Eagle’s Glory

"But I believe it will be easier than you think to crush them, because fate has forsaken them."

Theodoros-Kolokotronis has become extremely eccentric.

If other young people said such words in front of him, he would only regard it as a rude rhetoric who did not know the sky and the earth, but the young man in front of him had a kind of confidence that he felt incredible.

You know, his opponents are tsars and kings... These behemoths can easily command hundreds of thousands of troops, and even a little finger can crush him.

Either he's close to insane, or he's already insane - Theodoros thought to himself.

However, only a lunatic can do great things.

Think of his father, who had already made a name for himself in his twenties, commanded tens of thousands of troops to swept Italy, conquered Egypt, staged a coup d'état and dominated the whole of France at the age of 30, and made the whole of Europe tremble for the next ten years... ... This kind of brilliant performance, I am afraid only a lunatic would dare to imagine it.

Perhaps there is indeed something passed down through the blood.

"Then I hope to live to see the day they are knocked down..." Theodoros calmed down, then replied with a smile, "This must be a very interesting drama for me, no better than your father before. The ones that were staged were worse."

"You will see that one by one they will be washed away by the torrent, fall off the stage, and then enter the corner where no one cares," Aegron replied proudly.

Although it looks like he is talking nonsense, Aigron knows that he is not talking big, because historically speaking, there are indeed few European kings on the stage who have good fortunes——

The current King of France, Charles X, fell in a hurry in the July Revolution of 1830. He lost his throne and was forced to go into exile in England, where he died in a foreign land; the current Russian Tsar Nicholas I, historically suffered a disastrous defeat in the Crimean War. He died of depression (rumored to have been poisoned); the current King George IV, also criticized for his feud with the government, died in 1830.

Fate indeed no longer favors them.

And he, so young and vigorous, like the rising sun, how could he be afraid of them?

Seeing the young man's self-satisfaction, Theodoros also felt a little terrifying. He was speechless for a while, just walking with Aigron among the ruins of the ancient city of Sparta.

After a long time, he seemed to have sorted out his thoughts, so he spoke again.

"It is said that you are determined to form your own army? According to the news I received, it seems that many people have come to defect to you."

"Yes." Aigron nodded without any hesitation, "I think I need an army that obeys my orders in order to fight the Turks, I am not satisfied with simply being a donor, it is not enough for me. "

Although he did not make it clear, Theodoros also understood what he meant.

It seems that this young man is richer than he imagined, even while supporting himself with huge sums of money, he can actually expand his army on the other side.

"So, how many people are you going to recruit with us?" he asked again.

"Don't worry, I have promised before, I don't plan to recruit everywhere and affect your recruitment - I will only recruit some Greeks based on needs." Aigron replied with a smile, "I can't make an accurate estimate yet. How many people can I recruit, but I think even in the best case scenario, it's only a few thousand."

In Aegron's view, only when he has collected enough Bonaparte family supporters will he consider recruiting local people accordingly, so adding up to his existing knights, a few thousand people are enough.

Thousands of people... Theodoros thought silently for a moment.

He has been in battle for a long time, and of course he knows that even a few thousand people may play a decisive role in a battle, but in terms of scale, this really does not threaten his conscription. So he was relieved.

"In this regard, you have complete freedom, and I will never interfere with your actions." So, after thinking for a while, he made a promise, "As long as we fight for the freedom and independence of our nation, I will not interfere. It doesn't matter if the soldiers are fighting under your command or mine. I can also guarantee that you can have complete freedom of movement, I will never interfere with your command, you can use your power freely, as long as it is used in It's enough to fight our enemies."

Since the other party has fully agreed to his own request, of course Theodoros Kolokotronis also knew that he should reciprocate, so he also adopted a very cooperative attitude.

However, he still added, "However, although I don't doubt your wisdom and courage, I have to advise you that you are still too young and have no military experience at all, even if your comprehension ability No matter how strong you are, it will take time to learn and accumulate, so I suggest you use your power carefully and refer to the advice of experienced people around you - please remember that as a commander, you must be responsible for your subordinates. life is responsible."

Seeing the other party's statement like this, Aigron was also very happy.

"To tell you the truth, my assistants also advised me in the same way." He replied with a smile, "Please rest assured, I can clearly recognize my own shortcomings, and I will never have a fever and waste my subordinates indiscriminately. their strength."

Now that both sides have reached a tacit understanding on the most important issues, there is nothing to worry about next.

"Then let's assign the next tasks, shall we?" he suggested.

"How do you want to distribute?" Theodoros immediately asked back.

"My opinion is - you continue to be responsible for attracting the attention of the Turks, and I will trouble them elsewhere." Because he had an idea in his mind, Aigron directly proposed. "I think the news of my coming to Greece must have been known to the grown-ups in Istanbul long ago, and they must not have liked my name... So once I show up somewhere and fight them, they will anger and unease, and our side will immediately gain momentum."

"It makes sense." Theodoros nodded calmly, "Then where exactly do you plan to build your reputation?"

Aigron didn't answer immediately, then turned to look at the monument next to him, then raised his head and looked at the blue sky in the distance.

"I, want to complete Byron's unfinished legacy." Then, he replied leisurely.

"Byron's legacy?"

