Eagle Byzantium

During this period, the emperor had been secretly instigating a rebellion against another lonely force, using both soft and hard tactics, namely the Archduke Apsomates of Cyprus.

On the soft side, the emperor gave promises, official titles, status, and promised many benefits to the other party, and then asked Apsomates to withdraw from Gawain's "One Belt, One Road" circle, and dissolve the "Meden" alliance with Antiochus and Tarsus. Fort Secret Alliance" and published He mobilized his fleet and soldiers to threaten Gawain's weakness in the southern sea area (the emperor detected that Gawain's main army was in the center of the plateau, and only a small number of civilian troops were stationed in coastal areas such as Tarsus and Seleucia), acting as the emperor's second defense force. The vanguard of the counterattack.

On the hard side, the emperor's emissary also carried out endless intimidation to Apsomatus, saying, "I have a huge fleet that has been quickly assembled and has begun to assemble between Smyrna and the island of Lesbos. Its number and armament are It's beyond your imagination. If you continue to delay, you will have to take the first step in Cyprus. Should you wear a dog leash and swim in the arena, or continue to be protected and keep the honorable governorship? I don't have much time left for you to choose. ”

Now Bohemond's westward march has once again become the focus of the tripartite game between Constantinople, Tarsus and Cyprus!

As early as after Bohemond was defeated and captured, he had attracted the emperor's "attention". Alexios instructed the emissary on behalf of Portruphes to ask the Armenians to extradite this criminal who was as notorious as Gawain. Come to Constantinople. However, Maras has no access to the sea at all, and all land routes are blocked by Antioch, Tarsus and Adana. Then Gawain stood up bravely and paid a large ransom, and Bohemond was released and nestled in the Bay of Issus, as if waiting for some opportunity, like a Khitan fire that could explode at any time, so that Emperors far, far away were also uneasy.

Therefore, another theme of the emperor's ongoing negotiations with Cyprus was to ask Apsomates to dispatch a fleet to arrest Bohemond as soon as possible. At the very least, he should not be allowed to freely enter the Holy Sea.

In the sea between Cyprus and Cilicia, a large row of galleys passed through the gray ocean, leaving a trapezoidal spreading white track at its tail. Amidst the sound of trumpets and waves, Richard, who was originally an earl and baron, , Reynold wore a cloak to cover the splashing water, his hair was wet and he sat on the chair on the side of the ship, struggling to shake the oar, shining brightly on the bow of the ship. Under the bronze sea beast statue, Bohemond personally held the sword and squatted there, constantly encouraging everyone, "Go forward, we will stay at Seleucia, and then go straight to the sea route of Rhodes and Crete." , Entering the Strait of Otranto, there is our world. The unpredictable weather and clouds, and the weak naval power of Alexios will achieve what I want."

At this moment, a Norman knight on the port side shouted.

Among the gray mountains and rocks of the island of Cyprus, a row of fast boats with swaying sails suddenly appeared, forming a diagonal formation, getting closer and closer to them, "It belongs to that Greek bastard Apsomates." Fleet, he is really coming to hunt me, and he has become a dog of the emperor." Bohemond blew his beard, drew his sword in anger, and all the Normans on the ship began to half the sails. Surrender, they also shouted and lined up with the kite shields in their hands facing the port side, ready to fight to the death, even if it capsizes the bottom of the sea in an instant - they could see the high-upturned bow of the Cypriot ship at the front, like a seabird on it. Greek and Cretan soldiers standing in such a dense crowd have begun to raise their bows and arrows, and the copper tubes of "Roman candles" that can spray flames are shining a little in the sun.

The trumpet sounded violently, and Bohemond turned his head amidst the shouts: from the coast of Cilicia, a group of warships suddenly appeared. Four rectangular ships with iron ribs like fortresses were in the center. The rest of the Pamphylian-style galleys are separated on the two wings, "the battle flag of Tarsus, the tower of Tarsus." The battle flag of Ersus! There was actually a double-layered fortress-like thing erected on the deck of their ship, and it could still fly without a long oar. "Many of Bohemond's ships took off their helmets and their hair flew. The moving Normans pointed at the "Mola War Ship" coming towards them and shouted in surprise.

It is not easy for the Normans, who have developed from the sea, to feel this way.

On the top of the Sunfish flagship on the far right, the dark-skinned deputy director of the Shipping Department, Galcuba, is wrapped in a red Saracen pirate turban, with a curved sword hanging on his waist. He holds his hands interchangeably and stands on the deck with long strides, as if walking on the ground. .

Then he raised his finger and shouted loudly to the lookouts and officers next to him, "Raise the battle flag and attack at full speed!"

"Ahhhh!" The sailors were barefoot, howling like pirates, and began to pull the rope. A large flag with a portrait of Saint Nicholas flew up and soon fluttered straight in the wind.

The remaining three sunfish warships, accompanied by light warships, the sailors and sailors on the decks all screamed, and the wheel pedals in the cabin violently moved up and down, each like an arrow, passing over and still floating in the same place. Bohemond's rowboat pounced head-on against the Cyprus fleet.

"Damn you bastard!" Bohemond soon felt that the entire water surface was trembling. No one of him could stand still, and he fell upside down on the deck of his ship amidst the roar: the bows of all the Tarsus warships were flying at high speed. During the march, the copper clams there were used to shoot out streaks of flames, mixed with cyan-gray smoke, rushing to shoot into the masts and sails of the Cypriot ships.

On the two Cypriot ships in the front, the sailors looked up and shouted in fear - the fire arrows shot by the copper clam, with triangular barbs, shot into their canvas like stars and got tangled, and immediately riddled with holes. Even if they swung axes and sticks, they could not knock down and pull out the burning arrows. Soon, the entire sail was full of fire and black smoke, and burned to ashes. Around the two paralyzed warships that were burning, the other ships of both sides began to fight each other. The Cypriot ships were full of people shaking hooks and ropes. The brave sailors stretched out or threw them out in an attempt to hook the fierce "sunfish warship" and climb up to engage in boarding battles. Then, the double-layer towers built on both sides and the upper part of the ship made this group of people helpless.

On the flagship where Jarguba was, in the rows of firing holes on both sides of the ship, the Maldet sailors shouted, and when they passed by the enemy ship, they looked down happily, using musket arrows with forks, crossbows, and wooden darts with sharp ends that were shot out by pulling the noose, and launched a fierce volley of firepower. On the Cypriot warships, wooden darts flew everywhere, wantonly destroying human bodies and the decks of the ships. Many sailors who were shot by arrows were entangled by their own ropes and fell into the sea one after another.

When the four sunfish warships were arrogant and crushed through the Cypriot ship battle line, the light longboats of the Tarsus side surrounded and attacked from both wings. The enemy was defeated and several warships were sunk and captured. The rest burned with smoke and fled in a panic to the starting point. (~^~)