Vol 5 Chapter 93: The Great Siege (6)

Alexander left Bucharest shortly after Zepez's army set off.
According to the plan, his troops would meet with the local defenders near the nearest river fortress in southern Bucharest, and then build a temporary line of defense on the west bank of the Dembowica River.
Ladislas II was worried that Bucharest would be encircled, so he hoped that the Ottomans could be blocked outside the city at a distance from Bucharest. If those fortresses along the river could be used to prevent the enemy from attacking the city from the river, That is obviously better.
It ’s just that the King also knows that this idea is a bit unrealistic. After all, the defense of the lower reaches of the river is much weaker than that of the upper reaches. Now the only thing the King can count on is that the Ottomans will be affected by the fact that the Dembuvica River is now entering the spring flood and the water is very strong. Obstruct.
As for the Montina army, Ladislas II believed that they might not be able to prevent the invasion of enemy forces on land.
The King would think that it is not because he does not believe in the strength of the Montina army, but because from the entrance of the Danube and Dembrica to the city of Bucharest, it is completely a flat terrain of wetlands and shallow swamps. Such a place is obviously not The use of the impressive Musketeers of the Montina, and the almost unreliable terrain, provided the Ottoman cavalry with too many circuitous road conditions.
This is why the king finally agreed to the conditions proposed by Alexander to rely on the nearest fortress along the river, because although he hoped that the Ottomans could be prevented as far as possible in the outer suburbs of Bucharest, he did not want to see that the Montina army might be surrounded by the enemy. Or the bad situation of cutting off the retreat, when the Montina people are obviously an important force to surround Bucharest.
Alexander also knew the king ’s plan, so although he was strongly opposed at the beginning, he always insisted on disagreeing with the proposal to send Montina ’s army farther away, and if not for more reasons, he even wanted to Arrange his troops only near the city, that is, on the edge of the marsh wetlands in the south of the city.
However, the King insisted that this distance was too close. If the Ottomans wanted them to be able to transport their cannons to the wetland, find a place where they could arrange their artillery, and then directly blast at Bucharest from there.
Although the King ’s worries may sound a little whimsical, Alexander admits that this is not necessarily impossible. Today ’s Ottoman army is like a new force that is determined to be aggressive and not limited to conventions and customs. Perhaps it is a matter of putting artillery positions in the swamps. They may not do it, but it is not impossible to lay a path for the artillery to pass through in the difficult swamps.
So after consideration, Alexander agreed with the king ’s suggestion to advance the Montina army towards the nearest fortress along the river. This was one of the only two fortresses on the lower bank of the Dumbuvice river, and the other was built further away. Across the river.
The previous generals were obviously influenced by Muhammad II ’s first siege of Bucharest, and the southern swamps of the city were indeed not conducive to the deployment of large troops, so the people at the time concentrated all their attention on those on the upper reaches of the river. Place, but now it seems that whether it is Bayesert II or his generals, it is obvious that he has learned the previous lessons and understood the characteristics of Bucharest ’s defense, so it is the unexpected choice of the lower reaches of the river that is generally considered inconvenient to deploy troops. Direction as a key location to break through the city.
"Or the Sultan is completely unsure of which side to start the attack from," Alexander said to Gompati around him. "Osman's pincer attack allowed them to take the initiative. For Bucharest, there is no better way than passive defense. , So if Cepes prevented Ottoman ’s left attack, then we would face a fierce battle. "
"Then we should hope that the Grand Duke wins or loses now?" Gompati frowned as he looked at the lush and green terrain in the distance. He bent down to grab a handful of dirt from the ground and watched it flow down between his fingers. The muddy water, his expression looked more dignified. "This place is not suitable for our musketeers. The land is too wet. It is estimated that it will be worse at night, and the gunpowder will get wet."
Alexander nodded, and he had already discovered this terrible situation, which made him think that perhaps he should insist on arranging the troops on the edge of the swamp before, but the idea was only thrown behind him by a flash, he knew the king Although he would not agree with this suggestion, in fact, he did not think it was appropriate to do so.
If the troops are placed on the edge of the marshland, it may be able to exert the power of the Agri Musketeers, but then it is undoubtedly equivalent to abandoning the fortresses along the river, and those fortresses are also used to prevent the attack on Bucharest from the river Ottomans.
Unexpectedly, this trip to the Balkans was much more thrilling than he thought. Alexander reluctantly thought about it and then looked back at the team.
In addition to the Montina, because of the conditions agreed to by Alexander before, Ladislas II has allowed him to command the Greeks and recruit soldiers at will, and in order to allow Alexander to do his best, the king also offered to let Sophia Giving orders to the Greeks, with the influence of Sophia on them, I believe that the remnants of the remnants who are thinking about the restoration of the country all day are willing to take orders.
