Eagle Byzantium

Aksepokos saw that the enemy's cannon-casting site was full of courage and awe. The craftsmen first used flax from Thessaly and then mixed it with local clay to create a medium-sized siege cannon (Fire Bear Cannon). The mold is divided into two parts: the gun barrel and the chamber tube, and then the After getting out of the deep pit, turn the mold upside down, stand it up high, and then cover it with separate layers of clay, leaving channels and flow layers for pouring the metal liquid. Then use various utensils to pile up around the mold, like a bracket. To make it difficult to tip over, it was finally wrapped in sand around the outside.

At the same time, many craftsmen used the excellent local soil to build furnaces. The inside of the furnace walls was lined with fire-proof earth and bricks. The charcoal was piled up like a mountain around it, leaving only a small furnace mouth and a temporary seal. export.

Before starting to cast the cannon, the monks of the New Order, the chief craftsmen and the main cannon-casting masters gathered around the furnace, put up the flag painting of Saint Barbara and prayed loudly, hoping to receive the protection of this female saint. , so that they can survive this work full of great dangers. After the ceremony, the cannon-casting master and craftsmen took off their bodies naked and covered themselves with cloak-like felt clothes. In the scorching summer season, only a pair of eyes were exposed. They used tools to start turning various metal blocks, such as copper, tin, etc. Small amounts of gold and silver were continuously thrown into the furnace and stirred with long-handled spoons, enduring the poisonous gas. In Aksepokos's eyes, "The blazing flames are like the hell created by Allah. The group of cannon-casters are the group closest to the final judgment."

Axepochus also knew that if this huge army attacked the city of Corinth, it could capture it in a short time. So why would they cast cannons on the spot in full view of the defenders? There are no more than three reasons. One is to show the powerful strength of the tyrant Gawain, and the other is that casting siege artillery can reduce casualties. These soldiers no longer want to bear the risk of losing their lives in the next war where victory is easy, and finally create countless The fire-bearing cannon can certainly reduce the losses in the subsequent attacks on various cities and places in Moria.

Time passed like this, as if it was burned out by those furnaces that burned day and night.

During this period, Axepochus used his skills to flexibly evacuate most of the soldiers in the city from Corinth and retreated to the city of Mystra where John was stationed. At this time, the rebellious Slavic tribesmen in the Moria Peninsula also approached John's camp. John of Crete personally led the team and organized the soldiers to fight almost hard before defeating the Slavs approaching Mystra.

On the battlefield, John wore a scarlet cloak and stood under the flag on horseback. But what surprised and saddened him was that thousands of sergeants refused to move forward when facing the semi-barbaric Slavs. Finally, John He roared and charged forward, leading others to follow suit and defeated the enemy.

After the war, John wrote a diary himself. When he was young, he did not want to receive a good education like his sister, so his language was simple but full of emotion. "This battle in Mistra City made me understand that a well-trained army How important it is to maintain an army that is loyal to its leader. But the fact is that the new army trained by Titicius was destroyed in the city of Prusa due to my wrong decisions. A makeshift piece of equipment that looks like a bandit or an officer. Cherishing life, civil servants embezzled property. Even the nobles and senators who used to protect me, some of them took refuge with the tyrant Gao Wen. Many of the people left behind also took advantage of themselves and restricted me in every way... However, I will never You can retreat now Moria If it is lost, I have nothing to lose. Even if I retreat to a corner of Crete, I will work hard to promote talents, manage footholds, fleets, and armies, and for this I will not hesitate to use iron-blooded strategies... .”

While John was writing his diary after the victory, the cannon-making work of Gawain's southern army in Corinth was coming to an end, and they were unwilling to wait any longer.

After crossing the two oceans and the mountain cliff wall, Aksepokos witnessed with his own eyes the other side's cannon-caster shouting slogans, using an iron hook to open the seal of the furnace, and letting the red high-temperature metal liquid flow along the clay. The scene of pipes being injected into the mold holes was filled with steam. Almost all the soldiers in the camp stood on the surrounding walls. At the edge of the trench, holding gospels in their hands and shouting the names of the saints and Basileus and Baselisa, they watched the completion of the siege cannon - the gunsmiths continued to wear thick felt cloths and stood beside the clay pipes. , his nerves were so tense that they were close to bursting, he watched and carefully used an iron hook to pop the bubbles that emerged, without even a trace of sloppiness.

Unlike light artillery, which directly uses a boring tool to drill holes, heavy siege cannons can only use this method. Soon after, when the bronze cannon slowly dissipates heat through the covering sand in the mold and is formed, rows of strong siege guns are formed. The oxen used ropes to slowly drag them from the pit to the gun mounts and After being dragged out on wheels, the cannon body was like a silkworm chrysalis entangled in soil. The craftsmen used various tools to break up the hardened soil blocks. A unique siege bronze cannon was completed, silently facing the enemy's barrier. The muzzle of the gun shone with a terrifying color in the sunlight.

When the gunners set them up against the cross-wall of the Isthmus of Corinth, Axepochus took off with his cronies, and rushed to Mystra like a storm, leaving only three hundred to four hundred soldiers behind.

Soon, John's original manic and excited mood calmed down, and he began to escape with the only remaining arm towards the cliff of Suikat, where a fleet retreating from Rhode Island was led by Zahas and Assasi. Led by Dus, he risked his life and stopped there to pick up John and escape back to Gandia.

Two days later, Gawain's southern army, which fired multiple cannons, destroyed the cross wall of Corinth, and then smashed the city wall of Corinth three days later. Of the 300 John's men who stayed behind, about fifty were killed, and the rest were not. To flee is to surrender.

Later, when John retreated to Crete, he asked Miletus, the deacon of St. Titus, to draft a sacred document and compile a list of the "Three Hundred Martyred Warriors of Corinth" to inspire his court. , military and official groups With great sincerity, the names of the three hundred soldiers who died in the city were solemnly recorded on it, and the scene of their last unyielding resistance was painted on the wall of St. Titus Cathedral. Finally, the guard of the "Emperor of Crete" was also named " Corinthian Regiment".

So forty years later, after the Varyag Dynasty captured the island, a Corinthian soldier who was moved to Seleucia actually saw the "martyrdom warrior" on the list in the city. The other party was almost eighty years old. But he is still healthy and working as a waiter in a cotton plantation on the outskirts of the city. When the surprised soldier asked him why he was alive, the other party was even more surprised, "I surrendered after the city was broken, and then they moved me here to settle down, just like you!"

However, this is a story later. After Corinth was captured, General Acropolites simply selected 1,200 light cavalry and pursued them to the cliff of the Sea of ​​Sucate in a torrential rain and wind, but could only see John driving away. The ship on the shore, its mast is faintly exposed in the clouds and fog...