The confusion of the middle and lower rank generals was solved, and the rest of the soldiers were much more convinced—the next morning, the pontoon bridge along the Karasu River had been erected, and many brothers and servants drove all kinds of collected vehicles to carry the food and money from Sinop to the camp.

Gawain then announced that all the spoils of war were divided equally among everyone, and he rode the quicksilver he had just fed, and called the whole army to stand in front of the camp, "All eyes can see that this narrow Karasu River cannot irrigate the fertile land at all, and if the pace of the Dalian army stops here, we will be laughed at in the future, laughing at our shallowness, laughing at our lack of ambition, so now we cannot stop and point your swords, spears, and banners to a more distant and fertile place, which is truly enlightened, The ideal country that satisfies Her Royal Highness is the region where we stand. And at that glorious hour, when you will be able to fill your luggage and backpack with gold and silver coins, and all kinds of beautiful silks and utensils, and when you arrive in the ideal country, you will be able to buy orchards, canals, and fertile fields, and you will be able to marry a beautiful woman directly, and have your own house and title—then, if anyone wants to guard the little fields allotted here, and have spent the rest of his life in the unambitious boy, stand up, and I will send you slowly to the Emperor's tax collector's clerk with a cart drawn by a donkey, You can talk to them and hope that they will be gracious. ”

The generals and flag officers also kept repeatedly mentioning to the soldiers that there was something about the princess's "dream revelation", and many soldiers exchanged ears, but after a while, they were under the herd mentality and the desire for wealth and honor. They all expressed their unwillingness to forget the holy war oath they made at the beginning, and they would follow Gawain and the princess at the same time. Keep fighting.

"This bastard stirs up people's hearts, and is even more daring and shameless than our missionaries." An army of believers on the side of the formation. Cabeamia looked at Gawain with a little resentment and admiration.

"Well, many Paulicians have now joined us and are willing to act as guides. Now our scouts have the information, Theodoro of Trabzon. Gabrias has taken command of his ancient legions and has begun to march towards the city of Amesus, ready to assemble against our army. When Gawain then announced, "The Dalian army marched to the Harris River (the great river that connects the Black Sea to the Anatolian plateau, now the Kzel River). Waiting for the opportunity to engage Gabuyas", all the officers and men of the Dalian Brigade who had been distributed to the booty raised their flags and loudly expressed their willingness to obey the order.

Trabzon, a beautiful harbor city, faces the black sea, backed by the majestic Pontus Mountains, and the castle is located on a terrace between two deep valleys. The sky is blue and clear, rich in grain and beauty, and on top of the temple of the "Monastery of Our Lady of Black" built on the mountain, General Theodoro, who was once given the title of "Grand Duke of Chardia" by Emperor Alexios. Being with a beautiful wife, a princess from the Kingdom of Georgia (of course his sequel, the old general married her six years ago. It's been nearly half a hundred) sat side by side, receiving the secret envoys of Constantinople on an urgent merchant ship from the Black Sea.

Originally. The general and his wife had come to pay homage to the shrine of Our Lady, and the envoy had come in a hurry. Therefore, it can only be received in the monastery on the spot.

This secret envoy is Alexios's "pre-emptive move", and Gawain and Anna will blitzed the army to avoid himself, which he had long expected. The emperor naturally had the emperor's methods, and the "Komnenos", known for his ambition and cunning, lived up to his name after all. Therefore, when Alexios learned that Gawain was far away, he sent fast horses to inform the fortress of the Tsarsidon sailors, and then a merchant ship carrying secret envoys, escorted by several warships, hurried by sea, crossed Bithynia, and came to the castle of Trabzon.

The emperor's meaning was straightforward:

"I forgive you for all the unhappiness I have ever had, and I am willing to make a vow before the Lord. Now let's make a deal, you will command the Sam division of Trabzon, attack the Harris River, intercept and destroy Gawain and his Red Hand United, as for the Danishmund Turks, I will also send a secret envoy to negotiate, you don't have to worry about the threat from the back; After this is done, I consider releasing your hostage children under house arrest in the imperial capital, and let them return to Trabzon to inherit your business in the future, and I will not interfere with all the rights and interests of the Gabuyas family in this land, and I will also approve of your expansion of influence in the Chaldia region (the military district of ancient Byzantium, including Trabzon). ”

Of course, on the side of the emperor's humble letter, there is a small note: "After the gold and silver mined in the Pontus Mountains of Trabzon are minted into coins, thirty percent must be sent to the imperial capital, and I will send a supervising official to supervise it." ”

Seeing this, "the fox's cunning is not in his age." Theodoro sighed to himself, and then couldn't help sneering, he didn't understand what kind of grudge the emperor had against the Armenian Grand Duke who had never met, but in the world of the Roman Empire, conflicts and fights between the emperor and the Grand Duke were always the norm, and he would not be surprised at all, because he was the same!

Theodoro. Gabuyas, a military aristocrat by profession, was known in eastern Asia Minor as a young man for his prowess and prowess. When the empire was defeated at the Battle of Manzikt, Turkmen and Seljuks poured like sand into the central Anatolian plateau. In the midst of defeat, only he led a small number of troops of the military region to defeat the Turkic invasion of Trabzon nine years later, firmly occupy this rich place, and then repelled the offensive of the Paulinees.

It is precisely because of this that when Alexios ascended the throne, the contradictions with the Gabrias family were sometimes eased and sometimes intensified - the emperor was not reconciled, and there was such a force in Trabzon that could not be controlled, so he kept imprisoning Theodoro's children, and when Theodoro came to the imperial capital to visit the pilgrimage, he also tried to arrest him, but fortunately, Theodoro had already been on guard, jumped on a cargo ship sailing for the Black Sea and ran back.

But now, it seems that the two sides have a chance to get back together, that is, Theodoro's current wife, Marianne, is the sister of Marlena, the vice empress of the imperial capital.

Sisters Marlena and Marianne, born to King Palationi IV of Georgia and mother to Princess Borena of Alain, both sisters have the most beautiful "Alanya Woman" bloodline. Now it was the moment when Marlena was at the height of her power in the court, and Alexios took the opportunity to play this card to win over his "wild brother-in-law".

"Please return to Your Supreme Majesty, the Gabrias family is willing to pledge allegiance to him, and on that day I will command the 6,000-strong Sym Division to march across the Harris River and carry out the will to destroy Gawain." Theodoro stamped his seal on the pleadings and solemnly handed them over to the envoy, telling him to return as soon as possible. (To be continued.) )