News about Rostislav's mobilization quickly spread across the Black Sea. Such a large-scale mobilization could not be hidden from anyone, so Rostislav had no intention of hiding it.
As the merchant ships traveling to and from various places spread the information, soon the entire Black Sea coast knew about the war, and most people's reactions were very dull. This land has been tortured by the war for some time, and everyone has long been aware of the news of the war.
It calmed down.
But some people took action upon hearing the news, such as those warlords and careerists.
But what everyone doesn't know is that in fact, the first person to know the news was not the princes in the imperial capital, but an exiled Rurik in the Caucasus.
Receive information from there.
"Really? My relative wants to attack the imperial capital. He has come to this point. It seems that I can't relax anymore."
Vladimir Vsevolodovich, known as Monomakh, took the letter from Trabzon and his tone was full of exclamations. Fortunately, his career was getting more and more prosperous.
Monomach is located in a busy siege camp. Barriers and trenches have surrounded the entire city. Soldiers are busy everywhere. Arrows fly by from time to time. You come and I go.
And between the various fortifications and trenches are corpses, all from guys who don't have a good eye to run around. In such a fierce confrontation, running to the open space rashly is courting death.
However, the defenders were not much better. Many places on the city wall became pitted and pitted, which were all the work of trebuchets outside the city.
As the leader of the army, Monomach is located in a fully protected bunker. Even if it is hit by a trebuchet in the city, it cannot be destroyed, let alone those arrows.
For this reason, the siege team's projection camp was nearby, and the tractor trebuchets were working non-stop, throwing stones into the city and letting the stones roar above everyone's heads.
"Yes, Lord Oleg said that although Rostislav said that he intended to be in the imperial capital, he is also likely to come to Trabzon, so he strengthened the coastal defense, but Lord Oleg thought that the strength in his hands was still insufficient, so
Send me to ask for your help."
The Greek said in a neither humble nor overbearing manner, with a hard-to-find contempt in his eyes. Monomach knew this man. He was Oleg's in-law. He should be grateful for this status. If not, Monomach would have turned his eyes to
The seeds were dug out.
This is the biggest change in Monomakh in the past few years of the melee in Georgia, that is, he does not hesitate to use various tortures. As an alien ruler in a chaotic place, Monomakh finally used fear as the key to stable rule.
The primary tool.
For a military adventurer, ruling with fear is the most effective, but the backlash after fear is exposed is also very terrifying. But now he only has this choice. If not, how can he squeeze all the power in the territory to carry out his conquest?
.
"Tell Mr. Oleg that I am now at the critical stage of attacking Sylvan. The siege camp cannot be short of people, but I have recently won over several Turkic tribes. I will send them there. This is my only right now.
You can mobilize your strength."
Monomakh scratched his head. In fact, he didn't think Rostislav would lead such a large army here. After all, it would be too wasteful to use such an army to attack them.
But you have to take precautions before they happen, and Trabzon's defense still needs to be strengthened - even if you actually know that it is useless, it is still worth it if you can chip a few of that guy's teeth.
After hearing the word "Turk", Monomach suddenly noticed a look of disgust appearing in the corners of the eyes of the guy in front of him.
The Greeks did not like Turks, Monomakh knew that, but making such an expression in front of him made the prince very unhappy. For some reason, Monomakh had an even stronger desire to dig out this man's eyes.
"Yes, I understand, I will tell Mr. Oleg this way."
And the Greek seemed to have noticed Monomach's displeasure, and said goodbye in a sensible way. He was arrogant but not stupid.
"It's quite smart. If you don't let it continue like this, I can't guarantee whether I can hold it back."
Looking at the man leaving, Monomach said in a calm tone. Although it was plain, the murderous intention in it could not be hidden at all. It must be that he felt the change in Monomach's mood, so that person would choose to leave so decisively.
Bar.
"Lord Monomach, Lord Radko recently defeated a group of Persians. They seemed to be planning to come for reinforcements and captured a lot of prisoners, about three hundred. Should we still organize them into military slave camps according to the old rules?
"
Then a Norman came in, and Monomach knew that face. He had been in Russell's army during Russell's rebellion. He was the first Norman to join him, and now he became a Norman in the army.
's leader.
"No, let them spit on the book. If they are willing, they will work as hard labor. If they are not willing, then cut off their heads and limbs and throw them into the city."
Monomach gave a cold order, and the Normans were not surprised. As military adventurers, such things are also basic operations for them, but this one is rarely used by Norman standards.
The torture lord has done this, so it seems that he has really lost patience with the siege.
Since Monomakh settled in Kakheti, in the next few years, all his energy was devoted to the war with the Shirvan Emir.
At the beginning, it was the Emir who took the offensive. This Emir wanted to take back the land taken away by Monomakh, but he encountered obstacles one after another. Monomakh showed his powerful art of war.
Compared to the Emir's army, which was constantly losing troops, Monomach's reputation allowed adventurers from all over the country to continuously come to replenish his army, and with its more victories, more people were attracted.
The balance of the war quietly changed. Unknowingly, the Shirvan Emir Kingdom was retreating steadily under Monomakh's offensive and continued to lose land.
With each piece of land obtained from the Emir Kingdom, Monomach would clear out all the original Emir supporters on the land, and then disperse the mercenaries and adventurers who followed him from all directions as lords in the local area.
Monomakh's reputation is now one of the most resounding in the entire Transcaucasus region. The blood of the emperor that he once disdained gave him a huge bonus.
It is one thing to be a desperate adventurer from Rus, but it is another thing to be a victorious adventurer with the blood of a Roman emperor. The latter naturally has a huge influence on this land.
Greeks, Georgians, Armenians, Turks, Persians... and many other ethnic groups in the mountains came to defect to him. The steady stream of defectors made Monomakh's army more and more powerful. The ethnic groups under his command
There are more and more.
The Shirvan Emir State rules a fertile land, and its agriculture, animal husbandry, and business are among the richest in the entire Caucasus. This land is an important reason for attracting people.
The rich land was quickly allocated. If you want the land, you need to expand. Monomach can be said to be invincible in a series of wars, so people came one after another.
In this way, Shirvan Emir was forced to his capital, the city on the Caspian Sea (over Baku).
His territory has been completely lost. Monomach's army of mercenaries and adventurers have occupied these areas, and now they are still cleaning up the local forces in an orderly manner.
The emir could only stay in this city and write letters to everyone he knew, but the reinforcements he expected would not come at all. In the previous month, Monomach had already offered to support the emir.
All the forces were defeated.
"Yes, I understand, I'll go right away."
Returning to Monomach, the Norman answered the order in the loudest of his voices, and then ran out to convey the orders of his leader.
And as screams rang out, Monomach's mood improved a lot, and then he said to himself, "Let's attack tomorrow and end this damn game. Sylvain will be mine immediately."