Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 321: Taking Off the Sultan's Head

The rain gradually subsided, the fog faded, and the morning light had not yet brightened the east.

Outside the west gate of Erzurum, an isolated figure stood quietly.

His long sword pointed diagonally at the ground, with traces of blood still lingering on the blade, emitting a cold luster in the faint morning light.

Due to the lighting problem, Sultan Suleiman could not see the other person's face clearly. He only felt that the man was tall and the long sword in his hand was several times larger than an ordinary half-sword.

Indeed, the man was not wearing any armor and seemed completely defenseless.

But Suleiman could feel that murderous aura as sharp as a knife was emanating from that man's body.

After all, behind this man, on the rain-covered street, there were scattered corpses lying around, and blood and rain merged into deep red puddles, indicating the massacre that had just taken place.

Farther away, chaotic shouts echoed in the alleys of Erzurum, and the outline of the city walls was vaguely illuminated by fire, proving that the unrest in the city continued.

The Sultan's guards sensed the uneasiness, and they subconsciously tightened their reins, adjusted their formation, and moved a little closer to each other.

During this time, the wind was howling and a dull feeling of oppression echoed in the air.

Nowadays, there are cries of fighting and killing everywhere in the city of Erzurum, and Sultan Suleiman has no way of knowing how many people are rioting.

He had no way of judging whether the military strength on his side was superior or inferior. He was only certain of one thing: every quarter of an hour longer he stayed in the city, the risk would double.

After all, Erzurum is not his territory, and the residents of the city may still be staying indoors peacefully.

What should he do if they had already formed a conspiracy and were waiting to launch the rebellion during the day?
Judging from the current situation, Suleiman II felt that even if he suppressed the main body of the rioters, he would not be able to stop them from joining forces with the Georgians outside the city.

The fall of Erzurum is almost inevitable, and for his own survival, he must escape from this prison that traps him.

Before that, he also had to deal with the sudden obstacle in front of him.

On the other hand, Garys had indeed been waiting here for a long time.

Contrary to what Sultan Suleiman thought, the total number of soldiers on Gairis' side involved in tonight's riot was actually not large.

No matter how Gillis connects the troops, the main force is basically composed of Aladdin's own soldiers.

All together, there are only about a thousand of them, less than one-sixth of the soldiers under Sudan.

But without any intention, these nearly 1,000 soldiers were able to carry out raids on key areas in the city and control all major traffic arteries.

In the chaotic situation where the soldiers under the Sultan's command could not communicate with each other to understand each other's situation, Gairis had a complete information transmission system.

In this way, Garys and his men could create a lot of panic and force the Sultan's army to have difficulty assembling.

But this situation will not last long. When dawn comes and light descends upon the city of Erzurum again, the emirs of the harassed armies will realize that their opponents are not numerous.

Once they start counterattacking, even if it is a blind local action, they can actually break the blockade of Garys's people.

Therefore, Gairis must capture the Sultan as soon as possible and force the various forces in the city to stop resisting.

At this point, both sides have reasons to defeat the other, so there is no further ado and a war is imminent.

A bolt of lightning struck across the sky, and the sudden light illuminated the number of people behind Garys.

At this moment, Suleiman breathed a sigh of relief. The number of the enemy was not large, only a dozen people in total, and they were all infantry, not on horseback.

But at this moment, the man at the crossroads slowly raised his sword and pointed it at them.

In an instant, heavy rain started again, and the bean-sized raindrops hit the armor, making a crisp sound.

The momentary silence was broken. The leader of the Sultan's personal guards waved his hand and someone rode his horse forward, heading straight for Gairis.

It was at this moment that Garys moved.

His footsteps in the rain created tiny splashes of water, which then turned into a thunderous charge.

The sword blade drew a cold light in the air, and before it got close, the riders felt a cold wind blowing on their faces.

The first soldier barely had time to react. He had just raised his spear when Gairis's sword slashed down!

Pfft——!
The sharp blade slid into the side of the neck, cutting cloth like silk, leaving a trail of scarlet blood.

The soldier's head was raised back, blood splattered out, dyeing the rain curtain red.

Garys did not pause, but took a step forward, grabbed the falling body with his left hand, and pushed forward with the force, just in time to block the second rider who was rushing over!

The warhorse neighed in fright, and the soldier was caught off guard. The spear grazed Garys' shoulder and pierced into the air, but Garys had already circled to his side and slashed across with his sword!
Another puff...

The sharp blade broke through the soft armor and cut into the ribs, and warm blood sprayed on the back of Garys's hand.

The man groaned, and fell off the horse's back, falling heavily into the mud.

The rain is getting heavier.

The third knight was approaching, roaring and swinging his sword, trying to chop off Gellis's head.

But he was too slow.

Garys leaned slightly to the side, and the scimitar swiped past his shoulder with a gust of wind, but never touched him. At the same time, Garys's sword suddenly rose from bottom to top, piercing the knight's abdomen accurately.

The blood mist suddenly bloomed!
All this happened in just a short moment.

The Sultan's guards looked on in horror as fear crept up their spines.

Of course, even Suleiman himself was stunned.

What he didn't know was that Garys had deliberately slowed down his speed so that they could see his movements clearly.

Otherwise, it would just create countless corpses in a flash.

Compared with humans, Gellis is the god who created death.

"Kill him!" the Sultan shouted.

The remaining guards finally came to their senses and drew their swords. They formed a semi-arc and tried to surround Garys.

But, is this really an encirclement?

Those guards who tried to rush forward had an inexplicable feeling when they stared into Garys' eyes.

Although there was only one person on the other side, it seemed that they were the ones who were surrounded.

