As soon as he finished speaking, an arrow rushed through the hole in the door tower, and when the arm of the first citizen was shot, he screamed and fell to the ground holding the Latin bow, the crossbow machine jumped, and the "buzzing" sound, the off-string crossbow arrow crossed Anna's face like lightning in the room, and pierced the wall on Anna's side. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Anna froze instantly, and the rest of the civilian army and the servant warrior in front of her were even more frightened to death.

However, after a few seconds, Anna regained her composure, "Don't panic, keep shooting the enemy." ”

In the city's armory and the Santa Barbara mint, many craftsmen and slaves rushed out with a clamour, and they carried the two finished perfume bottles and cannons on their shoulders, and carried them step by step up to the pheasant moat in the eastern city, and the director of the ordnance department, Samuelfa, personally set fire to it, and in several rounds of successful shooting and loud cheers, the wooden wheels of the pirates' battering rams were broken and collapsed in place, more than a dozen pirates were killed and wounded, and the rest fled in a hurry. Then the militia guards on the gate tower threw large iron nails that were red with charcoal, pierced through the wooden roof of the battering ram, and quickly burned them into a pile of waste wood.

After twilight, the air of tension and slaughter was in and out of Seleucia—the pirates of Zahaas and the invading army of Cyprus continued to camp ashore, making equipment and ladders for the coming attack; Even the dwellings in the lower city were demolished, and the craftsmen consciously made stone shooters with wooden beams, made cables and twisted strings from leather, and polished the bricks and stones into stone bullets, and the furnaces of the foundry workshops in the city were also blazing, making spears and cannons all night long. Most of Anna's guards and civilians were dutifully guarding the city walls, and many of the peasants and merchants on the outskirts of the city and in the Guanyi district fled to the Mut River Valley, and many buildings were set on fire and plundered by pirates.

In the old palace, Anna sat on a chair, the doors of the rooms were closed, the soldiers of the Folk Army who remained here were holding axes and halberds, and the merchants, guild leaders, ship owners, and members of the Six Divisions Brotherhood in the city were all standing under the steps, and the closed doors and the reflection of swords and axes were everywhere, and many people were too frightened to raise their heads.

"I'm sorry to summon you on such a terrifying night, but the castle is now surrounded by thousands of vicious pirates, which shows the sinister intentions of the enemies of the kingdom of Tarsus. They wanted me to panic, escape, miscarry, or even be captured or betrayed and killed, and then let our Guardian Army lose its morale on the plateau and be completely annihilated. But Ben Caesar is here to say to you, I will be like the historical Empress Theodora, and even when the man declares that he will abandon the palace and flee, I am determined to die here with all my loyal and brave men. Anna held the handrail, and the nineteen-year-old said in a harsh voice, "The elite army of the Great Lord Patron is in Firo Melron, and if he hesitates or retreats here, he will be defeated by the Emperor." Therefore, in Seleucia, only if we hold on, reinforcements will soon arrive from all directions. The people's army and the guild leaders are all right now, but what about the merchants? ”

In the crowd, Zhao Zhao, the chief merchant of the royal family, and Bill Leoni, the agent of the Holy See who had come to try their luck before, stood up and said to everyone, "We are willing to donate half of the existing assets and money to enrich the military and recruit all the strong men in the city to help defend the castle." ”

"What about you, Your Excellency the Patriarch?"

"I would like to lead all the church personnel to insist on providing services to the soldiers in the city, including confession, medical treatment, etc." Ansel, who accompanied Caesar, thought that his fate and future were also tied to the survival of Seleucia, so he simply expressed it more generously.

"The female officers and I are also willing to donate all our jewelry to the dead, the defenders of the city and the heroes of the war. If you don't have any objections, then please go to your posts! Anna said, raising her hand.

At this moment, the fat eunuch Staulachos deliberately stood up, "Your Highness Caesar, do you want to leave some hostages to protect your loyalty?" ”

Under the crown, Anna's face was calm, and her tone was as soothing as the calm sea, giving everyone a sense of stability, "No, that will only add unnecessary disturbance and suspicion." All the people here are the cadres and elites of the country, and after they go out, let the middle and lower class of the city see it, which is the greatest encouragement to all the soldiers, citizens, and craftsmen who defend the city, and I believe that as long as the red hand Qiling flag of this castle continues to be raised in the morning light tomorrow, all the people will come to help us, and the bandits will inevitably fail! ”

With that, Anna took the scepter and walked slowly but firmly back to the dormitory, where Hetomia was kneeling in front of the couch, helping Helena who was playing in ignorance, and looked at Anna as she walked through the doorway.

"Hetomia, I don't have to close the door of the dormitory tonight, so that all the female officers and guards can see that I am sleeping safely, and Seleucia will unite as one." Then Anna went to the couch, her brown eyes caressed her daughter's cheek with a loving gaze, and then she knelt reverently on the floor in front of the fresco of the Virgin, clasped her hands to her chest, closed her eyes, and repeated the words of St. Paul,

"I have fought the good fight; I have run the road that I should run; I have kept the faith. ”

When talking about "Tao", Anna used the word word instead of logos, so she paused and hesitated slightly at first, because now the "Tao" in her heart came from the admonitions of the Lord and the Holy Apostles, and was also influenced by Gawain, which gave birth to a new meaning, for which she was a little frightened, but also a little excited......

In the early morning of the next day, the pirates and Cypriot soldiers in the eastern part of the city, having gathered nearly two thousand five hundred men, all of them gathered around the river bridge and set up camp, and now began to shout one howl after another with the earth-shaking sound of brass drums, and lined up one group after another of relatively evacuated formations, carrying flags and ladders, and began to press towards all corners of the city wall.

Because they fought for a day yesterday, they still found that the walls of the lower Sesselucia were the weakest and shortest, and they were the first choice for breakthroughs.

And under the two small fortresses on the side of the Acropolis and the coastal defense wall on the west side, more than thirty pirate corpses lay there, and there was no breakthrough. Just today, the city sent another twenty soldiers carrying Khitan snow and various weapons to replace the wounded and strengthen the garrison.

"Hit them hard!" The pheasant moats on both sides of the gate tower had been reinforced by masonry last night, and each had a perfume bottle and artillery mounted on it, and in the morning light, Samuelfa looked at the great hospital, which was still under siege by pirates, and also thought of his wife, who was still standing in the middle, and all kinds of emotions were mixed in his heart, and he could only look at the locust-like enemy who was walking in the wilderness under the city, and waved his hand hard.

"Bang!" Soon the perfume bottle erupted in flames and roars, and a group of pirates shook violently on the ladder they carried on their shoulders, and two or three men rolled and fell with a wail, and then in a roar of rage all the pirates let out a threatening cry and rushed towards the gates and walls. (To be continued.) )