"Would it be a bit hasty to attack Thessaloniki with the Bulgars tomorrow morning?" As soon as he returned to the tent, the man questioned. In the tent just now, Theodore was a little surprised.

Regarding Justinian's statement, but because Justinian winked at him at that time, he swallowed his words.

However, he still couldn't understand why the young man in front of him did this. With their current strength, they would be at a huge disadvantage in attacking Thessaloniki, which was well-defended. Especially now that the troops that Boniface could mobilize in the city were still at a disadvantage.

There are 30,000 to 40,000 people. If the consumption is too high, even if they finally capture the city of Thessaloniki, they will only be used to make wedding dresses for others. This is something that the Prince of Agrinion absolutely cannot accept. His only

What they can rely on is the army in their hands, and in order for the nobles to have a foothold in the empire, they must control a strong enough private army. Therefore, even though most of them are vulnerable border guards, Theo

Dole will never lose his old capital in order to regain lost ground.

On the other side, Justinian, who had already expected Prince Theodore to ask him this question, looked very calm and replied: "It is indeed a bit hasty, but it is for this reason that I chose to agree to the Bulgars.

Demand this.”

"Is there any connection between this?" The confused man still didn't understand the meaning of Justinian's words.

However, in front of him, Moria's little fox seemed not to be prepared to explain anything, but looked at it calmly and firmly: "Then your Highness the Prince will know what my intention is for doing this now.

Before that, I hope you can trust me and leave all this to me..."

I have never seen such a look on Justinian's face. Prince Theodore couldn't help being slightly stunned. It seemed that this young man really had a reason to do this no matter what. Looking at those deep eyes

With blue eyes, Theodor Dukas finally made a compromise with Justinian.

"Okay, I won't do it this time, but I also have my conditions. You can only mobilize the auxiliary troops. You have no right to mobilize the personal troops under my direct jurisdiction without my permission."

And this is the biggest concession that Prince Theodore can make. The loss of those insignificant auxiliary troops is nothing, but his own elite personal army must not make any mistakes. The whole of Macedonia is certainly tempting.

, but he was unlikely to be willing to pay an excessive price, and Justinian knew this very well - but this was enough for him.

After receiving Theodore's promise, Justinian nodded: "Then I'll leave everything to you." After saying that, he bowed slightly and left, and the calm young man immediately walked out of the camp and prepared for the next day.

matters.

Behind him, quietly watching Justinian's leaving figure, Theodor Ducasse showed a subtle look on his face... Although he didn't know what the young man was selling in the gourd at the moment.

Medicine, but in the end he chose to believe him, not what Justinian said to him, but the strength of this little fox.

There was no words for a night, and everything was so peaceful under the night. However, no one dared to take it lightly, because this battlefield - Thessaloniki was bound to receive a thorough baptism of blood and fire. There was no escape, but in the end no one would win.

have no idea.

…

…

…

The early morning light of the next day fell on the earth, but on the city wall of Thessaloniki, the garrison who had been responsible for guarding and defending stayed awake all night. Their nerves were completely tightened like a bowstring and they did not dare to slack off at any time.

Be prepared for the Bulgars who may launch a sudden attack. After all, in the Battle of Adrianople a few months ago, the Latin Emperor Baldwin I led the main force and was defeated by the Bulgarian army who attacked the camp at night.

Therefore, Boniface naturally did not dare to take it lightly. However, despite the strict defense, the situation was still very bad, and the whole city was now shrouded in uneasiness.

However, these uneasiness belonged to Latin outsiders, not to the majority of Roman residents in the city. Their homes were lost and their wealth was plundered. In their eyes, Boniface and these barbaric Franks were no more than flood beasts.

In comparison, the Bulgars, who are called bandits, look much more pleasing to the eye. After all, they are all Orthodox Christians, and the hatred between them is only at the national level. But the Latins are different. More and more Roman civilians

Because of the suffering of the country and the destruction of the family, the French, Germans, and Italians were collectively called Latins and hated. Boniface and other outsiders knew this very well, especially when they learned about the Greek army yesterday.

