Chapter 58: The rise of a regional power (Part 5)

All my field cannons are concentrated into a grand battery, located on a raised platform giving them much more power all gathered together allowing them to blast holes in enemy formations. This is my plan to eliminate my cavalry's major obstacle the elite mercenary soldiers surrounding the Tsar!

Almost instantly after the cannons fired the cannon balls hit their targets in the center of the enemy mob-like formation... But because the marks are so close to our location, the cannoneers had to shorten the length of the fuse used to light the black powder stuffed in the cannonball.

By doing this they allowed the cannon balls to explode mid-air sending many pieces of hot lead all over the place injuring many people as there were at least seventy cannonballs in the air. Some of the poor men who were too close to the initial explosion had their upper bodies eviscerated, leaving only their very bloodied legs.

This targeted artillery strike left the center of the enemy formation in shambles... Even with many experienced soldiers on their side, no one there was able to reform their lines quickly enough to defend or counter the incoming charge! *Crash crush* My Heavy Kapikulu horsemen came crashing into the fleeting enemy formation, crushing all bastards in their path.

The enemies this time, without the Tsar's guards as reinforcement to fix their lines and boost morale... Began to flee, hoping to have a chance at living even the enemies on the frontlines began to flee as well... And like wildfire, all the enemies trying their best to survive the onslaught of my horsemen fled in all directions even crushing their own allies under their feet in the heat of the moment.

I sent half of my own guard out into the fray hoping to have them either kill or capture the Tsar and his brother. I cannot have them escape this would make things a little more complicated especially if either of them managed to flee to another kingdom like Hungary or Italy.

The horse archers I sent out earlier, also entered in on the frenzy of chasing down the fleeing enemy soldiers. Many are being slowly captured by the infantry as many of the horsemen have blunt weapons stored on their horses for moments like these... Knocking down their foes with a powerful swing on a horse galloping at a decent speed definitely injured the enemy soldier enough to knock them down for a while... If not longer.

After about thirty minutes the swarm of soldiers and horses disappeared from my view and my guard returned with news... One soldier stepped forwards and got off his horse to speak with me, he said "My sultan, we found the Tsar... Well, we found his bottom half! We do not know where the other parts went but this is all that we found *Shows mangled body parts* but we have his brother in custody, as he was held in the rear of the army under guard as he was injured from being dismounted from his horse."

I responded "Kill the brother! Cut off his ears, take out his eyes, and cut off his fingers as well... Send them to the pope, send them to all the monarchs who supported this charade of a holy war! I want the messengers to carry my message as well." I want it written just like this "Here is what remains of Tsar Stefan Dusan... After you all convinced this man to dive into the tiger's mouth, this is what will happen to anyone else who attempts to enter my domain uninvited!"

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... I said "Do not tell anyone of the Tsar's actual demise, I want his death to be a mystery to all that receive this message... No one here shall ever repeat that this is his brother's body and not his you all understand the consequences of such actions correct?"

As a group, they all responded "YES SULTAN!"

Well, that solves that let us move back to the city, and wait for the troops chasing to return. After getting back to the city I allowed the troops to celebrate and all the troops yet to get here to relax and celebrate as well. Not wanting to celebrate I headed off to bed early, only to be surprisingly greeted by a young Slavic woman laying in my bed... "Remove it"

After my assassins removed the woman and brought clean sheets, I passed out after such a long day... Waking up the next morning and overlooking the city I was amazed to see many of my soldiers already up and moving about slaving about their daily chores.

I thought giving them a day and a half off, would've meant they would sleep in today, but I guess people of this time just do not have that luxury in their heads. Now it is time for me to begin the initial stages of annexing an entire country, just annexing Serbia will allow me to say we are a solidified regional power... But annexing the entire Balkans will set me on the path to being recognized as a major power able to influence my entire region and all my neighbors as well. First, let us check in on my brother's movements and how far he has gotten in his operation on the Danube.

*** Pov: Suleyman

After securing the city of Silistria without even a fight, I guess they seemed to understand that this once greatly defended city just doesn't have the backing to put up a staunch defense. After a quick rest for a day, I once again split my forces leaving behind only the cannons and a group of loyal soldiers to garrison and police the city.

