Needless to say, Gawain chose the site to build the blockade fortress, of course, it is the only peninsula "Ato" that connects Mount Athos to the mainland, where the middle waist of the island is very long and narrow, and the east side is a circular reef bay for ships to anchor and shelter from the wind, and beyond the "middle waist" to the south, there is a large piece of land, when the sea is not at high tide, it is enough for many soldiers and battalions to be stationed, and a little further north there is a "branch" like a protruding headland, that is, the Aramis headland. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The northern vein of the sacred mountain of Athos is only 2,500 feet away from this vast continent, and it is full of gently undulating plateaus, and the road leading to the depths of the island is now divided in two, as if it has been split by the mountain.

Originally, there was a fortress called "Ularo", but it was abandoned due to disrepair, and when Gawain's army drove along the avenue, the patriarch of Maastas, who occupied the holy mountain, was not afraid at all, but because of his excessive superstition of religious authority, he did not fortify the key area of Oraru.

However, Maastas could not be fortified, and there were twenty monasteries in the entire Ato Peninsula, about 800 monks and priests, and about two or three thousand monastic servants and islanders who could provide arms. But these twenty monasteries are not a game of chess, and at least half of the monastery deacons are ready to surrender in time after hearing that the new emperor's army is approaching.

Thus Maastas's mood was constantly changing violently: when he received the news of the alliance between Sicily, Venice, and John of Crete, he was very happy, and first sent messengers to reach a reconciliation with John, and continued to recognize him as Emperor; But soon when Gawain's two brigades of soldiers appeared near Philippi, Maastas was a little nervous and gave an order to mobilize, and only seven or eight monasteries answered his call, and many of his followers advised him to flee.

"No, you must not run away. If Gawain rushed to the Holy Mountain, I would like to see how he judged me. The more cruel he is, the more morally he will prevail. ”

Later, when Berdin rose up again, and Maastas rose up again, he openly wore a purple robe, and stood in the southernmost monastery of Lavra in his hand, shouting at the rows of clergy that he had never recognized Gawain's throne, and called on Anna to realize that she had lost her way and cut off relations with the barbarians as soon as possible. Nicitas in the book).

Later, Thessaloniki's Cezes was lured to surrender, and after Gawain got this rich city, he came to attack the Atoor Peninsula with the main force in time.

At this time, Maastas hurriedly issued a second mobilization order.

At this moment, Gawain set up his camp and the "Omiya Forbidden Army" in Philippi, and then sent Merlot as the commander-in-chief of the siege of the island.

Ascending to the northwestern summit of the Atowe Peninsula with a hint of fear, Merlot saw that the Oraro Plateau below it was covered with soldiers' tents and wooden fences, occupied by four detachments of Red Hand Brigade soldiers, ready to attack in depth.

The soldiers of the brigade of another detachment set up camp on the Aramis headland and built a watchtower with a bonfire to give instructions to the approaching boats.

The soldiers of the last detachment accompanied Merlot and built a wall horizontally at the junction of the Atoto Peninsula and the mainland to ensure the advance and retreat of the main force attacking the island.

The land on the terraces is dark grey, and further south it is undulating with rocks and soil, with clumps of dark green shrubs scattered on it, and then there are dirt roads that stretch on both sides of the peninsula - with the dirt road as the axis, most of the monasteries are scattered on both sides of the peninsula by the sea, like two strings of pearls.

The peninsula is surrounded on three sides by a grey sea, above which is a deep blue sky, and the sea is a white layer of light in the sky, which hides the entire island, and the coastline in Merlot's eyes zigzags to the southeast, and the innermost part of it is the towering "Holy Mountain", and in the southeast corner is the famous Monastery of Lafra, in which Maastas is located.

At the same time as the commander was looking, Maastas was also standing on the mountainside of the Holy Mountain, looking northwest.

On the other side of the ocean, Maastas could see swarms of swarms of clippers and flat-bottomed boats, carrying sailors, food, and all sorts of equipment, helping the thugs who were attacking the island.

Turning to the back, several islands were blazing from a distance—ships from Crete and Moria had sailed, and the canopy at the bow of the ships was hung with various battle flags, which had been sent by Venice and Sicily to rescue the place, but they were attacked by the hidden "skuas" on the scattered islands - the trajectory of the gunfire spears, and the explosions of the ships and the pillars of fire that rose from the ships, constantly met the eyes of the Patriarch.

Three days later, fifty men of the Red Hand Brigade were the first to come ashore on the eastern side of the peninsula in small boats, and set fire to the Monastery of Esfigomelos, which stood by the sea and stood out as a large five-storey building. However, the monastery was defeated by the Red Hands, and the deacons of the monastery quickly pleaded for surrender and surrendered all the property, books, and thirty artisan servants of the monastery.

After the surrender of the Monastery of Esfigomelos, it followed suit with the eight monasteries that were immediately adjacent to it.

The first Monastery of Zorglav on the eastern side of the peninsula initially resisted, but the tower of the anchorage was destroyed in a moment by several light guns, and then the shells whistled in a graceful arc and flew into the cascading pavilions within the monastery walls, destroying them completely, killing and wounding more than a dozen hermits, who bravely held out for two hours and had to surrender.

After the surrender of the Zoglav Monastery, the Red Hand soldiers of the two detachments were overwhelmed, and after conquering and subduing the five monasteries on the west side of the island, they camped after nightfall.

As a result, at night, there was actually a night attack!

The fire of the sentry post warning at the camp broke the silence, and the garrison team and the attacking team fought at the reef and rock near the sea, and it took an hour before the other party retreated one after another, this was by no means a temporarily armed temple slave. The next morning, the campsite was surprised to find that a huge rock five hundred feet opposite it was also covered with brown tent scaffolding. Behind the rocks were a dozen warships, their sails folded, and dense ropes tied them to the shore. Last night's night attack was initiated by this group of people.

And the tent style is crescent-its!

"That's the Praetorian Guard of the Norman king of Sicily, all Muhammads." Melo was very surprised when he got the news, it seems that old Roger has also invested heavily in Palermo and sent his own guards.

Merlot did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly sent fast horses to the Philippian camp to report the news to His Majesty Baseledus.

By this time, the Pagan Janissaries of Sicily had raised their banners, shot a dense rain of arrows, and the red-handed soldiers of the two detachments at the forefront of the peninsula were fighting along the open field in the southwest corner of the peninsula!