Eagle's Glory

After the previous battle was over, he let the whole army take a temporary rest, and while calming down the inevitable exhaustion of continuous combat, he took the opportunity to replenish his troops.

After this period of rest, he felt that his subordinates had been rejuvenated, and it was time to meet new challenges—and during this period, by receiving the volunteers and Greeks sent by Teresa from the rear, he The force in his hands has reached the scale of five or six thousand people, which not only made up for the losses caused by the previous wars, but is even larger than when he just left for the expedition.

He was able to recover so quickly, on the one hand, because he used money to open the way, and on the other hand, it was also because he had established his own reputation in Greece, which spread around Europe with the passage of time, and his victory has made Those who had hoped for the Bonaparte family saw new hope.

At the same time, after being tempered by the flames of war, although his army still has many deficiencies, at least it has a backbone - strict military discipline, good remuneration, and a united officer group, which is enough to ensure basic combat effectiveness.

To describe it in one sentence-Aigron feels that he is much stronger than when he first set off.

And this gave him the confidence to carry out the next step.

Of course, just having confidence is not enough, he knows, it is definitely not an easy bone to gnaw off.

After coming to Greece, he also had an in-depth understanding of the process of the previous battle between the rebel army and the Turkish army, so he knew a series of stories surrounding Messolonghi.

This place is located at the southwestern tip of the Greek peninsula. There are plains on the east and west sides and the sea on the south. As long as you control it, you can control a large area around it, and then control the entire southwestern part of the peninsula.

As early as the period of Turkish rule, there were already garrison defenses here, and after the Greek independence uprising swept across the entire peninsula, it soon fell into the hands of the rebels and turned it into their own key defensive area.

Mesolonghi is very dangerous in terms of terrain. It is located on a long and narrow peninsula surrounded by a lagoon full of islands. Three islands, Marmaris, Chrysova and Aitolico control the entrance of the lagoon. , which makes it only need to worry about an attack from one front.

On the east side of the fortress towards the mainland, there is an open plain, but there are still some swamps and trenches dug deliberately by the defenders.

After the efforts of the rebel army and the careful design of the designers, a series of forts were built around the front of Messolonghi. Direction to shoot at the same time.

In this way, the Mesolonghi Fortress became the main fulcrum of the defense of the Independence Army, and even became a symbol of the Greek Independence Movement in a sense.

Of course, Sudan could not bear to lose Greece. He quickly sent troops to try to suppress the rebel army, and Messolonghi soon became the focus of competition between the rebel army and the suppressing army.

In October 1822, a Turkish army of more than 10 people led by Resid Mehmed Pasha, with the help of a fleet, besieged Messolonghi together. At first there were only a few hundred defenders, but they were tenacious Resistance, while using negotiations to delay time, in the end, thousands of reinforcements from the southern Peloponnese Peninsula rushed to the fortress, and together they defeated the Turkish army's attack at the end of that year.

The Turks were not reconciled to defeat, and in September 1823, they assembled another army and then launched a second attack on Messolonghi.

However, due to the corruption and slack within the Turkish army, their offensive organization was very chaotic, and the defenders used the same strong defense as last time to thwart each of their attacks.

Two months later, with the advent of winter, the Turkish army had to retreat angrily.

After resisting two rounds of raids by the Turkish army, Messolonghi became famous and became a holy place in the hearts of people all over Europe who supported the cause of Greek independence.

Not long afterward, the great poet Byron also came here. He was ambitious and wanted to contribute everything to the independence of Greece and make a big career.

After he settled here, he spent all his wealth to recruit a small army, and then formulated an offensive plan. He wanted to use this as a base to capture Naphpaktos and completely liberate northern Greece.

However, Byron did not expect that he would die of illness here in April 1824, and his plan was aborted (of course, even if he wanted to implement it, he might not be able to realize it with his weak force. ).

Not long after Byron's death, in the spring of 1825, the Turkish army, unwilling to fail, came to besiege the Greeks again, and this time, the leading general was Resid Mehmed Pasha, who had failed in the first siege.

When sending troops, the Sultan gave the pasha a death order, "Either capture Messolonghi, or cut off your head"-the Sultan will never tolerate the failure of the third siege.

Resid Mehmet Pasha brought his [-] troops to the city of Messolonghi again and started the third siege campaign.

