Eagle Byzantium

The Tecopo mercenaries were all good at riding. After all, they had Turkic ancestry. They carried weapons and shooting equipment and formed two rows of columns, following the earl and the guard. In the middle was the pack animal team. and a few herdsmen. There were originally linden and mulberry trees on both sides of the road, as well as workshops and dye houses here and there. They were all the property of the widow Inglina, which made Diognis stunned. Soon what appeared in front of them was the barren sand and soil. In the mountains, only the occasional ancient city walls and ruins remain, and goats move in and out, gnawing on various herbs.

Pushing forward another 1,500 years in this era, Greek city-states at that time were often still engaged in protracted city-state wars over small-sized water sources and gardens, but now - most of the towns everywhere have been annihilated, and the remaining , also surrounded by a desolate ocean, the cavalry, which is good at speed, has become the most cost-effective unit here.

First walking slowly, then trotting, around dusk, under the leadership of their guide, they arrived at a place ten miles away from Kadmiya. "Dismount and rest." Following this order, all the Tecopo people ran there Under the shade of the tree, along the precious spring water flowing from the rocks on the cliff, he filled his own water bladder to moisturize his cracked lips.

A sentry climbed up the high rock to serve as a lookout. Gawain and Diogenes held their respective riding whips and looked at the terrain in the river in the distance - this was the location of the ancient city of Thebes in ancient times. Later, the city-state was occupied by Alexander the Great. After the destruction of his father, Philip the One-Eyed, only the Orthodox monastery and the Cadmeia Fortress, which was built on a cobblestone-shaped highland and served as an acropolis, now stand on the plains. Its outline can also be seen with the naked eye.

"It's difficult to hold on here. There is still some distance between the Kadmea Fortress and the only water source around it, the spring at the foot of the mountain, and the equipment originally used to pump water in the pagan era has also disappeared." Diog Nice said to Gawain while drinking the wine in his bag.

"Why not build another one?"

"Some people say that the skills have been lost, but I think the more important thing is that it is difficult for the empire to invest in this aspect." Diognis said with helplessness in his words.

Gawain felt helpless, and suddenly he patted the officer on the back. The officer looked in the direction of Gawain's finger, "Normans, when did they appear!" Diognis was shocked and surprised. anger.

At the pass north of Cadmea, as if emerging from the ground, there were about thirty Norman knights wearing dazzling chain mail, ten of them holding lances with small flags, and the rest carrying Under the cover of seven or eight lightly-armed Calabrian riders, the kite shield and long sword rushed down the hillside in an instant from the rolling sand and dust. The target was obviously the spring.

Now, the people and herdsmen who had been guarding the beasts of burden under the shade of the trees also came over to watch the fun.

In the fortress of Kadmea, amidst the sound of warning gongs and drums, about a hundred civilian soldiers in simple armors, some on horseback and some on foot, probably wanted to prevent the Normans from seizing the plain. A spring in a deserted place.

"The Normans also appeared over there!" Diognis' eagle-like eyes soon saw that there were dozens more Calabrian light cavalry in the valley to the west of the hill fort. With shields and swords, more than ten Norman knights rushed out.

Amidst the thunderous sound of the roar, the thirty Norman knights who first rushed from the north, and the ten spear-wielding ones at the head, always lined up in a horizontal line on the galloping horses, and then lowered their spears in unison. , crashing down the card that came to save the spring. The whole team of the Demian civilian army was defeated in an instant, and then the Norman knights followed up with swords and slashed, and the troops from the valley on the west side also rushed over - among the hundreds of civilian soldiers who rushed out, I am afraid that not one of them Can go back alive.

The Norman knight's fierceness and fearlessness, as well as his tacit understanding of the tactics, made Gawain's back feel cold. "Diognis, the mission of transporting Cadmea is canceled immediately. We will return to Corinth immediately."

Then, Gawain looked back and saw that civilian husbands and Tecopo mercenaries were watching the battle in groups of twos and threes. There was no neat formation at all. He couldn't help but became furious, "Diognis, hurry up and return as a team, quickly!"

As soon as the officer got on his horse, the sentry let out a scream of terror, and then he stared at the steep hillside opposite - a knight holding a kite shield embroidered with the red flying leopard logo, holding a sharp spear, was Watch them with eagle eyes.

The eyes of both sides looked at each other, and Diognis couldn't help but recall the terror on the hell battlefield of Durazzo. This terror was brought to him by the pair of flaxen eyes hidden by the Normans under the mask. They used to be cunning and cunning. The battlefield killer Robert Guiscart, and now his grandson Tancred.

Damn bastards, how did they find us, and how did they come here without us knowing anything? The sentry didn't notice at all in advance that Diognis' face turned pale and his feet were welded in place, unable to move.

"Raul, follow and cover me, kill these people, and return to Corinth without letting anyone go." Tancred said.

"Follow your orders, it won't be long, rabble." Behind him, Raul, with a gray beard, smiled and took off the visor on his big barrel-shaped helmet. Then Tancred jumped off his horse with a spear, Raul and five or six others The chain-mail retinue of knights followed closely behind. The men and horses screamed and rushed straight towards the small slope where Gawain's men and horses were.

At this point, the civilians were in a state of panic. They gave up their positions one after another, and ran around like sheep regardless of the soldiers' dissuasion. A team of Tekopo mercenaries had no choice but to shoot arrows at the Norman knights who were rushing towards them without the cover of the wooden fence, but it was useless. It was too difficult to hit these high-speed warriors with arrows.

In a flash, Tancred left the others behind and took the lead, arriving two arrows away from Gawain. "Diogenes, you protect this place and organize a counterattack. I'll go and deal with the arrogant guy who ran away from the team first." Before the guard officer could come to his senses, Gawain also raised his Byzantine lance and aimed at the young Norman warrior in front of him. Both sides realized that Gawain wanted to gain time, while Tancred wanted to catch him off guard.

Following Gawain were two mounted Tekopo soldiers and Muzafiadin carrying a shield.

When Gawain rode Sabina and ran out of the half-arrow's range, he happened to meet Tancred!

Boom, the lances of both sides were almost flattened at the same time, and they had to fight head-on in the next three seconds. Even Tancred was greatly surprised. How could this man also know the Normans' charge tactics? Could he be a fellow tribe from other regions hired by the Greek emperor?

Check the correct version in the 16-9 book forum!

At the same time, two Tekopo cavalrymen, one on the left and one on the right, covered Gawain, took the lead in raising their bows and arrows, and began to shoot arrows at Tancred to disrupt his charge.

"Master, be careful!" Muzafi Adin suddenly shouted this sentence behind him.

————————————————————

I will be on business tomorrow, and I may focus on updating in the evening.