Chapter 921: Country Chickens Don't Believe in Tears (First Update, Please Subscribe)
The Ottoman Empire...is doomed!
As Christmas of 1876 was approaching, almost everyone who paid attention to current affairs would have no doubt about one thing - the Ottoman Empire was about to end.
423 years after its occupation of Constantinople!
Even Sultan Abdul Aziz I of the Ottoman Empire had no doubt that he was the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire!
The Russians suddenly turned into the Romans who returned to restore their country!
In fact, after conquering the Pleven Fortress, the Russian army was eager to fly the Roman eagle flag they had prepared long ago - in fact, the Russian double-headed eagle originated from Rome.
Although Tsar Alexander I has not yet called himself the Caesar of the Roman Empire, he will call himself "Caesar" sooner or later, and the army of the Russian Empire will be awarded the legion numbers of the Roman Empire.
The vigorous advance and glorious victory of the Russian Imperial Army made all the Orthodox Christians in the Balkan Peninsula excited - from the beginning of the war, Bulgarians and Romanians formed armies to join in... They really believed that Russia would help them gain independence from the rule of the Turks.
Perhaps, no one expected the Roman royal army that everyone longed for day and night, and no one expected the Roman Empire to regain its glory.
But no one opposed overthrowing Turkish rule.
As for Tsar Alexander I, his dream was to recapture Constantinople, which had fallen for 423 years - then he would realize the dream that had lasted for 404 years since Ivan III.
By then, he would undoubtedly be crowned Roman Emperor!
Since the Russian troops entered Bulgaria, they have been welcomed by the local Orthodox people, who held salt and bread, sang "Messiah" songs with tears in their eyes, and welcomed their arrival.
After they captured the fortress of Pleven, all the Orthodox Christians were there to welcome the liberators - almost no subject of the Turkish Empire would go to defend their homeland - whether Orthodox or Muslim.
However, unlike the former, as the Russian army advanced rapidly, Turkish officials and Muslims in various places either hurriedly packed up their belongings and fled, or were killed by the rebellious Orthodox Christians. Before the arrival of the Russian army, they had already launched an uprising and occupied some towns.
After the news of the coming Russians reached Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire also fell into a boiling state - the city's Muslims accounted for 46.2%, Orthodox Christians accounted for 45.2%, Jews accounted for 7%, and Catholics accounted for 1.5%. In addition to the former feeling deep despair, the Jews were also a little desperate - for hundreds of years, the Jews had been dependent on the Turks, engaged in economic and commercial activities under the protection of the Turks, and for hundreds of years, they had been... well, accomplices of the Turks.
Now that the Turks are on the verge of destruction, how can they not despair?
What was desperate was not just that they would lose the protection of the Turks, but that the Russians did not even like the Jews and even hated them.
Compared with the despair of the Turks and Jews, those Orthodox Christians, whether they were Armenians, Greeks, Romanians or Serbs, they were all cheering, cheering the arrival of "Little Tsar Daddy".
Just after the New Year of 1877, in Constantinople, both the desperate Turks and the excited Orthodox Christians finally saw the double-headed eagle - a large Russian airship hovering over the city, dropping a large number of leaflets - demanding that the Turkish Sultan and the Turks lay down their arms, and Russia would guarantee the safety of their lives and property.
The Russians' words are lies.
No one will ever believe the Russians' promises!
All the Turks in Constantinople knew very well that if they lost Constantinople, they would be left with nothing, and the Russians would never allow them to continue living here - this was the future capital of Russia, and those polar bears were very cruel!
Constantinople does not believe in tears.
On January 3, 1877, at the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Sultan Abdul Aziz I, dressed in military uniform and a red hat, came here for morning prayers, surrounded by a group of pashas and officers.
The square outside the temple was already crowded with people - everywhere were Turks who came for morning prayers. Among them were adults, children, and of course elderly people, but without exception they all wore military uniforms.
The city has been fully mobilized - all men, mobilized to protect their city!
Of course, excluding the pagans, if they were given guns, they would probably revolt before the Russians even arrived.
The people in the square knelt devoutly in the square, with their heads bowed, performing morning prayers.
The square was filled with the sound of devout prayers.
At this moment, it seems that the only thing we can do is pray for God’s help!
What else can they do now except pray?
After the morning prayer, people in the square saw Sultan Abdul Aziz I, who had been hated by everyone for his high-handed rule in the past few years. Although they hated him, they now had to support him.
Abdul Aziz I looked at the people in the square, who were the last resort of the Ottoman Empire. Standing on the steps, he opened his throat and began his mobilization speech loudly:
"My compatriots... Now, the pagans from the north are trampling on our land - the land of us Turks, the land that our ancestors conquered with scimitars. Just like this city, this is not only our home for generations, but also everything to us! If we lose Istanbul, we will have nothing!... Between us and them, there will be no compromise, nor any mercy. There will only be life and death! Every Ottoman who believes in the true God now has only one choice, and that is to fight!
Not for me, but for the Sultan and Caliph of the Ottoman Empire, but for the true God, for our faith. I will go out with you as a devout believer. We will fight together here, either to win together and defeat those pagans! Or to die together, and go to the paradise promised to us by the true God together with you and all the believers who die together, where everyone will be rewarded by the true God, and will have countless wealth, and countless beauties and slaves are waiting for you! ..."
(End of this chapter)
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