Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks

Chapter 881 - 105: The Siege of Constantinople

Constantinople, Galata City on the opposite shore.

"Constantinople... it has truly been long since I parted from you. What a pity that this time, I return not as a mere hostage, but as the Conqueror of this city."

During Emperor Manuel’s reign, Bella III spent nearly ten years in the Imperial court; from fifteen to twenty-four, his entire youth was profoundly shaped by Imperial culture.

He had even joined the Imperial army and once marched to war against Hungary.

Later, when Emperor Manuel passed away and Emperor Alexios ascended the throne, he seized the chance to break free of the Empire’s control.

He said to the Venetian captain at his side, "I actually have a Greek name as well—Alexios. I’ve no intention of coveting the Empire’s diadem, but once the city falls, the widow of Alexios, that Pearl of the Empire, must be handed over to my disposal."

It was not that Bella III did not wish to be Emperor of the Empire; he simply lacked a legitimate claim. In his youth he had been betrothed to a princess of the Komnenos Family—had the marriage been concluded and the princess still lived, there would still be some room to maneuver.

This time, the Crusaders’ reputation was already foul enough, but at least there was an Anglos prince to serve as a fig leaf.

Lawful right is something unseen, untouchable, yet it is the very foundation upon which every Monarch stands. As King of Hungary and Croatia, if Bella III truly overreached himself this way, he would be digging his own grave.

The Venetian captain frowned. "The Church is unlikely to grant your wish."

"Indeed, the Church is forever getting in the way. Take our new His Holiness the Pope, for instance—just to force us to halt our advance, he even threatens us with an Excommunication Decree. He’d do better to think first on how to deal with those Germanic troops who have already seized Naples just a stone’s throw from him."

Bella III sneered.

Emperor Henry of the Hohenstaufen Family had first overawed the Lombard League backed by His Holiness the Pope, then reached an accord with the Imperial Greeks to seize Naples, Benevento, and other lands. At present the territories of Great Germania had already encircled the Pope State on all sides.

Emperor Henry was also building Wizard Towers throughout his dominions and training Casters; his prestige soared. If the Pope wished to reenact another "Walk to Canossa", he would first have to consider whether he wished also to reenact the fate of Pope Gregory, whose Pope City was stormed and who died in exile on the road.

The Venetian captain gave a cold smile. "Yes, he has done everything to stop us, and yet here we stand."

Standing opposite these towering walls that ran from the Marmara Sea to Golden Horn Bay.

For countless years they had repelled innumerable would‑be conquerors of this city—Huns, Avars, Saracens... all had looked upon these impregnable walls and despaired.

But that did not include them, the Venetians, for they possessed the mightiest naval Power in the Mediterranean World of this age!

Bella III’s face was full of mockery. "For all we know, His Holiness the Pope is watching as well: if we fail, we are the sinners who rekindled the schism between East and West; if we succeed, we become the meritorious servants who helped him mend that rift."

The Venetian captain slowly shook his head. "The Empire’s main forces are trapped in Sicily, and Constantinople holds only a pair of helpless women. With such a splendid opportunity, how could we possibly fail?"

The Venetians were Catholics as well, yet as merchants their attitude toward faith and dogma had always been the same: what benefited them they followed, what harmed them they honored in name and violated in deed. It was far from the first time they had ignored papal commands.

Suddenly a sailor came striding quickly across the deck and whispered in the captain’s ear for a while.

The Venetian captain’s expression changed at once.

"What has happened?"

The Venetian captain drew a deep breath and only after a long moment said, "That widowed usurper on the throne has found herself a mighty ally."

"A mighty ally?"

Bella III gave a cold laugh. "Alslan of the Turkic tribes? He at least counts as a respectable ally. As for the Pechenegs, the Kuman people, the Khazars—those are nothing but savages, uncivilized brutes who eat raw flesh and drink blood and possess hardly a single suit of mail among them."

"Not Alslan."

The Venetian captain gave a wry smile. "You should know who, in recent times, has held the most resounding fame throughout the Mediterranean World."

"Losa? He is not busy conquering Egypt, that he would come to aid the heretical Greeks?"

Bella III knit his brows, a trace of viciousness rising on his timeworn face. "That man insulted my envoy, acted in reckless defiance, usurped the throne of Egypt, and now he comes to cross me again?"

If not for Losa, he should by now have led the Crusaders all the way to the Holy Land, winning fame and wealth that were almost within arm’s reach.

He pondered a moment, then said, "Captain Dandolo, the Egyptian usurper has only just defeated the Saracens, and his army’s prestige is at its height. Yet his navy is scant. Your country has ears and eyes all across the Mediterranean; if you could intercept the Egyptian usurper’s Fleet and send it to the bottom of the sea, then later you could put the blame on pirates and Sea Beasts—would that not spare us many troubles?"

"Your Majesty’s words have their reason. But as everyone knows, King Losa keeps a fully grown Demon Dragon of more than fifty meters in length. In the past, Isaac, the usurper of Cyprus, with only a twenty‑meter Black Dragon at his command, was able to destroy the Empire’s Aegean Sea Fleet. How many ships could we trade away against the Egyptian usurper?"

Captain Dandolo said softly, "Your Majesty, no matter how many ships we have, we cannot squander them so. Otherwise the Pisans and the Genoese will never sit idle while we rebuild our vessels and augment our naval Power; they will throttle us to death in the Adriatic Sea."

He paused briefly, then added, "This time our Saint Mark’s Country has agreed to provide ships for your army only on a hired basis, and to oversee the flow of the monies we have lent your forces. The Governor will not consent to provoking this Egyptian usurper."

This was not mere empty talk. Beyond blockading Golden Horn Bay, the Marmara Sea, and Sicily Island, the Venetians’ designs for this war went no further than taking possession of a few districts and lands after the battle, in order to offset the military funds loaned to the Crusaders.

Bella III’s face darkened somewhat. After a long time, he finally gave a cold snort. "Then I must ask you, Captain, to keep your eyes open and see for yourself whether it is my Iron Cavalry of Hungary and Gaul that proves superior, or that upstart overseas Monarch of his."

...

Inside Brahna Palace.

Ragaya closed her eyes in some exhaustion.

Constantinople’s sea routes had been blockaded; many supplies could no longer get through. The price of grain in the city had already tripled over these last few days, and was still rising.

These days she could clearly sense the soldiers’ morale in the city plummeting rapidly.

She could not, like those male emperors, Encourage the soldiers’ spirits, affectionately calling them her "sons", patting each man on the shoulder and telling them that the Emperor stood with them.

"Anna, can that Frankish King truly be trusted?"