Alexander declined the king's kindness, but volunteered to tell the princess in person.
Ladislas II hesitated for a while and agreed to Alexander ’s request, but before leaving, the king kindly reminded Alexander that Sophia ’s mood did not seem to be so stable, or that Sophia was thinking about what to do or what to do at this time. Who cut it.
In fact, Ladislas II was not unaware of the relationship between Alexander and Sophia, but the two of them were very tacit and kept silent, just as the king actually knew the relationship between his wife and her captain. Similarly, it was precisely because of this relationship that Ladislas II felt that it was most appropriate for Sophia to play the Greek princess, at least not because of the need to kill too many people.
It's just that Alexander didn't see Sophia in the end, he only got a very cold "know" reply from Sophia's maid, and then he had to rush back to his army to prepare.
But Sophia still met Alexander's request. When he was already a little disappointed and set off with the Montina, several Greek nobles found him.
These people are very prominent and prestigious representatives of the Greeks, and two of them impressed Alexander.
Bodpeide, a very stable old Greek nobleman, his age is not small, his hair and beard are slowly changing from gray to white, and his spirit does not seem to be very good, but despite this old man Attracted the attention of Alexander.
This is because he was slightly surprised to find that this old man obviously has a rare knowledge of the Balkans, perhaps because of the perennial drift. This old man has a pair of eyes that seem to be able to gain insight into the world. What's more, this person has an erudite mind, which makes Alexander feel that talking to this person is like fighting against a library containing countless books.
He can easily quote some classics from the past of Greece or the Eastern Roman Empire, and when the talks between the two parties are at an impasse, this Bodpeide can flexibly relax the atmosphere, and then cleverly use another kind of sound to let People feel more comfortable with putting forward their conditions, but in fact he is always sticking to his own interests.
This is undoubtedly a smart and flexible diplomat. Alexander even thinks that the Greeks can stay in Bucharest in a slightly embarrassing situation, and this person should have a lot of credit.
And the other person is called George Liluo. This is a different person from Bodepede. If Bodepede is a lake with rich resources but plain appearance, then this George Lilu Europe is a mountain formed by the strongest marble in Greece.
Sharp and exposed, and gritty, this George Liluo reminded Alexander of Caesar and Giovanni, or this person was more like the unity of the Borgia brothers, but this George Liluo was more concerned about Is the revival of Greece.
This man is undoubtedly a fanatical returnee. From his words, Alexandria can see the shadow of a passionate but not reckless activist. While discussing with Alexander how to arrange defensive matters, George Liluo seized the opportunity Alexander was asked to obtain more weapons.
Of course, Alexander will not agree to those conditions. In fact, he has been difficult to maintain the supply of Montina ’s army. The previous battle has caused a certain loss of the army ’s consumption of troops and weapons, although it can be used. It is necessary to expand the inexpensive Balkan regiment to supplement the lost troops, but it is difficult for the recruits to cause trouble and the loss of weapons for a time.
This disappointed Alexander, who was holding a lot of gold coins in his hand and wanted to replenish his equipment. At this time, he felt that money might not be all-powerful.
However, although George Liluo ’s request was rejected by Alexander, he still provided these Greeks with a payment of 6,000 gold florins, and after providing them with funds to purchase equipment, he also suggested that the Greeks follow On the east bank of the lower reaches of the Dembrica, because according to his speculations, if the Ottomans were going upstream along the river, they would need to find a way to intercept them on both sides of the river.
The Greeks accepted Alexandria ’s proposal with pleasure. They knew that the main force of the Ottomans ’right wing is unlikely to cross the Dembrica River and threaten the east bank of the river. This undoubtedly means that Alexander will actively attract most of the right wing of the Ottoman army. This gave those Greeks a great deal of affection for Alexander. When they said goodbye, these Greeks had a much more enthusiastic attitude than they did when they came.
The officers of Gompati and Agri did not express any disagreement about Alexander taking the initiative to face the main force of the enemy, but Pisa and the Genoese expressed dissatisfaction.
As for the officers of the Montina Regiment, they were quite strangely silent, which made Alexander wonder if someone should give them a warning to stop them from mixing these things.
And if this person is not Compati, it is Busaco.
Alexander could understand the reason why the two would do this. The other regiments expressed the most dissatisfaction because of the military arrangement, while the Montina regiment had a special relationship with Barendi. If the objection was raised, Sophia knew , May cause unnecessary trouble.
But despite his dissatisfaction, Alexander still insisted on this order, and the reason why he had such an arrangement was not because of Sophia.
The Greeks did have a firm and ardent desire to return to the country, which allowed Alexander to at least not worry that he would be defeated on the battlefield, but although these people have high enthusiasm, most of them have no experience in fighting on the battlefield. Perhaps they Brave and good at fighting, but if you can't obey the command on the battlefield, it is a burden.
