Eagle Byzantium

"The key to capturing Karlsburg lies with you. I know that it is not appropriate for you, as the general of the brigade, to go on such a mission, but I really can't think of a better candidate." Gawain said beforehand. So he asked the guard.

But Diognis didn't say anything, just that the promise I made in my previous letter must be fulfilled, and he set off after saying that.

So Gawain's thoughts at this moment are correct - the black and shallow river winds through, and the Castle of Kars is located on the mountain at the bend of the river: the north and west sides of the mountain seem to be split by a knife, It is an almost vertical cliff, and on the east side is a ridge that is in a straight line with the main castle. There are independent raised hills every five hundred feet on the ridge, and a sentry is built on each hill overlooking it. Lower slopes and plains.

The guard rode a horse, completely dressed as an Ani warrior, and wandered alone to the edge of the block under Kars City.

He looked up and instantly grasped the general shape and situation of Kars City in his mind - there were natural chasms on the east and north sides of the castle. Not only were there cliffs, but the Kars River also ran along these two sides. It bends on the side, so only the south slope is gentle and broad. Many workshops and camps go up along it, surrounding the castle. The inner wall of the castle surrounds the main castle, but there is also a large and solid outer wall along the south slope, enclosing the entire south slope building.

Running east-west along the outer wall of the south slope, there is a long cross-cut trench about an hour long, which separates the hillfort from the surrounding farms and markets. The central building of the market is an Armenian tetraconch style building. The church, located northwest of the castle, has a tapered shape The roof is paved with red tiles, and the main building below is surrounded by twelve prism-shaped protruding outline walls, symbolizing the fundamental number "12" of the Apostolic Church. Beyond it are the four protruding ear halls in the southeast, northwest and northwest, namely aps. , for monks and believers to enter and exit, and the walls are covered with green vines. This religious facility was built one hundred and eighty years ago. Fortunately, it was not destroyed by the invading Seljuqs. Now it is located on the edge of its outer jungle and is the busiest place in the entire castle, serving as a market. , celebrations and the multiple functions of the square.

About two years ago, David the Builder captured this fortress as a springboard for his conquest of the city of Ani: In fact, in the previous Battle of Roy, David the Builder's army route passed through Kars.

Now after Roy's great victory, the builder David led the main army to enter the city of Ani. Many nobles and mercenaries in the north of Greater Armenia are flocking to this emerging king, especially those who are unwilling to submit to Gawain's command. People - not everyone likes the Tarsus system, because it deprives the nobility of their land and glory. The nobility becomes the same as the humble infantry, but they enjoy more stipends.

Therefore, David asked his mentor to go north to the Cuman Prairie to recruit troops. On the other hand, he asked the general of Karlsberg, Mahadzeri, to recruit people from the surrounding area. Mahadzeri was a pure-blood Anibei. A great nobleman, now serving the Kingdom of Georgia, he is also a fanatical Zionist, but he bets his chips on the builder David. , because although Gawain doesn't know it yet, Mahadzeri's ideas have long been incompatible with this man - Mahadzeri does not allow Gawain to destroy the traditional political system of Greater Armenia, especially when he heard that Gawain actually After the Roman officer named Orson inherited the blood of Arni, he became even more furious and hated Gawain as a "destroyer of nations".

General Mahadzeri also has a clan brother named Ashot, who is actually serving in the Fatimid army across the ocean. He serves as the chief of guard of the Caliph and is quite popular with the Grand Vizier Alfedele. After all, they were fellow Armenians, so Avdler allowed Asshot to continue to maintain his Christian faith without converting to Crescentism like him.

Ashot had previously sent letters to Mahadzeri many times, telling him that he must persevere to the end, because once Egypt healed the wounds it suffered in the battle of Arsu City, it would immediately retrain the new army and make a comeback. Because Alfred has realized that Gawain is now the most dangerous enemy, and is willing to abandon his religious prejudices and join forces with the Kingdom of Georgia to contain him.

When the guard lowered his head and walked to the recruiting camp of the Apostolic Church, several guards came over and took his horse and asked his name.

"Vasak Syunik." The guard calmly reported a false name, "A squire from the Iberian mountains came to serve the general. In the previous battle of Marash, my whole family was At the hands of a bastard."

"Your name and skin color are strange."

Faced with such a question, the guard replied, "My ancestors have Persian blood." Then he repeated this sentence fluently in Persian, Greek and Saracen, and then again Switched back to Armenian.

So soon, he and other warriors stood in front of the bathhouse square along the river, accepting the review from General Mahadzeri, who was wearing a black shoulder strap.

When testing his shooting skills, the officer shot three arrows in a row, all of which hit the target. This impressed Mahadezeri very much, so he asked the attendant to hand it over to him with the mulberry horn bow in his hand, "Replace the weak one in your hand." Persian bow, try this.”

In the end, the guard opened it easily and continued to shoot heavy arrows like lightning, shattering all the targets erected by the river.

"Very good, Vasak, right? I will give you the position of Captain of Fifty, responsible for the defense of Jim Hill Fort outside the city."

The so-called Jim Hill Fort is an independent fort located in the southwest corner of Kars.

Although General Mahadzeri's appointment was very generous, it was obvious that although he admired this "Wasak", he did not trust him enough. This also meant that although the guarding officer successfully sneaked in, he could not see the high ground at all. The structure, gates and road locations of the castle.

No matter what, Diognis lurked temporarily as "Wasak". He soon stood on Fort Jim and looked at the outer wall of Karlsburg over there. The foundation of the outer wall was covered with steep slopes. The earth embankment can protect against the bombardment of catapults and siege guns, and there are twenty-two semicircular horse-faced walls, which allow the shooters on them to shoot at approaching enemies. What's even more difficult is that the main castle of Kars is located at an extremely high position - Gawain's large siege cannon and fire bear cannon can only be deployed at the market river in the south to destroy the outer wall, but once it breaks through The outer wall has to pass through a long and sloping south slope to reach the inner wall of the main fort. This terrain cannot even support a heavy mortar emplacement, not to mention facing the condescending firepower thrown by the main fort... .

"Damn it, must we take other measures?" the guard muttered to himself.

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And at the end of March, Gawain led all the elite main forces and indeed marched from the inner city of Melitai towards the city of Kars.

When Anna sent women's clothes to the King of Georgia, Gawain clearly told David, the builder, that his target was Kars, because there was no need to hide it, and strong strength combined with the strategy of adapting to the situation before the battle would always win. key.