In this way, the first attack of the Norman Empire ended in failure. The Thracians who escaped were dejected and demoralized, which made other Norman soldiers also become a little depressed. The emperor tried to cheer up the soldiers. But the effect is not very good.
"Such a high-spirited and well-defended city with enough defenders and supplies. How can we break it? Our largest-caliber artillery can only shake off a little dust when hit on it. And our army wants to pass, They have to withstand their crossfire attacks. They are the same as our empire. They have well-made catapults and ballistae. In addition, they also have Greek fire throwers, such terrifying weapons. Maybe only God has a way. Capture this city.”±
At that time, after hearing the whole process of this incident. There were bards on the Greek Peninsula who wrote such lyrics in the tone of Norman soldiers. And it spread that the people were subject to the Norman army and strict military control system. The Greeks, who felt very bad, were seeing the news again. They whispered and calculated when the Normans would fail. Just like other barbarians who tried to capture Constantinople, they were beaten and bloody in front of the strong wall.
Even if the outer wall of Theodosius Wall can be defeated, there is still an inner wall to attack. Even if the inner wall is knocked down again. Then the Greeks still had the Wall of Constantine to defend. They will rely on the city walls to continuously reduce the morale, offensive will and strength of the Normans. And when the Normans were weakened to the point of being vulnerable, they were easily defeated.
In this case, attack from the front, from the land direction on the west side. I'm afraid it's not a good idea. The Man's artillery technology is not enough to cast huge artillery such as the Urban Cannon.
In fact, even if such a huge cannon is cast, it may not be able to blast open Constantine's fortress - this is not the dilapidated city wall that has few soldiers and gaps everywhere during the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire hundreds of years later. It is a complete and complete Constantine city defense system.
”°And even back then, the giant cannon had to bombard it for several months before it blasted a small gap in the outer walland after that, the giant cannon was too big to be used. Constantine's defenders could naturally retreat to the inner wall behind and the Constantine Wall to continue their defense. Therefore, after careful calculation, the legendary Urban cannon, which was touted as being magical, actually did not play a big role in the battle of the fall of Constantinople.
"In this way" the advantage of the Man army in equipment was offset by the enemy's solid defense. And the technological advantages of the Normans. It was not enough to destroy such a heavy city defense in Constantinople. If we attack forcefully from the front, I'm afraid
Even if the Normans had another hundred thousand troops. You may not be able to get a bargain either. What's more, Emperor Man didn't want to engage in such a desperate war of attrition and such a loss-making business.
When the Thracian army retreated back. Egil didn't feel angry or annoyed. Instead, the corners of his mouth turned up, revealing a smile. After seeing the defensive strength of the Greeks' frontal city defense, the emperor already knew. A frontal attack with his strength is an almost impossible task. If he really did that, the final result would indeed be like the other barbarians who attacked Constantinople and returned defeated
But the Norman emperor was not a stupid, brainless barbarian”żOn the contrary, the Norman emperor was very smart.
The defenses on the west side of Constantinople were too tight. Then look for a breakthrough from another direction - although the east side is wider. But the defenses there were equally strong. Not easy to break through. Opposite the south side is the sea, rocky beaches and cliffs. Unable to complete the login mission - that is.
"So every time, every time, every time it's like this. In the original history, Constantinople fell twice. Once to Venice, and once to Ottoman Turkey. It is indeed the same tactics"
After thinking about it for a while, the Norman Emperor made up his mind - the Golden Horn. The dock area of ??Constantinople. The city wall is low and also serves as a natural harbor. After the dock is cleared, it can accommodate tens of thousands of troops! No wonder Constantinople fell twice that year. Both Old Dandolo and the Conqueror Mehmed II ultimately regarded this place as the place to decide victory or defeat.
"I have a sufficient navy. In fact, it can be said that ”Ž's navy is the strongest in the world. It is not too difficult to defeat Constantinople with my navy." At that time, Egil said Say to yourself. He maintained his usual confidence. And ordered the artillery troops to continue bombarding for a while. After demoralizing the defenders of Constantinople. Then he went back to his camp to rest.
Next stepIn the past few days, the Mann army was loose on the outside and tight on the inside. On the surface, they still maintain fire cover and attack by forcibly attacking the walls of Theodosius. And behind the scenes. But they began to concentrate their efforts on bypassing the city defenses of Constantinople and attacking the Golden Horn to gain an advantage.
