Chapter 100: This Does not Make Any Sense

The Postern of Kerkaporta is in the middle of two forts. It is usually used for merchants and commuters when the main gates are remained shut. The Roman soldiers who ar3e supposedly guarding this gate and forts out of whatever reasons did not shut it down, making it wide open in front of the Ottoman Janissaries who wandered here, giving them an opportunity that is so rare that it makes no sense. It can only be concluded that sometimes fictional creations requires logic, while sometimes some pieces of history or some historical event has totally no logic in it, but it still happened.

Usually in a heated warzone, every gate, every window, every corridor, even the tiniest openings on the walls are contested in an enraging prolonged fighting before both sides trying to get control of it, but as the Ottoman Janissaries creeped inside with the tip of their blades shaking from the sheer anxiety and nervousness, they met completely no resistance, and thus they will be remembered as the first few Ottoman even the first Islamic troops to successfully get into Constantinople and hold on to their feet.

Upon realising there is no resistance in front of the gate, the Ottoman Janissary commander had no more hesitation and ordered his men to storm the two forts holding various key positions and closed the gate in the favour of the Romans, dopped the double headed eagle flag onto the filthy, muddy floor below and sent the Ottoman crescent flag flying high up on the fort.

On the other parts of the walls, the Ottoman Janissaries together with other azap divisions came wave after wave like sea water getting splashed on the walls of Constantinople. Although all of them are repelled by the defenders asserting them with losses sky rocketing high, the Roman defenders also did suffer heavy losses which both Giovanni and Constantine cannot accept. Constantine has mobilised every single man inside the city that is older than fifteen and younger than sixty years old, one more casualty means one less efficient fighting force available.

The Ottomans, particularly the Janissaries, kept coming up the wall, and when a few of them get killed, more Ottomans emerge after them seeking for a fight to revenge their buddies, while other two will stay behind their cover and take away the bodies of their deceased friends. The Romans maintained their fire suppression on the Ottomans with their Milano crossbows, Greek flame thrower and culverins. None of them fears the impending death that awaits them, somehow they are willing to have all of them killed under enemy fire power just to retrieve the corpse of their fellow comrades in arms on the walls of the Romans.

Just then in the heat of the battle, the war cries of Ottoman Janissaries can be heard on the back of the Romans. The Venetian garrison stationed in the region of Blachernae led by Giacomo Coco suddenly found hostile forces rushing into the city seemingly out of no where. Although it is not a force they cannot handle, but simply the sight of Ottomans inside the city simply implicates one thing.

The enemies have breached the walls.

If that is the case, it means that Constantinople is lost. Without the cover of Theodosian walls, even if it is Belisarius reborn, Heraculous revived, they cannot lead an army of less than ten thousand against hundreds of thousands of Ottomans.

Now the city's fate is on the hands of Giacomo Coco and his five hundred Venetian reinforcements. What he does shall have a vital impact on the balance of the war.

All the Venetians lined up behind Giacomo Coco had their eyes on him waiting for the orders that they would put up a defense here and repel the Ottomans. However, Giacomo Coco had some other thoughts in mind. He sailed here all the way from Crete to seek honour and wealth… Not with the consequence of death. Furthermore, there is something that only he knows but his men have no idea about, he is sent here by the Doux of Candia to protect Venetian quarters and properties inside the city… not to engage in some meaningless brawls and die for the Romans.

"All men! On my mark…." Giacomo Coco took a deep breathe and let out his commands to his men. "Fall back! Maintain your formations!"

The Venetians looked at each other with confusion in their eyes, but they started falling back according to their captain's orders. But they are blocked by one man on their way. It is the Ecumenical Patriarch Athanasius II, who is commanding a group of nuns and clergies helping to conduct sermons for the living, eulogy for the dead, rescuing the injured.

With a long white beard full of ages of wisdom and a pair of cold eyes, the Ecumenical Patriarch trudged to the middle of the Venetian's path, pointed at them with his Chrismon embedded Patriarch crutch and asked. "My sons, why are you moving backwards instead of moving forward? Tell me, my children, are the army of the infidel also running backwards like you? Or are they marching forward?"

"Father." A Venetian swordsman came out of the line and bowed towards the old man. "We are falling back to better prepare ourselves to protect you and the emperor."

"Do not lie to me my child, it is a sin."

"…"

"Where is your commander? Child? I want to talk to him now." The ecumenical Patriarch trudged forward and stomped his crutch on the ground maintaining his stare on the swordsman.

The swordsman guessed that this old man is a person of high prestige, he could not reply a single word and began moving backwards apparently caught in a dilemma.

"Please leave the way, father." Giacomo Coco pushed his way through the formation, patted the swordsman on the soldier asking him to join back the line, and then marched forward with his hands on the grip of his sword confronting the Ecumenical Patriarch face to face and threatened beneath his beard. "Leave the way, father, it is a military order."

The Ecumenical Patriarch rose his ashen eyebrow and stared at the well-built Venetian sailor before him. "What if I do not?"

"…Then I have to forcefully shove you out of the way."

"Even if you shove me out of the way, I will return and block your path." The Ecumenical Patriarch retorted stubbornly with his goat beard moving up and down in front of Giacomo Coco's face. "As the Ecumenical Patriarch of all Christians, I…."

Suddenly, the Ecumenical Patriarch's words came to an abrupt stop as he stared at the man before him with a pair of eyes full of misbelief and shock.