On the endless hillsides, there are low shrubs and weeds, and there are no tall trees.

The weeds were grilled in the scorching sun in early August, like a brown blanket, spread on the Anatolian plateau.

Roger led Henk and his guards, as well as a regiment of officers who had full horses, and brought together William's 700 heavy knights and a cavalry regiment of up to 4,000 men.

To their north, a green lake could not see at all.

Roger didn't need to look back. He knew that the second tier led by Danny, who was starting from Dorile at the same time, was left far behind.

In less than two or three days, the second echelon, dominated by infantry and with nearly 100,000 people, cannot catch up.

Roger looked at his right hand, the newly formed army regiment.

These low-level knights, who were originally poor and did not even have horses, are now full of joy.

The men rode the horses given to them by Roger, and their armor and swords were replaced with brand new chain armor and Norman swords.

These are the "carrots" that Roger gave to them in order to appease these low-level knights who were deprived of infantry command during the reorganization.

But Roger, who was used to the wealthy life in Sicily, obviously underestimated it. He thought that the ordinary "carrot" was a temptation to these low-level knights of Shinra.

Roger recalled...

At that time, he was "sending horses, swords, and armor" and sent three consecutive deliveries. As soon as he made a move, he directly smashed these low-level knights to the point of being dizzy and could not find the direction.

Many single knights, the second son of the family, screamed on the spot, wanting to swear allegiance to join Roger's mercenary group.

Others with families also shouted that they would take their families to join us after they returned.

Roger knew that these people participated in the Eastern Expedition in order to get money and live a better life.

But he didn't expect them to demand a pledge of allegiance.

Roger remembers asking a knight who wants to swear allegiance:

"Have you ever sworn allegiance to Duke Wilf?"

The knight said, "No, I am not qualified to be loyal to the Duke. I have sworn allegiance to one of his barons."

Roger asked directly: "Will you follow me violate your oath to the Baron?"

The knight said in surprise: "How can this be said to be a violation of the oath? Your mercenary group and the baron whom I swore allegiance are not in a hostile relationship."

Roger asked: "If one day I fight with the Baron, who would you help?"

The knight said, "I remain neutral and neither side helps."

Roger saw that the other party was serious and knew that he was not joking.

He thought, is this OK?

Then Roger remembered that he had heard Renardi talk about it before.

When the Eastern Expeditioners passed by Constantinople, except Doncred, other nobles, including Bosimmond, swore all their allegiance to the Eastern Roman Emperor Alexus.

They did this, which did not seem to be a violation of their oath to their original lord.

Roger was not sure how many people a person could swear allegiance to during the Middle Ages.

But obviously, this kind of act of swearing allegiance to many people is not uncommon.

However, Roger still organized all these low-level knights into the officers' regiment according to the original plan.

It's not that Roger doesn't believe their vows.

He knew that if these people took the oath, they would not swear at will for the sake of reputation.

However, these people did not undergo systematic training by the Sicilian army and were not familiar with the practice of conveying orders and maintaining military discipline in the Sicilian army.

They could not cooperate with their soldiers.

......

The "Gift II" under his seat was slowing down, interrupting Roger's memory.

He found that the entire cavalry regiment was slowly slowing down and slowly stopped.

Roger saw a scout running back from the front.

The man ran to William to report: "Sir, after passing the hill ahead, it is the city of Phellomerim. There is a war there."

"War?" William asked, "Who fights with whom?"

The scout said: "We dare not get close. Judging from the flag, there are Roma's green and white stars and moon flags on both sides."

So Roger and William, with their personal guards, ran to the hill and got off their horses and walked up the hill from the dense weeds.

Roger squatted in the grass and looked down. On the other side of the hill was a flat land, with dense farmland and crisscrossing fields.

There is a not too big city in this farmland near the hills.

There were shocking shouts of killing coming from there.

Roger saw that many ladders had been built on the city wall.

One by one, the small black dots climbed up the ladder, and then the small black dots kept falling from the city wall.

The dense black dots outside the city surrounded the entire city.

After looking at it for a while, Roger understood that this city might not last long.

The advantage of the siege is too great.

William obviously saw this, and he asked Roger:

"What should I do? Should I hit it? Which side should I hit?"

Roger thought he would definitely have to fight.

Since entering the borders of the Roma, we must fight the Roma.

Now, although the reason is unknown, the Roma is clearly experiencing a civil strife.

The weak side defending the city, and the powerful side attacking the city.

Roger quickly analyzed that the weak side succumbs to the situation and will accept himself and other outsiders.

The powerful side cannot agree to the passage of its own army.

Instead of waiting for the powerful side to occupy the city and then fight by yourself, it is better to give them a sudden attack now and destroy their living power as much as possible.

Roger made up his mind and said to William:

"Blow, beat them hard, catch them off guard!"

So William hurried down the hill and gathered people to prepare for the attack.

Roger was not ready to participate in the offensive.

His personal guards and officers' regiment have not cooperated with William's cavalry regiment. Rapid joining will instead affect the performance of friendly forces.

Moreover, Roger felt that William's 4,700 cavalry was enough to cause major damage to those siegemen who were facing away from him.

Soon, William led his cavalry regiment and rushed past Roger.

They "rumbled" across the hills, rushing down like locusts passing through the border.

Their momentum was so great that the Roma who were sieging the city noticed the threat behind them at the first moment.

Roger saw the black dots abandon the city wall and allowed the soldiers who had already attacked the city wall to fall into the siege of the defenders.

They ran quickly towards their camp.

But Roger knew they were too late.

Although some of the fast-running Romas rode on their horses tied to the camp.

But more Roma people were still running around in panic.

Roger saw that some brave Romas rode on horseback and launched a counterattack at William's cavalry regiment.

But they were like small stones thrown at the waves, and they couldn't even lift up a splash and disappeared.

William's cavalry regiment was like a tsunami flooding the beach, like a strong wind sweeping over fallen leaves.

No Roma could stop such a cavalry cluster from charging.

The Romas collapsed almost instantly.

They cried and shouted, and fled in all directions.
Chapter completed!