It was as if to verify their ideas.

Facing the gleaming blade.

Not only was Gairis not afraid, but he shouted loudly: "Suleiman!"

There was an irresistible pressure in the prophet's voice.

"Your end has come. Now, immediately, get out of the crowd!"

"Otherwise, you will all die."

Gillis's threats were unpretentious.

It was indeed difficult for him to distinguish Suleiman in civilian clothes. But as long as he killed all the people present, Suleiman would not be able to escape.

Garys was not a bloodthirsty person, so he gave the other person a chance to live.

As long as someone is willing to identify who Suleiman is, or as long as Suleiman comes forward.

Then these guards can still survive until dawn.

……

Rain fell from the sky, and David Soslan's nostrils were filled with blood.

At dawn, he had received news of the sudden changes in the city of Erzurum.

The blood in the city is washing the streets left by the Romans. Did the ancients thousands of years ago ever imagine that their empire that ruled the world would now allow pagans to kill each other?

David, who was originally full of energy and confidence and was even chatting and laughing with Garys, couldn't help but feel a little nervous after hearing the news in the city.

If everything is as Gellis said, then this year's war can end here, and even the tens of thousands of troops under his command can return to Georgia to complete the autumn harvest.

And if Gellis fails, the war will also end here.

However, in that case, the previously occupied lands would return to the authority of the Sultan of Rum because of the city of Erzurum.

In other words, this battle was fought in vain.

He has already ordered the troops to begin assembling. If no clear news comes out of the city, he will lead the troops himself and seize the opportunity to launch a fierce attack on the city of Erzurum.

At this moment, he couldn't afford to hesitate any longer.

Just as hundreds of elite troops from Georgia gathered, the autumn night rain completely stopped under the light of morning light.

As if by coincidence, when the rain stopped completely, the dark clouds dispersed slightly, and the sun shone directly on the earth, the gate of Erzurum was pushed open.

In front of the Georgian sentries outside the city, a Frank walked out of the city carrying a human head.

His boots were stained with blood, leaving a trail of scarlet footprints behind him.

When David heard about this scene through word of mouth from the Georgian sentry, he finally felt relieved.

After this, an impromptu meeting took place in David's tent.

A simple table was placed between Garys and David. This table was originally used to place maps, military orders, seals, etc.

However, there is a human head on the table now.

David couldn't help but look at him again and again. He had met Suleiman the Magnificent twice and was quite familiar with his appearance.

Therefore, he was 100% sure that this head was the one that originally grew on the body of Suleiman II.

David was a little scared. He didn't understand how Garys did it?

Could it be that this person killed all the Turks in the city by himself? !

Or, break into the Sultan's residence alone, besieged by hundreds of guards, and take off the head of the most noble man in Anatolia?

In any case, Garys has declared that there is no one in this world that he cannot kill.

The same seems to be true for David.

When David thought of Hovanis's description of the scene of many arrows surrendering to Gairis, he couldn't help but guess how many more "miracles" Gairis could perform.

The unknown creates terror, the unknown creates fear.

Before Gailis began to explain the process, even though the two were negotiating in David's camp.

Even though Garys came alone, David still felt that he was alone in the world.

"Come, let's talk, let's talk about the Sartuki Bey dynasty."

"Ah."

David took a deep breath and forced himself to stop his endless wandering thoughts.

But even so, he still felt that he was inferior to Garys.

"According to the previous agreement, I have the right to interfere in the land near Erzurum, lead the transformation, and preach the righteous path here...right?"

“Yes, yes.”

David found that when facing this indescribable Garys, he lacked the courage to refuse.

After all, the head of the last person who rejected Gailis's proposal was now staring at him with eyes wide open in disbelief.

This is truly a silent threat.

Therefore, in this environment, Garys and David started a discussion on interests.

"Aladdin Bey, there is actually no need to abolish it for the time being. We just need to put it aside and establish a Turkic Parliament, and then we can legally rule this area."

"Whether it's Georgia or Jerusalem, we have no intention of annexing them."

"The chaotic situation in Anatolia is not suitable for our two countries to get too involved."

"Therefore, I think it is valuable to ensure the existence of the Sartuki Bey dynasty, but we must also impose sufficient constraints on them and urge the country to move towards a more civilized and correct path."

Garys communicated many of his ideas with David here.

Although the real ruler of Georgia was not David, but King Tamara.

But as Tamara's husband, he still has a certain say. After all, if this doesn't work, he can just persuade her.

After entering into the familiar exchange of interests, David gradually relaxed, temporarily forgot about Garys's power, and discussed the details with the other party.

"So what do we in Georgia get? We are not here to do good deeds."

Garys had actually anticipated this problem.

Although annexing land has no meaning for Georgia, if this country is not affected by Georgia, then this war will also be meaningless.

“Although I think it is necessary to continue to maintain the existence of the Sartuki Bey State and establish the supervision of Aladdin Bey by the Turkic Council.”

“But in terms of economy, the main body of this country is, after all, a country dominated by Armenians and Greeks.”

"Therefore, we need to rely on representatives of various ethnic groups and towns to discuss tax issues and determine the amount and purpose of taxation... Therefore, in addition to the Turkic Parliament, we also need a grand parliament with the participation of all ethnic groups."

When he got to this point, David actually understood a little.

Although Gelis was said to be maintaining the Sartuki Bey state, in reality he was still suppressing the political power of the Turks.

This so-called Grand Council is a channel for other ethnic groups to have their voices heard.

As a country that took in a large number of Armenian nobles, the Kingdom of Georgia was not suitable to directly annex these lands, but it could use its religious, ethnic and cultural influence to support its own representatives.

(End of this chapter)