Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 1082 Tosagupin (12)

And as the French commander expected, the real battle took place in front of the gates of Constantiniye. The Janissaries preparing for the defense of Constantine were confident.

“What kind of castle wall is that?”

They had strong faith in the walls surrounding Constantine. In addition, the problem was the location chosen by the French army and the Italian army that landed after them as the offensive point. It was the place where the famous ‘triple wall’ was located.

* * *

Although more than 10 years had been gained compared to the history before the intervention, Constantinople had fallen and was called Constantine. At that time, when Hyang heard the news of the fall of Constantinople, he muttered to himself with a bitter look on his face.

‘As expected, ‘A bastard will be a bastard’…’

And the Ottoman monarchs, who became the new owners of Constantinople, brilliantly rebuilt the walls they had destroyed. It wasn’t just a rebuild, it was made more solid.

* * *

But there was something the Janissaries overlooked. The existence of cannons developed ‘crazily’ after the fall of Constantinople. European powers, especially France and Italy, who were influenced by the empire, made repeated efforts to create powerful cannons on their own.

France realized the true power of cannons while being beaten by the imperial artillery, and Italy became addicted to cannons after seeing France being beaten by the empire right in front of them.

Thanks to this, France and Italy were the first countries in Europe to succeed in developing breech-loading cannons. Although the Empire’s hidden turret machine was not installed, of course the siege cannon was still of the battlefield type. Although its caliber was much smaller than the famous Ottoman Urban gun, its power was superior.

The propulsion gunpowder was smokeless gunpowder, and everything from the gun barrel to the shell was made of steel. Above all, Urban’s gun was only one gun, but the siege guns mobilized by France and Italy totaled more than 20 guns. And other general artillery pieces totaled nearly 100 guns.

In order to operate such a large artillery unit efficiently and safely, a large plain area was needed. Therefore, the area facing Theodosius Wall became the main offensive. There was another important reason. For Italy and France, the famous walls of Constantine were an excellent test subject.

“I haven’t been able to test its power properly so far, so let’s test it properly this time!”

“Anyway, since it has fallen to the heretics, we will destroy it cleanly!”

And after completing all preparations, the French and Italian troops began their attack.

* * *

Boom! Quack! bang!

“The wall has collapsed!”

“The wall has collapsed!”

When the French and Italian troops began bombarding the triple wall, it began to collapse so easily that it seemed like nothing. As already mentioned, the people who most thoroughly learned how to operate imperial artillery were France and Italy.

The French and Italian forces concentrated the landing points of 20 siege artillery pieces in one place. The walls of the castle, subjected to intensive bombardment from large-diameter siege artillery, collapsed to the point where restoration was impossible. The French and Italian siege guns that drilled holes in the walls then drilled three more holes elsewhere.

The siege guns opened four passages in the outer wall and gradually attacked the inner wall. The important strategic point of the inner wall was the wall connecting the defense towers. The defensive towers on the outer and inner walls were arranged in a staggered manner. Because this arrangement was used to fire crossfire at the attacking enemies, the siege artillery of the French and Italian armies was aimed at the walls connecting these defensive towers.

And the siege guns successfully accomplished their assigned mission. Although it was covered with rubble, four passages were created to enter Konstantiniye.

While the siege guns were firing to create a passage, other artillery pieces were not just sitting idle. Taking advantage of the breech-loading cannon’s unique rapid-fire ability, they struck the battlements facing the moat and fired cannonballs at the defenders on the outer and inner walls.

What was even scarier was that the shells used in these breech-loading cannons were incendiary shells filled with gunpowder. Every time the shells landed, deadly fragments spread everywhere, and the Janissary soldiers fighting on the walls fell screaming.

“The road has been cleared!”

“Forwards the engineers! Forward to the assault car!”

“from now on!”

As soon as the commander’s order was given, the carts loaded with engineers and materials and the assault vehicles to escort them began to move forward.

“Fill the moat!”

“Fill the moat!”

French and Italian sappers who arrived at the moat began unloading the wood from the cart and throwing it into the moat. Round wooden bundles made of trees cut down from the forest near the landing site and wood obtained from tearing down village houses began to fill the moat little by little.

It wasn’t just the sticks.

bang! Tatang!

“Tsk!”

“Aaaah!”

Although being pounded by French and Italian artillery fire, the Janissary soldiers desperately tried to hinder the engineers’ work. Some of the sappers who were shot by the Janissaries fell into the moat and became a piece of the moat filling. The commander of the engineering corps, who saw his men falling into the moat, jumped onto the assault vehicle and shouted.

“Properly provide covering fire! Our children are dying! “If you’re going to do this, I’ll push the assault car into the moat!”

“All right!”

Amidst the fierce battle between the two sides, the moat was being filled step by step. What contributed to it being filled faster than expected was the curtain wall across the moat. Even if an attacker drilled a hole in one side of the moat, the other part of the moat was made to be filled with water and able to withstand, but this time, it did the opposite.

The wooden sticks thrown by the engineers were blocked by the wall and gradually filled the moat.

* * *

“The moat is filled!”

“charge!”

“Wow!”

