The news of the victory reached Trebizond. This was undoubtedly good news for all Romans. On the one hand, it boosted the morale of all Romans. On the other hand, it also warned the Turks and proved to these pagans.

The Romans were not yet at the end of their rope.

Alexius recruited some prisoners to replenish his troops.

This is not difficult to understand. First, many of the captives were native Romans. They just stood on the wrong team or changed their beliefs. It only took some "ideological education" to make them change their stance and join the Trabis.

At the same time, they can also play a vital role in the subsequent internal unification war. (For example, they can persuade their fellow countrymen to side with Alexius.)

Second, Trebizond lacks soldiers. The reason for this has been mentioned before. These prisoners have participated in battles, and they are regular professional soldiers with their own weapons and equipment, so they can "transfuse blood" for the front line.

, alleviate the problem of soldier shortage.

For those pagans, such as the Turks who converted to Islam, except for the most heinous crimes (such as massacre of civilians), Alexius would find a way to hire them and fight for Trebizond instead.

What mercenaries want is money, and Alexius now has money but no soldiers, so it is not difficult to get these mercenaries to work for Alexius.

In the end, most of the two thousand prisoners chose to join the Komnenos army, and the rest were released home, but Alexius confiscated the weapons and equipment of these people and distributed them to those who lacked weapons and armor.

Soldier.

(No medieval field army could maintain a large number of prisoners. Generally, men of status would be pursued and imprisoned, while most ordinary soldiers, whether they escaped or were captured and then captured, were

Those that are released will retreat piecemeal towards camps or military bases, and reorganize as much as possible due to lack of equipment and supplies. Here, due to pressure from troop sources, they choose to store them.)

After this war, the Komnenos army stationed in Pavlagonia increased to nearly 4,000 men, of which more than 2,000 men could be directly mobilized.

Alexius' current total strength is close to 6,000 men.

So far, the Comnenus regime that occupies Trebizond is already the most likely force to rebuild the Roman Empire. It has the largest military force among the three major exile forces, has a healthy internal affairs, and has the power of Trebizond.

With huge trade income, the Turkic invasion was defeated, and the biggest threat was temporarily relieved.

The day of unifying Western Asia Minor is not far away.

Alexios's condition was getting better day by day, but that of Laskaris was deteriorating rapidly.

In mid-January 1205, Abydos, the Nicaean army stationed in Abydos lost two battles in Boimanenon and Bursa, losing the important town of Adramition.

Most of Abydos fell.

The remaining defeated soldiers fled to the plains and hilly areas of Sibithynia.

In order to establish military prestige, some of the deserters will be severely punished.

One night in late January, under the watchful eyes of thousands of civilians, dozens of deserters who were leading the escape were escorted to the central square of Nicaea. The people scolded these deserters and threw stones and eggs at them.

Citizens even poured buckets of urine on them.

In the Roman Empire, discipline was the most basic element of an army. All military manuals spent a lot of space discussing military regulations and punishments. Ignoring orders from superiors, disobeying orders, escaping from battle, and leaking military plans and town conditions to the enemy and other treasonous acts

.In addition, there are theft, loss or unauthorized disposal of equipment and livestock, abandoned equipment and illegal embezzlement of public property, such as taxes, military levies and compensation subsidies.

According to the regulations of the empire, the long-standing method of dealing with soldiers or officers who desert or rebel is the death penalty. For troops who defect collectively, the law of eleven has even been used. (Every ten people are drawn by lot, and the winner is drawn.

One lucky person will be beaten to death by nine other comrades.)

That night, the central square of Nicaea was filled with the smell of blood. The deserters were stripped naked, walked to the gallows one by one in full view of the public, and were immediately hanged.

According to the regulations of the Laskaris army, the higher the rank of the deserter, the more cruel the death penalty will be. Compared with ordinary soldiers who are hanged, what follows is truly cruel.

Soon, seven officers with the highest rank were escorted here. The people responsible for handling them were Varangian warriors, and they were also specially selected Vikings who originally lived in Northern Europe.

The punishment executed on the seven officers was called "Blood Eagle Punishment" - a torture invented by the Nordics.

This kind of punishment involves making two incisions on the victim's back near the chest along both sides of the spine, then breaking the ribs, and finally using both hands to pull the victim's lungs out of the chest.

You must know that when the lung lobes leave the chest cavity, the lungs will contract rapidly under pressure, and the victim will die from suffocation.

Because of the two lung lobes protruding from the back, it looks like contracted wings.

The first officer died in pain, and the remaining six collapsed to the ground in fear. Some civilians turned pale with fear, and some even vomited, but the executions continued.

The second officer also died in pain. One officer, who had not yet been executed this way, even bit off his own tongue in order to relieve the pain and hit his head on the gallows nearby.

About an hour later, six of the seven people were executed with the "Blood Eagle Punishment" and one committed suicide.

After the soldier who took the lead in escaping was dealt with, the remaining deserters received lighter punishments. The punishment was usually carried out by the immediate superior of the violator. In certain circumstances, the commander of the soldiers would also be punished, such as when his soldiers were

His weapons and armor were wasted while on leave. The actual number of whippings may be based on convention, or may depend on the preference of the commander. Usually the punishment will not be too harsh, otherwise it will demoralize the soldiers and even cause dissatisfaction among the soldiers.

Financial irregularities are punishable by fines, so if a soldier illegally receives a benefit, such as the Army's winter mobile operations allowance, he must pay a fine of twice the illegal amount.

(The discipline of the Roman army is notoriously strict. It was very strict as early as the Republican period. It can be said that during the Octavian period, if the soldiers of a Roman legion dared to shout at will, this legion would probably be

Execute eleven draws; during the Dongluo period, although they were not as strict as their ancestors, compared to the barbarians in Western Europe, the Dongluo army still maintained extremely high discipline.)

As of February 1st, Abydos and most of Bithynia had fallen. Just when the Latin army was planning to attack the fertile areas of the West Bithynia plain from the east and west at the same time, turmoil suddenly broke out in Adrianople.
Chapter completed!