"Emperor Alexei will personally conquer the Sultan of Rûm. We'll go with you. Duan Huaixian said lightly. The old emperor Alexei realized that his fate was not long in coming, and he wanted to completely solve the old enemy in the east before he died, so he planned to defeat the Sultanate of Rûm and conclude a peace treaty favorable to the empire under the influence of his generals.

Lu Mei's tactics were more rigid than those of the Xia Kingdom, and the battalion-level commanders did not have flexible command authority, Duan Huaixian only introduced the strategy of Emperor Lu Mei, and the Emperor's Praetorian Guard set off from the city of Constantine, and troops from various military regions would merge along the way. Crown Prince John led columns of regular troops from various military districts to cover the left flank of the main force, Archduke Bermond II was to lead the army of Antiochus, a vassal of Lu Mei, to cover the right flank of the main force, and the emperor himself led elite heavy cavalry in the rear. At the same time, Lu Mei's Northern Military District Corps will be led by General Andro to the south, and cooperate with the main force to sweep the fortress of the Sultanate of Rûm in Hercyni.

In this battle, the old Emperor Alexai mobilized almost all of Lu Mei's field forces, and the assembled army reached 100,000 people, in an attempt to expel the Turkic forces from the western part of the sea in one fell swoop. The Xia Janissaries were also counted as heavy cavalry, commanded by Emperor Lu Mei and engaged in decisive battles at critical times.

As soon as the expedition was ordered, the city of Constantine began to be lively. In addition to the Praetorian Guards, who were busy repairing their armor and preparing food and baggage for several days, every day a new military column drove into Lumeicheng, speaking a variety of different languages, and it was not known where they came from. More and more troops were stationed outside the city of Constantine. Lu Mei did not trust the regular troops of some of the provinces, and in the evening, when they climbed the walls of Theodosius and looked into the distance, the campfire where they camped stretched to the northwest. The regular army in the city was busy inspecting the baggage and siege equipment, and Lu Mei's skilled craftsmen were known for their proficiency in making various siege equipment, including Greek fire, and all of Lu Mei's accumulation in recent years, almost all of the siege equipment, would be used in this campaign.

Zhao Xingde seized the period before the expedition, summarized his observations on Lu Mei some time ago, and predicted the consequences of this war. If he wins, Lu Mei will have a chance to breathe for more than ten years, but the struggle for power and profit of the domestic nobles and the continuous counterattack of the Great Food Turks will still slowly eat away at the victory of the war. If it fails, especially if the elite of the Sultanate of Rum is lost, it is likely to spur the Sultanate of Rum to attack Sultanate of Rum in a few years, and if the Xia Kingdom does not want Sultanate of Rum to be annexed, it may have to intervene in the war.

"The annexation of Lumei," Zhao Xingde wrote, "is not very good for our dynasty." On the contrary, it is easy to be dragged into the quagmire of war. The strategy of our dynasty is not to focus on the country of Lumei, but to look at the West. If you want to make the Xiyi countries attack and kill each other without being a disaster for our dynasty, the best strategy is not to disturb their hearts. This policy should cause the Xiyi countries to fall into the confusion of faith, regard each other as enemies, and unite with all odds to become enemies of our dynasty. Lu Mei has the right of orthodoxy and has always called itself an orthodox church, and regards the Holy See as a side branch of the Western countries. For my sake of the plan, we should make Lu Mei have a bad relationship with the Western Holy See and cut off the possibility of asking the Western Holy See for help. It would be best if the Eastern and Western popes denounced each other as heresies, or even led troops to attack each other. The unity of the clerical power and the monarchy of Lumei made the monarchs of the Western countries suspicious. In order to make the Orthodox Church of the Lumei Kingdom compete with its western side branches, it should help to separate the church and the state, so that the Lumei Orthodox Church can win the trust of the Xiyi. If one or two monarchs of the Western Yi countries accept the sacred religious rights of the Lumei Kingdom, then Lumei will inevitably conflict with the Western Holy See. And Lu Mei was caught between the Western Holy See and the Turks, and became more and more dependent on our court for help...... Today's Lumei country is outside of gold and jade, and it is ruined. If we want to make him the master of our western path, after separating politics and religion, the government and the army will rebuild it with the system of our dynasty, consolidate its foundation, and cut off its repeated disobedience......"

After writing this policy, he handed it over to Lieutenant Duan Huaixian. This letter will be sent directly to the marching department of the General's Mansion. After Zhao Xingde retreated, Duan Huaixian carefully sealed Cheng Wen with wax and sent it out in accordance with the procedures of an emergency military report.

