Eagle Byzantium

However, in the early morning of the next day, before Queen Irene was ready, her husband Alexios took the initiative to send court officials to summon her and asked to meet at the small Holy Wisdom Church in Brachna Palace. There are important matters to discuss.

Irene, who was full of suspicion, dressed up surrounded by her maids, put on the queen's crown, and went to the beautifully decorated chapel between the royal garden and the palace. In the hall there, Alexios was standing proudly behind the mosaic. , he is usually accompanied by three confidants, the imperial ink officer Melais, the captain of the guard Mikhail and the eunuch Xiaoniao.

"Oh, you're here. Thank you for your hard work. Where is my daughter Anna?" After the queen saluted him, Alexios spoke in a gentle tone with a calm smile on his face.

"Where is the chief lady and her adopted son, your sworn brother?" Who would have thought that Irene would actually retort. Now that John is adopted by Marlena, he is Alexios's brother in terms of seniority ethics.

But the emperor did not show the slightest anger at this irony. He just said that Marlena and the prince went to Heraclitus Town on the coast to the north of the imperial capital to escape the summer heat. It would take some time before they could return to the imperial capital. .

In fact, Irene didn't know why, no matter whether her husband's tone was peaceful or unkind, she wanted to humiliate him, attack him, hope to quarrel and confront him, and then make the relationship between the two develop into a worse state. But today Alexios's attitude was really beyond her expectation, which made the queen feel a little at a loss. In the end, she could only say, "Anna left a note and went to St. John's Church. She said she wanted to Spend some time alone in the study.”

"In this way..." Alexios still had the same calm expression, "I will soon go to Adrianople with my imperial brother to suppress the local commotion. There is still a lack of candidates in the imperial capital. Come to appease the palace..." Before Irene could react, the emperor summoned Melais and asked the ink officer to kneel down and write down, "I hereby authorize Irene Komnenos. Queen, when I go on an expedition , remaining in the palace in her honorable capacity, with jurisdiction over all the court officials, imperial officials, eunuchs, and maids, as well as the servants and finances of the entire Brachna Palace." Then, the emperor personally sealed the drafted edict with his royal seal and handed it over. arrive Irene, who was stunned, held a personal request in her hand, "Let's go on an expedition. It may take as little as half a year or as long as a year. Take good care of Anna. After I return home in triumph, I will hold her wedding celebration with Brenus."

At this time, the queen felt mixed emotions in her heart, and she didn't know it was joy. She still felt guilty, but then the emperor gave her a few warm words of comfort and left in a hurry.

Irene, who returned to the palace, still held the emperor's order in her hand. The mood is difficult to calm down. No matter what, she is close to victory. Now after Alexios's expedition, she is the regent in the imperial capital and the person with the highest authority. So as long as she summons the empire's Caesar. When we reunited with Patriarch Mastas and Prime Minister Burrill, it didn't matter even if Mastas had any objections. Ducasse's power will gain the absolute upper hand and depose John. Granting Anna the status of heir to the throne, everything is so perfect! Then the queen called a maid and delivered a letter to her, "Go to St. John's Cathedral and let the eldest princess know about this."

The courier sent by Eudocia entered the courtyard of St. John's Cathedral almost at the same time as the queen's maid. Anna jumped out of the study door like a happy bird. She was in the sunshine after the rain. , holding up the parchment letter that Gao Wen had sent in reply. Due to the projection of sunlight, every word written in black ink, including the texture on the paper, was With a golden and delicate color, there are her own small handprints and Gawain's big handprints, close together, and some short but warm words of encouragement and admonishment. Anna sang a ballad and looked up at them with her neck raised. He shouted over and over again, and the skirts and hair tips were spinning and flying, "Gawain is back from Italy, Gawain is back from Italy!"

But after a while, Anna was silent again, slowed down her rotation, lowered her little head, and looked at her shadow under her feet with some sadness, "Gawain is back, but he is like a ship, he will only stay beside the imperial capital. Passing by quickly, he will soon be in the far east again... He is not returning, he is just passing by. "

On the top of the city of Ragusa, the mayor Andrea Betos stood there with some horror, looking at the neatly arranged rows of galleys and rowing boats on the sandbank under the city, and in the wilderness and promontory to the north of the city. Here, soldiers carrying luggage and weapons, holding strange flags and wearing strange blouses, like a colony of ants, began to build a camp there.

"Is this the pilgrimage expeditionary force brought by our ally Gawain from the city of Bari?" Betos said, but he still did not dare to open the city gate to allow the caravans coming to participate in the trade by sea and land to enter. These The merchants could only lead their mules and horses, row their boats, and approach Gawain's camp.

Across the wooden fence, the military servants accompanying the army very kindly started trading directly with these caravans using coins and physical goods. The whole order was very orderly.

