Became The Sultan Of The Ottoman Empire [EN]: Chapter 176

Became the Sultan of Osman – Episode 176

The Black Knight (2)

The Sack of Rome.

The news that Rome, a metropolis with a population of 55,000, was occupied and looted in just one day was a tremendous shock.

Even as Charles V’s Habsburg army marched on Rome, people thought it couldn’t possibly happen, but the result showed how naive that thought was.

The Italian city-states, having heard about the situation in Rome from citizens who had successfully escaped with their lives, were anxious about becoming the next target.

However, the Habsburg army that occupied Rome was in no position to look elsewhere.

“Damn it!”

Philibert, who had taken command after the death of the Duke of Bourbon, clutched his head at the endless screams of women.

“It’s terrible! Terrible! When will the looting ever stop!”

“I’m sorry, Commander.”

“…It’s okay.”

He ordered the looting to stop after the usual three-day period, but only a very small number of soldiers listened.

He couldn’t blame the commanders in this situation, and Philibert sighed deeply.

‘I’m going to hell when I die.’

It would be ridiculous to dream of heaven when the church was being looted and St. Peter’s Basilica was being turned into a stable.

Given the Habsburg’s situation, where they weren’t even sure if they could pay the mercenaries on time even after occupying Rome, the most realistic thing to do was to hope that the soldiers wouldn’t riot.

“Mediate so that the soldiers don’t fight each other over the spoils.”

“Understood.”

That’s all he could do for now.

Feeling tired, Philibert slumped into a chair, closed his eyes, and tried to ignore the screams coming from outside when he heard hurried footsteps.

When a military commander burst into the room without asking for permission, Philibert jumped up from his seat.

“What’s going on! Has there been a riot?!”

“O-Ottoman forces have appeared!”

“…Ottoman forces?”

Philibert was taken aback by the sudden mention of the Ottomans and asked again, wondering if he had misheard.

It would be one thing if all the city-states of the Italian Peninsula joined hands and invaded, but it made no sense for the Ottomans to appear.

“It’s the Ottoman army! They are advancing on Rome via the Tiber River!”

But that impossible thing was happening in reality.

***

Rome was built on the Tiber River basin, which is 406 km long, and this river had long played an important role in Roman trade.

As he sailed upstream towards Rome, 25 km from the sea, Murat twisted his lips.

“They’re finally noticing now.”

A cavalryman, who appeared to be a scout, hurriedly rode his horse along the riverbank.

He didn’t know how terrible the situation in Rome was, but he could tell that the military discipline was a mess.

The scouting was so lax that they were able to come in much deeper than expected.

Urzi responded to Murat’s words with a smile.

“Who would have thought the Empire would come? And on this river, too.”

“It’s thanks to the cooperation of the Bishop of Ostia. Thank you.”

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the Bishop of Ostia, made a bitter face at Murat’s gratitude.

Who wouldn’t follow when they occupied the port with over a hundred ships and marched to Rome with soldiers armed with guns and swords?

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople spoke on behalf of the cardinal, who couldn’t speak properly.

“How could the cardinal hinder such a difficult pilgrimage to save important Rome? Isn’t that right?”

“…That’s right.”

The cardinal swallowed his betrayal.

Even though the Ecumenical Patriarch was a position that had long fallen to being a henchman of the heathens, he was still of the same faith, so he was dizzy to hear such words.

Of course, Murat, who didn’t care what the cardinal was thinking, gave the order.

“Give the order. Disembark.”

If they continued to sail any further and were attacked, they might not be able to disembark and fall into the river.

Even if the river was shallow and narrow, it was still a river, so there was no need to overdo it.

As Murat’s order fell, drums beat and flags signaling hand signals fluttered, and the ships that had been moving in a line began to disembark.

“Quickly! Move quickly! We must finish disembarking before the enemy comes!”

“Move if you don’t want to die!”

The soldiers who got off the ship, splashing through the water at the urging of their commander, prepared for the enemy’s attack.

It would take more than an hour or two to disembark all the troops, supplies, and cannons, and a normal enemy would not miss this opportunity.

Murat, who had been waiting for the enemy’s attack behind a barricade of bayonets, tilted his head.

“Too late.”

