Chapter 192 Times Make Heroes

"Hurry, hurry up!"

In Smederevo, some citizens watched Wallachian soldiers take away the nobles who were dominating the city. They didn't care where they were going, but according to the Grand Duke's decree issued by the new mayor, they would not have to pay taxes in the next few years. This was a great boon for them who were deeply oppressed by the nobles, monarchs and the Catholic Church.

"We can also rest for a few years without having to endure various taxes."

A businessman said to others nearby that they had to pay more than a dozen taxes a year, and it would be good to have a little surplus. Now that Wallachia is directly tax-free, they have to support the Grand Duke.

"Let's go to Niš in a few days. I heard that life there is pretty good."

"Yeah"

After Wallachia took control of Smederevo, it began to gradually transform it. The Catholic Church was squeezed by the Orthodox Church, and a large amount of land belonged to the Wallachian nobles and the Grand Duke. But the lives of farmers and citizens are much better, at least they don't have to worry about the east.

Replacing the nobles with bureaucrats for local governance will be a bumpy process, including integration and assimilation, which will take time, possibly more than a decade or even hundreds of years.

It is easy to conquer the world but difficult to rule the world. Although Wallachia chose bureaucracy and centralization, it was not smooth sailing in the process of implementing reforms. In Niš and Skopje, some local nobles revolted, and some serfs rebelled because they were overwhelmed by the application of monetary rent. If the garrison had not been quickly dispatched, Wallachia should have been in flames.

However, after the initial pain, Wallachia has begun to rejuvenate. The self-employed farmers and the citizen class expanded rapidly, the examination system was initially stable, and everything was developing in a good direction.

The most fundamental thing is that Wallachia has taken up the banner of Orthodoxy. Integrate the Balkans together, and don't mention Bulgarians, Serbs, and Greeks, dilute these national consciousness, and avoid future divisions.

Wallachia also portrayed itself as the great savior of the Orthodox Church and the heir of the Roman Empire by absorbing the culture of the Eastern Roman Empire, especially the so-called historians found by the Grand Duke, who searched the library of Constantinople and the collection rooms of Wallachia throughout the country, linking Wallachia with the Roman Empire. This prepared for the inheritance of the legacy of the Roman Empire.

Who can't forge documents? The Habsburgs could forge the great privilege, but Bartlan couldn't? At this time, even if it was forged, they would believe it was true.

Since it is the heir of the Roman Empire, it must also take the responsibility of fighting against pagans. Anatolia, the Levant, Jerusalem, and Egypt have suffered from the pain of pagan rule, and Wallachia is needed to save them. At the same time, large tracts of land and markets can also meet the needs of domestic nobles and merchants. Coupled with the sacred mission of the Orthodox Church, it is a domestic consensus that Wallachia replaces Constantinople.

There are many refugees from the upper reaches of the Danube. They are all bankrupt farmers and craftsmen. In order not to be exploited by the nobles, they can only immigrate to Transylvania and Wallachia, forming a very large wave of immigration. The floating population is expected to account for one-third of Hungary.

The turmoil in Hungary gave Poland an opportunity. Władysław has always wanted to restore the Polish-Hungarian Union. The turmoil in neighboring countries gave him an opportunity. But Wallachia can make him do what he wants. He then flirted with the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Knights. The Knights wanted to obtain the area in the middle reaches of the Vistula River, so they had friction on the border, which made it impossible for Władysław to spare his energy.

The next target is still the East, with Anatolia and the Ukrainian Plain as the target. Wallachia will launch a more fierce attack, and I don’t know if the other side is ready.

————Dividing line————

Timur mobilized a large number of troops, including musketeers and war elephants, but the main assault force was cavalry. Under the leadership of the famous general Timur, Timur's army captured several cities and fought all the way to Sivas.

Timur, the attacker, saw that the Ottoman army had arrived early and had the advantage of terrain. Although he had an advantage in terms of manpower, the battle-hardened Timur decided to use the high mobility of Timur's army to bypass the defense line and attack from the south. At the same time, in order to lure the Ottoman army to the plain for a decisive battle, Timur ordered the army to ignore the Ottoman army and just face off and leave. As expected, Bayezid was fooled. In fact, Bayezid a few years ago would not be fooled by such a trick, but at this moment, Bayezid, who was overwhelmed by the upcoming victory and exhausted his fighting spirit and energy by the comfortable life of wine and sex, immediately broke camp and followed closely.

At this time, Bayezid had nearly 100,000 troops, most of which were reorganized from other emirates. There are also 20,000 Turkish mercenaries, with a total of nearly 120,000 troops. Timur's army is slightly smaller than Bayezid's, and I don't know how this genius general will deal with it.

Just like in his previous life, Timur lured Bayezid to Ankara. The terrain here is open, which is very suitable for Timur's archers to play, and Bayezid has prepared everything, although his orders have exhausted the soldiers.

The next morning, both sides were in formation. Timur divided his horse archers into four groups, one in the center, two on the flanks and one in reserve, with his elephants placed in the vanguard. Bayezid had a strong center with archers in front, Janissaries in the second line, Sipahi cavalry in reserve, Crimean light cavalry on the left, and Anatolian and Tatar mercenaries on his right. Bayezid hoped that his flanks in defensive positions would hold out until he could counterattack with his center.

Timur moved his wings forward, leaving his center behind. The battle began when the Ottoman left was attacked by enemy cavalry. But they managed to stop Timur and inflict heavy casualties.

Timur launched another larger attack. This time trying to outflank them, but the left wing held its ground. At the same time, Timur's left wing attacked the Ottoman right wing, which was commanded by Prince Suleiman. Timur also sent his central army forward to fight with Bayezid's Guards.

However, some Turkish mercenaries turned to attack the Ottoman army directly. It turned out that they changed their allegiance and directly served Timur. This made the situation of the Ottoman Empire somewhat unfavorable.

However, thanks to the large number of Ottoman troops and the failure of conquering the Christian world, the remaining Sipahis and Janissaries were tightly united around the Sultan, so the morale decline and being divided and surrounded did not occur. The two sides fought for a whole day without any results.