Chapter 52: Changes in the Situation

The defenders watched helplessly as the Serbian army was surrounded, divided, and annihilated by Wallachia. They were like a roller coaster, and it was a death charge.

Taking advantage of the victory, Mircea intensified the attack on Kruševac. The defenders, who were already demoralized, completely collapsed under the attack of heavy artillery. They opened the city gates and surrendered to Mircea.

Mircea had no time and no mood to support and deal with Serbia's affairs. He just emptied the treasury and ordered the army to go back. Leaving those nobles alone.

This was also one of Mircea's considerations, because his main target was still the Ottomans. As a vassal, Serbia could not spend a lot of time on it; and leaving a Serbia without a monarch was also a gift from him to Hungary, and it depended on whether they could catch it.

The Grand Duke robbed 60,000 ducats in Kruševac, which was Lazarevich's three years of savings. Now it's all cheap for Mircea.

Before the news of Lazarevich's death spread, Mircea hurried back to Vidin with his army. When the nobles saw that Mircea did not embarrass them, they started to have evil thoughts.

The originally unified Serbian Moravian Kingdom began to fall apart, and some great nobles began to split up and become kings, while no one paid attention to Lazarevich's wife and daughter. They were no longer important.

In the past half month, Bayezid was still allocating troops and waiting for Suleiman's good news and the arrival of the Serbian army.

"Sultan, the army heading to Varna has sent people."

Bayezid was overjoyed, and he hoped that his Pasha would bring him another victory.

The soldier stumbled in, his body was ragged and dusty, and when he saw the Sultan, he knelt down directly.

"Sultan, we failed."

These words confused Bayezid.

"No, it's impossible!" Bayezid said.

He is the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the invincible Sultan, his army is also invincible, and Suleiman Pasha is also an invincible Pasha. How could he fail!

"Nonsense, my Ottoman soldiers are blessed by Allah, how could they fail."

"Sultan, it's true. The enemy launched two sneak attacks on us directly, and the whole army was wiped out!"

This time Bayezid was confused again, and his brain, which was about to come out, was once again adjusted to thinking. After a long time, he slowly spoke.

"Then, what about Suleiman Pasha?"

"The scene was very chaotic at that time. Suleiman Pasha might have died in the chaos."

These questions directly plunged Bayezid into the abyss. He didn't expect that the invincible Ottoman army led by the god of war Suleiman Pasha would fail. And seeing that the generals were gone, how could he bear it?

The paranoia in his heart became deeper and deeper, especially the curiosity about the enemy generals overwhelmed everything. He changed his plan. He wanted to go to Varna to see who this general was.

"Tell the army to change the administrative route and target Varna."

The herald began to issue orders, and those officials could not persuade them. After all, the marching routes were set by the Sultan. He couldn't intervene.

"Also, let those people bring their troops. I'm going to be merciless this time."

The people Bayezid was talking about were some small vassal states established on the original Serbian Empire after the Battle of Kosovo, including the Kingdom of Brankovici, the Kingdom of Mniacevvi, and the Kingdom of Topia. These vassals were controlled by Serbia, but the final decision on the dispatch of troops was still made by the Ottomans.

The Ottoman army had been assembled, and the army officially set out three days later, with the goal of Varna.

And Peter was also preparing for the next battle. For this purpose, the army was trained and materials were collected. All soldiers were fully mobilized, and new soldiers and veterans exchanged training to make them grow, and the scope of capture was expanded. There were no fewer than a few surrounding Ottoman fortress camps. Peter distributed the treasure to his men to boost morale; he even prepared to go south to capture Burgas and cut off the Ottoman road to the north.

"After the last battle, there must have been Ottoman soldiers who went back to report the news. We need to make plans."

Peter looked at Constantine and asked about the army.

"Sir, a lot of people have joined the army in the past few days. Including the previous ones, there are a total of 16,000 people."

"Really? How is the Crimea going?"

"Everything is going well. The first batch of soldiers will arrive soon."

For the powerful Ottoman army, Peter decided to recruit mercenaries. Coincidentally, the Chamber of Commerce in the Crimea brought back some news.

Due to the looting of the Tatars, some Slavs became mercenaries. They lived a life of blood on the tip of the knife just to get a stable life. It happened that some civilians who escaped from Lithuania and the eastern region also came to the Black Sea region. Here, the grassland is vast, the population is sparse, birds and beasts can be seen everywhere, and all kinds of fish can be found everywhere. In addition, the rulers' rule is out of reach, so this place has become a refuge for people who have fled to a foreign land, and gradually formed several settlement centers. That is, Cossacks.

The Cossacks were named after the areas where they lived. Those who lived in the middle reaches of the Don River and its tributaries were called "Upper Cossacks", those who lived in the lower reaches of the Don River were called "Lower Cossacks", and those who lived in the lower reaches of the Dnieper River were called "Zaporozhian Cossacks". Later, the "Volga Cossacks" appeared.

The early Cossacks were mainly engaged in fishing and hunting. Sometimes, due to the pressure of life, they also robbed merchants and even attacked cities and towns along the Black Sea coast. Usually, they exchanged fish products, furs and other spoils for food, liquor and weapons necessary for their lives. They hoped to live in peace. But they also robbed the Principality of Theodore, and destroyed everything except the Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce was impressed by the bravery of the Cossacks, so after obtaining Peter's approval, they began to contact the nearest Zaporizhia Cossacks. They bribed the upper-class Cossacks with food and money, and persuaded the lower-class Cossacks with arable land and stability. The trade between the two sides developed rapidly.

After planning to fight against the Ottomans, Peter decided to hire some Cossacks. He asked the Crimean Chamber of Commerce to make contact, and finally finalized 15,000 ducats for the leader, and 15,000 gold coins, including military pay and spoils, in exchange for 5,000 Cossack soldiers.

Of course, a large number of Cossacks also crossed the Dnieper River and settled not far from Moldova. This was also to make money close to the area, but the most important thing was to settle down and not be so nervous.

Two days later, two thousand Cossack soldiers arrived in Varna. Their leader was Yuri Alexei, who pledged his loyalty to Peter and was ready to show everyone the bravery of the Cossacks.