In the year 1258 of the new calendar, the ancient city of Caesarea. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

The crumbling walls were devastated, and the air was filled with the smell of blood.

The Seljuks had been holding out here for three months, ammunition was running out and food was running out, and people could only watch their wounded companions cry in pain but could not do anything about it, because the medicine had long since run out.

Guarding the area is the Seljuk Empire's great general, Murad Arslan, who has faced an unprecedented threat to the Eastern Empire in recent years. In addition to the western crusades that invaded the heart of Anatolia through the straits, the Parthian plains of the east have been in disarray, not to mention his wavering allies. Since the death of the previous sultan, the khanate has been mired in a long civil war, and the associated principalities in the northeast may become independent at any time, and the disintegration of this behemoth in the east has been dying for centuries, and the Turks are now concerned with how to minimize the disaster.

"Nayuddin, is there no news from Baghdad yet?" In the operational headquarters, General Murad looked helplessly at the operational map in front of him. The whole of Caesarea was surrounded by the armies of the New Brad Kingdom. This time, the Lastines launched a crusade divided into two routes: north and south. The south, consisting of the Franks, Normandy, the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Kingdom of Aragon, targeted the Holy Land of Alexandria, while the main opponent was the Ayyubid Sultan Saladin, which did not threaten the Seljuk Turks, whose ruling cores were in Anatolia and Baghdad.

However, the Crusaders of the Kingdom of New Brad and the Princes of Italy, with the cooperation of the Knights, defeated the Herod government-in-exile of Nicaea and successfully attacked the rich western Seljuk region.

"No, General Murad." Nayuddin, the adjutant beside him, could only shake his head helplessly, he had always been in charge of communicating with the imperial capital, but in the past three months, the Western coalition forces had already blocked everything for them. Caesarea has become an island in the middle of an ocean, leaving only despair, people dying every day, and only faith in the true God that cannot support them.

"These useless Nicaeans!" General Murad, who could only vent his dissatisfaction in this way, said angrily. In fact, the so-called Nicaean Empire was founded far less appealing than the other self-proclaimed orthodox Epirus and Trebizond. The nobles who had escaped from Constantinople came to the Seljuk like lost dogs. However, Emperor Zangi believed that the exiled nobles had taken in these exiled nobles and gifted them the important town of Nicaea in Asia Minor to establish the Kingdom of Nicaea, which the first emperor believed could serve as a bulwark to the west and benefit the Khanate after the reconquest of Constantinople. However, this proved to be not only the Seljuk and Trabizond, but also the western part of the country. The current Emperor Nur al-Din is trying his best to govern the country, but he is facing a very uneasy situation. This war also fully illustrates the vulnerability of the Nicene nobility.

"What is the situation with Trabizond and Nicaea?" Although extremely disappointed, General Murad still wanted a little good news and asked unwillingly.

But his adjutant face became even more difficult to look at.

"What's wrong, Nayuddin?" Murad also sensed the other party's abnormality, "Is it Trebizond who wants to take advantage of the fire to rob?" There was anger in his voice, as Trebizond had been suppressed by the Khanate, which had been entrenched in the northern part of Anatolia without being threatened by the Crusaders, and now the entire western part of the Khanate was in danger of falling apart, and the other side was likely to tear up the original non-aggression pact.

But the adjutant Nayuddin in front of him shook his head with a grim face and said: "It's not Trebizond, they abide by the previous agreement, and the northern region is very calm, but the Nicaean people have taken the opportunity to annex many cities in our southwest, and they seem to have some tacit agreement with the New Brad Kingdom to withdraw from Nicaea and have never been attacked by the Crusaders again." ”

It had been three years, three years since the Crusaders invaded the city, and General Murad remembered that after the Nicaean nobles fled from the city in a hurry, not only did they not prevent an effective attack, but even provided wrong information, causing the main force of the Seljuk garrison to be wiped out in Icon, and the entire army was defeated in Icum. After that, they did not encounter another Crusader attack.

In connection with these facts, Murad's face was gloomy and silent.

If it was just a coincidence, Murad would never have believed it, but the alliance between the Nicaeans and the Rastines was incredible, and it was clear that they were mortal enemies, and the Nicaeans would always want to regain Constantinople. However, judging from Nicaea's heavy movements now, they are indeed very unfavorable to the Seljuks.

"Damn bastard!" Unable to vent his anger, Murad pulled out his saber from his waist and stuck it on the table in front of him.

"So what do we do now?" Nayuddin asked, if Caesarea could not be defeated, and would not be able to continue to resist the advance of the Crusaders, and the whole of Anatolia would be in danger of collapsing.

"One can only hope that Antioch will be able to open up the situation." Murad shook his head, his voice filled with hopelessness and pessimism. The western regions have not been able to connect, and how can the Principality of Antioch, which is swaying from side to side, have any hope.

"It's just that if they collude with the Rastins, will we be caught between the front and back?" Nayuddin's fears were justified, as the Principality of Antioch was the first Crusader state like the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and that the Principality of Antioch, which had been a vassal since the Alexei Emperor had subjugated it, had been under the control of the New Roman Empire, to the point that it had now converted to Orthodoxy and was made an apostate by the West.

But even so, the Turks had to be on guard against the fact that if something went wrong and they were attacked from both sides, the whole of Anatolia would inevitably fall.

"Don't worry, you don't have to worry about this, the only thing I care about is whether the message we sent is intercepted." Since Caesarea was besieged and radio communications were cut off throughout the region, they had to send people secretly in disguise to send the news out. As for why Murad was so confident, he did not tell his lieutenant that Antiochus and the Turks were bitter, and that even if they wanted to break free from the control of the Seljuks, they could not cooperate with the Crusaders, and that the Holy See had always been iron-fisted and cold-blooded against betrayers.

