Eagle Byzantium

Then, Zahas put down his bow and continued to laugh proudly, "Come here, prepare another letter written in Norman for me. My allies should also take action at this time!"

Although Zahas made up his mind to invade the islands in the Byzantine waters, Stablemaster George's decision to advance towards Nicaea remained unchanged at all. The two armies were like thick arrows diverging from each other, going their own way in Asia Minor.

Before advancing to the city of Prusa, Sultan Giliki Arslan of Rom abided by his original agreement and led a total of 7,000 Turkic soldiers from the fertile Lydian plains around the city of Konya through the long and barren In the Ojas Canyon, he came to the camp of the stable chief and expressed his willingness to follow and fight. Then he told George that he would send another four thousand soldiers at the same time to help the emperor himself and destroy the Pechenegs first. , and then destroy the Norman gang.

The arrival of Sultan Rom's reinforcements (although they were another group of Turks) made the whole camp rejoice. The Byzantine Roman Empire did not value any race or tribe. Anyway, the power of the country was in the hands of the Hellenistic nobles. Other foreign races Barbarians are all here to work, and as long as they can contribute, they can receive military pay.

"Because he captured a tower in Abydos and later guarded the battle flag in the Battle of the Meadows, Stephen Gawain was promoted here to be the flag officer of the Red Hand detachment, commanding a column of infantry." Before that, Farov issued this letter of appointment in front of all the detachment soldiers. It not only had his seal, but also the pen and ink signature of the royal steward.

Then, Farov reminded Gawain, who took over the letter of appointment, "Many people stopped when they served as 'Colonel Officers'. Some died in battle because of recklessness, and some made no achievements and disappeared into obscurity." , this position of commanding thirty soldiers is all glory, but it may also be the end of disaster. Use your talent to see if it is a good piece of iron that can really withstand forging. "

In the mighty marching team facing the city of Prusa, Gawain rode on Sabina's back, supervising and directing the march of his sixth column. He gave Erikson the armor of the Turkic slave soldier who was killed in the Battle of the Meadow, and gave him a sharp single-edged saber, allowing him to hold the flag next to him.

According to the Byzantine military system, a detachment of 300 people can be divided into up to twenty-four columns. If it is cavalry, it is usually divided into four columns. Each column is equipped with a basic "flag officer" to serve as command. Later, under the regulations of Leo VI of the Macedonian dynasty, an infantry detachment adopted a relatively moderate method and divided into eight columns for combat, with 30 men in each column. The remaining 60 most combat-effective veterans were assigned to the detachment command. The officers serve as the prepared "soldiers under the banner". In addition, from the perspective of Leo VI, the infantry detachment must rely on the sixty "banner soldiers" to undertake the assault mission of intersecting the enemy's blade, while the other eight columns are simply cannon fodder, lined up in a dense formation, hugging each other It is used to block the enemy; while the cavalry detachment is arranged in four lines and must simultaneously and continuously attack the enemy on the battlefield. The reason why Leo emphasizes the importance of "distribution" is, This means that for the Romans of this era, most of them have lost the courage to fight with barbarians and pagans head-on with swords. They can only rely on rows of formations and adhere to the military arts and tactics formulated by successive emperors. "Obedience" and "patience" combined with religion have become the essence of the entire army, instead of "daring" and "courage". They are far from the majesty of their ancient ancestors.

So, in other words, the sixth column of the red hand unit commanded by Gawain is theoretically part of the cannon fodder and human shield. But fortunately, the Red Hand Detachment is, after all, the most powerful Varangian Guard in the Inner Palace, so the term "cannon fodder human shield" does not exist for this unit. In the previous Battle of the Meadow, all Almost all of the warriors in the detachment used heavy weapons and went forward one after another to tear apart the defense line of Museto's army and lead their own side to victory.

In addition, each column of thirty soldiers also shared two light mule carts, one carrying shields, armors and weapons (soldiers in ancient Rome marched directly carrying these things on their backs, which shows that the practice of enduring hardship is declining nowadays). One carries tools, grain, cooking stoves, millstones, etc. In addition, there are two mules, horses and donkeys for additional dispatch, but the pack animals in George's stablemaster's army are really scarce, so these two are just numbers on the paper.

The army set up camp in the wilderness ten miles southwest of Prusa City. Phiteas flew away with a small flag hanging by one hand, quarreling with other military servants, and snatching water sources close to them for the masters to rest. When the camp location. A stern military order was conveyed directly to Gawain through Farov's hands.

"On the east side of the entire camp, there is a stream and swamp. It is difficult for the heavily armored cavalry to move, but there is an ancient stone bridge across it. We can pass through this bridge and obtain goods shipped from Konya Sultan. Of course, Zahas's troops coming from Nicaea may also attack this bridge. You take your comrades to sweep away the enemies at the bridge and establish an outpost. "This is it. The combat mission mentioned by Farov.

Gawain, who was standing in front of the baggage mule cart, looked at the earl commander, and then at the vast wetland that he mentioned with no end in sight, with big curved trees growing everywhere, and mist-shrouded vast wetlands. There was indeed a solid solid ground. The black stone bridge, which seems to be a legacy from the ancient Roman era, spans it.

"I need assistance, Commander." Gawain demanded.

"Then I will assign you another group of lightly armed crossbowmen from Benevento." Farof said that this was the greatest help he could do. "Also, I will give you four extra mules and two mule carts."

A pine torch burned silently in his hand, illuminating the heavy night and the equally heavy chain mail Gawain was wearing. He followed the light and looked back. Thirty Varangian guards and twenty crossbowmen from Italy followed his flag and walked steadily along the bridge. At the back were more than fifty unarmed military servants, escorting four mule carts. The sound of the wheels was long and long. In the swamp where the direction could not be distinguished at all, they walked lonely along the gray-white snake-like stone bridge. Looking further away, the large military camp with bonfires was like stars floating in the night.

"This detachment is in your hands. Remember, don't let it die." This is the complete but particularly terrifying nonsense that Farof said to him before he left.

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