Considering the time they were discovered, the cavalry should have arrived long ago, but there was no sign of the enemy.

They had even built a temporary pier out of planks on the sandy riverbank, unloaded all the supplies, and finished preparing to advance, but they still hadn’t arrived.

“Prince Murat, all preparations are complete.”

“Urzi, wait in Ostia as planned.”

“Understood.”

The ships had completed their mission and only needed to wait in Ostia.

For news of the occupation of Rome.

“Advance!”

With Murat’s order, the Ottoman army began to advance towards Rome.

***

The Habsburg army that occupied Rome was in no position to dream of a counterattack.

The shouts, drums, and bells announcing the appearance of the Ottoman army rang loudly in Rome, and the state of the soldiers who rushed out of the buildings was terrible.

It was fortunate if they came out with weapons, their faces gaunt.

There were those who rushed out without even putting on their pants properly, and there were many soldiers who were drunk and rolling on the floor.

It was the appearance of an army whose military discipline had disappeared due to the long looting, and this state could not be rectified until the Ottomans arrived in Rome a day later.

“…It’s maddening to see it with my own eyes.”

Philibert stared at the enemy with trembling eyes.

The red flag symbolizing the Ottomans fluttered ominously, and the formation that did not falter even during the march showed how elite the opponent was.

‘On the other hand, we have a surge of deserters, and the walls are still breached. It’s bleak.’

He didn’t say it out loud so as not to lower even the morale he had as much as a straw, but the situation was the worst.

The Habsburg army, which was so engrossed in looting that they didn’t listen to orders, would not have repaired the occupied walls, and the walls they had directly destroyed had returned as a dagger.

In addition, the soldiers who had made a fortune from the spoils of war felt the unfavorable war situation and deserted one after another, and even the soldiers standing on the walls now might run away at any moment.

“Let’s send an envoy for now.”

He didn’t expect them to retreat after coming this far. However, he would be satisfied if he could buy even a little time.

At this order, the gate, which was virtually meaningless because the walls were breached, was opened, and a cavalryman with a white flag met a man on horseback from the Ottomans.

“This is land that no infidel should set foot on! If you don’t want to incur the wrath of all Christians, it’s not too late to retreat now!”

“Does the God you believe in forgive such things?”

Murat looked at Rome after hearing the envoy’s words.

He had never been there himself, but he had heard rumors. However, it was hard to believe that the same Western country had done what he was seeing before his eyes.

There were corpses nailed to the walls, and black smoke was still rising from inside the city even though it had been occupied for some time.

If that’s how it was on the outside, there was no need to mention the inside.

The envoy, who never thought he would hear such words from an infidel, was speechless, and Murat took out a pistol from his chest.

“Go and see for yourself if he will forgive you.”

The corpse with a hole in its head from the explosion was thrown to the ground, and Murat took a deep breath and shouted loudly.

“Save Rome!”

The sound of drums split the sky along with Murat’s resounding cry.

-Save Rome!

-Kill the enemy and save us!

The strangest war began during the long years of war between Islam and Christianity.

The Ottoman army matched their steps to the beat of the drums, and the first to open the gates of war was the defenders’ cannons placed on the walls.

Using the superior range created by the height difference, the shells fell, but the damage they could inflict on the scattered soldiers was only a small part.

The Ottoman army, which quickly narrowed the distance, also began firing in response, and Philibert cursed as he saw a soldier nearby who had been crushed into a bloody mess.

“Crazy bastards! Even the shells are made of metal?!”

He had vaguely heard stories of using precious metals to make shells, but he couldn’t help but curse when he saw it with his own eyes.

The amount of impact itself was not that great, but it seemed to show the gap between the two armies, which made him feel even more pressured.

Shells also poured down on the piles of stones and wooden fences built to block the breached walls, and Philibert squeezed his eyes shut as he watched the piles of stones and wooden fences collapse with the shells.

-Save Rome!

It was difficult to stick his body out from behind the cover due to the hail of bullets along with the thick gray smoke, and while the soldiers were saving their bodies, the Ottoman army passed through the breached walls and poured in.

As the odds tilted in an instant, Philibert smiled helplessly as he watched the soldiers scatter like grains of sand.

“It’s funny.”

