Chapter 20: The Capture of Burgas
Alexios stood at the bow of the flagship, and the shadow of the land had already appeared above the sea level opposite, and it was not a good thing to be adrift on the sea, the emperor's soldiers had long since vomited into a mess, and only the sailors and Varangian guards were still standing on the deck with their familiar water.
Alexios saw that the sun seemed to be about to set, and dusk was approaching, and he had to make a quick decision to let the warriors spend the night in the city of Burgas.
"Duilius, you command the naval ships to suppress the enemy's naval forces and shore fortifications, I allow you to use Greek fire to destroy all resistance, the remaining Roman citizens have long since left the city, and now there are only Bulgarian rebels in it!"
"Harald, after you suppress the rebels in the navy, you will lead the Varangian guards to land and seize the beach, we will take Burgas tonight, and I will let these soldiers who have been adrift for a day rest in the city for a night!"
Duilius looked at him in disbelief when he heard the emperor's words, this order means unlimited war, and the power of Greek fire is not clear to others, doesn't he understand? This is a dual-purpose weapon of mass destruction, does the emperor want to burn Burgas along with the resisters?
Duilius did not dare to think about it anymore, it would be blasphemy to think about it, he settled down to convey the emperor's order, and the warriors who had been holding back for a day cheered, and floated on the sea spitting that they had long wanted to go to land, and they wished to kill the Bulgarians now.
Dozens of rebel ships sailed out of port, Duilius's flagship raised the decisive flag, and his warships pounced like tigers and wolves, and the Bulgarian rebel ships were like sheep torn by wolves.
"Projection! Projection! The officers on board shouted and ordered the sailors to fill the fire oil into the Greek fire launchers, and as the flames erupted, the rebel ships on the opposite side were set on fire, like a big turkey on the water, burning half of the sky.
In the city of Burgas, Roman was Theodore's right-hand man and was left to guard this important port, but he had been trembling on thin ice, fearing that the Imperial Navy could land at any time, but the day came.
Having served in the Imperial Army for many years, Roman also knows the strength of the Imperial Navy, as long as the funds are enough for Greek fire, no matter how powerful the fleet is, it is no match for Greek fire.
Watching the battle on the coast, and clearly seeing that his fleet had only been out of port for half an hour before the battle sank, Roman watched in despair as the Imperial Navy approached the port with great might, but he had no choice but to wait for the Romans to come to the door.
"Go, order the ballistas to fire now, and let the archers be on standby in the harbor!"
Roman decided to play his hole cards in advance, if the Imperial army landed in the port, then Burgas was basically half lost, it was better to take out all the hole cards, if he could force the enemy to withdraw from the port, then Burgas could at least hold on for a few more days and wait for reinforcements.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! "There was a big splash on the sea, and the ballistas on the shore began to fire, and the ship that was shot directly pierced a large hole, and the water poured in.
"Harald, you lead your men to rush up in small boats and take the harbor now!"
Alexios was shocked when he saw that the enemy was stubbornly resisting, and he also took out a ballista, a big killing weapon, the enemy's position was too far away, and the Greek fire had a limited range to attack, and if he leaned on it to strike, the emperor knew that it would be difficult to survive under the enemy's ballista fire.
"Go ahead, kill all the enemies you can see, hahahahaha, Lao Tzu has long been itchy and wants to move his body......"
Harald held his tomahawk aloft and stood atop the dragon's head ship, shouting and swearing, his cruel nature had begun to revive in him, it was too boring to be a bodyguard for the Roman emperor in Constantinople, and it was not bad to occasionally come out and make a cameo appearance as a pirate!
As soon as he stepped on land, Harald was entangled with the Bulgarian defenders, and with an axe he split a rebel soldier in two, and with a wave of his hand he parried, he cut off the bodies of three Bulgarians.
The majestic and unstoppable Harald made the long swords in the hands of the Bulgarians around him tremble, these young people had begun to lose their fighting spirit, this was not a man but a demon brought by the Roman emperor from hell, how could a mortal have such power.
Harald looked at the trembling Bulgarian, cracked his mouth to reveal a bloody mouth, grabbed a rebel soldier and broke his neck, and with one force he tore off his head.
"No, no, no, it's the devil, I'm going back to my mother, I'm going to get out of here!"
The remnants of the Bulgarians were already in a trance, and Harald didn't bother to pay attention to these cowards, and with a wave of his hand, the Viking warriors behind him swarmed up and killed the discouraged Bulgarians.
"Alas! I thought there would be a few who could fight, but I didn't expect that they were all soft eggs, and the Bulgarians only had such a little courage to dare to betray the empire, and they wanted to die when they were full! ”
Harald complained boredly, although he had always been very murderous, but these rebels were too boring, and they didn't kill at all.
Roman, the Bulgarian commander not far away, was stunned, his subordinates were easily killed by the northern barbarian warriors, if the Roman emperor's subordinates had such courage, what would they Bulgarians rebel against?
Roman grabbed his spear and mounted his horse, and he decided to kill the northern warrior, or the enemy would open a gap from here and rush in, or Burgas would be finished in a short time.
Harald heard the sound of horses' hooves, turned his head and saw a heavily armed knight rushing towards him, and immediately cracked his mouth and laughed, it seems that the Bulgarians are not all bad breeds!
Roman saw that this tall barbarian warrior was facing him, and he did not run away, but clenched his battle axe and smiled evilly at him, Roman sighed in his heart that this was an experienced warrior, and it was difficult to deal with.
The moment the two sides collided, Roman stabbed out with his spear, but as soon as he stabbed into the air, Roman's pupils shrank slightly, and Harald had already circled his back and slashed down with an axe, and blood splattered, and the Bulgarian defender was cut in two with his warhorse.
Harald stood invincible in the harbor with his tomahawk, and the Varangian guards in the rear swarmed in, and the Roman Empire was soon restored from the port to the interior of the city, and when Roman died, the battle was over.
When the Bulgarians saw that their commander had been easily slaughtered by the Romans, the death was unimaginably tragic, and almost all the rebels began to turn and flee, and no one wanted to fight the barbarian warrior.
In the evening of the same day, Emperor Alexios entered Burgas and retook the mansion left by the former governor, and peace was restored to the region in the Roman Empire.