A fierce siege battle was going on in the direction of Bucharest, and the constant bombardment of the Ottoman artillery made it seem that the city wall was about to collapse at any time, and the Bucharest people organized, at this time the line between the commoners and the nobles, especially the low-level small nobles, had become blurred, perhaps an officer who was directing the transportation of supplies to defend the city was just a guy in a general store on the street, and a soldier who was in tatters in a hurry was a noble man who had just come out of the city council.

The nobles still tried to be reserved to ensure that their noble status would not be overlooked, but when Sophia rode through the street on her horse and held aloft a blue angelic banner, even the most prominent nobles had to lower their bodies and follow behind, because the Greek princess had proved by her actions that she would live and die with the city.

At this time, no one was proposing peace with the Ottomans, at least not too much to say it publicly, otherwise they would probably be killed in the streets by the angry Bucharestans.

The Ottomans clearly felt that Bucharest's defenses had suddenly strengthened, or that the enemy seemed to have become numerous, and they saw civilians on the city walls in addition to ordinary soldiers, but what the Ottomans did not expect was that Bucharest had launched a mobilization order to the whole city at the beginning of the siege.

This was also somewhat unexpected by Bayezid II, who thought that Bucharest would have to be besieged for a period of time, and when it was about to run out of ammunition, the ordinary people of the city would be sent to the city walls, but now it seems that the people of the city have been determined to fight to the death from the beginning, after all, everyone knows that any city with civilians participating in the defense, once it falls, it will often face the end of slaughtering the city, this is not just how cruel and ruthless the attackers are, but after suffering huge losses, The victor will take revenge on the entire city by slaughtering the city.

Bayezid II actually still had the hope that Bucharest would be able to surrender, and his goals were great, or in the long run he would have more vision than his father Mehmed II, so Bucharest was important to him, but if he could conquer the city with as few casualties as possible, it would undoubtedly be very beneficial for his future plans.

It's just that now it seems that his ideas are too optimistic.

A blue angelic banner appeared at the head of the city, and the scouts immediately reported the discovery to the Sultan, and Bayezet realized that there might have been some changes in the city, he knew that this flag was the holy flag of Bucharest, and the image of the two angels foreshadowed the protection of the city by the Saint Cyril brothers, but the Sultan knew better that this flag would not appear easily, because there would be no more than 4 people in Bucharest who were qualified to use it.

These 4 people are the nominal ruler of Bucharest, the de facto ruler, the parish patriarch and a girl with a special status.

The titular ruler was Chipes, whose whereabouts are unknown, and the actual ruler was Ladislas II, but the Sultan did not think that the kings of Bohemia and Hungary would be so reckless as to give up the last chance at this time, after all, Hungary was now in danger of being invaded.

In the same way, the Sultan did not think that the diocesan patriarch would easily walk on the walls, because that would mean that Bucharest had reached the point of real life and death.

So who will it be?

The Sultan was intrigued, and he led the Guards to a very close place to the front line and looked in the direction of the flag, which made many Ottoman generals fearful, after all, the thrill of Mehmed II's almost losing his life was still vivid, and they did not want the Sultan of Bayezid to follow in his father's footsteps.

The Bucharest people were obviously also worried that the appearance of the flag might attract the bombardment of the Ottoman artillery, so apart from an angelic protection flag, not too many people gathered under the flag, but this was enough, because the Sultan was surprised to find that next to the Bucharest holy flag, there was actually a striking double eagle shield flag!

The Sultan's eyes were immediately attracted by the flag, and he looked at it quietly for a long time, and finally said to the generals around him, "We found her, didn't we?" ”

The double eagle coat of arms, the flag of the Palaiologous dynasty, the last symbol of the Eastern Roman Empire.

"Great Sultan, no enemy can escape from your wise gaze." A close general respectfully said, "But allow me to congratulate you, the great prophet has blessed you and made you what you want." ”

Bayezid II smiled lightly, as if in response to the general's compliment, and his gaze fixed on the banner and said slowly: "I hope that this is the last time, and the ghost of the Greek princess will be shattered with the city." ”

Suddenly, there was a faint cheer from the distant city wall, and although it was far away, the earth-shattering cheers that could not stop were clearly transmitted to the Ottoman position.

