The budding flowers and plants of Bulgaria were being trampled under the feet of the marching Third Army, consisting of 3,000 crossbowmen, 2,000 light cavalry, 2,000 pikemen, and 2,000 traditional Roman sword and shield men.

Theodosius' command was a large army of full men, and after accepting the emperor's appointment, he began to train his subordinates to enforce strict military discipline.

Although the Third Legion had only just been formed and trained for a short time, Theodosius had no doubts about his victory, and after Burgas came into contact with the Bulgarians, the Romans were keenly aware that there were no established enemies here.

The stretch from Burgas to Stara Zagora can be seen as a continent of thoroughfare, where no one can stop the Roman legions from advancing, and the morale of the army is high or proud.

"Your Excellency, our reconnaissance sentry has discovered a village ahead, there are not many men, we have taken it!"

Theodosius was pleased with the report from the detectives ahead, and he was now convinced that his judgment had been correct, that the Bulgarians had been careless, and that almost every man who could handle a weapon had been drafted into the army to attack the Greek region.

"Let's move on and bypass that village, our goal is Staraya Zagora and take it as a gift to His Majesty the Emperor!"

As Theodosius rode past the village he had reported, he saw smoke billowing and fierce shouts of slaughter coming from the village, and from a distance, he could see Roman soldiers chasing women naked.

Theodosius's face immediately became gloomy, and he was not disgusted by the tyranny of the soldiers towards the Bulgarians, but he was angry that someone had left the brigade without his orders and went to the villages to plunder, and if there was an enemy army in ambush, it would not be an immediate defeat.

Theodosius had always been compared to Julistinian the Great's great general Belisarius, a general who was known for his strict management of the army, and his soldiers did not dare to violate military law at will.

If there were, then General Belisarius would not hesitate to punish them, and it was his strict military discipline that allowed the Eastern Roman Empire army to always be invincible with fewer victories under his command.

Theodosius summoned his herald and asked him to call back all the soldiers who were in the village, and at the same time ordered his herald to give orders to the cavalry to surround the village and that no one should leave.

In a few moments, Theodosius saw his herald flying out of the village.

"Your Excellency, your soldiers are still rejoicing in that village, and when I shouted at them, someone threw a sword at me!"

The herald said in shock, and Theodosius could no longer contain the anger in his heart, and his eyes almost burst into flames, and he scolded:

"What kind of soldiers did I bring with me, they were decent when they came out of Constantinople, and now they can't walk when they see women? Are they soldiers or bandits? Can I still lead them to exterminate the Bulgarians? ”

"Where's my military judge! The law enforcement team goes in, anyone who resists is executed on the spot, and whoever lives is tied up for me! ”

Theodosius' eyes were full of murder, the first exhortation was an opportunity, since these soldiers and ruffians did not obey orders, then they should be used to establish their prestige in the Third Legion.

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"What are you doing?"

"My lord, I was wrong!"

"The General's spare his life?"

The bound ruffians panicked, they realized their mistake, but Theodosius was not going to give them another chance.

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The Third Legion stood in the wind, the soldiers lined up in an array, most of the soldiers did not know what was going on, and now they were about to be baptized.

Theodosius was not going to go any further, and his men had built a high platform opposite the village, and all the soldiers who had entered the village to loot were tied to the high platform for public display.

"Glorious Roman legionnaires, I am Theodosius, your general, the commander of the Third Legion appointed by the great Augustus, and I have something to talk to you about today!"

As he spoke, Theodosius grabbed the hair of a ruffian with his hands, and the soldier's mouth opened wide in pain, but he could not speak because he could no longer control his emotions with fear.

"Look! Look! These scum are your colleagues, members of the Honorable Third Legion, do you know why I'm tying them all here? ”

The eyes of the soldiers in the audience widened, they already had some bad premonitions about the numbness of their scalps, no one was stupid, because they had done the same thing, but before they were incorporated into the Third Legion.

"I am here today to reiterate the military discipline of the Third Army, those who leave without an order will be beheaded, those who are afraid of the enemy will not advance, and those who disturb the morale ......of the army will be beheaded."

When Theodosius's military order was read, he no longer wanted to keep these ruffians, and after signaling directly to the military judge, the firing squad immediately came to the stage.

When the sword flashed, there were only a few dozen corpses lying on the high platform, and the blood left from the high platform flowed under the feet of the soldiers below, and even the boots were soaked with blood.

At this time, the soldiers of the Third Legion looked at Theodosius with solemnity, and the commander proved by his actions that he was at least a strict general, and a commander who could kill was certainly feared.

Theodosius was equally pleased with the reaction of the soldiers, and if they did not maintain good military discipline before the battle with the Bulgarians, they would not hesitate to abandon their commander if the war was in trouble.

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The old city of Zagora had already begun to be lively at this time, and the city, which had only 30,000 or 40,000 people, was suddenly crowded into an army of 20,000 people.

The generals had already gathered in the meeting room of the town hall, and all sorts of news from the front were overwhelming, and the Bulgarians discussed.

"Kaloyan, you are a hero among us, your courage can be compared to the mountains, and we are willing to obey your leadership!" A Bulgarian general stood up and spoke.

"Ivanko, since you have exalted me like this, you are not welcome, the Bulgarians need a leader who can lead them out of the tyranny of the Greek emperor.

Since Theodore is not here, then I will take over this position and lead everyone to have a good fight with the Greeks!

Ladies and gentlemen, since the arrival of the Emperor of Greece from Burgas, we have received a great deal of news from those who have escaped from all over the country.

But we don't know exactly where the emperor is? The latest Greek army is heading towards Staraya Zagora, and my opinion is to destroy this Greek army first! ”

Kaloyan opened by directly targeting the Third Army, which marched rapidly from eastern Bulgaria.

Moreover, the Third Army did not meet any decent resistance along the way, and the Bulgarians naturally could not tolerate the enemy advancing at will in their homeland with such a swagger.

Moreover, when he received the news of the slaughter of the villagers from the fugitives, Kaloyan was furious and had already made up his mind to destroy the Greeks first.