Chapter 53: Anselm takes office

The two sides then went back and forth, constantly comparing on the map, like two vendors constantly adding their respective weights to the weighing pan, and constantly dragging the surrounding forces into the water. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

For Eckhard, the young Henry V had told him before his departure, "This time Sicily and the Venetians were wrong to go to the aid of a crumbling Constantinople; And my bet should be correct, because I'm befriending a new empire that is rising, and I could get a lot of gifts and territorial benefits without paying anything. Echard, you go and talk to your heart's content, the bottom line is clear, if Gawain is a figure who is as calculating as the Greek emperors before him, then even if we look away. ”

Of course, Henry V did not look away, and Gawain's generosity and straightforwardness were unexpected.

In the end, the two sides even reached an agreement:

Gawain fully recognized Henry V's future honorific title, that is, the title of Holy Roman Emperor, and it would be good if Henry V could be crowned with the "Lombard Iron Crown" in Rome, and if the Holy See was in trouble, you and I would work together and act according to the established plan;

And Henry V also recognized Gawain's status as the "new Roman emperor" and his identity as the master of Constantinople, and the two sides could jointly go to Italy in the future, not only to "suppress the city of Rome" and divide the northern and southern spheres of influence, among which Gawain also had the right to conquer the Norman kingdom in Sicily, and the corresponding Henry V could also send troops to pacify Bohemia and other eastern regions.

"I can hunt a lot of other bucks with one Zhelan deer." Afterwards, Gawain made an analogy to Anna.

In his eyes, the Holy See is the black-ridged and white-bellied "Zhelan deer".

And Anna, of course, is a beautiful little "stone pine" little hind, and now she is lying under his crotch with a white spine and white belly, and her small feet and feet are raised, rubbing against Gawain's ribs. Anna's hair was a little messy, and she was drenched in sweat, and every time Gawain smoothly resisted the stab, her whole body was trembling and stirring inside and out, and after withdrawing, she sensitively undulated her delicate body, looking up at her husband with a kind of begging eyes, as if begging for forgiveness from the "hunter", but as if to say that I still want it, her hands grabbed Gawain's arm, and her white teeth kept biting her red lip......

These days Anna is completely "full", her cheeks and skin are becoming more and more plump and radiant, which is almost a fixed sign of her conception.

"Soon the Restos Palace will be completed, and the little sunfish will move in, and you should walk around her more."

The implication is not to run so far to eat wild food from cows and female foxes, during their own pregnancy.

Gawain readily agreed.

During this time, his patriarch did not stop, and continued to write documents to the Holy See, claiming that "Gawain promised to remove the original imperial title, but needed appropriate time to appease those dissatisfied subordinates", "Gawain has dispatched supplies to support Magnusson and Portland", "Gawain has promised to send envoys to mediate the war between Bohemond and Tancred, and is also groping for peace with Constantinople", "Gawain has also promised to pay a vassal tax of 50,000 gold coins, hoping to become your envoy", " Gawain has established several new dioceses, allowing us to take the tithe tax to build ten new Catholic churches over the next five years. Gawain also promised to gradually transfer one-third of the large hospital estates to the city of Rome. ”

One by one, the image of Patriarch Anselm in Tarsus, in Rome, rose rapidly almost in a matter of days, and "outstanding achievements" was almost universally accepted. Even the Pope himself noticed the humble Anselm from before, "Anselm is a good co-worker!" This is his high praise for the work of the patriarch.

Soon, Anselm really got an edict to return to Rome to serve as a "palace deacon", and finally entered the inner circle of the cardinals.

Gottschalk, of Bari, went to Tarsus with a decree appointing Gawain as the "Papal Emissary" by the Holy See - and he himself was recommended to become the new "Patriarch of Tarsus" - "This completely made Gawain a prisoner steal himself, and said a good policy of containment and deterrence!" "Little Roger, the Prince of Sicily, who has arrived in Crete, is just about to stop it, but it is too late.

On the other hand, Anselm, who got his wish and went to the city of Rome, bribed the weak-willed cardinals with various gifts, won over many people, and began to pave the way for his election to the next Holy See!

While the Holy See rejoiced in the new achievements of Tarsus and Anatolia, it could not help but ignore the civil war in Antioch.

But secretly, Gawain directly dispatched the main force of the artillery regiment, carrying four siege heavy mortars, and a large amount of high-purity Khitan snow, removing the team's banner to hide people's eyes, and secretly sneaking under Antioch from the Adana and Syria Gate corridors, to "help Lord Bohemond last hand".

In short, it is necessary to take advantage of the Pope's reaction and send a real envoy to smash the city defenses of Antioch before the war is struck, and help Bo Himmond to achieve a decisive victory.

Under Antioch, hundreds of towers, both extant and destroyed, were seen by the enterers, and Bohemond's army actually went around the gates and stone bridges, dug trenches, and hired Syrian craftsmen to use improvised bowl cannons, imitating the system of the Tarsus army, lighting arquebuses and bombarding the defenders and walls every day.

The Norman infighting was so merciless and bitter: the city, which had been restored to life in the hands of Bohemond, was now in ruins, and the trunks of Daphne's jungle were overwhelmed with the corpses of the tortured and the crows were overwhelmed. Behind the siege of the city in front of the dog's gate, Bohemond's bowl-like hairstyle, and the red mess of hair that tossed in the wind, stood out among the crowd, and he was wrapped in a cloak and covered with dust, and his mood was by no means as relaxed as before.

In front of him, Leotius of the Tarsus Artillery Regiment wore a general's helmet in the shape of an umbrella crown, and behind him was a row of gunner officers, holding a short ignition rod in his hand, and although his tone was polite, he was already a little impatient, "The siege of Antioch City lasted too long, and it must be difficult for the lord's financial and military strength to bear it, so the master called us to come and lay heavy mortars to destroy the wall of the Dog Gate." Please make a decision as soon as possible, for the Holy See's envoy will soon be here to order a truce for all. ”

The meaning is very clear, that is, if you can't do it, we will go up, if you hesitate then you don't want to enter this city again.

Bohemond looked at him, did not speak for a moment, then turned and looked at the Tower of the Four Sisters on the hill behind the outer wall, where his nephew, Tandrade, was still unwilling to surrender, as if he had made up his mind to die.

In fact, now, near the end of the grudge and fighting, Bohemond still doesn't know, why things have come to such a point?