Chapter 288: 283: Wolves and Sheeps

"It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep be."

-        Publius Vergilius Maro, Virgil

In the long wait the cavalries, especially the Mamluks, being eager for battle they grew increasingly impatient appealing to the admiral again and again seeking approval to have a pre emptive strike hitting the seemingly poorly defended Ottoman encampments with fire, just like how they treated them a week ago. 

But being extremely cautious as always Antonius told them that according to his understanding on the Ottomans and the war tactics of their chieftain Candarli Halil, he will not leave a hole for his enemies to exploit to easily. The Ottomans must be using there seemingly weakly defended camps as a bait to lure the enemy calvaries out, and there must be an ambush near by that will try to eliminate them before they are even able to touch the fences of the Ottoman encampments.

Hearing this explanation from their admiral the calvary captains backed off feeling that the admiral is just being paranoid, which will let them miss a tremendous opportunity.

Antonius waited for another two days seating inside his fortress waiting for any intel to arrive feeling lost about where the direction of the war is going and whether his judgement is correct. He took the chance to deepen the moat and enhance the fortification on the walls. Just as he is making guesses with Abdullah betting on how long the supplies of the Ottomans can last, then finally, report from Mamluk scouts came back saying that large group of enemy archers and calvaries can be seen leaving their hiding spots among the hills and grasses.

These troops then joined back with their main force and then divided under various flags and banners can be seen marching towards their direction a couple of Roman miles away, carrying heavy machineries like trebuchets, artillery pieces and wall rams. Confirming that the Ottomans finally started moving their feet Antonius broke in to a cold sweat realizing that he guessed the correct choice in the early winter, then laughed out loud towards the sky. He finally carried off that burden that has been there in his heart, knowing that he laid his stakes on the correct side, if he has made a haste decision motivated by his calvary leaders he would have already been dead in the Ottoman ambush circles.

But even with this it is still obvious that the defenders are still like an ant facing the pressure from the sheer number of enemy offenders, he urgently rang the alarm bell sending message to every single fortification asking them to embrace for battle. 

Hearing the information from the scouts the captains and Mamluk commanders are now finally convinced that Antonius' decision is undoubtedly the best, and thus the began flattering Antonius saying things like he is 'the genius of war', 'the tape worm inside the brain of the Ottomans' and 'Brilliant strategist who always manages to know the enemy's actions before hand'. Antonius' face became reddish in these compliments from shame as he himself knows he is only being cautious. 

The news of the admiral guessing the foe's intentions soon spread through the entire chain of defense motivating the morales of every one, knowing that they have a brilliant strategist on their side as a commander. However, when the Ottoman forces marched under the walls by noon the next day, every one's mindset changed immediately with their morales dropping immensely. 

The reason for that is pretty simple, it is plainly the sheer amount of Ottoman foes they are facing. Despite they know that they are superior in gears, equipment, with a fortified wall and a deep moat to defend themselves, but when they saw the incoming Ottoman troops blocking off their entire sphere of sight spread on the plains almost blocking the sun light making the Earth looks black and white in colour, the strong visual effect made their heart tremble in fear. 

"What a bunch of…" Even Antonius could not behave like he is confident to boost his soldier's morales, because there are simply too many of them. There are at least fifty thousand Ottomans coming in for offensive today, with the flanks being the Sipahi calvaries and mounted archers getting off their horses preparing for assault, in the middle are the Yaya light infantries each with a Kilij blade in their hand. Some donned in armors and equipped with shield but most are not. In the back are the archers, technicians and cannoneers getting ready their cross bows and siege equipment. The entire Ottoman force looks organised and highly disciplined forming in to a standard siege formation, looking not a single bit like they have just been drafted from conscription. 

Although Antonius can spectacle from the rays of sun light that the spears, armors, shields and blades these Yaya light infantries are holding are of low quality made by probably their respective village or tribe black smith, but forming together they still hold a pernicious effect, and advancing as one listening to the commands through horns and drums. If Antonius is going to let his calvaries go out of the fortress and charge towards this formation, it is no doubt that his petite three thousand horsemen are going to become a hedge hog by the Ottoman arrows. 

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Even the three leaders of the calvaries Abraham, Khalid and the Mamluk commander Mamsriqwe, who were there a few days back patting themselves on the chest vowing that they will crush the enemies through the use of fire, uttered no more words of confidence and complacency now before this crisis with their faces turning plainly pale in colour.

Looking around Antonius realised that he must at least say some thing as their admiral, and thus he made another laugh and shouted to every one grabbing their attention pointing at the Ottoman formations. "Look! Look! Lads! Now I have thought of a way to achieve victory! In a siege warfare manpower is not a decisive factor due to he limited width of battle, instead we can make it in to a disadvantage for them as long as we drag on for two weeks, and then the enormous number of men shall become their burden sucking their food and supplies dry, then, they shall dissolve on their own and our chance to strike back shall come!" 

The people around Antonius started nodding realizing that Antonius is their only hope. 

"Come, spread the words, as long as we stay united as one, we can survive this!" Antonius gave the people around him a pat on the back in motivation. The words of the admiral soon spread around the camp and the other fortifications regaining some morales and the will to fight. 

However, Antonius knows that the problem is, how are his forces going to last for two weeks in the first place under this scenario?

"Send a letter to Anjelo." After Antonius got off the walls, he immediately called for Fisnik, the one in charge of the communication between different camps and Thessaloniki. "Get all the spare manpower from Thessaloniki to the front line, and send letter to Giovanni, I will need the help of some of his troops and Mauro… And the Venetians, tell them that if I fall, they will be the next… We must now get all the possible strength on our side, now go!"

Fisnik hastily nodded his head and went off to work. 

While they speak new situations started to develop beneath the walls with a sudden burst of cheers from the Ottoman side, accompanied by the blowing of their war horns and the vigorous discussion from the Roman defenders. Seeing this Antonius came back up on to the tower to have a look on what is going on.

It is the Ottoman Grand Vizier, Candarli Halil Pasha, riding on to the battle field under the Ottoman Sultan's war banner of the white horse, hugging the child Sultan Beyezid II in his arms riding on a white horse. For one moment it is hard to differentiate who is the real Sultan, the child in the arms huddling in the cold or the old man with a slightly hunched back on the horse. 

"Abraham." Antonius called out for the best archer. "Can you reach him?" 

Abraham understood what his lord means, he calculated the distance between him and the figure beneath, then shakes his head disappointedly. "I can't, he is way too far for my arrow to reach him." 

"It is fine…. Antonius leaned forward looking at the Grand Vizier. "Let him go then, if you missed it will only make a joke out of us giving the other side a good laugh boosting their morale…Wait, what are they doing down there?"

As Antonius is discussing with Abraham about the Grand Vizier, the later turned back saying a few words to the Ottoman Janissaries behind him. The Janissaries turned back taking a couple more fancily dressed persons, together with several religious personnel that resembles the Grand Mufti of the Ottoman Sultanate and his students, and finally a man riding on a stallion horse looking like a Janissary leader.

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