Eagle Byzantium

Although Ruben did not hear what these soldiers said, the prince saw the low and desperate morale around him and the many suspicious and contemptuous eyes. He felt shivering in the rain, so he stepped on the mud and jumped onto a slightly higher platform. The mound began to encourage the soldiers and nobles. He kept saying that there was a strong reinforcement force coming from Fanka City, and there was even the chief of Danishmund. The cavalry suddenly said that the emperor of Constantinople also learned of the treachery of Gawain and Bohemond, was sending a document of condemnation, and forced Gawain to retreat; finally, Ruben also thought of other things, called the Western City of Rome. The Patriarch and the Eastern Patriarch of Antioch all united to angrily rebuke Gawain. Soon he would be unable to stand the military and diplomatic pressure and withdraw from the siege sadly.

Reuben's final answer was a wave of terrifying stone bullets fired by Gawain's siege troops from the northeast. They flew in densely at the same time, and the projectile distance was very close. They hit the target instantly. It is difficult to judge with the naked eye. The physical body It's also hard to avoid. The prince originally thought that Gawain's gunners would be idle for about half a day because they ran out of stone bullets, but he was obviously wrong: Gawain's new gunners had just come up with a new tactic through actual combat, and that was what they had just done. During the bombardment, two five-barreled cannons were deliberately left silent. After the enemies came out of their shelters to move around, they fired quickly and unexpectedly.

At that moment, a fixed gunner stood under the leather shed on the earth fort and saw in the corner he was watching, a noble man wearing black fire rat fur, with attendants and an umbrella canopy embroidered with gold, speaking impassionedly to the enemy. something, I decided that this was an enemy The great nobleman ordered a five-barrel cannon under his command to be "ready to fire", "Load the stone bullets and pull the rope!" Amidst the falling raindrops, the gunner and the soldiers gritted their teeth and rounded the five stone pellets. , quickly placed on the leather pockets of each of the five cannons, and smashed the scorpion tail hook into After it was fixed in the soil, the stationary gunner on the earthen base completed the observation, raised the horn in his hand, and blew three short blows: dozens of gunners shouted, and jerked their ropes backwards, scorpion tail The hook flew into the sky, and the leather bag rose into the air, swinging gracefully. After a click, five stone bullets flew out in an instant - the gunner watched them pass by, and then surrounded Prince Ruben within a distance of about tens of feet, exploding into five balls of smoke mixed with mud and flesh, and watched from a distance. The Armenian soldiers immediately fled.

There were about seven palace attendants around the prince, plus three nobles. They died immediately, their bodies and bones shattered. The rest covered their faces, crawled around, and yelled. After about a few seconds, they found him on the other side of the mound. Prince, his face is like Seleucia His body was as pale as paper, and he fell into the mud, his clothes were torn, like a pile of garbage, and his body was covered in blood and mud: just after the shelling was hit, a stone pellet hit the mud beside him, spun and skidded for a distance, and hit He rolled over and pressed on his lower body.

Many of the attendants were busy trying to drag the prince out from under the stone bullet, but the famous doctor shouted, "Don't do this. This will make the prince's lower body completely disabled. First, dig a hole under the stone bullet with your hands." , then put a board between the body and the body, slowly pry up the stone bullet, and then drag the prince out. "

"What did you say, bastard? What did you say, bastard?" The prince gasped in pain, his hands kept beating and pushing violently, terrible blood began to flow from his nostrils, and the corners of his eyes began to turn red, and he was still scolding the doctor. , "I have to drag it out now, hurry up, someone help me." The prince's roar quickly turned into crying, and became weaker and weaker, until his body stiffened and his eyes became dull and silent...

With tears in his eyes, a nobleman cut off a piece of the prince's fire rat fur cloak with a sword, and covered the face of the dead body. Then he stood up and looked at the miserable scene around him. The cold rain was still pouring down tirelessly. He said, "Okay, we should surrender."

"You said that everyone must surrender. Are you sure Ruben is dead?" In the Fei tent, after hearing the news, Anselm and Gorpan, who was under house arrest, stood up and crossed themselves sadly.

The rain outside was still pattering, Gawain put his knife on the plate, looked at the envoy who came to ask for surrender, and then whispered to the deputy heraldry officer beside him, "Find out which five-barreled cannon it belongs to." Merit, for all guns Every hand will be given generous rewards." When Wright accepted the order and was about to leave, Gawain pressed his arm again and said, "Don't worry, finish the meal before leaving." Then Wright leaned against the Grand Duke again. Next, continue eating. And over there, the gray-haired Agnes wore a man's cloak that covered people's eyes. She pulled up her long hair and put on a crescent-style bun. She continued to eat and smiled happily.

Then Gawain picked up the dinner plate on the table, filled it with food, walked down personally, and handed it to the negotiator, "Eat..."

The messenger immediately grabbed it with his hands and devoured it. Gawain laughed, "You are not as polite as that monk from the Apostolic Church (referring to Gorpan). I like it very much - until tomorrow, all Armenian soldiers, regardless of foot, All the cavalry came out, and the belongings and belongings were piled together. Among them, the nobles gathered in a group and went to my tent in person to perform the surrender ceremony. They also signed a document and requested General Mamikonyan from Kastabala Fort. Come out together and surrender.”

After the messenger clarified the terms and procedures and left after filling his stomach, Anselm stood up with difficulty and walked in front of Gawain, who had his back turned to him. He could only softly congratulate him on his glorious victory, and took the opportunity to request, "In this battle, both the enemy and ourselves have gained a reputation for being good at fighting and heroic. Please ask the Grand Duke to release all the captured nobles back, and allow appropriate treatment for Reuben's son Toros. This is also in line with the knights." A good deed of virtue and virtue.”

At this moment, Gawain turned around, looked at the Patriarch thoughtfully, and then said, "This is natural... I still need this group of nobles to go around Fanka City to ask for help. In front of the many castles on Ross Ridge, persuade all the strongholds to surrender and give up their resistance!”

The next day, several melancholy horns were blown in Ruben's camping place next to Kastabala Castle. A red sun rose slowly in the sky. Under the gray clouds, there were dark brown muddy lands and roads everywhere. Gawain at the tent is riding a silver horse, and the Turkic servants beside him are riding black Sabinas. An eagle is standing on his shoulders. Behind Gawain are the generals on his staff. Including the Patriarch and Gorpan, they were surrounded by Gemmagis soldiers who were lined up neatly. From the gap in the camping fence over there, more than 4,000 remaining Armenian soldiers staggered out of the gap. A number of actors and clowns from Gawain's camp circled in front of their queue, dancing and singing, and even took their battle flags and ran around laughing.

"Please allow us to bury the bodies of all the war dead, including princes." When more than seventy Armenian nobles walked up to Gawain, bowed and saluted, they made such a request. (To be continued ~^~)