Eagle Byzantium

In the early morning, at the other end of the bridge, on the other side of the swamp, all the soldiers gathered around the mule cart. Gawain stood in front of them, while Erikson stood beside him holding the flag. As for Feitya Si was left in the camp because his hand injury had not yet recovered.

They chose a slightly higher raised slope to set up camp. Looking from above, they saw it was sandwiched between a forest and a wilderness. If they crossed the forest, they would see a "road" cut off by mountains and river valleys. This passage that finally connected to the Ohas Gorge happened to be the place where Sultan Romu's reinforcements and supplies passed.

In other words, as long as we hold on to this stone bridge, we can ensure that the Roma Sultanate will continue to send good things. But if the stone bridge is lost, at least the esophagus from the Sultanate will be cut off, George Palarogus said. The governor can only get help from Constantinople from across the strait, but unfortunately now is the time when the treasury is empty.

Nowadays, the crossfire zone in Asia Minor has been ravaged beyond recognition and is very desolate. Trying to eat locally can only be a very vain idea - so George still relies heavily on this stone bridge, but because of the area around the stone bridge, It is not adjacent to Prusa, and it is not worth sending a large force to garrison. The main force is to besiege the city. Therefore, the final task "reasonably" fell on the shoulders of Gawain's small team.

"Will the enemy come?" Gawain said this to everyone.

"Only the Lord can know." Several lightly-armed crossbowmen from Benevento replied in unison, and then their column leader, Francesco, who was also Gawain's theoretical "deputy" laughed, with an unruly and indifferent look. , looking at this mixed-race, tall and handsome new flag officer who didn’t know his background, waiting for the other party to show off his talents.

"Arrange four mule carts in a circle on the high ground, tie all the mules and horses in the middle, and dig out a urinal pool." Following Gawain's words, Erikson jumped up, The triangular military flag was planted in the center of Gaofu, and then the other military servants They led the pack animals and vehicles up one after another, "Don't separate them equally, gather the mule carts on the side facing the bridge, open the side facing the bridge, dig trenches underneath, and erect wooden fences, hurry up!" After that, Gao Gao Wen once again stood beside the military flag on Gaofu and said to everyone,

"Now that our column is no longer a separate organization, I want to break it up."

Gawain's words were astonishing. Any soldier, not only the Varangian Guards of the Inner Palace, but even the recruited veterans of Benevento were stunned, because according to the regulations issued by the emperor, a single row is the smallest military formation unit. , Thirty soldiers must strictly follow this during battle and stay close together on a front line to resist or attack the enemy.

"Put the drill aside for the time being, because when the enemy attacks, we cannot line up in a single line to resist the enemy, nor can we hide in the fortifications and be passively attacked. In that case, once we encounter a superior enemy, we will inevitably We will fail and be completely annihilated. To the general or the emperor, our defeat may be just a number, but..." At this point, Gawain paused, "Don't send it. Hope in useless fanaticism and will, and avoid sacrifice in order to achieve the best victory."

After all, Gawain had managed manpower before. Not to mention fifty soldiers plus an equal number of servants, he had participated in ten times and a hundred times.

Soon, a line of guard warriors was divided into four groups, the first three groups were eight people, and the last group was six people. These six people were all veterans who had served the longest.

The Benevento people, out of respect for Francesco's command, Gawain did not separate, but placed them on the high mountain to serve as cover for shooting.

For the first three groups, Gawain asked his servants to take out sufficient weapons and equipment from the mule cart. One person held a two-handed iron spear, wore double chain mail, and was lined with leather; the other two held Greek shields for cover and were equipped for close combat. Weapons: hatchets and maces; two people hold shields and carry spears, which are usually used by cavalry, with pennants tied to them; three people hold shields and Viking swords, "two-handed axes are no longer allowed." "This is Gawain's rule, "because it is ineffective in close combat."

The last group of six veterans, General Gawain's servants were also divided into six groups, each group of nine to ten people, armed with Turkic weapons captured from the Battle of the Meadows (now in George's army The most indispensable thing is these things) - mace, small buckler, tomahawk, single-edged machete. Each group has a veteran assigned to serve as guidance, calm and war supervision.

Then, according to the divided groups, Gawain asked one group of warriors to serve as outposts in front of Gaofu and take turns monitoring with the other two groups; while three groups of six groups of military servants dug trenches and erect fences around Gaofu, and the remaining three groups followed suit. Between the forest and Gaofu, the cut wood was sharpened and then densely inserted on it, with the pile tips facing the forest side.

Not long after, Francesco took his own people and took the initiative to help with the construction. "If you lose, we won't be able to escape."

Finally, Gawain exchanged all the gold coins he had been given before for Seriqua silver coins in advance, and distributed them all to everyone, "Just this once, from now on the emperor will have to use the new 'Trentalon' coins to reward We are."

In the evening, in front of the fortifications they had worked hard to build, under the fluttering flags, Gawain and Francesco saw a Turkic warrior in black robes, riding a horse and carrying a sword under the vast twilight. He and Javelin, holding the battle flag with scripture written on it, slowly walked to a place four or five arrows away and stopped.

The warrior stared at all this, and Gawain and others also looked down at him. Then he pulled the reins and galloped back and forth a few times. Then he raised the battle flag again and quickly disappeared into the gloom of dusk, leaving only a faint back. .

"They did come. They should be Zahas' remaining troops in Nicaea." Francesco said softly, "But I can guess the moment of their attack."

"Want to hear the details."

"Most of them attack during morning prayers, so that their next prayers will not be delayed - as for the night prayers, the Crescent believers are not good at attacking during the rainy season and dark night, so they can basically be ignored."

"In other words, at dawn tomorrow?"

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"Absolutely." Francesco said, and then he looked at Gawain, "After all, I have fought with them many times in Italy. You should know that there is a big battlefield and a big corridor, and you may encounter any enemy. It’s like shit on the street, everywhere.”

However, out of caution, Gawain asked a group of soldiers to stay on the outskirts of Gaofu and assume the duty of vigilance.

When the sky turned white, the comrades in the fortifications pushed each other awake one by one. Then everyone stood on the wooden fence and saw on the flat wasteland five arrows away, there were about three hundred people standing densely. A Turkic soldier, either on horseback or on foot.