Under the drum window of the black lattice of the abbey, Anna smiled lightly, hugged Agnes gently, and kept repeating the vows of close friends in the boudoir affectionately, and then Anna stroked the gray-black hair, and the pupils of her eyes reflected the glimmer of light from the window, and whispered, "This behavior is stealing, isn't it?" Obviously they have already been engaged to me, and a stealing bear must find some collars and whips to discipline me."

"Hmm," Agnes wrapped her arms around Anna's neck with delight, "the most powerful Empress Theodora in the past, her family was born as a bear tamer, but in fact, men are like livestock, animals that need to be constantly disciplined and humiliated. ”

Anna laughed, "And Agnes, do you want to tame an animal?" ”

"No, I don't." Agnes replied categorically.

At this time, in the tent of the camp outside the city, Gao Wen, who was still diligently handling the city defense affairs, suddenly sneezed, and felt a little chill on his back, so he put the white robe given by the emperor on his body, and then held the candle in his hand, and continued to look at the castle map of Gangara.

Soon the next day, the overall defense of Gangara City began to operate, first of all, Gawain was determined, with the castle itself as the core of the defense, began to imitate the model of the city of Nicaea, let the craftsmen teach the military servants and believers, use wooden supports, began to build a fence, and hoarded arrows and pikes in it, and then in front of the stream in front of the castle, opened a protruding barracks, choked the holes in all directions, and dug up the edge of the barracks, making it difficult for the enemy to approach quickly. Finally, on the path behind Gangara City. At the same time, a temporary camp was built and people began to be stationed. Because Gawain thinks that Gangara is not a place to stay for long after all, after he has forced back the incoming Imperial army. You may have to abandon this place and continue to face south.

At the same time, at dusk that day, the disgraced Theodoro, Harold, and Brahnas led the Imperial army, belatedly approaching the high ridge of Giovanni's defense, and set up camp.

In fact, Giovanni only had an infantry company in his hands, plus a few sailor archers to cooperate, but he swaggered to set up the handsome banner of Gawain's red hand cross sword behind the camp. Gabuyas. He didn't dare to attack rashly, "Send my scouts and outpost soldiers to find out the details of the enemy." ”

Soon after, it was learned from the captured Pauline followers that Gawain had just entered Gangara City, and although he had reached a combat alliance with their consuls, he had not been fully prepared for either the military or the city defense because of his haste and lack of coordination.

But Theodoro and Harold didn't dare to attack lightly. After all, there was a high ridge like a city gate in front of them, and the shadow caused by the spear charge carried out by Gawain in the face of death, so the two old generals decided to go out and reconnoiter the terrain themselves.

Gangara and the surrounding mountains. It formed a horizontal horn shape, the only way to enter and exit smoothly, and was held by Giovanni's company. Further west, there are steep and rugged mountains. It is difficult for a large army to advance, if you take a detour from the side of Calabi Hill Fort. There were quite a few passable valleys, as several tributaries of the Harris River flowed through them to the Gangara Fort, "It is time for the Emperor's envoys to make an agreement with the Danishmunds Turks, that we should leave a detachment for Branas, where we will camp and contain the opposing troops, and we will move our camp close to Calabi Fort, and wait for an opportunity to attack Gangara, and as long as the troops can rush into the basin where it is located, Gawain and the traitors will not be afraid." ”

General Theodoro is a good estimator at this point, after the tired battles in Nicaea, Blasilon, and Paphragonia, the Red Hand Dalian has lost more than 1,000 people, and there are only three or four percent of the war horses available for riding, and the baggage supplies are almost exhausted, and the armed regiment has also disappeared and fled hundreds of people, even if Fort Gangara can provide a foothold for the time being, but after all, the ground is narrow and difficult to maneuver, and it is surrounded by barren areas, only the crops under the city can provide support, as long as Theodoro can confront it, let alone fight hard, As long as half a month passes, Gangara City and the Dalian team will be exhausted and collapse themselves.

At this time, the emperor appointed Mikhail, together with a group of officials and tax collectors, to spare no effort to scrape the ground in the newly recovered area, desperately requisitioning cowmen and vehicles, and sending supplies to the battlefield - it seems that Alexios wants to complete the battle and completely eliminate Gawain's henchman, the emperor has foresight after all, "If Gawain is left behind, he will be a more terrible enemy than Pecheneg, Zahas, Gilici, and Danishmund." ”

The plan was decided, and the two generals led the banner battle, men and horses, and marched in the direction of Karabi, but soon the scouts who went to explore the horses came quickly, "The mountains of Karabi are full of Turkic military horses, and they are also waving banners and coming towards our army. ”

Harold laughed, patted his breastplate boldly, and said, "It seems that the Emir of Merrick has commanded the army and crossed the Harris River to meet us, and Gawain is already unable to fly and is cornered!" ”

Soon, in the wilderness facing the fort of Calabi, the Imperial army saw the army of Danishmond approaching them "cordially" in the mountains and valleys: their cavalry were all at the front of the ranks and on both flanks, all carrying strong angular bows and broad quivers, marching at a very fast pace, and walking on the slopes of the hills. The previous Emir of Merrick quickly mobilized all the carpenters and stonemasons in his kingdom, hired Armenian engineers at a high price, repaired the demolished bridge in a short time, crossed the river and gathered on the west bank of the Harris River, and after learning of the presence of a Roman army with a purple banner in front of him, Merrick immediately ordered the whole army to move forward and "go and talk to the Roman dogs".

