Ch.204The Fire of Greece (4)

“The Greek Fire has no effect on the enemies!”

“The enemies are even using Greek Fire against us!”

“The eastern coastal wall has collapsed! We need reinforcements immediately!”

“Enemy infantry are scaling the walls! We must defend!”

“The civilian uprising makes it difficult to respond properly!”

Constantinople had fallen into chaos.

In such a situation, soldiers naturally looked for a commander.

But the person currently commanding Constantinople lacked the capability to solve this problem.

This was because the man who had gained the emperor’s favor and command of the entire army was Stefanos.

He was the emperor’s favorite and a corrupt official.

His official title was merely Director of the Document Bureau.

The Director of the Document Bureau typically handled imperial documents or assisted with such matters.

This meant that Stefanos had never once commanded an army.

As a result, when faced with this chaos, he couldn’t respond properly.

“First… deal with the civilians. We must protect His Majesty’s safety first.”

At Stefanos’s words, his aide showed a bewildered expression.

While resolving internal conflict was important, stopping the enemy’s landing was more crucial.

The civilian uprising could be postponed, whether suppressed by force or persuaded with words.

But the enemy was different. Alexios II and the Mongol soldiers following him had a clear purpose.

A single unwavering purpose to reclaim Constantinople and restore his rightful authority.

Stopping them was the priority.

So the aide tried to prevent Stefanos from making the wrong decision.

“Sir. The civilian uprising can be temporarily contained with internal security forces. But the enemy cannot. I believe we must first stop the enemy troops climbing the walls.”

At this, Stefanos frowned.

Then he looked at the aide and spoke.

“I am the commander granted the sacred right to command by His Imperial Majesty. Are you daring to lecture me with your shallow experience, suggesting I have no military experience?”

Stefanos was a narrow-minded man.

He didn’t take the aide’s words as advice. He simply thought the aide was looking down on him for his lack of military experience.

Of course, the aide meant nothing of the sort.

He immediately knelt down and conveyed that was not his intention at all.

“I swear to God I did no such thing, sir. I merely offered my personal opinion on the multiple problems that erupted simultaneously.”

“Did I ask for that?”

“…”

Stefanos looked at the aide with contempt.

Then he drew his sword.

“Do not disobey me.”

“Y-yes! I understand.”

The aide could only nod.

The soldiers who witnessed this scene didn’t know what to do.

Because at this moment when they should unite to stop the Mongol army, Stefanos’s actions were clearly the wrong path.

But his power, his authority, was too strong.

So they had no choice but to follow his corrupt orders that sought to hide the truth.

“What are you doing! Slaughter those criminals who started the rebellion immediately!”

At Stefanos’s command, the soldiers nodded.

And they began to descend from the walls to deal with the civilians.

At that moment, a scream echoed from the coastal wall at the Golden Horn.

“AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!”

At the tremendous sound of someone groaning in pain, the soldiers momentarily forgot the noise of battle and looked in that direction.

And they couldn’t help but tremble as they saw the large man standing there.

“I-impossible.”

“He… climbed the wall…?”

At those words, the man raised one corner of his mouth.

Then using his axe, he split in half the soldier who stood in his way.

Even with a sharp weapon, it was impossible to cleanly cut through a human body.

But the monster before their eyes was acting as if he were beyond such limitations.

Moreover, the sword in his hand gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

As the sword, seemingly imbued with divine power and radiating light, became stained with blood and revealed an eerie glow, the Byzantine soldiers swallowed hard.

And behind him, a fog so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead had settled.

Something was moving violently in the fog, mercilessly slaughtering Byzantine soldiers.

“A-a demon…”

“Satan’s army has arrived on earth…!”

“W-we’re going to d-die…!”

As the soldiers began to back away, Stefanos drew his sword.

And shouted in a loud voice.

“D-don’t panic! The enemy is j-just one man! Put arrows in his head immediately!”

Even while saying this, Stefanos was retreating faster than anyone else.

All the soldiers saw this, but none had the courage to refuse the orders of Stefanos, the court favorite.

So they overcame their fear and shot arrows at the large man.

The man smiled as if it were nothing. And he accurately deflected the incoming arrows with his sword.

Deflecting arrows with a sword was difficult.

Even the most skilled swordsman could dodge arrows, but predicting their trajectory and deflecting them was no easy task.

Yet the large man could do it.

As if wielding divine power.

“Citius, Altius, Fortius.”

