Chapter 125 Unification of Peloponnese
The golden sun shines on the soldiers' armor. Both sides stare at the enemy on the opposite side. Even the war horses scream, as if they can't help but kill the enemy.
Sapreno took the lead in attacking, and the cavalry attacked the opponent's infantry square. Theodore quickly ordered the archers to fire arrows. Artillery also opened fire on the other side.
As soon as the firearms were released, some of the cavalrymen were frightened. They had never seen this thing before. Although it was not powerful, the sound it made frightened the horses.
Some knights fell from their horses, and those who rushed behind were stumbled. The original charge had become unbearable. Theodore took advantage of this to launch a general attack, but the mercenary group resisted the offensive and even launched a counterattack.
Although Theodore has more troops, the men in the mercenary group have much better military capabilities than the peasant soldiers. In this way, they fought until dark, and then withdrew their troops.
At night, the mercenary group launched a sneak attack in an attempt to reverse the situation, but was repulsed. Dozens of people were lost.
The next day, Theodor launched a general attack, and all the soldiers rushed forward to attack the mercenary group. After what happened yesterday, the mercenary group also decided to make a last stand. They launched a charge, but were defused by the sound and projectiles of artillery and muskets. Wallachia's things are easy to use.
The strength of the mercenary group has been exhausted, and without the cavalry, its combat effectiveness will be reduced by half. But because of his group leader, he struggled to support himself.
Just then, Simeon made a sound. Sapreno looked there and saw that it was an ambush on the opposite side. It turned out that Theodore still had a hand. At the same time, he couldn't figure out where he would get the money to hire so many people.
Seeing an ambush on the other side, the Achaean army began to disperse. The first to run away were the farmers who had been temporarily recruited. They had never seen such a scene before, and it was more important to save their lives.
If one soldier runs away, there will be two or three soldiers fleeing the battlefield. This will cause a chain reaction and turn into a collapse. Even if the mercenary group forces him to return to the battlefield, it will only be a drop in the bucket.
Theodore took advantage of this to launch an attack, and Achaia was defeated. Sapreno fell under his horse while killing the enemy, and the surrounding soldiers swarmed up and killed him. Sapreno was killed, and Theodore annihilated the remaining enemy forces in one go.
The Battle of Patras lasted for two days. In this battle, Theodore's side killed more than 2,200 enemy soldiers at the cost of more than 700 people and captured 2,000 people. Seeing this, Patra surrendered smoothly.
With the exception of a few fortresses, the entire principality of Achaia was annexed to Morea. The rest were just hanging on, and after unifying the Peloponnese, Theodore ordered to maintain peaceful relations with Venice, which satisfied Venice and felt that this man was on the right track.
It was only a month from the beginning to the end of the war, and it was already over when Peter came to Karmada. He listened to the people on the dock discussing the war and felt that his father-in-law was really good. He was worthy of being the toughest member of the Roman royal family against Ottoman.
Although Peloponnese is not very productive in food, it is very good in growing grapes and raising silkworms. Peter thought it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to buy some land.
After conquering Achaia, Theodore's next target was Athens. The Principality of Athens had been well prepared for a long time. It not only guarded the only channel into Athens, but also continued to seek help from Venice, offering to give up all its land and only asking for a manor for itself.
Venice was a little tempted by this condition, but she still held back because Athens at this time was a broken city with no value at all. And they are not obsessed with land, only trade and profits.
Theodore continued to attack the fortress, trying to knock it all down. This was also a long-term process, and no one knew how long it would take for them to surrender.
However, the territory has doubled, and the difficulty of governance has also doubled. How to transfer the feudal system in the West back to the centralized system in the East is a difficult problem, and it also takes time.
Moreover, due to the recruitment of soldiers, Morea's economy has been reduced to the lowest level, and the next step must be to restore the economy.
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In order to thank his in-laws for their help, Theodore allocated a place in Patras to Wallachian merchants and exempted and exempted taxes. Thanks to the geographical location of Patras, Wallachia can have direct trade relations with Italy.
The Balkan Peninsula has a very special geographical location. It is the only area in Central and Eastern Europe protected by mountains and oceans. However, since ancient times, it has not become an obstacle between Asia and the West, but has become a bridge. As the gateway to the southeastern corner of Europe, the Balkans are also the frontier for controlling North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
The Balkans and Italy have maintained close trade exchanges for a long time. Many commercial cities are located in the Danube River Basin and the Adriatic coast. Ragusa is the most important trading base for Italian merchants in the Balkans. Italian merchants mainly trafficked silver resources in Bosnia and Serbia, while exporting Italian textiles to the Balkans in exchange for leather, wool, cheese, fish, honey and slaves.
The Peloponnese was also a grain-producing region and also supplied flax, which was transported to Constantinople to be processed into cloth. During the Peliologus dynasty, due to the development of agriculture, food from the southern Balkans became one of Rome's main export commodities and was sold to cities in Western Europe.
The addition of Wallachia is undoubtedly a piece of the original cake, but it is just a small one. But such a move also caused discomfort in Venice, and they could not tolerate other countries getting involved.
Moreover, Wallachia's commercial expansion is so fast that it may take away all of Venice in a few years. But they couldn't fight Wallachia. After all, they would lose credibility if they declared war immediately after signing the agreement.
Theodore confiscated a lot of land from the rulers of the Achaean principality, and distributed some of it to his soldiers and some to the peasants. This ensures troops and income.
As for the capital, it continues to be in Mystras. Because this is the capital of Greek culture, when the castle is in danger, many scholars continue to study Greek culture here. After the Peloponnese is unified, it will become more prosperous.
But for other aspects of construction, the remaining betrothal gift must be obtained. The 100,000 lei payment is almost gone, and the army can really spend money.
Peter wanted to see what his bride looked like, but would he believe it now that he was told that he was the heir of Wallachia in front of the despot? It’s better to wait until the formal meeting.
Peter didn't want to travel here either. If there was Athens, he would also like to see the Parthenon. The ruins of Sparta have also become sandstorms. The scenery of ancient Greece and Rome has gone far away. Now it is the era of Wallachia and the Ottomans.