Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 363 What Arsalan Heard

The eastern sky was turning pale, and the morning light, like a ray of light, slowly broke through the darkness and shone on the wilderness.

The earth was still immersed in the chill of the night, and the hills in the distance were as silent as sleeping beasts.

When the breeze blows across the land, scattered dust is blown up.

Arsalan dismounted, untied the water bag around his waist, poured out some clean water, and used it to wash his cheeks and earlobes.

Beside him, many other riders in the tribe spread out their prayer mats or spread their outer robes on the ground.

The morning light slowly fell, illuminating the warriors in their woolen robes. They raised their hands to their ears in unison and recited in a low voice.

Led by Arsalan, they bowed, knelt, and kowtowed in unison, with their foreheads touching the cold ground.

The wind stops, everything is quiet, only the scriptures flow on this land.

"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant and messenger of Allah!"

"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. And I bear witness that Qairis is the servant and messenger of Allah!"

When they finished their last kowtow and slowly stood up, the morning sun had already jumped out of the horizon, and its golden light fell on them, illuminating their serious faces.

"Let's go, it's time for us to reunite."

There were not many of them, only about twenty riders, and most of them were the Turks who had followed Geiris on his adventure in Erzurum.

Now, under the leadership of Arsalan, they gathered together the Turks who were originally scattered everywhere and looting manors.

……

A military camp, whether long-term or short-term, these days, occupies no different area from a city with the same population.

Taking the standard garrison of the Roman legion as an example, generally speaking, the area of ​​a legion camp of 500 or 500 people would be 20*25, which is between hectares and hectares.

Even a camp of several hundred people will reveal traces of its existence to the outside world due to many reasons such as making fires for cooking, searching for supplies, and leisure activities.

Therefore, it is actually quite troublesome to hide for a long time.

Fortunately, with the help of local people, Arsalan and his men built several camps in the Cardia Military District and dispersed the Turks in small groups in the area where mountains and hills meet.

Because they attacked from different places, their traces became erratic in the eyes of the city of Trebizond.

However, in this case, if we want to gather again, we will need to notify each small camp one by one.

When Arsalan walked into a camp, he couldn't help frowning.

It was smoky and hot here, and the guard at the door was drunk.

Going further inside, many Turks were stumbling around.

Apparently, just now, the people here were still living a life of drunkenness and debauchery.

"Young man, you're here!" A middle-aged man nearby came up to greet Arsalan enthusiastically after seeing him.

"Everyone, don't just lie there! Look! This is Brother Osman's son! This is what you call a young hero, so handsome! Haha!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, the smell of alcohol could not be stopped no matter what.

Arslan frowned but didn't say anything before the man started talking again.

"The reason why we can come here and make a fortune this time is all because of the information given by Arsalan!" "If it weren't for him, how would we know that the Romans have lost Constantinople now! Ahahaha!"

As he said this, there was laughter all around.

Then the middle-aged man took Arsalan's hand and walked deeper into the camp.

In Arsalan's sight, he could often see some wooden stakes with chains or hemp ropes hanging on them, and at the other end of the chains or hemp ropes were naturally "people" one after another.

The middle-aged man didn't see any problem with this, and Arsalan became even more silent.

When they reached the innermost part, the middle-aged man pointed to a cage and said loudly, "Look! The best stuff. This is what I left for you, and I also give it to Brother Osman!"

……

When Phoenix woke up from her coma, she felt dizzy, as if she had slept for a long time, and she couldn't remember what had happened before.

I have the impression that I was traveling with just a few friends.

What happened next?
She couldn't remember clearly, but what she heard after waking up and the surrounding environment made her alert.

"What a beautiful girl! You can tell at a glance that she is a daughter of an aristocratic family in the city, with delicate skin and tender flesh. Arsalan, you must accept her!"

"Oh, I don't have that in mind."

The two men's words seemed to reveal Phoenix's situation, allowing her to piece together the answer from the fragmented information in her mind.

Was she captured?
And it fell into the hands of the Turks?

Suddenly, a great fear surged in her heart. Just when she wanted to scream, she realized that even her mouth was tied up.

"Arsalan, it was the same last time. When we wanted to share the people, you said you would not take her, and we brothers felt bad about it. This time, you must keep her no matter what! We didn't even touch this woman! We are just waiting for you to take her back!"

The Turkic man's words made Phoenix fall from one panic to another. She wanted to say that her family could pay the ransom, but apart from hesitating, she could not make any useful move.

"Alas...this matter is really a pain..."

The young man showed considerable reluctance on his face, and just when Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief, she heard the other party say another sentence.

"Since it has come to this, there is nothing I can do. I will take these people away!"

Having said this, he ordered the people behind him to lift himself out of the cage, along with some other nobles or servants in the manor.

"Oh, right, the people in the city have spread the news that the Governor's troops will leave the city soon. It won't take long..."

In front of Phoenix and the others, the two men who seemed to be leaders started talking about the movements of the army without any reservations.

Phoenix was not an ordinary person. At least in this situation, she still retained a bit of rationality and really listened to those words.

Then Phoenix was even more surprised, because how did this group of Turks know so much about the things in the city?
They not only told about when the troops would leave, but also about the Governor's loss of appetite this morning.

Phoenix didn't know whether it was true or not, but looking at the expressions of these people, they didn't seem to be faking it.

For a moment, some more terrifying speculations appeared in her mind.

But so what?

Anyway, she couldn't run out at this time to warn the army that was about to leave the city to suppress the bandits.

(End of this chapter)