Eagle Byzantium

Before Emperor Gawain's army set out from the Amidah Fortress, Dim and Josseran's 5,000 Jerusalem soldiers, the same number of soldiers sent by Mosul Governor Kobha, and 4,000 Armenian border troops led by General Osen of Lake Van. Kirat also joined his camp. Many generals and officers were filled with incredible and strange feelings. Ten years ago, they were fighting desperately around Antioch, but they did not expect that now they would unite under the banner of the Emperor of Constantinople to go to the Oxus River to resist the invasion of the Eastern Scourge Army.

Tens of thousands of troops formed a huge formation that the head and tail could not see each other. This was almost the most advanced and elite army of this era in this land: the heavily armored cavalry wore knee-length ringmail and chain mail, covered with integrated colorful embroidered robes, held heavy and tall lances, and had axes, sabers or long swords on their belts. The feathers on the horses' heads were majestic; the light cavalry from various nomadic peoples wore round helmets, turbans and felt hats, carried long and short muskets, quivers, bow bags, and the short cloaks tied on their shoulders fluttered in the wind; the soldiers of the brigade chewed saffron, carried grim spears and dog-head machine guns, and the skirmishers wore armor similar to that of the heavy cavalry, carried kite shields and round shields, and held long swords, small sickles, and maces; the soldiers of the border people were Wearing chain mail, holding shorter lances, or carrying bows and muskets, the symbol of their cavalry is two or three oak seedling darts that they carry with them, which can be thrust or thrown. Then they value chariots of various purposes the most. The border people's greatest fighting power comes from them. These chariots can not only cover them to fire muskets and shoot arrows, but also charge into battle, and march to attack cities. The generals who command them also stand on the chariots, constantly waving flags to command the troops; the artillery corps' vehicles drag heavy siege guns and fire bear guns, while their mules and horses mainly drag perfume bottle light guns with wheels. The former are cast with copper and iron, while the latter are mostly made of bronze. There are beautiful patterns and emblems on the guns, and small gospels are often placed on the sights.

The emperor's camp was in the center of the entire army, like a moving fortress. Many carts loaded with ammunition, fodder and money were moving in long columns between the mountains and military roads of Persia. Gawain's support, tent and special royal eight-wheeled cart were all surrounded by teams of imperial guards. Except for the generals on duty, most of them rode on gorgeously decorated horses, lined up with flags, followed the emperor's camp, ready to accept his orders at any time.

A few days later, the army arrived at the city of Tauris. Military news came first from the north: Diogenes' brigade, with the help of the vassal army, began to attack the Shirvan Pasha Kingdom. Its ruler Manuchisor was unable to resist Diogenes's army and could only shrink in the palace of Baku to issue diplomatic mediation, asking Gawain why he raised an unknown army, when he had always paid tribute on time.

The reason given by Gawain was that Shirvan Pasha had no integrity and many of the gold coins he gave were of low quality and must be punished.

In addition, after arriving in Tauris, the Yefanduni Brigade stationed in the northeast came to join the battle under the leadership of its commander Hercules, flying the lion flag.

As a result, the emperor immediately asked Hercules, "Did the previously rebellious Bohemond send a secret letter to try to seduce you to rebel?"

Hercules was scared to death, but fortunately he was a smart man and had already carried Bohemond's secret letter with him. He handed it to the emperor at this moment, saying that he was angry after receiving the letter and would never tolerate Bohemond's shameful behavior, but he was afraid that burning it would make him look uneasy, so he handed it over to His Majesty for decision.

"Hercules, I believe you are an excellent and loyal general, but sometimes I cannot go beyond the Roman law. Your innocence still needs to be verified by the military court. Mikhail and Birel have gone through such procedures before. It is better for you to stay in Tauris for the time being and explain the problem clearly." The emperor said generously, and then several postmen and inner palace guards "invited" the helpless Hercules to leave, and took off his sword, seal and all documents-then the emperor asked that the command of the Yefanduni Brigade at this stage be handed over to Gabriel.

The emperor's sudden change of generals made everyone solemn, and no one dared to have a different mind.

Later, when marching towards Isfahan, bad news came from the front line: Amur, a fortress on the west bank of the Oxus River, held out for a while, but finally fell because of the fierce attack of 80,000 barbarians. Half of the 3,000 guards guarding the fort died in battle and fled, and the rest of the prisoners were cruelly buried alive.

After the fall of Amur, it was like a gate that contained a flood was destroyed. Thousands of barbarians were like a raging sea, spreading and raging in the boundless Greater Khorasan. Then they captured Tus and Merv fortresses, slaughtered thousands of Seljuk soldiers, and looted and killed hundreds of thousands of people. During this period, only Zengi, who had come to the Isfahan court earlier, performed well. He took a cavalry and took the initiative to attack. He ambushed a group of enemies like a whirlwind, not only killing more than a hundred people, but also capturing more than a dozen people.

"Send pigeons and fast horses, and ask Zengi to bring the captives to Isfahan as soon as possible. I want to interrogate them personally to find out the truth!" Gao Wen immediately asked the Seljuk envoy who came to report, "In addition, you must now defend Nishapur, the gateway fortress to the Persian Plateau, at all costs, and temporarily ignore the enemy's other offensives in the north and south."

The envoys were relieved when they saw that Gawain's army was already in Tauris and was heading for the Sultan's palace. They quickly reported back as Gawain requested.

A week later, Gawain finally arrived at the Isfahan Sultan's Palace on the plateau, which "gathered half the world", and met with the young Sultan on the most important matters.

It stands to reason that the Sultan's palace originally did not allow people like Gawain to enter, but now the Sultan is less than three years old, and the real power is in the hands of the Mosul warlord Kobha and the Sultan's second uncle Tabo (this strange power structure itself was "adjusted and arbitrated" by Gawain, see the first 11 volumes for details), and the country is in danger, so there is no need to care about any rules.

The Sultan's Palace is surrounded by green hills and woods. It is a rectangular building surrounded by high walls. There is a chicken-shaped weather vane on the gate tower. Gawain walked in wearing the emperor's attire, and the Sultan's servants and eunuchs on both sides of the gate corridor knelt down and kowtowed.

Inside the gate is a square courtyard with a Persian-style four-part flower garden. After passing through it is the second gate. Gawain walked in and found another square courtyard and four-part flower garden. When he entered the third gate, he came to the central courtyard with corridors on all sides, with palaces extending out on both sides and the third large riverside garden at the end.