After flipping through a thick dossier, Emperor Alexios stroked his forehead and looked tired, which contained information about the Romani sultans.

Cunning as a fox and furious as a tiger, this is the evaluation of the current Sultan by the Supreme of the Empire, and Sultan Kilij Arslan II also deserves this evaluation, this man will be the most formidable opponent the Emperor has ever faced.

Whether it was in times of embarrassment to the former Emperor Manuel Nagon, or in the face of armed confrontation with the Imperial Army when he became stronger, the Sultan's great talent was on full display.

In the face of difficulties, he can bend and stretch, he can calm down in the face of strong enemies, and immediately negotiate peace and retreat after defeating the imperial army, and he is not too greedy to seize the empire's land in Anatolia, which is to judge the situation.

With such Turkic monarchs watching in the East, Alexios did not dare to relax for a moment.

As for the information on the Imperial Sword of Damocles, Alexios had no expectations, and Sultan Kilij Arslan II had attended Constantinople and knew a lot about the use of troops in the Imperial Army.

The Byzantine Empire advocated the use of wisdom and avoided the use of force, and this was emulated by the Seljuk Turks, the enemies of the Empire, whose wisdom grew through successive battles with the Imperial Army.

The battle-hardened Sultan of Rûm seized the Empire's caravans two months before he decided to use his troops, cutting off the Empire from the Sword of Damocles in Anatolia and turning the Emperor's eyes and ears into ornaments.

This is also the reason why when the Imperial Supreme set foot on the land of Anatolia, he learned about the Turkic movement from the imperial border guards on the front line.

Recalling the records in the dossier, the Sultan at the Battle of Mileo Sepharyn, when the Imperial Army suffered a defeat that was second only to the Battle of Manchikot.

The cunning Turks opened the way to Konya, luring the Imperial army through the valley of Myreo Sepharon.

Here they suppressed the cavalry of the Imperial Army with superior forces, split the Imperial Army in half, and condescendingly fired arrows of death at the Imperial soldiers.

There was no mercy, no retreat, exhaustion from the fight on both sides, and Alexios' father, Emperor Manuel, was almost killed.

"Old spicy hunter!"

Although the emperor was a little caught off guard by the Turks so early, his years of experience in battle had taught him how to maintain the dignity of a king in front of his subordinates and calm people's hearts.

Although Anatolia maintained only a small amount of imperial power, several legions in the western provinces were on the move, so Alexios was not too afraid of the Turkic cavalry.

The Empire's defense zone in Anatolia was mostly mountainous, and unlike the eastern plains, it was more suitable for infantry to fight, which was why the Seljuks could not hold the western part for long.

The sound of hurried footsteps outside the palace dormitory interrupted the Emperor's thoughts.

"Your Majesty, the hussars are back!" With the report of the attendants outside, Emperor Huo Ran got up.

"Check it out."

The gates of Bursa were open to the victorious warriors, and although the people had been carried away by the naval fleet, the imperial soldiers standing on either side were equally unsparing in shouting for their heroic robes.

"Hooray!"

"The warriors of the Empire seem to have achieved a small victory!"

Alexios stood at the head of the city and watched, and several of the city's commanders had already arrived, and they smiled at the emperor's praise of his own army.

Five heroic soldiers were brought before the Emperor, all of whom had fought with Alexios, and each of them could call them by name, and he was heartily relieved to see them return safely.

"My brothers, be proud of you!"

Alexios stepped forward to hug them one by one, the warriors were still dusty, their robes stained with blood, and their tired faces had a look of pride.

"How many Turks have been taken?"

Alexios asked directly, these warriors were like his relatives, he never avoided anything with them, and he said it directly if he had something to say.

Andrew held out two fingers.

"Two thousand."

"Hahaha!"

The Emperor laughed heartily, Arslan probably never expected that the battle would be severely defeated, and this would be the Empire's second important victory in the East since the defeat at the Battle of Myreo Sephalon.

"My father, the Supreme Basilus of the Empire, the greatest regret of his life was that he failed to recover Anatolia from the Turks, and you fought a beautiful victory for the Empire."

"Long live the Imperial Hussars!" The five warriors saluted with their right hands clasped over their chests.

"It's a pity, we only destroyed the vanguard of the Roma army, which was made up of ordinary nomads, and the main force of Arslan did not touch."

Pias said this with a little regret, and the officers of the First Legion around him were a little speechless, these emperor's pro-army really dared to say anything, and the strength of the Ghulam Guards was famous in the Anatolian region.

The First Legion of the Greeks has always been wary of their neighbors to the east, after all, this is a strong force that only the Imperial Paladions can match, and no one will underestimate them.

"By the way, this time the decapitation of the Turks will be changed to five thousand!"

All the generals present were stunned when they heard this, the military discipline of the imperial army was quite strict, although some generals challenged the throne from time to time, but military discipline has always been implemented in accordance with the tradition of ancient Rome.

Today, the Imperial Supreme personally opened his mouth to expand the number of beheadings and falsely report his military exploits, and they couldn't understand it for a while.

Alexios looked at these soldiers, they were all low-level soldiers, and they were personally promoted by him, what they lacked was the brutal political experience of the imperial capital Constantinople, but this was also the reason why the emperor was relieved to hand over the army to them.

It turned out that the Hundred Battles Division left by the Emperor was indeed a strong force, but the Western Military Region alone launched seven rebellions, and in the end his throne should have been overthrown by Andronica, who also belonged to the Komnenos family.

Therefore, out of distrust of the original generals of the old army, the emperor adopted a derogatory attitude towards these people while purging the great nobles.

Most of the officers who have come up from the new army today have been promoted because of their outstanding military performance.

They are all fledglings in political disputes!

But Emperor Alexios was also not stingy and was willing to explain to these his own subordinates.

"Our warriors such as the 1st Legion, the 4th Legion, and the Whole Army of the Eight CD were made up of Imperial citizens of the Greek region.

They have little experience in warfare and are afraid of the Turks, and our victory will greatly boost their confidence. ”

Alexios saw that his warriors were all nodding before continuing.

"The undercurrents within the empire have not stopped, and there are many people who want to climb to the supreme throne!

In this war with the Turks, we may have to hold on to Arslan for a while, and the only way to do this is victory, a big victory! in order to temporarily subdue their imminent hearts. ”

After digesting what the emperor said, all the officers regained an understanding of their own position, they were the emperor's arms, sharing honor and disgrace with Alexios, and their existence was a powerful support for the emperor to show himself.

"Hussars will always be the sword of Basilius!" So they said.

……

……

……

Ten days later, Bursa is still peaceful, and the soldiers here are tormented by their boring free time.

Originally, the emperor estimated that Arslan's army should follow behind the hussars, but who would have thought that he had not seen a figure for ten days.

The Imperial soldiers at the head of the city were looking out at the peak of Mount Ulu in the distance, where Edmund's beacon tower was located.

"Yes?"

"I didn't see it, it didn't seem to be lit up like before!" The soldiers were talking and talking.

"Go ring the alarm!"

"Hurry!"

"What's going on?"

"See for yourself!"

At the head of the city of Bursa, you can clearly see the intense fire on the Ulu Mountain, piercing through the clouds and illuminating the snow-capped mountains.

The Turks are coming!

When Emperor Alexios came to the city, on the distant horizon, the enemy horsemen showed their bodies, whipped their horses and jumped their horses, and the deafening sound of horses' hooves began to resound in the sky.

"It's coming!"