Eagle Byzantium

On the Four Sisters Tower, Tancred also stood at the mottled main tower window, looking at the spectacular city and the siege line. On both sides of the street from the tower to the Dog Gate, there were dusty soldiers lying on the ground, resting among them. A small number were Normans loyal to him, and the majority were Greek, Turkic, and Armenian soldiers of various ethnic groups.

He could see and hear that Gawain's artillery troops, which could knock down city walls and gate towers, had arrived. If they fired two rounds at once, the outer wall would soon collapse, and in that case his uncle The overwhelmingly superior force will flood in. Even if he can resist for several days with the help of the acropolis tower on the ridge, he will still be unable to avoid the humiliation of being captured in the end.

At least we can’t wait for the Holy See’s mediation.

It seems that the city of Rome's attention has given priority to Constantinople and Tarsus, temporarily forgetting this place.

Thinking of this, Tancred stared at the devastated dog door without saying a word. He was young, but he had aged rapidly in the past two years. Now his eye sockets are sunken, his beard is ragged, and his originally beautiful flaxen hair is all gone. The hair on his neck has become speckled with grayish white, and he is also wearing an Armenian-style black linen robe. He is completely no longer the high-spirited young man he was in front of Corinth.

Behind Tancred stood his wife Mesander.

"This tower was captured by Gawain in a surprise attack back then. My long-cherished wish was to fight him to the death with a sword at the last moment of my life to decide the winner." In the wind blowing in from the window, the tank Red's voice was hoarse, "But fate didn't give me such an opportunity, or maybe my vision was too narrow, and I tried to rely solely on ambition and courage to succeed, but Gawain has more than me." There are many tricks, calculations and strategies. Now he is almost building a new empire, but in the internal strife with my uncle, I have destroyed the Antioch Empire that was supposed to be stronger than the east - I am dead, and my uncle is about to die too. . Now this era seems to be speeding up its wheels, which makes me feel confused. Swords, spears and war horses are gradually replaced by weapons that spit out fireworks and iron pellets. "

Then, Tancred looked back at the silent Mesander sadly, and laughed twice at himself, "Being trapped in the isolated city, I not only made the same mistake as Yaghi Siyan, but also made the same mistake as your grandfather did. tragedy."

Mesander will never forget how her grandfather was killed in the city of Samosata and how she herself was possessed. In the past few years, she has often lived with resentment and humiliation, but Tancred, the murderer and enemy in front of her, has truly played the role of a husband. For her sake, he has been treating the Armenian residents of Antioch well. , sometimes when he returned from an expedition, he would bring many gifts to her. He never beat or insulted himself, nor did he follow his uncle's arrangement to marry a certain Norman noble woman.

At that time, he seemed to be eager to obtain the credentials to rule, but he soiled himself on the couch, but most of the time after that, he was like a simple knight, occasionally with a heavy heart.

At this moment, a turbulent and complicated thought ignited in Mesander's chest, making her shoulders tremble. Finally, her throat seemed to be jumping, and she said these words to Tancred, "Then Just don’t cross the Orontes River, and at least you and I will die with more dignity than Agi and my grandfather Toros.”

After hearing the words "you and me", Tancred's cheek muscles twitched several times, "When the enemy's artillery reaches here, I will ride out of this tower on horseback."

"I'm following you. Apart from death, I can't find any way to save myself."

In the early morning of the next day, the heavy mortars from the artillery regiment brought by Leotius began to bombard the walls and gate of the Dog Gate.

Under the red morning glow, Bohemond stood in front of his tent with a dull expression. The corners of his robe were moved by the fan set off by the artillery fire. He watched helplessly as the dog door was shrouded in smoke, gradually destroyed and collapsed. ...

Soon after, his Holy Flag Company began to break through the shattered city walls and entered the city. By dusk, the siege team had occupied most of the streets and churches, and there were many defenders coming to surrender: the gunners of the Tarsus Artillery Regiment began to move their wheeled bronze cannons towards the foot of the Four Sisters Tower. Pushed on the position, and used the cannon wedge to adjust the muzzle upward, preparing to shoot upward with cannonballs to destroy the stone walls around the main tower.

Even Tancred's two closest confidants of Turkic origin, Joseph and Adian, ran out of the acropolis on the ridge and attempted to surrender, but they were all stopped by the furious Bohemond, who tried to sow discord between him and his nephew. Punished to death. The two men were tied to a ladder and placed on the wooden fence of the military camp. In front of many soldiers, their bodies were cut off and stuffed into their mouths to punish them for "speaking deceptive words", and then their stomachs were cut open and had diarrhea. Their intestines were burned black with fire to show their "evil hearts". The two men mourned for a long time before dying.

Beside the bodies of the two men who were displayed in public, many Norman soldiers loyal to Bohemond were wearing chainmail, carrying dazzling kite shields on their backs, holding pickaxes or swords, and attacked the Lord one after another. tower attacks , and soon the artillerymen of Tarsus also began to use artillery bombardment. Red meteor-like projectiles hit the crumbling Four Sisters Tower one after another, and together with countless torches, dyed half of the night sky.

Amid the screams of terror, at the end of the suspended stone bridge connecting the main tower and the battlements, an iron gate rumbled up automatically, and Bohemond's light soldiers who climbed up saw: in the firelight at the gate, there stood a knight wearing iron armor and a barrel-shaped iron helmet, sitting astride a horse, holding a lance with the blade pointing straight up, with a kite shield with a flying leopard pattern painted on the left, reflecting the sparkling light, his eagle-like eyes were exposed, full of fierce murderous intent, staring at the surroundings.

Behind this knight, a small man covered with a robe rode a mare.

"Stop him, stop him!" Bohemond's light soldiers began to put down the chevaux de frise on their backs, took out bows and arrows or muskets, and responded to the battle in a mixed manner.

Whistling, lead bullets and flaming arrows shot fiercely. Tancred was fearless, holding a sharp lance, driving his beloved horse straight along the stone bridge. Raul's figure appeared in front of him, and the violent wind in the battle of Kadmia Hill Fort, mixed with fireworks, seemed to keep rushing towards his armor.

Soon, he suddenly heard a woman's wail, and tears flowed under his helmet in an instant.

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He understood that Messander behind him was shot and fell off his horse and died.

"Tancred de Tver, in the name of my wife Messander!" He roared, rushed across the stone bridge like a whirlwind, and broke into the groups of enemies...