Eagle Byzantium

"We may not win if he doesn't run back." Branas replied.

Gawain sat down with some frustration, "Mello is still recovering from his injuries, otherwise I would have entrusted this place to him."

"Are you going to withdraw your troops?"

Gawain nodded, "There is no need to fight hard. Titicius actually developed a new city defense system in Prusa City. The effectiveness of our siege artillery was greatly offset, and now Theodoro is starting to move. There is little point in fighting to the death, but I cannot completely give up the siege of Prusa." After speaking, Gawain stood up again and pointed to the map hanging on the grille screen, "We cannot give John Fang a chance to counterattack. , then the newly occupied areas such as Samos and Lydia will have a tendency of instability, so I plan to build a forward military station in Doliraam, and then build several new fortresses around the city of Prusa to besiege it for a long time. , bringing down John's military economy." Then Gawain turned around and walked a few steps, seemingly thinking about the long-term plan, and then asked Branas, "What do you think of the lineup of the besieging army?"

"You can leave my Guardian Brigade and Hierapolis Brigade to build a fortification and siege here. You can take the Red Hand Brigade and Gemges Brigade back. If you don't have enough strength, you can call on Sir Breanus to be here. Philadophiam's four thousand soldiers, and Monomachus and Birel of Pisidia could also draw three thousand Soldiers come - these military forces combined together are enough to form a long siege of Prusa." Gawain nodded in approval of the plan proposed by Branas. In addition, he raised his finger and added, "Capture the city of Prusa. , cutting off its supply line from the sea is key, we must have our own fleet immediately. "

"But the construction of the fleet cannot be completed at once." Branas expressed concern about the project.

"There is also a quick way. I will go to Smyrna immediately to discuss this matter with Anna... By the way, Titicius's city of Prusa actually built several independent protruding earth platforms, and then let the entire The city defense was changed into a large concave shape, and the moat was dug wider. The originally erected city wall was piled with soil and turned into a low slope to offset the damage of the shelling, and artillery was deployed to counterattack. This method of piling dirt is indeed quick and cheap to control us." Gawain walked back to the map and pointed at it to give Branas instructions. "After I leave, the commander-in-chief of the siege here will be here. Leave it to you. Note that the city of Prusa is surrounded by mountains to the north and rivers leading to the sea to the west. For Titicius, he only needs to protect the city walls at the east and south ends. Resist us. What you have to do is to rely on the existing artillery and vehicle barriers to continuously bombard the east wall of Prusa, and then entrust the Rangers to follow if Khitan Snow has enough reserves. For the southern city wall's moat, keep a parallel route to build the fortification - I immediately handed over the fortification model to the engineer Gedier to solve it. The main body is made of earth and wood, and the outer part is appropriately covered with strips of stone. The quarry in Afyon was assigned to speed up processing and production. Once the fortification on the southern front was successful, I asked Samuelfa to come here to cast longer siege guns and mortars with greater direct fire power, and improve them. The recipe of Cathay Snow, and I will hand over all the military station construction and road transportation to Giovanni, the Sheriff of Iconium. When all steps are completed, we will definitely be able to break the barrier of Titicius!"

The great patron's plan immediately gave Branas and other generals confidence. They stood up straight and saluted Gawain and said, "Follow your orders, we will build the fort successfully!"

"Remember, as long as we besiege Prusa, John's kingdom will be dragged down by us sooner or later." Gawain finally encouraged, "I will take back the two brigades of Red Hand and Gemmagis, because we need to seize the opportunity at the right time." The war started against Theodorus and David. This time it was one of the few two wars in Tarsus. The offensive and defensive battles on the front line are long and complicated. General Branas, the "Grand Earl of Agallon", is fully entrusted here to be the supreme commander (Brenus can only stand aside and deal with logistics), and he has all the power to deal with the situation on the battlefield. , there is no need to report anything to me.”

After the generals in the Fei tent were ordered to leave, the military servant Muzafiadin walked in and said, "Caesar sent you a letter from Smyrna."

"Oh, it seems that the raids on the islands of the Holy Sea have been arranged by Anna." Gawain sat back on his chair and opened Anna's letter. As a result, he frowned as he looked at it, and finally slammed the letter in On the table, the military servants were frightened and stunned, "What nonsense!" Gawain was furious, "Immediately build a fortification and besiege Prusa. When all the generals, soldiers, and craftsmen are working hard, the front line needs money, stone, wood, and craftsmen. How can this little girl gather so much money and manpower to build a royal box and a bullfighting arena? Also buying Moorish bison from Africa—I don’t want to answer this letter.”

The Turkic military servant lowered his eyes and suggested in a low voice, "After all, Caesar just wants you to come to the newly completed royal box to accompany her and your children."

"I'm afraid that my children will lose to John and the others in the next generation!"

"Then master, at least you should write back and reprimand the mistress."

"I won't write, and I won't go back to Smyrna. I will take the brigade from Doli Laem right away." Gawain waved his hands angrily, "Anyway, you think you can write simple Greek, so you can draft a seal for me. When I wrote back, I asked if I could put the cannon that was being cast right away in the royal box. Go ahead and destroy the city defense of Prusa? Also, the four thousand soldiers belonging to Brenus are going to Prusa immediately. They cannot be sent to reinforce the rebels in Crete and ask Caesar to recover the order. Otherwise, the situation will become difficult if the Venetian people intervene."

After finishing speaking, Muzafiadin held the reed pen and stood in front of the table, not knowing whether he was looking for words or avoiding responsibility.

"If you don't want to write, then I'll ask Philactos to write it. No, I'll write it myself." Gawain said even more angrily.

The next day, the Grand Patron led two brigades and all the cavalry regiments and began to evacuate eastward from Prusa City. Gawain lowered his head and swayed on the saddle of the mare. He couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. Behind him, the artillery built by the siege army was still whistling and firing shells, and fiercely firing at the outer walls of Taitsius. The flying stone balls occasionally raised a cloud of dust on the surrounding hills and wastelands, with a dull sound of collision.

After all, this was the first big city that Gawain captured after his first military service, following George the stablemaster. The past was really vivid in his mind, but now he had to return in defeat under Taitsius's persistence?

On the way back, Gawain narrowed his eyes: the rivers, gun positions, earth slopes, trenches, etc. in Prusa City turned into complex numbers and flying patterns, which were combined in his mind; then he made an anxious assessment of the overall situation of the war in Anatolia. He was now hesitant - should he take Prusa on the western front first, or Theodore on the northern front first? The latest situation on Crete was also mixed in, making his mind even more confused...