At this time, Suleiman, a member of the militia, was resting in a tavern in Theodosia.
Seizing this opportunity, he began to analyze the subtle but important changes in the city:
"The military training requirements for city residents are now very similar to those for the militia.
They even started encouraging bakers, barbers, and other groups who were exempt from military service to participate in military training.
The military exercises for the militia have become much stricter; previously, during the 14 hours of daylight, militiamen only needed to complete 4 hours of work to do their own things, but now the training time has been increased to 6 to 8 hours.
"Moreover, in recent days, the movements of Tatars and muslims in the city have also been controlled.
Those with negative records were subjected to surprise searches by the night watchmen every few days, especially the muslim Tatars who had lived north of the Crimean Mountains.
It seems they really caught some individuals with ill intentions.
Fortunately, my record is clean, and my character is unblemished, otherwise, I would have been kicked out of the militia in January."
"It seems something big is coming.
But it's also an opportunity." Thinking of this, a strange light seemed to appear in Suleiman's eyes.
Just as Theodoro was preparing for the north, in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, an 8-year siege was about to end.
Before Murad II inherited the title of Ottoman Sultan, his father, Muhammad I, maintained good relations with the Eastern Roman Empire, which had supported him in the civil war.
In gratitude for this support, Muhammad I specifically returned Thessaloniki, the co-capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, to the Basileus Manuel II.
However, after Murad II ascended to the throne, he immediately changed his policy and began to target the Empire, for example, in 1422 he attempted to besiege Constantinople.
After the failed siege, to avoid returning empty-handed, he instead sent troops to besiege Thessaloniki.
How could the then-weak Empire hold Thessaloniki?
After the first round of siege, due to widespread discontent and low morale, Andronikos Palaiologos, the Despot of Thessaloniki, had no choice but to consult Constantinople and decide to sell the city to the Venetians in 1423 for 50,000 ducats.
Coincidentally, the Venetian Doge who took office at that time, Francesco Foscari, who later allied with Theodoro, was an out-and-out radical expansionist.
As a hawk, he immediately accepted Andronikos's request and his proposed terms.
Finally, after 7 months, the Most Serene Republic of Venice took over the city.
After Venice took over Thessaloniki, the Ottoman siege came to a temporary halt, and Venice took advantage of this lull to purge the nobles in Thessaloniki who had actively contacted the Ottoman, attempting to use the city to seek high positions in the Sultanate.
Although after the first round of siege, most of Thessaloniki's nobles had already fled to the Ottoman with their families, old and young, and valuables.
Although Thessaloniki changed hands, Murad II had no intention of accepting this situation.
In 1424, negotiations between the two sides broke down, and Murad II declared: "This city is my paternal inheritance.
My grandfather, Bayezid, took her from the Romans by his strength.
If the Romans had defeated me, they would have reason to exclaim: 'He is unjust!' But you are Latins from Italy, why do you intrude into these places?
You are free to leave, but if you do not, I will advance and destroy you." ① Therefore, the Ottoman continued to besiege Thessaloniki.
By 1430, the Ottoman siege of Thessaloniki had lasted for eight years.
However, before this, the Ottoman siege was more of a blockade than an active assault, so Venice could maintain the city's supplies with their invincible naval power.
But this time it was different.
"This is the first time such an intense offensive has occurred; it seems the Ottoman are determined to capture Thessaloniki this time." Andrea Mocenigo, one of the Venetian navy's Generals, sighed on the city wall on a late February evening.
"Yes, but we cannot be defeated.
If we lose this time, it will be as if we have handed over this city to the Turks, and then the trade of the Most Serene Republic's merchants in the Eastern Mediterranean will be hit, and communication with Tana, a Black Sea coastal city, will become difficult.
Our family's prestige will be damaged, the glory of St. Mark will be tarnished, and the Christians in this city, whether Catholic or orthodox, will be harmed.
We will be recorded as losers in the histories of the infidels.
Whether for us, for the Republic, or for the Lord, Thessaloniki must be held." Antonio Diedo, sent by the Venetian Senate, said this.
To withstand the Ottoman siege, he led a squadron of 3 galleys to reinforce, but with little effect.
"Damn Giovanni Crispo, this good-for-nothing not only failed to hold the defensive line he should have held, but under the threat of the Ottoman, he turned around and helped the enemy threaten our supplies," cursed Andrea Donato, the second-in-command.
He was referring to Giovanni II Crispo, Duke of Naxos.
Naxos, as a vassal of Venice, should at least remain neutral if not provide support, but this incompetent good-for-nothing, under the threat of the Ottoman army, actually defected to the Ottoman side to help the enemy besiege them!
"If Archbishop Symeon were still alive, it would be better," sighed Paolo Contarini, the leader of the Venetian mercenaries, a man past his prime, lowering his head.
He was referring to Symeon of Thessaloniki, the Archbishop of the Thessaloniki orthodox Church, who had passed away last year.
