Eagle Byzantium

"Your Excellency Gawain, don't be too cowardly, and don't be too kind. If the emperor dares to ambush you, he is already waiting for His Majesty the Holy See to start a war. War can be controlled within limits, but it must be fought. If not, it will be It will not create a new and fair order," Godfrey replied with his melancholy and fervent eyes, holding the hilt of the sword in both hands, staring at Gawain.

Gawain froze, and after his Adam's apple rolled twice quickly, he agreed with the Duke of Lorraine's idea, "But as a person who flatters the Holy See, I advise you that this expedition will have a negative impact on Constantinople." Do you understand that war is limited to the ultimate conclusion of peace, not a war of unlimited destruction?"

Beside the cross in the camp, all the West Frankish lords and nobles, including Godfrey, all held swords and respectfully gathered in front of Gawain, "I will obey the teachings of the priest." Then Gawain walked to the sand table. , "St. Atkins Gate happens to be located not far from the area where I was ambushed yesterday. , to the southwest is the camp of 30,000 civilian pilgrims from Gottschalk; to the west is facing the camp of Prince Godfrey and everyone, including the Great Company of Red Hands; to the southeast is the camp of Brennus, although he is now occupied I brought prisoners, but there were still five thousand men, and in the presence of the Roman generals Titicius and Diognis Under the control of the emperor, they backed the camp of St. Basil's Tomb, which happened to be face to face with the St. Atkins Gate and echoed from a distance; and further to the southeast of this gate were the Giucuntina Palace and Varangian Palace. There are many tall warehouses and military camps in Camp City and Qili Town. They were originally Norman camps, but they should be gone now. Are there any troops left?" Then, Gawain pulled out the silver horse-headed scepter, and in the core area surrounded by the many areas he just introduced quickly, "So according to Lord Baldwin's strategy, the front line of the fierce battle should be. Here. A swampy lowland surrounded by high embankments, moats, and shrub hills.”

After speaking, Gawain raised his light blue eyes and looked at everyone. Baldwin's eyes were more focused on the top of his horse-headed scepter, "And the depression leads to the Juquintina Palace. Only this road passes through the curved moat. The stone bridge..."

"Yes, this bridge. I have walked across it before when I came to the emperor's capital. It is about seventy Roman feet long and can accommodate four infantry or two cavalry passing side by side."

"The line of fire in the line of fire." Godfrey also focused his eyes on the "bridge" on the sand table, "Everyone, beg for the Lord's mercy and blessing! In the snowfields and depressions of the future, the emperor of the Greeks will inevitably We will fight like wild beasts. In the end, we are the real ones. Whether he is the upright knight or the brave warrior, let the collision of fire and sword decide - as long as we occupy the Giucentina Palace, we can force the restless Greek emperor to cease fire and lead to the distant Holy Land. The road to the tomb will be a smooth road."

final. All pilgrim camps have reached a unanimous battle plan:

Godfrey of Bouillon led his 150 knights, 400 armored horse sergeants, and three regiments of infantry to undertake the combat mission against St. Atkins Gate;

His brother Baldwin led a hundred knights (including armed monks). Three hundred sergeants with their retinue, plus a regiment of Swabian infantry, took the lead in crossing the low ground, seizing St. Atkins' Bridge, and galloping towards the Jukuntina Palace;

The Archduke Gawain, the Grand Priest and Governor of Bari, commanded two companies of Italian veterans, "Holy Glory" and "Lepanto", two cavalry companies of "Saint Cyril" and "New Baptized", "Wallachia", Three Greek infantry companies, "Hell's Mouth" and "Nemesis". Two companies of sailor archers, the "Corinthian Carpet" and the "Holy Sea", as well as half of the Armed Brotherhood personnel and guards, faced the five thousand Byzantine troops at the Tomb of Saint Basil. Also responsible for coordinating Godfrey and Baldwin's advance;

Gottschalk, a pilgrim monk from the Rhine Valley, also had to select three thousand armed pilgrims. He also cheered for Gawain's troops and performed battlefield duties;

Then, Godfrey entrusted the camp of Salabria to his relatives Earl Warner and Earl Dodo, and Gawain entrusted it to Wessat Melo, following the tall city wall west of Brachna Palace. Get out of the way and continue to make siege equipment on standby.

After night falls, firelight flows everywhere in the flying snowflakes. All campsites are gearing up, and there are shouts of rolling out wheels that have become stuck in the mud. In the crimson tent, Gawain woke up from a short nap on the seat, rubbed his eyelids a few times with his hands to cheer himself up, then patted his cheeks twice with his hands, and walked out. In front of him were soldiers from the Dalian company who were wearing armor and coming and going.