Thus began a brutal battle.

Perhaps because of the threat from the Sudan, Pasha worked very hard this time, and immediately asked his men to build many trenches around the front of Messolonghi, and then let his men gradually approach the fortress through the trenches, waiting for an opportunity to launch an attack.

However, although the Greek defenders in the fortress are far inferior to the Turkish army, they know that they are fighting for their lives and their homes, so they still resist as before, whenever there is a gap in the defense line , the defenders would launch a ferocious counterattack, driving the enemy back, and all the civilians of Messolonghi, men and women, worked together at night to help the defenders fill in the gaps.

In this way, although Resid Mehmet Pasha led his subordinates to launch multiple rounds of attacks, he was still unable to do anything. He made little progress in a few months and could not break the will of the defenders at all.

The time came to the autumn of 1825, and this time the Turks had an additional ally—Ali Pasha of Egypt also sent troops to participate in this expedition. The situation was even worse. As a new force, the Egyptian army almost swept across Greece.

In January 1826, Ali Pasha's son Ibrahim joined the siege of Messolonghi with an Egyptian army of about 1. His army also brought a large number of cannons and even a small army. naval fleet support.

The Turkish army, which had been exhausted during the siege, regained its spirit this time. Under the orders of the Turkish and Egyptian officers, the besieging army launched multiple attacks. Thousands of shells almost wiped out the houses in the fortress. And the gunboats at sea also cooperated to help out, destroying the will of the defenders together.

With the advantage of landing on the sea, the Turks finally controlled all the supply lines of Messolonghi, and during the year-long siege, the reserves of the defenders had also been exhausted, and starvation inevitably came to these Greek head.

Ravaged by starvation, the soldiers and civilians in the city ate everything they could eat, including cats and horses, and Ibrahim Pasha now demands that everyone in the city surrender. People can choose to be sold into slavery or converted God teaches, at least one can escape death.

However, the Greeks in the city refused this request. Even though the situation was so desperate, they still insisted on resisting. They repelled several enemy attacks and caused many casualties to the enemy.

But everyone knew that resistance was useless, and the leaders of the defenders decided after discussion that everyone would break through and flee.

The besieging Turkish army discovered the escape plan of the defenders, but in order not to arouse their determination to fight desperately, Resid Mehmet Pasha deliberately played a trick of "encircling three and missing one", and did not take the initiative to prevent the defenders and the flight of residents.

On the night of April 1826, 4, the defenders began to assemble and evacuate according to plan. They launched a desperate attack, hoping to break the enemy's encirclement and escort civilians away.

However, marching and fighting at night could not maintain discipline at all, and the entire breakout operation fell into chaos from the very beginning. When these soldiers and civilians who broke out crossed the front line, they were immediately blocked by the besieged Turkish army. Among them, these Greeks were killed and wounded, either trampled to death, or fell into the ditch and drowned.

At this time, the besieging army, which had already been ready to go, finally launched a general attack. They took advantage of the chaos of the defenders and rushed into Messolonghi, and then set fire everywhere while killing the remaining defenders and citizens.

In this way, amidst howling and explosions, Messolonghi finally returned to the hands of the Turks.

As for the soldiers and civilians who broke through the line of defense by chance, their nightmare was still not over. After daylight fell, the Turks sent cavalry to hunt down and intercept the fleeing defenders and refugees in the wilderness. Raided, sold into slavery—only a thousand or so managed to escape the catastrophe, and the rest had to face such a fate.

However, although Messolonghi eventually fell and the defenders' resistance failed, their tenacity to repel the enemy's attacks many times over the years will not be obliterated by this.

Although they were destroyed, it was only because of the huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us. In terms of will, this defeat is indeed an epic of heroes, and those losers have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

In other words, if every Greek Independence Army can show this will to fight, if their leadership has not been thrown into chaos due to endless internal strife, maybe the Greek independence cause will not be in such a dark and desperate situation at all...

After finally capturing Messolonghi, the Turkish and Egyptian armies vented their desire to destroy and kill. Then, most of the army left and went into a new battle with the rebels, leaving only Part of the army continues to stay here.

Aigron does not know how many enemy troops are stationed in this fortress, but he guesses that the number should be between several thousand.

