Eagle Byzantium

"Master, how much food will we need to raise this guy?" Muzafi'adin clapped his hands, dumbfounded, and worried about this problem for Gawain.

"Living consumes food, but if he is hanged or driven away, he will not survive in Asia Minor." Gawain touched his chin, "Ask him to be the chief flag bearer and enjoy the food of four people - that's right Giant, what’s your name!”

"Dim Husexin." The giant man fell to the ground and answered while holding the flagpole.

"I will call you Goliath from now on. You have no salary or military pay. I will temporarily give you four meals to support yourself and protect the military flag." Gawain joked.

"That's great!" Dim burped with a mouth full of bread crumbs. He didn't care at all about whether there was any monetary reward. It seemed that all he needed to do was feed him, which made Gawain and all the soldiers burst into laughter. Amid laughter, Dim didn't know why he came, so he looked around, took out a few coins from his arms, and said to Gawain, "I have money, don't worry, as long as you have enough food."

"There is blood..." Gawain took one of the gold coins, frowned, and saw the initials on it, "The person Lord Godfrey mentioned in the letter is you? Can you? Kill the evil bear. Why didn’t you just find me?”

As a result, Goliath looked at himself and scratched his hair, "Who is this master of yours?"

Gawain didn't know whether to laugh or cry. At this time, several military musicians had followed the detachment commander's order, walked to the side of the road, and started to play the flute - the army was about to start from Lamas City, west of Zephyrim City. Thirty miles away, at the intersection of rivers, the recovered Wesat Melo was waiting to join him there with a team of many Genate landowners from West Cilicia.

The entire brigade advanced by land and water at a very fast pace. By evening, they had arrived at the east of Zephyrim City. The agreed place.

Wessat Melo rode a horse and came to meet Gawain. He was very ashamed to say that he was injured by an arrow due to his carelessness in the battle against Theodoro, which resulted in the battle between Caron City and Tower. The city of Ersus rested for such a long time.

Behind him, Gawain saw many Roman cavalry who had provided their own food, horses and armor. Standing in front and behind their respective flags, there were a considerable number of lightly-armed military servants behind them, about a thousand in total. Most of them were local Jinate landowners. After receiving Gawain's request for military service, they had to gather together to join the army and join the war. Gawain gave them a service period of two months. After completion, the second tax in September will be exempted (Gaowen divides the tax period into two, January and September).

The first among them were two nobles with high reputation and power. Aspar Priskos from the foothills north of Lamas was a brave battlefield warrior who had previously served under the Sultan. Now comes "Abandoning Darkness and Turning to Light". Still have a seat. Known as the descendant of the most glorious military family in Anatolia, the "Skoleru", Monomachus Skeleru. Under Mello's introduction, the two men, with their armor neatly dressed, respectfully yet arrogantly paid homage to "Grasshead King" Gawain.

"What's the situation east of Tarsus?"

Gawain then got an answer from Mero. The camp manager was in the city and still closely controlled the movements of the various forces in eastern Cilicia. "The city of Mamistra was also captured by Baldwin. Tancred and his army have been driven out of the city. !”

"What? Tancred is still too upright." Gawain shook his head and actually sighed for the Norman hero who was his enemy.

Then Mello told him the whole story:

After Tancred captured the city of Mamistra from the Turks, he continued to lead his army towards the mountains. He was preparing to join forces with the princes and princes of Armenia to occupy the main road to Antioch, but his tendency aroused the jealousy and vigilance of General Orson, the owner of Lamplon Castle.

There is no other way. Who is called East Cilicia? Little Armenia is also a scene of numerous sects and princes?

Twenty-six years ago, during the Battle of Manchikert in 1071. When the Byzantine Roman Emperor Romanus IV led the main army of the empire to Lake Van in Armenia to fight the Seljuk leader Alp Arslan, one of the imperial princes at the time, Feraredos Blechami, Os, was ordered to lead the entire Cilicia military district to monitor Mesopotamia and protect the emperor's flank.

So General Feraredos was lucky enough to avoid the military disaster in Manchikert, but when he was about to lead his army back to rescue his comrades who were defeated in Armenia, he discovered that there was a road leading to Anatolia. The road has been cut off by the swarming Turks, and most of their generals and soldiers, including eight thousand Norman Frank mercenaries, The core armed forces also refused to be loyal to the empire, so Feraredos simply formed an independent principality with the Gemalician Castle in northern Cilicia (the border with southern Armenia) as the core. It covers eastern Cilicia, southern Armenia, Antioch, Dessa and Aleppo, and its territory is very large.

But the good times for this principality did not last long, because the Turks' westward offensive was still fierce. The first thing that suffered was the 8,000 Western mercenaries under Feraredos. They were defeated by the Turks in Antioch two years later. The survivors went into exile in Anatolia and became the backbone of the "Greedy Wolf Lusail" rebellion. They were later defeated and eliminated by Alexios Komnenos.