"What are they shouting?" An Ottoman officer asked the man next to him in a low voice.

"They're shouting......" the man said, and there was excitement in his eyes, "Long live the princess!" ”

"Is that the woman?"

"Yes, it's that woman!"

Listening to the whispered discussions of the generals around him, Bayezid II took a deep breath, he knew why those generals were so excited, they had been looking for this woman for a long time, and even everyone knew that even if there was such a person, they would probably have died of old age, after all, the legend about the Greek princess has been circulating for nearly 50 years.

But the legend of the last blood of the Roman Empire has never stopped, even though the Ottomans have captured an unknown number of heirs claiming to be the heirs of this bloodline, but the name of "Greek princess" has always been passed down in the Balkans.

"This time everything will be completely settled." Bayezid II smiled at the people around him, "True or not, there will be no more legends of Greek princesses from now on." ”

"Forgive my presumptuousness, my Sultan, if we can capture that princess alive, I mean whoever she is, wouldn't it be better for us to capture her and make her your wife?" One of the generals suddenly suggested that "we can leave her alone if she is really a princess, but let her be your harem, perhaps it will be more useful than killing her." ”

Bayezid II looked back with a little surprise, he understood what the general meant, but after some weighing, the Sultan still shook his head: "No, sometimes the easiest way is also the best, I want to let all the people in this land know what the end of the rebellion will be, then the death of the Greek princess is the best proof." ”

"Follow your will, Sultan." The general did not look frustrated that his proposal had not been accepted, he respectfully touched his breastplate and bowed slightly, "Then please allow my troops to attack, and I promise you that I will bring you the woman's head." ”

"Don't worry, my general," the Sultan looked at the distant city walls, "the morale of Bucharest is very high now, but it won't last long, maybe soon they will find that they are facing a dilemma, order a non-stop attack on Dembvica, and then it will be up to them to make their own choices." ”

Bucharest was fighting, Dembvica was fighting, and the troops on the right flank of the Ottomans crossed the lower reaches of the Dembvica River and went deeper into the eastern part of the Bucharest Plain.

For a time, the flames of war spread across the land, and everyone was drawn into this brutal siege.

However, there are others who are exceptions.

While the city of Bucharest was in the heat of battle, in Zagreb, El Lup was spending his leisure time.

Rowa? Preparations for the Hungarian invasion were made much more difficult by the interference of the supply lines by the resistance led by Herva, and Ilup was also troubled by Helva's harassment.

Heavy supplies were often harassed by Helva, and although heavy troops were later sent to protect them, the frequent destruction of transportation routes made transportation extremely difficult

The Sultan reprimanded Eleup for his reprimands for the artillery from Belgrade felt that his life was miserable, and although he had done his best, and even twice pursued Helva to fight him head-on to break out, the rear of the Ottoman army would not be at peace for a day if the hateful "Darius" was not completely destroyed.

Alup sometimes even wondered if he had taken Bucharest, and the Balkans would not have been truly conquered as long as Herva himself had not been completely wiped out, for he had found that as time went on, more and more locals seemed to see hope in Helva's resistance.

At least according to his reports, attacks against the Ottomans were becoming more frequent, and many of them were not actually carried out by Helva's men.

Helva, Duke of Zagreb, had become a hero and spiritual leader of the rebels in the eyes of the people of the occupied Balkans, which made Eleup even more strongly believe that even the capture of Bucharest would not be able to completely conquer the people of the land unless Helva was completely destroyed.

Such a thought made Alysp very helpless, and at the same time, he was very helpless to Roy? The move was worried.

Since receiving the order to him to invade Hungary, the Bosnian king Rhova? But he has been delaying and shirking under various excuses.

Rowa, who didn't want to anger Hungary in the first place? Provoked by Helva, he came up with excuses to delay the march to Hungary while keeping a close eye on the fighting in Bucharest.

Rowa? And didn't want to bet all their chips on the Ottomans.

Rowa? He will not forget that Herva is his greatest rival as the king of Bosnia, but although he wants to eliminate this enemy by the hands of the Ottomans, he does not want the Ottomans to win so smoothly.

