After nearly a month of siege warfare, the fall of Galata finally led to some significant changes in the war situation.
Although Bayezid had sent reinforcements to Galata three times, each time the scale was relatively small; he was unwilling to let more troops leave his control to defend the dangerous North Bank.
Such concerns were well-founded. After all, Galata was built by the Genoese, who were among the besiegers outside the city, and it lacked natural defenses, strong fortifications, and only had 24 arrow towers along its 3-kilometer-long walls.
The besiegers were even more familiar with the city's defenses than the defenders, allowing the Crusaders to easily find weak points in the walls and launch fierce attacks using various methods.
The difficulty of defending here was undoubtedly much greater than defending Constantinople, and once the city was breached, it was unlikely that the defenders would even have a chance to retreat to the main city on the South Bank.
Ultimately, the fate of the Galata defenders was as he expected: only a small number of lucky soldiers escaped by boat back to Constantinople on the South Bank, while most of the rest were killed, and a small portion became prisoners.
Of course, the Italian army and the Crusader Fleet also paid a price of several thousand casualties to take Galata, but it was all worth it. Compared to the heavy casualties suffered by the Crusaders outside the theodosian walls, their losses seemed much more favorable.
Although Laszlo had not equipped the army in this direction with powerful artillery to attack the walls, engineers from Genoa quickly guided sappers to destroy a long section of the relatively fragile wall by digging deep tunnels and filling them with explosives.
In the subsequent general assault, the Crusaders easily achieved final victory with a massive numerical advantage over the enemy.
Now, the chain was unbound, and the multinational Crusader Fleet sailed grandly into the Golden Horn, anchoring and stationing themselves in the port on the North Bank, observing the Sea Walls of Constantinople across the water.
At this time, beacon fires were lit all along this section of the walls, warning the city and notifying the defenders and residents that the enemy fleet had entered the Golden Horn.
This would undoubtedly further damage the morale of the defenders, as they would now have to face simultaneous attacks from two directions.
However, the high-ranking generals of the Ottoman army had not yet panicked. They still had nearly 20,000 troops, and in addition to the forces defending the theodosian walls, they retained a large number of reserves.
Some of these troops were kept within the inner theodosian walls to organize a second line of defense from the west at any time, while the remaining approximately 7,000 men were transferred to defend the Sea Walls on the northern side of the city.
Galata Port, temporary command post of the Crusader Fleet.
The Admirals of the combined fleet that had entered the Golden Horn were now gathered around a table, intently studying the map laid out, discussing the plan to attack Constantinople with the army generals.
"The situation in the Golden Horn is much better than on the Sea of Marmara; the waves are smaller, and there are many suitable landing spots, so we need to choose carefully."
Admiral Dujam of the Austrian Navy, full of ambition, threw out the first topic.
It is well known that the city of Constantinople can actually be considered built on a miniature peninsula, its overall structure triangular, surrounded by sea on two sides, and the remaining side strongly protected by the theodosian walls.
On the side facing the Sea of Marmara, the Sea Walls are tall and close to the coast, and even the port is enclosed by the Sea Walls. Coupled with the fact that the water conditions of the Sea of Marmara are much rougher than the always calm Golden Horn, this 8-kilometer-long section of the walls is generally easy to defend and difficult to attack.
After several failed attempts, the Crusader Fleet abandoned the idea of a surprise attack on Constantinople from this direction, but a portion of the fleet remained stationed in this direction to disperse the defenders' forces.
However, on the side facing the Golden Horn, the situation was vastly different.
The total length of the Golden Horn walls is similar to the theodosian walls, both over 5,000 meters, but there are no two- or even four-layered walls common to land walls here, only a single layer of Sea Walls. Moreover, this section of the walls is the lowest of all the inner walls of Constantinople, no more than ten meters high.
Compared to the Sea Walls of Marmara, the Golden Horn Sea Walls are shorter, lower, and extend further inland, with the walls about forty meters from the coast, allowing for many suitable landing spots from the sea.
This is also the main reason why, in the nearly one thousand years of Constantinople's history, enemies attacked the city from the Golden Horn during its two falls—it was simply easier to attack here.
