Eagle Byzantium

"My teacher, what is the information coming from Amasya City?" After laughing, the king turned around and asked this question.

Mentor George was also full of confusion, "Gawain assembled two brigades on the northern front, and used two brigades to attack Laodicea from the western front. Then he and an unknown number of troops were detected by our spy network. Gathering in Ikonium. So where will he put his main force? "

"If we make random guesses, we will play into Gawain's hands. He is firmly in the center and can change his battle plan at any time - we don't have to worry about it, and the original strategy remains unchanged. Attack the city of Tbilisi with all your strength to the east, and then outflank and attack the Haddadi country, and try to capture the Ani and other castles on the southern front." The king raised his finger calmly, "That's it! If we do this, we can expand our land wealth and military resources, and Gawain will not be able to interfere with us at all. As long as we unify the entire east and west of Georgia, we can rely on the huge Z-shaped mountains (large and small Caucasus) and the northern plateau of Greater Armenia to fight a defensive war. In a few years, Gawain's energy will be weakened, and then we can contact the emperor of Constantinople to attack him from two fronts and grind away his military power and money!"

The base of Raymond's new castle, which was under siege like an iron pincer, is located in the valley cut by two steep streams named "Asopus" and "Kapulos", far opposite the ruins of the ancient city of Laodicea. It is the lifelong effort and pride of the one-eyed Earl. He has been practicing for two or three years. It took a lot of time, but it only built a core main tower and a ten-foot-thick stone wall on the outside. Because Raymond's original completion period was scheduled to be five years later, it is now less than one-third complete, and it has suffered. A fierce siege by the left army of the Guardsmen in Tarsus.

Even so, Gawain also told his commanders Gregor, Decius, Monomachus, Birel and Leotius before the battle, "The tower that stands on the Independence Mountain The circular 'Raymond's Eagle Tower' is difficult to completely defeat. We must make better use of Ana's bribery and political offensive."

Gawain's words were correct. When Raymond was granted the title of Laodicea, Emperor Alexios originally gave him as many as 40,000 people. Raymond subdivided it into 250 people. A "knight fief" is used to support the Toulouse knights, the Tecopo cavalry and the Kallegos party, and can recruit men and oxcarts to continue to build their own castles. In the past year, Gawain's brigades have taken turns ravaging the territory of Laodicea, coupled with Anna's bribery policy (after all, she is a genuine Roman royal family), many Laodicea citizens have fled in large numbers. Raymond's economic power suffered a fatal blow, and he was increasingly besieged. Of course, he could not expand and build more towers and stone walls.

In fact, when the Gimakis Brigade and the Hierapolis Brigade came under siege, only a thousand people were still defending in the Eagle Tower, and most of them were the Kallegos Party, because they no longer had any troops. It is possible to be pardoned by Gawain's army.

After the beginning of March, Robert, Count of Flanders, who was returning home via this place, was invited by the Guards Army and had the honor to observe the spectacular siege process:

"Gawain's Guardsmen built an arched stone bridge across the stream, braving the crossbow arrows fired from the Eagle Tower. Yes, it was made of stones and Marash lime (Gawain's kingdom has been able to use large quantities of it on its own). It was built with lime (producing lime) and was extremely strong. Later, the Guards Army used oxen, mules and horses to transport a large amount of wood along the stone bridge, and built a terrible siege equipment under the outer wall of the Eagle Tower - it It is a combination of a ladder and a siege tower. , and has a counterweight box that is only available for heavy-duty trebuchets. Its main body is a reinforced ladder surrounded by a wooden frame and leather. It is eighty feet long. When the counterweight box filled with stones sinks, it can be easily Raise its top, and then it can cross the horse wall, wooden fence and deep ditch under the push of wheels, and easily reach the city wall. The commando soldiers can enter from the bottom of the other side and easily pass The inner passage of the ladder rushed up to the city wall from the top, and was not threatened by rockets, spears and stones. About a day later, the outer wall of the Eagle Tower was captured. It turned out that Count Raymond's castle fortifications did not work at all. What a big effect, the besieging team has begun to build a tighter blockade, and use artillery to shoot stone pellets and iron pellets from all directions, bombarding the Eagle Tower... and The miners were actually excavating the foundation under the Eagle Tower. Logically speaking, most of the Eagle Tower was built on indestructible limestone, but this group of skilled miners from Tronzac, encouraged by generous rewards, found a relatively soft and moist place. It is said that there is the source of the stream, and the tunnel then extends like a poisonous snake, and strong timbers are used to support each section after digging..."

"I, I have tried my best." In the central hall of the Eagle Tower, at the core position facing the stone arches on all sides, there was the sound of stone pellets smashing outside, and smoke and dust kept rushing into the narrow perforations. Earl Raymond was unwilling and bitter He looked up in pain, his beard was dirty and messy, and said to his confidant Baron Burns, "This, this empire, all, all the people have failed me, only one, one, the Greek Emperor Alexios, but... But he is already dead."

"Although the Greek emperor's army suffered heavy losses, it's not like they haven't received any decent aid for so many days!" Pence replied with angrily clenching his fists, "Laudicia is also a central area. Could it be that this place has fallen? Will the emperor's Prusa and Nicaea have a good life?"

Raymond raised his hand to stop him from complaining. "The soldiers and military power of the Greek Kingdom are controlled by that stable master. I, I slept with his wife, which is all sin. I am redeeming this sin, and in the future, the little emperor will also have greater sins."

"What about surrender?"

"No, those Calegos people don't want to surrender." Raymond also felt painfully that he was being held hostage by these Greek bandits.

Soon, Robert of Flanders was allowed to be an intermediary messenger. He stood on the outer wall on the west side of the Eagle Tower and loudly requested Raymond to surrender as soon as possible, so that he could save the lives of his men. The border residents and the brigade shooting troops around Robert were lying on the wall surrounding the main tower, using earth baskets to build "temporary battlements" facing the inside, setting up various shrimp whisker cannons and muskets to fire continuously, and teams of soldiers preparing for a hand-to-hand assault under the wall were checking their weapons and armor.

Amid the tumultuous sound of the sea, Raymond leaned out of the highest floor of the Eagle Tower and stepped one leg on the ledge of the firing hole. The lead bullets thumped all around him, and he shouted to Robert across from him, "It's because I'm too honest that Gawain and Bohemond have been ostracizing and plotting against me. Since Gawain is unwilling to come and talk to me in person, I must also maintain my last dignity and not surrender!"