Agrinion is located between the Peloponnese Peninsula and the strait of Epirus, and Justinian's territory is located in a remote castle on the west coast.

During the reign of Emperor Alexius I more than a hundred years ago, the Normans came from the sea. They occupied Sicily and Naples and landed in Durazzo and defeated the imperial army.

Although after several generations of hard work, the Normans were finally severely damaged during the period of Emperor Manuel the Great and eliminated their threat to the west coast, they still had an indelible impact for hundreds of years. For example, Ilovan Castle was the site of the Normans at that time.

Built on the basis of the Romans, these Western European military models have subtly changed the classical Roman world.

"This is your territory, Your Excellency Justinian." The Turks who arrived at Ilovan Castle with Justinian took the reins. They did not take the young man seriously at all and handed it over to Justin.

After receiving the mandate, Ni left.

Looking at these leaving Turkic cavalry, Justinian's expression became cold. It has to be said that the Turkic cavalry were extremely excellent mercenaries. It can be said that the later Byzantine Empire always relied on their Li Liang, but in the end

Became its gravedigger.

The biggest mistake of the later Paleoleg Dynasty was to introduce Turks to interfere in the situation in the Balkan Peninsula, and Justinian was naturally not willing to follow in their footsteps.

Leading the horse, Justinian walked to his castle. It must be said that this was really a very dilapidated castle. It had not been renovated for a long time. The masonry was rotten and covered with moss. Only a few soldiers were seen on the wall.

Seeing Justinian walking to the city gate, he quickly asked the people below to open their doors to greet him.

"Are you Chief Justinian? We have been waiting for you for a long time." An elderly veteran came up and introduced himself: "I am your deputy. The original Sheriff Abdera here, I am very happy to serve you.

You serve.”

Seeing that the other party was so friendly, Justinian felt a little strange. He suddenly landed here and became the other party's immediate boss. On the contrary, the man seemed very happy.

Justinian nodded and walked into the castle under the guidance of the other party. He saw that the poverty inside was beyond Justinian's imagination. The population did not exceed 500 people, including the troops stationed inside, and more importantly, the large

Most are old, weak, sick and disabled and the soldiers lack training.

It seems that Mikhail is more stingy than I thought. Justinian sneered in his heart, this kind of weak castle is not worth three melons, so he abandoned it to himself.

"Are these the people in the castle? How many people are there in the other villages?" Justinian asked the veterans beside him. He could only place his hope on those villages now. With the population, he would belong to

own sources of troops.

But Abdera looked embarrassed and replied awkwardly: "Your Excellency Justinian, maybe you have misunderstood. These are all the people under your direct jurisdiction, including several villages. Normally, only soldiers are stationed in the castle."

"Are you kidding?" Justinian looked at the white-haired man with disbelief. If you know that there are only so many people in the village, then his territory is impoverished.

But Abdera nodded and Justinian was completely desperate.

"This is really the worst thing." Justinian couldn't help but hold his forehead and muttered to himself. His start was actually more difficult than expected.

At this moment, Justinian suddenly discovered that among the residents in the castle, there were also defenders who seemed to be injured and wearing bandages, which seemed to have been caused not long ago.

Justinian seemed to realize something, and his expression suddenly became serious, "Abdera, I have one thing to ask you? Has anything happened here before? Why are people injured, and the villagers are hiding? Enter the castle."

As soon as he entered the castle, Justinian felt an atmosphere of fear permeating it.

And Abdera obviously did not expect that Justinian would be so keen to sense that something was wrong in this castle. "Sir, please forgive me for concealing it before. Originally, I wanted to tell you later. Now that you have discovered Now, there is no need to hide anything. Not long ago, Ilovan Castle was attacked by pirates, and we had no choice but to hide here for almost a week."

"Pirates?" Justinian frowned slightly. There are actually such rampant pirates. "Didn't His Excellency Odor mobilize reinforcements?"

A bitter smile appeared on Abdera's face and he shook his head: "That would be great. Please go in and I will tell you everything."

"Okay." Justinian nodded and followed the castle soldiers into the interior of the castle, and Abdra immediately told Justinian all the information he knew.

Ilovan Castle declined a long time ago, especially when maritime trade was monopolized by the Venetians. Now, the empire's navy has completely disappeared, and Croatian pirates have become rampant in the narrow waters of the Adriatic Sea. They are just like their predecessors The Illyrian pirates also controlled countless narrow straits by driving small ships to attack passing merchant ships. Even the Venetians were unable to do anything to them. Now they were so arrogant that they dared to land on the shore and plunder villages.

Ilovan Castle itself has weak defenses, and poverty has never been taken seriously, so it has become the focus of pirates. Often the harvest of a year is robbed by these pirates, and even the young adults in the village They were also forcibly captured by Croatian pirates and used as slaves. Now, the villagers can only hide in the castle, but the food is almost at the end. They have been hesitating whether to return to the village or not, and they don't know what the pirates are doing. Have you left?

"So that's it?" Justinian couldn't help frowning. The pirates were really a serious problem. If this continues, I'm afraid all the people under his management will escape. It's no wonder that these people in the castle saw him. They were so happy to show up, and they also hoped that someone could solve their dilemma.

"Do you know what's going on in the village now?" Justinian looked at Abdera and asked.

"I don't know. We have limited manpower. No one dares to go close there." Abdera shook his head and replied. No one dares to die. Most of the army is old, weak, sick and disabled, and even the young and strong are unruly. They couldn't control the unruly soldiers, ruffians and hooligans, and even if they were forced to go, they would come back halfway.
Chapter completed!