Chapter 664 Minced Meat
The battle lasted from noon to evening.
Thick blood flowed freely on the city wall, and when it dried, it turned into a black and red picture of hell that exuded a pungent stench.
The Ottomans retreated, leaving behind numerous corpses.
It was getting late, and they obviously had no interest in continuing the night battle. However, the enemy's artillery position once again showed its power, aiming at the city and pouring a barrage of artillery shells, but with little effect, more like a meaningless venting of anger.
Constantinople also had its own artillery.
Urban had previously built it for Constantine XI, but it was limited by funds and the caliber was very small. After Urban inspected the structure of the Theodosian Wall on the spot, he concluded that the artillery was difficult to install. Conclusion in the tower.
She is too old. When this thousand-year-old wall was first designed, no artillery was considered, so it was naturally unable to fight back the enemy's artillery fire.
Lothar didn't know whether to say that Constantine XI was kind-hearted or stupid.
Urban is familiar with the structure of the Theodosian Wall and is a cannon-caster. You can't even afford his salary, so don't you realize the danger of this man? Since there is no need for such a person, and his loyalty cannot be guaranteed, even if he is not executed secretly directly, more people should be sent to strictly guard him.
A messenger from Mahamu II was sent from the city, proposing a temporary truce between the two sides to collect the corpses. The truce agreement will last until tomorrow night.
Lothar would naturally not refuse this request.
The horror of the Black Death left a deep impression on every intelligent life. In the giant ship world yesterday, even the giants in the far north lost 80% of their population due to the Black Death.
The Holy Glory of the clergy can only heal external injuries. Uldin once served as the Archbishop of Milan and is already considered a senior clergyman. A clergyman of his level still needs to use herbal medicine to face most diseases.
Neither the defenders nor the attackers wanted to see this tragic situation happen again. The plague did not look at race or status. There were a lot of royal relatives who died in the Black Death.
The period of collecting the corpse became a rare time of peace.
The exhausted garrison soldiers fell asleep. Some of them still held the food sent to the city by the citizens. The injured whined softly in pain. Some women and children of their dead relatives stood on the inside of the city wall and cried sadly.
The defenders threw the enemy's corpses into the filled trenches outside and sank into the filled mud. The Ottomans sent civilians to drag the corpses out, transport them onto carts, and pull them to a distant place for burning.
The Zoroastrian imams gathered together and recited eulogies, and some Ottomans with large turbans danced around the fire, which was quite solemn and beautiful.
Lothar listened carefully to the news reported from each section of the city wall. The defenders in the southern section suffered more than 40 casualties today.
The middle section was the focus of the enemy's attack. Even if he was personally in charge, there would be as many as 230 casualties, most of which were killed and wounded by members of the brotherhoods and sororities with extraordinary powers.
The northern section of the city wall was not much better. The city wall near the Golden Horn and Brachna Palace was also a weak point in defense. The Ottomans knew this well and concentrated dozens of large-caliber artillery to bombard the city wall.
If Giovanni hadn't personally led the team to fight with the enemy and eliminated a flag-bearing pasha led by the opponent, the losses would probably not have been much smaller than the middle section of the city wall.
In just one day, the defenders lost more than 400 people.
Even if the Ottomans' losses must be ten times that of the defenders, or even more.
But they can afford the loss.
After all, so far, their real core force, the most elite Yenicherry Army, has not been sent to the battlefield. Although the servant army has suffered a lot of losses, as long as Mahamu II can withstand this pressure, it can become a weakening place. An opportunity for power.
"The enemy's manpower is endless, and our soldiers are being depleted every moment."
Lothar sighed softly and patrolled the city wall, patting the shoulders of the tired soldiers from time to time and praising them for their bravery in today's battle.
He had just executed a group of surrendering factions internally and confiscated their property. At this time, he did not hesitate to take out some coins to reward those who had outstanding military achievements in this battle. It was so miserable that he melted down the church decorations and minted silver coins. The situation given to soldiers has become much better.
It was a pity that the gold coins produced by the system with his image on them could not be withdrawn, but the recovered loot could still be used, allowing him to accumulate another batch of coins, which he could use to reward soldiers in the next battle.
In the evening in Constantinople, the sky was still dark, with dust and gunpowder smoke filling the space between heaven and earth. Many of the houses near the inner walls of the city were affected by artillery fire and collapsed into ruins.
Fortunately, these houses have been uninhabited for a long time. After they collapse, it will be easier to dismantle them and use them as materials to repair and strengthen the city wall.
The magic circle of Theodosian Wall is not forever indestructible. At the very least, the tower that was destroyed today is enough to illustrate this point.
Lothar didn't know how long the Theodosian Wall could last. The team of spellcasters responsible for repairing and maintaining the wall died hundreds of years ago. The spellcasters in Constantinople didn't even dare to easily Charge it and worry about damaging its magic lines.
The wounded soldiers were carried off the city wall by the peasants.