In a few days, we managed to secure the surrounding towns and castles with barely any fight put up by the Bulgarian people. The soldiers barely paid and the people and nobles very war wary just rolled over... This allowed me to advance quickly and secure a major castle city located just south of Silistria called Schumla.

This is a very strategic location for us to grab, as later it will help us in securing the remaining major cities... As the capital Tarnovo is just to the west and Varna a major port city is just east of the city as well. Making this a location I must secure it well, to not lose it before we need to use it.

Once we finished up here we met back up with the navy and marched independently alongside the fleet. After some time we arrived outside of the city of Nicopolis, one of the most strategically located fortified cities along the Danube. Seizing this city would Solidify our rule of this end of the Danube allowing us to corner the Bulgarians into a precarious position, not allowing any foreign aid.

Not waiting for any diplomats or any enemy soldiers to engage us we moved to build our siege camp. The navy under Evrenos's diligent control moved to block the port and the waterway by chaining ships together at the mouth of the river. This is done just in case support for the enemy were to make a surprise entrance.

In all my studies I learned that generals lose battles and sieges alike for small mistakes that they should have been able to see, but for some reason or another over looked them. My father always said on a battlefield there is always something one will overlook, but if you make it a habit to oversee everything to the best of your ability more often than not you will win out over your foe who has made more mistakes than you...

But this only works in situations where the armies themselves are similar. I want to reach a point in my career where I can dominate enemies anywhere in the world... I can just arrive in a new land and follow my proper procedures and by following the steps I plan to build up over my career I DOMINATE any foe.

Over the past day, none of the people within the wall made any contact with us, not even making the effort to send a diplomat to let us know they are making a stand, or screaming from the walls... Nothing, this is actually very strange but whatever they are thinking to me it matters not as I learned that these cannons will change their minds rather quickly.

I allowed a few cannons to fire at once *BOOM BOOM BOOM* shaking the ground whilst just firing off a few of these cannons. The cannonballs crashed into the wall launching dust and stones all over the place shaking the entire wall and lodging themselves into the wall. Sending my messenger over to the walls to let the enemies know in their language just how bad it could get.

The messenger screamed "This is a message from our noble general Suleyman, he wants everyone in the city to understand that by not contacting us or starting any correspondence you are resisting our conquest! All in this city must understand that this means you are all bound to lose this siege as our weapons are superior as you just witnessed and will tear your walls down with ease.

-If you surrender now, we will spare your city from all the slaughter, looting, and tragedy that comes with defending a city from our great army. But if you resist we will crush your city before the sun sets, let this be a promise from the great general Suleyman!"

I will give the enemy an hour to send a representative. If by that time, they do not send anyone out to contact us I have ordered the cannons on the land and river to begin shredding the thing around their city they call a wall.

I also before the campaign even began gave permission to the Crimean Tartar to loot whoever or whatever they want inside a city that resists our conquest as it is the right of a soldier. I somehow doubt that they will make any attempts to contact our forces, but I have hope that the noble ruling or overseeing this city will seek the path of survival for his people.

Sadly, an hour is almost up... I was even going to send a messenger to give a last call, but I believe that is pointless if they had even the slightest urge to solve this peacefully then they would've sent someone to speak to us. So as I sat in my tent the deadline breezed by, and the cannons outside began roaring and shaking the world.

With so many of these things firing at once you can even smell the smoke from the powder in the air. I guess I will gain some extra coin and supplies for the state today in addition to a city and a new population to pay up to the sultan so I can still say today is a good day to be alive.

After a few hours, I could hear the screams of elation from my soldiers, clearly the wall fell and they plan to rush the city... A commander came in for my orders and I nodded to him giving him permission to rush the city and crush all defenders and dissidents within. I also sent an extra order, no one is allowed to loot the main treasury of the city, as this always belongs to the state and will only be given to the soldiers in form of a bonus if the sultan wills it.

-Let us watch as Our mc and his people build an ottoman empire that will last through the ages... I am just as excited about writing these chapters as you all are reading it, so give me a break if there are any mistakes point them out, and I love suggestions throw them at me anytime in the comments.