Eagle Byzantium

The next day, under the majestic Acropolis of Antioch and in front of St. Peter's Church, the empty square, which was originally the location of the merchants' market, was now occupied by hundreds of brightly colored flags and countless people. The four directions except lords and knights In the area, tens of thousands of men from the city gathered, half of them were Armenians, Syrians and Saracens, representing their respective surviving families, and the other half were pilgrims. What I said to them is what I said to all pilgrims. words spoken by writers and citizens.

In order to control this group of people, many cavalrymen armed with weapons were patrolling the outer perimeter, and no one was allowed to move around at will. The entire atmosphere near the church was extremely tense.

On the steps, those responsible for speaking to everyone were Ademar, John Oakshilt, and the army chief Bohemond. The other important lords were on both sides of the pillars under the gable. First of all, Saint The superior spoke jointly with the Patriarch of Antioch, expressing praise for the common Lord and the city, winning over the Greeks and Armenians in the city, and comforting the Saracens in the city, telling them that the previous chaotic killings were " War is unavoidable”, but peace can now be settled.

“Because we are willing to imitate your Prophet Muhammad and sign a protection treaty with all non-Christians, you now have the freedom to worship and preach the Bible. Christians are not allowed to beat, torture, and kill you at will, nor are they allowed to harass your wives and daughters. Our noble lords and warriors are willing to raise their swords and protect you as well as the believers, but in return, you must serve in the Christian army and donate your property to support the military. The same treatment applies to Christians and Jews.”

The "people" below, wrapped in turbans and robes, suddenly made dissatisfied but serious sounds. Many people faced the direction of Admar, holding their children up, protesting that their food and money had been expropriated in the previous war ( Robbery) collected (plundered) all.

"There will always be a way." The priest held the scepter and the knights around him said to them very kindly, "We will send people to collect funds according to the size of their houses. If the houses of the surrounding neighbors are destroyed, we will find a way." Destroy you The survivors must shoulder the responsibility of maintaining the security. If your own house is destroyed, you must seek refuge with your surviving neighbors. From now on, the war is imminent. You are not allowed to stay outside at night. Otherwise, if you are caught by the night patrol, you will be beheaded. Show to the public.”

The Crescent Cultists below were even more shouting and wailing. They had to pay taxes based on their houses and shoulder the responsibility of guaranteeing them. Even if they abandoned their houses and slept outside, they would be beheaded if caught by the night patrol. It was simply impossible. With no hope of survival, many old people fell down on the stone floor crying and dying.

"Now there is a solution, that is, you throw away all your possessions, and men and women join the ranks of Christians to fight against the evil princes of Mosul, who are trying to destroy our city. And the elderly, children and Patients should live in their respective designated neighborhoods and are not allowed to move around at will." This was Ademar's plan.

"The scriptures stipulate that we are not allowed to serve in the military for people who do not believe in the scriptures." Several stronger young Crescent believers shouted.

"Not military service, but labor service." At this time, Bohemond began to promulgate new "military measures" on behalf of the priests, and Osdu next to him began to speak proficient Saracen and Turkic languages. He tried his best to shout to the interpreter, "From now on, I will draw 12,000 people from the pilgrim camp and 20,000 people from your citizens, and cooperate with the 2,000 military servants brought by the Grand Duke Gawain. , divided into three squads, to renovate and strengthen the Acropolis Hill, the West Fort outside the city, and the old defense rock outside the city. From this day on, our army can unconditionally demolish the old houses to obtain wood and stone, and divide every four hundred of you into One team, each team is escorted by twenty soldiers. I promise that when Kobuha is defeated, you can regain your freedom. May God bless you, Amen."

"Amen!" Then all the lords, monks and Italian consuls standing on the steps of the church, including Gawain, collectively made the sign of the cross.

Next, the whole city of Antioch was filled with shouts. The Crescent believers who were forced to exchange labor for the right to survive, and the pilgrims who also wanted to survive to the Holy Land, all gathered at the three open city gates: Porta Saint George , St. Paul's Gate and Acropolis Gate, the first two have The stone bridge spans the Falfa River and connects the West Fort and Gawain's camp with rock walls, while the Acropolis Gate is connected to the Holy Spring Stone Castle - the rest of the city gates were originally blocked by huge rocks, and they are not removed now. , to prevent Turkic attacks and at the same time save the number of troops defending the city.

As a result, there was an endless stream of people using various levied cars to transport wood and stone on the stone bridge, with the wheels sparkling, all night long.

In the camp, a Lombard engineer holding a blueprint was following Gawain, "Your Highness the Grand Duke, Your Highness the Grand Duke, I am a humble man named Felix Gedier of the Unicorn Craftsman Company. Characters, I guess, you may not have heard of me.”

Gawain turned around, glanced at the engineer, and held his hand, "Yes, it was the military judge Giovanni who recommended you to me before. Before the pilgrimage, I had participated in the previous Salian Caesar Henry, and the Duchess Mathil He once helped the Duchess build an excellent field fortress during the Battle of Da."

The young engineer was inexplicably excited. Previously, the Grand Duke relied on Samuel Fa, but his technology focused more on city defense, ships and fire formulas; while the little sunfish was an engineering device, the "clever girl" of the entire army; now it was finally his turn to show his ability, "The Seljuk cavalry is very fast, and although our cavalry is far superior in quality, the number is indeed limited. We must use fortification to control cavalry and create conditions for our field battle victory."

"Keep speaking your mind!" In the noisy camp, Gawain patted the other's shoulder.

"Yes, if we simply rely on the old field camp, it will be easy to be attacked by the superior military force of the Seljuk. The enemy's army may also have excellent Persians acting as engineers, who will use large catapults to destroy our defenses. So I formulated a new camp plan." Geddie approached the Grand Duke and unfolded the drawings in his hand.

Gawain looked at the plan of the camp. It was based on the camp he was in now, but a long rectangular new camp was extended forward. It was an irregular dumbbell shape, backed by the Orontes River, and just stretched to the side of the Iron Bridge Fortress. It could not only echo Raymond's garrison, but also block the route for the Turks to cross the river and encircle, so that the Turks could only attack it one-sidedly.

"Then tell me about your idea of ​​defending against the Persian catapult." Gawain was very satisfied with the location of the camp, but he also knew that no matter how beautiful the plan was, it could not represent the actual combat effect. (To be continued ~^~)