After listening to Edmund Dantes' translation, Theozoros looked shocked and doubted his ears.

He believed that on such occasions, the other party would never joke casually, but this sentence sounded too much like a joke.

"As far as I know, before Byron died, he planned to lead the soldiers he recruited to attack the Nafpaktos fortress." Fortunately, his consternation did not last long, and Aigron came to an explanation, "Although the poet's wish did not come true due to various accidents, I think it is a very good idea and worth a try."

Since he came to Greece, Byron has always been fighting for the cause of Greece's independence. He recruited troops, but the Greek troops recruited at first only wanted his money, made various unreasonable demands and refused to obey him. , and as a result, he couldn't bear to disband the troops.

Later, he used his capital, sold the family manor, and spent a lot of money to re-recruit professional sergeants. By March 1824, he finally formed a new army with 30 officers and 200 soldiers.

After forming this army, he assembled them in Methorongion, and then he drew up a battle plan to take them to attack the Nafpaktos fortress controlled by the Ottoman army. In order to achieve this goal, Byron Also specially hired technical experts in artillery, and intends to personally command.

However, before the expedition was launched, he fell ill because of the rain. To make matters worse, the doctor used bloodletting therapy on him according to the popular European practice at the time. It got worse and he eventually lost his life.

It is probably the poet's eternal regret that he died before his apprenticeship.

Of course, Aegron's reference to Byron's legacy was not just to imitate the poet in a boring way. On the contrary, although the poet's ideas are often wild, there is nothing wrong with the plan itself.

The fortress of Nafpaktos is the fortress of Lepanto in Italian. This place is across the sea from the Peloponnese, and the sea is very narrow. As long as you control this place, you can guard the Gulf of Corinth.

And holding the Gulf of Corinth, it means being able to unimpeded the sea west of Greece.

In the not-so-distant Middle Ages, around this sea area, the Western Christian coalition (Spain, Venice, etc.), under the command of Prince Don Juan, the illegitimate son of the Habsburg family, fought against the Turkish fleet of Ali Pasha in 1571. The epic battle of Lepanto Lepanto.

In this battle, the Turkish Navy lost 25,000 people and the Christian coalition lost 15,000 people. This was an unprecedented battle in the history of naval warfare.

Although it paid a heavy price, the Christian coalition also won an unprecedented victory, which severely thwarted the mighty arrogance of the Turkish Empire at that time. Tang Juan also became famous for a while and became the protagonist of countless poems and plays.

By the way, Cervantes, the later world-famous writer and author of "Don Quixote", was also involved in this naval battle in the Spanish fleet at that time and was disabled.

At that time, the Turkish Empire simultaneously operated a vast army and navy, peeking over the Christian world in the interior of Europe, ready to launch an unstoppable march to conquer the entire continent.

However, with the passing of the Middle Ages, the feuds of Turkey, Venice and Spain fell into irreversible decline at the same time, the importance of the Mediterranean trade also declined, and the rise of Western European powers, the Turks lost the opportunity to compete with them. Interest, the Turkish Navy has also declined with the increasing financial embarrassment of the empire-correspondingly, the empire has paid less attention to the Nafpaktos fortress and the Gulf of Corinth, and most of the original defense forces have also disappeared.

However, although the value of the Nafpaktos fortress has been reduced, it is not enough to affect the historical trend, and there is no huge navy to use it to guard it; but its own important geographical location is still there, Byron's conception There's nothing wrong -- if anything, it's that he's too confident in his rabble.

Byron died in 1824, and now it is 1827. Only three years have passed, and the situation in Greece is a little more critical, but Aegron still feels that the poet's ideas can be used as a reference.

Under the gaze of Theodoros Kolokotronis, Aigron methodically stated his considerations.

"Now I don't have the ability to fight them decisively, but this doesn't mean I have to stay put. On the contrary, the more I dare to show my sword, the more famous I can be—"

"Then what's next? If you really do it, what are you going to do next?" Theodoros Kolokotronis asked abruptly.

"Then I'll act accordingly," replied Aegron. "If the Turks don't take it seriously, then I'll keep marching until they find themselves humiliated; if they send men to attack me, then I'll Just try to fight against them, and fight if you can win; if the opponent's strength is too strong, then I won't be willing to fight, I will retreat directly, at least I will help you share the pressure."

Theodoros Kolokotronis listened silently, and only nodded slightly after he finished speaking.

"It seems that you are indeed as awake as you said, and since that's the case, then I won't say much more, you can just do what you think--Finally, I just remind you that everything is said. It’s easier said than done, no matter how good a concept is, once it is implemented in the real world, there will always be many accidents, so you should think more about everything, and think of ways to deal with any unexpected situation, so as not to be in a hurry.”

Then, he opened his arms again and put his arms around the young man's shoulders, "Young man, although you still have things you don't understand, I believe that with your wisdom, as long as you give you enough time and proper exercise, then You will eventually grow into a big man who is far from me. I deeply know that the mission that God has given to everyone is different, and the mission you carry is much heavier than mine. I wish you all the best and wish God gives us victory."

"I wish you all the best, and may God grant us victory." Aigron also hugged each other.

In this way, the meeting of the two parties ended successfully. For the two collaborators, they were very satisfied with the result - and then, it was up to God to decide.