Marshal Carter was surprised, happy, and inexplicable.

He had absolutely no idea why? The other side did not send an army to fight him.

God is pitiful, so this operation is quite fruitful, but Carter is not happy at all, if you have money, you have to spend your life, and the Norman Navy has earned enough, even if you have to hand over half of it according to the rules, it is enough to spend a while.

It is absolutely impossible to expect pirates to buy land and farm for petty business like normal people, and when the money reaches them, it will either be buried or squandered in the end, and it will definitely not be kept.

According to Carter, it is enough to do this part.

This surprise attack on the Golden Horn, even the destruction of the robbery belt, has caused enough losses to the Eastern Roman Empire, and it should be decisively left if it is enough, otherwise it will be inappropriate to wait until someone grabs and beats it violently.

Seeing that the other party didn't know why he didn't fight, but closed the city gates, as if he was ready to ignore the life or death of the Greeks outside the city, Carter's heart began to live again, after all, Randy's order was to besiege and feint for three days, not to let them run away after grabbing.

If this is the other party's trick, it's unlikely, right?

According to intelligence, the other party has a full 50,000 troops in the city, and all of them are very elite regular troops, even if these are removed, the permanent population of Constantinople is 500,000, and the strong men are at least 100,000, no matter what, they will not be timid to shrink in the city and dare not come out.

But this time General Carter couldn't have imagined that the other party was really timid and didn't dare to come out of the city, but the Vikings didn't think so much about it like their bosses, they only knew that the other party was scared by themselves.

Although the other party is the first empire of Europe, it is so cowardly, so cowardly, so unbearable, that it is destined to be trampled under the feet of our great Norman kingdom.

The pirates carried their heads, their booty, and the various flags they had captured, portraits of the kings of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine I, Justinian, Basil I, Leo VI, etc......

They held the portraits alof, smeared them with blood and sludge, and some even pulled out their genitals to urinate on them.

How to go too far, how to humiliate people, although this situation seems strange, like a rabbit in front of a wolf to provoke presumptuously, but who made this wolf cowardly?

No matter how provocative and insulting the Vikings outside the city were, the gates of Constantinople remained closed, and the soldiers guarding the city, despite their extreme anger, had no choice but to pretend not to hear or see.

In fact, Basil II also made a very serious mistake, when he set out on the expedition, he did not leave enough prestige to guard Constantinople, as a prison state he may have thought so......

Anyway, Constantinople has a senate, a patriarch, and so many generals, each of them can do his job, as for emergencies...... Where did so many emergencies come from?

On this very day, April 17, 1103 AD, the thousand-year-old dignity of the Eastern Roman Empire was trampled on the soles of people's feet like garbage at this moment.

"It's crazy, those guys!"

The ecumenical patriarch Sergius II, unable to persuade the timid generals, had to run back to Hagia Sophia and cry out to God and the Eastern Roman emperors.

The palace of Constantinople is full of pavilions, beautiful fountains, free-range swans, and marble pavement, making everything look like a fairyland.

The girl in the red dress held the harp and played it to herself, and several maids around her stood cautiously aside, not daring to breathe, and trying not to make any noise as much as possible, so as not to anger the violent princess.

Except for the sound of the fountain and the birdsong in the treetops, the whole palace was extremely quiet, and the girl seemed to be intoxicated by such a wonderful realm, and the music played was like a dream, which made people leisurely and fascinated.

It's just a pity that outside the palace at this time......

To be precise, at the wall of Constantinople in the northeast corner, there was a violent noise, which made this rare artistic conception collapse in an instant.

"What's going on?" The girl opened her eyes and stood up, put the harp aside, and asked indifferently.

"This ...... Go down and find out! A maid who was slightly better dressed than the other maids, and who looked a little higher in status, replied, and ran away as fast as she could.

The princess waited for more than an hour in a bad mood before the forces who ran to inquire about the news returned.

"What the hell is going on?"

"This is just some trivial matters, Her Royal Highness doesn't have to care about it at all." The maid didn't mean to answer her.

"Are you looking for death? Hurry up! ”

Seeing that the maid wanted to conceal something, the princess was furious, and drew the whip from her waist that was used to whip the beast, and gave the maid a whip without mercy.

"Enemy! Pirate! They sacked the Golden Horn and attacked from the sea, the previous noise caused by their ballista attack on the tower in the northeast corner, which they knocked down. ”

"It's rare to have half a day of leisure in life, and when the enemy hits the door, no one comes out to resist?" A mocking smile appeared at the corner of the girl's mouth!

"Her Royal Highness the Princess......"

"It's none of your business, get out!"

After saying these words, Her Royal Highness the Princess walked away quickly and went straight to her own courtyard on the side of the palace.

"Those generals must have known about these things for a long time, and the reason why they didn't dare to go to war was because they were afraid of taking responsibility, so those guys must be unreliable, and the number of people I can use is ...... It seems that there are only three hundred personal guards handed over to me by the old immortal, so the number seems to be a little less. ”

The princess used her brains as she walked, and when she returned to her courtyard, she made up her mind, but before that, she had to arm herself first.

