The Clash at Bosporus

"Useless, all of you are useless!"

"I entrusted three thousand elite soldiers to the Governor of Mohai to defend Mohai, and this is how he repays me?"

Upon hearing the messenger's report, Mumoona became furious, sweeping all the exquisite porcelain and precious antiques on her desk to the ground.

"And Dilibeir is just as useless!"

"I praised her bravery and promoted her to Pasha, and this is the honor she brings?"

"She died without any glory."

"Such a disappointment! Send word to have her entire family arrested and executed!"

After issuing the ruthless order, Mumoona questioned the messenger for details.

Then, she exploded in rage once more.

"Three thousand!? How did they capture Sochiya with three thousand men?"

"Even if the defenders were monkeys, it's impossible to capture a fortified city in just one day with three thousand men!"

"Are there Khitan soldiers?"

"Are Khitan soldiers so formidable?"

Despite the rumors of Khitan prowess, Mumoona remained skeptical. After all, in her experience, no one could be that invincible.

It was clear to Mumoona that Dilibeir was overrated, the Governor of Mohai was incompetent, and the garrison at Sochiya had neglected their duty.

But now, a live breach had opened in the besieging forces of Mumoona, potentially changing the course of the siege of Constantinople.

As Mumoona pondered how to punish those who had returned from Sochiya, she heard a commotion outside her tent, growing louder and louder, unstoppable.

Under the gaze of her entourage, she stepped out of the tent to see what was causing the commotion.

And then, she saw it: several warships flying banners with a black cross on a white background appeared on the sea.

[Master, there's movement in the main plot.]

System 12345 eagerly reported to Shu Yichao as it struggled to repair itself.

[Your impression of Mumoona has become ambiguous.]

[This means you've truly immersed yourself in her perspective.]

[A good sign.]

[Do your best, Master. I wish you swift success in conquering this dangerous beauty.]

The sea sparkled, the wind blew, Shu Yichao stood on the bow of the ship, wielding his curved sword, holding his bow and arrow, and gazing at the distant, majestic city, though worn and battered.

"Ha-ha-ha!"

"Constantinople, I'm here!"

"I have to say, this modeling is impressive."

"It looks just like the real thing."

"Too bad the flag isn't quite right." Shu Yichao turned back to look at the flag flying on the warship, a black cross on a white background, murmuring to himself.

Originally, according to Shu Yichao's own thoughts, the troops under his command were all from the grassland.

According to immersion, the flag should either be from the Liao Dynasty, the Jin Dynasty, or the Mongol flag - but the problem was, he had no idea what any of these flags looked like.

Later, he thought about flying the Roman flag, but after struggling to describe it for half a day, the tailor had no idea what he was talking about.

In the end, he had to settle for the cross flag, hoping it would at least let the people of Constantinople know that reinforcements had arrived.

"The Esmans' warships are coming!"

A cry of alarm reached Shu Yichao's ears, and he turned to see Lady Mati pale-faced, her trembling finger pointing shakily towards the distance.

To enter Constantinople, they had to pass through the narrow Bosporus and enter the Golden Horn Bay.

Yet, at this moment, the narrow Bosporus was unexpectedly crowded with at least hundreds of warships.

Compared to the massive Esmans' navy, the four warships and four supply ships Shu Yichao and the others were on seemed like ants before an elephant.

Wasn't the Esmans' navy supposed to be weak?

What was the deal with this massive fleet?

Lady Mati silently lamented.

"Khitan Batu," Lady Mati spoke rapidly. "We must retreat immediately and find another way to enter Constantinople."

"Hurry!"

"We'll be too late if we don't run now!"

Then she saw Shu Yichao smile, nod, and immediately wield his elite curved sword.

"Brothers, attack!"

"What!?"

"Where did they come from?" Mumoona, observing from a high vantage point, furrowed her beautiful brows.

"Could they be here to rescue Constantinople?"

"Send a message to Pasha Bartolou." She waved her hand as if ordering someone to crush an ant.

"Have him sink these ships."

"And then cut off the heads of all the passengers and pile them in front of Constantinople."

"Pasha!" a green-faced Esmans' officer, stepping unsteadily and clutching the ship's railing, shouted to Bartolou, the commander of the Esmans' navy, while vomiting.

"The Sultan has ordered you to annihilate that small fleet immediately. Not a single person is to be spared."

Bartolou's face turned even greener than the officer's.

Supreme Sultan, do you have so much confidence in our navy?

But don't you know what our navy looks like?

The Esmans are fierce cavalry, but once they hit the sea...

Not to mention that this massive navy of over twenty thousand was hastily assembled over half a year just to besiege Constantinople.

The warships were hastily built, old, operated clumsily, slow, and some ships even fell apart on their own.

And because most Esmans' soldiers couldn't swim, the crew was filled with slaves of various ethnicities, bankrupt citizens, and captured laborers, and people drowned every day.

As for collisions, grounding, stranding, leaking, and catching fire, they were all too common.

This kind of navy could bully the enemy with its numerical advantage in the narrow straits, but if the enemy wanted to escape, how could they catch up?

However, Bartolou soon found he didn't need to worry about this problem.

Because he was astonished to find that the enemy wasn't running away at all, but instead, they were hoisting sails and rushing towards them!

"Ready——"

With his flagship, Shu Yichao charged fiercely towards the nearest Esmans' warship.

At his command, all the steppe archers on the ship simultaneously drew their bows and fired arrows.

"Release!"

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!"

A wave of darkness swept over, bringing greetings from the Grim Reaper.

The arrow rain from Shu Yichao's side was precise and ruthless. In just an instant, dozens of vibrant blood flowers blossomed on the Esmans' warship!

Watching the warriors on the ship fall in large numbers, even the rowing slaves with shackles wondered if they were dreaming.

"Fire arrows, retaliate!" The commander of the Esmans' warship tried to command his troops to fight back.

However, how could the soldiers on his ship, who were seasick and staggering, compete with the terrifying warriors summoned by Shu Yichao?

The sparse arrows didn't even hit the ship, let alone the people.

"Reload!"

Shu Yichao watched as quite a few arrows from his side fell into the water, and his eyelids twitched violently.

Damn it, bunch of useless bums!

Even after leveling up, their archery skills are still so poor.

It's better to solve this with close combat.

The Esmans' navy may be non-swimmer, but Shu Yichao's side is not much better. They don't know anything about ramming, or cutting oars, not a thing.

But it doesn't matter. I'm here to revive Rome, using Roman tactics is completely fine.

So, the Esmans' sailors, who were beaten to a pulp, found that after the opposing flagship approached, a long plank with a hook was extended from the deck and clicked onto their own warship.

Immediately after, a young man clad in chainmail and wielding a curved sword swept over like a whirlwind, killing from the bow to the stern in one breath.

In just a few minutes, there wasn't a single living person left on the ship.

"Damn, there are actually several sets of iron armor."

"We're gonna be rich!"

"Hey, you there, come and switch with me!"

Shu Yichao shouted excitedly.

"Clean up the battlefield, onto the next one!"

"Huh?" It wasn't until Shu Yichao returned to the ship that Lady Mati stared wide-eyed and let out a gasp.