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

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Under the continuous bombardment, an unexpected but reasonable thing happened: several yards of the city wall collapsed. A large gap suddenly opened in the wall, and the defenders were suddenly exposed to the Ottoman army.

The soldiers began to cheer, and everyone believed that they would soon rush into the city. After enough firepower was concentrated on one point, even the seemingly impregnable fortifications would quickly collapse. They also believed that the collapse of the Wall of Sighs had seriously dampened the morale of the defenders. From a Roman point of view, no matter how many times they had lost, as long as they led the enemy's army to Constantinople, everything would be fine.

But the ensuing battle was beyond their expectations. In the eyes of the Ottomans, the defenders on the city wall suddenly disappeared, as if they had never existed.

But if you look from inside the city, all the defenders were hiding behind the outer wall, operating cannons and Greek fire and waiting quietly behind the ruins formed by the gap.

Just like in 1204, pagans and apostates rushed forward like waves, wielding scimitars, but what greeted them was the golden-red arc of Greek fire drawn from the ejector, and the fiery death inevitably came to them; the light artillery was not to be outdone, and the defenders used artillery shells made of scrap iron to tear rows of Ottoman soldiers into pieces, and the smelly flesh and blood were scattered all over the scorched earth.

After the roar of artillery fire, the Varangian Guard, which had been prepared long ago, rushed out. This palace guard formed by Basil II was extremely powerful. It once fought through the charge of the Norman cavalry and was extremely loyal to Basilius, and remained unshakable even during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.

The Ottoman army left through this gap with heavy losses. They got nothing except dead bodies all over the ground. When they looked back, they found that the city wall had never collapsed, as if the battle just now was a dream.

"The next battle will be escalated, Your Majesty. The battlefield will no longer belong to us."

Alvin shook his head and sighed. Just now, he saw the latecomers Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others, as well as the gaze of Nero Claudius.

"And it belongs to them."

He picked up a brick and walked towards the team rebuilding the city wall.

This is the last battle between humans. After this, the legendary heroes will appear on the stage. Everything will be just like the Trojan War.

The result seemed to have been predetermined.

Chapter 160: The Great Idea of Sailing on Dry Land

Under the cover of night in early summer, the breeze that should have been peaceful and quiet carried a bloody scent, and the defenders of Constantinople could only begin emergency repairs on the damaged city walls under the cover of darkness.

The defenders' repair work was carried out under the constant threat of the Ottomans. Although it was already night, it did not mean that the artillery, muskets and crossbows would stop venting their anger on the city. From time to time, small groups of Ottoman troops would sneak attack the tower, but they were discovered and stopped in time by the defenders.

After one bloody battle after another, it was clear that on this day, Constantinople escaped disaster through tenacity, luck, and the blessing of "our merciful and savior Jesus Christ."

Wooden barrels filled with stones and soil were continuously transported to the city wall and built together with rubble to form a simple stone dam, which was then covered with vines and multiple layers of tree branches and leaves and soaked with cement to make them as hard as the city wall.

"Knowledge is the primary productive force, don't worry."

"...I hope so."

Alvin looked at the soldiers who were repairing the city wall with great concern. Before the war began, everyone believed that the Theodosian Wall would withstand all attacks, even the Servants believed this. How could the Queen of Cities, designed by Constantine the Great himself, fall?

The collapse of the outer wall of the city not only affected the citizens and soldiers, but also himself. He could now finally understand the people who kept praying to the holy icon during the first round of bombardment.

"da Vinci."

"I'm here."

"Is all my efforts in vain?"

"You were able to set up a siege from Venice to the Mamluks in a short period of time, and also won the support of the two major knightly orders. I don't think what you did was worthless."

Because I saw it all.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine, everyone will be fine."

She hugged him tightly from behind. She didn't know since when, but there was a faint fragrance on his body. She couldn't tell what it was, but it smelled good.

"Like Metternich?"

