Chapter 379: 374: In Conclusion

"Periere mores, jus, decus, pietas, fides, Et qui redire nescit, cum perit, pudor."

"We have lost our morale, justice, prestige, piety and faith, and the shame which once lost, can never be restored."

-        Seneca the Younger

Mahumad Pasha Angelovic too stopped trying to break free from the iron grip by his own guard, standing there watching his troops battle on with their last bit of fighting spirit. He understands why his guards are doing this, too. Because not knowing since when a kind of phenomenon appeared within the Ottoman higher ups regarding the increasing number of rebellions or insubordinations by regional military leaders once they lead their troops out of the capital.

This forced the royal court to find a way to curb this thing, and their solution is pretty simple too. All higher commanders of the expedition force are required to place their families under the care of the central government residing in the city of Edirne. In other words, their families are under full time supervision and custody of the central government. And if the commander outside dares to commit any acts against the likings of the central government, the Sultan can always use their family members as a bargaining chip. Which is why these guards, who are also considered as commanders and officers, dare not to simply make a run unlike these ordinary soldiers.

After sustaining their formations for a short period of time, some Ottoman soldiers finally could not take it as their battle arrangement has totally gone out of control, with each unit unable to coordinate and corporate well enough with one another, many units find themselves facing pressure from two different sides despite the fact that they are the ones with a superiority in numbers, while some units finds themselves seating in the back watching every thing happen with out doing any thing, because there is no higher authority to order them to fill up the battle line. Eventually these soldiers with nothing to do became the first to believe in the rumors and started spreading it around their pals, even distracting their pals fighting in front. 

Among this chaos, some Ottoman commanders too started getting suspicious whether their commander is really, as the words being spread around, summoned by Allah to achieve further meanings in life. They sent wave after wave of messengers to the central, but all of them returned with one single piece of information, that is the commander, together with his deputies and flags, are no where to be seen. No one there knows what trully happened over there with each person having their own version of story. 

Some says that the commander has fled the field, some said that he has been taken as captive, some says that he has fought bravely to his death. But whatever the information is, there is one thing that is clear; Mahumad Pasha Angelovic is no where to be found. Some faithful Ottoman commanders started foreseeing the outcome of the battle and began worrying about their destiny, and there are also some 'clever ones' who started thinking about what happens after this battle.

They know that in a messy world like this with the control by the central government, specifically the Sultan, on the various regions dwindling, it is vital to have one's own power and influence, which means a lot of troops just like what Zaganos Pasha and Suleyman Pasha who a lot of people dreamed of becoming a feudal lord like them. Thus, these smart ones started passing orders to their own men, asking their troops to regroup and slowly start slipping out of the battle field, while their pals and comrades are still in front fending off the Rumelians, hoping that their allies in the back can come and reinforce them. But of course, what they wish for is never going to arrive.

With the first Ottoman soldier starting to retreat out of the battle field, be it with or with out orders, there will be a second one. And when there is the second one there will be the third one, fourth one, fifth one… Until the Ottoman troops finally could no longer take it and started escaping on massive scales scattering towards various directions, but the smart ones, who are already quite experienced in tactical retreating, already picked a route which is fastest to Edirne.

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This unplanned retreat is eventually turned in to another stampede, every Ottoman is now trying to escape for their lives with the blades of the Rumelians still behind their backs. They knows that they need not run faster then these Rumelians, but they must run faster than their pals. Thus things quickly evolved violent as they started pushing one another like what their pioneers have done last time under the walls of Thessaloniki, splattering each other's blood merely for their own selfish desire to live on.

"Let's go, honourable Pasha." Meanwhile on the hills. The leader of the guards poked Mahumad Pasha Angelovic on the shoulder and bowed. "There are nothing to see here…. I have prepared a horse for you; it is time to go."

Mahumad Pasha Angelovic just stood there without moving an inch, staring in to the commotion beneath him. While some of the unclever Ottoman soldiers have already started trying to make a run up the hills, not knowing that they will only get trapped and encircled here later on. Some ran past their pasha, but none of them bothered lifting their head up to take a look. Mahumad Pasha Angelovic muttered to himself, and also to the leader of the guards behind him.

"I am hand picked by Sultan Murad II, may The Mightiest Allah bless his righteous souls.. I was hand picked by the Sultan to be a general who shall never disappoint him in battle, I am supposed to be his sharpest blade… But why have I became like this? I failed before the walls of Constantinople, and Sultan Mehmed died… I failed under the walls of Thessaloniki, and hundreds of thousands of brothers, together with that sinner Candarli Halil the Junior died… I failed before the coast of Bulgaria, and my hope of a new Ottoman navy died… And today I failed here, so who is supposed to die this time? Is it me? Is my fate finally here for my souls to be recalled in to the Jannah?"

After Mahumad Pasha Angelovic finished his sentence, he let out a long sigh, drew out that blade still hanging by his waist and placed it before his neck, muttering in a depressing way facing the Rumelians, forming a strong contrast with the others running past him. "I am a sinner too… And I shall bother no one else, not even the Rumelians, I shall end my own life to replenish my…"

Before he could finish, he got kicked down by the leader behind him, with multiple pressing him down and kicked that blade away. Then they stuffed a cloth in to the pasha's mouth to prevent him from having any further fancy ideas like biting his own tongue, and made a run down slope towards the place where they stored their horses, after that they made a gallop out of this dangerous spot going for the tiny harbour a few Roman miles away – also prepared before hand, of course. If the pasha is clear minded now he would begin to think what kind of trickery is this, but fortunately he is not, for his mind is botched up by conflicting thoughts driving him crazy.

The grand escape lasted for the entire night, but thanks to the Ottoman's improved retreating techniques the survivors learnt in Thessaloniki and passed to the others, they suffered a lot less casualties like last time. Many units still managed to keep their contact and organisations while retreating, or tactical manoeuvring at high speed along the road. While part of this is also because the troops of Giovanni had little horses to feed a sustainable cavalry force, slowing down their chasing speed and unable to achieve such a devastating effect like Antonius' troops.

With the curtains over the stage of the main battle field set and lowered, the battle field on the other side is also coming to an end.

Constantine could never get why there is a bunch of Ottoman troops trying to sneak around his eyes within one Roman mile, pretending that he and his scout's eyes are blind. Furthermore, thanks to themselves there is not much wood or greeneries to cover their shapes making them easily spottable and interceptable. Constantine, although not as experienced and professional as Giovanni, also managed to intercept this surge of Ottoman flanking force separating them in to two pieces, forcing them to flee as well.

The battle entered the concluding phase just as the sun came out of the horizon, within one night the Ottomans announced their defeat once again, with now the victor being the combination of Constantine and Giovanni, who are the ones on the offensive this time.

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