Eagle Byzantium

But no one answered the lord's question, and then Bohemond stood there with his hands behind his back, suddenly shrugged his shoulders, and laughed low and happily, "I just made a joke with everyone, just a joke."

The rest of the civil servants, as well as the earls and barons present looked at his back with expressions of "The Lord is mentally retarded", but Bohemond still had a plan in mind, "If Gawain has not been excommunicated for a day, he can be the flag." . And the Orthodox Patriarch in Antioch, when It's very easy to use. Comnenus, Raymond, do you think you can restrain me, Bohemond? Wrong, I will trap you two roaring but weak beasts and chop them down. Your minions will peel off your seemingly gorgeous fur..."

On the second Sunday after Christmas, the situation in the entire East was boiling. Bohemond of Antioch summoned a total of 600 Norman knights, together with more than a thousand horse sergeants who also received knightly martial arts training. , 2,000 Calabrian light soldiers and archers, plus nearly 2,000 cavalry supported by Lord Godfrey and Lord Robert, brought in John Oakhillt. After the traditional weapons consecration ceremony, they raised the flag and headed north, arriving at the city of Edessa. Ridwan Tutusi, who had previously surrendered on the way, also sent 700 Turkic light cavalry to boost his momentum - in In Edessa, Tancred also gathered soldiers from various ethnic groups, and together with Earl Richard, who had previously retreated, they formed an army of nearly 7,000 people, waiting for his uncle's arrival.

In this way, Bohemond was able to command an army of 14,000 men. Before setting off for the expedition, he knelt in front of the altar to serve his ancestors, looked at his father's portrait and murmured, "My current and future achievements will not be worse than yours." "Then Bohemond summoned the generals and announced the military plan: without making any detours, he would first storm Samosata and shake the foundation of the "Great Armenian Empire". It was the group of "Monkeys of Marash" (Bohemond's language) who came south to save Samosata and defeated them in the field battle for reinforcements; if they did not save them, they would besiege the fortress for a long time and then "take it inside." "Kill all the capricious people." In addition, Gawain headed east from the city of Fanka to attack the castles of Tubersena, La Vodra and Maras, thereby weakening the enemy's position.

In the secret letter sent to the city of Fanka, Bohemond was full of words. He said that if the "Great Armenian Empire" was destroyed, he would worship De Gawain as the "Caesar of Great Cilicia", and Gawain would also recognize him. As the "King of Antioch", in any case, under the exchange of interests, everyone will be king and orphan.

In short, the killing of Prince Reuben previously allowed Gawain and Bohemond to join forces. Now that the new rebel country is self-reliant, they have to temporarily put aside their grudges and join hands again, because the enemy in front of them is not only rebellious and self-reliant. Armenian nobles, as well as the powerful Danish Monde Turks on the plateau, and there may even be more terrifying and difficult behind-the-scenes enemies, such as the insidious and cunning Greek emperor.

The flames of war further expanded like a whirlwind.

When Gawain received Bohemond's secret message, the snow in Fanka City and the entire Taurus Mountains had begun to melt, and spring plowing had begun, but it was not going smoothly at all in the area he newly occupied: From the East In the valley, his former defeated general Saliki recruited thousands of Armenian cavalry and divided them into more than ten teams. They raided and burned Gawain's territory from various places almost every day, and plundered and lured Gawain to surrender. Armenian peasants occupying the land. In the castle, Gawain was very angry just now because he got the statistics from the front line: under Saliki's locust tactics, he had lost or lost dozens of villages on the border, and had been kidnapped and defrauded of more than ten thousand people. Most of the manpower is Armenian, and the wave of escape is still expanding - because Saliki is using horseshoes and swords to promote that the real Armenian country has emerged, and you do not need to sacrifice your life for the foreigners.

"What's the use of cooperating with Bohemond to send troops? My own northern task force is still struggling to move forward, and the future is uncertain!" Gawain was angry and threw down the letter from Antioch. Then he focused his eyes on the two herald officials standing in front of him and complained angrily, "These stupid Armenians, I clearly divided the land to them and allowed them valuable private rights to this property. But they actually burned down their own houses, took away their own animals, and killed the Brotherhood’s inspectors everywhere, and then went to work as willing slaves for those nobles in the mountains. Isn’t this despicable?”

"You have to know, Your Highness, the Grand Duke, that there are always a lot of despicable people in this world." Wright held back his laughter.

"Despicable!" Gawain looked at him, stabbed the paper several times with his reed pen, and then almost broke the pen to vent his anger.

"If the Ani people could understand how to behave, their empire would have revived and risen long ago, and they would not have been relying on others for thousands of years." The mushroom-head Andodat replied, and then proposed a plan, "His Royal Highness, the Grand Duke, is too much. A gentle policy will not work, not to mention that the Ani people have always been afraid of force, not influence."

"Tell me your plan."

"In the mountains east of Fanka City, Wright and I had the exact household registration data in advance. There were about 70,000 Ani people living together. There were no big cities, just some small military towns and small markets in the mountains. Some of them live in villages. There are now 15,000 people who have defected. We must make an immediate decision. From now on, all the troops from the three brigades will finish their rest and gather here to carry out the security strengthening operation. My suggestion is to use force to move 40,000 of them to the surrounding areas of Tronzak and Sisi City. On the hills and plains, they mixed with Greeks and Germans for farming, leaving only There are 15,000 people at the border, organized into an 'armed group' for every 500 people, with a total of 30 armed groups. Each armed group is actually a militarized settlement. They must dig their own in designated villages and towns. Simple trenches and fences were erected for defense, and the armed regiments were separated by ten miles. Painting the world, equipped with five horses and a beacon pile, and handed over hostages to Fanka City, only the surrounding fields were used to maintain life, and the armed groups implemented a strategy of sitting together. One of the groups was attacked and once it rose. When the beacon fire alerts, surrounding regiments must come to rescue from far and near, and those who do not move or hesitate will be severely punished. "

"Isn't this too cruel? It goes against my usual policies. I have never treated civilians like this." Gawain was still a little hesitant.

But Andodat's expression was cold and his tone was firm, "In an extraordinary zone, extraordinary policies must be implemented. Your Highness, the Grand Duke, is indeed good to the people, but it does not mean that you should be kind to a woman. In that case, you are not as good as the princess in purple." Decisive." (To be continued~^~)