Eagle Byzantium

The confusion of the middle and lower-level generals was resolved, and the rest of the soldiers were much easier to convince. In the early morning of the next day, the pontoon bridge along the Karasu River had been built, and many brothers and military servants were driving various collected vehicles. , transporting all the food and money in Sinop to the camp.

Gawain immediately announced that all the spoils would be divided equally among everyone. He rode on the newly fed Quicksilver and called the whole army to stand in front of the camp. "Everyone's eyes can see that this narrow Karasu River cannot be watered at all." Fertile land, if the pace of the Dalian team stops here, we will Those who were ridiculed laughed at our shallow vision and our lack of ambition, so now we cannot stop and point your swords, spears and flags to a more distant and more fertile place, a land that is truly inspired by God and allows The ideal country that Your Highness the Princess is satisfied with, that is where we stand At that glorious moment, your luggage and backpacks will be filled with just gold and silver coins, as well as all kinds of beautiful silks and utensils. When you arrive in the ideal country, you can directly buy orchards, canals and fertile fields. You can directly marry a beautiful woman and own your own house and Title - So, if you are an unambitious boy who wants to spend the rest of his life guarding the little bit of farmland allocated here, please come forward and I will use a cart pulled by a donkey to drive you slowly to the Emperor's Tax Collector. You can negotiate with the officials and hope they will be merciful."

The generals and flag officers also repeatedly mentioned to the soldiers about the princess's "dream revelation". Many soldiers whispered to each other, but after a while, they started to follow the herd mentality and desire for wealth and honor. He expresses his unwillingness to forget the holy war vows he made at the beginning, and will follow Gawain and the princess at the same time and continue to fight.

"This bastard is more bold and shameless than our missionary when he inspires people." Believers on the side of the formation. Kabeamiya looked at Gawain, thinking with a little resentment and a little admiration.

"Very good. Now many Pauline believers have joined our ranks and are willing to serve as guides. Now our scouts have received information. Theodoro Gabuas of Trabizon has already commanded his ancient army and started to March towards the city of Amisus and prepare to assemble to resist our army. "When Gawain then announced the order "The Dalian Company marched to the Harris River (the large river connecting the Black Sea to the Anatolian Plateau, now the Kizer River), waiting for an opportunity to fight Gabuyas", all assigned to The officers and soldiers of the Dalian company who had won the prize raised their flags and loudly expressed their willingness to obey the order.

Trabzon. A beautiful port city, it faces the black sea and has the majestic Pontus Mountains as its back. The castle is located on a platform between two deep valleys. The terrain is very closed and dangerous, the sky is clear and blue, and it is rich in grains and beauties. On top of the "Black Madonna Monastery" built on the mountain, General Theodoro, who had been given the title of "Grand Duke of Chardia" by Emperor Alexius, was having sex with his beautiful wife, a princess from the Kingdom of Georgia (of course It was his second love. The old general, who was nearly fifty when he married her six years ago, sat side by side and received the emissary from Constantinople on an urgent merchant ship from the Black Sea.

Originally, the general and his wife came to visit the Virgin Mary's shrine, but the emissary's arrival was extremely urgent, so they could only receive them on the spot in the monastery.

This secret messenger is Alexios' "pre-killing move". He had already expected that Gawain and Anna would advance in a blitz to avoid him. The emperor naturally has his own methods, and "Komnenos", who is known for his ambition and cunning, is well-deserved after all. So after learning from Alexius that Gawain was far away. He dispatched fast horses and notified the naval fortress of Chalcedon. Then a merchant ship carrying an emissary, escorted by several warships, quickly crossed Bithynia by sea and arrived at Trabzon Castle.

The emperor's meaning is very direct:

"I completely forgive you for all the unhappiness in the past, and I am willing to make an oath before the Lord. Now let's make a deal. You will command the Syme Division of Trabzon and attack the Harris River area to intercept and destroy Gawain and him. The Red Hand Dalian Company, as for the Danish Mond Turks, I will also send a secret envoy to negotiate. You don’t have to worry about threats from the rear; After that, I will consider releasing your hostages and children who are under house arrest in the imperial capital, and let them return to Trabzon to inherit your business in the future. I will not interfere with all the rights and interests of the Gabuas family here, and from now on you will I also fully approve the expansion of power in the Chardiya region (ancient Byzantine military region, including Trabizon).”

Of course, there is a small note on the side of the emperor's memorandum, "After that, 30% of the gold and silver mined by Trabzon in the Pontus Mountains and minted into coins must be sent to the emperor." I will send regulatory officials to inspect everything.”

Seeing this, "The cunning of the fox does not lie in his age." Theodoro sighed secretly, and then couldn't help but sneer. He didn't understand what grudge the emperor had against the Archduke of Armenia whom he had never met, but this was not the case in the Roman Empire. In his world, conflicts and fights between emperors and grand dukes are always the norm. He is not surprised at all, because he is the same!

Theodore Gabuas, born into a professional military noble family, was famous in eastern Asia Minor for his bravery and fighting skills when he was young. After the empire was defeated in the Battle of Manzikert, the Turkmen and Seljuks poured into the central Anatolian Plateau like sand. In the midst of a losing situation, he led only a small number of military district troops to defeat the Turkic invasion of Trebizond nine years later, firmly occupying this rich place, and then repelled the offensive of the Paulicians. His reputation had long reached the point where "no one dared to touch it easily, no matter who it was."

That is why, after Alexios ascended the throne, the conflict with the Gabuas family sometimes eased and sometimes intensified. The emperor was unwilling to accept that there was such an unruly force in Trebizond, so he kept Theodore's children imprisoned, and when Theodore came to the imperial capital to pay homage, he also tried to arrest him. Fortunately, Theodore had been on guard and jumped on a cargo ship heading to the Black Sea and ran back.

However, now, the two sides seem to have a chance to reconcile again, that is, Theodore's current wife Marianne, the younger sister of the vice queen mother of the imperial capital, Malena.

Malena and Marianne sisters, their father is King Baratianes IV of Georgia, and their mother is Princess Borina of Alan, so the sisters both have the most beautiful "Alanian women" bloodline. Now is the time when Malena is the most powerful in the court, and Alexios took the opportunity to play this card to win over his "wild brother-in-law".

"Please report to His Majesty the Supreme that the Gabuas family is willing to be loyal to him, and I will lead the 6,000-man Sem Division to fight in the Halys River today to carry out the will to eliminate Gawain." Theodore stamped his seal on the letter and solemnly handed it to the secret envoy, asking him to report back as soon as possible. (To be continued ~^~)