Chapter 469 - All For Victory

"I will need the authority to temporarily command any allied troops that is not under me, your majesty, in order to start a well coordinated operation."

This is the first time that someone has made such a request before in front of the Caesar, and it came from a relatively junior commander that has just been exempted from the guilt of losing the artillery equipment from his old superior Fisnik. Even the scribe responsible for recording down a minute halted his quill and looked up in bewilderment at this overly confident young man, shook his head and continued recording down this interesting event in his papers.

"You know what you are ordering for, Maximos?" Antonius smiled and asked, for he is just being curious at this assertive young man.

"Yes, your majesty, all for victory."

Antonius did not reply instantly, it is indeed a serious decision of him if he is going to really throw a bunch of different units under Maximos who is neither a senior member of the army like Julian or Abraham, nor has he showed his skills in coordinating different units that has rarely worked together with one another before. His leadership is also being questioned as he has only been a vice commander and a current commander of only less than a hundred people now. Can he really take up the job he claimed that he can? There is a potential risk in this.

"Your majesty, I think that we can give him some try." Just as he is thinking, Alexios who is standing by his side and never spoke since just now suggested. "He got a detailed plan of what to do with each step, and it would not hurt in this case to let off some power on the junior members of the military and let them test their own capabilities."

Antonius made up his mind, he moved to the front of Maximos, pulled out his cutlass which gave a shock to many, and handed it over to the young commander before him. "This blade bears my authority." Antonius said in solemn. "I hereby hand you the sword temporarily and at the same time my command, you can use this sword to execute anyone who is not a commanding officer that has conducted actions of insubordination towards you. But in exchange I want to see your results in half a month's time, is that enough for you?"

Maximos held on to the grip of the legendary cutlass that is famed to have accompanied the Caesar from fifteen years ago. This blade is indeed heavy, not only for its physical weight but also for the level of authority and power that is behind it.

"I shall not make you disappointed, your majesty!" Maximos can literally feel the hot flow of air coming out of his nostrils and his eyes beaming red in gratitude and excitedness over the amount of trust and belief his liege is willing to give him. "Within one week, that is a promise!"

…

The massive land trenching project soon began, Maximos made use of the authority given to him to gather a group of archaeologists and mathematicians to discuss the feasibility of the trenches, then he managed to muster four thousand men from various units through their commanders, issuing them with spades, pickaxes and buckets asking them to dig a trench of two and half meters deep with a two meter width, and the side of the trench facing the enemies must be dug to an inclined angle of ninety degrees angle. Four trenches are started at the same time with each trench joining up in the end to reduce the effort and time needed for the project.

The Sanjak bey of Sanjak-i Yanya, Hüseyin Çelik was venting his rage and displease at the nobleman who have barely escaped from the Rumelians in the first fortress when the scouts reporting that the Rumelians are mustering a formidable force, and this immediately rose the alertness of the Sanjek. Unlike what Antonius and Julian have felt about the disastrous battle of the first fortress, it is deemed as a complete and embarrassing failure in the Sanjek's eyes. He totally did not expect the fortress to fall in such a God speed…. Less than five hours? Knowing that initially he expected that fortress to at least halt the Romans for five days.

The fall of the first fortress has already punched a hole in the initial plan of the Ottoman higher ups on using the Rumelians tactic of a controlled passive defence against their foes. But the failure in the first fortress in a short time means that their initial objective has failed badly showing that it is nothing but a goofy thought to try to control the Roman's advance, now it is vitally crucial for the Sanjek to make sure that the second layer of defence, that pass can hold the Rumelians for at least two weeks so he can mobilise his men to try to set up a third defence behind.

The Sanjek and his advisors rushed to the pass to have a view on the Roman side, what the scouts have told them is correct, there do seem to be large movements coming from the opposite side. However, after a dozen minutes of monitoring he found out one thing, that is the enemies does not seem to be mustering forces for another offensive, instead they seem to be having a massive construction project as he could only observe dirt and soil being constantly tossed up into the air.

It did not take long for the Sanjek to make his conclusion. "The enemies must be trying to build a tunnel to beneath our walls!" He exclaimed waving his hands. "We must act quick! Install a bronze pot for every ten meter interval behind our walls! Get our men working, we need more men on standby and more defensive equipment stored behind these walls.. You, make sure that we have at least two people guarding one pot every single night… And call Semseddin over, he needs to have a look at this."