"The situation is getting more and more troublesome, Volorida, should we leave?"
Vasiliko couldn't help but say after another crossbow blasted the head of a Norman officer. His words were filled with anxiety. This battle was becoming more and more unfavorable to them.
Now the Normans are using the same tactics they used at Hastings to torture the Varangian Guards, which is to launch continuous attacks on the shield wall, and then quickly withdraw. Once or twice, the Russians can still hold the line, but after three or four times, those who
There are many who directly resist the knife and rush out.
And this is exactly what the Normans want. As long as someone breaks out of the line, they will be wiped out by the Normans with waves of shocks. These damn heavy knights are now using such tricks to kill Varan.
The strength of the Kyrgyz Guards was just like the Anglo-Saxons they wore down Hastings.
"If we hold on a little longer and see if it doesn't work, we'll run away!"
Volorida said, the reason for taking another look is because the Varangian Guards are not as easy to kill as the Anglo-Saxons from Hastings, and the most important thing is that there are already many experienced Anglo-Saxons in the Guards.
, they knew very well what the Normans were planning, and their presence now kept the line in order.
But just as he finished speaking, there was suddenly a sound of horse hooves galloping from the other side. This sound came from one direction. It was definitely a large group of horses in action.
Everyone looked in that direction and saw a group of extremely standard nomadic cavalry heading towards the Norman camp.
When Volorida and Vasiliko knew where the Turks had gone, they also understood Alexios's plan. At the moment they understood it, they immediately ordered their troops to counterattack the Normans immediately.
Now they have to trap these guys.
The Normans naturally wanted to rescue their camp. All the loot they had gained during this period was still in the camp, but then they realized that it was not easy to leave.
The guys who had been holding on to the front now dispersed and attacked them desperately. Many people were hooked by the northern battle ax in a daze, and then their heads were smashed.
These Normans were temporarily trapped in a dilemma. In front of them were the Turks who were heading towards their camp, and behind them were the Varangians who suddenly rushed forward fiercely. As for the main force, the main force had already chased the Greeks and disappeared. God knows what happened over there.
It's okay, we can't count on it now anyway.
And it was also by taking this opportunity that the Varangian Guards were able to defeat the Normans in front of them. The Norman lines were quickly broken. Then the Norman knights found that they did not need to worry about what to do next.
Yes, because the war situation has reached collapse.
When the Norman cavalry was fleeing, Volorida looked in the direction of the Norman camp and found that the Turks had begun their work. The Norman camp was burning and black smoke had begun to rise.
"Ah, it seems there is no need to run away in embarrassment this time."
This was the first comment uttered by the guard captain. His words were full of relief. He finally no longer had to be a long-distance running general. If this continues, he might become one of those "flying" types that his father always complained about.
General".
While the Normans who besieged the Varangian Guards were finishing, on the other side, the situation faced by Bohemond's main force pursuing the Greek army was becoming increasingly unfavorable.
Here, the battle has turned into a continuous scene, with countless small battlefields forming a large battlefield. Bohemond's troops were dragged back bit by bit and separated from the main team.
At first, Bohemond, who was in the excitement of rushing, did not notice anything amiss. He was still happy about defeating the Greek army in front of him, but he soon discovered that there were too many Greeks in front of him, and they could not defeat them at all.
Finished, defeated one wave after another.
Moreover, there are fewer and fewer people around him, and the battlefield seems to be getting bigger and bigger.
No matter what happened now, Bohemond also felt that something was strongly wrong. This tall son of a Norman conqueror had also been immersed in conquests and fighting since he was a child. There was something wrong with this situation.
Then Bohemond climbed up the hillside, wanting to see the battle situation clearly in front of him from a high place, but what he saw was a fatal blow to him. I don't know when, the number of Greeks had far exceeded that of the Norsemen.
The Normans and the Normans were divided and annihilated by them in various ways.
Some people were still shouting and fighting fiercely, completely unaware of the changes around them. They all thought that as long as the fighting continued, the Greeks would collapse as usual, but they did not know that they were now almost in despair.
The blow to Bohemond was not over yet. Next, he saw something even more deadly. Black smoke rose from his camp, and why were the Varangian guards who were not supposed to be trapped rushing here?
side?
Seeing this scene, Bohemond immediately understood that the current situation of the war was irreversible and there was no possibility of rescue. Just when he was thinking about what to do next, I don't know when, many Greek soldiers appeared in this No.
Man's side.
Their eyes were full of the desire to kill the enemy commander and gain glory, but they forgot one thing, that is, the Normans have always been beasts, conquerors who will never be satisfied.
The battle under the city of Larissa was the Eastern Empire's first victory since encountering the Norman invasion, and it was also a victory with great impact. The Norman army suffered heavy casualties, and all the spoils the Normans gained from this year's campaign have now been lost.
In the hands of Alexios.
For the emperor, the only pity was that the Norman scumbag Bohemond escaped. This guy directly killed through the three layers of soldiers deployed by the emperor and ran out of the encirclement.
But if he ran away, it would not have much impact. It was a pity that this outstanding Norman warrior could not be killed here, but this did not affect Alexios's next actions.
Next, Alexios did not continue to march to crush the Norman army. Instead, he sent envoys to spread goodwill towards the Normans.
The basis for the emperor's doing this was the huge booty in his hands and Bohemond's prestige. The Normans came here for gold and silver, and Bohemond, his illegitimate son status never caused him any trouble.
Young Master, now that he was defeated and the Greeks did not have a large army to press the border, this problem was immediately exposed.
Alexios then threw out a second bait. He told the Norman lords and knights that if possible, he could hire them to fight and provide extremely generous rewards.
This made the Normans immediately tempted. During Alexios's series of maneuvers, it was suddenly discovered that Bohemond's Norman army collapsed. As for the originally huge Normans,
The occupied areas also fell apart.
Bohemond could only run to the other side of the strait in embarrassment to find his father. For the Eastern Empire, the Norman invasion came to an end.
And when it comes to an end, the heroes should be rewarded, among which the Varangian Guards received the most. After all, the Varangian Guards played the mainstay in every battle of the Norman War, and Alexios killed them three times.
One-third of the gold and silver was seized.
Volorida and Vasiliko even obtained a fief in Moria. However, as Varangian officers stationed in the capital, they were unlikely to go to their fief, so in fact they only took some land property.
out.
In addition, there was another person in the guard who became prosperous, that is, Edgar Wessex, who was once the king of England. He was promoted to General Pecheneg and was ordered to lead the Anglo-Saxon Varangian Guards to manage the empire on the south bank of the Danube River.
Pechenegs in the territory.
This is a dangerous but rewarding job. If you fail, your head will turn into a drinking vessel, but if you succeed, you can become a powerful military general.
Edgar was very happy to take on this task. As an exiled monarch, he always hoped to have a piece of land to settle down, and so did the Anglo-Saxons who followed him. It is thought that Alexius took advantage of their mentality.
Only then did he decide to send Edgar there and use these Anglo-Saxon exiles to solve the unstable areas of the empire.