On the tower of the Four Sisters, Tanfred also stood at the mottled window of the main tower, looking at the magnificent city and the siege front, and on both sides of the street below the tower until the dog gate, there were dusty soldiers lying down, resting, a few of them were Normans loyal to him, and most of them were Greek, Turkic, and Armenian soldiers. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

He could see and hear—Gawain's artillery convoy capable of destroying the walls and gates had arrived, and if they fired two rounds in unison, the outer walls would soon collapse, and then his uncle's superior army would pour in, and even if he could resist for days against the acropolis towers on the ridge, he would still be able to avoid the humiliation of capture.

At least I can't wait for the Holy See's mediation.

It seems that the attention of the city of Rome has been prioritized to Constantinople and Tarsus, and this place has been forgotten for the time being.

Thinking of this, Tancred looked silently at the devastated dog door, he was young, but he had aged rapidly in the past two years, and now he had sunken eyes, a beard, and his beautiful flaxen-length hair, which had appeared to be speckled grayish-white, and he was still wearing a black linen robe in the Armenian style, and he was no longer the high-spirited young man he had in front of Corinth.

Behind Tancred, stood his wife, Mesander.

"This tower was captured by Gawain's surprise attack back then, and my long-cherished wish was to fight him to the death with a sword at the last moment of my life and decide the winner." In the wind blowing through the window, Tanfred's voice was desolate and hoarse, "But fate did not give me such an opportunity, or my vision was too narrow, and I tried to succeed by ambition and courage alone, but Gawain has a lot more power, calculations and strategies than me, and now he is about to build a new empire, and I am in the internal strife with my uncle, and I have destroyed the Antioch Empire, which was supposed to be stronger than the East, here - I am dead, and my uncle is about to die." Now the era seems to have quickened its wheels, leaving me at a loss, and swords, spears, and horses are gradually being replaced by weapons that spew fireworks and iron pellets. ”

Then, Tanfred looked back at the silent Mesander sadly, and laughed self-deprecatingly, "Trapped in the lonely city, I have not only repeated the mistakes of Yaji. Xiyang's mistake is also tantamount to recreating the tragedy of your grandfather. ”

Mesander will not forget how her grandfather was killed and how she herself was possessed in the city of Samosata. During these years she often lived with resentment and humiliation, but Tancred, the murderer and enemy in front of her, really played the role of husband, and always treated the Armenian inhabitants of Antioch for her sake, and sometimes when he returned from his expeditions, he would bring her many gifts, never beat or insult herself, and did not follow his uncle's arrangement to marry a Norman noble woman.

At that time, he seemed to be in a hurry to obtain the certificate of domination, but he defiled himself on the couch, but for most of the next year, he was like a simple knight, occasionally heavy on his mind.

At this moment, a turbulent and complicated thought ignited in Mesander's chest, causing her shoulders to tremble, and finally her throat seemed to jump, and she said to Tancred, "Then don't cross the Orontes River at all, and at least you and I will die with dignity compared to Yaggie and my grandfather Taurus." ”

When he heard the words "you and me", Tanfred's cheek muscles tugged a few times, "When the enemy artillery arrives here, I will ride out of this tower." ”

"I'm following you, and now I can't find any way to save myself except death."

In the early hours of the next morning, the heavy mortars of the artillery regiment brought by Leotius began to bombard the walls and gates of the Dog Gate.

In the crimson morning glow, Bohemond stood in front of his tent with a wooden expression, the corners of his robe moved by the fan set off by the artillery fire, and he watched as the dog gate was shrouded in smoke, gradually destroyed, and gradually collapsed......

Soon after, his company of the Holy Banner began to break through the shattered walls and fight their way into the city. By dusk, the besieging side had occupied most of the blocks and churches, and the defenders had come to surrender: the gunners of the Tarsus Artillery Regiment began to push their bronze cannons on wheels to the position under the Four Sisters Tower, and used their wedges to adjust the muzzles upward, ready to fire their shells upwards and destroy the stone walls around the main tower.

Even two of Tancred's closest henchmen, Joseph and Edian, escaped from the Acropolis on the ridge and attempted to surrender, but were executed by an enraged Bohemond on charges of sowing discord between him and his nephew. The two were tied to a ladder, erected on the wooden fence of the barracks, and were cut off in front of many soldiers and stuffed into their mouths to punish them for "mouthing demagogic words", and then cut open their stomachs and pulled out their intestines and burned them black with fire to show their "evil hearts", and the two men wailed for a long time before they died.

At the side of their corpses, a large number of Norman soldiers loyal to Bohemond, clad in chain mail, carrying dangling irises and shields, holding pickaxes or sharp swords, launched a fierce attack on the main tower one after another, and soon the gunners of Tarsus also began to bombard with artillery, red meteor-like projectiles continued to hit the crumbling tower of the Four Sisters, and together with countless torches, dyed half of the night sky.

In the frightened shouts, at the end of the suspended stone bridge connecting the main tower and the pheasant, an iron gate rumbled up, and the Bohemond lightly armed soldiers who climbed up saw that in the firelight of the door, there stood a knight covered with iron armor and barrel-shaped iron helmet, straddling the horseback, the blade of the riding spear in his hand straight up, the kis shield painted with the pattern of the flying leopard on the left, reflecting the sparkling light, his eagle-like eyes were exposed, full of fierce murderous aura, forcing him to look around.

Behind this knight, a small man covered with a robe rode a mare.

"Stop him, stop him!" Bohemond's light soldiers began to lay down their horses, draw their bows and arrows, or fire guns, and meet the battle in a mixed manner.

Whistling, lead pellets and fiery arrows were fired fiercely, and Tanfred, with his sharp spear, drove his horse straight along the stone bridge, and the figure of Raul appeared before his eyes, and the fierce wind that had been in the battle of Kadmia Fort, mixed with fireworks, also seemed to swoop towards his armor.

Soon, he heard a woman's wail, and tears flowed down his helmet.

He understood that Mesander, who was behind him, had been hit by an arrow and died.

"Tanfred. Morality. Tver, in the name of his wife Mesand! He roared, and rushed over the stone bridge like a whirlwind, and burst into the hordes of enemies......