Unwilling to blame the king's murder on his attendants, Merrick grabbed his saber and stabbed himself in the abdomen, then fell to his death on the snow. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

"Eat, tear, hyena.

Enjoy the uncollected corpse! ”

The Seljuk tribe, which had once flourished in the eastern Anatolian plateau, where their tribes could herd sheep and horses on the ruins of the royal palace at will, came to an end in the most miserable way in the snow.

The emir of Sagitus, Saltuk, took over all the remnants, mixed the men of the two tribes, abandoned the assault on Fort Toltomi, and fled in the opposite direction.

But Haddadi's cavalry caught up with the frail men in the snow, for their horses were fodded and their mental strength was well stocked in the stables: at last, in front of a frozen river in the Erzurum mountains, Sartuk. Ali was chased and beheaded by the Haddadi cavalry, and half of his men were killed and half captured. Except for the craftsmen and the beautiful women or young men, the rest of the unfortunate people were imprisoned in the dungeons of Fort Tortomi, and all of them died of torture after half a year.

Haddadi's Kurdish cavalry cut off the heads of Merrick and Sartuk and sent them over a long and rugged mountain road to Gawain's barracks.

Gawain ordered the head to be returned to the mosque cemetery in Sebastian City for burial, and then proclaimed his victory and power over the land:

The Red Hand Brigade climbed to the top of the 10,000-foot summit and planted its flag at Erez Castle to announce its occupation. The brigades then marched in detachments, and then seized most of Erzurum to the east.

Theodoro, on the other hand, took the opportunity to send a garrison on the side of Chaldia, and a small force captured the main trade city between Erzurum and Chaldia, which was also coveted by Theodoro for a long time.

In the following month and a half, a larger snowstorm made it impossible to conduct a large-scale military operation, so Gawain declared a winter camp, and Theodoro remained silent.

A new year is coming.

Another winner in the Great Armenian chess game was the builder David, whose army continued to dominate the past year, capturing Tbilisi, the central fortress of the Kingdom of Georgia, from Haddadi, and then sweeping across the eastern part of the Kingdom of Georgia.

The growing power of David silenced the two nations of Haddadi and Sylván, and they sent envoys to beg Gawain's brigade to stay in Erzurum and not to leave, "lest we be swallowed up by David the Builder." ”

But because the weather here was too cold, Gawain still didn't stay. With the exception of a small number of Sebastian's frontier men stationed at the castle of Erez, the remaining three brigades retreated to the rich meadows of the Comachs River north of Meritene for the winter, where the soldiers bathed in hot baths, fed the horses and distributed the spoils, and kept their morale high.

Inside the tent, between the warm bonfires and candlesticks, Gawain and the generals analyzed the battle situation in the coming year, "How is the country of Kirat Pasha, can the Yefanduni brigade and the border army of Samosata be monitored and contained?" The majestic patron sat down in front of the sand table, looked at the small flags, and asked Hercules, Gabriel, and Walter in front of him.

The answer was yes.

Gawain nodded with satisfaction, and then turned to the Orson and Haarlem brothers, "Keep two thousand five hundred Sebastian border soldiers ready to fight with me in the coming year." ”

"Yes."

"Inform Theognes that I need his help and his brigade, and that I will go here with Bellerophon's brigade after the New Year to join us and prepare for the use of force against Trabzon and Georgia." After Gao Wen's words, he gently moved a small flag on the sand table that was originally in Anglasburg to the direction he was in, "As for Anglas, I will draw Giovanni's county army and Monomachus's border army to reinforce it, so that General Bramson can rest assured - what about the direction of Cyprus, can you reassure me?" Gawain stretched out his eyes to the area of the southern Levant Sea in the sandbox.

"Rest assured, Your Highness, the magistrate of Andodat stayed there with his troops, ruling the government with one hand and continuing the siege of Nicosia with the other, and sending fifteen hundred men across the sea to strengthen the garrisons of Beritus and Jubail, where the Prajit herdsmen have begun preparations for the assault on the city of Tripoli." Confidential Officer Firactos stood up and reported in one breath.

"Good." Gawain approved succinctly in Greek, and then stared at the center of the sand table, "With the addition of Diognis' brigade, I will once again have four brigades of mobile force, with a large number of elite cavalry, but the question is whether I will fight Theodorus first, or David the Builder first?" Because I am not strong enough to win against their coalition forces. ”

The archmaster's patron pointed his finger at the sand table, and his tone was affirmative, "The strip of three hundred and fifty guilli from Erzurum to the city of Duin is mostly high mountains, meadows, and deserts, and my artillery regiment cannot carry heavy siege guns and fire bear cannons to accompany the battle, because there is no suitable road at all. We were followed only by some long perfume bottles, cannons on wheels, and moggies. ”

At this time, the Grand Earl Merlot stretched out his hand and said in a deep voice, "Please give me the command of the border men of General Orson, and the siege artillery detachment of the artillery regiment - I will attack Amasia together with General Orsen, Bramsson, and Birrell after the beginning of the year." ”

"Oh, there are well-groomed roads and forts leading there, and the artillery can follow you......"

"Yes, once the great siege cannon roars under the city of Amasya, Theodoro must think that it is our main force that attacks Amasia, and will desperately ask the builder David to bring the main force to support him." Merlot's fingers kept rattling on the sand table, "Your Highness, and you, along with the four brigades, took the opportunity to hurry eastward along the Erzurum Mountains and destroy the weak belly of the Kingdom of Georgia. ”

"The key is to capture the city of Kars, and once we take this gateway, we will be able to cross the peaks of the Lesser Caucasus and threaten Tbilisi, and along the way we will be able to conquer the same places where I ruled, and the local population will provide ample provisions." At this time, Latti. Liparitis hurriedly took over the words of the Grand Earl and gave the most specific target, which was to guard the borders of Georgia and Haddadi and Erzurum, the city of Kars. This Rati was bent on recovering the ancestral dukedom that David had usurped, and he did his best to act as a guide.

"Karles City......" Gawain was also very interested.

"I'm very familiar with the forts and terrain there."

But Gawain raised his hand to stop Lathi's sloppiness, "I can wait for victory, and in the remaining days of winter, I will ask Diognis, who is about to arrive, to really probe the reality of the city of Cals, especially the weak points." ”