The maiden skillfully removed her heavy skirt and replaced it with leather armor with goggles, skirt armor, steel shoulder pads, knee pads and wrist pads, a crowned helmet of the Roman style, a broad-ridged short sword, and an oval shield.

The princess looked in the mirror and admired her heroic posture, and when everything was taken care of when she came to the small square of the courtyard, three hundred heavily armed Eastern Roman soldiers were all ready to go, and after several years of training, these soldiers had completely obeyed her, and had no second thoughts.

"Alright, my warriors, let's go!"

In a very short time, the maiden swept through the slave markets and the Colosseum, bought all the foot fighter slaves at a large price, and distributed weapons to them and armed them.

"You scumbags listen to me, I paid you to buy you today, you are your master, how should a slave survive in the Eastern Roman Empire, presumably you scumbags should know better than me, loyalty and loyalty, if you violate loyalty, you can die."

In the great square of Constantinople, the princess rode on horseback and excitedly reprimanded the two thousand slaves who had just been bought.

"All you're going to do is kill people like you're in the foot arena, and unlike before, I'm the only one you're pleasing you, you know? You filthy slaves, do what you have to do to kill at my command. ”

"Of course, you slaves are lucky today, yes, because I, your master, is different, I am the crown prince of the Eastern Roman Empire, the only son of Basil II, I am more generous than your former master, all those who are loyal to me will receive my reward, and all those who fight valiantly will receive the status of freemen, and from now on they will bid farewell to slavery and receive the same salary and rewards as the regular Roman army."

The princess's infectious voice made the originally lifeless slave look forward to it a little.

"From now on, you will be my personal guard, and you will enjoy fame, status, and all possible luxuries, women, money, wine, whatever you want, and I will give you whatever you want, and if you are willing to work hard, it is not impossible to even be a Roman citizen, a Roman officer, a Roman general, and think about it, you lowly slaves can also become a Roman citizen, a Roman general."

——————————

In the new millennium, the Eastern Roman Empire once again staged the story of Rome's destruction and conquest of the whole of Europe.

Not to be outdone, the nations of Europe rallied under the command of the Norman King Randy.

After several major battles, the flames of war burned directly from the Turks to Italy......

In such a magnificent background, countless heroes rushed to the stage, disappeared like a whirlwind, life and death and the country was destroyed, only the most powerful rulers can occupy a place on such a terrifying stage!

For example, Her Royal Highness the Princess of the Eastern Roman Empire......

The only daughter of Basil II, the sole heir of the Macedonian dynasty and the future empress of the Eastern Roman Empire!

From the main square of Constantinople, after raising troops with 2,300 slaves, he fought in the north and south, rarely defeated, and could be called one of the strongest military generals of this era.

After receiving the encouragement of Her Royal Highness the princess at this moment, the morale of the slave gladiator was bursting, and he was completely attracted by the bright future described by Lilianu, as she said, she was the crown prince of the Eastern Roman Empire, the future empress, if she was lucky enough to follow such a master, as long as she behaved well in the future, she would not be able to get ahead.

Amid the howl, Her Royal Highness took the lead and rushed towards the northern wall.

Behind her were a total of three hundred soldiers wearing shiny heavy scale armor, armed with spears, oval shields, and long swords hanging from their waists, with bright red cloaks behind them.

These infantrymen maintained a uniform formation even when they were running at full strength.

On both sides of the streets of Constantinople, knowledgeable people immediately shouted: "It's the Imperial Guards, is it the royal family?" ”

Compared to these well-armed and well-trained Guards, the slave gladiators who followed them were a bit more unbearable, and most of these guys were not equipped with armor except for a small number of slaves with special status.

Of course, this is not to say that this group of gladiators is a group of rabble, in fact, the gladiators who have been training in brutal combat all their lives are even more skilled than the vast majority of regular fighters, and they often form squads to participate in battles between many people, which can play a very good role in small-scale melees.

In terms of equipment, the small number of guys who have just bought from the slave market are not counted, and the rest of the gladiators who have been forcibly bought from various arenas are divided into these categories......

A shield sword fighter with a helmet equipped with leather guards on his elbows and wrists, a large shield and a long sword, and a face helmet.

Armed with a heavy giant shield, a helmet with a huge cap, and a short sword, Momiro Street is all over the place.

Thracian gladiators armed with small shields and daggers, and trident gladiators armed with leather shoulder pads, tridents and iron nets.

In a sense, these two thousand three hundred people are indeed elite troops, especially this group of gladiators whose psychological state is abnormal, and their morale has become abnormal with their psychological state, for them, the battlefield is the whole of their lives, the so-called battle is the way of life, and it is very normal to die in battle, there will be no fear, no retreat, gladiators are very good special troops.

