The silk, wine, woollen cloaks brought by the Red Hand Brigade from Italy, as well as the majolica crafts previously brought with them to the Greek Empire, were very popular, in exchange for large quantities of grain, pack animals, honey, and various gold and silver coins, most of which were minted from Bohemia.

The whole camp was very prosperous, and many cities on both sides of the Adriatic Sea, when they heard the news, sent small fleets of traders to come to trade, and Gawain himself sat in charge, marked the price of all kinds of goods, bought low and sold high, and took the scarce supplies needed by the army: cash, clothing, timber and food, etc., and made a lot of money. This fame grew, and soon shook Brenus, who had returned to the city of Durazo.

Because of Dulazo, there are dozens of guli between it and Ragusa.

By this time, Brenus had received an edict from the emperor, but he was very embarrassed by the content of the request, so he summoned Tetisius and Theognes to discuss together.

"Your Majesty asks Constantine, the Maharaja of Za'tar. Berdin, united with us, approached Gawain's camp and army from north to south, forcing him to submit, disbanding his men, and confiscating their horses and weapons. Brenus said.

And the two generals were silent, and Ryokutitius tore off the embroidered cloak, "Now we only have an army of about a thousand on hand, and Gawain has more than 6,000 people, so it is difficult to win. ”

Brenus nodded, "But Your Majesty also said that immediately His Excellency Sebastocraert will send five thousand Turkic mercenaries to me to be in command. Gawain's swords met with me, because the patriarch of Rome had sent a letter to negotiate with me. It was reported that Gawain and the Red Hand were the first jihadist armies to go to the East, and soon the Norman Bohemond would also lead the army. Coming ashore from Durazo, if this time there is a fierce battle with Gawain. It would hurt the friendship between the two churches and the Western nations. ”

"If even His Majesty the Normans are willing to let him go, why embarrass the Redhand Brigade alone?" Theognes, who was seated, muttered this in a low voice, but soon fell silent, and he realized that he had just lost his words.

"Your Excellency the Commander is right, the overall situation is important." Grand Duke Tirasim's ears were pointed, "After the five thousand troops come from the Moria theater of operations, we will hold on to Durazo first." On the one hand, in order to monitor the arrival of Bohemond who was about to cross the sea, on the other hand, he then observed Gawain's next move before making a decision. Brenus then told the clerk to quickly draft his ideas into a written letter and send it back to Constantinople.

This man's actions are very modest and shrewd, but he lacks Gawain's decisiveness and angularity, and he is a skilful and sophisticated imperial bureaucrat, although he is the same age as Gawain.

After the clerk of the Grand Duke was written. He was immediately placed in a sealed seal and handed over to the herald, and then, when the herald had just reached the porch, another person rushed in from outside. Passing by him, he hurriedly handed another letter to Brenus. "Delivered from the city of Ragusa, but not from the city council. Rather, he called himself Grand Duke Stephen, the Governor of Barry. Sent by Gawain. ”

These words immediately made the general and the guard officer prick up their ears. Even though they were separated from Gawain, they were still very concerned about each other's every move, and Brenus read it for a full minute after opening it, with a look of surprise and disbelief on his face, and read it back and forth two or three times before saying to the rest of the people, "Gentlemen, Gawain said that the Red Hand Brigade will pull out camp on the same day, go north along the Comian coast, and attack Constantine of Za'tar. Burding! ”

What the! This news is tantamount to a thunderbolt on the ground, originally Berdin and Alexios were going to join forces to embarrass Gawain, but now this one is going to take the initiative to embarrass Bertin, it's just that Diognes really can't think of any words except "unbelievable", "Your Excellency, what is the reason why Gawain went to attack Za'tar, he should be on the duty of pilgrimage." ”

Brenus was full of "embarrassment", slowly put down the letter, and whispered to everyone, "Gawain's reason is very 'sufficient', he said that fourteen years ago, during the Battle of Durazor, Berdin fled with his left flank at a critical moment in the battle between His Majesty the Emperor and the Norman bandit Guiscut, and he, as a servant of His Majesty, will punish Berding for his past escape. ”

It was a tragicomedy of the absurdity, and the chaos of the circle had surpassed the limits of what the guards could imagine, so there was a grunt, and Theognis sat in his chair with a dull face, not knowing what to say.

However, at this moment, under the city of Ragusa, Gawain, who had done what he had said, had already ridden Sabina, holding a horse's head scepter, and pointed to the north of the narrow road by the ocean, "This trip is well planned, well-reasoned, and well-prepared—all the soldiers of the Dalian Brigade, raising their banners and following my scepter, go to attack Za'tar for three reasons. First, Berdin, the prince of Za'tar, was a heinous crime, and once escaped privately in the war of His Majesty the Emperor, which led to the defeat of His Majesty; secondly, he now secretly erected a fort on the west bank of the Sava in an attempt to cut off our army from the pilgrimage procession of Peter the Hermit; In addition, Berdin also harbored the remnants of Tevris and Pecheneg in an attempt to embarrass the Roman Empire and His Majesty, and connived at the pirates who supported Dalmatia and robbed the ships of their friendly Venice. This kind of rebel is the first culprit to be eliminated in our holy war. ”

In the camps and hills on the seashore, the infantry warriors of the Dalian Brigade, after hearing the Grand Duke's reasoning, raised their spears and battle flags, and the sound of thunder spread throughout the sea and the city, "Defeat and raze the lair of evil, destroy the city of Za'tar, and capture alive the notorious thief Berdin!" ”

"For the sake of shame for His Majesty the Emperor, for the family of the eldest princess!"

"Open the passage to the Sava River, join the holy hermit Peter, visit His Majesty the Emperor of Constantinople, and then go to Minor!"

Several Venetian and Amalfi ships on the coast also pulled anchor to the shouts of the sailors, loaded with rich supplies, and set sail with the Red Hand company, among which the captains were also secretly instructed by the Venetian consul Feleje and the Amalfi consul Pantalleoni to help the Grand Duke Govin at sea and besiege and attack Za'tar.

Amalfi is simply to repay the favor, and its lifeline is not in the Adriatic; Venice, on the other hand, was driven by common interests and joined forces with Gawain, a city-state that had been trying to dominate the Dalmatian seas for a long time, and Za''a was the first nail in front of it, and it was only natural that this time it would bear the brunt.

Naturally, in the original Venice city, Gawain and Feleye had already secured this condition, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a deep plan.

When the 6,000 high-spirited Dalian team guards, lined up in columns, followed by a baggage team, headed in the direction of Za'ta in the north, Betos, the mayor of Lagusa, wiped his cold sweat and secretly called luck, "This group of fierce gods and evil spirits has finally stayed away and gone to find Berdin's bad luck." (To be continued.) )