Before accompanying Emperor Lumei on the expedition, Zhao Xingde met Li Yong again, and Li Yong told him that there had been a reply from Kwantung. Chen Dong was very interested in contracting the sales of this caravan's treasure in the Central Plains. In addition, Chen Dong also contacted two Song ships to sell tea and porcelain and other goods to Li Yong's caravan in Tajoura Bay, which then took them to the interior of Africa to sell at a high price. Because of the high cost of pigeon books, he simply said that the Kanto party system of the Rigaku Society had been greatly relaxed, and that the traitorous party had recently entangled a group of unscrupulous literati and written some slanderous and offensive scripts and exposés that were spread around, which was quite disgusting.

"It seems that Xingzhi has a lot of friendship with Brother Chen." Li Yong said with a smile, in the end, what Chen Dong said about the Shizi Association was pure gossip in his opinion, but it highlighted that Zhao Xingde and Chen Dong were indeed not ordinary friends. "As long as the goods are ready, the merchant ships heading south will depart, Brother Xingzhi, we will have a date later."

"May the journey be safe." Zhao Xingde smiled, "There will be a period later." ”

"Do I wish you a triumphant return, then?" Li Yong also said with a smile, "The war between the Lumei Kingdom and the Turkic Great Food has not stopped, and it is not worth dying for it." Walk straight, no matter what the war is, to save your life. His voice turned low, with a rare sincerity, Zhao Xingde was slightly moved, and said in a deep voice: "Thank you, Brother Li, you also take care." ”

On the seventh day of the first month of November, the day when the Lumei Janissaries officially set out on the expedition. The crowd of people saw off near the Golden City Gate, and the people of Lumei cheered hoarsely as if they were participating in grand ceremonies and competitions, and the avenue was sprinkled with perfume and flower petals, as if returning to the heyday of the era.

The heavy infantry marched in battalions, and their weapons were more disorganized, the burly Varyags preferred to use heavy axes, and many used long swords and round shields, and most of them wore chain mail, iron gloves and shin armor when fighting. The Praetorian Guards cavalry walked behind in a crowd of the emperor's chariot, and the heavy cavalry wore conical helmets, chain mail from the neck to the thighs, a round shield tied to the left arm, and armor on the heads, necks, and chests of the horses. Most of the cavalry carried both bows and spears, which was also the strength of the Lumei cavalry. Each battalion had a different pennant on its spear, the same color as the shield to distinguish it from the other battalions in a dogfight. Behind the heavy cavalry were infantry archers, dressed only in the simplest leather armor, carrying bows and arrows, and a short sword for protection. In the army of Lumei, these archers are considered a weakness. The pennant of the Chengying Camp depicts the dragon shape unique to the Xia Kingdom, and all the sergeants carry two horses, one on a mount, and one on a baggage. The sergeants carried lances and bows and arrows, and their swords were hung from their saddles, which were used in hand-to-hand combat. Just like Captain Duan Huaixian said, whatever battle you encounter, you will fight.

The Chengying camp was very close to Emperor Lumei, the light of the morning sun shone on him, the crowd cheered at him incessantly, all kinds of dried flower petals were constantly scattered from the buildings on both sides of the street under his horse, and the burly heavy cavalry of the Janissaries surrounded him in a neat procession. Having been stationed in Lumei for nearly two years, Zhao Xingde has not witnessed the emperor's demeanor until today. The emperor, who wore a crown and a purple robe, may have once been mighty, but now his face was full of aging markings, his eyes were cloudy, and although he barely made a majestic appearance, his body swayed on the back of his horse. Amid the cheers of the entire city, the soldiers and the Janissaries, Emperor Alexei couldn't stop waving and smiling, but from a closer distance, his posture seemed stiff and preoccupied.

"It seems that the old emperor is desperate." Kim Chang-tae sighed, "Why do the old people want to get rid of all the problems and pass on the inheritance to future generations?" You must know that you are born in sorrow and die in peace, and the more perfect things are, the more people will covet them. Zhao Xingde smiled slightly, the more he was an old man who was about to die, the more reluctant he was to give up everything in the world, and wanted to carry out his will until after death. Many things in this world are battles between the will of the living and the will of the dead. "Power is like that, and so is wealth," he laughed, "and that rich man doesn't want to leave the mountains of gold and silver to future generations." ”

"These people have no loyalty to Lu Mei at all." Zhao Xingde pointed to those powerful Praetorian Guards, "Now you can still be born and die for the emperor, but after the old emperor dies, I'm afraid it may not be." No matter how charismatic the new emperor is, it is not possible to manipulate so many people who speak different languages in a day or two. Huang Zongdao nodded and sighed: "Therefore, the dynasty never relied on the Tibetan soldiers, and also forbade the trafficking of Tibetan slaves into the country, and only immigrated from Guanzhong Shu to reclaim the territory. ”

Author: There's one more today, hehe.