Eagle Byzantium

But no matter what, the Epirus army still lost nearly 3,000 people, which can be said to be a traumatic loss.

Isaac, who returned to the Macedonian city of Pella, was in great mourning: "I originally thought that I could easily defeat Branas, and then drive straight to Adrianople to fight Gawain to the death, but why? Now I win even Branas. No?"

Before the remaining sounds of lament dissipated from the roof beams, Isaac received the news that Branas's army had controlled the area around the Vardar River. He could attack the city of Pella to the north, and then follow the river valley to the north. Go deep into the heart of Macedonia and threaten Bertin's Ohrid, Pliska, Skopje and other important cities; but on the other hand, Branas can also go south to attack the important gateway city Eignon west of the mouth of the Vardar River, and then continue to move forward. The fertile plain of Thessaly.

Isaac has been analyzing this situation for a long time. He now has three options. One is to fight to the death against the Branas army in Pella City. The outcome may be mixed, but it is easy to run out of retreat and become a Ze that cannot fly out. Nuoqi is at a deadlock; the second one is to escape northward into the fortress. He joined Bertin in the mountains of Serbia and Macedonia, but this was tantamount to handing over the entire Thessaly to Branas; of course, the third one was to retreat into Thessaly himself and occupy the surrounding area. Plains rich in grain and livestock between rivers and mountain peaks.

"I am the majestic King of Epirus and the dictator of the Romans. I will never go north into the country of the barbarian princes." Isaac shouted boldly, and then stood in the city of Pella with torches raised and horses neighing. In front of the military camp, the entire army was ordered to "retreat with great strides and go west along the Aliachmon River until the city of Larissa."

After careful consideration, Isaac's entire army abandoned Pella, but his route was still strange: he did not go directly to the city of Larissa in the south, but first walked 30 kilometers west to collect supplies. , but in fact it is closer to the famous pass of Kastoria.

Because Isaac could not yet make up his mind to fully enter Thessaly.

The Kastoria Pass was the transportation channel for Dishulam, Epirus and Thessaly. It was where the Normans attacked and then invaded the hinterland of the empire.

Therefore, Isaac sent five hundred soldiers to stay in Kastoria Castle. He hesitated because of two main factors:

First, he is the king of Epirus and cannot abandon this area in the end. He has the sacred duty to secure the territory and protect the people against foreign aggression;

On the other hand, if he enters the Thessaly area, the conflict with his nephew John will inevitably further intensify, because that place is regarded as a forbidden place by John, and he cannot enter without saying hello!

After all, Isaac Komnenos is a man of rules.

With the idea of ​​respecting the alliance, Isaac sent a letter to John's remaining officials in Larissa in advance, saying that "the army will soon resist the enemy here and is in urgent need of large amounts of food supplies, and the Macedonian city of Pella cannot." "Support" and invite the other party to "open the city gates for my soldiers to garrison and raise supplies for me to fight."

The person left behind in the city of Larissa was a guy named Hosios who was born in the imperial party. The first thing he did when he received the letter was to quickly seal all the gates of Larissa and shouted, "Ibi." The tyrant Rus came to invade us!" (It seems that what Hosios said was not wrong), and mobilized farmers from the entire Thessaly Plain to transport all the grains and livestock, some to the city, and most of them to the city. Sent to Corinth and Thebes.

At that time, the King of Epirus was stunned!

On the other hand, Branas, who rushed to the city of Pella, was very proud of having recovered the capital of the ancient Macedonian kingdom, but was unwilling to pursue it any further. This is how he stated the situation in his letter to the emperor. of:

"The servants have occupied the richest valley of the lower Vardar Valley and the Thessalonica Peninsula, and killed many rebels in Epirus. However, the battle line has also been stretched too long. If the servants continue to attack If Kastoria or Thessaly advances, I'm afraid they will be The detachment of Bertin going south (or the detachment of the puppet emperor John coming across the sea) cut off the return route, which would make the city of Thessaloniki in the rear dangerous and difficult to survive. In addition, after many battles, the number of cavalry on the servants' side was already low. There are not many, and the casualties are quite heavy, so it is difficult to launch a pursuit attack.”

Almost as fast as lightning, Gawain's messenger delivered the emperor's letter from Adrianople. The tone in it was both stern and encouraging: "We must pursue the attack at all costs, but for the time being, we need not worry about the Kastoria Pass, nor the Kastoria Pass." Epirus, where all the soldiers of suitable age have been recruited by Isaac, will not do you any harm. A big threat. The main target is Thessaly. By capturing this place, you will have accomplished your greatest feat. Your military action will bring about a great change in the entire war situation, and you will be the chief hero. Your wife, Mrs. Agallon (i.e. Shah Naimi) and your stepson Prince Masood would be proud of you.

What you call difficulties are food and supplies, and the fear that the road will be cut off by enemies from the north and south. It is true that the highway runs along Thessaloniki and is vulnerable to attack. But back then, I led the Red Hand Dalian Team alone and traveled throughout Asia Minor without being defeated. So your biggest problem is that you are too worried about gains and losses... and you cannot see that the glorious destination is actually very close at hand!

I will immediately inform Grand Duke Brenus of the Army Academy to open a direct sea route from Mysia to Thessaloniki, and allocate additional supplies and grain to support your military operations, even if it means losing ships. You have to realize that boats are more expensive than people these days.

Thessalonica and Philippi both have some troops left behind, and Bertin's main force was pinned down in Fort Sophia by the five brigades of my central front. He was unable to launch a large-scale campaign southward. If he really dared to move, I would immediately go to the five brigades of the Metropolitan Trajan Gate to fight him to the end...

You should know that the enemies I and the empire are facing now are mainly located in the western territory, divided into four heavy military groups, namely Constantine Bertin's Duklia military group, Bulgarian rebel group, the remnant group of the false emperor John in Morea and Crete, and Isaac Komnenos' Epirus rebel group. Let’s not talk about Venice and Sicily far away. Among the four groups, Isaac is the weakest, the worst in combat power, and the worst in command (Isaac cried silently, saying that they would be each other’s ‘lifelong enemies’). Therefore, destroying or severely damaging this enemy first is the key to turning the whole war situation around...”

The correct version is found in the 16-9 book and 1-bar!

Branas, who had read the emperor’s letter, naturally did not dare to neglect it any longer. He split the Opskin Brigade and stationed them in Pella and Thessaloniki to protect the rear, and then took the remaining two brigades and began to move south from the city of Aignion, almost parallel to Isaac, and attacked the city of Larissa!