Phew finally done. There will be an epilogue though as in Vol 1.
Three months after Mehmed defeated Bernouville in Albania and the Knights had command over the Balkans. The Ottoman army was reduced to spectating, cut-off from Anatolia and overwhelmed by the Knights. Not long after that battle Bernouville and D’Aubusson marched to Macedonia and laid a siege on Thessaloniki leaving the siege on Larisa to a smaller force. For several months thereafter nothing happened as the two sieges persisted. Finally in October 1468 Thessalia was captured and all the Knights forces converged on Thessaloniki where D’Aubusson was working his magic on the defenders.
In January 1469 Grandmaster Orsini received some strange news arrived from overseas. It seemed as though Lithuania had been defeated in that war against England and the Teutonic Knights. The victory had been so convincing that Lithuania had been forced to join the alliance. This was made possible by the fact that almost immediately after the war the Teutons were annexed by England leaving a vacancy in the alliance. All of this was just politics though as none of the Knights’ allies were involved with the war against the Ottomans and that was the Knights’ premier concern at the moment.
By March the inhabitants of Thessaloniki were ready to capitulate. D’Aubusson accepted their surrender and then gathered his Army of St John and set them off to go visit Mehmed. At the end of the month the army arrived in Albania for one final fight with the Ottomans. Mehmed’s army was pitifully small, Bernouville may have failed to defeat them a few months ago but he hadn’t been far off as only about 2000 men stood against the Knights. It took just one day to demolish Mehmed’s army and those that were left were captured including the Sultan. The Knights were no malicious mob; they presented Mehmed the decency of being shipped back to Ankara for a small ransom.
With the Ottoman armies in Greece now completely defeated it was now just a mopping up job, at least in the eyes of D’Aubusson. Even so the remaining cities of Greece were heavily defended and would take years to capture, years in which revolts could cause havoc across the Knights’ realm and undermine the war. This was Mehmed’s last hope really, combined with his diplomatic supremacy internal unrest in the Knights could allow him an easy peace. That would not be D’Aubusson’s concern though, he was but a Fieldmaster and it was his job to take provinces, the Grandmaster could worry about the politics.
The Grandmaster had lots of time to worry about politics too as it took the Army of St John a full year to take Tirana. Luckily though D’Aubusson had sent Bernouville up to Zeta to lay a concurrent siege and took Cetinje just a month later. That meant that all of the Ottoman territories on the European mainland had been captured. However the Knights were not yet satisfied after all it had entered this war to protect both Greece and Byzantion and Byzantion was still held by the Turks. Furthermore there was one greek province that the Ottomans still held, the tricky province of Naxos. D’Aubusson shipped his Army of St John across the strait to Chalcis where he found a sizeable Turkish army awaiting his arrival. After ten years of warfare the defenders of Naxos had practically built a fortress on their island with thousands of men preventing any incursion. D’Aubusson had no choice but to retreat back to Larissa.
Meanwhile Bernouville had taken his regiment across to Constantinople and laid a siege. However with the massive walls of the city it would be the toughest siege of the entire war to crack. In November 1470 D’Aubusson arrived in Byzantion to take over the siege but even his expertise and the ongoing blockade would not help much against the greatest defences in the world.
In April 1471, as the Constantinople siege lingered on, news arrived at the Grandmaster’s chamber of a declaration of war. Grandmaster Orsini cursed at the news; the last thing the Knights needed at this late stage in the war was a new opponent. Such a development could necessitate an early peace with the Ottomans and see 10 years wasted, luckily though the declaration of war was received from none other than the nation of Scotland. Scotland had recently broken away from Portugal and its new leadership was still clearly confused the state of affairs; Christians nations just don’t ally with Muslim ones let alone those on opposing sides of the continent. The acceptance of the proposal by Mehmed however showed his desperation but Scotland would never be threat to the Knights, not even their possessions in Normandy as Scotland was still amidst a war of independence with Portugal.
A few weeks later and Constantinople fell and was returned to the control of the Byzantine Emperor who had been in exile for a decade. With this victory and the seemingly impenetrable fortress persisting on Naxos, Grandmaster Orsini decided to open negotiations with Mehmed figuring the Ottomans were defeated beyond recovery. Orsini pushed for the liberation of Greece as had been the goal all along. He wanted Thessalia, Epirus and Macedonia but underestimated Mehmed’s tenacity. The great Sultan was as stubborn as a mule and refused to accept Orsini’s proposals citing his impressive forces in Anatolia as a show of his strength, despite their uselessness on the wrong side of the Bosporus. It was clear that D’Aubusson would be called upon once more to tip the balance.
