"Eat." His Excellency Duchamp said.

The Venetian emissaries were kept in cages for several days, and every day they were fed only to starve to death. After a few days of torture, they let go. As soon as His Excellency Duchamp finished speaking, the envoys grabbed the food and ate it, not caring at all about the so-called table etiquette.

The way of eating is very rude from the Venetian point of view, and the Serbs still seem to be elegant. His Excellency Duchamp took a sip of wine from his glass, thinking in his heart what he would say later.

The wolfing took longer than expected, and when the Venetian envoys finally put down their food and raised their heads, Lord Duchamp asked, "I have decided to send troops to Venice, can you do a good job?" ”

The Venetian envoys showed some surprised expressions, they thought that this was a deadly meal, but they did not expect that His Excellency Duchamp, who had a gloomy face, would want to cooperate. The leader hurriedly asked: "I don't know when Your Excellency is going to send troops?" ”

"I'll send someone back to Venice with you. We'll tell you when the time comes. His Excellency Duchamp replied.

"Your Excellency said before that you want us to provide weapons......" The envoy of the Venice Restoration League was impressed.

This question made His Excellency Duchamp feel a little embarrassed, and at that time His Excellency was full of annihilation of the Greeks who had come to attack, and greatly accepted a vote of spoils, and the proposal of the Venetians was not taken seriously by him at all. His Excellency Duchamp did not mention this at all, and continued: "You are all the people who lead from the border to Venice. I will send my men at every inn. ”

Hearing this, the emissaries of the Venetian Restoration Union understood that the Serbs were going to play for real. In a state of excitement, he no longer thinks about the previous thing about weapons. After some deliberation, the two sides reached an agreement. The Venetian Restoration Union provided intelligence assistance to the Serbs and helped them set up intelligence points for their advances. The Serbs sent troops to plunder the city of Venice. The looted money and weapons will be distributed to the Alliance.

As soon as an agreement was reached, His Excellency Duchamp ordered his right-hand men to escort the Venetians away. Half a day after the gang left, the vanguard of the Eastern Roman army had already arrived under the castle. His Excellency Duchamp also breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, if he saw the Greeks hit the castle, the Venetians were afraid that they would no longer be interested in the cooperation between the two sides, and they had to leave early.

The Serbian generals in the city were once again assembled in the hall of the castle, and Lord Dušan ordered the leaders of the small clans to retreat with their armies first. Wait for a new order from His Excellency Duchamp. When the generals of the small tribes heard this order, they all made a promise as if they had been amnestied, and immediately after exiting the hall, they ordered their own tribesmen's soldiers and horses to run as fast as they could.

There were three or four thousand men from the small tribe who could return to the castle with Lord Duchamp, and as soon as they left, there were only seven thousand men left in the castle. His Excellency Duchamp summoned the general of this core force and told him about his plan for the future, "We will withdraw from here, and if the Greeks continue to pursue, I will send someone to lead the Greeks around the mountains." The rest of the men went west and grabbed the city of Venice. ”

Most of the generals were discouraged, and they lost two battles in a row, still under the strength of both sides. The Greeks, who had come from afar, fought head-on in a dignified manner, while the Serbs, in addition to frontal combat, took advantage of their geographical familiarity to send flank troops. I didn't expect to be able to defeat the Greeks by all means. This was a serious blow to the self-confidence of the Serbs.

Looking at his eggplant-like subordinates, His Excellency Duchamp said confidently: "Have you forgotten that our main city is the Iron Castle, not here. This castle was originally built by the Greeks, and they gave up on it themselves without us even attacking it. It is impossible for the Greeks to stay here for a long time, and when their brigade withdraws to Greece, we can send troops to retake this place. ”

If it weren't for the previous failures, this idea of 'saving the land and losing people' should have been strongly supported by the generals. Even in the event of defeat, no general asked to hold on here. The Serbian army soon began to prepare for a full-scale retreat.

