king of ros

Chapter 508 Battle of the Empire
The war in the distance was turbulent, but in the imperial capital, Rostislav left the city and returned with a huge gold and silver relic and privilege treaty.

For Rostislav, the story in the imperial capital is over, and the next thing to do is to return to Kyiv to think about how to spend the money, and more funds can be invested in some long-term affairs.

And the story of the imperial capital will not end because of Rostislav's departure. On the contrary, with the return of the Grand Duke of Kyiv, who is like a player who has crossed the river, all parties have become active, and various conspiracies and battles have also begun. more up.

Compared with that time, Rostislav's team had fewer people, roughly 5000 people, and the reason why these people didn't leave was simple, they were going to serve as mercenaries for Alexios.

During Rostislav's expedition, there were always various people who were dissatisfied with what they got. Falling in value, or simply wanting more wealth and glory.

So they responded to Rostislav's call, took a sum of money from the Grand Duke of Ross, and then became mercenaries of the Greek emperor.

Alexios filled the exterminated Varangian guard with these northerners and rebuilt the legendary ranks.

The gold and silver knives and axes stained with blood now have new owners, and northern soldiers wearing golden armor can be seen everywhere for a while, but it is a pity that these barbarian soldiers are still too young compared to the old Varangian guards, but This is already the best power he can get.

For Alexios, this power is undoubtedly a glass of water in the desert. Now the emperor counts the troops in his hands and finds that the reliable troops he can rely on are actually less than 1 people. There is no shortage of peasants who are not at all reliable on the battlefield, so he needs soldiers.

Rostislav's people are added according to the agreement at this time. This is the greatest help to him. Now the most important thing is to fill the head.

For this reason, he also ceded some Anatolian towns in exchange for a Turkic cavalry. Now the outskirts of the imperial capital are filled with those smelly herdsmen. Although they are smelly, the combat effectiveness of these people is still worthy of attention. .

And there was only one reason why he pulled troops everywhere in such a hurry, and that was the powerful threat from Robert Guiscard.

The Hauteville foxes had long eyed the throne of Constantinople, and the Normans, who had conquered southern Italy and Sicily, had been preparing for three years to unleash their wrath on the land of the Greeks, while That Robert Guiscard himself intended to take Constantinople and start a still greater conquest.

The western frontiers of the Eastern Empire were already on fire, and the Norman conquerors had captured enough landing grounds for their large armies to land.

And such news did come quickly. Robert Guiscard's [-] troops had crossed the strait, but Alexios was busy with affairs in Constantinople and couldn't get out at all.

He can only gather all the forces that can be summoned with one hand, and deal with the western enemies of the Normans with the other hand, such as Venice, such as Emperor Henry, who have always been enemies of the Normans.

Alexios used trading privileges as a bargaining chip in exchange for the Venetian fleet's encirclement and suppression of the Norman navy. Unfortunately, although they succeeded in destroying the weak Norman fleet, there was nothing they could do about the [-] Norman army on the shore. No.

Robert Guiscard was not interested in the news of the annihilation of the fleet, nor did it affect him. For the conqueror king, the fleet was only used to transport supplies and soldiers across the strait. Now that the army has arrived If the purpose is lost, then they also lose their effect.

As for the supplies, just scrape them off on the land of the Greeks.

He continued the siege of Durrachion, and as long as he took the city, he could follow the ancient but well-maintained Roman road directly to Thessaloniki, and when he arrived in Thessaloniki, then the next That's Constantinople.

Therefore, the key to the position of Durrachion can be seen. It is precisely because of Robert's siege of the city that Alexios won a four-sided operation, desperately gathering troops, and desperately trying to contain the enemy.

As an important city wall, Durrachion's defenses were strong enough, so it persisted for a long time under the siege of the Normans, until the emperor raised troops to come to rescue.

In October 1081, Alexius, who had finally dealt with a series of affairs in Constantinople and the empire, finally raised his troops and went to settle the city named Durrachion. The emperor's troops soon arrived in Serbia. Thessaloniki, they received the emperor in the second largest city of the empire, and got more troops along the way.

When Alexios' army came to Durrachion along the Roman road, the emperor's army had reached 2 people, and he was not at all inferior to the Norman army that had besieged Durrachion for a long time.

The experienced generals dissuaded the emperor from challenging the Normans rashly, and should adopt a more secure strategy, but the young people had a completely different attitude. They advocated immediate attack, continuous attack, and the glory of the Roman Empire with the blood of the enemy to wash away the shame of the empire over the years.

Undoubtedly, the latter point of view convinced the emperor to challenge the Norman. In his opinion, this Robert Guiscard would be his defeat like that Russell, and it would be so. of!
"Retreat! Retreat! Your Majesty, let's retreat!"

The current captain of the Varangian guard, Volorida Rostislavich, is holding the emperor's horse. They are surrounded by Varangian guards, and they are desperately resisting the Normans who are pouring in like a tide. people.

Veneger stood beside him with his shield up, wary of the arrows all around. Volorida thought this was completely unnecessary, but Veneger didn't think so.

"It's not true, it's not true."

Alexios looked around in a daze, seeing the Norman cavalry easily tearing through the Roman army's lines, and seeing the troops rout one by one, it was hard for him to accept that the army he had prepared for so long was actually defeated by the barbarian cavalry. It just collapsed under the gun, and now the most effective imperial army on the battlefield is actually these Varangian mercenaries!

The Roman army couldn't stop the Norman knights' cavalry charges. During the rounds of charges, the imperial army's line became more and more sparse, people became more and more fearful, and the battle situation became more and more unfavorable.

Volorida licked the blood from the corner of her mouth, which was dripping from the helmet. Although it was said that there was chaos all around, and the situation was becoming more and more unfavorable to them, but from the bottom of her heart, this Prince Ross felt excited , felt satisfied.

Isn't that why he stayed in the south as a mercenary?

Prince Ross liked this kind of scene, and the more it was like this, the more it inspired him. It was because of this that he led the guards to fight through the entire battlefield, and the army that had been divided and surrounded was revived again.

"Your Majesty, let's go, the Turks have already fled, and the situation will really deteriorate next."

Although Volorida is very fanatical about the battlefield, he still has some rationality on the battlefield.

The most important thing now is to let the emperor retreat. Even those Turkic people who have been working hard have run away, and the next collapse is inevitable.

As for their Varangian comeback, it is impossible. They were able to block so many rounds of Norman knights' charges only because a lot of Anglo-Saxons were recently recruited in the team. These people are very good at dealing with Norman cavalry.

Their leader was Edgar, um, the one from Wessex, and he ended up in exile.

"Then, retreat."

Alexios said weakly, although the emperor didn't want to believe what happened in front of him, he would still accept the reality. Even if he entered the battle in person, he would not be able to change the defeat. If the Varangian guards hadn't come back abruptly, the battle would have collapsed a long time ago. Well, now is the time to run away.

And following the emperor's order, everyone immediately began to fight and retreat, heading east, but the Normans would not let them retreat so calmly, and these conquerors on horseback launched more attacks on the Greeks. shock.

It is doomed that the way the Greeks retreat will be a road of death.

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(End of this chapter)