"We need to stop the infidels from using stones and bows and arrows against the Christians." - One of the resolutions of the Second Lateran Conference (1139).

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As expected, in the command room of the naval commander in front of the Sinop breakwater, Achilles did not go to bed, and when Stratonis's sedan chair fell at the front door, the old-school naval commander seemed to be in the midst of a heated discussion, and when the queen, guided by the eunuch's maid, entered the room, she saw only a few wounded officers, scattered public slabs, and flickering candles, while Achilles stood in the center of the crowd, unable to see his face clearly, but his tone sounded unusually sad:

"I have twelve decked ships, and fifty or sixty smaller rowing ships, but these alone will not be able to hold the city, not to mention that the Purple Sails Pirates have thrown themselves on the side of Adina, and Caesar has won a decisive victory throughout Greece and the East. Officers, tonight I am still in your mouths, and I have even more terrible news, my God! ”

"Is there more terrible news than the death of my husband, the king of the Bosphorus?" At this moment, Stratonis rushed in, and then when she saw the officers who had fled back from the Brass Shield, she bowed her head in silence and shame, and she knew the bad luck suffered by Menander, and immediately held on to the chair handle in the command room, so sad that she almost fainted.

Achilles sighed, his hair had turned gray, and he had served at sea for nearly forty years, and he could only regret to announce it to this day. "It's unfortunate. Menander suffered the same fate as the Emperor of the past. And your wife is a widow again. Then, several fleet commanders approached Achilles' side and said something in a very indistinct manner, as if to prompt Achilles to make some kind of determination.

"My naval commander, after all, I am a woman who has served the emperor, please don't treat me like an ignorant village girl, if the fleet officers of the Bosphorus Kingdom have any thoughts at this moment, then you might as well shine under the candlelight. It's good to be open. Stratonis had a premonition of something, so she held back her fear, held her hand, and asked calmly.

Achilles scratched his hair in embarrassment, and then said the last thing Stratonis wanted to hear, "Our kingdom will collapse after the death of Minander, so the officers and men of the fleet, after careful and fair discussion, are determined to surrender all ships to the enemy. In addition, it is equal to the city of Sinop. I'll give it to Adiana too, no. She is the daughter of the king of Pontus. But the officers of the Brass Shield Army were clamoring, and they were still unwilling to turn their backs on their master, and even though Menander had been killed in battle, they swore their allegiance to Prince Fanabisis, the son of Minander and Stratonis.

"It turns out that in your eyes, she has become the princess of Pontus again," Stratonis laughed bitterly, mocking the men, and then she suddenly burst out, "Aren't I and the son of Menander princes?" You fleet members, you have been on the sea for a long time, each of you has learned to look at the wind and turn the rudder, you Achilles are the former Emperor's attendant and comrade-in-arms for many years, you two have been fighting from Greece all the way to Asia Minor, and then to the Black Sea, you have never deviated from it in such a difficult moment, why do you still sit on a strong and rich city, and a vast land on the other side of the ocean to act as a backing, you actually want to surrender without a single shot? What is it about Adiana, her biological mother Manemi is not even willing to have sex with the Emperor, who knows where this wild cat she-wolf came from, her child is even more despicable, Adiana was born of an affair with a Roman slave she met during her captivity - Adiana is the one who defiled the dignity of the entire royal family of Pontus, and now you want to take refuge in such a filthy character for temporary profit and reluctance! ”

"Madame, allow me to repeat, Sinop cannot be defended, and the Kingdom of the Bosporus has perished, and there is no point in continuing to struggle." Achilles said coldly, "Please understand that I am not an insatiable general, even when the Emperor was besieged by rebel soldiers and forced to commit suicide, the whole army sent me a crown made of reeds, but I still refused, so I am only responsible for the future of my subordinates." After saying that, Achilles's eyes flickered a few times, and a group of heavily armed soldiers immediately appeared around the command room, surrounding everyone, "Dear former princess Stratonis, this is a letter sent to you by Adiana on a fast horse, in order to ensure that you can take the time to read it through, I have to do this, please forgive me." ”

Achilles changed the title to "former princess", and the trend was unusually clear, or before Stratonis arrived, all the remaining officers and fleet officers learned of the outcome of the Battle of the Amasya Valley, and unanimously conspired to succeed - they "returned" to the command of Adiana, the official princess of Pontus.

Several young officers of the Bronze Shield Army were just about to make a move out of anger, when they were captured by Achilles' subordinates, and the helpless Stratonis trembled, opened the box, and then saw that there was only a bottle of pale cyan liquid inside, and a bronze plate with a few lines engraved on it:

"There is no doubt that the person who will revive the imperial estate of Pontus will always be me, even if my children were born with the most humble shepherds, they are also the descendants of their fathers, and they are also the Lin'er of the royal blood of Mithra. And you Stratonis, you should have died ten years ago, isn't that your father's concubine? ”

There was a clang, and there was a small one under the nameplate, which seemed to have been added by Adiana later, and the words engraved in it were even more cold, "After thinking about the above questions, you will feel that the child of Fanabises should not have come to this world, and you hurt him." ”

"No!" Stratonis let out a howl of despair, she knelt on the ground, kowtowed to General Achilles, and said that she was willing to die, but still begged to spare Fanabisis, he was only a minor child, she was willing to be tied up and handed over to Tuckerton, and let Adiana who was hostile to her abuse him, "Spare my child, let my child go, he is willing to give up his qualification to inherit the crown, and only wants to be the most humble herdsman." ”

Achilles picked up the weeping former princess, and then simply said, "We have sent troops to your bedchamber, and I am sure that Phanabyses will not be in great pain." ”

Then all the soldiers and officers turned their backs and surrounded Stratonis in the middle, the woman was completely broken, she fumbled for the bottle, and all she said was, "When I get to Hades, my family will be reunited, and I will continue to fight with you, Adiana, yes, I have lost everything, so I will be punished." Then she drank the blue-gray liquid, and after a few violent convulsions and shaking, she lay on the floor, her face turned gray, her mouth foamed white, her hair withered in an instant, and she died. (To be continued......)