After the fall of Drista, only two Scythian fortresses remained on the south bank of the Easte River, and since they were located on the most dangerous heights in the vicinity, the Roman army could only temporarily besiege them and be content with what had been achieved.

The number of prisoners was small, and it seemed that the Scythians had no intention of holding the city at all, and the initial fierce resistance did not pose a real threat to the Romans, and most of the elite had already retreated to the two improvised castles to prepare for a long period of resistance.

Their presence made it impossible for the Emperor to cross the river with confidence, but at least the present situation was satisfactory, with the fleet of General George Euforbenus in control of the river, and the largest stronghold of the Scythians on the southern bank had fallen, leaving only two lone towers, which might fall without a fight for a few days.

However, at dawn the next day, Sakers from the East appeared over the Roman camp, and the messenger sent by General George Euforberus broke into the tent without an owner, and was nearly executed as an assassin by Nabitus, the commander of the Varangian Guard.

"Damn minions! How dare you retreat without our orders! The Emperor was furious in front of the messenger and threw the lead seal at the feet of the eunuch Leo Nisiritz.

"My lord said that all the arrows and Greek fire of our army were exhausted during the siege, and that the number of enemies was too large, and that they were smuggled overnight, and that the fleet could hardly prevent them from crossing the river." The messenger's voice trembled, and his eyes wandered between Tetisius and Nabitus, lest one of them draw his weapon and decapitate himself at the Emperor's command.

The first to arrive at the tent were the Emperor's two brothers-in-law: Kaisanikiphorus Melisenos and the Supreme Mikhail Talontes, who was followed by Katakalon Kokomenos, the son of the great imperial general Catacaron the Elder.

Amid the majestic sound of military trumpets, the nobles of the empire gathered in the middle of the tent, and the fledgling Leo Diogenes, dressed in gilded iron armor, was the most striking, the former co-emperor who had specially grown a curly beard that resembled the resurrection of his father, Romanus IV.

"Your Majesty, judging by the carriages and horses that crossed the river, the number of enemies clearly exceeds the original size of the Scythians, and I am afraid that what we feared most has already happened - the Cumans have also joined the rebels." George Palaioleg's words cast a haze over everyone's faces.

"We beg you to retreat at once to Preslav, where we have a strong fortress to rely on, and if we continue to attack and harass, the rebels will be left unplundered and will soon be dispersed." Gregory Mavlokataron, who had been fighting hard before, finally came to his senses, and the Romans still had nearly 15,000 troops, but this is the north of the Haimos Mountains, where the rebels have been entrenched for a long time, Tatush has collected the remnants of Tergu, and there will be no less than 10,000 capable warriors, plus the Cumans behind them, the total size may be more than 30,000 people!

Romanus IV's sons, Leo Diogenes and Nikephoros Diogenes, saw that all the generals were afraid, and they all showed their indignation, Leo was silent, pulled the sleeves of his brothers, and then the two secretly left the camp, and when they returned, each holding a pair of severed reins, Leo stepped forward and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty need not be afraid of those rabble, we have let go of our mounts, and we are determined to stay and follow Your Majesty in this decisive battle, and we will cut your enemies to pieces with our swords!" ”

Emperor Alexios knew that the two brothers were young and vigorous, but it was not easy to blame them in public for showing their loyalty, and suddenly looked up, and saw Tetisius passing a glance at him, and bowed slightly in the direction of the two, so he laughed: "Now that our army is at its peak, the rebels have been besieging the fortress of Isaacia for a long time, and they have crossed the river to attack me lightly, although they have collected the remnants of the thieves, the hearts of the people may be even worse than when Tergu united the Dacians to the south, if you avoid the battle today, wait until Tatush has won over the Cumans and Uzi with the robbery, I'm afraid the empire will never be able to return to Shanbei again. ”

The emperor's brother Andreano felt that if he retreated, after John Ducasse's reinforcements arrived, he might compete with him, and John Ducasse had already killed King Solomon, and his martial name overpowered him, if he couldn't stand in the army this time, he was afraid that he would gradually lose the emperor's favor, so he took the opportunity to scold: "If the enemy doesn't fight in person, can he survive if he escapes?" Have you forgotten the bodies of Christians who were desecrated by barbarians? Staying here today is just a death match, and once you escape from the battlefield, I'm afraid it will be even more difficult to face the world! ”

Emperor Alexios, knowing that his previous offer to lure Malikshah reinforcements had not yet been fully fulfilled, and now that the situation in the east was decided, in the event that the Sultan wanted to forcibly recall the Turkmens, it would be impossible for the empire to gather an army of this size, and finally agreed to a decisive battle at Drista.

The Emperor withdrew the troops besieging the two castles, announced that the whole army should retreat to the safer nearby stream, and ordered General Georges Kuzomic to guard the tent and all the baggage to be stationed in Betrinum.

The Romans marched neatly to the south, and before the Pecheneg-Couman army could react, the western army under the command of Nikephoros Melisenos on the left flank, the elite of which were Caesar's own foreign companion cavalry, and in the rear were the Wallach troops, who were skilled in the use of bows and crossbows; On the right flank were the Seljuk reinforcements of Tetisius, and in front of these Turkmen warriors from Central Asia were some Vadarithai and Uzi mercenaries, and as for Tetisius himself's guard, it consisted of two hundred Latin cavalry; The Emperor himself was on the Central Front, flanked by six close attendants, including the Varangian Guard commander Nabitus, the Diogenes brothers, and the veteran Nikolai Mavlocatacaron, while the Emperor's brother Andreano led the Latin mercenaries in front of the Emperor's main line.

Angus, with the help of Gillick, wore the Greenwich plate armor given by the Pope, and his horse was also covered with red scale armor and brass mask, and a flag spear hung from his saddle, and his mount was of the Oriental noble, with a violent tibia, and a heavy fart striking the ground at once, as if ready to break through at any moment.

Gillick and Maeve are on the left and right, spears and bows in hand, each with a kite-shaped shield winged to protect their sides, ready to follow the lord into battle. Behind Maeve were the Scythian mercenaries of Kyriakush and Simerios Solomon, all of whom were palace guards of Prince Valraza, the former commander of Meisembria, who wore fine leather-iron armor, and were fierce and durable, and were extremely skilled at shooting at a gallop; Behind him, Gilic was followed by more than eighty Latin knights, wearing painted Norman nose guards, wearing various colors of fabric armor, covered with refined and quenched chain mail, and also following the appearance of Angus, each equipped with an attendant to follow, among this group of knights, there was only one Cuman mercenary, because he refused to be in the same column as the Pechenegs, he was dressed in armor and in the ranks of Western European knights.

In front of the Roman army, the sound of drums and horns suddenly soared into the clouds, and countless chariot and horsemen from the depths of the steppe came from the sky, and there were countless people, and it seemed that there were 100,000 people. Angus's heart seemed to be struck by the drumstick over and over again, and he swallowed his saliva, and scanned the officers and soldiers of the three armies of the thousand-year-old empire through the protective surface of the steel helmet, and an inexplicable flame suddenly appeared in his heart, and a voice in the flame commanded him:

Cut off the hooves of their horses, burn their chariots, and slay them all.