Ships in the Black Sea were lined up, and the command hall had been set up in the battleship cabin, where the Roman emperor and his generals were discussing the situation of the battle.

"Your Majesty, now at least 30,000 Bulgarians, led by Theodor Asen and Ivan Asen, have besieged the Macedonian city of Thessaloniki all the way south from Burgas, and now that we have lost contact with Thessaloniki for five days, it is doubtful whether Thessaloniki is still in our hands!"

The first to speak was the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Duilius, who has always been jokingly referred to as the Navy's little bathtub, which shows that the Navy is well-informed in this area.

"Your Majesty, according to the information we have received, now Ivanko occupies Sofia, Kaloyan occupies Turnovo, and the most important thing is that Theodore's general Boril occupies Lalisha to cut off the north-south communication in Greece, and now the various military districts are fighting separately and cannot support each other, the situation is very urgent!"

Theodosius also stood up and spoke, now that the Third Legion had not long been formed, he actually had a lot of pressure in his heart about whether his subordinates could pull out and fight.

The Bulgarian rebels were even more menacing, from the lower Danube to the Aegean Sea, the rebel banners were planted all over Roman territory, and Alexios' generals were worried that the situation was not optimistic.

The Emperor waved his generals to sit down, and he looked at the map hanging on the wall, where two-thirds of the area was already dyed blue by the rebels, and his territory had been reduced to cities along the Aegean Sea.

"Although the enemy is menacing this time, no matter how they choose, the situation will not be any worse for us, and it is impossible for Constantinople to be defeated by these barbarians!"

The Emperor laughed at himself, looked deeply at the generals, and then slammed his fist on the map, pointing his finger at a place, and the generals gathered to see that it was the city of Serdica on the plains of Sophia.

"This has always been the nest of the Bulgarians, and since they were accepted by the Empire and allowed to settle in Dacia, they have been running Sofia, and no one but the Emperor Basil has been able to conquer it again!"

The generals did not understand what the emperor meant, but Sofia was surrounded by the Balkan Mountains and the mountains on the south bank of the Danube, and in order to conquer it, it was necessary to climb the mountains at an altitude of more than 500 meters, and it was no less difficult to quickly defeat the siege of the Bulgarians than to attack Constantinople.

Alexios looked at the embarrassed looks of the generals, and he took out his sword and slashed it on the table, and said categorically: "I have made up my mind, land in Burgas, go deep into Bulgaria, take the city of Serdica in Sofia, and use the heads of the rebels to pay tribute to the Roman people who died in my life!" ”

Duilius, Harald, Theodosius and other generals also had no choice but to agree to the emperor's insistence.

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On the fifth day of the siege of Thessaloniki, the Bulgarians launched an offensive early in the morning, and ladders, trebuchets, and arrow towers were transported to the front line and began to fight.

This time, Theodor himself stood under the head of the city and commanded the Overseers to press behind the Bulgarians, and he drew a white line for the soldiers, and all Bulgarian soldiers who retreated from this line were beheaded on the spot.

"Soldiers, I am Theodor Arsen, your commander, the freedom fighter of the Bulgarians, and now the city before us belonging to the Greeks has been stubbornly resisting our attack, and I promise here today a reward of 1,000 gold for the first to ascend to the top of the city, and 3,000 gold for those who can open the gates, and let you plunder freely for three days after the city is broken!"

Theodore's words were like a stimulant, lifting the spirits of the already exhausted Bulgarians, their pale eyes flashing with a terrifying animality, and the lure of money, women, and promotions reinvigorated the army.

Theodor looked at Saloniki and sighed, he originally wanted to peacefully receive this large city second only to Constantinople and incorporate it into his future Bulgarian kingdom, but now he could not waste any more time, the news from the secret line from Constantinople that the Roman Emperor's fleet had sailed out of the Golden Horn two days ago and was now missing.

If the Emperor's army had moved quickly, he might have reached Thessaloniki tomorrow morning, and now would probably be his last chance to take the city!

Theodore waved his arm hard, and the first wave of death squads charged up to the city with the ladder, and the second wave of soldiers marched behind them.

At the head of the city, Governor Mikhail, whose head was half red with a bandage, had also been wounded in yesterday's battle, but fortunately the doctors treated him in time to recover, but today the Bulgarians were attacking better than before, and they did not show any fatigue.

"Lazar, are you still there? If you're not dead, come and give me an order! The Governor shouted hoarsely to the lad, that Lazar was no longer a recruit, and that he had skilfully dodged the rain of arrows from outside the city, and had run to the Governor.

"My lord, you're looking for me!" Lazar grabbed the governor and yelled.

"Go down to the city and tell Shishman to bring me the boiling oil, and the first wave of death squads must be defeated!" Mikhail shouted, suddenly finding that his face was hot, and when he reached out and touched it was full of blood, it turned out that the wound had cracked.

"Your Excellency, are you alright, I'll go find a doctor!" Lazar was terrified, now Mikhail was the only remaining high-ranking official in the city, and he was the highest official, and his bravery and courage greatly boosted the morale of the defenders, and was the backbone of the Salonika, if Mikhail fell here, who would command the battle?

"Leave me alone, go to Shishman and tell him that if I die, he will take over as commander-in-chief of Thessaloniki, understand!"

Mikhail had long put life and death aside, and it was only the Roman people who could not rest assured that if he hadn't insisted on resisting, maybe he would not have been so killed and wounded, and now the only belief that supported him was to wait for the emperor's reinforcements to arrive.

If Salonika had been broken before the arrival of the Emperor's reinforcements, and the entire city had been slaughtered by the Romans who had participated in the resistance, would he be worthy of Mikhail?

I, Mikhail, am ashamed!

Determined to die, Mikhail drove Lazar away and rushed with his sword to the Bulgarians who had already ascended the city, and Mikhail's last memory was only the flowers that fell in the sky when he saw the triumphant return of the previous emperor as a child, when he entered the gate of St. Romanus.

How powerful was Rome then, and who could turn the tide of the empire......

In 1181 A.D., Mikhail, the governor of Salonika, was killed in battle......