Chapter 23: Army In The Woods

A day later, before daybreak, Giovanni, Loukas and Constantine and their men prepares to set off for an unknown battlefield. Antonius, Andronikos and George Sphrantzes are made in charge of defending the city in case of any potential threats.

The army assembled outside the Gate of Platea ready to sail towards Galata. The army is not a massive one, only consisting of a total of a thousand troops comprising of the most professional and elite ones they can find.

The army marched as one, a sea of shining silver, as if they were all modeled after one man. Their tough faces are grim against the harsh sea wind of the Marmara. The ground shook as their metallic boots stepped on the ground producing a thunderous sound that resembles an incoming storm.

The citizens near the gate stopped and watched as the army leaves, for they all knowing that in a battle, victory or not, some of the men marching today shall never be seen again tomorrow, and many of them are sons of Rome, sent to fight for the glory of Rome and in the end, perish for the assured continuity of Rome. They do not weep, for they have seen too many of these kind of things for the last century. They do not cheer, for eventually they will get the news that someone they know did not make it through the battle.

In the keep, Antonius and Giovanni watches as the army marches below their feet. Giovanni has already changed to his set of Milan plate armour. Giovanni quickly adjusted his vambraces and gauntlets to fit him better, and then buckled up his spaulder on his shoulder. On his back hangs his signature Florence light crossbow and his pair of cutlasses, looking frightening sharp.

Antonius helped his friend buckle up his armour, after everything is set, he could no longer hide his concerns, and he asked worriedly. "My friend, I know that you like risky moves, but only bringing a thousand men is still far too dangerous, and you are moving right under the eyes and nose of your foes…"

"Say no more, my friend." Giovanni interrupted with a gentle smile on his face, and his index finger on his lips. "I know what I am doing, you know that the safest place is also the most dangerous place. Furthermore, it is only a mere 6 Roman miles distance to the fortress, if anything is not right, we can sneak back here using another path."

"There is nothing to worry about."

The two men hugged and shook their hands, patted each other on the back, and looked at the eyes of each other for one last time, then Giovanni grabbed his Augsburg sallet helmet and went down the keep tower.

Antonius watches Giovanni's Cuirass and blades glister under the moon light, rode on his white horse and disappeared under the darkness of the night.

He never looked back.

Giovanni soon joined up with the others on the other side of the Golden Horn. Constantine and Loukas are already waiting for him there, dressed in typical Greek Hauberk army and mail coif. The later already fidgeting in impatience. While the emperor Constantine, on the other hand, sitting still on a tree stump and meditating waiting for their commander to arrive.

"Let's go." Without any further words, Giovanni signalled them to move. The entire army sneaked into the woods, slashing sticks, twigs and branches to open a path for the army to move about, a group of crows residing in the forest soon took themselves to the sky circling above the army cawing in protest.

They soon arrived on the top of a hill at the outskirts of the woods by the fortress construction site before dawn. From this height and angle they can clearly observe the defensive structures of the site and the road leading to the main gate, sadly speaking they have taken action a bit too late; the walls and towers have already been completed, making it ways harder to attack.

The whole fortress has three main watch towers, which two are facing north and one facing south. While there are another thirteen smaller ones placed on the walls serving as a connection between the bigger towers. Half of the towers are prism shaped suitable for striking enemies coming in multiple directions with bolts. While another half of these towers are cylindrical with a curved wall, making it perfect for ricochet against heavy siege battlements like trebuchets and catapults. The layout of the towers shows that they have put the threats from land into consideration, rather than only defending the Bosporus straits.

The curtain walls to the north has reached a staggering twenty meters by Giovanni's speculations, making it almost impossible for his men to climb. There are Janissaries patrolling every segment of the walls, in case of any incoming attacks, they can immediately make a run for the bells and beacon tower transmitting the information to miles away. These all means that an assassin-like sneak through is impossible on such a well polished defence.

Upon surveying the fortress, Loukas, still panting from lack of exercise, immediate mumbled to Giovanni and Constantine. "Your majesty, Genoese, this fort looks to dangerous to bite, full of spikes that can cause our men's lives, I suggest that we retreat back to the city which will preserve forces to protect our city."

Constantine frowned in frustration. But worried of the difficulty of taking the fortress, he still approached Giovanni and asked. "Lord Giustiniani, what plans do you have in mind?"

"You shall see for yourself later emperor, not now."

Instead of answering the emperor's question, Giovanni climbed down from his horse and sat on the ground, grabbed a stiff bread and started gobbling it with the help of water. The men he brought soon followed their captain, all began sitting down, taking a bread out of nowhere and began eating.

Constantine and Loukas became the only one standing up not knowing what to do. Giovanni took a peek at them, torn a portion of his bread and passed it to the Emperor.

"Eat up, emperor." He said ambiguously with his mouth still munching the bread. "Refill your energy, you will need it in combat later. Trust me you wouldn't want to be in a situation where you run out of strength in the middle of a fight."

Constantine soon followed, sat down and began munching the bread like everybody else, showing no difference between an emperor born in the royal purple and an ordinary soldier, an action immediately won the approval of many Roman soldiers.

While for Loukas, no one shared their bread with him leaving him to be the only one standing.

Soon the ray of sunlight came rising from the horizon, showing a bit of brightness that chased away some darkness left by the moons and stars, giving the surroundings a vibrant colour. Just then, a group of wagons transporting logs showed up on the roads heading towards the fortress.

Giovanni narrowed his eyes and hand signalled his men to get ready. He stood up, cleaned his hands and alighted his horse, while continuing to stare closely at the wagons. The rest of the men soon followed. Thanks to Antonius' previous effort of ransacking the Ottoman treasure fleet, they are able to build up a tiny cavalry force consisting of merely a hundred mounts.

But a hundred is enough for today.

Giovanni called his right-hand man, Mauro, a battle-hardened mercenary with an eye patch on his left eye, and Constantine the emperor. He instructed the two of them while with his eyes continuously on the wagons of logs.

"Emperor, Mauro, later when I am engaged and managed to secure the gate, immediately command and lead our brothers to make a run for it, then control all those towers. Leave one hundred men scattered in the surroundings to prevent any man from fleeing and call reinforcement. Talking about reinforcement, don't forget to silence their bell and beacon tower, if you can."

The two men nodded and went back to gather their portion of men in the woods to make the appropriate instructions. While all the cavalries have already mounted, with their full armour and equipment on, gathered in the back of Giovanni.

The wagons moved slowly and finally they reached the gate. After exchanging some secret codes and some conversation, the gate of Rumeli Hisari is now wide open. The wagons then started moving in a snail speed inside. Giovanni continued waiting patiently with his arms folded in front, waiting like a panther in disguise in the woods for a perfect opportunity to leap on his prey.

When half of the wagons has just barely made it through and another half stuck outside is being stuck in a medieval traffic jam in the gate or on the muddy road, Giovanni knew that the opportunity he is waiting for has arrived finally. He opened his eyes wide and drew his crossbow out, leaned forward and squeezed his legs inside tightly. His horse whined in pain and immediately galloped downhills. No longer in discrete, Giovanni yelled and commanded his cavalries with a thunderous voice.

"Charge!"

…