Eagle Byzantium

At noon on the second day, the city of Antioch fell completely.

On a battlement that could see the canyon and lake to the east, Bohemond looked like he was in a state of dismay, staring blankly at the two corpses wrapped in cloth lying horizontally on the stone slab at his feet.

The corpse's face was still exposed.

One is Tancred, his expression seems to be still angry, his mouth is slightly open, his teeth are blackened by gunfire, and there are stains of blood at the corners of his eyes;

The other one was his wife Mesander, that Armenian woman. Her eyelashes were curled and her expression was much more peaceful. An arrow shot into her neck. She fell on the stone bridge after falling off her horse. She probably died without much pain. Went.

Bohemond stood there, looking at Mesander's, then at his nephew's, and then at Tancred's body, unable to take his eyes off him.

In the dull reality and illusion, Bohemond seemed to feel that the place he was standing on was the isolated cliff of Calabria washed away by sea water and foam. It was the funeral of his mother Geta, and his sister Emma was kneeling on the ground in mourning. Crying, on the sea under the cliff, the ship carrying his mother's body was sailing slowly, and suddenly a ball of flames exploded there, and then the whole ship turned into a burning coffin, tilting and sinking The cold ocean floor.

What arose was Bohemond's ambition to venture to the East.

The person who was willing to stand by his side was his nephew Tancred, a young man with no beard at the corner of his mouth, who was equipped with a simple sword, his eyes were full of passionate colors, and his hands were tightly held with his.

Suddenly, Bohemond heard his sister Emma's sharp cry:

"You killed my son, you killed my son! The people in our family are all cursed butchers and executioners. They even want to kill their own relatives. Go to hell, all of them go to hell. !”

"Ah!" Bohemond exclaimed, holding his head with his hands, waking up from the auditory hallucination, and almost kneeling next to his nephew's body.

Several of his relatives hurriedly came to help him, but were pushed away by Bohemond. He took two quick steps, held his hands in front of the crenellations, and looked sadly at the vast hills, canyons, and huge lakes below, as well as the distance in the distance. There are all kinds of villages and market towns.

He now knew in his heart that Antioch was finally recovered, and what he had gritted his teeth to take back was also back.

However, Tancred also died, his close nephew died.

This country, the country he thought about day and night, actually stood up and thought about it. It was already under the oppression and siege of Gawain's huge imperial power. When they conquered this city, he and Tancred stood here with great ambition, looking at As the sun sets, the ideal of the "Great Empire of Antioch, Maras and Edessa" that was talked about has completely collapsed and can no longer be realized.

So what exactly did you get?

A lifetime of ambition, pursuit, and conquest, and now all that lies before us is a huge fallen city and two cold corpses.

Bohemond felt uncomfortable in his heart. His eyes gradually became dry and painful, and slowly stained with blood and tears. He lowered his head and sobbed, and then gave the order, "Don't send Tancred back to Aversa." , and was buried next to the Daphne Forest with his woman.”

In the dark night, Tancred's coffin was carried into the dark pit of eternal sleep in the dim light of the remaining stars. In the court of Tarsus, a major secret meeting between Gawain and Anna before their departure is taking place.

The meeting was not large in scale, but all those involved were Gao Wen’s right-hand men:

Giovanni, Prefect of Iconium;

Merlot, Grand Count Commander of the Army;

Imperial Tutor Maglendius;

The newly-appointed Patriarch Gottschalk (and the religious affairs of the city of Bari were handed over to the General Secretary of the Reformed Society, Borroland Bandinelli);

And the ink officer Hertomia and the confidential officer Philactus jointly recorded;

The cupbearer Stavurajos and the sleeping officer Wen Ruomingna, as well as the commander of the Royal Guards Muzafi Adin, were responsible for security work outside the palace.

Anna and Gawain each sat on their thrones, and the top priority for urgent discussion was "how to march into Constantinople."

"Many families in Thrace are writing secretly, calling for our liberation." Anna directly raised the core of the problem, "But now the Western Patriarch of Rome is suppressing Gawain and actually asking us to fight against the false emperor. John made peace, and the Maremara Sea was used as the boundary, and there was no mutual aggression. Whether to advance or retreat, whether to fight or to make peace, you must come to a decision tonight, because tomorrow Gawain and I will leave the palace and go to Prusa. Stay in the city for at least three months to coordinate all the affairs in the Western Region."

"Once the arrow shoots through Nicaea, it will not stop at the edge of the sea." Great Earl Mero was ambitious. He longed to be the commander who commanded the army to attack the imperial capital. That would be the glory of his lifetime.

Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!

"But our fleet is not strong enough, and the main force is still helping His Excellency Sheriff Andodat to siege Tripoli. Once we march to Constantinople, we will risk fighting with Sicily, Venice, the Holy See, Hungary, etc. The danger of hostile forces and fighting on multiple fronts is not exactly What we tried to avoid before?" Giovanni's attitude was very cautious, "Why don't we be more prudent and take all the land in Tripoli first, then rest and recuperate for two to three years, and then slowly encroach on Rhodes Island, Crete, occupy the springboard, unite the entire Holy Sea, and then enter the Moria region.”

"That would also mean falling out with Venice and Sicily. Now I have information that the prince of Sicily is in Crete! In my opinion, it is better to fight early than to fight late, and it is better to fight small than big. Don't be trapped by the fleet problem. Is it possible? Do their armies from Venice and Sicily still dare to come ashore to fight me? "Gao?" Wen seemed to have made up his mind and pushed forward resolutely towards Constantinople. "Thrace, the land that John could finally rely on, was already undercurrent, and the nobles there had sent hundreds of secret letters of surrender to Anna. There are so many channels, not to mention our Skua Clipper can transport a large number of people to the other side at one time.”

At this time, Melo walked directly to the mercury map table, pointed at the terrain with his finger, and said, "John's heavy troops are all in Gallipoli. We can form a fleet of light ships from the Euksing Sea to carry 3,000 to 5,000 people." An elite infantry cavalry raided the port of Mesembria (an important port in central Thrace on the Black Sea). Once successful, they would be able to occupy the entire territory of Eastern Thrace, causing a shock to Constantinople. "

"Use a task force?" Gawain was obviously moved by this risky plan and said thoughtfully.

Then he turned around and asked the confidential officer, "Can we gather enough ships?"

"There are about 4,000 people, and if there are 500 to 800 cavalry among them, it shouldn't be a big problem." Philactus answered after confirming the file in hand.

After hearing this, everyone gathered around the map table and focused their attention on the "Land of Thracia".

The military, political, and even domestic response seem to have the capital to give it a try, but the biggest problem still lies ahead:

That is the issue of papal mediation in the city of Rome. For various reasons, Gawain cannot completely fall out with it yet, but he still wants to get Constantinople.