Eagle Byzantium

After General Branas successfully carried out the Battle of Villeyards River and eliminated Isaac's rebel group on the southern front, the entire war situation turned sharply.

Bertin, who was originally calm and relaxed in Fort Sophia, suddenly felt the pressure increase: now Thessalonica, Thessaly, Macnesia and other places have all been captured by Gawain's side, which means that the Branas front army can attack at any time. Pull out two brigades, go north along the city of Pella, the gateway to the river valley, and stab him straight in the abdomen. At this moment, if the five Mero brigades gathered at Trajan's gate attack him again, then the entire Dukeria army will encounter a pincer-like offensive, and it will be difficult to win!

Burdin scolded Isaac for his incompetence and stupidity. First, he should not have attacked Thessaloniki, and then he was determined to wander around after abandoning the city of Pella. The end of being annihilated was purely his own fault, and even Burdine suspected , "Issac probably colluding with Gawain secretly a long time ago, and is he an undercover agent in our alliance?"

Doubt is doubt, now we still have to do our best to save ourselves, to maintain the cracked front!

Bertin sent a messenger from the coast of Ragusa, then passed through Corfu, Port Modon, and then Cape Sucate (Peloponnese), detouring to Crete to request an audience with Emperor John.

In the temporary palace in Gandia City, John has just welcomed his wife Piloska, who was sent home by Gawain.

The Emperor of Crete sincerely confessed to his wife, and said that although the Patriarch had been captured by the enemy, the other party had forgiven him. He hoped that Piroska could also forgive him, and promised to invite him to St. Titus Cathedral in the city. The local bishop gave Piloska an Orthodox name and from then on "was willing to share bread and salt with her until the moment she walked into the cemetery."

In the end, Piloska chose to forgive John. She also knew that what her husband urgently needed now was the support of her natal kingdom. One week before the Feast of the Entrance of the Blessed Virgin Mary this year, Piloska put on her white bridal silk robe again, held a golden icon painting, and walked into St. Titus Church with John.

The local bishop gave her the Christian name "Zoe".

Then John also knelt sincerely in front of the bishop's altar and admitted his "crime of betraying his wife due to the temptation of carnal desires." The couple finally reconciled.

Zoe Comnenus was about to write a letter to her motherland, asking her tribe to form an alliance with John again to defend the true Roman Empire.

Before the letter was sent, Bertin's envoy came first.

John had previously learned about the collapse of the war situation on the southern front, and was even prepared to abandon the Moria Peninsula and withdraw from Crete and Rhodes Island, but he also knew that now was not the time to be discouraged, if the great earth king Bertin was also defeated , then if Gawain is given a few more years, he may be able to land here directly and kill himself easily.

Why do you say that? Because John knows very well that this Varangian barbarian is cutting down and hoarding a large amount of fine wood in Mysia, Atalia, Tarsus and Cyprus, and is undergoing a drying process. Once they harden in two or three years, Gawain was able to mobilize countless manpower and build a huge and sturdy fleet in a short period of time. At that time, let alone his own island country, even if Venice and Sicily joined forces with him, they might not be able to gain the upper hand on the sea.

All in all, Gawain, who owns the entire territory of Asia Minor and has transformed the military and political system, is so powerful that he is not afraid of fighting you on a large scale or for how long. As long as he is the final winner, he will never give up. It can be given to all directions by my hand." This is now his famous saying.

John was unwilling to give in. He immediately organized a fleet and a small army and braved the bad weather to prepare to attack the Holy Sea Islands. However, the team was defeated and retreated as soon as they arrived at Lesbos Island.

In order to protect the island of Chios where they enjoy the privilege of frankincense, the Amalfi people want to protect the Mysia where they enjoy cotton (which has been introduced for cultivation) and wool, and the Pisa people want to protect the alum and rice of Smyrna. These three city-states actually shared the same hatred for the piracy in Crete. They left a fleet in the waters and defeated John.

According to legend, a dhow in John's camp got lost while escaping at night, and drifted into the deep bay on the west side of Lesbos Island. As a result, it was sunk by a cannon from a new-style fortress built on the promontory!

Most of this new type of fortress is guarded in the bay channel, half earth and half stone (it is said that it will be slowly renovated to all stone in the future, because Gawain's engineer Gedier believes that in the long run, the all-stone fortress will be more economical in terms of garrison strength and maintenance. The cost is also cheaper), there are artillery hidden in the belly, and there is a light perfume bottle cannon that can be tilted behind the battlements at the top, specifically to bombard passing hostile ships or pirates.

Nowadays, a series of such fortresses have been built or renovated at the Hellespont and Bosporus, firmly guarding the inner sea of ​​Marimara, and equivalently tying up the pocket-shaped Uxen Sea in the north. Lived.

The two pieces of information about Gao Wenfang's "coastal fortification" and "large-scale shipbuilding" shocked John's nerves. He even regretted why he didn't go to Moria to fight side by side with his uncle. Now that Isaac has surrendered, he feels sad. Feel.

John, who finally returned to the grand strategy table, found a way within his power. He hurriedly sent letters to Sicily, Venice, Rome and Canossa, proposing several plans respectively:

1. The separation between the Pope in Rome and the Pope in Tuscany should be ended as soon as possible, and a conference of believers should be held to reunify the Holy See, and then the matter of remerging the Eastern and Western churches can be discussed in order to join forces to fight against the rising Gawain;

Second, Sicily and the Pope should also make moderate compromises with the Salian Caesar Henry V, temporarily recognize his power in the north of the Po River and the autonomous power of the German Church, and let Henry V withdraw his troops;

Third, after completing the peace talks, the Kingdom of Sicily should focus on going north to destroy the two pro-Gawain city-states of Amalfi and Bari that are causing trouble, cut off Gawain's trade lines and strike him;

Fourth, at the same time, Matilda should organize the gentry and militia of Lombardy and Tuscany to attack Pisa, Riesen and other city-states that betrayed the Pope;

A correct version in 16-9-1 book-1 bar!

Five, Venice should assemble the main fleet, come to the Holy Sea, severely attack Gawain's transportation lines, and strive to raid and seize the islands under its jurisdiction. If Gawain loses too much blood in the future, he will sit back at the negotiation table.

After writing these five points, John put them in a lead seal and gave them to Berdin's envoy, asking him to send his opinions to the Western world and remind Berdin not to stick to Sophia Castle, but to resist step by step and look for opportunities to attack and weaken Gawain's army in the rugged mountains and dense forests.

After John's reply was sent, on the snow-covered North Thracian Plain, General Kadam, the rebel of Bulgar, led more than 20,000 soldiers and swept close to the location of Gawain's northern front.

This army is different from the usual enemies because their cavalry and archers are particularly fierce and difficult to fight.