In Budapest, inside the Royal Palace, Laszlo gathered with his advisors and generals.
Rosenberg's Bohemia, Philip's Burgundy, and the Holy Roman Empire's allied forces had already arrived in Budapest.
The Portugal army would arrive a little later; they had just landed in Croatia and were on their way to Budapest.
Ulrich, Field Marshal Rosenberg, Philip, Archbishop Veszter, the allied commander Field Marshal Albrecht [Achilles], Field Marshal Adolf, and Laszlo Hunyadi were all in the war room, conducting their routine military council.
As soon as the Portugal army arrived, the assembled Crusade would immediately set off, first to Belgrade, then on to Wallachia.
"Your Majesty, a great victory on the front line!" Aeneas burst into the room, waving a report in his hand and shouting loudly.
Even a refined scholar like him could not hide the surging passion in his heart, wishing he could personally take up arms and join the Crusade.
Everyone was stunned; the Crusade hadn't even departed, so how could there already be a great victory on the front line?
Laszlo quickly snatched the paper from Aeneas's hand and carefully read the battle report.
It was written by Janos himself, stating: The main force of the Hungarian Border Guard launched a surprise attack outside Giurgiu, breaking the siege of tens of thousands of Ottoman troops, capturing over two thousand enemies, and killing over ten thousand.
Without exception, all prisoners were impaled by Vlad, and the "Forest of Spikes" outside Giurgiu expanded several times, becoming a veritable "forest."
The bodies of the fallen Ottomans were casually thrown into the Danube River, floating down the river towards the Black Sea, a vast expanse of black bodies drifting on the water.
The main force of the Ottomans Rumelia Inland Fleet was completely annihilated; after Janos personally tallied, he concluded that this battle captured six large warships, a dozen small and medium warships, and over eighty siege cannons and ship cannons left by the Ottomans.
Laszlo's eyes widened, his heart filled with excitement; though he tried his best to maintain a calm expression, such good news made him unable to help but laugh.
"Your Majesty, is it General Janos's report?" Ulrich asked curiously.
"My dear cousin, please read it aloud to everyone."
Laszlo tried hard to suppress the upward curve of his lips; such a great victory, while not enough to severely cripple the Ottomans, would have an inestimable effect on boosting the morale of the Crusade.
Ulrich took the report, quickly scanned it, and his eyes suddenly widened, making everyone even more curious about what good news was written on that paper.
Ulrich did not keep them in suspense and recounted the battle situation of the Giurgiu siege reported by Janos, word for word.
Someone started it, and the generals and field marshals leading the armies all began to applaud; this was a great victory worth commemorating.
It was not only a great achievement in first thwarting the Ottomans but also a good start for this Crusade; it was conceivable that when they left here and spread the news of the great victory on the front line back to their respective armies, the soldiers' fervor and faith would be elevated to a new height.
Ulrich was the first to say, "Congratulations, Your Majesty."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" Everyone followed suit, congratulating Laszlo.
Laszlo waved his hand; though he still couldn't hide his joy, he had calmed down and said to the generals, "Since Janos has completed the first step of our original plan, we only need to proceed according to the plan.
Once the Portugal Crusade arrives, we will proceed to Belgrade, and from there, we will advance in separate routes: one force will go directly to Sofia, the center of the Bulgaria region, to destroy the Ottomans rule in the Balkans, and the main force will advance eastward all the way to the coast of the Black Sea, then move south along the coast to capture Constantinople.
Who is willing to undertake the task of attacking Sofia?"
Everyone looked at each other; everyone who came to participate in the Crusade wanted to earn the reputation of "Liberator of Constantinople."
Now, they were being asked to be a flanking force to capture Sofia, which was clearly not a good assignment, so no one spoke for a moment.
Laszlo's expression darkened slightly; these fellows only thought about personal gain, and when a difficult task arose, no one wanted to take it.
Was he, the Emperor, supposed to personally go and conquer the lands of Bulgaria and Serbia?
After a quick glance around, Laszlo realized that there were indeed not many suitable people for this task.
Philip was the main sponsor of the Crusade; he would certainly lead his army to Constantinople.
Albrecht [Achilles]'s Holy Roman Empire allied army was not a unified entity to begin with; if they were to fight far from him, the Emperor, they might fall apart as they marched.
His own main force certainly couldn't be a flanking force, and Janos's Border Guard was already engaged with the Ottomans on the front lines.
The Portugal, having come from afar, were suitable for this task, but what was their combat strength, and could they undertake the arduous task of advancing into the Balkans?
Laszlo was not certain.
Then, it seemed there was only one answer.
"Rosenberg, I will allocate another three thousand troops to you; you will go and capture Sofia."
"As Your Majesty commands," Rosenberg replied firmly, though he felt a slight disappointment in his heart.
Laszlo was very satisfied; loyalty was truly a good thing, good in that it could make subordinates convince themselves to do things they didn't want to do.
He further instructed, "Be cautious during the march, advance step by step, and guard against ambushes.
Capturing Sofia is not the main objective; delaying the enemy's garrison forces in the Balkans is, as we cannot allow the Ottoman Sultan to gather more troops.
I hope you will not disappoint me."
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" Rosenberg answered loudly, pounding his chest with his hand.
Laszlo nodded slightly; Rosenberg was also an experienced general, so there was no need to worry too much.
No sooner had everyone left than a guard reported that an envoy sent by the Holy See wished to see the Emperor.
Laszlo assumed it was someone sent by the Pope to comfort the army, so he ordered the man to be brought before him.
Soon, a middle-aged clergyman dressed in simple grey cloth and holding a Holy See staff walked in.
"Greetings, esteemed Your Majesty, I am John da Capistrano, sent by the Pope to assist you."
Laszlo scrutinized the clergyman, who claimed to be from the Holy See, from head to toe.
From this man, Laszlo could feel an overflowing religious fervor, yet not a trace of noble demeanor.
He couldn't help but ask, "Logically speaking, the Holy See usually sends Cardinals to assist the Crusade; why this time have they sent a grey-robed clergyman like you?"
His words contained dissatisfaction and a subtle hint of contempt.
Laszlo mistakenly thought that the Pope was being perfunctory with him, not even sending a Cardinal for a Crusade of this scale.
Did he look down on him, the Emperor?
John instantly understood Laszlo's thoughts and quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it was I who repeatedly requested the Pope, and only then did His Holiness agree to send me to assist you."
Laszlo scoffed at this; no matter how one looked at it, the Holy See sending a subordinate monk was far from proper.
"Alright, alright, John, what help can you bring me?"
Laszlo asked casually; he felt that the current situation was already perfect, and perhaps the greatest role of this grey-robed monk would be to silently pray for the Crusade from the rear?
After all, if he were to go to the front lines to boost morale... his status seemed a bit too low, and he probably wouldn't be able to achieve much more.