The small tribes who left early did not have a chance to get their hands on the food stockpile, which is why they were sent away in the first place. Lord Dušan ordered his troops to pack up all their supplies and evacuate the city before the main forces of the Eastern Roman army arrived. The main forces of the Eastern Romans did not adopt aggressive tactics after they arrived at the city, and General Ulysses adopted a steady tactic, first establishing a camp outside the city. This gave Duchamp more time to take all the supplies in the castle with him, and at night, Duchamp sent his troops to harass the main force of the Eastern Roman army, and led his troops out of the castle.

During the day the next day, the Eastern Roman army also discovered the problem. Entering the empty city, some cheered, others looked uneasy. At the military meeting, the Great Song Teaching Team expressed concern. The castle is strategically important, located on the line of communication between East and West Rome. However, it was more than a thousand miles from Constantinople, the capital of Eastern Rome, and sending troops to garrison it required a large supply. There is a lot of logistical pressure.

The eunuch's face darkened, and he was thinking about how to write an enthusiastic report that would make the Eastern Roman court feel the joy of seizing important places. I didn't expect the Great Song Teaching Team to be so puzzled and ask such a sharp question. That is to say, it is better to wait for the good news to return to Constantinople and the emperor to issue a commendation order. Can't there even be a brief time to indulge in the joy of victory?

The men of the teaching team did not notice the expression of the eunuch, but looked at General Ulysses, the commander of the expeditionary force. But even if they saw it, they probably wouldn't care about the thoughts of the eunuchs of the Jianjun Army. The years when these science and engineering men grew up were the years of the rise of the Great Song Dynasty, and what they heard and learned was that the Great Song Dynasty won one victory to another, stepping on the foundation in front of them without tolerance.

Pause, hesitation, complacency, these are all negative words. Forward and progressive is the mainstream of the Great Song Dynasty. From this standpoint, the recapture of a castle is only a small stage in the long journey.

General Ulysses replied in a deep voice: "Logistics is a problem, and it takes time to make a map. This year, we can only launch a tentative attack, so you don't need to rush. Speaking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Hehe, I originally thought that 20,000 troops plus Western Roman reinforcements could be completed, but now I look at the number of standing armies of the empire needs to reach 100,000 or even more." ”

The polytechnic men immediately fell silent. General Ulysses' words were like a scoop of cold water, which cooled their somewhat agitated emotions. The general's opinion is very reasonable, the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire is very mountainous, and it is too difficult to stay in the mountains for a long time.

Listening to this conversation, the eunuch of the prison army did not understand for a moment in his heart. However, he could understand the words of letting the empire increase the standing army, so a lot of emotions were aroused in the eunuch's heart. The centuries-old history of Eastern Rome is a history of betrayal and coup d'état. Every general with power is a reserve army of traitors. Even though the Eastern Roman Emperor now trusted General Ulysses, the general's words made him look ill-intentioned.

The participants had different ideas and opinions, but none of them said it. The military meetings were all about military matters, and General Ulysses asked what the Great Song would do in the face of such a situation.

The Great Song solution's view was very similar to that of General Ulysses, taking the Yinshan Theater as an example. The Great Song Dynasty established an army north of Yinshan and regularly exterminated them. If the Eastern Roman Empire wanted to solve the Balkans, it seemed that there was no more effective way. And along the way, everyone saw the terrain of the Balkans, which is not without basins, but is cut by mountain ranges. In contrast, the Yanshan Yinshan Mountains of the Great Song Dynasty are more passable.

At the end of the meeting, nothing was discussed. The members of the Great Song Teaching Team held a small meeting of their own, and the result was that General Ulysses was a very stable general, and he used his advantage to achieve victory. This is good in areas where it is easier to deploy force, but it may not be appropriate in such mountainous areas. The mountainous areas are not suitable for tens of thousands of people to fight, and can only be fought by a smaller number of small troops.

What is needed is accurate maps, a competent team, and a guide who is familiar with the local situation. The Eastern Roman Expeditionary Force did not occupy any of them. After discussing such a result, the men of science and engineering were a little disappointed. They hadn't thought of that before they went to war.

The vice-captain asked: "Is it too difficult to maintain a garrison of 20,000 people for a long time for the current Eastern Rome?" ”

The captain nodded. The Northern Theater of the Great Song Dynasty was tens of thousands of miles, and the total strength of the most elite Northern Military Region was less than 300,000. The combat effectiveness of the Great Song army was about five times that of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the pressure to maintain an army of 20,000 in this remote mountainous area was too great.

