Eagle Byzantium

After capturing the great tower on the Alexandrian Stone Embankment, several heavy mortars were transported here along the embankment and began to bombard the walls of Tyre. The whistling sound of the shells, the sound of the stones breaking and collapsing, and the cries and pleas of the guards filled the following days and nights.

In the first two days, the city of Tyre still had the ability to mobilize defense. Hudger and Portland could still brave the attacking artillery fire and let the soldiers and citizens repair the collapsed sections. But within these two days, Andeodate held a new military meeting to coordinate the actions of the three naval fleets that besieged Tyre from the west, northeast and southeast. Two days later, many warships rowed together, roaring and approaching the various sections of the city wall of Tyre. Several large sunfish warships were equipped with double trebuchets (one on the port side and one on the starboard side), which were strung together with iron chains and rained stones, destroying many towers and battlements. On the west side, it was mainly the pirate fleet of Winmoha, who mostly used Pamphilian light longboats or Saracen triangular sail warships, blocking Tyre's external sea routes and constantly sinking small boats that tried to escape from the city's water gates - there were nobles and beautiful women in the other cabins, as well as many valuables and treasures, which made Winmoha's pirates a big profit!

On the southeast side, the ships of Pisa, Amalfi and Gerard were approaching the city wall. They built wooden boxes like fences on the masts, and many soldiers hid behind them. They could stand higher than the battlements of the castle and shoot arrows and throw fire balls from a high position.

After four days of fierce fighting, the city had reached a very poor state. The streets were full of dead and wounded. No one treated the wounded, and no one collected the dead. Portland was also shot and the wound was very serious. Beside the holy spear, the relic of his father, he was also lying with sighing Provencals - many of them originally participated in the Eastern Expedition and were ready to make a fortune in a foreign country. Who would have thought that they would end up in such a situation?

Hu Dejie sent an envoy holding a white flag, passing through the long stone embankment to reach Andeodat's camp and request surrender.

"I want to accept your surrender, but I wonder where you should go after surrendering?" Andeodate asked this question.

The city's envoys replied that they were willing to surrender the city and go to the inland Haran Desert, and would never dare to attack the border of the new Roman Empire again.

Andeodate said, "All the Saracens, Persians and Turks who had previously resisted in the three cities of Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre will be exiled to Haran. And the Provencals who are accomplices will be punished with the death penalty!"

When Andeodate's team marched into the ruined inner city of Tyre, the trembling Portland was pulled out of a pit made by a stone ball by the soldiers. His condition was extremely miserable, with dirt and blood on his face and arrow wounds. Andeodate, under the victory flag, looked at him for a few times, and then patiently explained, "I'm sorry, regarding the territory of Provence, His Royal Highness Duke Guillaume has reached an agreement with our Emperor to inherit and take over, so the original Raymond family of Saint Gilles no longer needs to leave blood. Besides, you and your subordinates have nowhere to go, and you can't survive if you leave Tyre, so just accept the fate of being crucified for abandoning your faith in Jesus..."

"My biggest mistake is to underestimate your master's ambition and shamelessness." Portland stared at Andeodate hatefully.

"It's as if you came to the Levant for a noble and sacred purpose. Finally, take a look at this ocean eye flowing with gold and silver, it's beautiful." After Andeodate finished speaking, he waved his hand and walked towards the location of the Holy Tomb of Argonaut.

Nearly 500 surviving Provençal soldiers were crucified with Portland, surrounding the holy mausoleum. The sky and the earth were horrified. The bodies of all the victims were bloody and looked like red-painted sculptures hanging on a shelf. Many people cursed and groaned for several days before slowly dying. No one would come to demand justice for their deaths: because they were originally mercenaries of the pagans in the city, and they had previously insulted Christ, so they "deserved it" - As for Portland and Jordan, their deaths represented the extinction of the Raymond family. For the Eastern Roman Empire where Gawain was, it might just be a question of whether it could be done rather than whether it should be done. But for the Duke of Aquitaine, Guillaume, who had coveted Toulouse and Provence for many years, it was a great joy. If it weren't for the need to cover up, Guillaume would definitely hug his patriarch and sing a song after receiving the news.

Standing on the ruined battlements, Andeodat, who was watching the execution scene, raised his eyes and looked into the distance at the endless red clouds on the Levant Sea. They were connected together, floating on the waves, like a thick wall. He couldn't help choking up: ten years ago, he had no idea that he would end up like this today. He was the child of an ordinary craftsman and was sent to a monastery. He thought that if he could obtain a divine title in this life, he would get what he wanted. Who would have thought that today he would be able to command thousands of troops and become a marshal on the independent front.

Looking at the collapsed gate of the outer city, we can see the hundreds of exiled pagans in the city, all wrapped in rough blankets and driving their remaining livestock towards the distant Haran Desert to the east. Of course they can Perhaps no more than one in ten reaches their destination. Because the mountains of Tripoli on the east side are full of Maronites and Druze (a fierce heretical sect of the Crescent Church, concentrated in the east of Lebanon and at the border with Syria), the archers previously hired by Andodat and light cavalry were provided by their tribe). They would definitely intercept, rob, or kill this group of people.

“King Nebuchadnezzar will destroy Tyre,” lamented Andodat, who then added and modified another sentence from the Bible, “but it will never be reduced to ruins on smooth rocks. ”

Soon, Andodat announced the construction of the Church of Our Lady of the Savior on the foundation of the Holy Tomb of Ageno to dedicate it to Basileus and Basilisa in the capital, and turned the inner city of Tyre into five blocks, the outer city is divided into three streets District, began to attract merchants and Romans (Syrians) from all over Syria and Tripoli to settle in it. It also followed the practices of Jubail and Beritus cities, clarified the fields and land boundaries, and distributed them to farmers and herdsmen. At the same time, in a tent outside the construction site, Andodat and the leaders of the Maronites and Druze sects signed the important "Mountain Boundary Treaty."

The treaty divided the entire Tripoli (Lebanon region) into three independent areas: "Coastal", "Inside the Mountain", and "Outside the Mountain". Many cities and plains on the coastal area were owned by the Roman Empire, the mountains within the mountains, that is, the Lebanese mountains, were owned by the Maronites, and the areas outside the mountains were owned by the Maronites. Pasture is home to virtue Owned by the Luze sect, the three parties coexist peacefully without interfering with each other, and have concluded economic and trade relations of mutual assistance - the Maronites and the Druze provide mercenaries and border guards to the empire. For example, the Druze sect promised to continue to provide 3,000 bows and arrows to the empire. hands and a thousand light cavalry.