It was the presence of that old man that barely held the scattered people together.
If Symeon had not repeatedly rallied the people in public speeches, these Venetians would have long since been tied up by the Greek orthodox populace of the city and offered to the Ottoman due to their abysmal military discipline.
It sounds quite ridiculous; the Venetians had promised in the original agreement to guarantee the basic livelihood of the orthodox in Thessaloniki, but by the winter of 1426, the besieged city was in a state of famine, forcing residents to subsist on bread alone, and even then, there was a severe shortage.
Therefore, the Venetian authorities were forced to transport more wheat from Venice itself.
The extreme destitution, death, and poverty made the Greek populace of Thessaloniki increasingly uneasy, and even those who had initially welcomed Venice began to waver.
The lack of food even endangered the city's military defense: many mercenary guards, paid with Venetian wheat rather than cash, would defect to the Turks if their rations were delayed.
This situation grew worse and worse, until now, in 1430, during the Ottoman General offensive, many soldiers even pawned their weapons for food to stave off hunger.
"How can such a city be defended?" Donato covered his face and wept at the thought of the widespread starvation in the city.
"It's alright, as long as the entire Venetian navy launches an attack, everything will be fine," Mocenigo reassured to boost morale.
As he spoke, the roar of cannons echoed from the Ottoman positions outside the city, as if the city walls would be shattered at any moment.
"Your Excellency Mocenigo, there's something I want to tell you." Diedo pulled him to a watchtower where no one could overhear them and delivered a tragic message: "I just received word that the proposal from the Council of Ten's hawk, Count Soriano, which I informed you about last time—to deploy a fleet of 14 ships and adopt more decisive policies against the Ottoman Empire—has been rejected by the Senate.
We are on our own."
This news was like a bolt from the blue, striking Mocenigo's head.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, dazed.
"Because I only found out a few days ago," Diedo said dejectedly.
"Is it still not too late for us to retreat?"
"Calm down, Your Excellency is the General.
Besides, as long as it's not the Ottoman Janissaries launching the attack, there's still a chance."
"A slim chance, right?
Speaking of which, where is Karaman?
Where is Shah Rukh?
Where is White Sheep?
Where is Cyprus?
Where is Trabzon?
Where is Theodoro?"
"Ibrahim II Bey of Karaman has just been warned by the Ottoman; the Mamluk have also concluded an agreement with the Ottoman to jointly resist Christian forces in the Eastern Mediterranean, so Cyprus cannot be relied upon either; Shah Rukh stopped in the Azerbaijan mountains and did not move, seemingly having reached an agreement with the Ottoman; as for the Aq Qoyunlu Dynasty, what need is there to seek help from a country without a coastline?
As for Trabzon and Theodoro, these two small orthodox nations look like they can barely protect themselves; they are not foolish, how could they actively become chicken feed for the Ottoman?"
"What if we go to the Basileus in Constantinople and ask him to mediate?"
"You don't even remember how Thessaloniki fell into our Venetians' hands in the first place. If he mediates, either Thessaloniki will become an Ottoman city, or Constantinople and Thessaloniki will both be violently assaulted by the Ottoman." Dido looked at the panic-stricken General before him, feeling utterly helpless.
"Damn it, those useless fools in the Senate! They'd rather spend 60,000 ducats a year on defending Thessaloniki than 10,000 ducats to raise an army to break the siege!"
"That's how the Republic is."
At these words, both fell completely silent, only able to stare at each other. But whether they were talking or silent, the artillery fire from the enemy lines never ceased.
"Let's talk to them one last time." Finally, Mocenigo made this decision.
"Alright," Dido no longer argued with him, but instead accepted his decision and comforted him, "Don't worry, Your Excellency, I also brought a new type of weapon recently introduced by the Governor's Office. With them, even the Janissaries might not be invincible."
"I hope so." Mocenigo held little hope for this; a losing battle could not be salvaged by a new weapon.
The next day, the Venetian defenders proactively initiated one last peace talk, hoping the Ottoman would make concessions after gaining sufficient advantages. During the negotiations, the Venetians repeatedly made one core point: "Shhh, can we make peace?"
And the Ottoman's reply was straightforward: "Peace is possible, leave Thessaloniki." At least, the Ottoman General, Beylerbey Sinan Pasha, stated this.
The peace talks thus ended inconclusively. Less than a week later, the Ottoman launched their final General assault on Thessaloniki.
It was late February, and to ensure the capture of Thessaloniki, Ottoman Sultan Murad II personally oversaw the campaign. He seemed to have anticipated that the mere appearance of his army would compel the city to surrender, or that the orthodox population would spontaneously rise up against the Venetian garrison. Under these circumstances, he first sent Christian officers to the city walls to call on the residents to surrender, but they were driven off by archers on the ramparts before they could finish speaking. The Sultan then began preparations for the assault, which lasted three days. On the 28th, Murad II again issued a demand for surrender, but it was again refused; that same evening, Donato personally reported to Mocenigo that the Turks had prepared six carracks at the mouth of the Vardar River to counter the Venetian fleet in the harbor. With all available forces concentrated on the city walls, there was no strength to defend against these large ships. However, to prevent a mutiny among the citizens and soldiers, they did not inform most people of this.