They have also arrived at the city of Thessaloniki and completed the alliance with the Bulgarian army. Everyone is now panic-stricken, fearing that they will be liquidated after the war.

As a result, the haze of brutal purges and martial law swept across the entire city. Countless people were thrown into prison, and some were sent to the guillotine and the gallows at night. However, such atrocities increasingly made Thessaloniki more and more miserable.

It's more like a melting pot.

"Quick, quick, look at it!"

At this time, a horrified scream suddenly sounded, attracting the attention of all the sleepy city guards. They were still waiting for someone to change their shift, but this call made each of them panic.

The soldier's voice was so loud that people around him were stunned. But when they reacted, they saw a mighty army on the horizon outside the city, ready to march towards them, pulling away.

The general prelude to the attack.

"Hurry up and sound the warning bell, send someone quickly to ask for support, and inform the whole city that the Greeks and Bulgars have begun to attack!"

"Asshole, what are you doing here? Go grab your weapons and want to die here? Lucius, lead the patrol to search for anyone who may be a rebel, and kill them if you see them!" Defend the city!

The soldiers were shocked by what the commander said. Is such a cruel order really necessary?

However, no one dared to raise objections. Invisibly, the original war between the Kingdom of Thessaloniki and the Roman Empire turned into an endless struggle between nations. Either you die or I die.

"What are you doing standing there! Get ready to defend the city!" the man roared, and looking at the bottom of the city, he saw an army rushing towards it as soon as possible. In the distance, the garrison soldiers

When I saw the eye-catching flag, I couldn't help but feel happy.

"It's Lord Danist. Look, it's Marquis Danist coming with his soldiers."

As the nephew of King Boniface, during the Crusades, Danist relied on his ability to establish a very high prestige in the war with the Greeks. At this time, the Latin soldiers in Thessaloniki were accustomed to

They obeyed his orders and believed that this man could lead them to resolve the crisis here.

After a while, hundreds of crossbowmen were densely lined up on the city wall. Since the reinforcements behind them were already coming here, they were more confident and ready to fight, and their timidity was relieved a lot.

…

At this moment, below the city, the vanguard composed of the Roman army auxiliaries and the ethnic armed forces of the Bulgarian army were slowly pushing the siege equipment towards the attack target. At first glance, the thousands of people swarming up were really shocking.

But the Latin people in the city seemed to have discovered something was wrong at this moment——

"These armies -" Denist looked at the city from a distance and was stunned for a moment, then said with a slight mocking smile, "It seems that the so-called Greek army is not as troublesome as we thought before, it is just a bunch of ragtag people!"

The equipment of the Roman army composed of auxiliary soldiers was not even comparable to that of the Bulgarian cannon fodder troops. They only had a thin layer of linen armor and shields, and a rusty simple helmet, which made them completely vulnerable.

The other Latin nobles followed the direction that Marquis Danist was pointing and saw this scene with expressions of disdain and laughed.

"My lord, after all, those Greeks were expelled by us like lost dogs not long ago. Their soldiers had already been beaten to the point where they had no strength at all. It is good to have so many people. The so-called victory in Moria

It's just bullying those French guys whose foundations are not stable. If there is no threat from the Bulgarian army, we can defeat such an army directly with only an elite cavalry."

A nobleman said confidently, and no one was right about this. Even the always cautious Danist himself was noncommittal. Indeed, in his eyes, the so-called comeback of the Roman army was just a joke. Back then in Constantine

Fortress, even the central army led by the Roman emperor himself was defeated by them, so what are the remaining Greek remnants?

…

At this time, under the city of Thessaloniki, the horn of attack finally sounded.

Although they despised the fighting power of the Greeks, the Latins could not be careless about Bulgaria and immediately ordered their soldiers to prepare for defense.

