Eagle Byzantium

Isaac climbed up to the watchtower of Fort Sophia and saw the grand army of pilgrims in the wilderness below the city. To his surprise, this army of 40,000 people was by no means made up of peasants like the hermit Peter. It is composed of mobs, but a powerful legion that can truly fight.

In the center of the wilderness, Duke Godfrey, the flag-bearer of Salian Caesar, was holding a golden eagle-headed scepter. He was surrounded by mighty earls in military uniforms. Behind him, there were a total of five thousand people on his side. Twelve regiments of infantry, most of whom Wearing refined leather armor, some hold Swabian two-handed swords, some hold Germanic heavy spears (which can be used as spears or thrown), and there are also spears, axes, hooks, sickles, flails, etc. lined up in the rear. Each infantry regiment has a flag for dispatching and commanding. Under the guard of the infantry regiments, there were countless noble women and priests from West Frankia, as well as strong slaves, which were enough to form a complete military force.

On the hilly slopes on the right wing, a red-handed cross-sword flag floats. Stephen Gawain, the clergyman of Rome and the governor of Bari, holds a silver horse-head scepter. In front of him are Greeks lined up. Infantry company, flag officer and The column leaders are all key members of the "Brotherhood of Galganus", most of whom are from Calabria and Lucania. They are extremely resentful of His Majesty's refusal to accept the sacrifice of prisoners, and believe that the Grand Duke has been framed by a traitor. , before these companies The phalanxes all wore strong scale armor and pierced armor captured from the Guards of the Prince of Zatar, and were armed with sharp spears and shields of various styles, including Norman kite shields, German triangular shields, Saxon round shields, and Greek shields. man’s bronze shield, There are also the "concave" shaped shields in the Zhata area. Those in the rear are holding single-edged sabers, slings and short spears, and are responsible for auxiliary operations. Around the company, there are also some selected heavy armored skirmishers lying low. Stand by, holding a long ax and a two-handed halberd. Even the German armor-piercing Dazhui (a pure iron weapon similar to a long cone) fights on foot. To the left and right behind Gawain are two cavalry companies that look like the wings of death. They are wearing strict smocks and have distinctive flags and armor. They are the elite cavalry that has recently emerged in the Balkans.

On the right side of the procession, with the river at its back. It was a long cavalry team, and its leader was Godfrey's brother Baldwin. He wore a monk's robe with a cross on it outside his armor. This tall, fair-skinned nobleman was flanked by several men holding battle axes and maces. of armed monks. He has a fanatical passion for the expedition of consecrating the Lord, and his beautiful wife also personally follows her husband on the expedition, without fear of the enemy's sword. Behind Baldwin were mostly heroic knights from all walks of life in the West Frankish region, standing with spears and shining swords.

The forefront of the Pilgrim army. It was the cavalry of Klembald, counselor to the King of Hungary, two thousand in number, shouting insults for the Magyars and Wallachians. They continued to fire bows and arrows at the city head of Sophia.

For a time, His Majesty the Emperor was furious. Many generals around him suggested that he should not go forward to resist the battle, but should shrink and defend the city fortress, because the enemy's formation was already established, and he would fight recklessly again. He would definitely be attacked by enemy cavalry and archers and be defeated miserably. "What about the bridges on the river in front of the city?" Isaac was hesitant, because the enemy would definitely use these bridges to attack the city.

At this moment, he has a young noble named Andronicus Branas under his command. Born in Thrace, he generously asked to be coached by Isaac. "There are three passable bridges on the river below the city. Please ask Sebastokrat to allocate me 3,000 elite Turkic cavalry, armed with strong bows and scimitars, and divide them into three groups to defend them. If the enemy divides his troops to attack, we will Divide your troops and defend them; if the enemy attacks all the way, we will support each other - the Turkic cavalry are very fast and can support each other - and then you will send other infantry and craftsmen to come out from the water gate in small boats and destroy the bridges one by one. "

But what greeted Branas was the suspicious look of the emperor's younger brother: since the defeat of Manzikert, Emperor Alexios moved many Asia Minor nobles to Bulgaria and Thrace, but most of these people became They were close to the Ducas family, so the Comnenus family had never trusted them enough, and relied more on mercenaries hired from foreign countries.

On the other hand, Branas was impatient. He proposed the plan loudly two or three times in succession, and pointed at the troops of Godfrey and Gawain who were approaching in formation, reminding Isaac that it would be too late if he did not make a decision.

"Three thousand cavalry can be regarded as the elite main force of the entire Fort Sophia. It is not appropriate to leave them all to you to go out of the city to fight with the enemy in the field." In the end, this was what the emperor's brother and most of the staff and counselors said, and Branas could only I can sigh endlessly.

"Rely on the city walls and towers, hold on and fight!" Following this order, the entire garrison took action, lining up behind the battlements, arrow towers and shooting ports. Over there, the army of pilgrims had passed three bridges one after another. The leading cavalrymen dismounted holding their shields and formed a dense formation to resist bows and arrows. Then many military servants came up and passed the wood to the front line hand by hand, and began to set up The wooden palisades and large shields were used to defend the city from attack, and soon a huge siege field adjacent to the river was quickly formed. Godfrey then ordered the construction of rams, siege towers and trebuchets, and specifically reminded that the manufacture of trebuchets should be given priority.

Because the pilgrims and Gawain's company had stored a large amount of wood and nails in Nis beforehand, they were well prepared. Therefore, with the efforts of the craftsmen, seven lever-type catapults were quickly built. Thousands of craftsmen and even ladies joined in. Afterwards, they used various tools to chisel stones from the tail of the Rila Mountains, transported them with a constant stream of vehicles, and then polished them into stone bullets that could be thrown out. Soon, the ropes of the seven large catapults were pulled up and down, and they kept throwing stones like windmill giants. The stone bullets whistled through the fog and clouds in the air above Sophia Castle, and with a terrifying sound, they hit the battlements and towers, destroying countless things within a few days. The defenders crouched behind them and retreated to a safe area without daring to resist, watching Godfrey's siege towers rising day by day.

"Don't panic! Ask Samuelfa from the armory to come over and set up the 'defensive fire' launchers at the battlements at the back and the firing holes in the city wall to burn the enemy siege towers that dare to approach to ashes." At this time, Isaac Komnenos, who was in charge of the overall situation, was still very calm. He wanted to use this magical weapon, which had a strictly confidential formula and had saved the Byzantine Roman Empire many times in the war of defense, to deal a fatal blow to Godfrey and Gawain, a group of ignorant barbarians.

"What, we have to hastily use the 'defensive fire' in this situation? We can obviously set up some small catapults to destroy the enemy's siege equipment." In the armory workshop next to the reservoir in the city, Samuelfa Thesafi, a Greek engineer with a smell of leather and medicine, protested to the officer who came to give orders. (To be continued ~^~)