Marvellous stories are told of the fountains, baths, gardens, and other
appliances of Oriental luxury with which the vizier surrounded himself
in this magnificent tent.
Two days after the arrival of the Turkish host the trenches were opened,
the cannon placed, and the siege of Vienna began. For more than two
centuries the conquerors of Constantinople had kept their eyes fixed on
this city as a glorious prize. Now they had reached it, and the thunder
of their cannon around its walls was full of threat for the West. Vienna
once theirs, it was not easy to say where their career of conquest would
be stayed.
Fortunately, Count Ruediger was an able and vigilant soldier, and
defended the city with a skill and obstinacy that baffled every effort
of his foes. The Turks, determined on victory, thundered upon the walls
till they were in many parts reduced to heaps of ruins. With incessant
labor they undermined them, blew up the strongest bastions, and laid
their plans to rush into the devoted city, from which they hoped to gain
a glorious booty.
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