"It turns out that my father planned to do this. I really didn't expect that my father actually planned to shape the situation in the Near East."
After reading the letter sent by Volorida, Vasiliko was not surprised. In terms of geopolitics, this was indeed the most beneficial thing for Ross.
"The old man finally wants to do something nationally strategic. I thought it would take a long time for him to take action."
There was not much respect for his father in Volorida's tone. If it were someone else who said this, Vasiliko might have a conflict with that person, but this was his second brother, and he knew how much his second brother respected his father.
Loyalty is a term that can only be used between relatives like them.
"But to show my kindness to that Monomach...well, my father is more able to put down his dignity than I thought."
Vasiliko said with interest, he was very aware of the grudges between the previous generation.
"After all, we have common interests with Monomach in this matter. The old man naturally doesn't mind cooperating with him. We don't want the Greek emperor to restore the former borders of the Eastern Empire so quickly."
When it came to targeting Alexios, neither Volorida nor Vasiliko had any strange expressions on their faces. Although they had fought for the Greek emperor, their identities were after all the sons of Rostislav.
Loyalty to your father comes first after all.
And now that Alexios plans to reduce the Varangian Guards, it shows that the emperor has slowed down. Then Ross should dig some holes and set up some obstacles for the emperor. A strong Eastern Empire is not Kiev.
Want to see.
Volorida suddenly thought of something at this time, so he left the tent where he was, followed by Vasiliko. He knew what his brother planned to talk about. They were now in the crusaders' siege camp of Antioch.
At a glance, you can see the towering walls of Antioch and the majestic mountains behind it. This city has been under siege for almost a year. The walls are already in tatters and there are many corpses underneath, but it is still
Standing here proudly.
Compared to when they first set up camp here, the Crusaders' camp was lifeless. Although no one in the camp starved to death, everyone's morale seemed very low.
After experiencing many futile attacks on the Antioch wall, how could the Crusaders still have much morale? Now they became discouraged when facing the wall. Some people thought that the wall could not be breached.
of.
"In that case, how is the attack on this city going? No matter what my father's order says, we have to capture this city first. This is the most important thing. Only by capturing this place can the Catholics advance further and reach
Holy Land Jerusalem.”
Volorida looked at the city that was still holding on and said to his brother. At the same time, he looked at the camp with worried eyes. Is the state here really not very good?
"The strength and difficulty of Antioch surprised us. We have never been able to capture it. Bohemond said he had some ideas and didn't know what this guy planned to do."
Vasiliko shook his head, recalling Bohemond's solemn look, hoping that this guy really had a way, otherwise they would have nothing to do now.
"Bohemond, I think he chased me back then, but I still ran away." Volorida meant that chasing was not the relationship between men and women, but being chased on the battlefield.
"By the way, tell me about your experience in Antioch for almost a whole year. I'm quite curious."
"Ah, it's a long story..."
Vasiliko paused for a moment, trying to organize his words, because this matter was indeed a bit complicated and it was not easy to explain it.
"That is to say, during this period, all your food was transported from the southern seaport. Although there were many ships coming, there was still a problem of food shortage?"
While the Rurik brothers were talking about their experiences in the past ten years of the Crusades, there was also a pair of relatives in the Crusaders camp who were talking about their experiences in this year.
"Yes, taking the Oronst River was the most correct thing we did. If not, we would not be short of food, but the entire army would be completely starved to death. But even so, many people still doubt
Did the Greek emperor withhold food and grass? After all, the supply is different from before. Before, it was still enough to feed everyone."
Edgar Wessex recalled that time and lamented that it was an unintentional move, but it turned out to be an important life-saving straw for the entire army.
"Emperor Alexios is confronting Monomach in the north. There is a lot of food demand there. It is normal to reduce the supply to the Crusaders. The emperor needs to ensure his army first."
Edward said leisurely, and Edgar did not show any attitude, "I know, I can understand it, but others can't do it, and there are still people who are adding fuel to those remarks. Yes, that person is Boxi
Mond.”
"Bohemond, yes, it can only be him. He has always hated Alexios extremely, and he is always enthusiastic about insulting the Eastern Empire."
Edward sighed and looked at his son. He was now a middle-aged man who had a family and a career. Although he already had a big career in the Eastern Empire, he still worked hard and pursued a higher career. This made
He was very proud of Edgar.
Edward felt that he had come to the right place this time, and it gave him great satisfaction to fight on such a glorious road with his son.
Originally, Edward did not plan to participate in this expedition, but his old friend Mieszko, who decided to participate in the jihad, told him that Edgar had joined the Crusaders, so he came. He wanted to take a good look at this man he had not seen for a long time.
Son, fight with him.
After Edward finished speaking, the two fell into silence. The elderly father and son didn't know what to say next. Yeah, what to say? They hadn't seen each other for so many years.
Edgar was also happy about Edward's arrival. Being with his father gave him a wonderful feeling, and he enjoyed it very much.
"By the way, how many people are there in this camp?"
Edward finally figured out a topic and spoke to his son immediately, and Edgar answered very quickly.
"Now there are only 70,000 left. Those 30,000 either died in battle, died of illness, starved to death, were captured, disappeared, or escaped."
Edgar's tone became lowered. Even though he had experienced so many wars, seeing such a horrific attrition still deeply touched Edgar.
This year, the Crusaders not only had to carry out the siege of Antioch, but also had to deal with the continuous attacks by the surrounding Muslim lords. But fortunately, these emirs were not coordinated with each other, and they simply destroyed their own armies one by one.
Sent to the Crusaders, and then destroyed by the powerful charge of the Crusader Knights.
But even with so many victories, the Crusaders were still very powerless against the walls of Antioch, and the battles were always carried out with high intensity. Coupled with the lack of food, the Crusaders always suffered a lot of deaths and escapes.
.
If this situation continues, the Crusaders will disintegrate sooner or later, and recently there is news from the East that the Emir of Mosul, Kelboga, has finally unified the feuding Western Emirs and they have formed a team.
The Allied Forces, this army is said to have reached 60,000 people, and now they are moving towards Antioch at full speed.
"Then we can only rely on the Norman's plan. God bless, may his plan be reliable, otherwise we will be defeated by the attack from both front and rear."
Edward made the sign of the cross. He didn't like the Norman. As a victim of the Norman invasion, how could he like the Norman.
But even so, he could only hope for this guy. Now the Crusaders are the only one who dares to say that they can take the city.
"God bless you."
Edgar didn't say much, he just prayed that he didn't like the Normans either, but for now it seemed he could only rely on that guy.
The two hoped to capture Antioch as soon as possible, the sooner the better. However, what they did not expect was that Bohemond would complete the matter this evening. He left the door of Antioch open to the Crusaders.