Eagle Byzantium

Finally, amidst a slight laugh, Burke Baldwin personally held up a shield and crouched down. Decius, who was standing opposite him, held a bladeless spear for practice. The two began to circle each other and practiced stabbing very seriously.

"We will soon practice how to deal with the enemy's cavalry, how to deal with the enemy's archers, how to deal with the enemy's scimitars, etc." Baldwin shrugged his shoulders in response to the serious reply of the camp manager Melo. Then he walked to the mighty river bend and stood with Gawain, looking at the towering twin towers over there, guarding the key stone bridge. On the other side of the river, there was the boundless camp of Kobha. In about three days, they will rush there to fight to the death with the dangerous and powerful Prince of Mosul.

"At that time, the distribution of war horses will be completely fair. It will not depend on the identity and bloodline of the warriors. Anyone who can pick up a weapon will ride any mount and attack Kobha's camp." Gawain sighed as if he was anticipating the upcoming fight.

"Anna is in Adana City. Has she sent me a letter?" Baldwin asked, supporting his waist with one hand.

"She sent me a letter, telling me that Ingrina is pregnant, and asking me to be careful on the battlefield." Gawain laughed, twisted his eyebrows, and looked at the wide and surging river.

"It's hard to imagine that this is what Anna said. Would she ask you to be careful because of the child you gave birth to with another woman?"

"No, she meant that I couldn't die, because I had to make her pregnant before the winter of this year. In the letter, she questioned that I didn't do my best for her in bed, and I didn't even pray to the Virgin Mary in my heart to let her successfully conceive in sweetness."

After hearing this, Baldwin, who was surprised, was relieved, smiled and patted Gawain's back, asking him to "do his best" from now on.

Then they were silent together, looking at the long and thin bridge between the twin towers, built with black bricks and stones, as if there was no end to it.

The port city of Salamis on the east side of Cyprus has prospered since ancient times due to its sea trade with the Levant and Egypt, and was once the capital of the rulers of Cyprus. After the Roman Republic annexed the island, the governor's residence was moved to Paphos on the west side of the island (legend has it that it is the birthplace of the goddess of love Venus). Although the political status of Salamis declined, its transit trade with the East was still prosperous and reached its peak during the era of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The reservoirs, baptisteries and large markets built around the cemetery of Saint Epiphianiros are bustling with people. The semi-circular opera house and the palace renovated from the royal manor in the Archaic period are next to it, backed by a hillside covered with vineyards and facing the blue and soft ocean.

In front of the open garden corridor, the governor of Cyprus, Lapsiomat, sat on a chair with some fear. On the sea surface, he could see Saracen clippers with green triangular sails everywhere. There were one hundred, one hundred and fifty, no, there should be as many as two hundred. Among them, there were seven giant warships that were the most proud of the Fatimid Babylonian monarchs. They had three layers of oars, complex and effective sails, iron decks and silver-plated masts. They were very fierce and flexible in combat. The towers at the bow and stern were equipped with deadly crossbows. The Fatimids nicknamed this kind of warship, "Cat".

Now, these ships that were supposed to be anchored in Ashkelon sailed to Salamis in a dignified manner, carrying 4,000 warriors from Gesilai (later Cairo), 500 war horses, and the commander-in-chief was Al. Rumi, the fleet commander and chief judge of the Fatimid Caliph. His official title in Egypt was "Minister of the Gate" (the second-level official title of the dynasty, second only to "Swordsman"). As can be seen from his name (Rumi means "Greek"), this was originally an Orthodox Christian in the borders of the Eastern Roman Empire. He was captured and taken to Egypt as a slave when he was young, and then he rose straight up in the luxurious palace of Fatimid Egypt without even changing his faith, until he was appointed to this high position and in charge of such a powerful fleet and army.

This is nothing new in the Fatimid dynasty. The power of the caliph had long since declined, and the real power of the country was in the hands of the viziers and various legions (such as the Abyssinian Guard, the Turkish Cavalry Corps and the Berber Guards, etc.), who fought against each other and fought endlessly.

For example, the current caliph is called Musta'ali, which means "the one in high position". He is only seventeen years old and is a puppet of the chief vizier Malik Afdal. What's more ironic is that Afdal's father, Jamali, is a standard Armenian and a palace slave. The most ridiculous thing is that Afdal and his son are Sunni believers.

Therefore, the Fatimids of Egypt have long been competing with the Seljuk Turks for the holy land, but the interior of their country has long been a world where foreign generals and servants such as Armenia, Turks, Greeks, and Abyssinia are in power.

Along with Al-Rumi and the fleet, there were also letters from Grand Vizier Afdil that arrived on the island of Cyprus, one to the pilgrim representatives and the other to Lapsimatas.

The latter was the one that was opened and read in front of the Governor of Cyprus. Although the letter was signed by the writer as "the King of Egypt, the unrivaled chief of the believers, the owner of the turban, cloak and carved windows that sealed the Prophet (i.e. Muhammad), the great Musta'ali", everyone actually knew that the letter was written by Efdre himself, and it actually severely reprimanded Lapsomathes, saying that he "dared to follow the Greek emperor, captured the port of Latakia, and put Christian pilgrims in danger" and so on.

This made Lapsomathes very embarrassed. He was originally the governor of the Roman Empire, and now he actually followed his own emperor, which became an unforgivable crime.

But he could also swallow his anger. Who said that his island was a "sea stepping cloth" sandwiched between the two great powers of the emperor and the Fatimid Caliphate?

Afterwards, Egypt made a solemn request:

The port of Latakia must be handed over to us;

Cyprus must provide a large amount of food and olive oil, and bring our supplies to support the pilgrims in Antioch;

Cyprus must provide a thousand troops to join Al-Rummi's army to relieve the siege of Antioch, and recognize that the Turkish princes such as Kobha, Durak, and Ridwan are our common enemies;

The correct version in 16-9 book forum!

Lapsomatus himself must act as a middleman to negotiate a military alliance between Egypt and the pilgrims.

To put it bluntly, in order to deal with the Seljuk Turks, Afdre, a "Sunni believer who came from an Armenian slave family but ran to Egypt as a vizier in the Shia Fatimid dynasty", was determined to form an alliance with the pilgrims - the information provided by the Amalfi merchants and Gawain's judgment were completely correct. (To be continued ~^~)