Eagle Byzantium

Just when the little sunfish closed its eyes, it looked unhappy.

In Brachna Palace, the emperor also sat nervously on the throne. He had just won a huge victory against Bertin on the Macedonian front. The opponent had retreated to Dalmatia and had sent envoys again to beg for surrender. but one after another, Alexios received a letter asking for help from Antioch. Feeling that the matter was serious, he crossed Adrianople at starry night and rushed to the imperial capital.

After Queen Irene delivered the newborn boy to the hands of the conservation eunuchs and maids, she went to rest in the manor of the Ducas family in Thrace, and the chief noblewoman Marlena also avoided suspicion. , retreated into the inner room.

In front of the throne, almost all the heads of the empire present were gathered, including the Royal Ink Officer, the Grand Earl of the Navy, the Chief of Law, the Chief Assistant of the Empire, the Chief Steward of the Royal Wardrobe, the Commander-in-Chief of the Palace Guard, etc. Brenus and Issa were all present. Katsuya arrived from their respective places, and even the emperor's mother Darasena also came from the monastery in a carriage.

Now everyone feels that the good days of the pilgrims fighting bloody battles in Anatolia, Cilicia and Antioch, and then the empire following effortlessly to take over the territory are over. "After the claim is obtained, it is the turn to pay." time”.

In front of the emperor, there were three very important letters, one from the Holy See of Urban in Rome, one from Ademare in Antioch, and the last one from Titicius, the Commander-in-Chief of the March in Asia. of.

The contents of the three letters were both similar and contradictory, weaving a web full of hallucinations and guidance, leaving Alexios, who had always prided himself on his ability to control intelligence, at a loss: the Holy See requested the emperor to fulfill The original promise was to immediately send troops to aid the pilgrims in Antioch to prevent them from being massacred by the pagan princes. Otherwise, "the unbelief and rift between the Eastern and Western churches will deepen further" and "the consequences are unpredictable." Ademar's words were even more urgent. He said that there would be as many as one hundred thousand or even more, and that the well-equipped pagans were already self-defeating. Sur and Khorasan have gathered. His Majesty the Emperor must immediately bring troops to reinforce, otherwise the pilgrimage will restore the great power. The career would be completely dead; and Titicius (who had just prepared to leave when he wrote this letter) also wrote a handwritten letter and sent fast horses to deliver it to the imperial capital in turns. During the siege of the city, the elite pilgrims had already suffered heavy losses. Although they had defeated Yaghi's counterattack and rushed into the city, Yaghi still suffered a heavy loss. While we were guarding the city, Kobuha's army was attacking from outside. The entire battle had no hope of success. "Therefore, in order to preserve your majesty's precious army, I have decided to leave the Frankish pilgrims and leave from the port of Latakia." The island of Cyprus and Pamphylia came to see His Majesty and tell him everything about the front line..."

After carefully reading Titicius's letter twice, the emperor told everyone the general situation, and then held his forehead with his hands, feeling so distressed that he didn't know what to do.

"Tatisius was originally a slave of the Dukas family. Is what he said about the front line true?" Yagfi, who was covered in armor, first raised the question.

The emperor raised his forehead and stroked his somewhat gray beard. He looked much older than Gawain. "My concern now has gone beyond the battle situation in Antioch City itself. According to Harold of Konya City, It is said that in the valleys around the city, the activities of the Geely Remnant Party have become more and more rampant recently. As for the more distant city of Tarsus, I can't even get the exact information. Not only that, I also have the secret of my whereabouts. The expedition brought back the latest news from the Anatolian Plateau. This time Kobuha targeted not only the city of Antioch, he also used his prestige to cooperate with Danishmund, Konya, Antioch, The Seljuk chiefs in all areas including Tyker, Jerusalem, Damascus, and Aleppo have reached an agreement, which means that the Turks have reacted from the initial surprise and are about to launch a frenzied counterattack. "

After listening to the emperor's analysis, Burrill spoke, "Your Majesty is worried that our further offensive on the Anatolian Plateau will be controlled by Danish Mond and Konya party members?"

"We must prepare for the worst, that is, our border will not reach Cappadocia. It may still be in Nicaea, but I have harvested two rich granaries in Bithynia and Lydia, and Pamphylia, an excellent fleet base, deserves to fight side by side with the Frankish barbarians. As for sending out troops..." After Alexios finished speaking, he used a consulting look. The god looked at his mother, who was wearing a sacrificial robe and a headscarf, and said, "We can adopt a more flexible strategy, such as temporarily negotiating peace with the Turks on the plateau and gathering heavy troops in Pamphylia. When Gawain's promise expires next year, By taking Seleucia and Cilicia, I can attack Antioch to the east and the Anatolian Plateau to the north. This is finally a sound strategy!"

Everyone was silent, and it seemed that the emperor had already formed a set policy: Emperor Komnenos was always calculating whether to advance or retreat, and tried every possible means to obtain the greatest benefits with the smallest losses. He wanted him to concentrate all the empire's only resources. The essence of survival, head-to-head confrontation with the plateau Turks, was not in line with his consistent thinking - the emperor was like a small-profit bull market hawker, always cautious.

"My child, but you must not undermine the prestige of the Roman emperor." At this time, Dalasena requested.

"Yes, mother, I have prepared another plan, that is, I will entrust the task of negotiating with Bertin to my most trusted son-in-law, Brenus." The emperor stood up from the throne and said gently.

Brenus immediately bowed and expressed his determination to undertake this mission perfectly. The emperor also entrusted his younger brother to stay in Constantinople. Finally, Alexios expressed his intention to assemble a large team to cross the strait and follow the On the Lydian plain, heading towards the city of Philadephia where Prince John is located, "I want to personally listen to Titicius' report and understand the true situation on the Antioch front before making a decision. In this way, I will reply to the Patriarch of Rome and the Catholic monk named Ademar." This is what the emperor publicly announced. expression, but in fact he was indeed ready to "abandon the pilgrims."

No one knows whether the emperor issued an encyclical to Titicius to withdraw his troops in advance...

In the camp on the Orontes River, several Venetian sailors, escorted by the light cavalry of the Gemmagis Brigade, ran to Gawain's tent in embarrassment and reported the terrible news to the Grand Duke:

"Your Highness, all our barges were burned by the Turkic cavalry. They rushed to Saint Simon Port and did everything they could!"

"What?" Gawain was very surprised, and then he asked, "The scouts have obviously calculated the schedule of Kobuha's march, and you are enough to transport the food here on barges." (To be continued ~^~)