Eagle Byzantium

Sure enough, during the huge march, each detachment pulled out a "night patrol team" and transformed themselves into a "military supply collection team". This group of soldiers scattered along the prescribed route, carrying Khitan fire pipes, iron forks, bows and arrows, etc., and nine people in a group, "washing" villages and towns like a comb along the entire area. No matter whether it belongs to the native Romans, Turks, Armenians, etc., the leader kicked open the door and took out a slip of paper with a receipt. If there was someone, he would stuff it into the other person's hand. If there was no one, he would stick it on the door panel. Then he would "requisition" livestock, food, oil and salt, etc. If anyone dared to resist or escape, the cavalry team would quickly follow and encircle and suppress them.

However, compared with the logistics of other knight wars in the Middle Ages, this was still a civilized progress: from wild bandit-style robbery and various crimes to unified and effective compulsory collection.

In front of a village on the hills at the edge of the Bishop's Meadow, the Grand Patron, surrounded by his staff and guards, generously and personally handed a purse to an Armenian resident who was kneeling and trembling in front of him. He also touched the heads of the boy and girl in the family and stuffed a few "Golden Apples of Tarsus" (citrus) and Trebizond nuts into their clothes.

"The army is strong and supplies are scarce. When I pacify this plateau, you can take these receipts to the Renewal Society's edict to exchange for cash or corresponding land." Gawain put one hand on his waist, his cloak lifted up, looking very majestic and his tone was very kind.

The Armenian man praised repeatedly. He looked up and saw the teams of fire-throwers with umbrella-shaped feathers on their helmets behind the great patron. On their chests and belts were leather bags full of dry food or Khitan snow. Their purpose was to rob us first and then use their own, so that the army could have no worries in combat logistics.

"Your Highness, the Great Patron, please come here, come here." Several priests and painters with the army, holding frames and pens, kept shouting under a tree more than ten feet away, and quickly painted this scene of "harmony between the army and the people" for future generations.

So Gawain smiled even more brilliantly, facing the direction of the painter's finger, his beautiful mustache slightly raised, and the money bag in his hand was just hanging an inch above the palm of the Armenian people, and he did not move for a long time, so that the painters could freeze and the priests could record.

Several generals or fire-throwing soldiers also squinted and unconsciously moved forward, hoping to be in the same frame with the patron.

"Bang, bang, bang!" The whole earth was shaking. Gawain's purse did not move, but the villager who was ready to take it trembled all over - in the back of the village, there was a sudden curse, followed by a deafening sound of shooting. In the rolling smoke, several villagers who refused to pay, covered their bodies shot by muskets and arrows, with bloodstains, slowly fell down along the courtyard wall with howling. Ten feet away, a team of fire-throwing soldiers stabilized the weapons that were still emitting sparks and residual smoke after firing, and then several scattered soldiers shouted and drew their swords, walked forward and stabbed all those who were not dead yet.

Another team of soldiers led out the beasts of burden and property from the yard of the dead and walked towards the endless marching column.

The coins jostled in the bag and fell into the palm of the kneeling villager. The woman and children behind him were all frightened and cried. They turned their heads to look at the tragic scene over there. Gawain also had a heavy expression and waved to the painters over there, and they immediately removed the easels. "You will understand after you become my subjects and officially naturalize in Tarsus. My goodness is far from being offset by this little evil in front of you." The patron's slightly blue eyes were full of gentleness and compassion, and then he turned and walked away.

In the evening, Gawain ordered all the "requisitioned" supplies to be concentrated on a hill called Malacoupias. This hill is only about eight miles away from the "Bishop's Grassland". It consists of several cliffs and the ruins of an ancient fortress. The front can control the plains and passages in front, and the back is just suitable for camping: Gawain left six groups of 600 border people here to guard all the farmers and supplies, commanded by the "Grand Earl of Tarsus" Melo. Then he personally led two brigades and the rest of the borderland centurions, and set up a fan-shaped camp in front of Mount Maracupies to ensure that there would be teams to fight the enemy if they attacked from all directions.

Around the early morning of the next day, 500 Danishmond cavalrymen who came from the inner city of Melite launched a military reconnaissance of the camp on Mount Maracupies.

"Disperse them." Gawain, who climbed the hill where the command post was located, pointed at the Danishmond cavalrymen in the morning light and shouted.

In the heavy dust, 500 Danishmond cavalrymen attacked several frontier army vanguard camps like a whirlwind, breaking two of them, but soon more borderland soldiers with bows and weapons besieged and counterattacked them. In the rising sun, the arrows shot by both sides shuttled like rain.

The rest of the religious guards in the camps automatically lined up behind the flags, or set up on the hills, all surrounded and stopped to watch the battlefield in front of them, and did not move at all before receiving orders.

Soon, several squadrons of Red Hand Cavalry came from the flank, with their flags of the Little Golden Hand shining brightly, and broke through the formation of the Danishmund cavalry with their swords drawn. The Turks quickly fled in all directions on horseback towards their starting point.

The two squadrons pursued relentlessly, captured more than a dozen captives who had fallen from their horses, and forcibly pursued them for more than ten gullies. After brutally torturing the captives, an unbearable Ghazi warrior confessed the subordinates of the Great Emir Merik:

Merik built four ramparts along the circular area in the west of the inner city of Melite to serve as a barrier, and the northernmost one had the weakest troops.

"The enemy provided false information. Kill the Ghazi who tried to deceive us." The patron sitting in the scarlet tent said after reading the confession.

The Ghazi's head was quickly chopped off, and the other captives had no choice but to confess the real deployment: the northernmost rampart concealed a huge elite force, because it had to guard against the Tarsus Guards and the Tuma Division of Trebizond at the same time, and the remaining ramparts were star-shaped and guarded around it according to the terrain, and there were cavalry inside to quickly counterattack and reinforce.

In addition, in Melitene, Merick also had a 4,000-man mobile force. His strategy was to use the western fortress group to trap Gawain's army, and then wait for an opportunity to attack, or cut off Gawain's retreat, or directly capture Gawain's baggage camp in Maracupies: the entire Bishop's Grassland and Melitene were almost all flat land, which was particularly conducive to the Turks' galloping.

After learning such inside information, most generals advocated - slowly advancing, bypassing the enemy's northern barrier, using part of the troops to build a camp around it, and then using other teams to monitor Merick's movements in order to last long.

Check out the correct version in the 16-9 book forum!

But General Monomachus of Gennat proposed a more radical and adventurous strategy: to follow Merrick's wishes, and use the fire-throwing regiment equipped with artillery carts, with the cooperation of the border troops, to attack the northern ramparts directly, and lure Merrick out of the city. The patron will then assemble a mobile infantry brigade and cavalry to fight him to the death. (To be continued ~^~)