Gawain did not bring a mixed team of pilgrims with him. Before leaving the city of Bali, he personally came to the pilgrim camp outside the city and said to tens of thousands of men and women, "According to the requirements of the Holy See, my red-handed Dalian The team took the lead in crossing the sea and heading to the area of ​​Ragusa and Durazzo to open up the ground to welcome the follow-up troops. Immediately, Duke Bohemond of Apulia You will be sent to sea from the Taranto area with a stronger force as my successor, so I entrust you to this generous prince who is kind, wealthy and skilled in military affairs. The city of Bari will pay you in advance. For one-eighth sous per man, go to Taranto, where Lord Bohemond is waiting for you, to go with his ships."

In this way, about 40,000 pilgrims received Gawain's 5,000 silver coins in two days. They swept through the entire Lucania in a mighty force, carrying luggage, beasts of burden and tents, holding crosses, and singing praises to Gawain and Gawain. Bohemond's song of friendship marched towards Taranto and went to the Normans.

Therefore, what Gawain brought with him was a large company of 6,000 pure military operations. Among them, he organized more than 700 Italian veterans into three companies: "Farov Company", "Lepanto" and "Saint Glory". Companies, each with 250 men, were mixed into light crossbowmen; about 3,000 Greek exiles and farmers were organized into "Nemesis", "Wrath", "Earth" Six companies of the "Bloody Mouth", "Wallachia", and "Archduke's Dead Soldiers" all used swords, spears and small shields; more than a thousand Schiavone, Amalfi, and Saracen sailors were mixed They are the four companies of the "Holy Sea", "The Princess's Family", "Cikirians" and "Corinthian Carpets". They are lightly dressed and equipped with purchased fir bows, spears and crossbows. There are also about 500 craftsmen, separately organized into the "Unicorn Company", responsible for camp construction and equipment. Gawain also brought two stone-shooting machines, four porcupines, and six large crosses made by Barry City on this trip. bow.

In the sequence, there are also 500 "newly baptized cavalry companies" directly under Gawain. The main force is 300 Cuman cavalry who ran from Titicius, and 200 newly recruited Lombard cavalry. , the former is equipped with quivers, horned bows, and some light spears, while the latter is equipped with chainmail and linen armor for its men and horses. The horses are all gifted in advance from Duchess Matilda (half Buy half, get half free, Matilda is very generous), among which the Lombard cavalry is also equipped with a lighter spear than the Normans, with Byzantine and Persian style "Contos" The spear can be buckled on the saddle or wrist with a belt, and can be held with one hand to charge. Although its power is weakened, it is especially suitable for the novice cavalry team who still lack combat experience in the group.

Guarding the Grand Duke and the red-handed cross-sword banner were two hundred and twenty warriors of the "Brotherhood of Galganus", together with thirty Varangian guards. These two hundred and twenty men came from the rapid Selected from the expanded fraternity , some are strong enough to wield chainmail and swords to fight for the Holy Sepulchre and the Archduke, while others are professionals, such as military chaplains (both Catholic and Orthodox), herbalists and various service personnel. .

During his tenure, Gawain handed over the command of the cavalry company to his former military servant Muzafi Adin. He was the only Crescent believer in the entire army, so he felt more at ease with the position than others; young An Deodat was promoted to "Second Advisor to the Grand Duke of the Governor of Bari" and "Confidential Secretary of the Dalian Company", temporarily in charge of military aircraft and finance; Vesat Melo was entrusted as the commander-in-chief of the Greek Infantry Company.

But looking at the turbulent waves behind him, Gawain still felt pained by the lack of grassroots officers and manpower. He must treat the Brotherhood as a reserve officer corps and never leave his side.

Surrounding the limestone and sandbanks under the city of Ragusa, the Red Hand Company set up camp majestically. Coach Gawain's camp relied on the Venetian fleet, the infantry company fanned out to form a defensive circle, and the cavalry company's camp The outermost one is stationed in the middle of the street along the seaside of Comia in Ragusa City, "cutting off" the connection between Ragusa City and Zata City.

Soon, Andrea Betos's envoy arrived in front of Gawain's camp. The Governor of Bari, the Archduke, warmly received their party and warmly praised the maritime city-state for what it had done to him during the Norman invasion in the past. With the help of the Dalian team, Gao Wen was then on the table "We only need your country to provide grain, wine and clothing. After replenishing supplies, we will leave quickly and push towards the Sava River. There will never be any Violent incidents occurred. Fair dealing, friendly dealing."

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The envoy reported Gawain's hope to the alderman. Betos thought that the Archduke's previous reputation in transactions was impeccable, so he agreed to his request - and soon Ligusa opened the city gate. , set up a market on the road between the Dalian team's camps to allow local merchants and foreign caravans to freely exchange goods with Gao Wen's troops. (To be continued ~^~)