"This section of the Sea Walls directly opposite us begins at Cape Saint Demetrius and ends at the Blachernae Walls, which is the section of the walls in the northwest corner of Constantinople currently being attacked by the Hungarian army.
His Majesty's intention is that the main direction of attack should be placed at Blachernae, or at least close to this area, to relieve the pressure on the army during the siege."
Ester, a Guards general who remained on the North Bank, presented the emperor's view to everyone, and it quickly gained the approval of most.
After all, it was rumored that Constantinople's two falls were both due to the Blachernae Walls being breached first. At least during the First Crusade, the Crusaders did indeed penetrate the Eastern Rome defenders' lines from here by both land and sea, and the Ottomans are also said to have discovered the Kerkoporta, the unlatched small gate, in this section of the walls, thus taking the great city.
Whether the latter claim is true is still debated, but what is certain is that the Blachernae Walls are definitely an ideal breakthrough point for besiegers.
"His Majesty's idea is good, of course, but if we can think of it, the Ottomans certainly can too. They will undoubtedly deploy a large number of defensive forces at Blachernae to guard against our surprise attack."
Prince Fernando, commander of the Portuguese fleet, expressed his doubts.
Now, the attention of both sides was almost entirely focused on the Blachernae Walls in the northwest corner of the city. Attacking here would require preparing for heavy losses, so the final decision had to be made with great caution.
"We need to attract the Ottomans to reinforce their defenses in the Golden Horn direction as much as possible through our attacks, so that His Majesty and the main army at the theodosian walls will have a greater chance to break through the Ottoman defenses.
In that case, we can create some false impressions of an impending attack to mislead the Ottomans, then choose a suitable location to launch an attack and break through their defenses.
As long as we can hold even one foothold on the opposite bank, it will be enough to throw the Ottoman army into disarray."
William, the commander of the Italian Crusaders, presented his view.
He hoped to give his army more time to rest and did not want to immediately undertake a difficult siege task.
The Italian army had already paid a considerable price at Galata, and the subsequent attack on Constantinople could not be reckless, even though attacking Constantinople was a rather peculiar experience for him.
As the head of the Italian branch of the Palaeologus family, he had not had many thoughts about this great city, once ruled by his blood relatives. But now he felt that fate had a mysterious way of guiding him to participate in this holy war and reclaim the lost glory of the Palaeologus family.
"In that case, we can hold off on having the army launch an attack; our navy can go first to disrupt the enemy's judgment."
Prince Fernando had led naval landing operations many times, striking fear into the hearts of the Muslims in North Africa, so he quickly came up with a plan.
"Our Portuguese warships, as well as the Austrian warships, are equipped with many cannons that can provide powerful firepower. Using these cannons to threaten the walls can make the Ottomans misjudge."
"Our warships can also be refitted. We just captured some Ottoman cannons a while ago, and now they can be put to good use."
Doria, the commander of the Genoa fleet, immediately agreed.
The Genoa fleet had many large sailing ships capable of transporting troops. They could also install a cannon on the bow to provide fire support for the landing forces.
"Then we will bombard the several city gates near us to draw more Ottoman defenders in this direction.
The army should continue to stand by in Galata, and once the Emperor makes a decision, we will cooperate with the main forces to attack Constantinople from two directions, catching the Ottomans off guard."
Dujam finally presented this decision, and everyone had no objections.
Before the Emperor issued orders announcing the time for the next offensive, the Crusader Fleet played its greatest role.
Over a hundred warships, divided into several sections, sailed towards several important city gates along the Golden Horn Sea Walls.
Before the advent of gunpowder weapons, besiegers would often load catapults onto ships to launch projectiles at the walls, hoping to eliminate defenders on the walls or damage the walls.
However, it was no longer so troublesome. Cannons on ships had almost brought about a qualitative leap in the navy's offensive capabilities.
In the waters outside the Platina Gate in the middle section of the Golden Horn Sea Walls, a battle line composed of Austrian warships slowly advanced parallel to the walls. Upon reaching a suitable position, they furled their sails, stopped rowing, and reduced their speed.
