Chapter 97: Even A Granny Can Run Faster Than You

"Go Go Go! Move! Even a granny from the streets of Genoa can run faster than you!"

This is what Giovanni loved to shout to his men when they are training last time. No one really knows who is the granny their captain is referring to and whether she can run faster than all of them, they dare not ask in the risk of getting charged for insubordination or confinement. However, in this battle field situation, they somehow started to thank Giovanni's grand mother for motivating them to run so god damn fast now.

They stormed through a no man's land caused by the rains of arrows pouring down the walls just now and caught the tails of the orderly retreating Ottoman levies, then pierced into the enemies, then started chopping and slashing every single men they find in front of them. Their battle roars deafen the ears of their enemies. The Aydin division's commander tried to put up a proper line of defence and encircle the Romans using their superiority in numbers, but he soon realised that in a battle numbers are not the most important one, it is the level of organisation.

The Ottoman light infantries have just ended a prolong assault on the walls, famished, mentally and physically depleted, many of them having injuries ranging from big to small. When Giovanni surprised them with his quick action task force, he is given almost no time to react. Amidst the chaos an Ottoman warrior often find themselves facing blades from two sides despite they are outnumbering the Romans thanks to Giovanni's new formation.

The fragile line of defence put up by the Ottoman warriors soon collapsed, they now can no longer retreat in an orderly manner. Once the emotion of dread and terror started spreading amongst an army, it can no longer be stopped. The Ottoman warriors in the front started pushing and bumping the warriors on the back to one side to escape the blades of the Romans, while the warriors squeezed in the back who can only hear the sound of men crying, collapsing, slashed by blades but cannot see what is actually going on in the frontline went thinking that there is a mass defeat in front and got overwhelmed by the Romans, they started pushing and knocking the men behind them as well. Eventually it evolved into a thousand men scale stampede with countless people getting pushed to the ground by their own pals and stomped to death becoming a lifeless pile of mud mixed together with the Earth.

The bey leading the division, seeing that there is no more hope of reorganising his men to put up a proper defence even after he chopped down a few of them, charged forward against the crowd with his elite body guards towards the Romans in a desperate manner, never to be seen again by anyone.

The commander second in charge of the army group south besieging the Gate of Xylokerkos and the Golden Gate is called Mahmud Pasha Angelović, a dedicated soldier and junior army officer in Mehmed's army born in Kosovo. Rumoured to be a direct descendent of the House of Angelos, he is also counted as a man with Roman imperial bloodlines although he see himself as a faithful follower of the Great Prophet.

He saw the entire situation on a tower. Since his superior Selim Pasha is not around, he is the one in charge. With a heart stiff as stone of a military commander Mahmud Pasha Angelović soon ordered his signal man to raise the flag and send the signals. Then two flanks of archers emerged out of the Ottoman main formation with their arrows on the bow string.

"Spread the words my brothers!" Ordered Mahmud Pasha Angelović. "If anyone continues falling back we will shoot!"

His men soon followed. "If anyone continues falling back we will shoot!"

"Go back, face the enemies! Show your toughness as the followers of Al-Ḥayy al-Qayyūm!"

"Show me, that the blades you hold is not twigs! Show me! That the mind inside your body is not as weak as the Roman emperor!"

"Show me! My brothers!"

After he finished his words, some Ottoman warriors did turn back to face Giovanni and his men, but most continued falling back.

Mahmud Pasha Angelović sighed, waved his hand and ordered. "Let the arrows fly."

The commander of the archers saw the signal flag, then yelled to his archers which they soon decorated the sky with a salvo of warning shots which plunged itself into the meat and flesh of their own men Although it caused a wide range of casualties on their own forces, but it successfully halted the retreat and forced the men to go back and fight.

"Our men did it! They have managed to hold their feet and fight back!" A bey by Mahmud Pasha Angelović's side shouted in excitement.

However, Mahmud Pasha Angelović shook his head and remarked. "It is already a shame that they are defeated by only merely around an hundred enemies, and it is even more shameful for them for them to cause such a chaos among themselves."

"… May I know what will you do to them, Mahmud Pasha Angelović?"

Mahmud Pasha Angelović replied without any hesitation. "I will execute a dozen of them who ran the fastest just now, and hang their head on poles to be shown around the camp as punishment."

The bey is obviously shocked. "I must advice you, honourable pasha, that we must prevent as less casualties and human losses as possible, our Sultan said two month ago that we must prepare ourselves for a prolonged siege!"

Mahmud Pasha Angelović remains unmoved by his words. "What if there are Roman reinforcements on the way?"

"Reinforcements? They would be stopped and crushed by the Kapudan Pasha!"

"Kapudan Pasha… Navy…" Mahmud Pasha Angelović gave the bey an awkward but sceptical glance. "Well, if you trust that our 'navy' can stop them, go ahead… Now, concentrate on the battle situation."