The second phase of the war developed extremely quickly and complicatedly. It seemed that both sides were aware that a moment had come that would determine the fate of the two empires. The defenders continued to take measures to deal with the enemy's attack. Constantine XI was always paying attention to the movements and situations of the troops, trying not to waste a single soldier.

The long siege was not only a challenge for the attackers, but also a crisis for the defenders, especially the army of Constantinople itself, which would face unexpected problems. During the difficult wait, the defenders hurriedly dealt with every crisis, plugging any gaps in the defense line, and quarreling with each other. Sometimes they heard rumors that the enemy was about to launch a general attack, and they were inevitably nervous and discouraged; sometimes they heard news of victory, and their hearts were full of hope, and this cycle repeated itself.

"It was outrageous to see the Venetians and Genoese fighting at the same time, who had never had any contact with each other."

After figuring out the composition of the Constantinople defenders, Fatih sighed from the bottom of his heart.

In siege warfare, there is actually a complex symbiotic relationship between attackers and defenders. Constantine XI was fully aware that the Muslim camp outside the city was in a state of crisis.

For the first time since the campaign began, the Ottomans began to express serious doubts. Constantine remained the bone in God’s throat, and the Greeks’ use of the Varangian Guard and Greek fire proved this truth once again.

For these devout warriors, the city was not only a military problem but also a psychological obstacle. Their confidence in defeating the infidels and turning the tide of history, which they had technological and cultural advantages, was suddenly fragile. The Bedouins from the Arab region recalled the story of the prophet's standard-bearer Ayyub who died under the city walls eight centuries ago. "This was our most critical moment," wrote the Ottoman historian Tursun Bey. "Despair and confusion arose in the ranks of the Muslims, which made our siege troops lose their morale."

This was a critical moment for the Ottomans’ confidence in their jihadist cause. On the evening of April 4, from a pragmatic point of view, the bleak prospect of a long siege seemed imminent, with logistical difficulties and low morale still to be solved, disease rife in Edirne, and the possibility of desertion from the soldiers, not to mention the Mamluks who were advancing across the Pontic region of Armenia into the heart of Anatolia.

It was also a clear threat to Fatih's personal authority, as his troops were on the verge of open rebellion. Unlike his father Murad, he had never won the love of the standing army. And the fact that Yericheni had already shown signs of interfering in the succession was not lost on people, especially Grand Vizier Khalil Pasha.

Now, the Sultan's personal guard followed closely behind him. Looking at the Sultan who was turning around anxiously, the guard continued to be alert to any movement around him without saying a word. For him, regardless of victory or defeat, his responsibility was to protect the Sultan's safety, and he would not worry about these exhausting problems.

The rise and fall of empires? Fame and great deeds? What does this have to do with a guard, an ordinary person?

But our conqueror had no time to think so. He kept traveling to the Martepe Mountain Camp, Shuangzhu Port, and the area north of Galata, conducting field investigations in person, studying the problem, observing the "red apple" from different angles, and strategizing in his head, thinking about countermeasures to break the city.

——Although he successfully acknowledged his connection with Attila through the Chaldean channel, after removing the power of the Servant, he still had to solve the problem himself.

His desire for Constantinople dates back to his childhood, when he had seen the city from afar, and to the sleepless nights he spent wandering the streets of Constantinople as a messenger. He was always fascinated by Constantinople, so he concentrated on studying Western works on siege warfare, and hired a large number of Italians to survey the terrain and draw detailed maps of the city walls, although of course only some superficial deployment information was given.

He made unremitting efforts to capture the city: asking questions, collecting information, recruiting talents, hiring spies, and accumulating information. He believed that this was the beginning of his achievement like Alexander the Great.

Now, the conqueror decided to go back to the origin of the problem, back to the initial attack on Constantinople, he looked at the large battle map. The Theodosian Wall, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, the Ottoman army and navy launched fierce attacks in these places, but in the end they all returned in vain and suffered heavy losses.

"The Golden Horn, in the end, is still on the Golden Horn."