Unlike today ’s Balkan regiments, those Balkans have gradually learned what to do after training along the way and the previous battles. Alexander believes that as long as they accumulate more experience, these Balkans may not be like the Agri Musketeers. Become the backbone of his army.
Even Alexander had a faint idea, perhaps inspired by the old man, thinking about the establishment of the Swiss Guard in the old Rovere, he also remembered that in the future when the expansion of the hunting guard was established, such a team consisting exclusively of Agri and Balkans Guard.
Sometimes too brave soldiers may not be the most needed. Discipline is always more important than anything in the army. Because of this consideration, Alexander did not arrange the Greeks in his own team.
"And I doubt that those Greek masters would do this kind of rough work so willingly," Alexander said to the Compati next to the Balkans who were carrying large and small pieces of wood in the distance and paving the way on the swamp. The Greeks are too proud. Most of them are descendants of the Roman aristocracy. These people may be suitable to be soldiers but not necessarily a qualified soldier. "
"So do you think these farmers are already suitable for becoming soldiers?" Gompati asked with a smile.
"At least compared with the Genoese, I prefer to recruit these farmers," Alexander looked in the direction of the Genoese regiment and then shook his head slightly. "Go tell them personally and let them speed up, even if they think it is very good to do this kind of camp." Shameful things, but if they delay me because of them, I will punish them. "
A herald soldier immediately took his orders. These soldiers specially selected from various units were forced to learn Alexander no matter where they came from. All officers must be able to speak Romanesque Italian to ensure his order. When communicating, there will be no fallacy due to language barriers, and the high military pay that these soldiers can get also makes them more responsible for their tasks.
"A school should be established as soon as possible, and at least a group of subordinate officers who can obey the command should be trained to avoid the bad situation in the Alger River." Alexander's idea has been hidden in my heart for a long time, just There is really no time to do these things for a while.
I do n’t know if Alexander ’s warning came into play, or he was deliberately or unintentionally provoked by the neighbor ’s pizza group. Although the Genoese soldiers were still slow, they finally moved, and soon Alexander found that there seemed to be caused by There was a little noise, which made him a little curious.
"What happened there?"
An entourage ran over and asked, and came back to report afterwards: "It seems that there was a Pisa who challenged those Genoese who built the pavement faster. The Pizzeria took a large group of men and won the Genoese. The whole regiment, Genoa thought he was cheating, so he quarreled. "
"A big team won a regiment?" Alexander thought for a moment and then suddenly asked, "Tell me if the Pisa led the second Pisa team?"
"Yes, lord."
Alexander nodded and said nothing, but after a while he issued an order: "Let the team leader of the second Pisa team come to see me."
"Is that Termoli's Nicola Joe Mazzini? Adult." Busaco next to him scratched his head and remembered such a person. "I remember him playing well on the Alger River."
"It's good." Alexander whispered to himself.
Busako looked at Alexander a bit strangely. He felt that Alexander looked hesitant, as if something was a little difficult, but after a while he seemed to have made a decision.
A young officer ran over, muddy dirt all over his body, even thick curly black hair made the mud stick together, but his face was full of excitement, and saw the young Alexander officer immediately hurry Salute: "Sir, Macheney, the second team leader of the Pisa regiment, is waiting for your order."
Alexander watched Mazzini silent for a while, which made the young man who was originally excited by the young man who had previously won the Genoese a little uneasy.
"I heard that when you bet, you won a Genoese team with a big team and told me how you did it?" Alexander asked.
"This is very simple, I just divide the manpower into two teams according to different road sections, one team is responsible for laying the wood and the other team is responsible for tamping, and I am starting from the farthest back to the back paving, so that the material is paved back and forth People will not be delayed because they hinder the people in front, and those who are responsible for tamping will just have to follow the side and work all the way back. This is actually a very simple adult. "Mazzini said with a smile, watching Alexander looked into his eyes, he had no idea ~ EbookFREE.me ~ could not help but looked at him with curiosity and looked at his Compati, "Master, am I doing something wrong?"
"No, you did nothing wrong, you did a good job instead," Alexander smiled, and then he suddenly asked, "Tell me what do you think of your lieutenant officer?"
"You are talking about Giovanni, the others are good and I am very good."
"So do you think he can command the second brigade?"
Alexander's words made Mazzini, who was still a bit nervous but smiled, "I am doing something wrong, my lord?"
"No, I want you to come to me," Alexander said, and waved his hand again. "After that, I will say it later. You should go back and command the second brigade."
Despite his doubts, Macheney paid a ritual to leave, but he was stopped by Alexander before he walked a few steps.
"Be careful, Nicola Joe Mazzini of Termoli, don't die easily," Alexander told him, and after looking back, he looked back into the distance of the swamp. "Be aware that this time we may It ’s more difficult than on the Alger River. "