Eagle Byzantium

The Earth King didn't know the origin of his plan, but he knew that if he abandoned Castle Sophia, Gawain would be able to tear his kingdom in half in an instant. At that time, he would have to retreat to build a tower, or retreat. Ohrid, but no matter which way it is, it is always difficult.

"We must hold on no matter what, at least cause huge damage to Gawain... Why haven't the reinforcements come yet!" Bodin, who was under constant bombardment day and night in the fortress, shouted hysterically.

In fact, at this time, whether it was the Lateran Papal Palace in Rome or the Canossa Castle in Tuscany, envoys in various costumes were quarreling. Pope Eugene and Matilda looked old and helpless. Huddled up on a high chair, he would mediate disputes out of his mouth from time to time.

In short, a meeting of believers is about to be held. At the meeting, Tuscany and Rome will not only re-establish the unity of the Holy See, but also angrily denounce Gawain and his new empire, depose the false popes of Bari and Ravenna, and declare Gawain was a fallen heretic and called all the kingdoms against him.

"Order Gawain to divorce that Greek queen, announce the dirty scandal between Gawain and the heretic female devil, and ask Baldwin of Jerusalem to sever his marriage with Gawain!" Owenseth Eugene suddenly became energetic when he heard this, and he was heavy Stacking the scepter on the floor, he remembered his predecessor's warning, "Be careful not to let Gawain become a bad guy." It was too late to regret it.

The second item is that soldiers must be sent out, but the opinions of all parties are different.

In the end, under the mediation of Eugene, a strange plan was formed: the Venetians dispatched a fleet to send the Hungarian troops to Durazzo, while the Sicilian troops took their own boats, landed on the coast of Epirus, and then went to Durazzo and The others rendezvoused; while the Tuscan troops were to walk to Venice, which would then provide ships for the same journey to Durazzo.

Using Durazzo as the gathering place was a victory for Venetian diplomacy. After all, having a powerful fleet in hand gave them more confidence. In addition, Durazo is only a day's journey from Ohrid, so reinforcements can be sent to Constantine Bertin who is fighting alone as soon as possible.

At the same time, Pope Eugene of Tuscany finally reached an agreement with Pope Benedict of Rome, and jointly issued an edict to excommunicate the two "false Holy Sees" of Anselm and Ravenna in Bari. And incidentally, a "sacramental cessation order" was issued for the four city-states of Rela Duck, Pisa, Amalfi, and Bari, calling on all churches in the country to suspend all religious services.

In addition, the Kingdom of Sicily also sent a "small expeditionary force" composed of Normans. The leader was still Little Roger. Their mission was to cross the sea alone to the Dalmatia region to encourage the various small Slavic states there to unite. Form an alliance against Gawain to cause him trouble. Of course, if these small states do not obey orders, little Roger will launch a devastating conquest just like his predecessors twenty-five years ago, either as punishment and warning, or directly replace them and build a new empire in Dalmatia. An independent Norman kingdom became the bridgehead for attacking Gawain.

Little Roger came to Tuscany with 400 Norman cavalry. Along the way, he recruited troops in Apulia and Kastoria, and annexed the forces of other Norman lords, and soon formed a branch of 4,000 people. The team arrived at Canossa Castle in a mighty manner and accepted the consecration of weapons by the Pope of Tuscany.

During this period, little Roger also wrote several secret letters to his cousin Bohemond of Antioch, inviting him to send troops anyway to "attack and plunder Gawain's territory in the east."

But Bohemond never responded. After all, the reason why he took the risk to go to the East was largely because his uncle Roger, the old man, coveted his territory. At that time, the three Hauteville brothers "William the Iron Hand" , "Guiscat" and "Roger of Sicily", one originally occupied Aversa, one occupied Apulia, and the other occupied Sicily, but now there is a tendency to be completely annexed by the Sicilian family. This is of course Bohemon's De doesn't want to see it.

When the final meeting came to an end, Matilda walked out of the side door of the palace sleepily. There was a chariot waiting for her at the foot of the steps. In the night, the little flames in the castle made it even colder. When the old duchess wrapped herself tightly, I wore my shawl to protect myself from the late spring evening. There was a bit of biting wind and as she walked down, a strong young hand stretched out and held her finger just right. Matilda looked sideways and saw that it was Roger, the second prince of Sicily. The attendant's torch illuminated his brave face. His face is that of a cute pirate.

"No, young man, you should venture to Dalmatia as soon as possible and become a real king." Matilda's reply was straightforward.

"So Tuscany needs a real king to protect it, doesn't it?" Little Roger showed no shame or embarrassment. In fact, Matilda was old enough to be his mother, but when an ambitious young man urgently needed When you need the glory and power that gold brings, do you still care whether the seal on the gold ingot was from twenty or thirty years ago?

The Holy See's decree to send troops soon resounded throughout Hungary. The palace of Panonhalma was full of noise. The white tower behind it stood in the wilderness, but the residential buildings scattered around it were still backward. ——Half protrudes from the ground and half is buried underground, like a damp and dirty cave, with weak animals and broken cars tied to the crooked railings. Most of the 1.2 million ordinary residents of Hungary live in such an environment. Many such houses surround the fortress and are gathered into many small agricultural towns. Most of them have a population of 500 to 1,000. The size of the town, with the smoke rising from the forges and mills, and the houses of the noble "Barrows" are the most eye-catching buildings in every market town square.

Many Barrows rode at high speed on their tall horses, scolding the serfs who were running hard with luggage and flags behind them. They came from all parts of the kingdom to the Palace of Panon Halma to discuss the Eastern Expedition.

In many villages along the way, there are Catholic priests standing. They are wearing cassocks and raising their arms in an impassioned manner. They are encouraging everyone to "participate in the holy war against the Greek Empire." "In that capital of the Greek emperor, there are people you have never seen in your life. There are all kinds of gold, silver and treasures. The Lord allows the Christian warriors who participate in the holy war to possess their rights."

Many Barrows were so angry that they raised their whips and whipped their horses bloody to avoid seeing such a stupid scene. When they came to the palace, King Carloman the Bibliophile was standing at the gate, welcoming anyone with open arms. arrival.

Because in Hungary, the king did not have the right to decide key matters of the country, he needed to discuss with many prominent "Barrows". This time it was an issue related to the country's future foreign policy towards the entire Eastern Roman Empire. Of course, King Coroman could not act arbitrarily.