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The whole of Anatolia was in great chaos, and the local nobles of Antioch, which was Syria's connection to Anatolia, were also in great panic. Saladin in the south was at war with the kings of the west, and the northern crusaders had invaded the Seljuk hinterland, and they could face war at any moment.

"No news yet?" As the twelfth prince of Antioch, Bohemond V, but more anxious about his son's situation, since three years ago, Antioch's heir Berhiss left the principality, as his father Bohemond V, naturally anxious, more importantly, now the whole country is in a stormy moment, there is no heir to sit, Antioch people are panicking.

Due to the defeat of the founding Duke Bohemond I in the struggle against the Alexei Emperor, the Duchy of Antioch had to submit to the new Roman Empire and convert to Orthodoxy, but the struggle between the Orthodox and the Holy Church in the country occurred from time to time, and now the crusade movement is flourishing, and the country is not stable.

Although relations between Antiochus and the Turks were not harmonious, Antiochus certainly did not cooperate with the Crusaders. After all, the moment the Ottville family chose to become vassals of the new Roman Empire, it was already completely implied that they and the Holy See could no longer reconcile, and if Antioch was defeated, Bohemond V and his family, as Prince of Antioch, would definitely be liquidated.

At this time, the man was in his palace questioning his officials, who had been in charge of communicating with Belhis, who had been in charge of communicating with Rose, but had not been able to hear anything from Ross three months earlier.

"It could be some big move by the Crusaders on the Caesarea side, where all communications have been cut off, and our communication with Rus needs to be transited there." The officials could only tell their Royal Highness what they knew.

"Damn crusaders again." After a hundred years, the Duchy of Antioch had no good feelings for the Crusaders.

"That's right, Your Highness. An envoy from the Turks came in the morning, saying that he wanted us to rescue Caesarea. How do we reply to them. It was then that the officials informed Bohemond V of the incident. The Turkic emissary first came in a state of disarray, even wearing a crusader costume. They were also shocked when they first saw it, but it was only then that they learned that the Crusaders had made a big move in Anatolia. However, they had made a fundamental decision on this matter, and the principality had always maintained strict neutrality, and if they entered the war, it would mean facing the threat of the West.

"Are you saying that the Turks are asking us for help?" After a long silence, Bohemond V finally asked.

"Yes, Your Highness. How should we reply to him? They looked at their prince and asked, in fact, everyone knew that fighting the Crusaders with their strength was tantamount to a mantis arm, but the situation was one of death, and if Anatolia was lost, they would be next.

"Treat them well, and say that we can't get out for the time being, let the Turks continue to hold on, and we will come to the rescue when the time comes." Bohemond let out a meaningful sigh, and the officials you look at me and I look at you, and immediately understood what their prince meant.

The weak Duchy of Antioch naturally could not stand up to the Crusaders, but it could not sit idly by and not come to the rescue of the Turks. Now we can only wait and see what happens.

The whole East is in a crazy holy war, the advent of the new era has only brought about changes in technology, but it has not changed the thinking of people who originally stayed in the old era, on the contrary, powerful forces in the hands of fanatics and careerists will sooner or later destroy the world, and the gloom in the East is only the beginning.

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The siege of Caesarea, the Crusaders did not rush to attack, and thanks to precise planning, the Rastines had successfully uprooted the strongholds around Caesarea, and the city had become an isolated island. Now all that awaits is the final blow to these Turks.

"It's you, Your Excellency the Grand Duke Alfonso." The lazy aristocratic young man looked at the man in front of him with a mad iron mask, and this man was the famous ruler of Athens, the iron-faced Alfonso, one of the few grand dukes of the New Brad Kingdom. Even the princes of Italy respected him, and although he did not take part in the battle of Constantinople, he conquered the whole of the Peloponnese and defeated the army of Epirus and the Bolgars and Albanians.

Thus, Alfonso became the undisputed commander of the crusaders.

No one dared to be rude in front of this man, but except Esther.

The Grand Duke Tudor, who was the butcher of the Herodians, was certainly entitled to be on an equal footing with Alphonso.

"It's you, everything is going according to plan, and it seems that Caesarea has it at your fingertips." Ether chuckled softly as he looked at the isolated ancient city on the sandbox.

"It's a pity!" A hoarse voice came from under Alfonso's mask, "I was hoping that the main force of the Turks would come to the rescue so that we could encircle them. But Nur al-Din was more cunning than I thought, and his army stopped only when it reached Edsala, apparently not fooled. Quite a waste of time! "Originally, Caesarea was powerless, and although the city was well defended, as long as the crusaders were willing, they could easily take the city with that little casualties. But in order to destroy the living forces of the Turks. Alfonso then devised a well-thought-out plan to set up an ambush and invite you into the urn.

"It seems that something is wrong among us, that Nur al-Din is not a god, that all his subordinates here have been wiped out, and that Caesarea's communications have been cut off completely, if this can still be detected by him. Unless Allah tells him, we are out of Judas. Ether said lightly, as if he were talking about something commonplace.

"You're right." Alfonso, as the commander-in-chief, also knew that it seemed that not everyone in this crusader army was so religious. "Now it seems that the only time is to seize Caesarea and join forces with the South." Since the ambush plan has failed, then Caesarea has no value left, and if the Turks themselves do not save themselves, then the surrounding other countries will naturally stand by and watch, so now there is only the original plan to join the Southern Crusaders in Jerusalem. (To be continued.) )