At this time, in the distance, a battle flag appeared in the center among the Greek and Bulgar armies, with a black fox painted on it. As the vanguard, the one who attacked the city was none other than Justinian

, since he was commanding the Roman auxiliaries and the Bulgarian tribal army, Prince Theodore and Tsar Kaloyan both directly handed over the command to him. I believe that this young man is enough to take charge of his own affairs, and in fact Justinian did.

Have this ability.

They had already sent people to figure out the structure of the Thessaloniki city wall before, and after calculating the strength of their own troops and the firepower that might encounter the opponent's counterattack, the young man who already had an idea in his mind finally started his own command.

"Order the rear trebuchets! Launch!"

With an order, as a cover, the huge trebuchet at the rear of the battle formation was pushed up, and among them were the drawings of the new trebuchet that Justinian got rid of the Pisa people. This kind of siege equipment integrated the advantages of Eastern and Western siege equipment.

The powerful weapon was so powerful that it immediately threw boulders and burning asphalt barrels across a huge range and hit the heads of the Thessaloniki defenders.

The shocked Danist felt something bad as soon as he saw the huge catapult, and there was only a roar above his head, and a huge fireball flew towards him.

"Escape!" He only had time to roar, and the soldiers on the side rushed to protect him.

"Protect the Marquis!"

Daniste threw himself under the parapet and barely escaped the blow, but several Latin soldiers nearby were affected and died violently, turning into charcoal.

A terrifying atmosphere filled the city wall for a while.

"Marquis, are you okay?" He quickly helped the disgraced Danist aside, no longer daring to be exposed to possible attacks on the city wall.

However, Marquis Denister pushed away the guard beside him and shouted: "Don't mind me, your duty now is to withstand the enemy's attack! It was just an accident." Although he escaped from death in an embarrassing situation, Dennis

The Marquis is indeed unwilling to leave the front line, and the war has just begun! If he leaves at this time, his morale will definitely be damaged, and it will be unimaginable. What's more, except for the one just now, the other trebuchets did not hit the city wall and only crossed over.

This shows that the hit rate is still limited.

Marquis Denister insisted so much that the defenders on the city wall could say nothing more and had to agree.

However, the continuous sounds of "bang bang bang" exploded on the battlefield, burning asphalt barrels and huge falling rocks destroyed the Latin defenses, which still affected the morale of the city of Thessaloniki. At this time, under the trebuchet,

Under cover, the siege troops of the Greek-Bulgarian coalition have also entered the firing range of the Latin defenders.

Good opportunity. Seeing this, Marquis Denister continued to urge the soldiers to hold on with a sword in hand and gave orders on the other side.

"Hold still, crossbowman, don't panic, wait until the other side is within shooting range before firing your arrows! Don't panic, wait for my order!"

After all, I am experienced, and there are long-range projectile weapons on the walls of Thessaloniki so that I will not be passively beaten, but the range is much inferior, so the enemy needs to be close before they can be used to avoid wasting ammunition.

Finally, the coalition forces finally entered the firing range of the Latins, and then Denist personally issued the order to counterattack.

"put!"

In an instant, hundreds of arrows flew out, and many coalition soldiers fell to the ground outside the city. However, this mere strength was not enough to stop their attack. Under cover, thousands of people marched in overwhelming numbers against the siege equipment, allowing Latin to

The defenders also began to tremble.

"Load arrows, quickly!" Danist saw the crossbowmen hurriedly loading crossbow arrows, but the enemy was already less than a hundred meters away from the city wall. Sweat dropped from his forehead, and the sword in his hand was clenched tightly. At this time

They took this opportunity to weaken the enemy as much as possible, but after all, there were too many Greeks and Bulgars, and the casualties from crossbows were not enough to contain them. Finally, the huge siege towers and rams attacked the city of Thessaloniki.
Chapter completed!