Eagle Byzantium

The Patriarch was surrounded by the cavalry in the middle of the gravel beach. The cavalry, wearing a cloak and a round helmet, asked loudly what his identity was.

Masdas, who was still proud, angrily said, you are not qualified to ask me, let your highest-ranking general come to see me!

As a result, the cavalry whipped the Patriarch's face with a whip, and his mouth and nose bled, and his clothes rotted.

Upon learning the news, General Lekapenus decided not to deal with this burnt "chestnut" himself, so he reported to Adrianople, and then ordered a team of cavalry to escort him to the palace in Adrianople along the Philippi Valley, and let Gawain deal with it.

When the Patriarch arrived at the destination, he was like an angry lion, roaring to "fight" with Gawain, but Gawain coldly issued an order in the palace: Send Masdas to the monastery in the city for confinement. I am busy with military affairs, and I will meet him when the time is right.

At this time, in the entire confrontation, the central front of "Trajan's Gate" was still as stable and steady as a rock on the mountain peak: Melo's five brigades turned the mountain pass, river and small castle into a large camp, and Bordin, who was constantly gathering soldiers from all over the country in Sophia Castle, did not dare to move - if he went elsewhere, Melo would definitely come to attack Sophia Castle directly; correspondingly, if he kept his troops still, Gawain's other two wings would make big moves.

It seems that the enemy also did his homework in advance and learned the lesson of Vasily II's disastrous defeat at Trajan's Gate.

On the southern front of Thessalonica, the Nika Brigade and the Opskin Brigade continued to fight. After they swept the Holy Mountain of Athos and captured the former Patriarch, they advanced to Thessaloniki City and joined Branas. From then on, the command was completely in the hands of Branas.

After receiving this news, many Turkic, Serbian, Greek nobles and mercenaries in the Vardar Valley flocked south and gathered around King Isaac Komnenos of Pella, Macedonia, to fight a decisive battle with Branas' "Philippine Front"!

In Pella, Isaac, who was raising his flag and marching out, was full of confidence. He originally brought 4,000 soldiers from Durazzo here. Now that heroes from all sides are under his command, his strength has reached 15,000 people, which is not inferior to the three brigades of Branas on the opposite side!

"What's more, I have nearly 3,000 Valdarite cavalrymen who are good at shooting, and their cavalry strength is even better than that Branas."

"What's more, who is Branas? He is just the son of a Thracian peasant soldier and noble family, and he is my subordinate. Isaac Komnenos, the former Imperial Sebastokrate, is now the great despot of Epirus. My nemesis can only be Gawain. What is a little Branas?"

With such a great purpose, Isaac Komnenos did not defend and counterattacked. He came fiercely and approached the Vileades River in the northwest of Thessaloniki City to set up camp, only three ancient miles away from the city wall!

At that time, Branas was training the troops in the city, unifying the organization and command of the three brigades, and preparing to cross the Vardar River to go on an expedition. When he learned that Isaac had come on his own initiative, he was terrified. He thought that the other party had a backup plan, and he was so scared that he dared not leave the city rashly.

So the army of Epirus stretched out in battle formation, from the bend of the river to the mouth of the Vardar River, with tents and flags lined up on the plain. Then Isaac sent the Vardarite cavalry to plunder everywhere to supply the army with food. For a time, the entire Thessalonica Peninsula was in a state of panic.

His subordinates found Branas and asked for a small-scale cavalry battle to test the enemy's strength.

Branas woke up at this moment, "Order all the brigade's attached cavalry to gather and fight the enemy near the suburbs!"

The smoke was billowing under the city of Thessaloniki. Branas and his generals and staff stood on the city wall, carefully watching the conflict between the enemy and our cavalry in the suburbs, and also sent scouts to frequently scout the details of the Epirus army.

The result came out soon: Isaac Komnenos had a total of about 15,000 soldiers and horses, of which the core team was 4,000 to 6,000, located in the center of the camp, mostly infantry recruited from Epirus and Dirrhium, and the cavalry were foreigners living in the Vardar River Valley, distributed on both wings.

Branas was a little stunned, "He actually came to this well-fortified city just like that?"

But what happened next surprised him even more. Isaac's army made many ladders, siege towers and other equipment, and swarmed into the walls of Thessaloniki, actually attacking the city - attacking the city - attacking the city...

So the archers and shooting troops of the three brigades stood in several rows along the entire west wall, taking turns to shoot at the Epirus attacking army, and also threw light oil cans and fired shrimp cannons, causing heavy casualties to Isaac's soldiers. The wounded and dead covered the walls and trenches, and many were washed into the sea and floated. Soon, Branas gathered three brigades with 15 squadrons of cavalry, and sneaked out from the small gate of the northeast corner of the acropolis, and attacked the enemy's undisciplined looting team, killing many people and forcing them back to their own camp, where they dared not act rashly again.

Then Branas ordered: the Guardian Brigade and the Nika Brigade to hold each other on the left and right, go out of the city wall to form a battle array, and follow the road to Isaac's camp on the Villeades River to challenge him.

Isaac also fought bravely. He first gathered all the elites and began to rush into Branas' left wing, and sent the most powerful cavalry to take the lead. However, the cavalry could not exert its momentum on the gravel ground on the coast, and it was difficult to break through the Nika brigade. The infantry defense line, the armors and helmets of countless soldiers were like the gleaming scales of sea fish in the sunset, and the blood splashed by swords, spears and spears was like the foam brought by the tide.

Soon, a fierce bloody battle broke out on the right-wing Guardian Brigade front. Branas tried to personally urge the brigade to advance with spears to defeat Isaac's left-wing front, but Isaac had many hidden enemies in the rear team. The mountain archers of Rus and Dyrasium fired thousands of arrows, roaring like rain, causing great damage to the spear array of the defenders' brigade, and the battle was in a stalemate for a while.

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At the critical moment, originally lying in ambush in the hinterland of Role Mountain in the north of the city, the four detachments of the Opushkin Brigade suddenly rushed out with a loud noise. They followed all the brigade cavalry and detoured from the right back to Isaac's camp, setting fires and fighting everywhere. The whole army of Epirus, whose military morale was greatly reduced, retreated like a swarm of bees burned by fire. The dead filled the Vileyards River, and the camp and baggage were completely abandoned.

Branas joined his own cavalry and pursued Isaac bravely.

But when they caught up to the stone bridge over the Vardar River further west, the 500 cavalrymen that Isaac had reserved in advance swarmed up, surrounded Branas and the cavalrymen, and shot and killed three brigades. As soon as the selected auxiliary cavalry climbed onto the stone bridge, more than a hundred people were killed immediately, with almost no survivors. Branas panicked and fled back through the swamp, almost losing his life... ..

The battle of the Villeyards River was fought very quickly and fiercely, and ended in just one day. Although Isaac was defeated gloriously, Branas won but was surrounded by dangers.