"How is the situation outside the city?" In the city of Thessaloniki, Boniface asked sternly as he looked at the defeated soldiers who fled back from the city. The incident happened so suddenly that he was not prepared at all. He was stationed at

The border guards outside the city collapsed immediately, suffering heavy casualties. Only a few survived and fled back to the city to tell the story of their misery. This caused the entire city of Thessaloniki to be enveloped in a haze of fear and panic.

.

Even Boniface, the leader of the Fourth Crusade, although he looked cold and stern at the moment, was already a little uneasy because he knew that he could destroy the fortress and garrison outside Thessaloniki in a short time.

In the military, this is definitely not something that ordinary people can do.

Who are they? Are they the guys from Constantinople or the remnants of the Greeks! Staring at the surviving soldiers who escaped back, Boniface's face turned pale and gloomy at this moment.

The soldier who was kneeling on the steps of the throne of the king he was loyal to, with his head and face stained with blood, was still a little lost. After a while, he calmed down and stuttered back: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, we were... encountered a surprise attack.

Before they had time to get in touch with the city, or even close the city gate, those guys suddenly rushed in and started killing people... They were simply devils!"

As he spoke, the soldier covered his head with his hands in horror, as if he was remembering the hellish scene on the battlefield before, as if he couldn't bear to look back.

"Trash, that's not what I'm asking you." Upon seeing this, Boniface was furious and kicked away the defeated soldiers who had collapsed their psychological defenses. He stood up from the throne and looked around, "Who on earth do you have?"

Know what’s really going on out there!”

The king almost roared, while the ministers below him trembled. They were all retainers who followed Marquis Boniface during the Crusades, and they were most aware of the impulsive and irritable character of his majesty.

"Your Majesty, it seems that the Bulgars went south... They took advantage of our unpreparedness to launch a sudden attack, which led to the fall of the fortresses around Thessaloniki." At this time, a man's voice sounded outside the palace gate.

I saw a heavily armed knight walking in panting with blood on his face. He seemed to have just come back from the battlefield. His collar was soaked with sweat mixed with blood. When he entered the atrium, he knelt down on one knee.

"Your Majesty, I wish you well."

"Do you think I can still be well after something like this happens? Is it true what you just said about the Bulgars, Danist?" Although he said this, when Boniface looked at this knight appearing in front of him,

The man who was furious before suddenly became much calmer.

The other ministers saw that this man came safely, and they obviously breathed a sigh of relief, because the Danist in front of them was not an ordinary knight, but the nephew of King Boniface and the Fourth Cross.

A capable general in the army. He is now the commander-in-chief of the border army stationed in Boniface. He was granted the title of Marquis. It can be said that he is inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people in the kingdom. Although he failed in the first battle, fortunately he did not

Encountering an accident made everyone's previous heavy mood somewhat improve.

However, from what Marquis Danister just said, the nobles above the palace still heard that this matter was not trivial. The Bulgars suddenly came out in large numbers and were obviously well prepared...

Seeing his uncle asking this, Danist nodded quickly: "Yes, and this time the Bulgars seem to be serious... instead of the usual petty fights. And the fortress outside the city has been lost to me.

It also means that the other party should have been prepared and checked all the surrounding situations in advance, otherwise it would not have been possible to have such a thunderous strike. This is entirely due to my negligence, otherwise there would not be no defense at all."

The knight with a face full of self-blame immediately lowered his head.

But as soon as he said this, the nobles in the palace who had just felt relieved couldn't help but became nervous again. If it was true as Danist said, then I am afraid that the Bulgars were determined to fight them to death this time.

At this time, King Boniface, who was walking down the steps, slowly walked up to his nephew, pulled him up, patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's not your fault, after all, Bulgar

It was only a matter of time before we attacked, but no one expected it to happen so quickly. As long as you have nothing to do, the most important thing is the extent of our losses."

"The current statistics indicate that the casualties are at least more than 3,000..." Denister, who pondered for a moment, roughly reported the figures he had obtained so far to his uncle in front of him, and replied.

Three thousand people?!

The other Latin nobles took a breath of air. Such a loss is definitely not a small loss. The total number of troops that Thessaloniki can currently mobilize is only 40,000, and they have lost nearly ten percent from the beginning.

First, this will undoubtedly have a great impact on the morale of soldiers in the following wars.

Boniface, who has experienced battles for a long time, naturally knows this very well. Even he has to remain silent at this moment. After all, since the heavy losses of his knights in the Adrianople War half a year ago, his vitality has been reduced to this day.

He has not recovered, and many of his mercenary subordinates from the Crusaders period have recently ended their contracts and left. This time, the enemy is so aggressive that Boniface clearly understands that with his current strength, he may not be able to resist it at all.

But at this moment, all the Latin nobles in the court who were loyal to him were waiting for this man to make this crucial decision. After a long silence, the man finally made a difficult decision.

"Send someone to Constantinople. As long as Henry of Flanders is willing to send troops, the Kingdom of Thessalonica will be willing to be loyal to the emperor of Romania."

"Your Majesty the King!" Seeing all this, the ministers in the palace had already expected this to be the case, but they were still a little surprised that the proud King Boniface in front of them really chose to compromise.

"Just follow my orders!" Boniface's voice was filled with infinite fatigue, but there was nothing he could do about it. Of course he was not willing to do this, but he knew that with his own strength, a group of people on the other side of Constantinople

If a man really stood by and watched, he would definitely not be able to resist the Bulgars. Rather than being defeated and expelled by the opponent like a lost dog and losing the hard-to-get territory, the man would rather endure the humiliation and temporarily surrender to Constantinople.

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Chapter completed!