Chapter 179 Thessaloniki

In the European part under Ottoman rule, the contradiction between the Orthodox Church and the Crescent Church became increasingly acute. When the Ottomans were strong, these places were relatively honest, and with the Ottomans under the banner of multiculturalism, these people accepted their fate. But who could have thought that the reversal would come so quickly.

Wallachia, who shared the same religion, defeated the Ottomans twice in a row and seized a lot of land. The success of the Bukuryesti Conference almost drove the Ottomans out of the Balkans, which strengthened the cohesion of the Orthodox Church. In contrast, the European Crescent Church, which relied on the Ottomans, declined rapidly, but they still had territory at present, so they decided to convert all the residents of this land in the future. They tore off the last fig leaf and carried out a comprehensive conversion movement. Naturally, the local Orthodox Church would not sit idly by, so they rose up in resistance.

Among the towns that resisted, Thessaloniki was the most intense. As the economic center of the Thessaly region, Thessaloniki is the port second only to Constantinople, and its political forces are also the most intense. A few decades ago, there was a gilot movement initiated by the grassroots people, intending to follow the Venetian model and establish a parliamentary state, but it failed in the end.

Since the city-state is not feasible, then return to the embrace of the monarchy, and Wallachia is the best candidate. The Dragon Knights are stationed in Serres. If you ask them for help, they will not ignore it.

"You pagans, when the Sultan comes back from the war, he will definitely kill you all."

"You pagan running dog, you betrayed this place and betrayed God. Now you are shamelessly saying that you want to kill us, you will definitely be punished."

An official wearing Ottoman clothes and speaking Greek started to curse with local residents. The official had just received an order to demolish the two Orthodox churches in Thessaloniki and use the materials to build white houses, which was intolerable to the residents.

"No matter what you think, it's demolished today, come on."

Dozens of Ottoman soldiers began to destroy the church. Seeing this, the residents fought with them directly. The officials saw that the situation was not good, so they called some soldiers and arrested the leaders of the riot.

Such bullying behavior made the residents unbearable. All the believers in the city came, and the officials were outnumbered and were soon arrested.

"Throw this guy out!"

The crowd carried the Ottomans to the nearby harbor, and the official was still swearing. They couldn't stand it and blocked his mouth with rags.

They arrived at the harbor. Because the weather was good today, there were not many ships in the harbor. Seeing this, they threw the Ottomans directly into the water.

Plop, plop, plop, a group of Ottomans did not know how to swim. Some people who were lucky enough to grab the side of the dock would also be beaten down. Soon many people sank to the bottom of the water.

"Help, I can't swim."

"Hey, come and see, the Osman lord can't swim."

Everyone around laughed. It was not easy to have such an opportunity, so naturally they had to laugh at it. In their laughter, the official also died.

This approach has made people angry, but what should they do next?

The citizens did not want to continue living under the oppression of the Ottomans. They wanted to die like men even if they died. They rose up and rebelled against this pagan regime.

They quickly formed a government and announced their independence from the Ottomans. At the same time, they sent envoys to Wallachia to ask for their assistance. And this uprising, like a spark, quickly spread to the surrounding areas.

Speaking of which, the Christian uprisings in the Ottoman territory were not the first or second. Every time the Ottomans were able to successfully suppress them, but in recent years, as the Ottomans' control weakened, they became increasingly unable to cope with the European uprisings. In addition, Bayezid was on the eastern front, and the European army was reduced, so they did not suppress it in the first time.

As the vanguard of recovering lost territory, the Andrew Society and the Dragon Knights decided to send troops without informing Peter. They began to organize the army. The vanguard set out from Serres and arrived in Thessaloniki in less than four days. The local people welcomed these Christian brothers with food and drink.

After the Thessaloniki uprising, the Ottoman European territory was divided into two. The newly conquered land in the west immediately rebelled, and only the eastern region remained stable. Bayezid's last bit of territory expanded in Europe was gone, and everything returned to the situation a few decades ago when the Ottomans had just entered Europe.

The Knights and the Church took over the city, and they began to strengthen the city defense and prepare for the next defense battle. And wrote a letter, first to apologize to Peter for acting without consulting him; second, to ask him to send reinforcements. It was not easy to wait for Thessaloniki, and this opportunity must not be missed.

Some people will ask, what about the Ottoman garrisons and local officials in Europe these days? Did they all jump into the water? Answer: They all ran away.

It's funny. Being an official in a place where Christians are the majority, you might die at any time. Just pack up your property and run away at any time. Anyway, you have made enough.

When Ali Pasha heard the bad news in Bursa, he said nothing but looked at the night sky, where a meteor streaked across the sky, as if foreshadowing the fate of the Ottomans.

He kept the news to himself and ordered the remaining Ottoman European troops to defend the Gallipoli Peninsula. As long as they had Gallipoli, the Ottomans could still enter Europe.

At the same time, Ali Pasha also met with the envoy of Venice and proposed to sell Thessaloniki to him, and also open some cities to do business with Venice.

It was great news that a pagan country was going to increase trade with Venice, but the envoy still submitted it to the Venetian Parliament on the grounds that the matter was too big and needed to be consulted. I believe that the result will come out in a month.

Peter also received letters from the Andre Society and the Knights. To be honest, when he saw them attack Thessaloniki on their own initiative at the beginning, he wanted to disband both of them, but then he thought it was unrealistic. He still had to rely on them to recover the lost territory, and the geographical location of Thessaloniki was too important. With him, Wallachia could face the Aegean Sea directly without any more detours.

"Tell them that I will send people to deliver supplies. I will not pursue this matter for the time being, but if they lose Thessaloniki, they don't have to come back to see me."

Peter's goal was clear. He did not interfere with the missionaries' actions, but he also asked them not to hinder his plans. Even if there were changes, they could not fail, otherwise, it would not be as simple as disbanding.

"God bless you, you'd better hold on, otherwise I will let you know what hell is."