Chapter I - Resurrection of the Phoenix
Basileus Ioannes VIII Palaiologos knew that the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople will come soon. Impossible as it is to defend against the Ottomans, he seek help from all nations possible. Poland, with Lithuania as a junior partner under them in a personal union, was a perfect ally. However, the Polish were not interested in the affairs in the Balkans. With the Byzantines being so weak against the unstoppable Ottomans, Poland decided not to ally Byzantium.
The second most ideal ally is Hungary. They border the Ottomans so they can react quicker, while having a well-known veteran as general who was great at shock tactics during battles. But once again, Hungary had no interest in the Balkans and was busy preparing against their rival and enemy Poland, and therefore refused to provide help for the Byzantines.
The situation became desperate, and Basileus Ioannes VIII asked his advisor for help. After reviewing relations between countries, Venice was the only option left that had the potential to not only save the Empire, but defeat the Ottomans as well. Though their forces were not as numerous nor strong as the Polish and the Hungarians, the naval supremacy they provide meant that the Ottomans can be blockaded at the straight between the Balkans and Anatolia.
Diplomats were quickly sent to improve relationship with Venice, as well as surrounding small nations that would not want to see the Ottomans to seize even more power and eventually turn to them. Unfortunately, the neighbouring Albania, a potential ally, fell shortly to the Ottomans in 1445. Serbia which also bordered the Ottomans rivaled the Byzantines, so there were no hope in allying them too.
With Venice also rivaling the Ottomans, and Wallachaia being threatened to them too, an alliance were quickly established between the two and Byzantium. Such an alliance did not seem strong enough to defeat the Ottomans. A year following the annexation of Albania, the Ottomans declared war on Byzantium, with the conquest of Constantinople as their war goal.
Having anticipated a siege of Constantinople, Basileus Ioannes VIII already transported all his troops to Morea. The Ottomans attacked Constantinople from both the Balkans and Anatolia, and the Byzantines started the siege of Thessaloniki in Macedonia while waiting for reinforcements from Venice and Wallachaia.
Realizing Constantinople was essentially an empty city, the Ottomans quickly marched half of their forces to the Balkan forts to reinforce defence. Having received information from the scouts that the Byzantine-Wallachaian forces at Macedonia were only an army with the size of a half of theirs, the Ottoman Sultan himself, Mehmed II Osmanoglu issued an attack even though they would take a disadvantageous river crossing. To the Ottoman's surprise, the Venetian forces arrived just in time from sea and the combined size of the Byzantine army were just the same as the Ottomans, with 33000 men.
The combined forces were led by the heir to the throne, Konstantinos XI. Though inferior to the Ottoman Sultan in combat tactics, his tactics on battlefield maneuver was crucial. The combined forces took advantage of the river crossing by the Ottomans and narrowly won the bloody battle of Macedonia, resulting in the retreat of the Ottomans to Anatolia.
The siege of Thessaloniki resulted in victory, and the Byzantines went on to siege the Ottoman capital Adrianopolis, or Edirne the Ottomans called. A blockade in the sea of Marmara was set up by Venice in order to prevent Ottoman reinforcements from Anatolia. But because both Andrianoplis and the strait between it and Abydos in Anatolia were still both controlled by the Ottomans, the blockade meant nothing, though it did serve some use as it prevented the Ottomans from crossing the strait between Constantinople and Nikomedeia, and the Ottomans were not willing to take a strait crossing penalty to engage the Byzantines sieging their own capital.
The siege of Adrianopolis ended eventually, but so did the Ottoman siege of Constantinople. Both sides of the war suffered huge amounts of war exhaustion with their capital occupied, but none would peace out without any gains.
The blockade now worked in a reverse way, with the Ottomans controlling the Northern strait to Constantinople, and the Byzantines controlling the strait to Anatolia from Adrianopolis. The Byzantines quickly crossed the strait and advanced to siege Nikomedeia to gain control of both straits. The Ottoman forces in the Balkans moved to siege back their capital, leaving their forces in Anatolia isolated.
The Ottomans engaged the Byzantines sieging Nikomedeia, attempting to stop the siege. With yet another river crossing and engaging into woods, the Ottomans needed reinforcements from the Balkans. However they were too far away. By the time they moved back to Constantinople, the Ottomans in Nikomedeia were already defeated due to unfavourable terrain and retreated to the Balkans. The reinforcing forces did not wish to repeat their mistake to engage the Byzantines in the woods, while taking a strait crossing penalty, and reverted back to sieging their capital.
From there on, it was a siege race. Fortunately, the Byzantines were able to control most of the holdings in Anatolia before the Ottomans complete the siege of their own capital. Though the most ideal would be to reclaim as much land as possible, war exhaustion was already very high in the Empire. It was a clear victory of the Byzantines and a peace treaty was signed between the Ottomans and Byzantium and their allies after four years of war.
The treaty included gold as instant war reparations, as well as the return of Epirus, Thessaly, Kastoria, Macedonia and Andrianople to Byzantium, which were conquered by the Ottomans shortly before the conquest of Constantinople. Further gains were denied by the Ottomans. Unwilling to continue the costly war for less stable non-Greek land, Basileus Ioannes VIII decided to end the war with the mentioned conditions.
The news of the Byzantine victory spread across the whole of Europe. Everyone expected an Ottoman victory. The dying Phoenix withstood the fatal strike from its enemy, and resurrected. No one knows yet the future of the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans still pose as a threat to the survival of the Greeks, but the victory certainly gave them more confidence to restore their former glory.
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