In August 1471 the combined Army of St John led by D’Aubusson and Bernouville landed on Naxos to fight the Turks in final battle of the war. The Turks fought bravely it must be said, they were outnumbered and outled but despite this they managed to kill many more men than they lost. However the Army of St John was over 10,000 strong and defeated the garrison after 6 days. A siege was laid in Chalcis as some final reinforcements were sent over from Italy. The reinforcements were not required for the siege but any show of strength against the Ottomans could help the negotiations, furthermore the troops would be needed to relieve Athens from the rebels.
A year passed and finally Naxos fell, the entirety of the Greek provinces were now reclaimed and once again Grandmaster Orsini could start talking with Mehmed. However the pig-headed man said nothing but oink to Orsini’s proposals. Rebels had just risen up in faraway Normandy and the patience of the Empire was beginning to wear thin with the stalling negotiations. Orsini sent emissaries every two months for the next year to Mehmed but each time they returned with bad news. Meanwhile D’Aubusson had finally defeated the remnant rebels in Athens and had gathered his men in Byzantion for an excursion across the Bosporus. His initial crossing was uneventful and he was able to lay a siege on Bursa in January 1472. However Mehmed’s forces in Anatolia easily outnumbered the Army of St John and Mehmed was back in command of the army that headed towards Bursa. By March D’Aubusson’s ambitious excursion had failed and he was pushed back across the sea. Further plans to invade Anatolia were abandoned as repeated defeats would help out Mehmed’s negotiating position.
There was nothing more that D’Aubusson could do so he was sent on rebel patrols across Greece whilst Orsini increased the pressure on Mehmed sending emissaries every month now in an attempt to intermidate Mehmed’s advisors into cracking him. It was working, stability in the Ottoman Empire crumbled throughout 1473 as Mehmed’s refusal to sign a peace was destroying his previously glorious reputation. Even so, revolts or no revolts Mehmed’s mind would not be changed, nothing could be done to make him cede Thessalia, Epirus and Macedonia. Orsini finally cracked after three years of failed negotiations, instead of Macedonia he offered Naxos and Cephalonia. On 14 January 1474, after 13 years of brutal war, the Turks agreed to a peace deal with the Knights which would see the latter gain Thessalia, Epirus, Cephalonia and Naxos. In a way this was a victory for the Turks, despite it all Mehmed would get his way, the last laugh was with the Turks.
Chapter IV: A matter of time
Three months after Mehmed defeated Bernouville in Albania and the Knights had command over the Balkans. The Ottoman army was reduced to spectating, cut-off from Anatolia and overwhelmed by the Knights. Not long after that battle Bernouville and D’Aubusson marched to Macedonia and laid a siege on Thessaloniki leaving the siege on Larisa to a smaller force. For several months thereafter nothing happened as the two sieges persisted. Finally in October 1468 Thessalia was captured and all the Knights forces converged on Thessaloniki where D’Aubusson was working his magic on the defenders.
In January 1469 Grandmaster Orsini received some strange news arrived from overseas. It seemed as though Lithuania had been defeated in that war against England and the Teutonic Knights. The victory had been so convincing that Lithuania had been forced to join the alliance. This was made possible by the fact that almost immediately after the war the Teutons were annexed by England leaving a vacancy in the alliance. All of this was just politics though as none of the Knights’ allies were involved with the war against the Ottomans and that was the Knights’ premier concern at the moment.
By March the inhabitants of Thessaloniki were ready to capitulate. D’Aubusson accepted their surrender and then gathered his Army of St John and set them off to go visit Mehmed. At the end of the month the army arrived in Albania for one final fight with the Ottomans. Mehmed’s army was pitifully small, Bernouville may have failed to defeat them a few months ago but he hadn’t been far off as only about 2000 men stood against the Knights. It took just one day to demolish Mehmed’s army and those that were left were captured including the Sultan. The Knights were no malicious mob; they presented Mehmed the decency of being shipped back to Ankara for a small ransom.
With the Ottoman armies in Greece now completely defeated it was now just a mopping up job, at least in the eyes of D’Aubusson. Even so the remaining cities of Greece were heavily defended and would take years to capture, years in which revolts could cause havoc across the Knights’ realm and undermine the war. This was Mehmed’s last hope really, combined with his diplomatic supremacy internal unrest in the Knights could allow him an easy peace. That would not be D’Aubusson’s concern though, he was but a Fieldmaster and it was his job to take provinces, the Grandmaster could worry about the politics.
