1453: Revival of Byzantium

Chapter 378: Constantine's Fancy Dressing

Constantine came here for a fight, but it seems like the defenders of this outpost is not going to give him any chances in fulfilling his wishes. Upon observing the flag of this Rumelian army coming after their fortress, it did not take long for the commanding officer to realise that most likely they shall not have any more backup helping them, summoned his men to announce his decision. Being united as one they acted together, hiding all the expensive stuff in to some where within an incredibly short time, and then scrambling off together donned in civilian clothes. 

They left nothing behind except for a outpost with nothing inside, an ignorant local population which is trying to convince their new sovereigns to rule in a similar way like how the Ottomans did it last time, and most importantly the Romans, specifically Mauro and Constantine, now entered a state of self questioning because they are not sure whether the retreat of the Ottoman forces in this outpost is a decision made by the Sultan's government, or is it merely a decision by only the Ottoman commanders in this outpost. 

The situation makes it hard for Constantine not to divert his thoughts towards the first guess. If there are no initial preparations and decisions being given, how is it possible for the Ottomans to retreat so fast and so perfectly, leaving nothing important behind for the Romans? With this idea there comes the second question, what are the Ottomans planning? Withdrawing all their forces along the way avoiding all fight with the Romans. 

According to Mauro, the Ottomans might be gathering their forces and using their familiarity in this place, engage the Roman forces in an ambush. However, this guess is not realistic too because of the flat agricultural terrains of Thrace. The land here is so flat, that if one goes on to a high land near by he can see things moving in a distance of up to one Roman mile away, no exaggeration. How can some one hides their thousands of troops and set up an ambush in a terrain like this? Or do they ambush in the snow? But let's not talk about the fact that ambushing in the snow is completely impossible, there is absolutely no snow in Thrace for them to hide. 

Thus after settling these annoying local inhabitants, Constantine discussed for a long time with his officers and decided to take a even more defensive approach towards their following advancement towards inner Ottoman territories, like placing twice as much scouts, marching in a constant battle ready formation with each battle compartment staying in a distance from each other, ensuring that they can support one another as fast as possible when engaged by enemies, or choose to flank and surround the engaging enemy like a snake. 

However, it seems like Mauro had a different idea from the emperor. Always being a military leader with an adventurous set of personality, he argued against the emperor's ideas, accusing him of being overly cautious which would let the entire army lose many valuable chance that can never be recovered again. Mauro insisted that the entire army ought to march in a zig zag motion in two lines, which enables the fastest speed possible while maintaining some level of reactiveness towards sudden enemy appearance. Constantine bluffed at Mauro's idea, saying that if the Ottoman cavalry comes for them and cuts them in to several segments, they are as good as dead.

"Lord Mauro, if our army is cut in to several segments by the blades of Ottoman cavalries in to several portions, do you think that we can still regroup and win the battle? Let me repeat again, marching in straight lines can only bring total devastation to our army!" That is the original words used by the emperor to retort on Mauro's bold plans.

"Aye." Mauro showed no respect towards the title of his sovereign, staring back and yelled. "I can go out to catch an earth worm now, cut it in to several pieces and let you see if it still lives!" 

The confrontation between Constantine and Mauro continued as they each listed their views and evidence, insisting that their opinion is the best, when another Roman commander interrupted and coughed. "Ahem, Lord Mauro, there are certainly no earth worms in this season" 

""

The argument came to a stall, with both the commanding officer Mauro and the overall in charge emperor Constantine unable to convince each other, they had to follow the fair old Roman traditions of calling for a vote. The result is pretty obvious to people, as Mauro, unlike Giovanni, does not have that prestige and influence in the force to make up decision and execute it from his own desk. Mauro's power only came from Constantine, who is the legitimate leader and respected the appointment made by Giovanni before he left, thus during the vote it is no surprise that most junior and senior commanders voted in the favour of the emperor, sacrificing speed for safety. 

The entire commotion is over, nevertheless from this point onwards a split has developed between Mauro and Constantine. Unlike the time working with Giovanni, the emperor increasingly tried to reach his hands in to the military slotting in his own men just because of the instinct as a Roman emperor, always trying to expand influence in the army. This of course crossed with the interest of Mauro when he suddenly found three resignation letters from three junior commanders who are hand picked by him back in Constantinople. 

This should not have happened during a war, obviously. But unlike Giovanni who likes to keep things swept under the carpet and negotiate all the conflicts within themselves in a hidden room, Mauro apparently is not that kind of chill lad, and he straight away brought up this issue to both Giovanni and Constantine, making it transparent to almost every one in the army causing a great embarrassment for Constantine, forcing him to remove his appointment of the three new junior officers if he do not want to bare the name of spoiling the internal unity of Rome during war times.

It is under this kind of situation that Giovanni, all the way in Constantinople, instructed Therma to compose a letter and send it to the two men, asking them to stop advancing immediately, because they are never going to make it to Edirne before the two commanders gets a split deep enough causing them to divide the army in to two portions and might potentially lose this battle. He described this army as 'a man with his left head and right head with different mind, the left head orders the man to punch, but the right head orders the man to kick, the only outcome would be the man falling down and making him a joke and vulnerable target for his enemies. 

Constantine complied with this letter, not because he is peace loving, but because he knows that this is his army, his war, this army is every thing he got, and he cannot risk losing it to the unknown danger ahead. Mauro too got another personnel letter from Giovanni reprimanding him for the harsh tone, and he too backed down following the instructions, though he still wrote a reply letter to Giovanni stating his grieve working alongside Constantine, complaining to Giovanni all the suffering he has been going through for the past week since he is gone. 

However, what turned out to be surprising is that after they have settled down in an encampment beside the surrounding woods and streams, Constantine and Mauro got an unexpected visitor right outside their camp, escorted by the patrolling guards, who claims to be an ambassador from the internal powers of the Ottoman court who are against the Sultan, here to seek corporation with the Rumelians in making the young Sultan abdicate. 

Feeling both suspicious and doubtful, Constantine met the ambassador in his own tent, with Mauro sitting beneath him, and the ambassador standing before the two of them. It has been a while since Constantine last met a formal ambassador from the Ottoman Sultan, thus he had to dig up his luggage and don himself in the same old ceremonial suit he worn seven years ago when he first met Giovanni and Antonius, a violet quasi ecclesiastical garment and a simplified version of the diadem, and in his hands the sceptre of the double headed eagle, behind his seat hangs the flag of the Ecumenical Patriarch and the cross of Chi Rho. 

This is not a fancy show, but a form of asserting dominance to the ambassador in the wish of getting more benefits in the negotiation later on. But apparently Mauro did not have the same mind as the emperor, he came in a simple garment and trousers with a pair of simple leather boots, look at him, he even got a straw hat! This dressing made him look more like a farmer, forming a severe contrast with the properly dressed emperor. 

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