Hearing this, John II slapped his thigh hard, "Song Jun must have killed a carbine, yes, it is what you call a carbine. Monomach must have been unprepared."
Aksukh smiled and waited for John II to finish speaking. He bowed slightly respectfully and complimented: "Your Majesty is right. The Song army took advantage of the arrival of winter and when the Dnieper River was frozen, rushed to the west bank and surrounded Jifu.
city."
"Monomach was shocked and quickly sent an envoy to ask for help from the Principality of Poland, Lithuanians, Latvians and Prussians. The Grand Duke Boleslaw III of Poland sent 7,000 reinforcements, and others came one after another.
Thirteen thousand reinforcements. The Song Army patiently surrounded Jifu City, forcing the surrounding people to dig trenches and assume a long-term siege. After one winter, just as spring was about to arrive, the Song Army suddenly launched an attack
, they set up a giant trebuchet, smashed through the northern wall of Jifu City, and rushed into Jifu City."
"The Russians and Polish reinforcements fought desperately in the streets, but were quickly driven out of the city by the Song army with fire. In the open fields outside the city, the Russians, Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians and Prussians,
Chased by the Song Army cavalry, they were shot like a group of rabbits. Many people jumped into the Dnieper River that had just been unblocked in despair."
There was silence on the balcony, and the sunlight cast a series of haloes of light on the heads of the four people. The wind in the Aegean Sea was still so quiet and moist.
Kyiv City, the most important city of the Russians and the center of their rule. It has stood for five hundred years and is located at the intersection of three important trade routes. It is known as the imperial city on the Dnieper River. Now it is occupied by people from thousands of miles away.
The Song army captured.
This news shocked John II.
His gaze was deep, crossing the sparkling Aegean Sea and looking into the distance. From this direction, the city of Jifu, located northwest of Constantinople, could not be seen, but he could see other cities rising in the sky in different historical periods.
The fall of black smoke.
"Did the Song people take advantage of their victory to invade the Principality of Poland?" Queen Yin Linna asked hopefully.
"No, Your Highness the Queen. The Song army just sent a Ningxia Marquis to lead a party army to pursue westward. I heard that they had captured Inskoros and were following the defeated Polish and Russian troops to pursue westward. Poland's Supreme Grand Duke Bo
Leslaw III quickly summoned the nobles of the Principality of Poland and reached a temporary agreement to send troops to Brest for defense, hoping to keep the Song army outside the Principality of Poland."
John II heard something else in the words, "John, the Song army just sent the Marquis of Ningxia, a nobleman, to lead an army to the west. Where is their main force?"
"Your Majesty is really wise and wise. The Dangxiang Army of the Marquis of Ningxia is just a partial division of the Song Army, used to contain the Russian and Polish troops. Their main force crossed the Dnieper River, returned to the east bank, and then marched toward the southeast. I have
According to the latest news, they should arrive in the northern part of the Sea of Azov."
John II felt very strange, "John, what is the Song army going to do? How many people are there in their main force?"
"About 70,000 cavalry."
….
"John, you said the Song army was marching so weirdly, why? Sea of Azov, what's there? Do they want to cross the sea to Constantinople?"
Having said this, John II suddenly stood up, looking a little nervous and complicated, and walked around on the balcony.
Yin Linna kept making the sign of the cross on her chest and murmured: "Jesus Christ, bless Constantinople."
Aksukh advised: "Your Majesty, don't worry. There are not so many ships in the Azov Sea, including the Black Sea, that can carry this army."
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"So what is this army doing? Are they going back home? If they are going back, they will go directly to the Volga and Ural rivers."
"Your Majesty, after crossing the Sea of Azov and crossing the Don River, we will reach the Khazar Khanate."
"Khazar Khanate, haven't these Khazars surrendered to the Song people?"
"Your Majesty, cross the Khazars
to the south, passing through the Abkhazia, and then passing through Georgia and Armenia, you can reach Asia Minor and Persia.”
John II still didn't quite understand, and looked at Aksukh with questioning eyes.
"Your Majesty, we need to wait now. If the Song army marches as I guess, it means that the Song army has begun another large-scale western expedition. And it is very likely that His Majesty the Emperor of Song State will personally lead the army."
Speaking of this, Aksuhe's voice trembled slightly.
John II stood there, staring blankly at his close friend Aksukh. He couldn't believe this was true, but these words were spoken by Aksukh, so he couldn't help but not believe it.
Aksukh knew the Song people very well, and John II was convinced of this.
"John, why do you guess that His Majesty the Emperor of Song Dynasty personally conquered it?"
"Your Majesty, the decentralization system of the Song Army is very complete. The commanders of each army are independent of each other and have a high degree of autonomy. If other generals lead the army to conquer Persia and the two rivers westward, and the northern route of the Russians to the Song Dynasty,
The military generals will not be affected. Only when His Majesty the Emperor of the Song Dynasty personally marches westward will the Song army on the northern route be transferred to the Caucasus Mountains to attack Persia and the Turks in the upper reaches of the two rivers from the flanks."
John II was silent for a while and asked: "John, what should we do?"
"Your Majesty, the biggest enemy of the Eastern Roman Empire in Asia Minor is not the Crusaders or the Seljuks, but Yin Erzasin."
When Mosul was burned to the ground by the Song army, the Seljuks retreated to Aleppo, making it an important town in the upper reaches of the two rivers.
The non-Seljuk Yin Erzasin, who came from generations of generals in the Seljuk Empire, gradually rose to prominence in Aleppo. When he was not very powerful before, he relied on serving as a minister for Christian countries such as Edessa, Tripoli, and Antioch.
Goons, fighting against other powerful local warlords in the Seljuk Empire, attacking Christian countries.
It was just that Yin Erzasin was getting more and more mature, and when he saw that Edessa, Tripoli, and Antioch had all suffered defeats at the hands of the Byzantines, he was no longer willing to be their pawn.
In June 1119, a bloody battle broke out. Ruggiero, the regent of the Principality of Antioch, was defeated, and the city of Antioch was captured by Erzasin.
Count Pons of the County of Tripoli and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem quickly sent troops for reinforcements, gathered the remaining soldiers of the Principality of Antioch led by Ruggiero, and set up formations in the Habu area for a decisive battle with Yin Erzasin.
The remnant troops of the Principality of Antioch led by Ruggiero were first annihilated. Baldwin II, who was shaken by the defeat, fled quickly. Count Pons of Tripoli managed to hold on for a long time with his army, but was finally defeated.
Since then, the Eastern Roman Empire's biggest enemy in Asia Minor has become Erzasin of Aleppo.
"John, do you mean that we send troops first to attack Aleppo and defeat Yin Erzhaxin before the Song army reaches Asia Minor?"
"Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty is leading the expedition in person. According to my understanding of him, the Song army will definitely fight all the way to Constantinople to fulfill its promise to meet with you. Your Majesty, when the two emperors meet, what they discuss must be very important.
Major matters, such as dividing the sphere of influence in this world. The Eastern Roman Empire must have cards in hand and cannot rely entirely on the Song army."
John II nodded, gratified and solemnly said: "John, you are absolutely right!"