In his mind, the best outcome would naturally be a defeat for both warring parties, which would be the best way to secure his position.

Helva's harassment of the rear made Roy? Finding a good excuse, he tried again and again to delay the march to Hungary on the grounds that preparations for the invasion had to be delayed due to the destruction of the supply lines, and at the same time he frequently secretly conveyed some kind of "goodwill" to Hungary through the Archduke Karl of Caniola.

Rowa? Not wanting to offend Ladisras II completely, but when the news of the siege of Bucharest came, the Sultan's sternly worded secret letter was also placed on the table in front of him.

"I am skeptical of the friendship and loyalty you have shown me, especially when I hear that you have repeatedly refused to fulfill your obligations as an ally, and I have reason to doubt that you can be trusted, and do not forget the promise of being a king, or that a new king of Bosnia may continue to fulfill those promises."

Looking at this almost undisguised threat, Rowa? Knowing that he really angered the Sultan, in this case, Rwa? An order had to be given to march on Hungary.

On 25 April 1499, the day the Ottoman army began its assault on the city of Bucharest, the Bosnian army also began to cross the border between Croatia and Hungary.

Rowa? In fact, there are still some worries, although he is exaggerated in his harassment of Helva, but the army of the Duke of Zagreb does pose a considerable threat to his rear, and now marches on Hungary, Rova? I have to worry about all the pressures I may have to face in the rear.

But that's a good thing for Ellup.

The Hungarians were already overwhelmed by the invasion of a large army, and their support for Herva was greatly reduced, which gave Ellup a glimmer of hope for a complete purge of the rear.

It was only at this time that a merchant he had been waiting for for a long time suddenly appeared in Zagreb.

Prato thought that it was a foolish act for him to agree to deliver the letter because his head was hot, and that perhaps he should bargain again.

When Elope saw the contents of the letter, he was silent for a while.

Alexander made a vague mention of the plantations in Crete, and after mentioning that he could consider giving Ryup a share of the plantation's output that would appeal to him, the rest of the letter made Alysp feel that he had gained and lost.

"As you have guessed, I have a keen interest in being able to obtain the right to mine a certain mineral, dear friend, if you can help me to get one of the landowners close to me to agree to mine on his land, then I will give you enough in return for this, including a share of the crop on a certain island and a good profit after obtaining the mining rights, and all you need to do is allow another friend of mine in Croatia to play his role more freely."

Minerals, landlords, mining rights and another friend.

Looking at these letters, which would not reveal any clues even if they fell into the hands of others, Elope's forehead overflowed with layers of sweat.

Because he knew exactly what Alexander was talking about, Eyup knew what difficult choices he was facing.

The minerals were, of course, the copper mines of Hungary, and the landlord was undoubtedly Ladislas II, as for another friend......

Elup didn't dare to think about it anymore.

Thinking of the stakes, Elip wrote a long letter to his brother Ashulk before he could make a decision.

In the letter, Eryup complained about Ashulk's almost irrational madness and audacity, and at the end he wrote with some grievance: "I have no choice, when I find myself on a large ship that may sink at any moment, I can no longer see the shadow of the land, so now there is only one thing I can do, and that is to avoid being buried at the bottom of the sea, and to try to make this unfortunate ship, which may run aground at any moment, reach its destination as soon as possible, so my dear brother, the family is in this move." ”

Then Elup sent Prato to his face, and after a moment of contemplation, he said, "There is a letter, but it is requested by your count, so it is somewhat risky, but for the sake of friendship I am willing to provide you with sufficient convenience, but you must ensure that the news reaches the man." ”

"I know that this is a very important letter," Prato nodded at once, this time he knew him very well and did not bargain with the Ottoman, because just thinking about the prisoners who had been executed by the smiling Ottoman governor, Prato felt that it was not a bad thing to help others.

"This man, you may not see him soon," said Eyrip, "but if you inquire more you will hear the legend about him, go find him, and trust me if you tell someone that you are a friend of the Count of Montina, he will come to you." ”

Following Aryup's plausible-sounding advice, Prato had to embark on a slow journey as a messenger again.

And looking at his distant back, Elop secretly prayed in his heart: "I hope this guy finds that Herva as soon as possible." ”