So Abbot Owenseth verbally criticized the Duke of Apulia for his arrogance and greed.

And Bohemond did not care at all, "The Holy See summoned us to convene a conference all day long, and many of the country lords have a bit of an international feeling, but where does the cost come from, it has not yet been shared on my head, and it will be a great sacrifice to go on an expedition to the Holy Land immediately." Now that the Holy See does not give me a mandate in the diocese, nor does it allow the city of Amalfi to compensate us with the appropriate funds, then I can only take it myself. ”

The arrogance of this duke made both the representative of Amalfi and the dean of Monte Cassino tremble with anger, and then the representative began a showdown, "His Majesty the Emperor of Constantinople has sent an army to relieve the siege, I believe that the Calabria region of the Marquis and the Grand Count has suffered a heavy blow, why should it be lost in this cold winter, it is not a good thing for both you and me." ”

At this moment, the cunning Bohemond smiled and took out the good news of Humphrey's detachment from Hu, "If you are talking about this weak mongrel army, then I am glad to tell you that it has been completely shattered by one of my marquises, whose banner has been captured by us. Then, in order to enhance the dramatic effect, Bohemond tore the good news into pieces, blew it into the air, and continued to make analogies in a haughty manner, "I repeat, that the army of the Greek emperor has become powder, and has drifted among the farmlands of the Norman warriors, and that the harvest of the coming year will surely be good because of the fertility of flesh and blood." Surrender, Amalfi City, or hand over the money I have asked. The representatives of the city of Pisa next to them also sneered triumphantly.

"That's fine, give us another ten days to think it through." Amalfi's representatives were depressed. After bowing his head and expressing his sincere gratitude to the special envoy sent by the Holy See. And he departed.

"Don't keep me waiting too long, I heard that you are now drinking from seawater. I don't want too many people to die for sawdust, which is inconsistent with the feelings of this marquis's charity. Bohemond spread his fingers, smiled irreverently, and waved goodbye to those who had gone away in anger.

The greatest difficulty now of the Gao Wen Division, which escaped into the ravine, is the problem of cold and famine, which is also the most prominent at all times.

"Day and night." This was an order given by Gawain. He wanted to make the Hafley detachment think that all the rebels had been destroyed.

The soldiers and the sailors who came ashore began to kill pack horses, and the herd of cattle had no baggage to carry anyway, and many people began to burn tent vehicles to keep warm in order to protect themselves from the cold, and the snowflakes began to fall, and their burqas outside could not resist the "arrows of ice" shot by the king of the north wind, who would have thought that even the Apennine winter would be so unkind? Gawain himself sat in the puddle of snow, and Muzafiadin stared. Holding a red hand flag, Anderodat leaned against the clerical case, and the brown hair and beard of the self-proclaimed Grand Duke were covered with many snowflakes. Shivering from there.

"There are still three days to get out of this canyon." Soon Diognes went out to patrol the sentry. The cloak was covered with snow, and he walked over and reported it.

"I'm going to have to work harder." Gawain raised his eyebrows, which had turned white. Said to the captor.

At this point Diognis could not take it any longer, and he crouched down. Gawain questioned him viciously, "I listen to you, after Constantian's ignominious retreat, and now when you walk here, there are no farmsteads to get supplies, and the soldiers are starving and freezing, this is the result of you throwing away your negative equity?" That's enough, now I just want to know, go out right away, what are you going to do, go straight to Bari City, Taranto? ”

"No, I'm going to regain my prestige, and I'm going to give Bohemond a hard stab in his soft underbelly to lift the siege of Amalfi. Now, Diognes, what you have to tell me is what Bohemond will care about most. Gawain grinned and smiled nonchalantly, as if the situation was all right.

Over there, Diognis felt very weak, but Gawain's answer kindled the flame of hope, and he slowly stood up with his flail and stood in the snow and spoke to Gawain

Three days later, the date came as scheduled, a rare and hee-like weather, with golden and warm sunshine sprinkled on the bays and mountains around Naples, the snow in the mountain streams melted rapidly, and many of Gawain's soldiers were picking up wild vegetables and acorns by the stream, at this time Gawain stood there, took off his holy armor, and then touched Sabina, who was beginning to shed her hair and fat, and then rode on her, and ran all over the procession, "Kill the only dry food left in the team, and all the pack horses, cut down grass and trees to make a fire to eat,"

"My two horses have lost weight, and they need to be grazed and recuperated, and I am sure you are the same, but now we are walking between Naples and Lucania, and the arrogant Normans think that Constantians have completely destroyed us, but the Archduke has long said that as long as we exist in Italy, it will be the greatest victory. These days in the snow, no fire can be made, food is desperately scarce, and physical strength is almost exhausted, but under the leadership of the captor Diognis, we miraculously, like the great general Hannibal of antiquity, brought out the essence of the entire empire. Now all the comrades raised their spears of counter-attack, raised their bows of surprise, mounted their horses, and sounded their trumpets, which was about forty giu to the east of the city of Amalfi. Gawain's last words, the whole team was boiling, some of them were excited, some were worried, because everyone understood that Bohemond, as the leader of the Normans, was besieging the city with the main team, and the previous Red Hand Dalian team had 5,000 people, but they couldn't even beat a Norman detachment, and now there were only 2,000 people left, so what could they do to fight against Bohemond's elite lineup. If we don't rout, then it's all over.

Then, however, the self-proclaimed Grand Duke of Calabria uttered, "However, we will not go to Amalfi City, but will make a fierce assault on Avelsa, further north." ”

This time the reaction was even greater, and many people looked at each other, not knowing what kind of place Avelsa was in the mouth of the Grand Duke.

But Diognis understood that Aversa was the first stronghold of the Normans who crossed the mountains and entered Italy, located in the north of Amalfi City, a very rich and wealthy place, full of orchards, mills, and pastures, and the Normans were Byzantine mercenaries who were given this place by the then Lombard Duke, and then relied on this place to attack everywhere, not only to crusade against the pagan chieftains of Saracen, but also to turn their faces and tear the flesh and blood of the Byzantine Empire. Therefore, this is the "holy place" of the Normans, and the burial place of the ancestors of the first twelve counts is also located there. (To be continued......)