king of ros

Chapter 493 Containing the Siege
"Really? Did that Nikephoros say that? Tsk, it's a little surprising, but not too surprising."

Three hours after Leo's audience with the Emperor Nikephoros, the ex-Greek bureaucrat returned to the camp to inform Rostislav of his results.

That Emperor Nikephoros was not friendly to the envoy of Rostislav, even rude, but even so, it was better than the treatment received by the envoy of Alexios. Last time, the envoy of Alexios was directly hanged.

Rostislav was not surprised by such an attitude. If he were Nikephoros, he would definitely not be in a good mood. After finally killing the rebels outside the city, the Ross people suddenly appeared, especially It was the envoy of that bad chief Rose who refused his solicitation.

"Yes, that's what he said." Leo said, although he has always been known for controlling his emotions, but thinking of the emperor's foul language, the expression on his face is still a bit ugly, "In addition, the situation in the city is also Indeed, as you have gleaned before, it is very volatile, it is a big oil tank of fire, people are suppressing their emotions, and it only takes a small flame to light it."

"And our emperor's friend does seem to be able to do something. So, Leo, did you take the letter out? Has anyone discovered it?"

"As a person who has worked in Constantinople for so long, I will naturally not show my feet on this, my grand duke. The letter has been sent out according to the agreed method, right under the eyes of those people, they Never would have thought that the man who looked at the loyal nobleman was Alexios."

"In this case, then we can just wait, Leo, you step back, and take over your new job after a period of rest. After that, dealing with the Greeks will depend on you."

"This is my duty, Grand Duke."

Leo spoke to Rostislav respectfully, and then withdrew even more respectfully.

As for Rostislav, he took out a book, which was a frontier literature of the Eastern Empire. He wanted to read it to pass the time. Everything was planned, and all he had to do was wait.

Suddenly, Rostislav heard a burst of cheers from outside the tent. Grand Duke Rus was slightly taken aback, but after a while he picked up his book again, because the reason for the cheers was that Rostislav sent a boat on dry land. The fleet has successfully reached the Golden Horn.

This was expected, so Rostislav didn't care at all. The role of that team was only to attract the attention of the defenders, and at the same time, it also had an impact on public opinion behind the city wall-this was a more important thing.

The citizens of Constantinople are dissatisfied with the status quo. They don't understand military affairs, and they don't understand some things at all, so these people are easy to move blindly.

Moreover, Alexios and Rostislav have another backhand, that is, Constantinople has a very complete underground waterway system, and in these waterways, there is a way to go to the city.

Of course, if no one cooperates, walking in the sewer will mean death, but Alexios has quite a few friends in the city...

That day came quickly, and only three days later, the Greco-Russian coalition forces set up a battle formation under the high walls of Constantinople, and the defenders were also in full formation, ready to meet the attack.

Rostislav rode his horse through a group of heavily armed spearmen. The tall siege towers and sturdy ramming vehicles were advancing under the push of the soldiers, and the ladder vehicles were naturally among them, and there were more of them.

Countless shouts filled the sky, advancing siege machines were everywhere, horns of war were constantly sounding, and cavalry were running around, conveying all kinds of orders

Soldiers who did not need to guard these siege equipment went safely under the city wall along the trenches that had been dug and covered.

There, the attackers had set up a mass of barriers to shelter soldiers from movement and fire.

"Your Majesty Alexios, when will your people take action? I don't want my boys to suffer too much loss."

Rostislav came to Alexios. The emperor was observing the situation of the battle, and an army with a purple flag was advancing in an orderly manner in front of him.

Rostislav came at an untimely time, because just at this moment, a huge boulder fell near them, causing a crowd to turn their backs. However, the two monarchs remained calm. To them, this was just a small scene.

"Don't be too anxious, Mr. Rostislav. If you want to enjoy wonderful rewards, you always have to pay a price, don't you? And our actions are related to the real killing move."

Alexios' words were full of disregard for life, but Rostislav did not reject such emotions, after all, he is also a person who has mastered this way.

It's just that Rostislav didn't want to kill too many people on it, knowing that his offensive was only to divert and divert attention, but as Alexios said, the show must be full of drama.

"Pay the price, too, there is nothing you can get without paying your life."

Rostislav watched as a siege tower collapsed after being hit by a stone, and the soldiers on it were scattered like a broken sack of rice. There was death and wailing everywhere.

Many troops suffered losses before reaching the walls of Constantinople, and it was only after a full-scale offensive that Rostislav was able to truly appreciate the city's formidable defenses.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Rostislav, you are so bold that you actually let your son go into the sewer."

Alexios brought up a new topic. Anyway, there was nothing to see on the battlefield, nothing more than watching the army struggling under the strong defense of Constantinople.

"A child always needs experience, and only when he has experienced enough experience can he become a real ruler."

Rostislav responded firmly, anyway, this is a path that has already been determined, and there are still people to take it, so his son is actually not in great danger, so there is no need to worry about it at all, it is better to test him.

While the two were talking, the siege tower finally built the city wall. Countless Greco-Russian soldiers rushed to the city wall and fought with the defenders above. They had the upper hand for a while, and the defenders left many corpses , the flag belonging to the attackers was raised.

But the upside soon ended.

The situation quickly became difficult for the attackers, and once they occupied a section of the wall, they had to face the attack of arrows, ballistas and trebuchets from the second and third tiers.

Most of the people were caught off guard, they did not expect this to happen, they suffered heavy casualties, and Rostislav saw several spearmen set up as a sieve.

Under the rain of arrows, many people were forced to retreat down the city wall again, while others rushed towards the towers and stairs, and the towers often had a large number of defenders and were very difficult to attack.

As for the stairs, even if they went down the stairs, what they faced next was the high wall on the second floor.

Thus wherever the attackers gained an advantage, they would be forced back under such a blow, and the defenders would come back and occupy the ground again.

"It's ugly."

Rostislav sighed, it was the first time he fought such an ugly siege battle, the troops just swayed on the first wall, and then were driven down, the defense of Constantinople really lived up to its reputation.

"That's why the empire has survived until now. The walls protect Constantinople, protect its heart... But for those of us who have to attack it, it's disgusting."

Alexios sighed quite a bit, he still regretted the loss of that opportunity, if not, he would not have to fight the walls of Constantinople, and he would not have to give the Rus so many conditions.

"I can only hope that our plan can be successful. This wall will definitely not be able to break through with our current strength. I really hope to hear news of its early success."

Rostislav murmured that he really wanted to end this senseless grind earlier.

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(End of this chapter)