Subsequently, the cannons on board began to roar at the walls. Cannons mounted on the sides of the warships fired shells, some crashing onto the beach, raising large clouds of dust, others hitting the walls or within the city, causing damage to the walls and collapse of buildings.
The Ottoman defenders, who had initially been puzzled by the movements of the Crusader warships, immediately fell into a panic.
Their artillery was not sufficient to supply both the theodosian walls and the Sea Walls simultaneously, so now they had almost no means of retaliation.
Near another section of the Sea Walls, the Portuguese warships also began to pour fire onto the coast.
Several Ottoman ships stationed in a nearby port were forced out by the city's defending general to try and disrupt the Crusader ships' bombardment, but the warships patrolling nearby quickly sent them to the bottom of the sea to feed the fish.
Just as the theodosian walls had experienced in previous weeks, the Golden Horn Sea Walls also began to suffer daily bombardment from the sea.
In the Valley of the Springs near Galata, the coastal battery the Ottomans had set up there, once used to attack Constantinople's Sea Walls, was repurposed by the Crusaders to house cannons once again, bombarding the walls across the water.
The single-layered, rough, and weak Sea Walls were clearly unable to withstand such an assault, and soon parts of them collapsed.
The Ottomans quickly repaired these breaches, but the subsequent continuous bombardment began to create more gaps.
The Crusader Fleet appeared all along the lengthy Sea Walls, as if they could at any moment transport a large group of strong men to the coast and launch a fierce assault on the walls.
For this, the several thousand Ottoman defenders stationed on the Sea Walls had to disperse and remain constantly vigilant, lest the Crusaders from across the Golden Horn exploit any weakness.
During this time, Laszlo commanded the main army in another attack that lasted several days.
This time, the Ottoman defensive strength was noticeably weakened, and the dispersion of forces greatly increased the probability of weaknesses appearing in their defenses.
Many times, Laszlo could even see his banner being planted on the city walls, but it would quickly be pulled down and thrown from the ramparts by arriving Ottoman reserves.
A team of fifteen knights and several seasoned mercenaries held a tower on the outer wall for a full ten minutes after capturing it, only to be forced to retreat from the walls by Ottoman reinforcements.
Laszlo awarded a cross-shaped medal to the four surviving knights from this team and gave them generous rewards, including money, honorary titles, and potentially land in the future.
In addition to these brave warriors witnessed by many soldiers, many other recognized and outstanding warriors received commendations from the Emperor.
This was not limited to Austrian soldiers; warriors from various nations within the entire theodosian walls siege force received awards.
As the Crusaders had already suffered over ten thousand casualties in about a month of siege warfare, to stabilize morale, Laszlo had to leave the main camp daily to visit various siege camps to comfort the wounded, mourn the fallen, and soothe and encourage soldiers traumatized by the war.
Although the continuous siege warfare was undoubtedly cruel for the Crusader soldiers who followed him, it was a necessary measure to deplete the Ottoman strength.
He had to continuously deplete the Ottoman reserves to create an opportunity for the planned general assault later.
Launching an attack simultaneously from land and sea—such an opportunity was unique and could only be launched when the Ottoman defensive forces had been largely depleted for the final attack.
If the general assault failed, even with Laszlo's high prestige among the Crusaders, the morale of the Crusaders would not recover.
By then, winter would arrive, and perhaps this grand siege of Constantinople would meet an outcome that no one wanted to see.
In November, the beacon fires of Constantinople burned brighter and brighter, with both sides engaging in extensive offensive and defensive clashes around the theodosian walls. The Crusader Fleet maintained continuous artillery bombardment of the Golden Horn Sea Walls from the sea. Finally, during one bombardment using two heavy stone-throwing cannons from the Austrian flagship genoa, a large section of the walls near the Platina Gate collapsed.
This news was quickly relayed back to the Crusader camp and interpreted by the priests as a sign, a premonition that the Ottoman defenses were about to be breached.
As time went on, this grand and costly siege operation gradually approached its end.