At the chilling Latin phrase from the man’s mouth, the soldiers stared at him blankly.

But they had no time to be confused. Because the fog was gradually lifting.

As the fog cleared, Mongol soldiers slowly revealed themselves.

As divine punishment appeared, God’s army to judge the Byzantine Empire corrupted by greed, the Byzantine soldiers crossed themselves and called out to God.

But it was useless.

“A futile act, naive beings. You have denied God by serving a false emperor.”

The large man said this as he pulled out a spear embedded in a corpse.

Then he hurled it toward the Byzantine soldiers.

WHOOOOOSH!

The soldiers belatedly raised their shields against the incredibly fast javelin.

But the spear pierced through the shields and impaled the soldiers.

Tremendous strength.

The soldiers who witnessed this with their own eyes could no longer hope.

As if reading their fear, the man smiled.

Then he raised his hand and shouted loudly.

“The divine hammer has struck the earth. Wolves, howl. Mercilessly cut down the false ones. And…”

The ruler of the world, the lord of the four seas, the emperor of the central plains, murmured softly.

“Crush them.”

At those words, the soldiers behind him charged forward with a roar.

* * *

Buuuuuuuu.

The sound of a horn echoed from the wall.

Hearing this sound, Temujin nodded.

“Jamukha.”

“The preparations are complete, Anda.”

At Jamukha’s report, Temujin nodded.

Then he turned his head and gave orders to Jebe.

“Fire the signal.”

Jebe nodded at this.

And using his near-divine archery skills, he fired a signal arrow that made a clear sound.

Hearing that sound, the ships drew close together.

And they installed planks on top, creating a massive bridge.

As the bridge was set up, horses began to mount it one by one.

“How are the horses?”

At Temujin’s question, Bo’orchu bowed and reported.

“The condition of the horses on the ships is not good, but we’ve tied them securely to prevent rocking and continuously provided water and salt to ensure they’re fit for battle.”

“That’s fortunate.”

While Gurkhan and Munglig’s ships were attacking the Golden Horn’s walls, Temujin’s unit naturally separated from the main fleet and moved in another direction.

This place had thicker walls than the Golden Horn coastal wall, but the terrain was lower, making it not difficult to land with mounted horses.

Additionally, there was a gate, so if Gurkhan successfully captured the wall, they could immediately open this gate and deploy cavalry.

For this reason, Temujin was waiting here for his father Yesugei’s signal.

And just now, the sound of a leather horn from the wall indicated that Gurkhan had captured the wall.

So Temujin connected the fleet using pre-prepared boards and chains.

And moved the horses that had been waiting in the ships onto this bridge.

The number of horses loaded this way was only 100.

Considering the Mongol cavalry’s strength of 90,000, 100 horses was woefully insufficient.

But there was a limit to how many horses could be loaded onto ships.

So they had no choice but to bring this small number.

With only 100 horses, it would be difficult to inflict proper damage on the enemy.

Therefore, if someone else saw the current situation, they might criticize this decision.

But there was a reason for this.

“Jelme.”

“At your command, Your Majesty.”

“Take 100 cavalry and circle the outer wall, removing all enemy flags you see.”

At Temujin’s order, Jelme showed a puzzled expression.

Temujin continued with additional explanation.

“We don’t have many troops that have landed in Constantinople. But fortunately, the enemy doesn’t know our exact numbers due to internal and external confusion.”

“Ah! So…!”

“Yes. If the flags attached to the walls are destroyed, the enemy will think we’ve completely landed and captured the fortress.”

This was Temujin’s aim.

He was intentionally breaking the flags on the walls to further fuel the enemy’s confusion.

In a normal situation, such a strategy would have a very low chance of success.

But as Temujin mentioned earlier, Constantinople was currently in chaos.

What would happen if all the flags on Constantinople’s inner walls were destroyed?

Obviously, they would think either the enemy had captured all the walls or at least deployed enough soldiers to destroy so many flags at once.

Of course, they might notice that swift cavalry was behind this.

However, if they realized that cavalry had crossed the sea, the enemy would only despair more.

Because normally, cavalry couldn’t cross the sea.

Therefore, the enemy might attribute this inexplicable phenomenon to divine protection.

Whatever the case, it was advantageous for Temujin.

So he planned to exploit it.

“Jelme. Our future rests in your hands.”

At Temujin’s words, Jelme performed the Mongol salute.

Then he mounted his horse and shouted loudly.

“Wolves of the steppe! It’s time to show the enemy who we are!”