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244 DESTEUCTION OF THE GEEEK EMPIEE was the Achilles' heel of the city. There, with Halil Pasha under him, were his head-quarters. His lofty tent of red and gold 1 was pitched about a quarter of a mile from the walls on a small knoll, which is described as opposite the Adrianople Gate and also as opposite that of Eomanus. His tent was surrounded by those of the invincible Janis- saries who, with other chosen troops, constituted his body- guard and occupied the same valley. The Turkish army extended in front of the entire length of the landward walls. The Turks had dug a trench for their own defence in front of the whole of their line, and had placed a wooden palisade upon the earth thus dug out. This was quite near the edge of the foss itself and was pierced at intervals, so that, while it protected the besiegers, it also allowed them to keep up a constant fire on the besieged. 2 On the Marmora the walls were to be watched by the fleet under Baltoglu from the southern end of the landward walls, round the present Seraglio Point as far as Neorion, which was near the end of the boom. The main object of the fleet was, however, to force an entry into the harbour, and for this purpose to capture or destroy the ships at the boom, an object which Baltoglu attempted to attain from the very commencement of the siege. 3 The city was thus under attack on two sides, the third — namely, that looking over the Golden Horn — protected by the boom, was for the present inaccessible to the Turkish fleet. The difficulty of determining the number and disposition of Mahomet's cannon opposite the landward walls arises from the fact that the position of several of them was changed and that their numbers possibly varied. Phrantzes mentions fourteen batteries along the length of the wall, each containing four guns. Barbaro speaks of nine bat- teries. Montaldo says that the Turks had in all two hundred guns or ' torments.' 4 Each of the nine batteries was strengthed by the addition of a heavy gun. Critobulus 1 Chalcondylas, p. 95, Ven. edition. 3 Crit. xxviii., and Barbaro. 2 Ibid. p. 159. 4 Ch. xxvii.