Eagle Byzantium

However, Gawain could not take Cherson into consideration for the time being, and did not take drastic measures to deal with his resistance. He believed:

"As long as we conquer Serbia, Duklia (Montenegro) and Bulgaria, Cherson will tremble and surrender to my scepter."

After speaking, at the military meeting before the expedition, Gawain pointed the tip of the scepter on the hanging map, "Starting from this month of this year, we will launch a decisive and long-lasting huge offensive. General Branas said before that the blood vessels of our actions are the several rivers in Thrace and Macedonia, so the supply stations will be set up in Philippou, Philippi and Vikron. Among them, Philippou points directly to Sofia; Philippi is mainly responsible for supporting Thessalonica and aggressively expelling the remnants of the former dynasty here; and Vikron is to sweep northern Thrace. The three military stations are also located at the end points of several rivers, where we can use light boats and inland flatboats to conveniently transport troops, weapons, ammunition and food.

Now I will deploy the ten brigades and the imperial guards and border troops as follows.

The Philippian Front is headed by General Branas, specifically General Lekapenos (father of the fat lady Eudora), commander of the Nika Brigade, and Acropolites, commander of the Opsik Brigade, will advance westward along the Egnandia Avenue, and after merging with Branas' brigade, they will first repel Isaac Komnenos' army, and then go south to sweep the entire Holy Mountain of Athos, arresting or expelling Patriarchs Masdas and John.

The Vekron Front is led by the newly formed "Bulgarian Brigade" and "Alemanni Brigade", with the former commander-in-chief being the commander-in-chief , the Pronian knight Roxette who surrendered first in Thrace. This front army advanced steadily to the north, and its main responsibility was to force the Bulgarian rebels back to their territory and overcome important fortresses such as Mesenbria and Trvono.

The Philipsburg Front Army in the center, commanded by General Melo, was under the command of the Red Hand, Gimages, Midgard and Philomelon Brigades. They gathered along the Evros River towards the destination and joined the Hierapolis Brigade, a total of five brigades, and then drove directly to the important town of Sofia Castle at the junction of Serbia and Bulgaria, trying to split the two places and annihilate them one by one!

As for His Majesty the Emperor, he will command the "Imperial Tomb Guards", "Guard Guards Cavalry" and the three cavalry regiments of St. Cyril, the New Baptized, and Oghuz, and stationed in Adrianople to coordinate and dispatch the military forces in all aspects. As for the Grand Palace Guards The army will stay in the imperial capital and Gallipoli to protect the safety of Basilisa and the royal descendants.

The Comaloi Cavalry Regiment will continue to be stationed in the Prusa Fortress across the strait to pacify and monitor the entire Lydian region and guard against possible enemy harassment in Rhodes.

As for the three newly formed military governorships, all the border residents were just formed and their combat effectiveness was still weak, so they only stayed in their respective fortresses to protect the safety of river transportation.

After the arrangements were completed, under the huge statue of Constantine, the emperor, surrounded by many sword-wielding palace attendants, guard cavalry, and Saxon, Varangian, and Alemanni warriors, personally prayed for victory in the magnificent cathedral, and then headed towards the Golden Gate. The purpose of his trip was to eliminate all vassals and enemies who dared to collude with foreign enemies to resist the authority of the empire.

Ten field brigades, a force of about 50,000 people, covered the suburbs of the entire imperial capital, raising dust like a hurricane cloud, which only drifted to the black sea of ​​Euxin. On the tower, some naughty children secretly lay on it, and the marching scene like an ocean current below made them dumbfounded: especially the huge convoy with colorful flags, with huge iron-hooped cannon barrels pulled by oxen, mules and horses in the middle, moving westward along the street. They are killers who can knock down any solid city wall and weapons that can emit devil's flames.

Gawain's large-scale military campaign shocked the Western countries.

The elite of the Kingdom of Sicily are now heading north to Calabria to assemble, confronting Salian Caesar Henry V across the Papal States from north to south.

The Venetians have also suffered heavy losses in recent shipping, and some symptoms of blood deficiency have gradually emerged. As we all know, although Venice and Sicily have the ability to block the Strait of Messina and the Strait of Otranto in the middle of the Mediterranean, preventing goods from the East from being shipped to the West, it doesn't matter. The tax collected from the domestic sales of goods alone can also allow Gawain's country to obtain a lot of wealth, but Venice has suffered greater losses. Its original route to Anatolia and Egypt was also ruthlessly cut off by Gawain at this time. Gawain had previously announced that he would implement commercial retaliation against Venice and Sicily. After occupying Cyprus, a vital pirate, the light ships of the New Roman Empire were everywhere. Gawain also issued "letters of marque" to Greece and Maldives, who were entrenched on various islands in the country, encouraging them to rob and sink Venice's ships sailing to the East. As a result, Venice could no longer transport luxury goods such as glass, spices, and pepper produced in the East to the East to make money. Money flowed away like blood from a wound. Although Feleyer held speeches in the city-state many times, asking all citizens to persevere, in this game of mice and elephants, the size and blood of the mice were too small!

It can be said that after integrating and unifying the entire Asia Minor region, Gawain was no longer afraid of any enemy in the West in terms of military or economics!

But even so, the Venetians pulled out the fifty reserve galleys that were sealed in the dock. After they had no money to hire sailors from the Dalmatian islands, they used their own citizens on the deck to gather 150 warships of various colors, cruised and ravaged the Adriatic Sea, and began to fiercely attack the city of Bari. The city of Bari also gathered several friendly countries to fight bloody battles with the Venetians on the ocean.

As for Constantine Berdin, he hurriedly summoned the Zupan lords from Bulgaria, Serbia, and Bosnia, as well as many old nobles who fled from the newly acquired city of Ohrid, to try to figure out how to deal with Gawain's fierce offensive.

Berdin's idea was to defend the mountainous line of Ohrid-Sophia Castle and block Gawain's main attack, which was the center; and to contact Isaac Komnenos and John to protect the southern line, while the Bulgarian rebels went south to attack the Thracian region where Gawain's military and combat power were weak.

After the plan was made, Berdin began to send letters to "Macedonian Pella City" and "Holy Mountain Athos", anxiously waiting for responses from all parties.

But at this time, a conflict had already broken out between Isaac and John, uncle and nephew.

It turned out that Isaac believed that there was a Thessaly Plain between Macedonian Pella and his base in Durazzo, which was rich in grain and horses. Isaac wanted to take this land for the "Monarchy of Epirus" to facilitate the connection of forces.

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But John was very resistant. He believed that Thessaly had been his exclusive territory when he was a prince, and in the future it would serve as a support for his territories of Crete and Morea.