After a long journey, the army under the command of Ilkhan Abhaha finally reached the Adana Plain, where the Armenian kingdom is located, and the Armenian army, led by its king Leon, rushed to the capital of Tarsus day and night.

"Oh no, God, this is not my Tarsus!"

Leon kept muttering a cross on his chest, and his guards and the cavalry that followed were just as incredulous as he was, the rich and beautiful pearl of the Northern Mediterranean, the transit point of the Crusaders, the trading hub to the East, the ruins of the ruins that he saw in front of him? What about their relatives, what about their families.

Everyone dismounted, put their heavy helmets and visors on their horses, drew their swords, and searched the road, the villages on both sides were still ashes, and corpses were lying everywhere, everyone was in a heavy mood, not knowing what had happened.

Soon after, the tall castle came into view, and the soldiers walked up with a sense of luck. Only half of the ruins of the great hardwood and iron-clad gates remained, and there were neither guards nor flags on the walls, and the whole city was as silent as death, and a bad feeling welled up in everyone's hearts, all the way to the square in the center of the city.

"Bang" after another, it was the sound of the long sword falling to the ground, and the soldiers who walked in front covered their faces and fell to their knees. These soldiers, who had never lost their weapons on the most brutal battlefields, could not accept what they saw, and cries of pain rang out over the square, and Leon, who arrived later, fell to the ground in front of his eyes.

No wonder there were no people everywhere in the city, for all the people were here, and countless bodies leaned against each other like stakes piled on the ground, while their heads were piled up in the fountain in the center of the square, like a huge pyramid, which made people shudder.

The Mamluks brutally killed them in a way that had been brought by the Mongols, and all men who were taller than the wheels were beheaded, while the rest were taken away and sold into slavery, never to return to their homeland if nothing else.

The wealth of the entire city was looted, the buildings were set on fire, and the exquisite palaces, churches, houses, and military barracks were reduced to ruins, which was the most direct and effective way to fight the opponent. By the time Abaha arrived with his men, they had just counted the number of people lost, and all the Armenian soldiers were doing one thing, burying the bodies.

"It was the same in several towns along the coast, Ayas, Suda, Enni, more than 30,000 people were killed and 50,000 were taken captive. According to survivors, the Mamluks had retreated seven days earlier, and they had come by sea by boat. ”

Leon was still too deep in grief to get up, and one of his ministers bowed his head and reported to Abaha the statistics that the loss of nearly 100,000 people was a fatal blow to the already sparsely populated kingdom of Armenia, and the wealth lost was incalculable.

From the mouths of the survivors, they knew the general process, and this qiē happened very suddenly, and when they saw the enemy fleet, people tried to flee into the castle. The castle was not well guarded, and soon fell under siege by the Mamluk army, and the only ones who escaped were Queen Leon and several of her children, who had been found.

Abha looked at this brave warrior, who was now lying in bed as if he had a serious illness, and had lost weight in just a few days, and he had come out for himself, and the enemy had taken advantage of this vilely and caught him off guard.

Armenia produced the best heavy cavalry and good horses, and was an important part of his army, and because they belonged to the same cross, they were also the most loyal vassals, far more reliable than the Anatolian Seljuks who believed in the Green Religion.

"Leon, please believe that my mood is the same as yours at this moment, they are both your people and my people, they are paying taxes for me, you can say anything you want, I, Abaha, swear in the name of the Immortal Heaven that I will never turn a blind eye to this disaster."

"Thank you, noble Khan, that your most reliable servant, Leon, has only one request, that the same fate befall these infidels, and if the Khan will agree, every living Armenian will gather under your banner and kill any of the targets you have pointed out."

To this request, Abaha nodded without hesitation, whether there was this disaster or not, the contradiction between him and that country was irreconcilable, and his father's dying instructions came to mind, and he stepped forward and held Leon's hand tightly.

"I promise you that all the captives of Aleppo, Hama, and even Damascus will be at your disposal, and the Mamluks will taste the price they cannot bear, which is the call of immortality and the will of God."

Having made up his mind, Abaha began to think about the whole situation of the war, his shape was not good, to the north, the old enemy of the Golden Horde was entangled like a madman, and to the east, although the Eight Thorn Khan of Chagatai was defeated by him, the current ruler Duwa was still ready to take revenge for his invasion of the river region two years ago.

If these two threats are not addressed, his attack on the Mamluks will inevitably become an opportunity for the enemy to peep. And the emperor in Constantinople, who was only an ally, was so weak that Abaha could only ask him for more sympathy and support from the West, which was difficult to see at the moment.