Then, the Roman Genate warriors under Philaredos also left one after another. A considerable number of them went to settle in Seleucia and Cilicia, and wandered around in Constantinople and Konya. Between the camps (now in Gawain's territory, this group of people mainly consists of them). In the end, the principality was supported by the remaining Jinat, peasant soldiers, and Armenian warriors who were dissatisfied with Turkic rule and fled into exile.

Twelve years ago, Philaredos died. In the last stage of his life, he was extremely disloyal to the empire, constantly asking for honorary titles, and even received the title of "Sebastos" ('Sebastos' in Greek). The Führer') was still not satisfied; but after his death, his principality fell apart instantly:

Aleppo, Medesa, Antioch, and half of Cilicia fell into the hands of the Turks and became the territory of the Crescent Christians;

The mountain fortresses of Lamprun and Babalun, close to the Cilicia Gate passage, fell into the hands of a general named Orson Hertomis. This king was originally from East Georgia (now Azerbaijan), and later to escape The Turks invaded, carrying their families, including brothers, wives and children, and a reliquary said to contain the middle finger of St. Peter, all the way to Cilicia;

There was also an Armenian named Reuben, who was originally a subordinate of Gajik II, the last monarch of the Bagradioni dynasty of Armenia. Later, Gajik was brutally murdered in Sisi City, and his body was dismembered and hanged separately. in the fortress In front of the city gate, the murderer is none other than the "three Kallegos brothers" in the city, namely Severn, Ace and Taylor (the eldest, second and third sons of the blind old general Nika Kallegos) , it is believed that these three brothers were brutally attacked by Constantinople However, after the death of Gadzhik II, Ruben led the rest of the Armenians to rebel, established themselves as a force, and established the "Kingdom of Little Armenia". Ruben called himself "Lord of the Mountains" and Formed an alliance with Philaredos. After his death, his son Constantine Ruben, also known as "Prince Ruben", inherited the family business. As the leader of many Armenian families, he guarded the mountain city "Fanka Castle" in the north. Inside.

In short, in the eastern part of Cilicia, there are various forces divided by the Turks, Orson Hertomis, Prince Ruben and the Kallegos brothers. They fight fiercely with each other and change offensive and defensive alliances. It is definitely compared to the "Four Kingdoms". "Military Chess" is even more lively. (For information about Cilicia and Little Armenia, that is, the map of the separatist rule of Gawain and various forces in 1097, please see the map on Tieba)

The current situation is even more subtle. Due to the arrival of the pilgrim armies from the west, the many forces nesting in the mountains understand that a new round of formations is coming. Originally, Lamplon's General Orson was preparing to go and surrender first. of the Normans who arrived at the city of Mamistra, but when he heard that the Parkards were there , he became furious, thinking that Tancred would only take care of the rights of the Armenians, so he changed his mind and sent his own light cavalry team, cutting off the roads inside and outside Tancred, and sent a secret envoy, who was also his most trusted brother. Hallam Hertomis went to see Baldwin and stated that he was willing to follow the example of the dog and horse.

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Baldwin then replied, "I have a close brother, Stephen Gawain Russell. He is not only a priest under the crown of the Holy See, but also a Grand Duke General conferred by His Majesty the Emperor. He has tens of thousands of elites at hand and has occupied Once you have conquered the whole territory of Seleucia, you will immediately join forces with me to punish the Normans and Armenians and return this land to Constantinople, which is the territory that the emperor deserves. "

"General Orson is a loyal servant of Constantinople, a reliable subordinate of Feraredos Sebaste, a sincere friend of the pilgrim army, and the Armenian thieves who have usurped the sacred land of the United Kingdom. The situation is irreconcilable! From now on, General Orson will be completely obedient to your Excellency and General Gawain," Hallam said immediately and presented the document of "Sacred Friendship Covenant" to Baldwin.

Then, Hallam rolled his eyes. He saw Baldwin's beautiful wife Goetheschild beside him. He thought that it would be impossible to follow this man's path, so he asked cautiously, "How old is General Gawain? Is he married?" Pass?"

Gottschild immediately laughed and said, "Dear envoy, what is the meaning of this topic?"

"General Orson has a little daughter, Hertomia, who is beautiful and intelligent. She is now sixteen years old, and it is the time for marriage..." Hallam said. Everyone knows that returning Cilicia to the imperial emperor is a lie. The top priority is to form a strong kinship with the new powerful people in this land and preserve the castle territory.

Who would have thought that Mrs. Baldwin's hand would make a blocking gesture, "Please report to General Orson that the emperor has promised his daughter to General Gawain. Hertomia should find another husband!" (To be continued~ ^~)