Changfeng Thousands of Miles End Han Song

Chapter 1010 Savior

As a thousand-year empire, the military system of the Byzantines has changed several times.The military region system in its heyday has been abandoned.The reason is that the military generals of the major military regions have repeatedly intervened in the internal struggles of the royal family, and the majesty and strength of the imperial power have been greatly threatened. The emperors of Byzantium all regarded disbanding military districts and hereditary troops and curbing the development of military aristocracy as their top priority.

This caused great chaos within Byzantium, and the entire empire changed four dynasties in less than a hundred years.The military strength of the empire has fallen into the bottom of the valley.

In today's Komnenos Dynasty, two successive emperors took it as their mission to restore the military region system, but they failed.In today's Byzantine Empire, a large number of mercenaries are still widely active in its military power.

Facing today's grim situation, John II was not at a loss.As early as when Lu Qi's army stopped attacking and concentrated on calming the rear, he made people contact the Crusader countries, and invited a large-scale naval force from Genoa, Venice, and Milan, which made the envoys Proceed to Rome to meet Pope Innocent II.John II desperately hopes that a powerful crusader will come to Byzantium!

However, Innocent II was a long-term 'exile' pope.Although he inherited the position of Pope early, he wandered outside for nearly ten years. He survived the death of the enemy Pope Anacletus II before he took the throne of the Holy See.The French and Conrad III of the Shinra were his main supporters, but the nobles of Italy were more supportive of his enemy, the rival Pope Anacletus II.

Relying on the support of the northern forces, Innocent II finally overwhelmed Anacletus II and his supporters, but he couldn't let Conrad III who supported him successfully defeat his enemies—— The son-in-law of the former Emperor Lothair II and his designated heir, the "arrogant" Henry, Duke of Bavaria and Saxony!

This matter involved the dispute between the northern and southern princes of Shenluo. The princes and princes in the south were unwilling to see another strong emperor appear, and they chose the relatively weak Conrad III.If so, the war between the two factions has lasted for five years, and it has not yet ended!

Under such circumstances, how could Innocent II raise a powerful crusader again?By his imagination?
The nobles in Italy did not support him. One of his two supporters was fighting his enemies, and the other, the young King Louis VII of the Capet dynasty of France, did not have the strength at all.

As mentioned in the previous article, the strength of France at this time is not outstanding.In the early days of the Capet dynasty, the territory directly controlled by the royal family was limited to between the Seine River and the Loire River.The father of Louis VII, Louis VI, only completely settled the feudal aristocracy in the royal territory at the end of his reign, and issued a commune charter to the city, combining the interests of the Capet dynasty and the city.However, the external principalities and counties are still like independent kingdoms.

Innocent II had more energy than he wanted, and all he could do was to contact the Knights of the Crusaders and ask them to abandon their hostility towards Seljuk and Byzantium, and do everything they could to help Byzantium and defeat the Orientals. An enemy ten times, a hundred times more terrifying than the Seljuks!

In the Chinese he sees destruction, the glory of the Lord is silenced...

But it's not easy.

Everyone should know that one of the reasons why the Crusaders were able to be promoted and pass through Byzantium smoothly was that they promised before that all the lost land in the east would be handed over to the Byzantines after the war.

However, this was undermined at the outset of the First Crusade.

First, Baldwin established the County of Edessa, claiming to be Baldwin I.Then Bohemond, Duke of Taranto, finally took Antioch, Syria .And exhausted, they miraculously defeated a Seljuk reinforcement from Mosul and gained a firm foothold in Antioch.Bohemond then declared the independence of Antioch and established the Principality of Antioch.

This is simply stepping on the face of Byzantium as a carpet.

Bohemond showed the independence of his territory from the beginning. He did not have the title of duke, but called himself grand duke.Coupled with the County of Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem further south, the Crusaders' intention was very obvious. They wanted to establish a Catholic world on the east coast of the Mediterranean instead of giving the land to the Byzantines.In this way, their contradiction with Byzantium is clear.

Both John II and his dead father Alexius I engaged in long-term diplomatic and military struggles with the Principality of Antioch in order to regain the territory of Antioch and Syria, thus forming a very sharp conflict between the two sides. contradiction.

One wants to restore the former homeland of the empire, while the other is unwilling to lose the benefits he has already obtained.This is a contradiction that even God cannot reconcile.Even this contradiction is closely related to the final demise of the Byzantine Empire.

——The bandit nature of the Crusades exposed the huge conflicts between the Byzantines and the Byzantines in terms of interests and culture. Did Ding Bao plant a foreshadowing?
But now, in addition to the internal changes in the Byzantine Empire and the Principality of Antioch, the factors affecting the direction of the Antioch issue are also closely related to the external factors of changes in the heavenly forces in Asia Minor and Syria.

You must know that changes in the situation are never unilateral. In international exchanges, it is the correct solution to affect the whole body.

The fuse that triggered the Second Crusade in history was that the Edessa County was conquered by the Seljuks, but now the Seljuks are too busy to take care of themselves, but the Edessa County is as stable as Mount Tai.

The drastic changes in the situation in Tianfang not only brought about an improvement in the situation in Byzantium, but also the Crusaders. The living environment has been greatly consolidated.

Therefore, the current Principality of Antioch has also received the support of the Counties of Edessa, Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

To be clear, the "homeland" of the Byzantines is not only Antioch and Syria, the Byzantine Empire in its heyday, even Egypt is their territory.The Counties of Edessa, Tripoli and the Kingdom of Jerusalem also belong to Byzantium!
What Innocent II can do now is to adjust the sharp conflict between the Crusader Knights and the Byzantines as much as possible, and let them put aside the conflict and work together to the outside world!

As for other things, he really can't do anything.I can only pray for God's blessing, everything depends on God.

"God supreme, our savior! Please treat your humble subjects with mercy and blessing today, please be merciful, listen to our prayers, forgive and have mercy on us! The enemy is harassing your land, And seek to destroy the world, the enemy is at war with us; lawless, gathered together, plotting to overthrow your kingdom, destroy your holy Jerusalem and your beloved Europa; defile your temples, pour down your altars, profane your holy Niche. Lord, how long will the gangsters run rampant? When will they be fierce?
Please hear our plea to you, please hear us: assert your divine power, help your faithful followers, grant us victory, and protect your chosen Israel.Strengthen your people with your almighty hand and support them in victory over their enemies, just as you gave Moses victory over Amalek, Gideon victory over Midian, and David victory over Goliath.Bless his army and those who are armed and ready for battle in your name. Give them bows of bronze and help them with your spears and shields. Let those who do us harm be cursed and cursed. Humiliation; may they be like dust in the wind before your loyal warriors, may your powerful angels cause them to scatter and flee, may they be caught in a trap unawares, may they suffer the consequences of their secret deception; let them kneel Fall at the feet of your servants and be swept away by our armies.Oh God!You can save both the strong and the weak; you are God and no one can overcome you..."

(End of this chapter)