"These three days are the days of our resolute resistance, and Kobha knows that only by breaking our fortifications here can he gain the honor of being a leader and completely trap the city of Antioch, and then he will not only increase his claim to Aleppo, but also obtain more troops and aid from the Turkic prince Durak of Damascus. In Kobha's calculations, he always thought that he now had more food than we did, and that he would be able to hold out longer than we were, so that he would have the courage to storm our fortification, while we would completely thwart his arrogant offensive and then turn to a vigorous counteroffensive. No one needs to have any illusions, for the black battle banner of Kobha has left the valley opposite the Acropolis without any doubt and has begun to move towards us, accompanied by tens of thousands of Turkic soldiers. ”

Hearing this, all the generals had expressions of horror or determination on their faces—the Turks should have known that the number of Christian soldiers who had fiercely resisted at the fort of the Orontes River or at the fort of the West was in fact only about two or three thousand, and that the horses were pitiful.

So Gawain's eyes deliberately stayed in front of the frightened people, "Perseverance to the end is victory!" Antioch was big, but there was no way back, and behind us was the River Falfa. ”

Before the people could react, Judge Giovanni presented the sand table map, and the Grand Duke began to shout: "Branas! ”

"Here, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke."

"You take all three hundred cavalry, detour from the Rose Ridge and the West Fort area, carry dry rations, and wait silently, I will send Muzafiadin as the guiding standard-bearer, wait for the signal of the bonfire lit in the camp of Orontes, and take Atta City as the target, and do your best to sweep and storm it, and hit it there if you can, leaving no prisoners."

"Gregor, Bramsen!"

"Obey His Royal Highness the Grand Duke."

"You have fifteen hundred lightly armed infantrymen and are stationed behind the barracks at all times."

"Giovanni!"

After receiving the reply, Gawain arranged, "It's still the same, the command and dispatch of all the walls of the camp and the gate tower are entrusted to you, and I will stay by your side." ”

"No problem, I won't let you be killed in the slightest bit, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke."

"Diem. Goliath, my Praetorian Standard-bearer, I will leave the task of guarding the city gates to you. ”

"Yes, leave it to me."

"Decius, at the sub-wall of the city, the most difficult task of resisting the enemy is entrusted to you."

Decius nodded, "I need a corresponding reward to exert my maximum combat effectiveness, Your Highness the Grand Duke." ”

"After this victory, I will divide the castles of Syria Gate among you and Bramson." Gawain indignantly promised, "Not only that, but I will reward all thirty towns to my subordinates who have made meritorious contributions." ”

Hearing this, Bramson, who had just received the task, would have thought that such a good thing would fall on his head all of a sudden, his eyes lit up with joy, and he kept rubbing the sword belt and hilt with his hand, almost unable to hold himself.

"Merlot! You remain stationed in the palace district, and I will give you the guards and heralds, and you will be responsible for the negotiation and coordination with the other lords, and their brother Peter, and the priesthood of Ardmar, and the purchase of food for the army will be entrusted to you. ”

"Obey the orders of the Grand Duke, although I can't go to the battlefield to fight, I understand that this kind of task is still very important."

At this moment, Prince Sven of Denmark, who came to help as a guest general, also walked out angrily, "Please allow me to take the five hundred soldiers who are still left, with sharp axes and swords, to fight for you under the city." For the sake of our friendship. ”

Gawain was very moved, and also pressed Sven's arm, and replied, "For the sake of friendship".

At night, bonfires burned in the barracks, and the soldiers shouted trumpets and sweated along with the labourers, carrying out the delicate renovation of the chest tie walls and the various sub-walls, including the city walls at the gate towers, in front of the barracks - and the director of works, Gedier, once again played his tyrant character, patrolling, shouting, and scolding with his whip, fully demonstrating the perseverance of a technician who "kept improving".

The so-called renovation, that is, the pheasant moat of the Orontes camp, completely adopted a different regulation from the past.

At that time, the pheasant moats in the east and west were invariably "convex" shaped, and battlements were formed between them, and then a "fence" was built to eliminate the dead end of the shooting according to the needs of the battle (the specific regulations of the fence can be seen in the chapter of the previous battle of Nicaea). However, Gedier demanded that the "convex" shape be changed to a flat-headed rectangle, and that a horse-repellent wall be a flat-headed rectangular wall, replacing the previous pheasant moat, and the same is true for the gate wall and the chest tie wall, but the height is higher than that of the sub-wall.

Then, the soldier used a chisel and other tools to chisel out two rows of firing ports on the flat-headed wall, which were staggered with each other, each of which was about three and a half Anna feet apart, and the firing ports were square, one point and two Anna feet wide, which was very convenient for shooting with a crossbow machine or stabbing out spears and swords. In other words, the upper and lower rows of firing ports are convenient for the use of weapons separately, the upper row can be speared and the lower row can be used for the defenders to shoot crossbow arrows on their knees.

At the top of the wall, every four inches, five feet and five high thin logs were tied to each other with wire, and the heads were sharpened to form a wooden hedge, which the soldiers called "dog's feet" -- so that even if the enemy was lucky enough to climb the wall, they had to climb up this "dog's foot" again in order to meet the garrison soldiers face to face.

The whole project was in full swing, and it lasted until the second hour of the night, everyone was tired and hungry, Gawain stood in a conspicuous position in the tower of the city gate, his face turned inward, after leaving three hundred soldiers to hold on to the city, all the rest of the soldiers and laborers sat on the ground in the barracks, Gawain ordered that the day's food be distributed to them, so that they could be fed and wait for the battle tomorrow.

Gawain's figure, in the light of the flames, was cast very long and landed on the wall, and he specially called Muzafiadin and Gregor to stand on his right and left.

He could see that the people who were eating below were naturally divided into two large groups: the Christians and the soldiers, and the Crescentists who had been forced into labor were in their own right.

"You speak Turkic, and you speak Saracen, and convey what I mean to them."

Then the two began to shout to the Crescentists, wrapped in turbans and robes, all of them to the Grand Duke, of course, "Please all of you, i.e., those who believe in the scriptures, regardless of whether you are Saracens, Persians, or Turks, and see what the Grand Duke does." ”

So all the Crescentists, holding the food in their hands, raised their eyes and looked at the tall Gawain at the head of the city. Then Gawain drew his sword of phosphorus and fire, and cut down a wicker basket covered with a curtain in front of him, and everyone was stunned, knowing that these baskets were rations brought from the city in small boats and wagons during the day, and were either wheat bread or bread.

But at Gawain's feet and in front of the blade of the sword, there was a gurgling rolling on the ground, and one could see clearly through the light of the fire: except for one or two hard cakes, the rest were all stones and dirt. (To be continued.) )