Eagle Byzantium

The city of Nicosia in the center of the island of Cyprus is a flat gray city surrounded by hot plains. Even if many evergreen trees are planted around the city walls, it is still difficult to resist the wind that quickly depletes the body's moisture. Ognis looked up at the endless endless May On the last day of the day, I saw the wind blowing up in the south of the city and exposed the dust. The lips full of boils were pursed, and I was spitting thickly at my feet. In the end, it just smashed out a piece of dust on the gray-white sand. The small black spots turned into a trace of smoke and disappeared without even getting the boots wet.

Diognis was writing a letter to his wife Gusiyun, full of sorrow, but at the same time he was searching for vocabulary. The only things he was familiar with were military regulations, but fortunately Gusiyun was not a person who cared about literary talent at all.

The two thousand men he led were stationed on the outskirts of Nicosia, the capital city, and Governor Lapsomates and his guards were in the city. Although the other party did not say it, the guard knew that the other party was wary of him and afraid of him. It is a "hidden stake" planted here by the emperor, ready to destroy the power of Lapsomates in this island country at any time.

Therefore, Lapsomates could only cope with drinking water and food, and the life of the guards and soldiers was very uncomfortable.

After Titicius left, the captor after Gawain chased him, although he did not dare to disobey his superiors and the emperor at the official level, he privately gave Gawain the passage to the Acropolis of Antioch that he had drawn. Map of the camp.

"I don't know what the situation is like in Antioch City?" the guard wondered in his heart.

As Gawain privately expected, they did not take the land route through the Syria Gate, but suddenly captured the port of Latakia occupied by the allied pirates (this was also beyond the expectations of the guards), and Taticius left a group of people behind. Thousands of people guarded and imprisoned Wenmoha. After guarding the port, they coerced all the pirate sailors and ships, and led the Cypriot fleet to transport everyone to the island, and then stayed behind to capture the officials. and 2,000 soldiers in the city of Nicosia in the center of the island. He led the remaining 5,000 people on a starry and night journey, crossing the Troodos Mountains across Cyprus and heading towards the picturesque Kyrenia in the north. The harbor, backed by mountains, out of reach of the terrible hot winds from Ptolemy and Africa to the south, has a climate as distinct and lovely as that of Anatolia.

But the noseless Asia March Commander was never interested in the scenery. After he asked his subordinates to cross the sea in batches to the city of Atalia, he boarded the first ship and went to sea.

The next day, Titicius appeared in front of Prince John's residence in Atalia City.

At that time, John Komnenos was sitting in a courtyard full of pothos and flowers, watching a Turk shooting at a target.

This guy has great skills. He just sat cross-legged on the carpet, holding a small bow. The servant next to him only gave him an arrow shaft without arrow clusters (for the safety of the prince), and then he clicked again and again, with an elegant and slight expression. With a loud noise, all the targets placed in the courtyard were hit.

John was fascinated by what he saw. As the orthodox heir of the empire, he was much more interested in archery than classical literature and art. This was completely different from his sister (this is why Anna looked down on her brother). His next plan was to Learning riding and sword skills, "surpassing the Varyag barbarian Gawain" was actually his ideal. In John's mind, he vaguely felt that he had to be like Gawain in order to revitalize this ancient empire.

"Very good. Father's letter is correct. You are a very courageous and skilled prisoner. Although father reduced your status to a slave, I now appoint you as my personal guard." John saw After the Turkic man shot all the arrows in the pot, he applauded and stood up and said.

The Turk hurriedly turned around, fell down deeply in front of the prince, and put his hands on the ground. He was originally a slave soldier under Sultan Rom. Later, he surrendered out of the city during the Battle of Nicaea and was sent to Constantinople by ship. .

In the arena, when the prisoners one after another, handcuffed with ropes and led by donkeys, passed in front of the laughing residents of the imperial capital, Alexios, who was sitting in the chief stand, felt bored and began to count the number of people. , when he counted to the twenty-fourth place, he saw that the prisoner of war was disabled with one hand. Not very happy, he went back and counted "Alpha" again, and saw a tall and strong prisoner. Alexios was very satisfied with this and dragged him over - amid a burst of cheers, The emperor's boots stepped on his neck, "I, the omnipotent Roman Emperor, forgive you!"

Later he was named "Alpha Axouchos" (?Axouchos), the prototype is the minister John II relied on most in history. He was indeed a Turk captured after the Battle of Nicaea and was captured by Alexios. As a gift to his son), "Go and serve my son!" Following this instruction, he came to Pamphylia.

For Alpha Aksepokos, this does not seem to be difficult to accept. As a prisoner of war and a slave, his fate has long been in the hands of the victor. This is the consensus of the Turks. Now His Majesty the Emperor has asked him to accompany the prince. , then just do it.

"Are you good at swordsmanship? I am very attracted to the swordsmanship of you Turks." Prince John continued to ask, but the servants around him lowered their bodies and tugged on his clothes, telling him to be careful not to use a real sword. It was delivered into the hands of this Turk, whose loyalty and reliability were unclear even though he had been previously baptized.

So the prince was a little disappointed, "You still need to study, so that you can assist me in the future." Then the gatekeeper's servant stood at the gate of the courtyard. The prince understood that an important guest had come, so he sat back on his chair, and Axepochos retreated far to one side.

When Taitishius knelt at his feet, the prince immediately questioned, "I heard that you abandoned the war in Antioch and came to my territory with 8,000 people without doing anything?"

"Your Majesty's army has crossed the strait and is heading here. Your servant Taitishius has arrived first and is responsible for explaining it to Your Majesty."

"What to explain?"

"It's the confusion you just had, Your Highness."

"Speak out, I allow you to breathe towards me."

So Taitishius took off the embroidered cloak that was originally covering his face, and he said to the prince-Cobuha's army had more than 100,000 people, and had already captured the port of Saint Simon. If you stay any longer, if Your Majesty's 8,000 people are annihilated, I can't take this responsibility.

Check out the correct version in 16-9 Book Bar!

After hearing these words, John remained silent, and then he asked, "Where are your troops now?"

"One thousand are in Latakia, two thousand are in Cyprus, and the remaining five thousand will soon arrive by ship."

"Tatisius, you are a slave without courage. Even though you are skilled in martial arts and proficient in battle formations, you have no noble fighting spirit in your blood. You should feel ashamed compared to Gawain who insisted on staying there." After hearing this answer, Prince John began to criticize.

Taitius had no expression, just bowed his head and prostrated himself. (To be continued ~^~)