Chapter 161 Venus Nero, Return (Part )

In the past, when Murad II faced Constantine, who was still the Prince of Morea, he used cannons to destroy the city defense system carefully arranged by Constantine XI within a week; but now that Fatih is facing the ancient Theodosian Wall, the cannons seem to be weak and the progress is much slower than the Sultan expected.

Constantine the Great's genius idea, the overly complex Wall of Sighs, and the temporary moat all made it difficult to win a quick victory in the war. In addition, Constantine XI's reasonable deployment and Justiniani's genius tactical command made the city walls stand firm and hold every section.

He only had a month, so he approached Chaldea and asked for help.

"The enclosed Golden Horn provided a safe anchorage for the Venetian fleet and a logistical basis for the naval battle. At the same time, the Golden Horn also greatly extended the traffic lines between our army and navy. The troops had to take a long detour to quickly transfer from the land wall to the Double Pillar Port. Now the problem of the iron chain has reached a point where it must be solved."

"so......"

"So here I ask you to get rid of the Italian naval power. After all, according to you, this is also part of history, isn't it?"

Li Xiang was standing on a high ground, with the Genoese city of Galata at his feet. Although it was a city belonging to the Genoese, and Genoa was indeed an ally of the Eastern Empire, Galata, which was highly independent, was ambiguous and neutral in this battle, which made both the attackers and defenders quite dissatisfied: before the war, Galata and Constantinople had trade relations with the Ottomans and made a lot of money. Now, it played the role of a channel between the two major forces, and materials and intelligence were shuttled through Galata.

Italians, especially northern Italians, are full of all the characteristics that merchants should have. Whether it is Orthodox heresy or Crescent paganism, as long as it is profitable, everything is not a problem. But this behavior of playing two boats means that the transmission of information between Byzantium and Ottoman is not one-way, which will soon have tragic consequences.

The area outside Galata was originally covered with vineyards and bushes. Before it became a Genoese colony, it was an important wine and olive oil growing area in Constantinople. However, now this area has completely become a variety of casinos, taverns and red-light districts.

"If I were to draw an analogy, it would be like the relationship between Burgundy and France during the Hundred Years' War, but of course Burgundy's final outcome was not much better."

Rarely, Aku Hinako made an extremely appropriate comparison, and everyone agreed with Aku Hinako's statement.

Not only is the ending bad, the whole country is ruined!

“There were even rumors that the citizens of Galata moved openly in the Ottoman camp during the day, providing them with oil to cool the cannons and other profitable goods, and at night they slipped across the Golden Horn to stand sentinel on the walls of Constantinople.”

"It is truly the nature of businessmen to pursue fame and fortune."

Fujimaru Ritsuka, who had been deeply harmed by Da Vinci's workshop, sighed from the bottom of her heart, and now she had to watch Da Vinci do this.

"In the end, nothing has changed."

"To be exact, there is. According to history, tomorrow our conqueror will hold a war meeting and come up with a solution to the problem of chains."

"'If you can't break through the chain by force, you have to go around it. To go around it, you have to transport the fleet from land and let them enter the Golden Horn Bay from inside the chain of defense.' This is the origin of the allusion of sailing on dry land."

Romani flipped through the documents in front of her. Although the death toll from the accident had been greatly reduced, the shortage of manpower still made everyone feel overwhelmed. It was hard to imagine that she had been able to withstand such great pressure in this way.

"The tactic of sailing on land is not just a fantasy. As early as when the Eastern Roman Empire was still strong, the Vikings from the Nordic world sailed into the Black Sea through the Eastern European steppes to contact the empire. The famous Varangian Guard was born in this context. Even the famous Saladin once transported galleys from the Nile to the Red Sea to achieve unexpected tactical assaults."

“It is said that when someone asked Mehmed II about the direction of a future battle, he refused to answer directly, but jokingly said: “Please remember that if one hair of my beard knows my secret, I will pull it out and throw it into the fire.” No one knows what his next move will be except himself.”

"In fact, this is the only way for the Sultan to go."

