After the news of the Patriarch's forgiveness came out of the monastery, John's whole army was greatly demoralized, and many henchmen surrounded John on horseback, and marched forward bravely from the holy mountain of Athos, and joined forces with the brown army of Sicily, and marched towards the Eularo Plateau. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The artillery around the terrace continued to fire fiercely, but far away in Philippi's camp, Gawain was also discussing the situation with his staff.

The big problem is that the Thracian region has not recovered from the war of last winter. If Berdin and the Bulgarian rebels returned, even if they were defeated and repulsed, there would be no hope for this year's harvest, and most of the villages and small market towns would be looted and destroyed, except for a few forts held by the brigades and the New Frontier People's Army. And if this is the result, Gawain wants to mobilize a large army to fight back in the coming year, and it will be more difficult to replenish.

"The rivers Evros, Velka and Arda, which form the shape of a cross, between Thrace, Bulgaria and Macedonia, are our veins. Without these rivers, it is difficult for us to maneuver, and the north and west are mountainous areas, and it is very dangerous to venture into them without enough food to support them. Branas was more familiar with the situation here, and he pointed to the sand table and analyzed Gao Wentiao, "If Thrace has a good harvest this year, then we can conduct military operations within a radius of three hundred guru with these three rivers as the axis." But now Thrace has not fully recovered, and I think it would be nice to have a hundred guli in this range. ”

Gawain sat in his chair, his sword in hand, and listened attentively, before he asked Branas, "If we shrink our front and abandon the siege of the sacred mountain of Athos, will the enemy take the opportunity to besiege the isolated Thessaloniki?" In addition, will the long front from Fort Philip to Adrianople, and then to the imperial capital, be cut off and divided by the enemy from the north? ”

"Your Majesty, you can leave a brigade to hold on to Thessaloniki, and the food supplies in the city are still enough to support such a military defense." Branas replied, "As for Adrianople, there is also a Hierapolis brigade, another Optimekin brigade is stationed on the outskirts of the imperial capital, and the Nika brigade is in Gallipoli, but all of them are difficult to maneuver because of the lack of food. In addition, these three brigades are still newly formed, and their training and combat effectiveness are not as good as those of the three-wing field brigades, and once they fall into a hard battle, they will be shaken and even flee in large numbers, so ......"

Gawain raised his hand to show that he understood, and there was no need to say any more, and then he stood up, looked at the sand table map for a while, and pointed his scepter somewhere on it, "Fort Philip also needs a regular brigade to garrison, because it is a very crucial key, which can withstand the attacks from Serbia and Bulgaria at the same time, and at the same time, with it, we can control the whole area of the Evros River, so that the Bulgarian rebels from the north will not dare to go too deep - call the Hierapolis brigade to go and hold on." ”

"But Adrianople?" Everyone asked in unison.

Gawain waved his hand, "I have a suitable person." ”

When the meeting was adjourned, Gawain sat in the tent, and in front of him, Billel stood.

The general who had been the commander of the infantry of the Pisidian Frontier Army, and later participated in the fighting in Tripoli, when he was suddenly taken away by Anderodat under the instructions of the "postman", and then placed under house arrest and interrogation, and found a secret letter from Matilda in his tent, in which he was asked to "break away from the tyrant and return to Tuscany to defend the Holy See." ”

However, he was never disposed of, and was sent all the way to Philippi's camp.

When Gawain made a look, the little sunfish came over with a money bag and placed it on the small table covered with gold trim at the four corners, "I have no reason to suspect you Birel, we set off from Italy together as companions, and were born and died in Antioch and Tarsus. In addition, I owe Matilda a great affection, and it is very uncomfortable for me to be in the situation where we are enemies of each other, so these gold coins are a gift to you, go back to Tuscany. But most of the 700 Lombard soldiers you brought out back then, except for some who died in battle, have families and holy fiefs here, and I think they won't want to follow you. ”

"I know that people are always tempted by the devil of money and welfare."

"No, it's not a devil's temptation." Gawain said to the bearded Biller, "We left our homeland to restore the grave of Jesus and to find our own gospel. Milk is not just milk, honey is not just honey, but milk is always milk, and honey is always honey. ”

Billell shrugged his shoulders, sighed, and bowed to Gawain, "Please forgive me for not being able to kiss your chest according to that court etiquette." Then he came up and took the purse.

But soon, the little sunfish raised his eyes, and brought out a plate, on which were three money bags, and Gawain placed them on the table one by one, with a heavy sound of gold coins, and then this Barcelus raised his eyebrows, "After so many years of commanding and training the infantry army, Birel has worked hard, and this is an additional bounty for you." ”

Billell froze for a moment, his beard swaying up and down on his lips, a little hesitant.

But before he could turn around, the little sunfish in a slim and slim court robe silently brought out a plate, on which were still three bags of gold coins, placed on the table in front of Gawain.

Gawain's hand slid through the seven bags of gold coins in turn, and then stopped, and with his long fingers twisted a gold button from the plate, cut it into a very fine octagonal shape, and shimmered with a magnificent light, it had rested on a white silk cloak folded up, and on it lay an ornate sword encrusted with diamonds, "Friend of Birel, you successfully commanded the infantry army in the snow of Constantinople, and made great contributions to our confrontation with the former emperor, and this white-robed nobleman is given to you, Even if you don't serve in my army, you still deserve this glory, go back to Tuscany and show off to your fellow countrymen! Don't forget your friendship with me, Biller, and remember that you are a comrade-in-arms of the Roman Emperor, not a subordinate. ”

With his head bowed, Billel complied with the new emperor's request, draped his white robe over his body, fastened the gold buckle, and put on the short sword.

After all this was done, there was silence in the tent, and then Biller asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, you don't want me to go back, do you?" ”

"Soon, the Bulgarian mountain bandits will be overwhelming, and the Adrianople Governor's Military Region will lack a man, so he will organize and train the local border people." Gawain crossed the fingers of his hands and said very calmly.

"Then I'll be the Overseer there."

Gawain rustled out the letter of appointment from the sunken wooden cabinet next to the small table and handed it over, "Very well, this seat is yours, Billell." ”