Eagle Byzantium

These two men did not dare to neglect at all, and immediately led all the cavalry across the river valley to the Seleucia barracks to collect them.

"Father, why are the burdens of military service and taxes so heavy, and you still have to obey the orders of that tyrant general Gawain?" Leo rode a horse in the endless marching team and carefully asked his father who was sitting in his carriage. Said - Nika has been completely blind, so he cannot ride a horse and can only command the team in a carriage.

"The jinats are not united, but Gawain's skills are very clever. Didn't you see that there are many jinats on the other side of Sicilicia, eager to join the battle?" The father said behind the curtain of the carriage. He replied slowly and leisurely.

"But they all want to support you..."

"Idiot, when the monkeys on the plateau are being hunted, they all like to push one out to get stabbed first."

"What about the emperor?" Diga couldn't help but throw out a bigger flag of resistance.

Nika sneered twice, "Gawain hates us, do you think the emperor will like us? Over the years, we have been involved with the Turks. Gawain can at least coexist with us in Seleucia, and the emperor's Come here, I'm afraid we'll be left alone."

When their father said this, the two brothers kept silent. Although they were not convinced, they did not dare to question anything openly.

The entire army arrived in Lamas City in less than a day.

A military market has been set up in this city. When the Guardian Brigade was lining up to be inspected, they looked at the soldiers of the Red Hand Brigade with envy, holding silks, clothes and other valuable trophies, showing off to each other in the market. During the auction, Gawain fulfilled the promise of the "sacrifice contract" this time: allowing soldiers who went out to battle to freely possess part of the loot.

"Now all the guys with red hands are getting rich!" Not only the soldiers in the Guardian Brigade are dissatisfied, it is said that even the soldiers of the "Wallachia Detachment" who are now joining their brigade are not in Lamas City . But there were also complaints: no one wanted to follow the new brigade, they just wanted to follow General Stratigos to "eat meat and be happy."

Branas and Dorus Lambert, who were standing under the square flag, also felt that their faces were dull.

"In this battle, your Guardian Brigade will take the lead." However, at the military meeting in the church in the city, Gawain suddenly made this generous request, which made the two new brigade commanders a little unbelievable.

But Gawain did not mean to be joking at all, "We will attack Asba immediately. The old general Nika led all the nobles of Genat and marched from the Curricus road; Branas's brigade marched from the Lamas road. March - The two armies then surrounded Fort Colle Adio; I and the Red Hand Brigade The formation is here to support us." Finally, Gawain breathed a sigh of relief, "Asba and several of the rebellious Jinats together only have a thousand troops, so Fort Corleadiou can be easily obtained - especially General Branas. "Don't let me down." Gawain said the last sentence very seriously.

"Yes, Dorus Lambert and I will definitely live up to your high expectations, General Stratigos." Branas was frightened and immediately expressed his determination.

Nika also presented the secret letter Asba had given him beforehand, "But Asba has obviously misjudged our loyalty to you, general. His demise is not far away."

"Very good. After this battle is over immediately, the Kallegos family will be exempted from three-quarters of September's taxes, and the Guardian Brigade - after all, it is my humerus. Will also be rewarded with spoils of war." Gawain's tone was instantly satisfied.

The next day, the two armies separated their distance and followed their own routes. Advancing towards the mountain pass where Fort Colle Adio is located, the entire mountain group is full of warning and fighting beacons, and rising wisps of wolf smoke, especially the Guardian Brigade, after getting the "trophies" promised by the general himself. After the "distribution" plan, everyone worked hard and felt that they had not been abandoned by Gao Wen. The attack was extremely resolute and courageous.

At the same time, a merchant ship from the island of Cyprus also docked at the small dock port in Lamas City.

It brought about a commercial treaty with the Roman Empire on the island of Cyprus with the Archduke Lapsomates.

In fact, since Gawain fought in Cilicia and Seleucia, Lapsomates had secretly paid close attention to him.

Cyprus. Because it guarded the sea transportation between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant, it was always at the forefront of the competition between various forces in the Middle Ages. In the last century, it was regained by the "reconquest" of the Byzantine Roman Empire (previously occupied by the Saracens), but because it was far away from Constantinople, the successive grand dukes here were also a little restless, and most of them went to the The "blacklist" that the Roman emperor focused on.

Fifty years ago, the then Grand Duke of Cyprus, Theophilus Ioteix, was suppressed by the imperial fleet because he proclaimed himself king, and was taken to Constantinople, where he was forced to wear women's clothes and ride a donkey. , circled the arena three times, and then was imprisoned until death.

Therefore, after Lapsomates took charge of this big island, his mentality was very cautious - after the empire lost Anatolia, although the local separatists Theodoro and Feraredos began to Pride in Constantinople, He claimed to be king and hegemony in the local area, but the most remote Lapsomates insisted on sending envoys to the imperial capital every year to offer tribute and taxes to Alexios Komnenos, praising and praising the emperor's authority. The emperor was instantly satisfied.

But privately, the emperor also knew that this old fox was always dancing on a few eggs in Konya Sultanate, Egypt Fatimid, and Cilicia, concluding trade agreements that were beneficial to him everywhere, paying close attention to the development of the surrounding situation, and protecting his power from being damaged by overheating his mind. After painstaking efforts, the current Grand Duke Lapsiomates not only has an elite guard of 700 people, most of whose soldiers are recruited from Crete and other places, but also a medium-sized fleet to defend the island and escort merchant ships. The people on the island were also governed in an orderly manner by him, and a solid alliance was formed with the Jinat on the island.

Lapsiomates was also very sensitive in intelligence gathering. He learned the news that the Western pilgrim army was marching towards the Holy City almost at the same time as the emperor, so when Gawain occupied Seleucia, he immediately sent a secret envoy.

A correct version can be found in the 16-9 book forum!

"Why don't you sign an offensive and defensive alliance with me like Orson did?" Gawain, who was sitting on a chair in the church secret room and receiving the secret envoy, asked.

The secret envoy laughed twice, "Because Your Excellency, your loyalty to Constantinople will never change. What you want to sign with the general now is just a regional trade agreement."

"Did you see that Emperor Komnenos' power has rebounded? Since it's just a trade agreement, it's not something that can't be seen in the sun, why do you ask me to discuss it with you in the secret room?" Gawain naturally saw through the other party's trick, which was to deceive the emperor and hope to get benefits from him.

But the secret envoy was still very cunning, and just smiled and didn't answer Gawain's question. (To be continued ~^~)