Eagle Byzantium

The sound of the trumpet spread across the wilderness. Although the order to "abandon this place and retreat to Nicaea" was not spoken by the Sultan himself, it could be witnessed by the Sultan himself - Giliki's scarlet eagle flag and his elite slave soldiers had quickly retreated and turned to the canyon of Nicaea.

Then, the surrounding teams of Roma soldiers, some on horseback and some on foot, also abandoned the attack on the Forche camp and followed the Sultan's steps to retreat in a fairly strict manner. In the corner of the camp, many pilgrims who survived the disaster, including Walter Sansavall, could not believe their eyes, but through the wooden fences and earthen ramparts, they did see that the pagans were leaving quickly in the smoke and dust, just as they rushed in.

Shouts of "God's blessing" were heard everywhere, and the pilgrims in the camp raised their hands and prostrated in front of the cross. Thousands of words and texts could not describe their joy now.

On the other side, Hajib, who had received the Sultan's death order, lowered his head in frustration. Then he raised his eyes silently and saw the familiar red hand flag coming towards him - groups of fierce cavalry, with lances and swords like a forest, following the flags fluttering in the wind, facing the rising sun, their armor shining, and heading straight towards his formation.

"There is the Sultan's death order here, and the Armenian bastards have fled on the battlefield. We have no flanks to defend and no way to retreat." Hajib raised his head and sighed, "We can only follow the order, die heroically and ascend to heaven."

Not only Ataborg thought so, but even the three thousand Roma soldiers, after a quick look at the situation around them, also understood their fate. At this time, a brave standard bearer rode out first, "The generation that conquered the world as mentioned in the scriptures. Their battle flags will be commemorated by the blood of our generation first!" Hundreds of Roma soldiers, riding horses or walking, also followed the standard bearer, shouting, and then bravely rushed towards the attacking Gawain cavalry company!

"Don't retreat!" Gawain shouted this sentence as the red hand feather was blown back by the wind. Some of the cavalrymen in the Dalian team kept kicking their mounts with spurs to speed up the advance. The horses' heads that were bravely moving forward opened their mouths and neighed, swinging - forming a blade shape with the companions who followed. In an instant, the Grand Duke was the first to lay down the lance in his hand, and the subordinates behind him followed suit. In the earth-shaking assault, the figures of the Turks passed by Gawain and his two sides one after another, and the end of the lance pierced the oncoming standard-bearer like lightning.

In the sound of the explosion, the standard-bearer was pierced and fell off his horse, and the battle flag in his hand rose up. It floated past Gawain's eyes, flying in the air, transmitting the sunlight, and flew to the other end of the battle formation in a blink of an eye. The traces disappeared, but Gawain and his comrades continued to charge forward. Under their horses' hooves, the Romani soldiers were overturned and cut down row by row. Soon, several "blades" formed by the Dalian Corps and the Frankish cavalry tore through Hajib's formation. The bodies of the Romani soldiers fell in the wilderness. They were like road signs and alleys made of flesh and blood.

In front of the Axelro ditch, Anna put her hands in her sleeves regardless of the stench of corpses below. When she got there, her eyes widened. She saw the barbarian cavalry charging with lances. Just once, it swept all the pagan Turkic soldiers in front of the camp like a raging fire. Everything, weapons, personnel, formations, horses and flags, were ruthlessly destroyed. "The Franks and Normans riding on horses, charging with lances, could almost punch a hole in the extremely solid walls of New Babylon. No one could resist. Anna, I finally witnessed it with my own eyes today."

"What a barbaric massacre." Agnes behind her also sighed.

"No, it's a sacred war, this is just a prelude. The brown-haired barbarian, the barbarian who galloped unhindered in the wilderness with courage, may become a real Roman in the future, just like Julius Caesar, like Belisarius, who can rescue the Lord's territory from the pagans and truly lead the Roman Empire to revival." Anna pondered, but the expression on her face was very serious.

"Barbarians are barbarians."

"No, if the Roman Empire is not a universal empire, it is not worthy of using the eagle emblem as its flag. It is true that when the capital was moved, the noblest and bravest people moved to Constantinople, but now nearly a thousand years have passed, and the new century needs new blood. What is a Roman? It is noble and brave people, not those who stick to pedigree and bloodline." This is Anna's answer.

At this time, Gawain, who had led the cavalry to penetrate the formation of the Roman rear guard, saw the position of Hajib's flag, and drew out the phosphorous fire sword, jumped off Quicksilver's horse, and together with several brotherhoods holding long axes and broadswords, and Muzafi Adin holding a spear, they killed Hajib.

A Turkish nobleman from Ankara rode on a horse, roaring and stabbing with his spear. At this moment, he actually recognized Muzafiadin, "You apostate bastard!" It turned out that Muzafiadin was originally a subordinate of Zahas, the Emir of Nicaea (now Lord Zahas is wandering around Tunisia in North Africa), and was later conquered by Gawain. After Zahas was expelled from the Greek Peninsula by his younger brother Sebastokrate, his forces in Asia were also swallowed up one by one by Giliki Arslan, and this Turkish nobleman was among them.

"I have not apostatized, and I will not kill believers of the Bible." Muzafi Adin shouted, and took a bow step forward, leaning over to graze the noble's spear, and then stretched out his hand to block the horse's neck. The horse screamed and fell down. The noble couldn't hold his hands and feet with the spear, and flew forward. Gawain swung his sword horizontally, cut him in two from the waist, and rolled away. Then another Turkic noble cursed and chopped with a knife. Gawain forced him to avoid the blade, and then lifted the opponent's shoulder and slashed his sword from his abdomen to his chin. Looking at the flying blue flames, Hajib's memory of fear in the past was instantly ignited, and his determination to die with all his tribesmen was shattered. "It was that Akin warrior. If you are killed by his sword, you will never go to heaven!" Then the Atabeg pulled the reins, abandoned the flag with several followers, and fled towards Nicaea.

"Akin, akin!" The rest of the Roman soldiers under the general were also horrified. The warrior who had wielded the magic sword to kill them in the Nicaea Gorge was actually in the pilgrims' team. They shouted and followed Hajib to flee.

Although the three thousand Roman soldiers who were the rear guard were first defeated by the cavalry, and then divided and slaughtered by the subsequent large company and Frank infantry regiment, the remaining few small groups still relied on each other and fought bravely and desperately with bows and spears until the last breath - in the end half of them were killed, and half were captured with injuries.

"Execute all these pagan evil warriors who dared to attack the pilgrims." Godfrey Eustace, who had just ridden out of the pass and failed to directly participate in this great victory, ordered with regret and anger. (To be continued ~^~)