"Let the emir, according to diplomatic protocol, stop his army beyond the land of three arrows." Harold instantly felt that the rolling Danishmond army was definitely not a friendly feeling, but a murderous aura rushing to his face, and then Theodoro, who had been in battle for a long time, immediately shouted, "Prepare for battle, Danishmond is the enemy!" ”

As soon as the old general finished speaking, a huge angry shout broke out from a few arrows on the other side, "Destroy all the Roman dogs who despise the warriors of Danish Monds!" On the other side, Merrick, who was riding on a painted horse, also drew his sword and gave the order for the whole army to attack. Danishmund's cavalry rushed unstoppably and began to pull the strings and shoot fiercely. At the same time, the vigilant Roman army also began to fight back and counterattack. Soon the whole Calabi and the valley and wilderness of Gangara were fighting back and forth, shaking the heavens and the earth.

The voice even reached the tower of Gangara, "The consul's strategy is really good, it seems that Danishmond and Theodoro are starting to fight, I didn't expect to capture a small Calabi, and use Gawain's official title and seal to make the two kingdoms meet each other, and now the Gangara Fort is safe for the time being." Anna, who was looking at the beacon fire in the mountains in the distance, said to the people beside her with great satisfaction.

Then, the sound of fighting continued for a whole night and a day, and the Imperial Army and Trabzonseim's Division, which had been full of preparations to join the "friendly army", were taken by surprise again, damaged many soldiers and horses, and retreated to the hills half a hundred miles away to rest.

"What the hell is going on, His Majesty the Emperor, or Gawain, what kind of situation is it now, it is simply incomparably angry. Harold, if you don't give me a reasonable explanation today, then the next day I will take all my men and horses back to Trabzon!" After encamping, Theodoro, who had never been so embarrassed in his life, was so angry that he brought his generals to confront Harold, who had the same feelings, but whose proud silver hair was a little disheveled.

Harold, who came from the land of Varyag, could no longer let out a pleasant and proud smile, he calmed his face and thought for a while, "We may have been tricked by Gawain, he must have taken advantage of the time difference in the previous march to provoke the emir of Danishmond and turn the other side against the entire Roman Empire. ”

"What is the relationship between Your Majesty and Gawain? On the one hand, he was given a very high official title, so that he could swagger through the market; On the other hand, he insisted on destroying him. Let the whole army be consumed in the mountains of this damned Paphragonia in vain. ”

So Harold shook his head, and leaned helplessly against the old general in the corner, and took some time to explain the ins and outs softly, and then Theodoro's face was full of "you are simply playing with me", but Harold was full of "things are like this, there is no doubt" on his face.

In the end, the two quickly discussed the result, "Tomorrow send fast horses to the camp of Branas, take Shah Nami and one of her children and hand them over to the emir of Danishmund, clear up the misunderstanding, and then join forces to attack the Gangara Fort." ”

Beneath the ridge in front of Gangara, in the camp-filled camp, Branass sat in a trance on his chair, cloaked, his hair disheveled, and his misty eyes, and he didn't even bother to shave off his beard, and his mind was full of the scarf that had been on his shoulder, and the look of Shahnamy that shot like an arrow still made his heart ache.

It is now clear that he is deeply in love, a terrible and doomed love. Andronicus. Branas, from a family of Roman warriors in Thrace, like all his companions, was skilled in horseback riding, archery and swordsmanship, with a simple but passionate ambition to be like the ancestors of Komnenos (Manuel. Erotix. Komnenos was also a warrior from here), and he was supposed to serve His Majesty on the battlefields of Asia Minor, and then marry a girl from a famous family, and get a large bounty of fiefdoms, so that his family could be included in the genealogy of the glory of the empire.

In the previous battle with Gawain, in the face of countless oncoming spears, his first thought was not to go forward and fight, but to ride away, because he was worried about the safety of Shah Nami in the camp, the wife of a pagan sultan, and the daughter of an imperial enemy - "It's really shocking, damnable! ”

And at this moment, just as Branas was in confusion, his warrior of the guard walked in and whispered, "Your Excellency, the noble lady of Konya, she has said that she has something at stake, wants to see you, and begs for you. (To be continued.) )