Eagle Byzantium

The next day, in Eudoxia's house adjacent to Bull Square, the noble lady received a letter from the emissary, and hurried to the hidden pavilion in the back garden. From the strange stamp on the envelope, she knew She can identify the owner of the letter, but recently Gawain's secret letter has been delivered to her, warning her not to continue delivering letters for Anna, and the tone inside is extremely urgent.

Gawain regards Eudoxia as the most trustworthy person in the imperial capital. "Everything is for the sake of the eldest princess. If we continue to exchange letters, it may be dangerous to her. Emperor Alexios has confirmed that he is not in Adrianople." , is missing, but I speculate that he may have quietly sneaked back to the imperial capital. There will be a big fight in the palace recently. You and Anna have to stay out of it. In other words, it is extremely difficult for Anna to escape. I hope you can protect her behind the scenes. Help her.

Gao Wen addresses the most respected lady.

May Christ bless your youthful beauty and soul. "

According to Gawain, could the emperor return to the capital like this? What kind of drama is this? Although Eudocia couldn't believe it, she still secretly placed the letter in a hidden and movable storage compartment beside the stone wall of the pavilion. She straightened her clothes and ordered her servants to prepare the carriage.

"I want to go to Brachna Palace to visit the Queen and the eldest princess to discuss the celebration arrangements for the eldest princess's upcoming wedding."

But soon there was some noise in the front yard. Eudocia, who had just put on her jewelry, came to the hall on the steps dissatisfied, and saw several guys with yellow and red hair in cloaks. Knowing that it was the Varangian palace guards who broke in, "If you need a wine shop, you should go to the barracks where the lower classes gather. This is the private property of the noble palace officials." Eudocia thought she was drunk. When soldiers came to make trouble, they scolded them severely.

The soldiers turned a deaf ear, and then Eudoxia heard it among the crowd who entered afterward. Someone was calling her name, "Mikhail?" Following this voice, the emperor's captain of the guard lifted the cloak covering his head, and then the old man beside him did the same. It turned out to be the great eunuch, and then her Brother, Commander Yagfi of the Shield Guards. and Myles the Inkmaster.

Now it was Eudocia's turn to be surprised. Her husband should still be guarding the area from Philipsburg to Sophiaburg, following His Majesty the Emperor on his expedition. Why would he appear here with his uncle now? But this woman's mind was extremely fast: everything was exactly as predicted in Gawain's letter, so - soon, Eudocia quickly walked to the atrium. He bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, I didn't expect that your holy face would come to the courtyard of the humble house. I was immediately flattered."

The man in the middle dressed as a general also smiled secretly twice, and then took off the coarse cloth robe dressed as a pilgrim, revealing his curly black hair. Mixed with white hair, he held Eudoxiya's hand and allowed her to stand up and talk, "My dearest daughter-in-law. Has my presumptuous visit caused any trouble to you, the mistress of the house?"

Yes, Emperor Komnenos is really here. Gawain's guess is absolutely correct. Eudocia's body is now hot and cold. She doesn't know whether she should be lucky enough to have hid Anna's letter in advance, or whether she should be lucky enough to hide Anna's letter in advance. It is strange that the Emperor's sudden visit has an intrinsic relationship with the "Great Palace Battle". We should still admire the foresight of Gawain, a barbarian.

But Alexios just looked at her meaningfully, and followed by his followers, he walked into the hall and sat down. Then he said something very shocking on the spot, "Now in this imperial capital. There are people who want to covet my throne. There are thieves who want to harm me and usurp the sacred power of governance given to me by the Senate and the people! So I dare not Stay a little longer in Adrianople, but instead entrust the bulk of the army to He gave it to Sebastocrat, and he took his confidants and more than ten guards, mixed with the pilgrim group, and rode back to the capital at a gallop. "Then Alexios waved his hand, and the guard team. The warrior immediately completely sealed the doors, windows and aisles of the courtyard.

"From now on, no one is allowed to enter or leave here, including the hostess. Don't be offended, Eudocia." Alexios smiled deeply, scaring Eudocia to kneel down quickly. He stated that he had absolutely no intention of being unhappy. But the emperor did not take this polite words any further. He then stood up and said to Mikhail, "How many groups of pilgrims are there in total heading to the capital now?"

Mikhail immediately became serious, and then replied, "There are three groups in total. One has crossed Fort Sophia and is heading towards the capital, and is the hermit Peter's team; one has arrived in Thessalonica, and is the team of Bo Simon's group of Normans; the last group is the largest, including the brothers Godfrey, the flag-bearer of Salian Caesar, Robert, Duke of Normandy, Hugh, the brother of the King of Ile-de-France, and His Majesty's best friend, the great Duke of Toulouse. Mr. Raymond.”

"What about Gawain?"

"It's not clear yet, but the latest intelligence shows that he has accepted His Majesty's order and did not enter Sophia Castle. Instead, he turned to the land of Wallachia and went to suppress the remnants of Tevlis." Mikhail continued fluently to answer.

