

"Facts speak louder than words. Thanks to this DIO, I have a better understanding of the Spring and Autumn style of writing."

"Everyone serves his own master, just like me who failed in the Battle of Whitling Road. No one would have thought that the Roman army, which was almost invincible at that time, would be reduced to a situation where one man lost one city today."

At this point, Boudica stopped. She looked up at the golden council palace located at the highest point in the city. She stared blankly for a long time, took a breath, sighed twice, shook her head and said:

"Whether it was the queen who was the protagonist at that time or Constantine XI now, they are just pitiful people."

The most disgusting person, if you study him carefully, you will always find that he is just a pitiful person.

"...Have you ever regretted your decision?"

Alvin asked, feeling a little bit reluctant, it was really funny that he would ask such a question, it was really embarrassing for the devil.

Boudica frowned briefly, then smiled and shook her head.

"Alvin, if you come to this position one day, you will understand that it is not what you want to do, but what history pushes you to do."

"As for risks, I was used to them at that age. Even if the danger was big enough to fill the universe, it would not be worth mentioning; for us, no risk is greater than the risk of not being able to survive."

"Whatever you do, Alvin. Please stay alive, so you can have a chance."

After saying this, the negative emotions that had been pent up in Boudica's heart for a long time were swept away like being dumped into a trash can, and that extremely friendly smile reappeared.

"Thank you for listening to me for so long. In return, let me cook a delicious meal myself tonight. By the way, is Alvin Irish? I miss your accent."

“Live in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a while.”

"Ireland... then Alvin is Britannia's child. If I have the chance, I would like to go back and take a look. However, not now."

Boudica suddenly stopped, and in front of her was the Theodosius Square. Once upon a time, you could buy selected meat, wine, seafood, vegetables, fruits, cakes, cheese, honey and everything you can imagine around the Theodosius Square. Although it is not as good as before, it is still extremely rich in this regard.

"Would you mind going to the market with me, little Alvin?"

"Well... I guess I have no reason to refuse."