The Grandmaster had lots of time to worry about politics too as it took the Army of St John a full year to take Tirana. Luckily though D’Aubusson had sent Bernouville up to Zeta to lay a concurrent siege and took Cetinje just a month later. That meant that all of the Ottoman territories on the European mainland had been captured. However the Knights were not yet satisfied after all it had entered this war to protect both Greece and Byzantion and Byzantion was still held by the Turks. Furthermore there was one greek province that the Ottomans still held, the tricky province of Naxos. D’Aubusson shipped his Army of St John across the strait to Chalcis where he found a sizeable Turkish army awaiting his arrival. After ten years of warfare the defenders of Naxos had practically built a fortress on their island with thousands of men preventing any incursion. D’Aubusson had no choice but to retreat back to Larissa.
Meanwhile Bernouville had taken his regiment across to Constantinople and laid a siege. However with the massive walls of the city it would be the toughest siege of the entire war to crack. In November 1470 D’Aubusson arrived in Byzantion to take over the siege but even his expertise and the ongoing blockade would not help much against the greatest defences in the world.
In April 1471, as the Constantinople siege lingered on, news arrived at the Grandmaster’s chamber of a declaration of war. Grandmaster Orsini cursed at the news; the last thing the Knights needed at this late stage in the war was a new opponent. Such a development could necessitate an early peace with the Ottomans and see 10 years wasted, luckily though the declaration of war was received from none other than the nation of Scotland. Scotland had recently broken away from Portugal and its new leadership was still clearly confused the state of affairs; Christians nations just don’t ally with Muslim ones let alone those on opposing sides of the continent. The acceptance of the proposal by Mehmed however showed his desperation but Scotland would never be threat to the Knights, not even their possessions in Normandy as Scotland was still amidst a war of independence with Portugal.
A few weeks later and Constantinople fell and was returned to the control of the Byzantine Emperor who had been in exile for a decade. With this victory and the seemingly impenetrable fortress persisting on Naxos, Grandmaster Orsini decided to open negotiations with Mehmed figuring the Ottomans were defeated beyond recovery. Orsini pushed for the liberation of Greece as had been the goal all along. He wanted Thessalia, Epirus and Macedonia but underestimated Mehmed’s tenacity. The great Sultan was as stubborn as a mule and refused to accept Orsini’s proposals citing his impressive forces in Anatolia as a show of his strength, despite their uselessness on the wrong side of the Bosporus. It was clear that D’Aubusson would be called upon once more to tip the balance.
In August 1471 the combined Army of St John led by D’Aubusson and Bernouville landed on Naxos to fight the Turks in final battle of the war. The Turks fought bravely it must be said, they were outnumbered and outled but despite this they managed to kill many more men than they lost. However the Army of St John was over 10,000 strong and defeated the garrison after 6 days. A siege was laid in Chalcis as some final reinforcements were sent over from Italy. The reinforcements were not required for the siege but any show of strength against the Ottomans could help the negotiations, furthermore the troops would be needed to relieve Athens from the rebels.
A year passed and finally Naxos fell, the entirety of the Greek provinces were now reclaimed and once again Grandmaster Orsini could start talking with Mehmed. However the pig-headed man said nothing but oink to Orsini’s proposals. Rebels had just risen up in faraway Normandy and the patience of the Empire was beginning to wear thin with the stalling negotiations. Orsini sent emissaries every two months for the next year to Mehmed but each time they returned with bad news. Meanwhile D’Aubusson had finally defeated the remnant rebels in Athens and had gathered his men in Byzantion for an excursion across the Bosporus. His initial crossing was uneventful and he was able to lay a siege on Bursa in January 1472. However Mehmed’s forces in Anatolia easily outnumbered the Army of St John and Mehmed was back in command of the army that headed towards Bursa. By March D’Aubusson’s ambitious excursion had failed and he was pushed back across the sea. Further plans to invade Anatolia were abandoned as repeated defeats would help out Mehmed’s negotiating position.
There was nothing more that D’Aubusson could do so he was sent on rebel patrols across Greece whilst Orsini increased the pressure on Mehmed sending emissaries every month now in an attempt to intermidate Mehmed’s advisors into cracking him. It was working, stability in the Ottoman Empire crumbled throughout 1473 as Mehmed’s refusal to sign a peace was destroying his previously glorious reputation. Even so, revolts or no revolts Mehmed’s mind would not be changed, nothing could be done to make him cede Thessalia, Epirus and Macedonia. Orsini finally cracked after three years of failed negotiations, instead of Macedonia he offered Naxos and Cephalonia. On 14 January 1474, after 13 years of brutal war, the Turks agreed to a peace deal with the Knights which would see the latter gain Thessalia, Epirus, Cephalonia and Naxos. In a way this was a victory for the Turks, despite it all Mehmed would get his way, the last laugh was with the Turks.
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