Eagle Byzantium

While the little sunfish was tumbling about in the "Snow Lion Castle" Fanka and swimming in the sea of ​​desire, she finally did not completely forget Gawain's order. The blueprint of the "mountain carriage" she developed was made possible by the efforts of a group of craftsmen. Next, the entity soon appeared in front of the Grand Duke.

But at this moment, Gawain was not in Vanka Castle. He had braved the wind and snow to reach the Corgison Castle at the forefront, where the camps of the defenders' brigade were densely packed around the fortress mountain ridge where Corgisson was located. On the empty hillside facing the main entrance of the fortress, a row of five-barreled cannons had been erected, shouting and throwing stones at the castle, "His Royal Highness the Grand Duke, if you give us some time, we will completely destroy the stone walls and walls of this fortress." Tower." On the battle position, Commander Branas kept clenching his fists and expressing his determination to Gawain, who was staring at him.

"It doesn't matter Branas, anyway, your brigade will be stationed here permanently in the future. You will serve as the lord and count of Fanka City. Polybi, Bramson, and Decius are all under your control, so this Co Kissoon is also in your pocket, chew it slowly." Gawain smiled lightly and gave Branas the "important task of Fangzhen".

"Thank you, thank you Grand Duke for your support!" Branas was flattered. At the secret meeting in Maidensberg, the Grand Duke did promise that "after Ruben is eliminated, I will give you, Bramson and Decius more money." A large fiefdom and land." Although he was sure that the Grand Duke was very contractual and would not break his promise, he did not expect that it would be fulfilled so quickly.

"Don't be in a hurry to thank me. Now I'm entrusting you with the main roads that occupy the entire Taurus Mountains. Let me tell you about your strategy." Obviously Gawain would not entrust Fang Zhen to a waste.

"First kill the imprisoned Reuben family and completely cut off the Armenians' thoughts, and then support Polybius Blechamios as the consul of Fanca City."

"Very good, very good. In this case, our flag will be ready. Polybi's father was once the king of this land of Cilicia, which is his advantage; in addition, Polybi's military and political abilities are very mediocre, which It's also his benefit. "Go on," Gawain said with approval as the snowflakes danced.

"After the rule is stable, I will move the population on a large scale in two directions, one north to Melitene, which is about to be captured, and one south to the plains in the direction of Fort Tronzac. I will help build it into a strong and powerful city in the former. Military fortress, advancing towards the emirate of Danishmund; later Or I will build it into a rich granary to support the Guardian Brigade. In doing so, I can also divide the Armenian group and weaken their possibility of resistance. Then, with your permission, I will organize and absorb many Armenians. People enter the army..."

Before Branas could finish speaking, Gawain interrupted him, "Please forgive me, after hearing what you just said, I am very interested in, that is, how many people have we inherited from the Reuben Kingdom now?"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, the Grand Duke. The detailed data may not be compiled until next year under the processing of your heraldry officer, because this Ruben did not have any decent land and population account books before. But there is still a rough estimate. Yes, congratulations to you, Grand Duke. Although Ruben is entrenched in the valley, there are a lot of Armenians. They originally had a population of 350,000. Except for the part of the population that Kastabala was handed over to Lord Baldwin, we have It’s about two hundred and seventy thousand.”

Sure enough, Branas's estimate made Gawain smile. "It's great, isn't it? I bet you, Branas, that the final calculated population data will definitely be about 30% more than your estimate. Unexpectedly, Relying on this fertile mountain valley, Reuben's Armenian kingdom actually has so many households and such a perfect fortress defense line (plus Melitene, Marash and other areas, the Armenian population is one million left and right, but never unified). It's a pity that he is a stupid waste and cannot be put to good use. From now on, this Fangzhen will be left to you, and the other people will help you. From now on, the Gemakis Brigade will focus on following Godfrey. Go south to the Holy Land and guard The Guardian Brigade supports the front line from Vanca to Melitene, the Genate soldiers and the garrison guard the Seleucia territory, while my Red Hand Brigade and Red Hand Cavalry serve as reserve field regiments. "In the wind and snow. , Gawain's plan became clearer and clearer.

Ten days later, an Armenian squire nicknamed "Hector" in Corgison Castle felt extremely desperate, so he lowered the city wall at night and surrendered to Gawain. Gawain said to him, "Pass a message. I spared the resisters of this fortress, provided that the gates and keys of the fortress were handed over, and all the gentry I promoted to the brethren of magistrates and brochures, and all the soldiers and servants I granted them their lands.”

When Hector stood under the gate tower the next day and conveyed the words of the Grand Duke, the whole city surrendered after reaching a consensus, and the four hundred soldiers laid down their weapons - the last stronghold in Reuben's mountain kingdom was declared to have fallen. , organized resistance no longer exists!

In other words, all the manpower, taxes, war horses, livestock, mines, woodland and fields in this mountain range were unconditionally registered on Gawain's treasury folded list. His strength expanded after acquiring Alalman Fort. It has increased by one-sixth (at this stage), and after occupying Fanka City, it is not an exaggeration to say that it has "doubled".

At this time, Safbel stood angrily on the snow of Tronzac Castle and loudly asked: Where is Gawain? What is Gawain's attitude towards the patriarch of Rome? Gawain's response to his unprovoked war crimes. What's the excuse?

On the snow, the herald officer Andeodate, who had a mushroom-shaped head, was in charge of the negotiations with Sapphobel and answered the three questions he raised, tit for tat: the Grand Duke had already seen the northern advance army go and would not receive you for the time being; the Grand Duke was of course loyal to His Holiness the Holy See, he not only accepted Patriarch Anselm, but also promised to pay the tithe in full and build a temple of the Catholic Church in the vassal state; the war was not without cause, but the Grand Duke did not need to explain it to you at length, because he was also the governor of the Anatolian Plateau of the Roman Empire, and had the power to reward or punish anyone here.

"If you have any questions, please appeal to the cardinals in Antioch or the general officer of the army." Andeodate replied, putting away the scroll, and then the guard beside him unveiled the curtain of a tent - Sapphobel was sad and terrified, because the tent was covered with reeds, on which were placed the heads of Prince Reuben and more than a dozen other great nobles of the Ani people. This was Gawain's naked display of force and intimidation against him.

Afterwards, the helpless Sapphobel was "expelled" again. Gawain just threw him five donkeys, plus a hundred gold coins and the corresponding documents, and forced him to turn around again, without any result, "go to Antioch, go to your proper post, and confess to the lord over there", leaving the vast snowfield under the Taurus Mountains, and continuing his journey sadly. (To be continued ~^~)