However, once the pilgrims came, it was not easy to drive them away, and soon there were many peasants, women, and children in the large camp of the Normans, and more tents were erected around the camp, patched, shiny and tattered, and the wooden fences and ditches were no longer strictly observed, and many soldiers and knights were seduced by the watery poplar women in the pilgrimage procession, and they could not bear to confine themselves for thousands of miles. Noise, brawls, and drunkenness abounded, and today a few ducks raised by the pilgrim peasants broke through their cages and flew to the top of Bohemond's red tent, croaking incessantly, and several servants were stabbing with spears and sticks to drive away these "uninvited guests", and Bohemond came out in disdignation, just as a few pieces of duck feathers fluttered down and fell on his red hair.

The whole camp was about to turn into a great bazaar, and while the city of Barry was still standing on the other side, Bohemond flicked his feathers and said to his nephew Tankred and the honorable earls, "Where did these damned fellows, the swarthy peasants, and the cheap powdered bitches come from?" ”

"Part of it is a pilgrimage, part of it is to follow the pilgrimage team to prepare to make some money, the first two years of the harvest is abundant, everyone is holding back the energy to see the distance." Tanfred replied.

Bohemond didn't answer, but looked at the city lying over there with a little melancholy, the Byzantine flags were still flying, "I have just appointed more than fifty priests, and I have collected a lot of silver, will it be consumed under this city?" So saying, a herald handed the duke a copy of the letter, and Bohemond opened it, looked at it, and tore it up. The Pisan people are going to provide me with a fleet and collect rent. And threatened me if they weren't a supplier exclusively for the Normans. and took my title to pay off the debt. ”

"It has to be done quickly, and morale is depressed." Tancred was in unison with several counts.

Bohemond looked back at the surging procession of pilgrims around the camp, and suddenly a plan came to him, and he decided to turn the disadvantage into his advantage, and use this group of people to seize the city of Bari.

Soon, Bohemond put Imam Anselm on the high platform of the oratory, surrounded by thousands of imposing pilgrims, singing hymns. Carrying all kinds of crosses, carrying rudimentary agricultural tools and weapons, "Lord's people, your flock, I am your father Anselm, and now we are going to the place of the great Son's martyrdom by the Holy See's edict to go to the place of the martyrdom of the great Son and to restore Jerusalem. In front of us is endless tribulation. The soul of everyone who goes to the Holy Land and falls will be redeemed and cleansed, not only by Turkic bandits, but also by cowardly and despicable Greeks and their emperors. They occupy the city of Bari in order to cut off our access to the sea and to hinder the fulfillment of the Lord's will. ”

"Liberate the city of Barry. Let him return to the bosom of the Lord! "At this time, farmers holding poultry cages and nail rakes are below. There were also many wanderers, all chanting angrily.

"Then lift up the cross of the Lord. Rush to the head of Barry. "The fanatical pilgrims soon spontaneously huddled into a huge gray torrent, and with a dense mass of crude weapons, crossed the pontoon bridges temporarily erected by the Norman servants on the river, and rushed forward towards the gates and towers, and at the sound of the warning bells, the Turkos and Cumans came out of the rest and hiding places behind the forts, and lined up on the extended towers and walls in the shape of horns, and drew their bows and arrows without hesitation to shoot arrows below, and many of the agitated pilgrims fell with arrows. But more people raised their sticks, tree trunks, and nail rakes in their hands, stepped on the corpses of their comrades in front of them, and continued to crawl up the walls with a roar.

"Look at the enemies who killed us in the city, they are all evil pagan warriors, and to kill them is the greatest contribution to the cause of the Lord." Patriarch Anselm rode a horse and carried a cross, crushing behind the crowd of people.

Arrows and stones whistled, flying down in bursts, and some of the pilgrims put the boards made of wicker as shields on their heads, and the pieces flew wildly, and many wounded people lay in the pile of corpses**, but what they got was not rescue, but the trampling of their companions, and everyone, whether it was the elderly, or women, or even children, their corpses were higher and higher, and the blood flowed out along the moat in large areas, and flowed into the river. "Set up the ladder, set up the ladder." In the midst of such shouts, several ladders with hooks were erected above the city, and then many pilgrims, barely with helmets and cuirasses, climbed up the ladder with swords in hand, ready to seize the outermost tower.

"White Soldier Battle." With this command, the Tekopo mercenaries sent by the emperor threw down their bows and arrows, began to draw their swords, held their spears and iron forks diagonally, pushed the ladders, and slashed the pilgrims who climbed up, and the severed fingers and wrists continued to fall down the walls and battlements, and there was blood everywhere, and the Italian veterans in chain mail behind them also ran to reinforcements with weapons, and the entire tower, fluttering the Rabran Cross flag, instantly became the focus of the whole city, relying on the large number of pilgrims who kept climbing up, Fighting with the militias and mercenaries, Bohemond also sent some Norman knights to infiltrate, causing great threat and intimidation to the defenders.

Muzafiadin lay nervously on top of another tower, constantly waving the flag to his subordinates, almost shaking his arm, in the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Gawain and several officers looked up at the flag, "There is not much military strength that can be used to support, even the Amalfi sailors have been sent to resist, it seems that the enemy wants to drown us in the sea of people and blood." ”

"No, still hold on, and with the ferocity and cunning of the Normans, the two towers of the front wall are certainly not the real front of their attack." Gawain made such a judgment, and then the Grand Duke put on the holy armor, held the sword of phosphorus and fire, and led thirty heavily armored Varangian warriors, carrying battle axes and iron spears, and walked out along the central corridor of the church.

"Your Excellency." The monks and nuns who were busy sheltering the wounded, including the pilgrims who came to help, saw Gawain walking out and bowed half-kneeling, and Gawain nodded expressionlessly as he walked.

Suddenly, Muzafiadin Adin, who was on the top of the tower, shouted, "The Norman siege towers are coming towards the towers in the north, where the elite main force of the enemy is located!" ”

"Your Excellency!" The samurai behind him asked questions one after another.

Gawain fastened his armor's bracers, covered them with leather to prevent the weapon from slipping, and tightly grasped the Macedonian halberd and the iris shield, and then said in a calm voice, "Diognis, Francisco, and Tetisius are all fighting against the towers on the southwest side of the front wall, and we are the only ones left, so we will go up and meet the Norman knights." (To be continued......)