Eagle Byzantium

At lightning speed, all the holy peasants shouted and applauded as their patron rode on the silver-white horse, his brown hair flying, and crossed the earthen embankment like a flash of lightning, and jumped onto the main road with poplar trees on both sides.

In the distance, on the hillside adjacent to the Mut River Valley, there were neatly arranged tents, like frost and snow covering it. Amid the sound of drums and bells, Gawain's guards and the fully replenished Gimages Brigade began to close their tents, pick up their spears, drive the baggage caravan, and follow the footsteps of the patron, and began to rumble along the valley street towards the city of Iconium. In the team, there was also a row of Daxia camels moving, with disassembled "perfume bottle" gun barrels and gun mounts loaded on the camel humps, as well as boxes filled with Khitan snow, lead bullets, and stone bullets tied with net bags, swaying on the sides of the camels.

"I will personally take charge of the Gimages Brigade this time. Dear soldiers, you promised me to win the glory and power for me." Gawain rode his horse through the marching team of the Gimages Brigade, constantly shouting to the soldiers holding spears.

"With our courage and blood, we will add glory to your crown!" The soldiers took off their helmets with one hand and responded to the patron with high spirits. Because of the serious losses of the brigade in Marash, Gawain was very afraid that the brigade would be depressed, so he added reserve soldiers and weapons to them, and let Gregor, Parni and other commanders (Pragit led the border residents of Jubail and Beirut and was stationed on the other side of the sea) have more confidence, and said that in this battle, his command post camp will be "under the protection of the reliable and brave Gimages".

About half a day later, the entire army arrived at the foot of the towering "holy land" Arahant Monastery. All the soldiers began to kneel down and pray. The hermit Peter and all the local monks of the Reformed Society came down the mountain to consecrate the soldiers' weapons.

"Under the command of the great earl Melo, the two brigades of Caesarea are also crossing the Halys River and gathering towards Iconium!" At this time, several messenger cavalrymen came sweating and whipped to report to Gawain.

"Let Giovanni and Birelle lead the local militia, border militia and Niketas party to prepare for the army's garrison." Gawain grabbed the reins and ordered.

At this time, the army of Emperor Alexius had just arrived in Nicaea. It is said that the emperor, who received the declaration of war from the State of Tarsus, was angry and sad.

Gawain's army moved even faster, like a huge comet passing through the border area. The first to be disturbed were naturally Brennus and his wife. Dido had just given birth and was sitting in a sedan chair with her child Theodore. She and her husband's cavalry guards rushed to the Afyon Castle at the front line.

There, refugees from the border area poured in from all over the mountains. They brought all kinds of terrible news, "The army brought by the Turkic White Death, the spears are like moving mountains, and there are many camels carrying various weapons for them."

"Will Gawain attack our Afyon first?" Brennus repeatedly asked his officers and staff loudly, but no one could give a clear answer. They only knew that Gawain's elite army was close at hand!

Then His Royal Highness Penipasebastos of the Empire began to waver, "Why do we have to fight Gawain so soon? Peace has only come to this land for a few days?" After complaining, he had no choice but to start dispatching troops, asking General Cosa for reinforcements, asking Raymond, the Grand Count of Laodicea for reinforcements, and asking Diogenes of Angras for reinforcements. Finally, he drafted a report and sent it to Nicaea, reporting to His Majesty the Emperor, "Gawain took action before your Majesty! In Amisus Theodore has not made any containment moves so far, and Cyprus and Marash are as silent as dead. Your mortal enemy's army can freely gallop on the left bank of the Halys River. "

Brenus still didn't know: when Gawain went to war, Baldwin and his wife immediately mobilized all the troops in the country to defend the city of Castabala, and formed a corner with the three generals Decius, Polybius and Dolus who stayed in the Vanka border area, and fought desperately to resist the possible attacks in these two places to eliminate Gawain's worries.

In the mountains, Fer, who had heard that the war on the plateau had reignited, summoned all the lords again. Some advocated radicalism, while others advocated moderation. Among the radical people, there were great differences about the route and time of the march. Some wanted to march north to Melitene, some wanted to attack west to recover Vanka, and some wanted to join Aleppo to go south to Antioch to capture the city. Anyway, there was no consensus and they argued endlessly. When the news came that Baldwin's army had entered the city of Castabala, many Armenian nobles in the hall of the mountain fortress looked at each other, "It is better to temporarily restore the border market and continue to trade with Gawain..." Finally, Fer, who was sitting in the archon's chair, held his forehead with his hand and issued this extremely gentle order.

In the central plain of Cyprus, Apsomatus in the Nicosia Castle in the spring wind and sand also sat on a chair. A row of merchants from Relais, Tarsus and Cairo stood beside the side colonnade. The Governor-General finally waved his hands in distress and gave in in a low voice, "I will no longer sell copper to Gawain, but lime and wine are fine - your flat-bottomed merchant ships can dock at my port..."

Located on the edge of the ancient city of Laodicea in front of the Gate Dres River, in the half-completed Crescent-style fortress, the towering main tower already stretches into the sky, representing the identity of the owner Raymond the Fourth. After receiving Nusi's urgent letter, the one-eyed lord mounted his horse and quickly and cheerfully issued a general mobilization order for the territory: the backbone of Raymond's army was one hundred and fifty people brought together from Tripoli. Toulouse and Provence knights, the 500 Tecopo cavalry that the emperor had given him as a gift after the previous defeat at Gangala, the survivors were also "intercepted" by him in Laodicea, about 300 people, this is Raymond Germany's cavalry team; the rest is the infantry team that was half-paid and half-forced with military service orders, and then several hundred Kallegos party members were broken up and mixed in, and they marched toward them in a mighty manner. Afyon marches on.

As a result, they entered the territory of Pamphylia. Before they had marched ten kilometers, the team burned and looted three market towns. Raymond was also a little embarrassed by the fuss, so he wrote a letter in advance and sent it to Afyon to express his gratitude to Bray. Nusi said, "I will come to reinforce you immediately. The proceeds from robbery along the way will be used as the military expenses that you will reward me later. We will not owe each other."

Brenus was so angry that he immediately set fire to the letter "We owe nothing to each other".

In the end, only Diogenes in Angrasburg, after receiving the urgent letter, quickly organized 500 cavalry and the same number of infantry to support the "son-in-law of the empire" on the northern flank. (To be continued ~^~)