Eagle Byzantium

So Dean Owenseth verbally criticized the Duke of Apulia for his arrogance and greed.

But Bohemond didn't care at all, "The Holy See summoned us to hold conferences all day long, and many rural lords have a sense of internationalization, but where does the money come from? It's all on my shoulders. Going to the Holy Land for an expedition right away also requires huge sacrifices. Now the Holy See neither gives me the right to appoint within the diocese nor allows the city of Amalfi to compensate us with appropriate funds, so I can only go and get it myself."

The arrogance of this duke made the representatives of Amalfi and the Dean of Montecasino tremble with anger, and then the representative began to show his cards, "The Emperor of Constantinople has sent troops to rescue. I believe that the Calabria region of the Marquis and the Earl has suffered heavy losses. Why should we continue to waste it in this cold winter without any interest? It's so bad for Neither you nor I are in a good situation. "

At this moment, the cunning Bohemond smiled and took out the victory report of Humphrey's detachment from his entourage, "If you just said this weak bastard army, then I am very happy to tell you that it has been completely crushed by a marquis under my command, and their flag has been captured by us." Then, in order to enhance the dramatic effect, Bohemond tore the victory report into pieces and blew it into the air, and arrogantly continued to make analogies, "I repeat again, the army of the Greek emperor has become powder and drifted among the farmlands of the Norman warriors. The crops next year will surely have a good harvest because of the fertility of flesh and blood. Surrender, Amalfi City, or hand over the money I stipulated. "The representatives of Pisa next to him also sneered complacently.

"Okay, give us another ten days to think carefully. "The representatives of Amalfi bowed their heads in frustration, and after expressing their sincere gratitude to the envoy sent by the Holy See, they left.

"Don't make me wait too long. I heard that you now drink seawater and eat sawdust. I don't want too many people to die. This is inconsistent with the charity-based sentiment of this Lord." Bohemond opened his five fingers with a cynical smile, constantly opening and closing them comically, and waved goodbye to the people who left in anger.

The biggest difficulty for Gawain's troops who escaped into the mountains is now the problem of keeping warm and famine, which is also the most prominent at all times.

"Hide during the day and travel at night." This is the order issued by Gawain. He wants the Havre detachment to think that all the rebels have been destroyed.

The soldiers and the sailors who came ashore began to kill pack horses. Anyway, these animals now have no baggage to carry. In order to keep warm, many people began to burn tents and vehicles to keep warm. Snowflakes also began to fall, and their outer robes could not resist the "ice arrows" shot by the King of the North Wind. Who would have thought that even the winter in the Apennines would be so unkind? Gawain himself also sat in the snow pit, Muzafiadin stared with his eyes wide open, holding a red hand flag, and Andeodat leaned against him holding a document box. The self-proclaimed Grand Duke's brown hair and beard were covered with many snowflakes, and he shivered from there.

"It will take three more days to get out of this canyon." Soon. Diogenes, who was out on patrol, came over with his cloak covered with snow, and reported with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

"We have to work harder." Gawain raised his eyebrows, which had turned white, and said to the guard.

At this time, Diogenes could no longer bear it. He squatted down and questioned Gawain fiercely, "I listen to you. We retreated in disgrace at the battle of Constantine, and now we come here, and there is no farm settlement to get supplies. The soldiers are starving and freezing. Is this the result of your abandoning negative assets? Enough. Now I just want to know, what are you going to do when you go out immediately? Go directly to Bari and Taranto?"

"No, I want to restore my prestige and give Bohemond a hard blow, stabbing him in his weak spot to lift the siege of Amalfi. Now Diogenes, what you want to tell me is what Bohemond cares about the most." Gawain grinned and laughed carelessly, as if the current situation is very good.

Over there, Diogenes felt very weak, but Gawain's answer still ignited the flame of hope in him, so he slowly stood up with the flail, stood in the snow and spoke to Gawain...

The date three days later arrived as scheduled, and the rare warm weather brought golden and warm sunshine to the bay and mountains around Naples. The snow in the mountain stream melted quickly, and many soldiers under Gawain were picking wild vegetables and acorns by the stream. At this time, Gawain stood there, took off his holy armor, and then touched Sabina, who was beginning to lose hair and fat, with some heartache, and then rode her and ran through the entire team, "Kill the remaining dry food in the team and all the pack horses, cut grass and wood to make fire for food,"

"My two war horses have lost weight. They need grazing and rest. I believe you are the same. But now we are wandering between Naples and Lucania. The arrogant Normans thought that they had completely destroyed us in Constantine, but I have said that as long as we still exist in Italy, it will be the greatest victory. These days in the snow, we can't make a fire, food is extremely scarce, and our physical strength is almost exhausted. But under the leadership of the garrison commander Diogenes, we miraculously, just like the great general Hannibal in ancient times, conquered the entire empire. 's essence was brought out. Now all comrades, raise your spears for counterattack, raise your bows for assault, ride on your horses, blow the horn, this place is about forty miles east of Amalfi City. "Gawain's last words made the whole team boil. Some of them were excited, and some were worried, because everyone knew that Bohemond, as the leader of the Normans, was besieging the city with the main force, and the Red Hand Company had 5,000 people before, but they couldn't even beat a Norman detachment. Now there are only about 2,000 people left, what can they use to fight against Bohemond's elite lineup. If we are annihilated and defeated again, then everything will end.

But then, the self-proclaimed Grand Duke of Calabria said such words, "However, we will not go to Amalfi City, but we will fiercely raid Aversa further north."

This time the reaction was even greater, and many people looked at each other, still not knowing what Aversa in the Grand Duke's mouth was.

But Diogenes knew that Aversa was the first stronghold of the Normans when they crossed the mountains and entered Italy. It was located in the north of Amalfi and was a very fertile place full of orchards, mills, and pastures. The Normans were Byzantine mercenaries and were granted this place by the Duke of Lombardy at the time. Later, they relied on this place to attack everywhere, not only to attack the pagan chieftains of the Saracens, but also to tear the flesh of the Byzantine Empire. So this place is the "holy land" of the Normans, and the tombs of the earliest twelve earl ancestors are also there. (To be continued ~^~)