The Rise of Iskander by Benjamin Disraeli — Read

At break of dawn Iskander sent couriers throughout all Epirus, / announcing the fall of Croia, and that he had raised the standard / of independence in his ancient country. He also despatched a trusty / messenger to Prince Nicaeus at Athens, and to the great Hunniades. / The people were so excited throughout all Epirus, at this great and / unthought-of intelligence, that they simultaneously rose in all the open / country, and massacred the Turks, and the towns were only restrained in / a forced submission to Amurath, by the strong garrisons of the Sultan.

Now Iskander was very anxious to effect the removal of these garrisons / without loss of time, in order that if Amurath sent a great power / against him, as he expected, the invading army might have nothing to / rely upon but its own force, and that his attention might not in any way / be diverted from effecting their overthrow. Therefore, as soon as his / troops had rested, and he had formed his new recruits into some order, / which, with their willing spirits, did not demand many days, Iskander / set out from Croia, at the head of twelve thousand men, and marched / against the strong city of Petrella, meeting in his way the remainder of / the garrison of Croia on their return, who surrendered themselves to him / at discretion. Petrella was only one day's march from Croia, and when / Iskander arrived there he requested a conference with the governor, and / told his tale so well, representing the late overthrow of the Turks by / Hunniades, and the incapacity of Amurath at present to relieve him, / that the Turkish commander agreed to deliver up the place, and leave the / country with his troops, particularly as the alternative of Iskander to / these easy terms was ever conquest without quarter. And thus, by a happy / mixture of audacity and adroitness, the march of Iskander throughout / Epirus was rather like a triumph than a campaign, the Turkish garrisons / imitating, without any exception, the conduct of their comrades at / Petrella, and dreading the fate of their comrades at the capital. In / less than a month Iskander returned to Epirus, having delivered the / whole country from the Moslemin yoke.