Such a form was even worse than that of his father, Hülegü, during the reign of his father, Hulegu, and while the Mongol cavalry, whose greatest combat might seemed to be a diminishing threat to the enemy, the Mamluks also had the best warriors, well-armed, well-trained, brave and tenacious, and by no means a light opponent to defeat.

Perhaps, as they did in Tarsus, it would be more effective to burn cities, take away people and wealth, and strike at the war potential of their opponents? Abha stepped out of Leon's tent and looked thoughtfully at the ruined kingdom of Armenia.

"Take note of my orders."

"Yes, Great Khan."

A military clerk fell half-kneeling in front of his knees, piled up a table with a saddle, and took out a piece of parchment and a thin quill, waiting for his orders.

"Write a letter to Duwa Khan of Buha, saying that if he is willing to cease fighting, I will give him all the lands from Ko Chening, Qierman to the Shen River, and if he is willing to send troops to join my command. I assured him that for every town he took from the Mamluks, he would get the same town in Khorasan, as witnessed by the great Genghis Khan. ”

The reason why they chose to make concessions to the Chagatai Khanate was because they were originally defeated by their subordinates, and they were easier to deal with than others.

"Write another letter to my brother-in-law, Nahai, and tell him that if he is interested in the throne of the Golden Horde, I, Abaha, promise to support him with all my might, and will never ask for an inch of land."

The situation on the Golden Horde's side is much more complicated, even if the Caucasus is cut, their appetite will only grow, not to mention that that area is a natural barrier between the two countries, how can he do the thing of self-destruction of the Great Wall.

Whatever can be imagined, whether the two can be achieved or not, now is the best time to send troops against the Mamluks, Abaha needs their population and wealth, Leon needs revenge, and his various vassals need to see a victory to maintain their reverence for their overlord.

"Great Khan, Queen Maria has returned."

He didn't need to be reminded by his own soldiers, he also saw a puff of smoke and dust coming from the west, the coat of arms of the Valleolo family was held high by the knight in the lead, Maria's snow-white war horse completely blocked her thin figure, only the cloak covering her head was blown up by the wind, this line did not know what the result would be, Abaha had some expectations.

"Great Khan, I'm back."

Maria jumped off her horse and half-crouched to perform a Byzantine court ritual on him, and Abha immediately pulled her up. Maria has a typical Greek face, with knife-like lines and a high nose, as delicate and moving as the goddess of victory, Nikki.

"Look, what good news has my Maria brought back for me?"

"In Constantinople, I conveyed to my father what you meant, who, after contacting the Roman envoys, received the following promise, that if the Great Khan wished to march in the direction of Jerusalem, he would be called a 'holy war,' in other words, that we would be a crusader recognized by the Pope."

That's it? Abaha didn't think it was any real help, what he needed now was something more useful, such as reinforcements, or supplies, but his expression didn't change, because Maria seemed to have something to say.

"In this name, although the armistice was signed between the nations, some of them would join us voluntarily, and the Venetians promised to pay for a German mercenary to assist us in the war, on the condition that they receive news of our war and the ownership of the Holy City."

"Promise them, promise them all, tell them that I will rebuild the kingdom of Jerusalem and give it to the rightful heir to rule, Maria, you are truly my angel."

After a long kiss, Abaha picked him up and walked to the tent that had been set up improvisely, and within a few moments, there were all kinds of red-faced sounds coming from the tent.

It was a reward for her, and Maria brought almost perfect results to his best expectations, not only in terms of substantial assistance, but also in the name of justice, and more importantly, that the old-fashioned Romans finally bowed their heads to the truth and no longer classified them as heretics.

In this name, he could also summon some small Christian nations nearby, such as the Kingdom of Cyprus, etc., for whom every warrior was precious, and it was better for them to die than to die for the Mongols, which was well calculated.

At this moment, he even thanked the Mamluks for their brutality, which allowed everyone who witnessed it to take his side, even the Seljuks who belonged to the Green Religion, and they also had a deep hatred for each other.

Abha faithfully inherited his father's qualities, warlikeness, cruelty, and absolute loyalty to Kublai Khan, the nominal suzerainty of the Mongols, even though his only ally was almost thousands of miles away, and it took years for an envoy to make a round trip.

The storm, which is not clear how it was created, has undergone a qualitative change in chemical effect, which has advanced the large-scale conquest called the "Eastern Crusaders" by five years, and the military strength of Abaha has reached a height never before seen in history.