paranoianovel Chapter 812: The Ninth Chinese Army's Eastern Expedition
Chapter 812: The Ninth Chinese Army's Eastern Expedition
Chapter 812 The Fourth Crusade
Alexander.
The sky was already beginning to daybreak.
When a soldier who was sleeping soundly suddenly opened his eyes, he was immediately startled by the heads of people surrounding the bed: "God is above!"
All his comrades in his tent gathered together at this time.
"Tell me quickly, how did the decisive battle go?"
"Did we beat those Brits?"
Looking at his companions with eager faces, the soldier who had just woken up couldn't help but smile and said, "Of course, we not only won, but also had a very unforgettable banquet. The girls in Texas are very enthusiastic."
The soldiers in the barracks immediately let out howls of unwillingness.
"What about the process?"
“How is the specific process?”
They asked again.
The soldier cleared his throat and said, "This story starts from that morning, when the enemy was in a state of panic."
Suddenly, an excited shout came from the nearby military camp: "We won!"
As if it was a signal, in the early hours of the morning, thunderous cheers broke out in military camps everywhere.
The soldiers came to the outside of the military camp in great joy. The officers who received Lothar's orders ordered the movement of large numbers of wine barrels and dishes, and built a bonfire in the camp. The aroma of barbecue spread throughout the port of Alexandria.
Some Crusader nobles who were sleeping soundly were frightened by the noise and drew their swords: "Are the Saracens coming back?"
After a long while, they learned that it was Lothar's soldiers who were partying, and then they went back to bed cursing.
“These people are simply crazy!”
"Your Majesty actually allowed them to do this!"
Losa, standing at the highest point of the 400-foot-tall Lighthouse of Alexandria, watched the scene with a smile on his face. He felt quite pleased with himself as the combat record was successfully completed.
The aftereffects of merging with the mountain spirit also disappeared after he returned to the main world.
"The next step is to recover the whole of Egypt step by step."
He turned around and looked behind him, and saw Prajna, who had successfully completed the promotion, and reached out to hold her in his arms.
Just as Lothar was preparing to swallow up the whole of Egypt, he went up the Nile River and took control of the fertile floodplains, river valley oases, towns and villages, making the crown on his head worthy of the name.
On the Adriatic coast, the Crusaders gathered here, waiting to board the ship to the Holy Land.
King Bela III from Hungary, dressed in Byzantine scale armor and wearing the Crown of St. Stephen, broke in, escorted by a group of Magyar cavalry.
He went straight to the highest point of the camp, a stand originally designed for holding knight competitions.
"Fellow believers of God, the one standing before you is the King of Hungary and Croatia, carrying out the will of Saint Stephen. I came here to go to the Holy Land with you and participate in the great jihad."
"But the land where Christ stood, Jerusalem, and the Patriarchate of Alexandria have returned to the glory of God. What is the point of leaving now?"
Bella III cried out emotionally: "Have we traveled thousands of miles, sold our property, estates, and titles at extremely low prices, just to take a handful of soil from the Holy Land?"
Many Crusaders had no way out.
The money they paid for their journey here was obtained by selling their property or even mortgaging their territory. The buyers were not easy to deal with. They were either from the church or princes and dukes left behind in various countries. This was why they were stranded in the Dalmatia region.
"Then what should we do now?"
Many crusader soldiers and nobles looked distressed: "When the war was at its most intense, we could not afford the rising ship charges. Now that the war is over, we don't know where to go to join the holy war."
Bella III raised his arms and shouted: "Believers, in the East, the Queen of Cities, the throat of the world, countless silks, spices, gold and silver flow into it every day."
"When the goods there are transported to your territory or mine, goods worth one gold coin can be sold for ten or twenty gold coins."
"Egypt has been liberated. It would be difficult for us to achieve merit if we go there again. The new Crusader King Lothar has always been known for his stinginess and greed. He will take all the glory for himself and will not share even a little with you."
Some people have doubts about this, but in this situation, it is not easy to stand up and refute. After all, no matter how generous Lothar is, he will not allocate territory to these latecomers who have not made any contribution for no reason.
A Crusader noble shouted: "Your Majesty, no matter how much wealth the Queen of Constantinople has, she will not give us half of it. What do you want to say?"
Bella III laughed loudly. "That's not what I want to say. Believers, please listen to the most orthodox royal descendant of the Eastern Empire, Prince Alexios from the great Angelos family."
He pointed behind him, at the prince of the Eastern Empire wearing a gorgeous purple robe and a golden crown, and then strode onto the stage and stood in front of Bella III: "Ladies and gentlemen, the throne of the empire is occupied by a shameless bitch Ducas. She murdered the late emperor, called herself the regent, and usurped the throne. She also waged war against fellow Christians in Sicily. She turned the sacred palace into a place for her own pleasure, imprisoned loyal ministers, and persecuted the ancient royal lineage. I could talk about her crimes for three days and three nights."
"Everyone, come and join my just cause - I promise here that if you can help me regain the throne, wealth, official titles, and even the empire's territory in Asia Minor, I will not hesitate to give them to you."
The Crusader nobles looked at each other in bewilderment. They could never have imagined that the solution given by King Bella III was to declare war on the Eastern Empire, which was of the same clan.
Some Crusader lords withdrew on the spot, saying that they joined the Crusade for the sake of salvation. Now that Egypt had been liberated, they could go and continue fighting in the Levant. Pointing swords at their fellow believers was an unjust act. What was the difference between them and despicable and shameless mercenaries?
But more Crusader lords were quite pragmatic and planned to continue listening to what the prince had to say.
Some wanted to join, but were afraid: "We are ordered by His Holiness the Pope to go to the East to fight against the pagans. If we give up halfway and go to war against our fellow believers, we will probably be excommunicated by the Pope."
Alexios IV laughed and said, "Don't worry, everyone. If we win this battle, I will work to bridge the rift between the Eastern and Western churches, unifying the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. By then, they will all respect His Holiness the Pope as their leader. He will have rewarded you all in no time, so how could he blame you for this?"
As soon as Alexios said this, he had convinced most of the Crusader lords present.
The rest was simply a worry about the high and thick walls of Constantinople. They had no extra money, let alone recruiting craftsmen and building siege weapons to advance forward. Even maintaining daily military supplies was quite difficult.
The prince struck while the iron was hot: "I know you are worried that this battle will be difficult to win, but I have reached an alliance agreement with the Venetians, and they will provide all the military supplies for this battle."
"The Venetians are the richest people in the world and have the most powerful fleet in the Mediterranean. If we form an alliance, we can trap and kill the minions of the false emperor Lagaia who are attacking Sicily on the island of Sicily."
"We only need to take the Venetian ships and land in the open areas along the coast of Thessalonica or Thrace. Then, we can just fly the banner of the legitimate emperor Angelos and the enemy will open the city gates, surrender to us, and provide military supplies to support us in our fight to Constantinople."
Alexius IV was so excited when he spoke that he seemed to have seen himself leading his troops into the city.
During this period, the most famous figure in the entire Mediterranean coast was the Crusader King who conquered Aeguptus.
But what would his achievements be compared to my taking back Constantinople? No matter how fertile Aegyptus is, how can it be as important as Constantinople, which has all the wealth in the world?