After reaching a consensus to set out, the Crusaders quickly embarked on the road forward. They formed a parliament to jointly lead the Crusade.
In order to transport the Crusaders across the strait, the Imperial Navy could be said to be busy from day to night, and then from night to day. The only thing that made them happy was that the emperor's army had already crossed the strait.
Including the emperor's army, which had been waiting for a long time, the total strength of this Christian army reached 100,000. Even if the civilians were excluded, there were 60,000 combatants. This was a number that had not appeared for many years.
Thanks to the achievements of the civilian Crusaders, this army encountered no trouble along the way. The biggest trouble was the attrition caused by crossing the wilderness of Anatolian interior, but with Alexios' timely turnaround
After the supplies arrived, the problem was solved.
However, the emperor's army did not join the Crusaders. Constantinople's goal was in the southwestern Anatolia, which was still controlled by the Turks. Alexios planned to control this land first.
In your hands, it will be more convenient for the empire to invest resources here.
The Crusader lords were indifferent to the departure of the Greeks. In their view, the Greeks could only hold them back. If they leave early, then they should leave early.
Then, they entered the Konya Basin and entered those wealthy valleys, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, they no longer had to suffer in that difficult mountainous area.
But when they arrived here, they discovered that the civilian crusaders who had arrived earlier were on the verge of destruction.
At the moment when the noble Crusaders arrived, the civilian Crusaders had been holding on under the city of Konya for eight full months. During these eight months, they had changed from the besieging party to the besieged party.
After learning that his capital had been attacked, Sultan Rom immediately led his army to the rescue after hastily signing a peace treaty with Monomakh, and the blockade of Konya by the civilian Crusaders was naturally lifted, followed by the Crusaders'
The army laid siege.
Fortunately, Vasiliko had anticipated this day, so after easily lifting the siege of Konya, Sultan Rom found an extremely difficult bone to crack. With their camp as the center, Vasiliko surrounded them densely.
They built a large number of strongholds. These strongholds were small but strong, and they could block the path forward of the Turkic scouts.
There are not many defenders inside, but they are enough to go down with the fortifications - to be precise, at that point they will have no choice but to stick to this path.
The shortcomings of the Turks' lack of siege technology are undoubtedly exposed. If the Greeks were to come, these crude defenses would not bother them at all, but the Turks are another matter.
Moreover, the Turks subconsciously did not take these sieges seriously, so the efficiency of the attack was not high. Considering the fatigue caused by the rapid march to his men, Arslan did not supervise him immediately. As a result, the result of this attack was that the Turks
People can no longer muster the strength to take down these fortifications at once.
After spending two full months in Arslan, he finally destroyed these surrounding strongholds, but then he discovered that the Crusaders' camp was even more outrageous.
Three months have passed since the beginning of the siege. During these three months, Vasiliko was like a big overseer, urging the work below to start, and his Varangian guards supervised everyone's high-intensity work.
The camp's earthen wall was four meters high, and it had two levels. The innermost level was even being repaired. Outside the two levels of earthen walls, there were two layers of wooden walls, and outside the wooden walls was a wide and deep trench.
These earthen walls were made by Vasiliko using a method called block building. When he was still in Kiev, a Bulgar craftsman once mentioned that oasis cities in Central Asia would build walls like this. Unfortunately, this
The method is not suitable for Russia, nor for Europe - this is a wet land.
But now in Anatolia, dry Anatolia, this method can be used. There are also local people building buildings in this way, and ready-made commanders are also available - as long as there are enough people for this manufacturing method
Manufacturing work efficiency will be very fast.
The Varangian Guards are very effective in these soil works. Vasiliko originally intended for the Varangian Guards to have strong soil engineering capabilities, so he has been deliberately training them. Now they can be put to use, and they still have 40,000 people.
Crusader labor is available.
The Turks were dumbfounded when they saw this. What on earth are these guys doing? This is too crazy, but you still have to attack, and you have to fight if you bite the bullet.
So the Turks then encountered some disgusting tricks that Vasiliko learned from Rostislav. For example, after the Turks finally climbed over the wooden wall, they found that there was a deep pit below, and they fell and could not get up.
The Crusaders on the second wooden wall can be easily shot.
Next, the Turks could only tear down the wooden walls and then fill in the trenches. This made them sick and took them a lot of time.
But up to this point, it was only to the extent of disgusting the Turks. Then they became ruthless, and Arslan desperately urged his army to attack. What followed was a real bloody battle.
After the past five bloody months, excluding the Varangian Guard, there were now only 10,000 Crusaders left, and only 2,000 Varangian Guards.
During those five months, there were constant big and small battles with the Turks. After all, Vasilko's defenses were essentially simple fortifications. In the end, the final battle had to be decided by bloody battles between soldiers.
It was not the Turks who caused the greatest attrition of the Crusaders, but those who fled, those who were frightened by the war.
Such a bloody battle made it impossible for everyone to see the future, and some people even gave up the idea of going to the Holy Land. Such thoughts continued to spread in the camp, and the final result was constant escape, with at most dozens, and then
There were hundreds of people, and in the most exaggerated case, it turned into thousands. People frantically fled from what they thought was a place of death.
The Turks also noticed the fleeing in the Crusader camp, so they indulged in these fleeing, and then massacred or captured the deserters when they were far enough away from Konya, and then escorted them to the camp to deal with these damn Crusaders.
Then sell them together.
However, the Crusaders were not fools after all, and some Turks couldn't help but show off, and in the end no one ran away.
For Vasiliko, the only good thing is that the food and water in the camp are enough for them to persist for a year - although the main reason is due to a large number of attrition - as long as there is food, they can persist.
After learning that the situation of the civilian Crusaders was so bad, the Crusade lords were furious. The knights immediately abandoned their infantry and headed for the battlefield of Konya.
Because the knights were advancing at a high speed, it was too late when the Turkic scouts informed Arslan of the news. Almost as soon as Arslan began to roar for the army to move and sounded the war horn, thousands of knights came from the hillside.
Filed out.
To the defenders in the camp, it was like God's heavenly soldiers coming to help them. The hermit Peter, a man who had boosted the morale of the Crusaders many times, immediately stood up and announced that it was God's heavenly soldiers.
This made the entire military camp boil.
Vasiliko took advantage of this enthusiasm, he opened the door, and the Crusaders stepped over the corpses left behind after months of fierce fighting and joined the battle - but they were not needed at this time, because the thousands
The knights have swept across the entire battlefield.
The Turkic army was completely defeated. They were completely defeated in front of the Western knights. The army completely collapsed. Arslan could only escape in confusion under the escort of the guards.
The Crusaders liberated all the prisoners, which allowed the Crusaders to gain another 10,000 people, and they were all men and women in their prime. The Turks had already cleared out the old people and children here because they could not be sold for a price.
Although they had the problem of escaping, considering the need for manpower, a special team was finally established for them at Vasiliko's suggestion - the Convict Army.
This army is purely cannon fodder. They will wash away their betrayal with blood. In fact, it gives these people a reason to move forward. Vasiliko does not want so much manpower to be wasted.
After the war, on the corpses of the Turks, the long-standing Crusaders and the new Crusaders held a grand celebration. No matter what difficulties there may be in the future, just immerse yourself in the joy at this moment and fight for the Holy War.