"The prairie wolves and barbarians will take care of him." Alexios looked very satisfied, and then he analyzed and said with his hands behind his back:

"First of all, there is no need to worry about the hermit monks. The two main Frank knights among them have accepted the imperial grant and have been led by me for a long time. In addition, the most powerful one on the road is not something to be afraid of. Raymond is mine. My friends, even if Godfrey and the others are a little unruly, I can handle it; only Bohemond’s path needs to be guarded the most.”

"But Your Majesty..." The eunuch over there raised his slack eyelids, as if he had something to remind him, and then Alexios raised his hand to stop him, "It doesn't matter, I already have a complete strategy. "Outside and inside."

So the rest of the people lowered their hands and praised the emperor's prowess in unison, but Eudocia's forehead was covered with sweat. She felt that the emperor's eyes were always looking at her from time to time, and she didn't know whether it was because of her guilty conscience or because of it. Your Majesty has really seen through himself.

"This is really amazing, Gawain, what on earth are you doing!"

In front of the Iron Gate Fort, the autumn wind was fierce. Gawain, who climbed onto the earth tower, announced in front of all the soldiers: The time to prevent autumn has arrived, and the market will be banned from now on!

The atmosphere is already very tense now. Some businessmen from the seat of the Cuman royal court told the Red Hand Dalian team: King Yassen of Khan, with his luxurious court tent and tens of thousands of Cuman cavalry, is pressing towards the ferry. , many people in the surrounding Slavic and Bulgar villages have fled, and the rest also have ulterior motives. According to religious "insiders", many people are keen on the wealth stored in Iron Gate Fortress, and they want to follow Khan Yassen and join the ranks of attacking the fortress. .

So Gawain withdrew all the military chaplains who were preaching everywhere.

"The cavalry team called Zibao should also be careful. It's not enough to hand it over to Muzaffy Adin. Giovanni and Bramson are also sent to help defend - because not only the Cumans will come, but the Tefris party will also come." They will also enter the invasion along the south bank - special attention needs to be paid here, because Yassen will not be stupid enough to brave the arrows and projectiles of Iron Gate Castle to force the way here. "

After finishing the arrangement, Gawain slowly squatted down, rubbed his hands, and pinched the hilt of the sword of phosphorus. Then he looked at the misty and distant location of Constantinople, and then at the murderous northern wasteland, and his heart sank. Come down, "Don't think that the Red Hand Dalian Team is still a weak chicken that can be served to the table at any time. This time, I will crush you like an ant. Yasen and what's your name, the insidious and vicious Black Beauty."

On the Feast of the Martyrdom of Saint Euprios (the third Friday of August in the ancient calendar, commemorating Saint Euprios), many monks in the Iron Gate Fort were kneeling in the wooden chapel, lighting candlesticks, and performing their usual rituals. During morning prayers, they heard a strange whistling sound, and then the door opened The window and the candlelight seemed to collectively tremble. The leading pastor of the Orthodox Church of Bali kissed the cross, and then walked out of the door of the chapel. He saw His Excellency the Grand Duke walking this way in a hurry, still heading back. With a helmet attached to it, "The Cuman army is coming!"

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

The sound just now was made by the lever trebuchet in the fortress, and the river rose up with water columns smashed by stones.

What made Gawain dumbfounded was that as soon as King Yassen Khan's team crossed the Danube River and arrived at the ferry on the north bank of the Morava River, he drove the Slavs and Bulgars who were subordinate to him to take simple boats made of wicker and birch wood, densely packed. Paddling from the north shore. The scouts and light soldiers of the Dalian company on the outpost were stunned. It seemed that the king who came from Wallachia was an upright man!

Amid the chants, wooden poles were erected along the river bank and shields were inserted into the soil. The sailor companies accompanying the army from Amalfi, Schiavone, and Saracen, as well as the crossbowmen from Benevento, began to use ignited weapons. The fire arrows and the crossbow arrows without tail feathers were heading towards each other in waves. The water surface poured, and clouds of blood mist expanded and exploded. The invading barbarians on the boat were shot one after another and fell into the water, "shooting at the enemy's boat captain." Here, the various column leaders in the company were still making corrections. Adjusting the shooting frequency and target of his subordinates.

On the entire wide ferry river, burning birch boats were scattered everywhere, and numerous corpses were washed up on the beaches and meanders of the river. More heads emerged from the turbulent waves, stretching out their hands and shouting for help, originally preparing to take advantage of the fire. Many bandits, seeing the arrows shooting from the sky, were so frightened that they dragged their boats and ran back to their own river banks, no longer having the courage to charge.

"What? Even our trebuchets and catapults are not used!" On the gun emplacement behind the fortress's wooden fence, the craftsmen cheered as they looked at the fireworks rolling on the water.

At this time, Gawain climbed up the tower and observed for a while. He saw that the Cuman cavalry on the other side were densely packed, holding flags of bull skulls and sheep skulls. They had no intention of attacking or retreating. After asking several brothers After several sentences of members , issued an order to "change shifts and guard the ferry to prevent the enemy from infiltrating at night. In addition, I took three companies of Italian veterans and three companies of Greek infantry to set up defenses in front of the fort where the cavalry is located. The decisive battle may start there." (To be continued ~^~)