The war in the distance was raging, but in the imperial capital, Rostislav left the city and returned with an extremely large gold and silver holy relic and a treaty of privileges.
For Rostislav, the story in the imperial capital is over. The next thing to do is to return to Kiev and think carefully about how to spend the money. More funds can be invested in some long-term affairs.
The story of the Imperial City will not end with the departure of Rostislav. On the contrary, as the Grand Duke of Kiev, a player like a dragon crossing the river, returns home, all parties have become active, and various conspiracies and battles have begun.
There are more.
In comparison, Rostislav's team had fewer people, roughly four to five thousand people. The reason why these people did not leave was simple. They were going to work as mercenaries for Alexios.
During Rostislav's expedition, there were always various people who were dissatisfied with their gains. These people either came too late and failed to get the spoils, or they got too little and felt that it was too hard to go back like this.
Price drops, or simply wanting more wealth and glory.
So they responded to Rostislav's call, took a sum of money from the Grand Duke of Russia, and then became mercenaries of the Greek emperor.
Alexios filled the annihilated Varangian Guard with these northerners and rebuilt this legendary army.
The gold and silver swords and axes stained with blood now have new owners. For a while, northern soldiers wearing shining golden armor can be seen everywhere. Unfortunately, compared with the Varangian guards of the past, these barbarian soldiers are still too green, but
This is the best power he can get.
For Alexios, this force is undoubtedly a glass of water in the desert. Now the emperor counts the troops in his hands and finds that the reliable troops he can rely on are less than 10,000. Among these less than 10,000 troops, there are still
There are many farmers who are not reliable on the battlefield, so he needs soldiers.
At this time, Rostislav's people were added in accordance with the agreement. This was the greatest help to him. Now the most important thing is to recruit more people.
For this reason, he also ceded some Anatolian towns in exchange for a Turkic cavalry. Now the suburbs of the imperial capital are filled with those smelly herdsmen. However, although they are smelly, the combat effectiveness of these people is still worthy of attention.
.
There was only one reason why he was so hasty in gathering troops everywhere, and that was the powerful threat from Robert Guiscard.
The foxes of the Hauteville family have been eyeing the throne of Constantinople for a long time. The Normans who conquered southern Italy and Sicily have been preparing for three years to unleash their wrath on the land of the Greeks.
Robert Guiscard himself planned to capture Constantinople and start a greater conquest.
The western borders of the Eastern Empire were already on fire, and the Norman conquerors had occupied many landing grounds, enough to allow their armies to land smoothly.
And such news did come quickly. Robert Guiscard's 30,000 troops had crossed the strait, but Alexios was busy with affairs in Constantinople and could not get out at all.
He could only mobilize all the forces he could muster with one hand, and with the other hand, he dealt with the Normans' Western enemies, such as Venice and Emperor Henry, who had always been enemies of the Normans.
Alexios used trade privileges as a bargaining chip in exchange for the Venetian fleet to encircle and suppress the Norman navy. Unfortunately, although they successfully destroyed the weak Norman fleet, there was nothing they could do about the 30,000 Norman troops on the shore.
No.
Robert Guiscard was not interested in the news that the fleet had been annihilated, and it did not affect him in any way. For this conqueror king, the fleet was only used to transport supplies and soldiers across the strait. Now that the army has arrived
If they have no purpose, then they have lost their effect.
As for supplies, just harvest them from the Greek lands.
He continued to seize the siege of Durachion. As long as he captured this city, he could follow the ancient but well-maintained Roman road directly to Thessaloniki. When he arrived in Thessaloniki, then the next step
It's Constantinople.
Therefore, the key to Durachion's position can be seen. It was precisely because of Robert's siege of this city that he won Alexius's four-sided maneuver, desperately gathering troops, and desperately trying to find a way to contain the enemy.
As an important city wall, Durachion's defenses were strong enough, so it persisted for a long time under the siege of the Normans, until the emperor raised troops to come to the rescue.
In October 1081, Alexios, who had finally dealt with a series of affairs in Constantinople and the empire, finally raised his troops to solve the city called Durachion. The emperor's troops soon arrived in Cyprus.
Salonica, they received the emperor in the second largest city in the empire, and gained more troops along the way.
When Alexios's army came to Turachion along the Roman road, the emperor's army had reached 20,000 people, and was not at all inferior to the Norman army that had been besieging Turachion for a long time.
The mature generals dissuaded the emperor from rashly challenging Norman and should adopt a more prudent strategy, but the young people had a completely different attitude. They advocated immediate attack, continuous attacks, and glorifying the Roman Empire with the blood of the enemy.
The military flag washed away the shame of the empire over the years.
There is no doubt that the latter view convinced the emperor and allowed him to challenge the Norman. In his opinion, this Robert Guiscard would definitely want to be his defeat like Russell. This would definitely be the case.
of!
"Retreat! Retreat! Your Majesty, let us retreat quickly!"
The current captain of the Varangian Guards, Volorida Rostislavich, is holding the emperor's horse. There are Varangian guards everywhere around them, and they are desperately resisting the Normans coming like a tide.
people.
Vinege stood beside him with his shield raised, alert to the arrows in all directions. Volorida seemed to think that this was completely unnecessary, but Vinege didn't think so.
"This is not true, this is not true."
Alexios looked around blankly, watching the Norman cavalry easily tear through the Roman army's line, and watching the armies rout. It was difficult for him to accept that the army he had prepared for so long was actually defeated by the barbarian cavalry.
They collapsed under the gun, and now the most effective imperial troops on the battlefield are actually these Varangian mercenaries!
The Roman army could not stop the lance charges of the Norman knights. In the rounds of charges, the lines of the imperial army became more and more sparse, people became more and more fearful, and the battle situation became more and more unfavorable.
Volorida licked the blood at the corner of her mouth, which was dripping from her helmet. Although there was chaos on all sides and the situation was getting more and more unfavorable for them, from the bottom of her heart, the Prince of Ross felt stimulated.
, feeling satisfied.
Isn't that why he stayed in the south to work as a mercenary?
Prince Ross likes this kind of scene, and the more it is like this, the more it motivates him. It is precisely because of this that he led his guards to kill through the entire battlefield, and the army that was originally divided and surrounded regained a new lease of life.
"Your Majesty, leave quickly. The Turks have already escaped. The situation will really get worse next."
Although Volorida is very fanatical about the battlefield, he still has some sense on the battlefield.
The important thing now is to let the emperor retreat. Now that even the Turks who have been working hard have fled, the next collapse is inevitable.
As for the Varangian comeback, it was simply impossible. They were able to hold off so many rounds of Norman knight charges only because a lot of Anglo-Saxons had recently been recruited into the team, and these people were very good at dealing with the Norman cavalry.
Their leader was called Edgar, um, the one from Wessex, and he eventually ended up in exile.
"Then, retreat."
Alexios said feebly that although the emperor did not want to believe what was happening before him, he would still accept the reality. He could not change the defeat even if he entered the battle. If the Varangian Guards had not come back forcefully, the battle would have collapsed long ago.
Well, now is the time to run away.
Following the emperor's order, everyone immediately began to fight and retreat, heading east. However, the Normans would not let them retreat so easily. These conquerors on horseback launched more attacks on the Greeks.
impact.
It was destined that the Greeks' retreat would be a road of death.