The Norman emperor organized a total of 40,000 troops. The long-range cover force includes 10,000 longbowmen, repeating crossbowmen, heavy crossbowmen and engineers operating artillery. A total of 25,000 elite Norman infantry wearing plate armor and holding battle axes, and 5,000 Norsemen. Mann assault infantry. The emperor asked the Black Sea Fleet to transport these troops. And use hundreds of large and small naval guns in the fleet as covering firepower to assist the army in attacking. As long as the army can be transported into the Golden Horn. It is victory.
Under EgilӮs budget. The attack on the Golden Horn will be extremely successful. Immediately afterwards, the Norman army that occupied a wall of Constantine will swarm in. Or the opponent will persist for a while longer. Or their own army will engage in street fighting with the Greek army in Constantinople, until the other side will still have remaining troops standing on several towers of the Theodosius wall. But this cannot change the overall situation at all. The final result of this battle will be a complete victory of the Norman army. The empire would become the first and most glorious conqueror in thousands of years to conquer the everlasting capital, Constantinople.
The empire of the Greeks will completely collapse. The great Roman Empire existed before the Christian era. will be completely lost in the dust of history. When replaced by the Normans, Egil will also get the best reward for him, the charming Eastern Roman empress Liliannu.
However, soon. A piece of news interrupted the Norman Emperor's delusions - the latest report from the Norman spies. The defenders of Constantinople seemed to be aware of the abnormal movements of the Norman army. It seems that he believed that his fleet could not defend the Golden Horn north of Constantine. So they made such a decision to strengthen their defense - dozens of huge and heavy iron chains blocked the entire entrance to the Golden Horn. When the other party also dispatched three heavy infantry in the direction of the Golden Horn Brigade, nearly 5,000 professional troops garrisoned. to increase strength in that direction.
The Norman Emperor's strategy was suppressed before it was achieved, which made Egil feel a little angry. After that, under the anger of the Norman Emperor, the Norman army forcibly attacked the city of Theodosius and attacked for three consecutive days. ”µEmperor Man divided his army into more than a dozen waves and launched attacks day and night without interruption. The Greek army was overwhelmed.
In this way, the two sides carried out high-intensity combat for three consecutive days. More than a million rounds of bows, arrows, crossbow bolts, javelins and buckshot were fired at each other. More than 10,000 stones, crossbows and cannonballs were thrown at each other. The battlements of the Theodosian wall were almost completely destroyed. Several towers were also bombed out of use. A large number of bow strings were broken, catapults and ballistae were damaged, and it was not uncommon for artillery to explode. The Man army consumed a large amount of supplies and lost nearly 3,000 of the most elite professional troops, as well as nearly 10,000 Thrace. , Balkan and Hungarian servant armies. However, the defenses of Theodosius' walls were still unable to be breached.
After this, the Norman army changed its tactics. No more troops were sent to attack. Instead, under Theodosius, a mountain of earth was piled in front of the moat. and build wooden fences and earth walls. It seems that this method was used to counter the city defense of the Eastern Roman army. After the earth mountain was built, the artillery troops were moved to it. Directly bombarded the buildings in Constantinople.
This move made the Greek defenders slightly panicked. But they thought about it a little more - the Norman army's engineering capabilities were not bad. But it was necessary to build a mountain position nearly twenty meters high, strong enough, and able to accommodate hundreds of artillery pieces. I'm afraid it will take a while. And even if the stacking is completed. Then the Eastern Roman army was not necessarily afraid.
Recently, the Greeks have not been idle either. They re-fortified the various military caves under the walls of Theodosius. To deal with the curved trajectory of the projectiles fired by the Norman mortars. After using up a lot of stone and wood. The Greeks were convinced that such defenses were enough to withstand the Norman bombardment - so they only needed to hide in the caves when the opponent was bombarded. Just wait until the Normans charge and then go up to the city wall to defend. If that doesn't work, you can also retreat to the Theodosine wall. It's totally unnecessary.
After this idea spread, the Greek defenders relaxed a little, and the continuous high-intensity fighting made them tired. Continuous victories made them proud, looking down on their opponents and watching the mountains on the opposite side grow taller and taller. But it doesn't feel like much. Shooting each other with slings and ballistae every day has become a routine
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