However, considering that Messolonghi's terrain is so dangerous and strong, even a few thousand people are enough for him to have a headache.

Fortunately, he is not without good news-before, the defenders of Mesolonghi had marched from the west and participated in the siege of Nafpaktos, and in a series of battles, he severely damaged the people who besieged him. army.

Although the defenders of Messolonghi were not wiped out, and most of them retreated back, they must have suffered a lot of losses-and they must have developed a psychological fear of themselves, which would make them Morale, which was not high, became even lower.

But even so, Egron still didn't dare to be too optimistic, because the previous record of this fortress was brilliant enough-the Greeks repelled the attacks of the Turkish army many times with inferior forces, and the defenders did not wait until they ran out of ammunition and food. report crash.

The benefits of getting Messolonghion are great, but if you are not careful, you will suffer a heavy loss here, so Aigron doesn't dare to take it too seriously.

Although he gambles a lot, he knows that his bet is very small, so every time he seems to bet boldly, he only acts when he feels confident enough in his heart.

But this time, he had to be more cautious.

After some calculations, Aigron summoned his confidant, Edmond Dantès, Count of Monte Cristo.

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" Edmond Dantès asked respectfully after seeing him.

"Edmund, do you know where our army's next target is?" Aigron asked.

"I know, you want to lead us to capture Messolonghi." Edmund Dantès froze for a moment before replying.

"Then do you know what happened there before?" Aegron asked knowingly.

In fact, the fortress didn't fall until 1826, which is only a little more than a year from now. Of course Edmund, who has been in Greece for so long, knows it.

"I know."

Edmond Dantès nodded, then looked at the young man, waiting for his instruction.

"Then are you afraid? We may have to attack a really solid fortress with flesh and blood." Eggron asked him with a smile.

"Your Majesty, I have never been afraid in my heart." Edmund replied immediately, "If you ask me to go to hell, I will go on horseback right away."

"Hahahaha! That sounds good!" Eggron couldn't help laughing.

Then, he patted Edmund's shoulder lightly, "Edmund, even if you are willing to die, I don't want to waste your life easily, because I need you more in the future... So I think, we will It is in our interest to take it down with as little bloodshed as possible."

"Then what are you going to do?" Edmund asked hastily.

"I don't know that yet." Egron shook his head honestly, and then added, "But I think there must be some Greeks who know—don't forget, it's only been a little over a year since Mesolonghi fell, and inside A lot of people have escaped, and we can definitely find some people who are familiar with it."

Then, he increased the volume, "You go and find me, whether it's the Greeks in our army or the Greeks outside, bring this kind of person to me as soon as possible!"　　

Fanwai (6) Li Daitao stiff

[The plot takes over the second episode, the independent world line, it's time to give out some benefits~]

1838. 12, 10

Vienna is bitterly cold in winter.

Pedestrians everywhere are in a hurry, unwilling to stay in the middle of the street.They either go to the theater to watch a play, or go to the cafe to have a cup of steaming coffee to pass the leisure time

But in this bleakness, there is a place that is very lively at the moment.

St. Peter's Basilica, located in the alley of Graben Street, is currently being shuttled by a large number of uniformed soldiers and attendants.

The soldiers patrolled around, observing every passer-by with vigilant eyes; while the attendants carried various items and decorated the already magnificent church.

Yes, a big wedding is about to take place here - tomorrow, to be precise.

The man in the marriage is the Duke of Reichstedt, who has won the trust of His Majesty the Empress Dowager and has recently become increasingly powerful in the empire; the woman is Princess Christina of the Savoy royal family of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

This marriage was unimaginable a year ago, and a year later, it is about to become a reality.

How did it happen?

Just last year, Emperor Franz I of Austria passed away. Because all his living sons had died, his grandson, Franz Joseph, who was only seven years old, succeeded to the throne, while his mother, Empress Dowager Sophie, was regent.

The chaos brought about by the handover of the throne gave the Kingdom of Sardinia, which had always hated the Austrian Empire, an opportunity. They took the opportunity to declare war on Austria, hoping to enter Milan.

In haste, the Austrian army was at a disadvantage in the war. However, the regent empress dowager, with the help of her most trusted Duke Reichstedt, quickly stabilized the internal situation of the empire; then sent the duke to Milan to regroup the army, and finally The Kingdom of Sardinia was defeated in the war.