That they, who believed in the same religion, were being treated like Satan, and the infidels were being treated like saviors.

Philibert only watched the Ottoman army massacre the Habsburg army fleeing from the walls, and a moment later, a huge sword covered in blood was pointed at his neck.

“Are you the commander?”

“Yes. I am Philibert de Chalon, Prince of Orange. Who are you?”

“I am Murat.”

Philibert, realizing that the person in front of him was a prince, simply lowered his head.

There was no need to say anything more in the face of such a crushing defeat.

***

The siege of Rome ended anticlimactically.

It was not difficult to cross the walls that could not even fulfill their role while dealing with the disorganized rabble who did not let go of the spoils of war in their arms even while running away to survive.

Rather, it was more difficult to find the remnants of the defeated soldiers hiding in various parts of the city.

Of course, thanks to the reports of citizens who had been severely victimized during the past looting and harbored deep grudges, the remnants of the defeated soldiers could be quickly dealt with.

“Is this Rome? Who knows if they are of the same religion. They are disgusting.”

The corpses of men who had been tortured to death like toys were left on the streets, reeking of rot, and there were many women who had been subjected to terrible acts and were half out of their minds.

The magnificent Renaissance architecture was burning, and collapsed buildings were scattered everywhere, and the cathedrals looked like hideous ruins.

Murat spat at the captured enemy.

“…You have taken Rome as planned, but what are you going to do now? Are you going to occupy this place?”

The cardinal, who was born in Rome, could not hide his dismay as he looked at the scenery of Rome, and asked with a bewildered face.

Whether the words of salvation were not empty words, the Ottoman army that entered Rome did not loot at all.

With the cooperation of prisoners and citizens, they began to remove the corpses from the city and provided food to the citizens who were hiding and holding out.

The chaos in Rome quickly subsided, but as a cardinal of the Papal States, this scene itself was unsettling.

“Occupation…”

Murat, who trailed off, said in a firm voice.

“I only follow the orders I receive. That’s not in the orders I received.”

The only person who can give orders to the prince.

The cardinal had to feel uneasy as he recalled the dark-hearted Padishah [Ottoman Sultan] of the Ottomans.

***

“Hasna, when dealing with Christianity, do you know what to be careful of?”

“I don’t know well.”

“A half-hearted persecution is worse than not doing it at all.”

Perhaps because it is a religion that feeds on blood, Christianity grows in size the more it is persecuted.

Many religions overcome persecution, but Christianity was particularly severe in that regard.

Even the Reformation, which started with Lutheranism, was subjected to all kinds of persecution, but it still managed to increase its power.

Religion is a dangerous thing that can swell up even more if you touch it carelessly.

“If we occupy Rome, it may be good in the short term, but the West will feel that it is a persecution of Christianity. After that, it will only be a headache.”

Because they will try to grab the empire’s ankles for decades or hundreds of years.

I have no intention of creating a situation where they cling to me like zombies. No matter how much it is Rome, it is not worth it.

“So, the goal of this is to give religious confusion to the West.”

Which is more of an enemy, an Islamic country or a Christian country?

Is the Lutheranism, to which those who carried out this looting of Rome mainly belong, better than Islam?

I’m going to instill these religious questions.

“To do that, we need to help restore Rome and shake up long-held beliefs.”

It’s a kind of image laundering.

It can be seen as the only opportunity to do it in the heart of Christianity.

Hasna frowned slightly at Yusuf’s words.

“But it feels like a loss to help a city in the Papal States that is not even an imperial city.”

Yusuf smiled deeply at Hasna’s words.

“A loss? What are you talking about? Would I do something that would be a loss?”

Why would I spend money on a city in the Papal States because it’s pretty?

“Charles’ soldiers must have looted hard. Then, if we defeat them, whose are the spoils?”

“Ah.”

Of course, we can’t bring all the spoils back to Osman. If so, the citizens of Rome will see no difference between the Habsburg army and the Ottoman army.

“Instead, it’s up to us to use the spoils to rebuild the city. Isn’t that right?”

Originally, it is best to show off with other people’s money.

The Ottoman fleet carrying materials, including cement, crossed the Mediterranean.

These are items that will be charged a high price according to the local situation.