Five Hundred Miles Away

Meanwhile, in a distance around five hundred Roman miles away, a confrontation that is deemed to be remembered in this crusade as the signature battle is still ongoing at Belogradchik, Vidin, between the faction of the Crusaders led by the king regent of Hungary John Hunyadi, and the despot of Serbia, Durad Branković confronting the most notable general of the Ottomans, Zaganos Pasha.

The fortress marks such a significant geographical importance that is built right on the place where if anyone would want to solidify their sphere of control in the North Western part of Bulgaria and go in deeper in the mountain ranges, they have to capture this fort, and like wise for the Ottomans, if they do not want to lose one quarter of Bulgaria, they would have to defend this place.

Zaganos Pasha stands on the watch tower of the Belogradchik fortress which gives him a clear view of the camps of the Hungarian and the Serbian crusaders.

He has not yet completely recovered from the defeat back under the Theodosian walls of Constantinople, there is a voice inside his mind that keeps telling him that those results are not supposed to have happened, there is something not right about that battle. There is something, or someone, that should not have been there that changed the destiny and the course of history.

Though this doubt has troubled him for a long time, but what has been done cannot be undone. And thus he is here safeguarding the Sultanate that the previous sultan Mehmed II entrusted to him.

He scrutinises the entire battlefield carefully trying not to miss a single detail that he can use to his advantage. The vast mountainous lands of Bulgaria is not really a suitable place for large army group combat like this. The Ottomans, under the previous commander of the North Beylerbey Karaca Pasha, has also realised this and set up multiple smaller camps and gates on all the necessary paths needed for armies to move through these dense forests and hills, successfully decreasing the ability of the Crusaders preventing them from going in any deeper into Ottoman lands buying precious time for Zaganos Pasha to take over the command of the entire army.

This is not the first time Zaganos Pasha have heard about the feared John Hunyadi, he has already faced him ten years ago in Varna, when he was still a junior Janissary officer serving under Sultan Murad's court. He knows this man, very well, cunning, agile, brave and most important of all, patience, which might be the most crucial factor in this battle.

It is not Zaganos Pasha have no patience in a long enduring battle, but the domestic situations of the Ottomans simply cannot allow him to have a long enduring battle, there are not only the Hungarians and the Serbian Crusaders prowling onto Ottoman lands threatening the country, but also the Rumelian, the Bosnians, the Albanians, Prince Orhan, the Karamanids, the Sicilians, Venetians, Genoese, Hospitallers and a bunch of other powers. He must be like a fire fighter, extinguish the flames of wars around here and hurry off to the next battlefield with his army.

Though the thing that he have not realised, is that the John Hunyadi is truly a champion knowing the princeps of 'the most dangerous place is the safest place', who is even more valorous than he had expected, is merely five hundred meters away from him scouting the defenses of the Ottomans hidden in the woods. John Hunyadi is even more anxious and prays that he can solve this surge of Ottoman interceptors fast.

If it wasn't for the fact that the scouts of the crusaders proved to be completely ineffective when compared with those Ottoman scouts who are born natural riders living on the steppe causing the entire intelligence system of the crusaders to break down, John Hunyadi would not have came here himself risking the crusaders losing their general.

It has been a terrible decade for Hungary and John Hunyadi ever since the defeat at Varna. They have been faced with defeat after defeat, one greater than the other, which ended sucking up the state's manpower base and treasury which diverted the King Regent's attention more towards governing affairs trying to consolidate the power of the country back again rather than a futile march on the Ottomans back then. A direct result of the defeat back in Varna and Kosovo can still be seen today from the army he brought, a rather bizarre mixture, comprising of not only elite knights, but also soldiers with white hairs up to the age of sixty and children down to the age of not even fifteen.

Zaganos Pasha did catch an interesting sign from the alignments of the Hungarian and Serbian encampments, the Hungarians main encampments are located in the eastern side closer to the mountains where they can receive streams of water supplies flowing down the mountains, while the Serbians are encamped on a hillside slope on the west of the Hungarians, it seems like there are some trust issues between the leaders of the two nation's crusaders as seen from the wall between their camps.

"Have you noticed it, Selim Pasha?" Zaganos Pasha asked his old pal who just came back from scouting the Serbian camps.

"Indeed." Selim Pasha replied massaging his chins. "The forces of John Hunyadi have taken most of the water sources flowing down from these mountains… Leaving the army of Durad having to dig wells of their own among these mountains."

"Interesting." Zaganos Pasha laughed. "So, there is indeed some factors of mistrust between them… Do you have any ideas, master of intrigues?"

"Oh, please do not call me by that name."

"I am sorry."

Selim Pasha thought for a while and advised. "The first thing we must do… Is to of course understand our enemies, like how wide is the gap between them, for the start."

"Good idea."

"Why don't we send a letter? TO our old friend? Asking how have he been?"

Ten minutes later, the gate to the fortress of Belogradchik came wide open as two riders came galloping out towards the camps of the Serbians, which is of course, intercepted by the ambushing forces of John Hunyadi.

The Hungarian ambushing scouts stopped the two riders' horses with a trip wire, then pushed the riders onto the forest trails tying them up, searching their body before sending them over to see their King Regent John Hunyadi.

"Messengers? Who sent you? Where are you going to? Spit out all the things I need or else I will send your head flying!" The King Regent threatened holding the grip of his blade.

The two messengers nodded, shook their head making hand signs and speaking a language that even the Cuman translator John Hunyadi brought with him cannot understand.

"They are not Ottoman Turkish." John Hunyadi concluded frowning. "Fine, anymore things interesting they have brought with them?"