Around midnight, Christians from the Ottoman camp approached the walls, announcing that a final land and sea assault would be launched the next day. This news quickly spread throughout the city, terrifying the residents, who rushed into churches to keep a restless vigil. Seeing this, Dido, with a premonition, led his fleet to retreat to the harbor. After this news spread, panic intensified. Without any further information, the people of Thessaloniki believed that Venice was preparing to abandon them and flee the city, resulting in some locally conscripted defenders simply abandoning their positions on the walls and returning to their homes.
At dawn on March 1, 1430, the Ottoman launched their attack under the command of Rumelia Beylerbey Sinan Pasha, with Sultan Murad II himself leading the charge. They brought siege engines, ladders, and planks, using them to breach the walls; during this, Ottoman archers played a crucial role, as they were able to suppress the defenders and strike many who tried to peek from behind the battlements, causing most of the defenders' counterattacks to be blind shots.
But the defenders did not sit idly by; although most of their counterattacks were futile, a group of soldiers using new firearms provided by the Governor's Office achieved remarkable results: their slender, cannon-like firearms, later known as muskets, even when fired blindly, consistently penetrated the armor of Ottoman soldiers, and even the Janissaries, causing one Ottoman soldier after another to fall.
However, the losing trend could not be reversed by a few inexperienced musketeers. As Sinan Pasha roared, "Allah is Great! Long Live the Sultan! Ghazi Warriors, charge!" The Ottoman soldiers, surging like a tide, quickly overwhelmed the defenders. Finally, in the fourth hour of the siege, the Ottoman army along the walls had successfully breached several points. The first Ottoman troops climbed the almost undefended eastern wall. The Venetian defenders finally completely collapsed, fleeing to the harbor as best they could. Many managed to escape onto Dido's ships and then sailed to other Venetian territories in the Eastern Mediterranean. But most were not so lucky: over 270 Venetian crew members from the galleys alone were lost, including high-ranking officials such as the son of Duke Paolo Contarini and the captain of one of the galleys.
When these refugees arrived in Venice, the Venetian Consul in Negroponte sent a letter to Venice providing detailed information about the siege. Upon returning to Venice, the two former Venetian commanders stationed in Thessaloniki, Andrea Mocenigo and Andrea Donato, were accused of negligence and imprisoned. Although they were acquitted and reinstated in military and political circles less than six months later.
Subsequently, the Ottoman, following their usual custom for cities that resisted for a long time, plundered the city for three days. The old, young, women, and children within the city were all massacred, and churches were extensively converted into mosques. According to the accounts of the historian John Anagnostes, who personally witnessed all of this, over 7,000 residents were captured and sold in slave markets in the Balkans and Anatolia, although many of them were later ransomed by the Serbian Despot Branković. Many of the city's ancient monuments suffered severe damage during this looting, especially the Church of St. Demetrius—the Crescent Sect soldiers ransacked its precious contents and hidden treasures. Even though it was later ordered by the Sultan himself to be returned to the Christians, it was already in a dilapidated state. The damage to the city's ancient monuments was further exacerbated when the Sultan ordered marble sections to be stripped and taken to Edirne, the then Ottoman capital, to pave bathhouses.
It was not until the fourth day that Sultan Murad personally entered the city and prayed in the first mosque in Thessaloniki, which had been converted from an orthodox church. He then declared the restoration of order, expelled the soldiers occupying residents' homes, and returned the properties to their original owners. However, after the looting, only 2,000 residents survived in the city, most of whom later converted to Islam. The Sultan then quickly took measures to repopulate the city: he promised that any residents who returned to live in the city would have their property returned to them, and in some cases, he would personally ransom captives. In addition, the Sultan also settled muslims and Christians from other parts of Macedonia, confiscating many empty houses and giving them to settlers. The Turks mainly settled in the Upper City so that they could better control the city, just as they had done in previously Christian-dominated cities.
"In early March of 1430, Thessaloniki wailed and wept. As a witness to all this, a former Ottoman captive, I personally saw all this tragic suffering. Even though I can now sleep peacefully in my manor in Thessaloniki, I often recall those nightmarish events. Thank the Holy Father, thank the glorious Basileus, if not for our great 'Restorer of the World,' who knows how many more years this city would have languished in the hands of infidels." Many years later, the historian John Anagnostes, now a member of the Imperial Senate, wrote this at the end of his monograph, "On the Final Fall of Thessaloniki."
P.S.: This chapter's reference material: The monograph "On the Final Fall of Thessaloniki" by the historian John Anagnostes (Anagnostes, meaning Reader) in official history.