On the early morning of the third day, a Kongming lantern swayed over Constantinople.
The defenders on the city wall immediately became nervous, and the musketeers and archers shot it down.
The sky lantern slowly fell in the city. The soldiers gathered around and carefully stepped forward to check the flying foreign object. Soon, they found a bamboo tube sealed with fire paint and two large characters written on it.
Hanuman, the commander of the garrison, did not understand Chinese and did not dare to open it easily, so he sent people to search in the city for a long time and finally found a merchant named Ryan. He had been to the East and knew some Eastern characters.
Ryan picked up the bamboo tube, looked at it carefully for a long time, and then said: "It should be a word of war. How did this thing come in?"
"Don't worry about it for now, I just want to ask you, are you sure it's a letter of war?"
Hanuman was very cautious. If it was a declaration of war from the Ming Dynasty, it must be submitted to His Majesty the King immediately.
Ryan nodded and said: "The appearance is somewhat damaged, but it can still be seen."
"Okay, it's none of your business!"
Ryan seemed to have thought of something and asked again: "Lord Commander, how on earth was this thing sent in? With all the city gates blocked, how could the Ming army's messenger enter the city?"
"You have too many questions!"
Hanuman waved his hand impatiently. Now that it has been determined, he will send someone directly to present it to the king. As for the man in front of him... he was only temporarily captured to act as an interpreter. Do I also want to tell you military secrets?
"That's not what I meant. I went to the East last year and heard that they have a weapon that can fly into the sky and is very powerful, ten times more powerful than artillery..."
"presumptuous!"
Hanuman's eyes widened angrily and he said: "What weapon can fly into the sky? It is ten times more powerful than artillery. You are alarmist and demagogue!"
"it is true……"
"Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"No, but..."
"That's it!"
Hanuman said coldly: "Ryan, because you have done a small job in identifying Eastern characters, I will let you go this time. If you dare to spread rumors and disrupt the morale of the army, and have nothing to say, behead your head immediately!"
Ryan was so anxious that he was sweating, but when he heard that he was going to be beheaded, he could only swallow the words back in his stomach.
Hanuman sent a letter of war to Topkapi Palace. King Muhad received the letter of war and immediately summoned Hafez Kasha and other high-ranking officials and nobles to discuss the matter.
The letter of war has been translated and contains only a few sentences. King Muhad must leave the city and surrender before dark. Otherwise, a general attack will begin tomorrow. When the city is broken, all the defenders and people in the city will go to see God. No one will be killed.
Can be spared.
After everyone looked at it, everyone looked sad.
Constantinople had just regained a brief period of peace when the declaration of war came.
I thought the Ming army stopped shelling because of supply problems. Unexpectedly, this was just the calm before the storm.
Hafez Kasha thought for a long time and said: "Could this be a bluff by the Easterners? If there is a problem with their supplies and they are no longer able to attack, they can send a gauntlet in and engage in psychological warfare before withdrawing their troops?"
Muhad frowned, nodded, and said: "What you said makes sense, but... what should we do if the Orientals really attack?"
"What are you afraid of? Although the artillery fire of the Easterners is sharp, it cannot shake the huge stone wall of Constantinople. We only need to hold on and wait for the Duke of Damman to return reinforcements."
Everyone agreed. For now, there is no other way but to stick to it.
In their minds, if they surrender and the Easterners enter the city, they will definitely burn, kill, and loot, just like the Ottomans did to the Eastern Romans. Everyone here is either rich or noble, and they don't want their hard-earned wealth to be destroyed.
People looted everything.
Muhad saw that everyone was unanimous, so he stopped thinking and ordered: "Go down and continue to hold on, move all the stones and wood in the city to the city gate, and seal all the city gates!"
In the Ming army formation, Bei Lin, Mei Chun, Tong Xuan and others were gesturing on the map and discussing the next strategy.
Fan Mingchen watched the Confucian scholars discussing tactics seriously with a confused look on his face, and was secretly surprised. Can these Confucian students wearing long gowns go to the battlefield to fight?
He originally thought that Beilin and others came to the front line to act as strategists or think tanks. Unexpectedly, the emperor directly handed over the main offensive task to these people and then ignored them.
This is the main attack!
Not to mention the emperor's personal expedition, there were also princes such as King Yin, Duke Rui, Duke Jing and others in the formation. How could he hand over the main attack task to a group of Confucian scholars? Isn't it too childish?
For three days, these people dispersed around Constantinople every day, observed the wind direction, and then released sky lanterns. Is this thing really for fighting?
Bei Lin ignored Fan Mingchen's surprised expression, pointed at the map and said: "The climate here is obviously different from that of the Ming Dynasty. Pay attention to the air flow disturbance caused by the evaporation of sea water."
Mei Chun solemnly said: "I have observed that the wind direction will change suddenly at night, which is greatly affected by the tide, and cross winds often occur."
"Can you find a pattern?"
"Absolutely, from Zi time to Chou time, there is a stable southeast wind, which can last for about an hour."
"Have you observed the wind direction and force?"
"It's all been recorded."
"Okay then, I'll ask you to attack at midnight."
"Maester Bei!"
Tong Xuan suddenly said: "We still have a big guy, do you want to come out and show yourself?"
"You mean fat man?"
"right!"
Beilin thought for a moment and said, "Let's do this. You take a group of people and calculate Fatty's parameters alone. Wait for the effect of the first wave of offensive. If the parameters are correct, take Fatty with you in the second wave."
"okay!"
Seeing everyone excitedly picking up paper and pen and starting to calculate, Fan Mingchen couldn't help but come to Tong Xuan and asked: "Who is the fat man I just mentioned...?"
Tong Xuan smiled mysteriously, lowered his voice and said: "This thing was specially prepared by the emperor for the Japanese country. I will use it today to practice my skills."
"What is it, so mysterious?"
"Don't ask so many questions, just wait and watch the fireworks tonight!"
"What...fireworks?"
"It's just...bang! Those kind of fireworks."
Fan Mingchen scratched his head and asked again: "Didn't the Emperor ask you to be the main attacker?"
"Yes, we focus on attacking."
"How can you take the main attack with just these people?"
Tong Xuan's face darkened and he said, "Why do you look down on us scholars?"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
Fan Mingchen waved his hands repeatedly and said: "I mean... you can take me with you!"
"What the hell?"
"You must have someone to lead the charge, so take me with you. I'm thick-skinned and suitable for being a vanguard!"
Tong Xuan stared at Fan Mingchen, looked him up and down, and asked, "Are you afraid of heights?"