Eagle Byzantium

The wind and cloud suddenly turned bad, and the strong wind blew the meadow like rolling waves. It was a large group of Turks who came to counterattack. Gawain did not dare to stay, so he asked Sabina to gallop quickly.

"The enemies have begun to gather outside the city!" Gawain lowered his body and shouted these words, running in the opposite direction of the river towards the city of Abydos. When the military servants around heard this, they pulled their mules and horses and started running with Gawain.

After nightfall, the intelligence on the other side became clear - Zahas' army and horses came from Prusa for reinforcements, numbering about 10,000 people. The specific equipment and situation were not clear enough. The only thing that was clear was that they occupied the area. The meadows are arrayed on both sides of the river valley.

"This is almost the only meadow area around the city of Abydos. If we don't move, all the horses we brought from the other side of the strait will soon be half dead or even starve to death." Diognis said, It happened to verify Gawain's reconnaissance results.

"Then attack tomorrow and seize the meadow area occupied by the enemy." George gave the order simply.

"I am better at archery. I will be the captain of the light soldiers in the military formation." Diognis volunteered and took the initiative.

That night, all the soldiers in the camp outside the city were in full swing, preparing to compete with Zahas' Turkic armed forces in the future for the precious meadow land where horses could be herded. When Gawain and Phythias were sitting cross-legged in front of the campfire, arranging weapons and supplies, Farov brought him another military servant, a guy with fiery red hair, who was a few years older than Phythias. Wearing a sealskin and holding a spear with an iron ring, "This guy's name is Ericsson. He comes from Switzerland." It is typical that his grandfather followed Ingvar on his expedition to the depths of Asia. Her grandmother accompanied the army and gave birth to his father on the ship. Later, Ingvar died of illness halfway through Syria. The team was separated and his whole family was reduced to The Turks were slaves, and this one has just been liberated in the city of Abydos.”

"I will follow you in the battle in the future!" Erikson held the long weapon in his hand tightly and said to Gawain with great pride, "From now on, I will be your personal soldier."

"What kind of personal soldiers? You and Pheteas are both servants of the Red Hand." Farov ruthlessly shattered the young man's illusions, and then the earl commander briefly mobilized Gawain, " There are very few regular warriors in our detachment, so the head of the stable requires that all the army servants will also line up behind the queue to join the battle tomorrow, so as to frighten the enemy with their might."

After saying that, Farov nodded and left to mobilize other soldiers. Gawain looked at Erikson who sat down angrily, and then at Phiteas who had a somewhat bewildered expression on his face. He gave them the meat on his plate and said, "Don't think too much, eat more meat, and follow me closely tomorrow - I need your help."

"You are a bit like a Skarling." Holding a hand full of pieces of meat, Ericson suddenly said to Gawain, "I heard my grandfather said that the farthest voyage of our Vikings was on volcanoes and ice fields. Over there, there is a brand new land, inhabited by Skarlings, whose skin is strangely yellow. Are you like a hybrid descendant of those Viking voyagers and Skarlings? "

"Yes, so I want to establish meritorious deeds, earn the gold of Constantinople, build a fleet to conquer the entire continent you mentioned, and become the king of the Skarim people." Gawain replied seriously under the firelight, The naive Eriksson was stunned, and he quickly said, "I am willing to be your personal guard and assist you in your great cause. No wonder your name looks a bit like Ireland or Celtic."

Yes, Skarlin may not be the great wealth discovered in the Viking Age. In fact, Iceland, where Farolf was located, was not the end of the Viking fleet long ago. When Gawain read geographical magazines before, he knew that this group of ancient navigators not only established a settlement in Greenland, but also continued to move forward and reached the In the American continent, of course they call all the local Indians "Skarin people", which means "ugly ghosts". In addition, the continent where the Skarlings lived was not very attractive to the Vikings. This group of people living in extremely cold places generally believed that life on this continent was "too difficult", so they quickly set sail. Returning, this land was abandoned and forgotten. From then on, the "Continent of Skarlin" only existed in the books written by missionaries and Viking voyagers.

"Perhaps, in my eyes, Skarlin Continent may not be a strange asset. Forget it, it is better to survive the battle in the future, and to protect these two child-like military servants." Gawain thought.

The morning stars were few and far between, and white light was constantly emerging from the endless mountain peaks and the edge of the night sky beyond the river valley. All of General George Palarogus's horses were ready in front of the camp in the directions designated by the flags of their respective troops.

The sound of horns and trumpets kept passing through Gawain's ears, and there were flying banners everywhere. He stood in the middle wearing a chainmail, and Erikson held a spear on his right side. The spearman must ensure that the field of vision is open It was wide to withstand the enemy's light soldiers or cavalry raids on the master, while Pheteas held a small basswood-wrapped iron buckler commonly used by the Vikings, a small ax hung on his belt, and a quiver on his back. Walk on Gawain's left side and behind.

On both sides of the river, there were Byzantine and Roman armies, arranged in small groups in a strict formation. The main force was indeed a veteran of more than ten years on the battlefield brought back by George from Italy. The entire march was orderly and coordinated. Various musical instruments, like a classical music feast.

The chief of the stables, carrying the imperial flag given by the emperor, and the guard Diogenes, stood on the mountainside to the right of the entire valley, looking at the gentle slope to the left, "There is a flat slope that escapes from the side. The altitude is very low. I have detected clearly that the commander of the Turks is the Emir of Smyrna under Zahas, named Museto, but he is better at commanding naval battles. "

"When a general encounters a battlefield that he is not good at, he often subconsciously thinks of winning by surprise because he lacks confidence in a frontal confrontation - the gentle slope you pointed out, officer, is backed by enough bushes to cover it. I think it's likely that Mussetto would use the elite cavalry Place it there, and attack the left flank when our army attacks." Stablemaster George pointed with his riding crop, "So you take Benevento's light infantry detachment and this imperial flag to fight against Farov's red army. Together with the hand guards, we strengthen our left flank and set up a position that can defeat the enemy's cavalry."

The morning sun slowly rose, and Gawain saw the sun-reflecting helmets shaking in front of him, and the dust behind him, "The emperor's imperial flag!" With these high-pitched shouts, he turned around and saw Diognis standing in front of him. Holding the flag embroidered with the Christian cross, the "Benevento Detachment" wearing iron-leather armor and domed helmets rushed towards this direction.

At this moment, the Roman vanguard was already fighting with the Turks' cavalry outposts arrayed on the meadow.