Running all the way like this, Her Royal Highness Princess Lilianu looked at the soldiers of the garrison guarding the gate with extreme disdain.

"Open the gates!"

"But Her Royal Highness...... The general has an order......"

As soon as the words fell, Her Royal Highness the princess raised the scabbard in her hand and knocked it the back of the neck of the city gate official, who immediately rolled his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, and fainted unswervingly.

"Now open the gates!"

Seeing that their boss was hung up in such an unknown way, the soldiers did not dare to slack off, and immediately opened the city gate, and the team of more than 2,000 people immediately poured out.

"It's out! It's out! ”

The Vikings scolded for a long time, and they didn't see any reaction from each other, they sat down in place to rest one by one, and the scolding was also weak, and some people even discussed going back to the ship to sleep, and just caught a few Greek chicks, whose skin was delicate, and everyone OOXX together.

Just then, the gates of Constantinople opened......

The Vikings were veterans of robbery, smiling one moment, and the next quickly stood up, pulled out their axes, and threw them at the red-cloaked soldiers who were rushing to the front row.

In an instant, dozens of axes were thrown at Lilianu with a sound of breaking through the air.

Throwing axes are no weaker than bows and arrows, and there are dozens of them, which can kill people, and the Vikings are sure that even if it is an elephant rushing at you, you may kill her.

But they miscalculated, Lilianu patted the horse, stood up on the horse's back, pulled the reins with her left hand and forced the horse to stop, and pulled the cloak behind her back with her right hand to protect her body.

The Vikings couldn't help but laugh when they saw it, the cloak was made of silk, how could it block the blade of the throwing axe? Are these people stupid?

But the final result made them dumbfounded, the collision of the flying axe and the cloak actually made a sound of gold and iron, and the cloak was actually equipped with stainless steel sheet armor!

There was a burst of metal ping-pong, except for a few that hit the princess and sat down on the war horse, the rest fell to the ground, and Her Royal Highness the princess also took advantage of the situation to slap the horse's back and jump into the air.

The poor war horse was forcibly stopped by the reins when he was galloping wildly, and then he was hit by a flying axe, and then he was slapped with all his strength by Her Royal Highness the Princess, and with a wail, his legs fell to the ground with a weak leg.

Her Royal Highness the princess landed smoothly on the ground, and with a wave of the broad-ridged short sword, the huge force directly eliminated the head of a Viking in front of her.

"Kill her!"

The Viking Gate roared loudly, and more pirates poured in from all directions to join the battle, and the opposing gladiators and Roman guards also killed them, and a bloody battle began.

Whether it is a gladiator or a Viking, the armor on the body is not very much, and the organization is not very good, the battle between the two sides does not have too many formations at all, it looks like a big melee, except that the number of people on both sides is very large, the fighting skills are very good, the morale is very high, there is no merit, there is no tactics at all, there is no formation, all of them only rely on a bloody bravery, and they are fighting fiercely.

In this chaotic situation, it is impossible for the three hundred Royal Forest Army to think of it inconspicuously, and they are the only ones on the battlefield who are lined up in a neat battle formation, marching neatly, brushing and stabbing together, and the three hundred soldiers are as rigorous as a machine.

No need for a password, no need for reminders, and they are at ease in any situation, whether it is an axe, a bow and arrow, or a Viking charge, these most elite soldiers can react to it in the fastest time, and three hundred people are like one.

Because they are the Eastern Roman Guards, the most trained, ruthless, and powerful soldiers in the world.

No matter who the opponent is, infantry, cavalry, archers, cavalry, camel cavalry, war elephants, crossbowmen, longbowmen, they all have a way to deal with it, they are invincible, invincible, invincible, every team of the Eastern Roman Imperial Army appears on the battlefield, the Eastern Roman army will be greatly encouraged, morale will be greatly boosted.

There are many records in the history of Eastern Rome that when the war was about to be lost, or when it reached the most critical point, the emperor would send the Eastern Roman Imperial Forest Army, carrying the emperor's banner to go into battle in person, and then turn defeat into victory.

This is an elite army that can really be ten with one, and the selection of soldiers to participate in such an army is rigorous, not under the ironclad holy cavalry, because this army requires orders and prohibitions, uniformity, and the requirements for the soldier's understanding are very high, so that the number of the Eastern Roman Imperial Forest Army is even rarer than the ironclad holy cavalry, and with the strength of the Eastern Roman million-strong army, the Royal Forest Army adds up to only ten brigades, 3,000 people.

One of the brigades garrisoned the Imperial Palace of Constantinople.

A brigade garrisoned Hagia Sophia, the place where the tombs of the first kings were buried.

The remaining seven brigades accompanied Basil II on his expedition to protect the emperor.

The last brigade is here with Princess Lilianu!

Although the actual number is about half less than that of the Vikings, in terms of combat effectiveness, because of the 300 Eastern Roman Imperial Guards, they are stronger than the Vikings, and the Eastern Roman army seems to have won the battle.

(End of chapter)