When the three of them came to the makeshift altar with trepidation, where the bonfire was blazing, and the lords, big and small, looked tired and miserable, they all sighed and gathered on the ground beneath it, and told each other the sorrow of the siege battles of these days: whose grain had been burned by the Turks, whose brothers and relatives had been wounded or killed in the attack on the towers, how miserable the winter rain and snow were, and so on.

These words also touched the heartstrings of Robert in Normandy, and the rough man burst into tears again, and sat down with his cloak in his arms, and his brother-in-law Stephen hurriedly kicked him twice: on the side of the altar, Admar, with a serious and anguish face, and several priests and servants, turned around and stepped onto the high platform, holding various crosses and reliquaries.

But Ademar then just glanced at the group of lords, did not speak, and seemed to be waiting for someone.

The answer was soon revealed: on the west side of the altar, on the road leading to Port Saint-Simon, a group of frightened-looking chainmail cavalrymen, with pennants on their spears hanging listlessly, came slowly, led by the two nobles Bohemond and Raymond, the helmet of which was gone, and blood dripping from his red beard, apparently wounded by pagan arrows or stonings, and Raymond also hung his head, and most of the Provençal soldiers behind him were wounded, The procession silently marched through the procession of pilgrims, and in a very dreary atmosphere, they walked in the direction of the altar.

It turned out that these two lords, with dozens of knights and a considerable number of infantry, had been patrolling between the siege of Antioch and the port of Saint-Simon for several days, both to protect their baggage and provisions, and to obtain permission from the Council of Cardinals. Raided the villages and tribes around the kingdom of Antioch, and plundered livestock and food from the Saracens and Syriac Greeks for supplies. Fight to feed the war.

"In the area of Antioch, there are one hundred and sixty-five rich towns or forts. We rob one a day, and we can support Aji without any foreign provisions. The moment when Siyan gave the head. Before leaving, Bohemond was full of confidence, and this behavior was the equivalent of daily order for them Normans.

But this bandit-like group, having burned and looted several villages and towns, outraged the entire local population: about 10,000 Syrian Greeks, with luggage and livestock. Gregor's "Gimagis Brigade", which was fighting on its own in the mountains between St. Simeon and the Syrian Gate, took in the refugees, and personally led his men to repel the Norman attack, ambushed and killed several knights, and Bohemond had no choice but to run to Ademar to complain, but was reprimanded by the priesthood. Saying that the brigade was a pilgrim and an ally of the Ecumenical Church, like the Armenians, Bohemond could only curse Gawain (he vaguely knew that this army of Syrians had formed spontaneously. with the support of Gawain), and then the station of the Gemagis Brigade was designated as a "raiding forbidden area".

As for the martial Armenians and Saracens, they are even more unkind. They secretly sent messengers and Aji, who was enshrined in the city. Siyan reached an agreement. Secretly lent 10,000 Turkic soldiers and made a detour from the valley east of Antioch. Then, in the wilderness outside Antioch, they joined forces with the local armed forces, and suddenly surrounded the troops of Bohemond and Raymond, who had returned from the autumn wind, and when the two lords and knights saw the pagan men approaching like a dense forest in all directions, they immediately fell into despair - when Bohemond asked all the knights and armored sergeants to mount their horses and lay out the battle line to surprise the approaching enemy, most of the knights actually refused to fight, on the grounds that the battle would be lost and there was no need to lose their lives.

So Bohemond had to ask the armed pilgrim infantry to line up with their shields and cover the cavalry to break through. As a result, when the two lords and the cavalry bravely stood out along the mountain path, countless infantry and plundered goods were thrown into the encirclement. When the Turks came in with arrows, the infantry collapsed in an instant, threw down their weapons, and ran along the valleys and cliffs - 500 well-trained infantrymen were beheaded, weapons, flags, and loot were lost, and the accompanying servants or pilgrim civilians were even more miserable, nearly a thousand were killed, and the rest were taken by the Turks and taken as slaves.

After hearing this news, the situation around the altar was even worse, and the voices of lamentation, doubt, and panic were incessant, and now it was more appropriate to say that they were not so much besieging Antioch as they were crucified in Antioch, and if there was no outside help, if the Turkic princes arrived in two or three months, they would all be wiped out, and no one would escape alive.

"You are all slacking off and arrogant, and you have all failed again and again!" At this moment, Ademar, dressed in a magnificent priesthood seal, struck the altar with his cane, and shouted, and after the whole crowd fell silent for a while, then a great wave of resentment erupted, including Robert and Stephen, who did not understand why the priesthood had to rebuke them so harshly, when everyone had made great sacrifices.

But the priesthood then held up the letter, "Gawain wrote that he had successfully received Prince Sven and was preparing to gather all his troops for battle before Easter. Baldwin and Lord Godfrey, as well as Peter the Hermit, are also quickly mobilizing men and horses at the Syrian Gate to reinforce the area of Port Saint-Simon and ensure that supplies are transported from the west to our camp. It can be said that all the others did their best, while we were close to the city, but we were prevaricating with each other, and there were others who took every opportunity to collude with Italian merchants to hoard and earn black money from fellow believers! ”

At this point, Bohemond immediately felt that many eyes were turned on him, and he had made a secret agreement with the Pisan merchant fleet, and was ready to sell it at the port for profit; On the other hand, the one-eyed Raymond was also silent, he also had a ghost in his heart, but he was in collusion with the Hot Duck people, and the commander was a pirate-turned-fellow named "Fisherman Henry", and he also gathered a large amount of grain in the port, and prepared to use Lord Raymond as an agent to divide the harvest equally.

Soon the scene became chaotic and noisy, and the sound of bickering and accusations was heard again, so Ademar continued to bang on the altar with his cane, and then made an initiative, "I have gathered all the Catholic friars in the barracks to reach a cardinal resolution, and we declare and ask you to collectively swear the same oath, that our famine, our defeat, our suffering, are the result of our many sins. ”

At this time, under the banners and altars, the lords and all the pilgrims bowed down and cried out in unison, "May Christ forgive us our sins and forgive us, and our desire to restore the Holy Land for Him will never waver." ”

It seems that the priesthood is about to take the oath and put the siege camp in order. (To be continued.) )