"Now we have gathered no more than 30,000 mobile troops in the eastern and western regions, and there are thousands of manpower provided by the Grand Patriarch Maastas, so we can only concentrate our forces in one place and give the most fierce punishment to Gawain's empty western territory to break his situation, at least let him lose his anger, and he will not be able to threaten the imperial capital for the time being. The pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info the Imperial Capital and the Western Region I have been entrusted to the secretary of the management of Axeppo Kaus. So who stayed in the city of Prussa to keep watch over the traitors Brenus? In front of the sand table, John raised his baton in style.

He was very clever and did not talk about the route and candidates for the march first, but first threw out the candidates who stayed behind.

Sure enough, Mikhail, Tetisius, and Theodoro did not answer.

Mikhail. Eustace, his wife Eustace, who was now given purple clothes, was also a hostage in the court, so it was impossible for him not to be taken into battle, because Emperor John was still not at ease with him.

And Tetisius is Emperor John's number one general, and he can't stay in the rear in this battle, and confront the mediocre and boring confrontation of Brenus, after all, this is the last chance for the empire.

As for Theodoro, who is now the chief of administration and the role of co-emperor. Gabrias, who had been allowed to wear a golden crown and scarlet boots, had the strongest and strongest army, not to mention that his current base bordered Gawain, and his interests were the most consistent with those of the emperor, and of course he could not sit on the sidelines.

Eventually, the remaining position was handed over to Marinus.

As for General Cezes, who had escaped from Philomeron, he was also pardoned, and led 2,000 infantry and 500 cavalry to Thessaloniki to pacify the backyard.

And the strongest and most astute generals, John threw all of them into the decisive battle, and now the question was to plan the strategic line.

With Lydia and Mysia desperately defended by Breenus, he built densely extended, very strong fortifications along both sides of the Helms River (now the Gediz River in Turkey) to fend off the infiltration attacks of the Imperial army several times. So there are only two feasible routes left for John's march against Gawain, which Gawain himself expected:

The first, from the coastal roads of Bithynia and Paphragonia, and then south to the city of Amasya, which was controlled by Theodoro, to assemble, and then to attack the "middle waist" of Gawain's territory;

The second was to follow the route of the first Frankish and Norman crusade to the east, that is, to march from the center of the plateau, to join Raymond of Laudisia, and drive directly to Gauvin's western frontier of Seafyon.

"The first route, because it relies on the sea route, is very convenient for transporting troops and supplies, and the assembly can be completed in three to five days if it is fast. However, the disadvantage is that if you continue to fight south, you will face two strong fortresses, Caesarea and Anglas. As for the second route, we will face some newly formed border soldiers under Gawain's command, and it will be very easy on the battlefield, but this route is very difficult to march, and there are many mountain roads and wilderness along the way, and the consumption of supplies will be very large, and it will take at least ten to fifteen days to reach Afyon. ”

After listening to the statement, Theodoro naturally agreed with the first route of march, and he wanted to take the opportunity to take the Imperial army into his own hands. However, Tetisius preferred to take the second route, believing that even if it took longer, it would have the effect of surprise, not to mention that if he broke through Afyon, he would be able to encircle and annihilate Brenus's forces with a backhand.

"I'd better listen to the warden's advice." While John himself was a little hesitant, Sebastocratt. Isaac. Komnenos, John's uncle, asked for brainstorming.

Mikhail's eyes rolled, and he asked, "Has Raymond of Laudisia been able to defend the castle and have been attacked and sacked by Gawain's border guards many times before?" ”

The answer, of course, was no: in fact, Raymond's territory was now so dilapidated that it could no longer supply or support the passing Imperial armies.

Then the second question of the warden was, in your eyes, how long can Marash Fort last? Now the intelligence shows that at the beginning of the war, the Armenians lost the two most important fortresses of Lavodra and Tubesena and were surrounded on three sides, and a large number of Gawain's siege equipment and supplies were smoothly transported east along the Felamis River, and a dense siege camp against Marash Fort was built, "Gawain has a powerful stone thrower in his hand, and I estimate that even if Marash can get reinforcements from the chief of Danishmond or the chief of Aleppo, as long as it cannot deal a devastating blow to Gawain's army, it will only last for a month at most." Mikhail made such a judgment.

"It looks like the faster the better." John and most of the people at the meeting came to the conclusion that if they waited until Gawain had dealt with Marash and then came back to their decisive battle, the empire would have a "sixty percent chance" of losing, after all, even the most skilled emperor Alexios had been defeated by Gawain in a battle with superior forces, and everyone present did not dare to guarantee that he would definitely be better than Alexios.

"Also, Anglas' keeper is Diognis." Eventually, Mikhail raised his eyes and gave such a name.

"Are you sure?" Many generals and staff members also couldn't believe that Gawain would arrange such a candidate.

Was this Gawain's negligence, or was it an intentional trap?

If it is the former, it is not like Gawain at all, because he has always been very shrewd.

And if it is the latter, it is not like Gawain, who has never been so insidious and treacherous.

But this arrangement was indeed placed in front of the eyes of the imperial army: Gawain directly put the power of choice into the hands of this group of enemies.

"Diognis had a Norman wife, whom Gawain had taken captive and given to him on his previous expedition to Italy." This will cause Tetisius to cross his waist and tell this past that is easily overlooked.

Many people present, including Emperor John, had expressions of disbelief. Yes, they usually ignored this half-breed turbaned catcher in such a way that it was not even clear whether he had a wife or not, but only Tetisius remembered it.

"Then what are we going to do, to use his wife to blackmail Diognis into sacrificing the castle?" John groaned, but in his heart he refused, he didn't want to use such an unhonorable way of victory.

"Let's use words to sway him first, I think that Diognes is temporarily subservient to the other side, and as soon as His Majesty's army arrives there, he will surrender to us in time because of his strong loyalty." Mikhail concluded.

This plan made John's heart very satisfied, and then he said the strategic goal to the sand table, "Very good, once we get Angrasburg, we can get the water transportation of the Sakarya River and the Harris River, cut off the territory of the traitor Gawain, and attack Iconium, Caesarea and other places." When Gawain besieged Marash, he would suffer heavy losses from the Muhammads and Armenians, and his country would fall apart, for there were still many Roman people waiting for my liberation in the newly formed rabble. ”