When the signal flag went up on the assault vehicles escorting the engineers, the remaining assault vehicles and soldiers waiting behind them began to advance while shouting.

Ta-ta-ta-tang! Ta-ta-ta-tang!

The assault wagons that arrived ahead of the infantry poured bullets into the outer and inner walls.

“Kaaak!”

“Ahh!”

“Stop it! Stop the enemies!”

“Where is our freight car!”

The Janissaries resisted desperately despite being under heavy fire from French and Italian assault vehicles. The Janissary soldiers, braving the hail of bullets, stood up and aimed at the enemies, screaming and falling to the ground. However, the remaining soldiers showed their will to fight to the death.

Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!

bang! Quack!

Finally, the soldiers who pulled the surviving freight cars crossed the moat and began pulling the triggers on the soldiers coming in, and the cannons that barely survived even in the collapsed defense tower burst into flames.

“Tell the siege batteries! Make sure it is demolished!”

“ancient!”

“Delivery to the field artillery! Put those freight cars to sleep!”

“ancient!”

The messengers who received the commander’s order rode out on horseback, and after a while, the siege guns that had rested for a while opened fire again toward the half-collapsed defense towers. Thanks to the active offensive of the French and Italian cannons, the vanguard of the Italian and French troops succeeded in breaking through the triple wall and entering the city of Konstantiniye.

And on top of the half-collapsed defense tower of the inner wall, the standard symbolizing Selim was fluttering in the wind.

* * *

“The enemy has entered the city!”

“Send out the reserves! “We must prevent further entry!”

“ancient!”

Commander Enicheri asked his staff with a puzzled expression at the unexpected situation.

“There is no contact from Popsburg!”

“Not yet!”

“It’s been five days since we left Bolu and it’s still not over! Even a turtle would be faster than this!”

Despite his anger, the Janissary commander maintained his sense of reason and continued command until the end.

“Have the reserves been sent out?”

“yes!”

“Then what about the remaining reserves?”

“The troops guarding the palace are everything!”

“The unit that protects the Golden Horn is used as a reserve unit. “Tell them to come this way, leaving only the minimum number of troops!”

“ancient!”

“What should we do with the troops guarding the port?”

“I’m just waiting there, just in case.”

“ancient!”

Once the situation was over, the Janissary commander glared at his staff and said,

“For Selim to move like that means he wants to erase us. This battle is about our survival! “Don’t forget this!”

“ancient!”

* * *

Topkapi Palace.

As street fighting broke out, many nobles took refuge in the palace. Bayezid II opened his mouth with difficulty as he heard gunshots and gunfire coming from outside the bedroom window.

“It’s noisy outside.”

“A street fight broke out.”

“Who and who?’

“The Janissaries and France and Italy.”

“France and Italy? Are they trespassing?”

“…..no. They carry Selim’s banner.”

“Selim…”

Bayezid blurted out his words with a look on his face full of worry. At that time, one of the officials who was outside came in and told Bayezid.

“Here comes a messenger from the self-proclaimed ‘Army of Selim.’ ‘The Janissaries are unfairly interfering with the legitimate competition to decide the next sultan. “The Sultan asked, ‘Please stop the unwarranted interference of the Janissaries.’”

“It’s unfair interference…huh!”

After hearing the minister’s message, Bayezid burst into laughter. Although he was so weak that he was bedridden, his eyes and ears were still alive.

“All three of them are in a situation where Seungnyang, both inside and outside, are joining hands with wolves. What is unfair and what is fair? “Tell them to figure it out on their own.”

“…….I follow your orders.”

After hearing Bayezid’s answer, the minister went outside and Bayezid muttered softly.

“It would be a good time to organize what needs to be organized.”

* * *

Following Bayezid’s decision, the street fighting became more intense. While a fierce battle of forward and retreat was taking place, the same report came from the French and Italian army camps and the Janissary camp.

-Hapsburg army arrives!

-Half a day away!

Upon receiving the report, cheers rose from the Janissary camp, and the expressions of the French and Italian commanders became serious.

“To avoid a pincer attack, we must stop the Habsburgs.”

“I’m going out!”

“I’m going out!”

As soon as the words were out, the two commanders stepped forward. The other French and Italian commanders nodded when they saw the two commanders who had volunteered.

“There is salvation for them.”

One was a commander from a unit that had been fighting the Habsburg army in Lorraine, and the other was a commander of a Venetian regiment. The ‘Second Lorraine Conflict’ ended in an awkward manner, but the damage was enormous compared to the first. Therefore, the resentment of the French army stationed in Lorraine against the Habsburgs was very deep.

Venice?

There was no need to mention Venice at all. Venice was not only betrayed by the Habsburgs in the last war of unification, but was also plundered. Even now, that resentment was strong. To put it mildly, the unit flag of the Venetian regiment had a picture of a double-headed eagle being stabbed with a sword. As the two Habsburg commanders stepped forward, the commander-in-chief nodded slightly.

“I will leave it to you officials. “Don’t betray my trust.”

“I will do my best.”

“Move right away!”

The two commanders who paid the military salute went outside immediately. As time passed, crazy shouts rang out from the direction of the Venetian regiment.