Nero looked down at the Golden Horn, but his eyes kept looking towards the cathedral from time to time; when she was still in Valhalla, a group of monotheistic emperors headed by Constantine the Great kept preaching to polytheistic Augustus like her, and they would mention "our Constantinople" from time to time. Now, this city is indeed worthy of the reputation of "the city of world's desire".

Nearly one-third of the area has become farmland...it's really hard for Constantine.

"If he had not broken the Italian naval blockade within a month, the entire Ottoman main force would have been locked in the Balkans, Anatolia would have fallen into the hands of the Mamluks, and the Ottomans, who had once again lost Asia Minor, would no longer be as lucky as last time."

"So, with the Ottoman navy completely destroyed after the Battle of the Bosphorus, how are we going to complete the mission in Fatih?" Ophelia asked this pointed question. "Should we give an impassioned speech under Mashu's shield, and then the Crusaders target Galata?"

"Well, it would be more appropriate to give a speech under Miss Jeanne's banner, right? My shield won't do."

"We can't do it, but that doesn't mean His Majesty Nero can't do it."

Please, Your Majesty Nero, use your invincible treasure to eliminate the enemies standing in our way!

"Remain?"

"The statue I saw in your Secret Garden that time was the one with wings and Valkyrie gear. You should know which Migu it was."

Tamamonomae patted Nero's shoulder, the meaning of which was self-evident.

On July 64, 7 AD, a fire broke out in Rome, where Nero Claudius, then Augustus of the Roman Empire, was located, and it burned for seven days and seven nights. To this day, the cause of the fire is no longer reliable, and there are many different opinions about Nero's actions on that day.

Now, Nero, as the only party involved, made his choice again.

"...Really? I know."

Chapter 162 Venus Nero, Return (Part )

"finished?"

"It's done, but I just don't think this step is necessary."

Ophelia, who left Galata and reunited with Ritsuka and the others, was a little confused: "In the face of absolute power, any small action is useless."

"But history requires us to do this. Without this announcement, everything we do next will become a deus ex machina, which is extremely unreasonable, Aoife."

"'The Sultan's attitude is very clear. He does not want to conflict with either Genoa or Venice, but the only way to maintain peace and friendship is for both sides to support each other. Genoa can observe the movements of the Ottoman army, but must not disclose the news to others, otherwise what awaits the two countries will be endless wars.'"

"'On one side is the Constantinople Empire, which has declined to the extreme, and on the other side is the thriving and profitable new empire. The Genoese finally chose to cooperate, but also attached their own conditions: the Galata City Government will remain silent in the future, and those Genoese who have entered Constantinople to participate in the war have nothing to do with Galata.'"

"Nothing happens without a reason, Ophelia."

Shion closed the book in her hand. Now in the whole of Chaldea, only Sion from Atlas Academy could talk about this talented female magician of the Spiritual Summoning Department.

"I see. Is it His Highness Nero's turn next?"

Her eyes were intentionally searching for the figure of the Rose Emperor, but she found nothing.

"That will have to wait until night, because we don't know where His Majesty Nero is now."

Mashu spread her hands to express her helplessness, which had gradually become a habit.

Among the thirteen disciples of Jesus, St. John was the disciple whom Jesus loved and the apostle of love. There are countless churches named after him.

But the Church of St. John outside Constantinople seems out of place. Rather than being a church, the ruins are more like its original purpose - a training ground for the Holy Armor Cavalry.

In fact, the church was damaged during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, and it was repaired later, but it was completely abandoned after this war.

Our Majesty Nero is in this church at this moment, and she is standing in front of the only remaining tombstone with her head bowed and silent.

The deceased emperor

He chose another burial place himself,

But I, Basil,

Born in the Purple Room,

Set the tomb at Hepdomon

There I rest from endless toil

There, I accept all wars, and there, I can endure them for a long time.

No one will see my spear rest,

When God let me get

From that moment on, Lord of the Earth and Supreme Emperor of the Empire,