Chapter 597: Decision Of Gulbahar Hatun
What about the Rumelians, heretics, infidels and slaves in the city?
That is a good question that caught the Sultana Dowager.
Because she has never ever thought about it, because, honestly, usually speaking, who will want to care about them? Though the courtier is right, for the situation now is unusual, for there are an army of cursed Rumelians that is just some distance away from the city.
Kill them?
Not enough time.
Imprison them?
Not enough cells.
The Sultana Dowager frowned, and ordered a command that she thinks, is the most feasible. "Empty the armoury and gather up all the foreign women and children, stuff them into the building and lock it up, while for the men, turn the three barracks inside the city into concentration camp, squeeze all the men inside, and order them to manufacture bolts and arrows for the Ottoman army."
"Yes, your Majesty."
The chaos and strives inside Edirne soon died down when the iron grip of the Sultana Dowager began taking over the vacuum of power, again, just like what happened a few years back after the surprising death of the national disgrace Candarli Halil Pasha. But this time, the curfew and quarantine placed on the people of Edirne are a lot stricter, a lot harsher, and a lot more merciless.
"My son is a Spahi-oghlan in the Sultan’s Janissaries! My son is a Spahi-oghlan in the Sultan’s Janissaries! You cannot do this to me, you cannot do this to me!"
Back in the eastmost gate of Edirne, an elegantly dressed old man can be seen throwing a tantrum at the newly established city guards.
"I need to see my son! I need to know where my son is! Let me out of the city!"
On contrary with this elder gentleman, the guards by the gates seem to not have noticed this man by a bit as they continued to chit chatter and giggle by themselves, until one younger newly conscripted guard, approximately sixteen years in age, approached the old man. "But the road outside this gate points to nowhere but Gallipoli, if you would really like to go find your son, why don’t you go for the gate in the North West of the city?"
Upon hearing this innocent question, the other guards bursted out in laughter, the old man’s face beamed red in both shame and fury. Seeing that he might not be able to pass this gate by the use of words, the old man decided to try his luck and make a run for the gates, only to be tripped over and arrested by the guards who are already waiting for him. "Still has the muscles to run?" The guards laughed with one another. "Off to the barracks then! From now on you shall be conscripted to help to defend the city!"
Countless cases like this kept on happening across the city, with the entire city getting conscripted and thrown into this giant war machine, stripped away from its normal way of life. Wartime order has been fully enforced and maintained in the city with the Sultana Dowager acting as the centre of the command, throwing whatever resources she can find into building up the defences of the city while hoping for the reinforcements to arrive as soon as possible. Countless people are thrown into the jail cells and detention barracks, all the women are instantly imprisoned with no explanation, all men from fourteen years old onwards are conscripted into the service. Numerous people are killed in the chaos, countless households are ransacked, but all of these are not important to the decision makers, for their sole purpose now is to survive.
Though there is one thing, the bulk of the Roman troops have not departed yet, the ones who arrived are only Khalid’s newly supplemented scouts checking out the terrains and situations of Edirne drawing maps. The Romans have no intention of laying for a siege yet, at least not now, for they have just been through one. Antonius knows that his troopers need to rest, he will need to wait for supplies, grains and manpower, while the Roman officers as well, needs to be replenished, as the Ottoman archers were purposefully aiming for Roman commanders during the flight causing a direct breakdown of the chain of command. Before all of these necessary criteria are met, the entire army is unable to move by even a mile.
In the end, the forts designed and built by both Hamza Pasha and Alaüddin Bey did serve its purpose to a certain extent, it gave the Romans enough damage holding them for a prolonged period of time to wait for the arrival of the reinforcements.
Antonius had little choice but to send out all of Khalid’s scouts into the surroundings of Edirne hunting down all those messengers sent out by the Sultana Dowager, while sending an order to Apostolos in Thessaloniki to increase the espionage activities in Edirne, sabotage the city’s defences, draw and label key Ottoman military holdings and try to rescue innocent Roman natives out of the city, or at least try to organise them together to create some unanticipated troubles for the Sultana Dowager.
After doing all of these tasks, Antonius sighed, leaned back on his seat and started pinching his back. He can feel his bones scattering after that fight, He could feel the grit of age grating against his vitality, the toll of time turning his once taut sinews into creaky cords. He was not the young, resilient man he had once been, with each day-by-day Antonius can feel that there will always, always be somewhere aching when he carried out strenuous activities.
The Caesar stood up, came out of the tent, saluted a few passing by soldiers and guards, and then his gaze wandered to the tent nearby. It stood dark and silent, a mute testament to the tragedy that unfolded within its canvas walls.
That tent belonged to his dearest general, Helios, a man who was now a prisoner of his own grief.
The man has detained himself into the tent for two days straight never coming out, but that is alright, Antonius understands the pain in his heart. No commander would want to face the news of half of his men, whom he trained and lived with for five years, getting wiped out within a day because of his own command pushing them to their eventual death. Antonius knew all too well the guilt that gnawed at him from inside. It was the guilt of a commander who had led his men into the jaws of death, the remorse of a leader who had traded the lives of his soldiers for a futile attempt at victory.
Three thousand men, piled together, three thousand faces that Helios would never forget. Many he had known by name, many more he had seen grow from green boys to seasoned soldiers under his watch., are being lit up and burnt. Such a sight is indeed a devastation for the experienced general deeply penetrating through his lines of mental defences causing a havoc lot of damage to his psychological status, a blow that had shattered his stalwart spirit. The Easter corps is already deemed to be unfunctional and need to be regrouped, and so is Helios, for now.
Standing in the solitude of the quiet evening, Antonius could only hope for a better tomorrow.
The main command has been handed over to Julian, the roads between Kavala and the province of Drama has been cleared of any obstacles thanks to the support of the people in a span of two days, with countless carts travelling back and forth carrying goods and the wounded.
Julian suggested a tactic of a ’slow suffocation’ to the city of Edirne, whereby instead of moving the entire army again to a devastating siege battle sacrificing thousands and thousands of brave Romans for a city that is not strategically significant at all, they could do it the other way round, by setting up ambush on vital pathways and capturing all the surrounding garrisons, they can effectively stop all the reinforcements from going into the city, and stop all the necessary resources from entering the city. With tens of thousands of mouths to feed, the resources in Edirne would run out before the Sultana Dowager realises it, and by then the Sultana Dowager would face a critical situation.
Should she start giving out less or even no rations to the mass public? But one ought to know that no standing army can ever win a war against the ones they vowed to protect, which are the people and citizens.
Or maybe start killing off all the life stocks and horses? But that would give away all hopes of their future, life stocks and horses are not something that can be replenished within a few years.
Or subject to cannibalism?
Note that extreme things, like cannibalism, are never, ever, a thing that is far away from people’s lives in this era when it comes to wars, famines, droughts, and other disasters.