"How dangerous is the pursuit into the mountains?" Sima Rong asked.

The vice-captain replied: "It's not dangerous, it's unguardable." The fact that the barbarians retreated so decisively shows that their leader has a brain. Our Great Song Dynasty has been sweeping the north for more than ten years, and we have not reaped all the benefits until now. Even if the Eastern Romans did this, it would take more than ten years. In the event of a bad harvest, the troops stationed in the mountains had to be reduced. That's when the barbarians were given a chance. ”

The young polytechnic men looked even more depressed, and the captain smiled, "It's good that you can learn from this." A lot of times it's not like you can do whatever you want. I think General Ulysses is a good general. ”

This answer has been recognized by everyone, and it can give full play to the strength in your hands to the level it should have, which is as it should be from the formula, but it is precisely the most difficult in actual operation. If it was the men of science and engineering who led the troops, they would have already begun to do what they wanted at this time.

After such a discussion, the Great Song Teaching Team eliminated the idea of being rash. Everyone began to hope that the Western Roman Empire would be able to send troops to help. There is no way to wipe out the barbarians in one fell swoop, at least to deal a heavy blow to them, so that they cannot threaten the lines of communication for a short time.

After Boyan received the news, his first feeling was that he didn't want to send troops. However, Princess Mary was very interested in this, and summoned up the courage to speak to Boyan. The eagerness of his wife can be understood, as the highest power, who doesn't want to solve the problem once and for all. So Boyan patiently explained to Princess Maria.

Trade between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires did not rely on land, but by sea. The fleet of the Great Song Europa Province dominates the Eastern Mediterranean, which is both a threat and a guarantee. The Western Roman Empire had just been founded, and where was there so much spare money to send troops on expeditions.

What's more, now that the Eastern Roman army has just won the victory, it is better for them to solve the problems faced by the Eastern Roman Empire at this time. If the situation changed, the Western Roman Empire would send troops to help.

Even though she knew that her husband's words were correct, Princess Maria struggled to shift her thinking to the interests of the Western Roman Empire. For her, her hometown was not Rome, but Constantinople. The reason why the Eastern Roman Empire was able to remain in a state of obedience in the past was because the Eastern Roman Empire was useless except for help. This time, the Eastern Roman Empire finally showed enough ability, and Princess Maria unconsciously wanted to help.

As soon as the mood was settled, new information reached the city of Rome. This is something that happened countless times, the nobles of Eastern Rome carried out an assassination attempt on the Eastern Roman Emperor, the emperor was not injured, but the Patriarch of the Eastern Roman Empire, who attended the meeting, was hit by an arrow in the knee. The assassin smeared poison on the arrows, and the Patriarch's fate was uncertain. The civil war in Eastern Rome broke out again.

Two days before Princess Maria, the news also reached General Ulysses. The eunuch immediately demanded that General Ulysses return to help the emperor suppress the rebellion. General Ulysses did not immediately agree.

Seeing that the general was like this, the eunuch was furious and shouted, "Ulysses, are you going to rebel?" ”

Before he could make such an answer, Ulysses had already guessed that the eunuch would question him like this. He replied in a deep voice: "We have already made plans before this expedition, and there is a plan to deal with such a situation. If the emperor orders me to be summoned, of course I will. But His Majesty the Emperor did not decree that there were 8,000 Janissaries in Constantinople, and more than 10,000 temporary troops could be raised, do you think that the traitors could take Constantinople. ”

The eunuch's face turned red, but he was not angry again. He had also attended military meetings and knew that General Ulysses was right. In the agreement before sending troops, whether to return to the army or not depends entirely on the emperor's intentions. If His Majesty the Emperor thinks there is danger, he can give an order. If the Emperor did not see a threat to the rebels, General Ulysses continued his crusade against the local barbarians in the Serbian region.

Although this consideration is correct, eunuchs are different from generals. Generals are promoted, and their ability is valued while ensuring basic loyalty. Whether the eunuchs could be recognized by the emperor or not depended entirely on whether they could be loyal to the emperor's dispatch. If there is no response at this time, what will the emperor think?