"Really? Did that Nikephorus say that? Tsk, a little surprised, but not too surprised."
Three hours after Leo's audience with Emperor Nicephorus, the former Greek bureaucrat returned to camp and informed Rostislav of his results.
The Emperor Nikephoros was not friendly to Rostislav's envoy, and was even rude, but even so, this was better than the treatment Alexios' envoy received. Last time Alexios's envoy was directly attacked.
Hang.
Rostislav was not surprised by this attitude. If he were Nikephorus, he would definitely not be in a good mood. He finally managed to kill the rebels outside the city, but the Russians suddenly appeared, especially
It was the envoy of the evil chief Ross who still refused his solicitation.
"Yes, that's what he said." Leo said. Although he has always been known for controlling his emotions, the expression on his face was still a little ugly when he thought of the emperor's dirty words. "In addition, the situation in the city is also
Indeed, as you have gathered before, it is very unstable, it is a big fire barrel, people are suppressing their emotions, and it only needs a small flame to ignite it.”
"And it seems that our emperor's friend can indeed do something. So, Leo, did you take the letter out? Has anyone discovered it?"
"As a person who has worked in Constantinople for so long, I will naturally not show my feet on this. My Grand Duke. The letter has been sent out according to the agreed method. Under the noses of those people, they
I would never have imagined that the person who looked at the loyal nobleman was Alexios."
"In that case, let's just wait. Leo, please step aside and take a rest before taking over your new job. It will be up to you to deal with the Greeks afterwards."
"This is my responsibility, Grand Duke."
Leo spoke to Rostislav respectfully, and then withdrew even more respectfully.
As for Rostislav, he took out a book, which was a border literature from the Eastern Empire. He wanted to read it to pass the time. Everything was planned, and he just had to wait.
Suddenly, Rostislav heard a cheer from outside the tent. Grand Duke Rus was stunned for a moment, but after a while he picked up his book again, because the reason for the cheer was the officer Rostislav sent to sail on dry land.
The fleet has successfully arrived in the Golden Horn.
This was an expected thing, so Rostislav didn't care at all. The role of that team was only to attract the attention of the defenders, and at the same time it also affected the public opinion behind the city wall - this was a more important thing.
The citizens of Constantinople were dissatisfied with the status quo. They did not understand military affairs and could not understand some things at all, so it was easy for these people to act blindly.
Moreover, Alexios and Rostislav also had a back-up, that is, Constantinople had an extremely complete underground water system, and in these waterways, there were ways to get to the city.
Of course, if no one cooperates, walking through the sewers will lead to death, but Alexios has many friends in the city...
That day came very quickly. Just three days later, the Greek-Russian coalition forces set up a battle formation under the tall city wall of Constantinople, and the defenders were also ready to receive the attack.
Rostislav rode through a group of heavily armed spearmen. Tall siege towers and sturdy ramming vehicles were being pushed forward by the soldiers. Naturally, ladder trucks were also among them, and there were more of them.
Countless shouts filled the sky, advancing siege engines were everywhere, war horns were constantly sounding, and cavalry were running around conveying various orders.
The soldiers who did not need to guard these siege engines went safely under the city wall along the trenches that had been dug and covered.
There, the attackers had set up a large number of barriers as shelter for soldiers to move and shoot.
"Your Majesty Alexios, when will your men be able to take action? I don't want my boys to suffer too much loss."
Rostislav came to Alexios. The emperor was observing the battle situation, and a force with purple flags was advancing in an orderly manner in front of him.
Rostislav came at the wrong time, because at that moment, a huge stone hit them near them, causing people to fall over. However, the two monarchs remained calm. For them, this was just a small scene.
"Don't be too anxious, Lord Rostislav. If you want to enjoy wonderful rewards, you always have to pay a price, right? And our actions are related to the real killing move."
Alexios's words were full of indifference to life, but Rostislav did not reject such emotions. After all, he was also a person who was deeply versed in this way.
However, knowing that his offensive was only to contain and divert attention, Rostislav still did not want too many people to die, but as Alexios said, the play must be fully acted.
"Pay the price, too. Nothing can be obtained without paying a human life."
Rostislav watched as a siege tower collapsed after being hit by stones, and the soldiers on top were sprinkled down like a broken bag of rice. There were deaths and wailing everywhere.
Many troops suffered a lot of losses before they even touched the walls of Constantinople. After launching a full-scale offensive, Rostislav was able to truly realize the strong defensive power of this city.
"Speaking of which, Mr. Rostislav, you are so bold that you actually let your son go into the sewer."
Alexios stirred up a new topic. Anyway, there was nothing to see on the battlefield, just watching the army struggle under the solid defense of Constantinople.
"A child always needs experience. Only after experiencing enough experience can he become a true ruler."
Rostislav responded firmly, anyway, this is a path that has been determined, and there are still people to take it, so his son is actually not in great danger, there is no need to worry about this at all, it is better to give him a good test.
While the two were talking, the siege tower finally set up the city wall. Countless Greco-Russian soldiers rushed to the city wall and fought with the defenders above. For a while, they had the upper hand, and the defenders left many corpses behind.
, the flag belonging to the attacker was raised.
But the advantage soon ended.
The situation quickly became difficult for the attackers. After they occupied a section of the wall, they immediately had to face attacks from arrows, ballistae and trebuchets from the second and third levels.
Most of the people were caught off guard. They did not expect that such an encounter would happen again. They suffered heavy casualties. Rostislav saw several spearmen being set up as sieves.
Under the rain of arrows, many people were forced to retreat from the city wall again, while others rushed towards the towers and stairs. Towers often had a large number of defenders and were very difficult to attack.
As for the stairs, even after going down the stairs, the next thing they face is the high wall on the second floor.
In this way, wherever the siege party gains an advantage, they will be forced to retreat under such a blow, and the defenders will use this to come back and occupy the position again.
"This is ugly."
Rostislav sighed. This was the first time he had fought such an ugly siege. The troops only swayed on the first level of the city wall and were then driven down. Constantinople's defense was truly well-deserved.
"That's why the empire can still stand today, the walls protect Constantinople, protect its heart... But for those of us who have to attack it, this is disgusting."
Alexios lamented quite a bit, and he still regretted the loss of that opportunity. If it hadn't been like this, he wouldn't have had to attack the walls of Constantinople, and he wouldn't have had to give the Russians so many conditions.
"We can only hope that our plan will succeed. With our current strength, we will definitely not be able to defeat this wall. I really hope to hear news about its early success."
Rostislav murmured, he really wanted to end this unnecessary mincing of meat as soon as possible.