king of ros

Chapter 457 Forced to transfer
When Rostislav was on his way to hegemony in the north, his two cousins ​​and the other two Ruriks were in great trouble in the Eastern Empire in the south.

The listless troops marched on the road to the south. They used to be radiant and energetic along this road to the north, but now they are only powerless and frustrated.

An atmosphere of mourning permeated the ranks, many of whom had lost their comrades, and others who had lost all their possessions and armour, which utterly overwhelmed their spirits.

"The battle in the past six months has resulted in such a result, this is really..."

Monomakh looked at his listless men and sighed sadly. His head was still bandaged with blood. The prince of Rurik had been wounded in the previous battle.

Although he had already anticipated this day, when faced with the facts, sadness still couldn't stop pouring up.

"Yeah, this is really too tragic, too tragic, this loss is really..."

Oleg agreed, he was not as clear-sighted as Monomakh, and he was more sad for the heavy casualties of Russell's army, a team that could enter the imperial capital if it was clearly not good, but it was finished like this.

"We have to move on eventually," Monomacher continued.

In the past half a year, the two Russians from Rurik have been fighting under the imperial capital. At the beginning, the situation went smoothly. They first spent a few months of leisurely siege, robbing the suburbs of the richest part of the Eastern Empire and letting them Earn a lot of money.

Monomacher also ransacked an emperor's palace whose name he couldn't name. At that time, he even had the illusion that they might really be able to enter the imperial capital - such emotions were pervasive in the entire army at that time.

Even the several tentative attacks on the imperial capital ended in failure, but Russell's army was not affected. Facing those big cities, it would be impossible if they could be taken easily, and it would take a long time to prepare.

So these failures did not affect their morale. The soldiers firmly believed that as long as the siege equipment was repaired, they could easily climb the city wall, and then the Greeks would be defeated.

It's just that they forgot a sentence at this time, "In a strong city, one enemy is ten."

After the preparations were ready, the attack on the imperial capital killed all illusions. Under the tall city wall, the various siege equipment that Russell's army spent three months building seemed extremely powerless. They just wanted to touch the city wall. They paid a great price, countless deaths, and the Greeks pushed them off the wall with ease.

The siege ended in failure, and everyone could only drink the bitter wine of failure. Facing that wall, they were so powerless that they could not conquer the city wall at all.

Monomakh no longer had any illusions at this time. They should immediately return to Asia, return to Ankara, and consolidate their base, but Russell was obviously stunned. He also insisted on encircling the imperial capital in the face of this unfavorable situation. I firmly believe that I can take this city.

And the situation they faced became more and more unfavorable. Both the Bulgarian and Pecheneg uprisings in the north were suppressed, and the imperial army was liberated and marched south.

There are more and more battles between Russell's army and the imperial army, but Russell's side still has the advantage most of the time. After all, they are experienced soldiers and they are always victorious.

This is also the reason why Russell was able to persist in the siege under the walls of the imperial capital after the imperial troops returned to aid one after another, because the victory reassured everyone, and everyone thought that the Greeks would definitely not be able to defeat them.

And people continued to join them. The spoils of the imperial capital attracted countless desperadoes and mercenaries. The continuous arrival of these people made Russell's army expand.

But with the arrival of more imperial troops, and the arrival of two people, the situation has changed, one is Nikephoros, an experienced imperial veteran, and the other is the newly rising imperial general, the Komnenos family. Alexios.

Facing these two men, Russell's army had more failures, and their generals were obviously much more sophisticated than the imperial generals the Normans had come into contact with before.

The Normans also realized the threat posed by these two men, and they couldn't let them continue to consume his strength in a small-scale war of attrition, so he sent an invitation to the Greeks to use the battle to solve the support army—this It was also one of Russell's ideas, that is, to surround the spots to fight for aid.

It's just that the aid this time is obviously a bit big. The number of imperial troops has reached twice that of Russell's army, but Russell is still not afraid, because he has seen worse situations before, and at worst it will happen again.

But this time it was different. The Normans’ lances failed to break through the Greek defenses, and then turned the battlefield into a sheep-herding mode. On the contrary, they were still surrounded by the Greeks. Out of the battlefield.

Seeing the Normans thwarted, the desperadoes and mercenaries lured by the booty ran away, followed by the Greeks who were forcibly conscripted, which undoubtedly led to further confusion.

The Ross people became one of the few armies that could maintain the battle formation in this chaos. They once supported the entire battle situation, but even so they could only retreat, because this is no longer a situation that can be changed by manpower.

The failure eventually turned into a rout, and the army built by Russell fell apart like that. They left the camp full of spoils, ran desperately to the seaside, and boarded the boat one after another.

This is thanks to the fact that Russell still controls his fleet across the sea, otherwise his army can only be driven into the sea.

The emperor supported by Russell also ran away, he removed the emperor title, and once again stood under the command of Emperor Michael.

This fairly large fleet sent the chaotic but complete Russell army that fled to the sea to the other side. The Ross people ensured that the complete army came to the other side, but still lost a lot of people, thanks to Monomakh Keep an eye out, although they stayed behind, but because the Greeks didn't dare to pursue too hard, they saved the troops instead.

But there is a price, that is, Monomakh's forehead was grazed by the Komnenian's arrow, and he almost died.

After this round of defeat, Russell had only 4000 people left in his hands. Under such circumstances, he had only one choice, and he could only admit the facts, and that was to go to Ankara, the city he had been operating for several years, relying on Stick to it.

So the atmosphere of the whole army was very sad, and they dropped their weapons and spoils.

But the most irritating thing next was that the Greeks attacked their defeated army. The Greeks attacked them all the way, and they naturally burned and killed several villages without hesitation, but the resistance would only increase because of this.

"We can't follow Russell anymore, he is finished, and following him back to Ankara is death."

Oleg said that the situation is now very obvious. They must get rid of this guy and can no longer follow him. Now that disaster is imminent, everyone has to rely on their own abilities.

"Well, I'm already prepared. I've connected some Normans and Armenians in series. I plan to distance myself from Russell's team first, and then we'll leave."

Monomacher rubbed his chin and said, in fact, he had been preparing for a long time, before Russell was defeated, and Russell's failure also made some people willing to join his team, Monomacher was very happy to accept these people, After all, it is better to have more and more people to work independently.

"Where are we going then?"

After being excited for a while, Oleg thought of this key question, and Monomakh immediately answered his long-prepared thoughts.

"Now let's go to Trabzon first, which is relatively remote. We will occupy that land first, settle down for a while, and then seek other opportunities."

As Prince Pereyaslav, Monomakh still has a good understanding of the situation in the south. In terms of temporary stability, Trabzon is indeed very suitable, as it is an independent unit geographically.

"Trabzon? That land is quite rich, okay, let's go there."

Oleg obviously knew the name, so he agreed, Trabzon is indeed a very suitable place for self-cultivation, they stayed there for a while, repaired the army, and then looked at the form.

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(End of this chapter)