In April 1091, with the arrival of Alexios' long-awaited mercenaries in the imperial capital, the emperor could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Together with these four thousand Varangian recruits, the Varangian Guard has restored its size to five thousand. These five thousand people plus the ten thousand people gathered from all over the empire, Alexios now has nearly twenty thousand people in his hands.
The situation has been restored to what it was back then.
But it is a pity that in terms of eliteness, these 20,000 people are far from comparable to the 20,000 people back then. They were veterans who were tested in the Norman War and the recovery of Asia Minor. As a result, they were almost killed in a border battle.
Reimbursed.
But there were so many people anyway, so during this period of time, Alexios was able to successfully drive the nomadic raiders out of the sight of the imperial capital city walls, and then stabilized the situation in South Thrace, forcing these raiders to
Those who retreated.
Of course, everyone knows that people are definitely not dead. Some people just go home to live and stay away from the war. Some people are sold as slaves to distant places, or directly join the nomads and Paulists, and some people return again.
Joined the army and became a member of the 20,000-strong army.
After having enough soldiers, it was time to go on an expedition. Alexios now indeed had a target for this new army to test their skills.
The main force of the Pechenegs is now in Enus. Although there are almost 70,000 Pechenegs there, only about 10,000 of them are capable of fighting. The others are women and children. It is on the north coast of the Aegean Sea, a distance of
Constantinople was not far away, and Alexios planned to annihilate these Pechenegs and let this army practice their skills.
However, after arriving near Enus, the emperor suddenly learned that a Cuman army of 40,000 cavalry was heading towards the city. This news almost suffocated Alexios, although he had heard that Peche
General Negr reported that the number of Cumans crossing the Danube increased, but he did not expect that there would be so many.
But then he discovered during his communication with the Cuman people that these people were not targeting him, and he also received a lot of unknown information.
It was actually very difficult for Alexios to obtain information about the nomads' activity areas - to be more precise, there was too much information to analyze and find useful information.
Due to the rapid mobility and dispersion of the nomads, there was not much news about the invasion of the "nomadic army" reaching Constantinople. When the emperor's men really analyzed the location of the main force of the nomadic army from these numerous reports,
By that time, the message timeliness has often expired.
Not to mention that there is a Paulist group. These guys are everywhere in the Balkans, and there are reports of various attacks everywhere.
Knowing that the Pechenegs were in Enus this time was an accident. When the recruits from Thessaloniki passed by Enus by boat, they saw the vast number of tents and carts outside the city, and then they realized
The news came.
The Cumans came here to exterminate the Pechenegs. The relationship between the nomadic tribes on the grassland has always been ever-changing. Those who are friends today often become enemies tomorrow, and this truth is true for the Pechenegs.
The same is true for the Chenegs and Cumans.
The relationship between the Pechenegs and the Cumans was already bad. The Pechenegs were driven to Wallachia in the west by the Cumans (Polovets). These nomads have never
Forgetting this hatred, as the two nomads joined forces to defeat Alexios' army, they immediately began to conflict.
In the month before Alexios set off for the expedition, the two peoples went to war directly. The result was a disastrous defeat for the Pechenegs, and two-thirds of the entire tribe was annexed. Now these are the remnants.
Due to the fighting among the nomads, the Paulists also changed their strategy. Although there is still an alliance between them, in fact the alliance has ceased to exist in name only. Now the Paulists' army has turned to Thessalonica, intending to capture it.
The second largest city in the empire.
For Alexios, this news is undoubtedly a great benefit. Whether it is the breakup of the alliance between nomads and heretics or the civil war between nomads, it will be beneficial to the next war.
Naturally, an agreement was reached between Alexios and the Cumans, agreeing to defeat the Pechenegs together.
Just like in the war against the Pechenegs, these nomads formed a vehicle formation with large carts, but this time the Cumans stood on their hostile side.
The Greek Cuman army was like a wave hitting the Pechenegs' front line, and the Pechenegs quickly collapsed. These people were originally defeated soldiers and had no desire for war. Now they are facing such
If there are too many enemies, they will naturally fall apart.
During the battle, Vasiliko led the Varangian Guards to break through the vehicle defense line first. The newcomers in the Varangian Guards hoped to perform well in the face of the emperor. It is no exaggeration to say that it was they who laid the foundation for the entire car formation.
The victory of the battle.
After the victory, Alexios also established a Pecheneg Festival to commemorate the battle that eliminated the Pechenegs from the Five Stages.
But even though the war was victorious, Alexios still faced trouble. The Cumans quickly ran away after taking Alexios's gold and silver. In return for not being slowed down, they took the help of the helpless
The Pecheneg prisoners were absorbed and thrown into the hands of the emperor.
Although after fierce battles, looting and massacre by the coalition forces and the absorption of the Cumans, there are still 30,000 Pechenegs present. This group of people is the toughest group and is unwilling to surrender to the Cumans.
.
And Alexios didn't know how to deal with these people. With the current unstable state of the empire, there was no time to accommodate these people. Alexios even thought about killing them all, but the appearance of one person saved him.
The Emperor's Dilemma.
The Pecheneg general Edgar came with a mixed Pecheneg and Anglo-Saxon army. During this time, nomads were raging in the Thracian plains, and as a result, his area stabilized.
Originally, he planned to come to the emperor's aid, but when he saw him coming, Alexios threw all the Pechenegs to General Edgar.
As the Pecheneg general, Edgar has long controlled almost 40,000 Pecheneg people in the empire. These barbarians have begun to prepare to plant the land. They are the kind that have been tamed. Strictly speaking, these barbarians
He belongs to the Imperial Barbarian Alliance troops, and Edgar is also a standard Barbarian Alliance general.
It is indeed most appropriate to give all these Pechenegs to this barbarian general. His identity is the easiest for these stubborn Pechenegs to accept.
So General Edgar had just arrived with reinforcements, and then was ordered to leave by the emperor. This made the former King of England a little confused. Why did His Majesty suddenly strengthen himself?
But orders are orders. Edgar also led his team and this year's military pay back to his station. He was quite happy in his mind, at least he no longer had to fight on the battlefield.
As for Alexios, he has to prepare for a new war. The threats from the Paulists and Cumans are still huge. The Pechenegs are just the weakest of the three invading enemies. The war is still very difficult.
The remaining two are difficult to deal with.
Needless to say about the Cumans, there are now Cumans everywhere in Northern Thrace and Bulgaria. It is initially estimated that there are more than 200,000 Cumans distributed here. It is simply a mobile country.
As for the Paulists, armed preaching has always been the specialty of this heretical faction. Therefore, the core of the Paulists has three to four thousand well-disciplined heretical infantry, as well as Slavic mountain people among them. Under the clan organization, their performance on the battlefield
Still very strong.
After weighing the pros and cons, Alexios decided to divide his troops into two parts, one part being the main force, to fight against the huge Cumans.
The other part is the Varangian Guard. The task given by Alexios to Vasiliko is very simple: guard Thessaloniki, the second largest city in the empire, and on this basis, gather as many troops as possible to try to deal with Paul outside the city.
Send armed.
In terms of his original intention, Alexios really didn't want to divide his troops, but the current situation forced him to have no choice.