On the northeastern ridge of the Sanukh Heights, countless large infantry spears slowly rose, accompanied by the steady pace of the returning brigade soldiers and the rhythmic drumming of the drums. In fact www.biquge.info many of them also struggled to make a show, because the previous spear assault on Trabzon's three phalanxes had exhausted most of their physical strength, and many soldiers in the queue stumbled, relying on their only remaining will to maintain the spear.

But the appearance of the Condor and the casting of its shadow on Gawain's body had already made the heart of David, the builder of the King of Georgia, sink to the bottom of the icy black lake at this moment.

David was conceited, but also superstitious, for example, he always believed that the eagle-shaped birthmark on his shoulder had been passed down from generation to generation, as a symbol of their family's rule over the kingdom. And the giant eagle that has just flown from the peaks of the Caucasus has a very clear conclusion among Persia, Georgia and even the Turks who entered later, that is, this eagle is sacred, and whoever its shadow falls on will have omnipotent victory and invincible power.

The man named Gawain on the other side really has to be favored by God!

By this time David's defeat was doomed, but he was not willing to do it even the slightest resistance—Mentor George of the Holy Oak took hold of the pale king's reins—and he was about to turn away.

George gritted his teeth and whispered, "Theodoro has died in battle, and if you leave the battlefield like this, then the royal family will lose its rule over the entire country, and the future will be like the melting of snow on the peaks of the Caucasus, and it will turn into a flood that completely destroys all your power from Kutaisi to Sylvan." ”

David under the crown had his head bowed, he had lost his original vigor, his neck was shrunk, his beard and lips trembled as if he had a fever, his eyes wandered, and he finally turned his head as if to explain something to his mentor, but he was speechless.

At the same time, all the artillery of the Tarsus Army on the heights of Sanukh began to shoot with a roar one by one. David was taken aback, and then he saw the soldiers around him begin to stir and wail - "The enemy flag has been raised at the main fort of Karls, and it has fallen!" ”

The mournful king twisted his neck and raised his forehead to look back.

Smoke billowed from the main tower on the west side of the city of Kars, and as the soldiers had claimed, it had been attacked by a small group of elite Tarsus, commanded by Diognis, from the west sluice gate.

On the other three walls of the fortress, General Branas was commanding two brigades of troops to climb and attack the fortifications, and they were also crumbling, and few of the defenders of the city still imagined that they could still be saved.

The first to collapse were the 3,000 Ani soldiers in the town of Chiart, who, seeing that the fall of Kars was a foregone conclusion, abandoned their positions to Haddadi. The entire army of the Sylvan coalition completely collapsed, and no matter how brave the team was before, it collapsed in an instant. Some of them walked out of the fortifications and surrendered, and many more fled with General Zacharias.

About an hour later, the city of Kars fell, and General Mahadzeri was captured in the tower by the soldiers who had stormed the city.

When he was tied up and escorted down, he happened to see Diognes standing outside, "You are indeed a traitor. The general was furious.

"No, the castle was supposed to be returned to the Romans or Armenians in the first place." The catcher replied.

"We're Ani too!" Mahadzeri shouted.

"You're not, but a bunch of mercenaries who have taken refuge under the wings of tyrants of Georgia or Babylon (Egypt)." The arresting officer actually spoke very sharply, which made Mahad Zeli speechless.

By the time the main fort of Karls was lost, the Georgian army had begun to rout, and the soldiers fled from different valleys and gorges: some towards Kutaisi, some towards Tbilisi, and others in several directions, such as Roy, and thousands of armies were crumbling like a dream, as their king fled with his guards before the king.

The victorious Gawain led numerous red hand cavalry to meet the setting sun, and rushed into the camp of the builder David behind Chakmak Mountain, where he dismounted and walked into the camp to see the map sand table that David had used earlier, which also marked how to attack his line, and a golden eagle-headed scepter was horizontal by the table.

Gawain grabbed it and lifted it up, heavy, as if it still had the warmth of the palm of the King of Georgia's hand. It is not difficult to imagine that in the early morning the king was still holding his eagle staff and giving orders to the whole army, but now his situation was not much better than that of the lost dog.

"Firactos, take note of my orders. Let Bellerophon's brigade go northwest from the city of Cals, break through the pass between the Pontus Mountains and the Caucasus, and attack Trabzon; The Red Hand Brigade and the Gimagis Brigade were led by me, and the Haddadian Army took the lead, north of Kars, and drove straight to the city of Kutaisi; The Defenders Brigade of Branas, led by the Sylvan army, went east, demanding that Arnie, Doon, Roy, and other places surrender to us. Because I have just been here, and have won a great victory, they should submit to my will and accept all my arrangements as wives and concubines serve their husbands. ”

After the confidential officer had recorded them one by one and turned to leave, the soldiers escorted the captured Mahad Zeri.

As a result, Gawain only turned and looked at him contemptuously, and ordered the soldiers to pull him out and behead him.

Forty years ago, the Seljuk Turks swept through the area, but this time with the army of Tarsus. The city of Ani, which boasted of having a thousand apostolic churches, was the first to surrender the keys and power to the Branas detachment, followed by the city of Doin, and when Branas reached the city of Roy half a month later, the city surrendered without much hesitation, and the entire Black Lagoon (Lake Selvan) was in Gawain's pocket, and Gawain specially instructed Branas to send a detachment to occupy the hill fort called Pabes, because it had the best and richest silver mines (this silver mine was located in the middle of the Trabzon to Taulis trade route). , specifically mentioned in Marco Polo's Travels).

For Gawain now felt that the whole country had developed to such a point that it was no longer possible to adapt to the economic and military expansion of the "crocus" by minting copper coins alone, and that he would need to occupy the silver mines of Greater Armenia and the gold mines of Trabzon, and then issue a large number of mixed coins of copper and silver (most of the silver coins of the Middle Ages were not so pure), so as to control the trading economy of the Levant more effectively, after all, everyone urgently needed a better coin to fill the void after the collapse of Constantinople.

"You can't let Venice take the lead." This is Gawain's heart.

At the same time, Diognis, who had gained great fame in the siege of the city of Cals, broke into the eastern part of Trabzon with the brigade of Bellerophon; Generals such as Merlot and Orson also breached the New Caesarea Gate and appeared in the western part of Trabzon, where the two armies then marched against each other, and soon laid siege to the richest and most important city on the southern bank of Yukchen.