In 1838, the war ended, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, which had been stealing chickens and losing rice, had to face severe punishment—and after Her Majesty the Empress Dowager proposed harsh conditions for a peace treaty, she suddenly hinted to the Sardinian envoys that if Sardinia If the Voye royal family is willing to let a princess marry the duke, then she can relax the conditions, if not - then I have to be sorry.

After tense diplomatic negotiations, under the severe threat of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, the Savoy royal family, which was in a state of defeat, had to obey the wish of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager

So Princess Christina came to Vienna to fulfill her obligations.

It is conceivable how Her Majesty the Princess is feeling. Ever since she came to Vienna, she has been depressed. Everyone can see the sadness and pain in her being used as collateral.

And after the two of them met, the future groom also looked indifferent, with a routine look, which made people worry about the couple's future married life.

However, no one was surprised by such a thing.

After all, among the royal families throughout Europe, almost every marriage is a political marriage. "Happy" or "sad" does not affect the survival of the marriage. For the princesses, this is their innate obligation. They have enjoyed the glory and wealth since they were young, so when the family needs them, they must also fulfill their responsibilities and marry the person designated for them by the family. This has been the case for thousands of years.

Compared with those completely unsuitable political marriages, the Duke of Reichstedt is already a very ideal marriage partner.

After all, the Duke is young, handsome, talented, and has a surname that resounds throughout the world. Maybe Princess Christina will accept the arrangement of fate after all...

======================================

Her Majesty the Empress Dowager, His Majesty the Emperor, and the two newcomers have all arrived at the Hofburg Palace in the center of Vienna.

Tomorrow, the couple and their Majesties will take a carriage from the Hofburg Palace to this magnificent church to witness the sacred ceremony.

At this moment, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager was standing in the window of her lounge, looking at the green dome of St. Peter's Church in a daze.

And beside her stood the Duke of Reichstedt.

It was just the two of them in the whole room, so it was very quiet.

The Duke is in uniform, and the Diamond Cross shining on his chest makes him even more handsome.

"My heart..."

After looking at it for a while, Queen Dowager Sophie finally spoke. She turned her head to look at her beloved, and then sighed, "It hurts me to think that I will see you exchanging rings with a woman tomorrow. Unbearable!"

Like the Duke, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager also wore splendid costumes, but even so, it was difficult to conceal the sadness in her eyes.

"This is exactly your arrangement..." The Duke shrugged, "I just obey your arrangement."

"Aren't I doing this for you?" Sophie rolled his eyes at him, "Why, you seem to be looking forward to it?"

The Duke didn't reply. He knew that Sophie was in a bad mood at the moment, so she was finding fault with herself and losing her temper.

Seeing his silent appearance, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager softened again.

She reached out, grasped the Duke's right hand tightly with both hands, and looked into his face as if begging.

"My dear...I really don't want you to marry someone else...it's just that I have to." She blinked sadly as she said, "Don't forget , she is just a gift I gave you, you can do anything with her, any couple should do, but only your love... Leave it to me! Leave it all to me!"

"Of course." The Duke replied quickly, and then he also held the hand of Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.

The two held hands tightly, and the worry in Queen Dowager Sophie's face gradually disappeared, as if she had received infinite encouragement from the Duke's words.

Then, she spoke again, "I watched you grow up. In my heart, you will always be that stubborn and smart child who needs my care and help. I really can't imagine you becoming the head of the family... ...However, I firmly believe that you will do well in whatever you do, and you will become a person who will make everyone proud in the future!"

"Of course," replied the duke, "even in order to protect you, I will make myself outstanding."

"Protect me? No..." Sophie smiled and shook her head, "It's sharing, we are sharing everything about each other, and we never have any secrets. Whether it's before or after, I hope that we will always be close...after marriage You are still my heart, please don't leave me..."

Aigron naturally could only agree.

Under his comfort, Sophie finally came out of the uneasiness and fear, and at this time, the two had hugged each other unknowingly.

When the fear is gone, it is replaced by desire.

Sophie hugged the young man in front of her tightly, and then whispered in his ear in a cloyingly sweet tone.

"I... I want it. Aegron, let me forget the troubles at this moment..."