"Muzafi'adin, accompany me to inspect the surroundings of the camp." After saying that, Gawain got on Sabina, and then the docile mare followed the Grand Duke's guidance and slowly ran to the northern part of the camp. We were on a hill, and it was almost early morning.

Although everything was covered with snow, and the stream below had dried up and was buried under dead branches and leaves, Gawain could still easily judge from the only leafless tree above that: back then, he was Standing here, he could see the little girl on the towering city wall opposite, and he could still hear her calling his name and waving goodbye to him.

It’s been two years, I didn’t expect to come back in this form!

In other words, this form of return may not be inevitable.

"Mortals have no power to realize their wishes. He only has the power to choose their wishes." Gawain said as he patted the mouth of Sabina standing next to him. In front of him, the blue-gray heavy clouds revealed a little bit of pity. The sunshine casts down on the walls of Brachna Palace and the mountains. The snow seems to have lightened up a lot. A new day is coming, a day full of fighting.

In the palace in the city, Anna closed her eyes and sat on a lonely chair, closing her robe. There were only lampposts that continued to burn, a bed, and then the surrounding walls and window lattice, as well as the There was nothing left except the worshiped icon, the rest of the desk, and the bookcases. Theoretically, she was still under "house arrest" at the moment, but this was not a monastery yet.

Her mother still regards herself as a child who ran away from battle. Even Irene herself understands that asking Anna to go to Gawain is just a dream, but she still can't stand Anna's words, "I can't lose the final pattern, I can't lose **Ziyi, I only like adventure, not death."

"I'm so lonely... I don't even have any dreams... I'm not willing to give in..." Anna muttered these words in half a dream, and there seemed to be something in her eyes. Tears oozed out, and then the silk blanket covering her body slid down slightly, and the long shadow on the wall moved slowly and relentlessly with the passing of time.

In the hidden Agnes dungeon under the Brachna Palace, the hunched-backed veteran held up the key and coughed violently as he walked through dark caves closed by iron bars one after another. The dampness oozing out from here He was so angry that he, the prison guard, was so tortured, let alone the prisoners here. The emperor, the eunuch, and the empress dowager Dalasena each held candles and followed the veteran with expressionless faces. Finally, everyone stopped between the two adjacent caves.

"Mycolinus Ducasse!" the veteran shouted at the top of his lungs, and the creepy voice wandered back and forth in the dungeon along with the sound of the wind.

No reply.

So the veteran shouted a few more times.

"Caesar is next door to me, the hermit Peter." Finally, a hand stretched out from the cave on the right, and then Peter's ugly face poked out from the darkness and said to the emperor. He said to the emperor three days ago , was moved here from Eudocia's house.

Alexios laughed. He raised the candle and said to the hermit, "In three days, I will release you, but not now. I must first teach those ungrateful and respectful pilgrims a lesson." ”

"Your Majesty, I believe that you have sent my men and horses across the strait. In the future, the massacre of believers by pagans will be sent by you." Peter stared straight at the emperor.

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"Why do you say that? In three days, not only will I send you out to mediate, but I will also give you five thousand new imperial gold coins. You can spend them on whatever you like, and I will definitely proceed with the canonization of Gawain. You now Just pray that he will not be killed by my arrows in three days."

"I just don't know, when I leave here, will I clean up Gawain's mess or His Majesty's mess?" Peter held the iron gate and chuckled.

But Alexios just sneered twice and did not answer. Immediately, the old soldier creaked open the gate - it was the one next to Peter, and behind him, Nicodeemia, who looked like a ghost, stared at his terrifying eyes, surrounded by rotten eyelashes, and said to Peter in a hoarse voice, "In this world, learning to obey His Majesty the Emperor is always the most urgent thing. Monk, you should feel lucky that this kind of punishment of depriving people of their organs will not be used on you for the time being."

The Queen Mother Darasena, covered with a headscarf, stood behind everyone and watched everything calmly.

Then, Nicodemya slowly lifted two pieces of glass from the box that were too bright to look at each other, and handed them into the hands of his attendants, followed by two slender pliers, still showing off slowly. , "Your merciful Majesty, now the punishment has been improved. When removing people's light, they will no longer shed blood, but use extreme light to deprive the sinner of his light."

Nicodeemia and his entourage went in. Peter held on to the iron bars in surprise, hoping to see what was happening in the cave next door, but there was a thick wall between him and Caesar. He could not see anything, he could only hear. Seeing the once arrogant Macaulinus Dukas begging for mercy, crying and wailing - he seemed to be tied to some chair with his backhand, and then continued With convulsions and heavy painful breathing, Nicodemea should have hung two pieces of extremely shining glass in front of his pupils that had been torn open by pliers. Caesar could not move or close his eyes. He could only Facing the sharp arrow-like light from the glass, until he was completely blinded, could no longer see anything, could no longer feel any light. (To be continued ~^~)