However, more of the injured were more minor, and they still stayed at their posts. The number of soldiers guarding the city was limited, and it was difficult to rotate them in an orderly manner. They could only remove the east wall to make up for the west wall, and guard the remaining sections of the city wall. , soldiers who are not at the center of the enemy's attack are dispatched here.
As for the reserve troops, they must not be used easily. They must be well-rested and put into the most brutal battle at the most critical moment.
Under the city wall, the corpse collectors sent by the Ottomans were like groups of hyenas, tearing off the necklaces on the necks of the dead and picking up the dead's belongings and putting them in their pockets, although most of this harvest would definitely be exploited after returning.
"God bless!"
A corpse collector of the Rumelian Legion pulled off a soldier's necklace with great enthusiasm, and hung the necklace with a silver Orthodox cross on his neck without any disdain.
"God will not bless people like you, traitor."
A Greek soldier on the city wall cursed angrily.
The corpse collector looked up and saw a Greek soldier with a prominent dent on his helmet and blood on his face, sticking his head out to curse him.
He shrugged: "Man, if I were you, I should lie down and pray to live through tomorrow."
"Hehe, I'll give you this in return."
The Greek soldier sneered and raised the crossbow in his hand, indicating that he could take the corpse collector's life at any time.
"Thank you."
The corpse collector didn't care about it. Maybe tomorrow he would be driven to the city wall and fight with his brothers in the front line, becoming the target of a new batch of corpse collectors, and then someone new would tear off the necklace on his neck.
But not serving the pagans is easy to say.
Even the lords have laid down and acknowledged the rule of the Ottomans. What can ordinary people like them do in this situation?
Resistance will only lead to more bloody suppression.
Some clergymen of the Orthodox and Latin churches came to the city wall holding statues of the Virgin Mary.
They shed the healing holy light to soothe the soldiers' pain.
Some dying people who were difficult to save also stopped wailing, and the pain on their faces gradually faded.
A priest in a cassock smeared the blessed olive oil on his forehead: "Rest in peace, child, you fought for Christ until death, all your sins in life will be forgiven, and you will ascend to heaven"
The expressions of the dying people gradually became calm, and they stopped wailing.
Finally, the priest closed their eyes and silently recited a prayer.
The corpse collector looked at the solemn scene on the top of the city with some envy, and silently drew a cross on his chest.
The Ottomans did not ban the Orthodox faith, just like the Saracens did, they were just restricted.
But if they were injured, there would never be a priest to perform a last mass for them.
The emperor looked at this scene in silence.
"Many people died today."
Viviana's footsteps were light, and her combat boots decorated with white tassels stepped on the city wall, but there was silence.
"The enemy will die more."
The Candle Knight asked: "What if Mahamu II is really determined to fight with human lives?"
Losa said without hesitation: "Then fight with him."
The Ottomans are big and powerful, but the internal conflicts are not small at all. He doesn't believe that the young Mahamu II can suppress the old ministers left by Murad II if he really faces too tragic a price.
He doesn't believe that Mahamu II can sit still all the time.
As long as Mahamu II can't sit still and takes the first step, his chance will come.
Viviana couldn't help but frown. This attitude of not taking human lives seriously is really like his father and His Majesty the Emperor.
That's right, isn't he also His Majesty the Emperor now?
"In our time, some scholars proposed that in order to eliminate war, we may be able to rely on knight duels to deal with international disputes in the future."
"So, I discussed with Mahamu II to set up a ring? The winner takes Constantinople? I would love it. But it would be great if everything in the world could be solved so easily."
Lothar's tone was a little irritable. War is a meat grinder. He is not a heartless person. He doesn't want to see death more than most human monarchs, but with this mentality, more people will die.
"I just..."
Viviana was hesitant to speak.
When she supported the fleet in the Golden Horn today, she burned a small Ottoman boat and two large ships.
The rowing boats of this era have many passengers. Even a small rowing boat has more than a hundred passengers. The three-story Ottoman rowing boat, including slave rowers, has a total of 400 passengers.
Even if it is a conservative estimate, she killed 500 people today.
This is more than all the people she had killed in her first half of her life, multiplied by a hundred times, because she had only killed two evil bandits during her travels, and in the knight competition, she only accidentally killed an opponent who she had to go all out to defeat.
"Sorry."
Lothar rubbed his eyebrows: "My tone is a little anxious. But, Miss Viviana, this war was not caused by my will, and it will not end by my will."
Viviana was silent for a moment, and whispered: "I should be sorry, I failed in my duty."
Lothar sighed lightly: "You have done well enough, when I fought for the first time."
"Not as good as you."
He told a white lie.
In fact, his first battle was in the confrontation with the Magyars. At that time, he was not nervous at all and killed happily.
But there was no way.
He couldn't expect everyone to be like him.
Viviana was a genuine young girl, and she couldn't be compared to a bloodthirsty wolf assassin like Cerinina; nor could she be compared to a heroic spirit like Jeanne who had lived for hundreds of years and was a killer in her lifetime.
Not to mention a monster girl like Fulin, for her, killing someone was like crushing an ant.