The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Muhammad was already angry, and he swore that he would not be human unless he conquered this place.

Since there was no news from Rome, Muhammad concluded that they were still as slow to respond as the Palaeolian dynasty before them. Therefore, they did not pay too much attention to the news sent by the plundering cavalry in the west. In fact, Rome had already begun to dismember this anti-Romanian alliance.

Michael had already recruited many men, and together with Rome's standing army in Ukraine, fifteen thousand men joined his ranks. These people are more than enough to deal with Trebizond, but they are a bit unwatchable for Georgia. For this reason, Mihai began to discuss sending troops with his good neighbors, the Circassians.

The Circassians are concentrated in the North Caucasus, neighboring Georgia. Michael led the army from Azov and arrived at the Circassian settlement on the Black Sea coast via the waterway. He hired some people with money and spread the news that anyone who attacked Georgia would be rewarded heavily.

In the south, Cyprus general Maurice led his army to prepare to attack the Ottoman territory, but he suddenly received an order from Peter to help the Patriarch of Antioch first.

In Peter's view, there are enough troops recruited from Anatolia and the Balkans. Taking Antioch when the Mamluks and Ottomans have almost no troops in the Levant can not only lay down a forward position to attack Syria, but also threaten the Ottomans. rear. Kill two birds with one stone.

The Patriarch of Antioch, George V, had begun ordering Christians to defend the city of Antioch. The city was built on the Orontes River and the mountains behind it. The First Crusade also laid siege here for several months. In addition, all the reinforcements were defeated before the defenders in the city surrendered.

After the fall of the principality of Antioch, the city suffered a lot of looting, and Tamerlane's conquests in Syria made the city suffer. In recent years, with the expansion of the Roman Empire, the number of Roman merchants in Antioch has gradually increased. In addition, Rome's recovery of Cyprus has made its relationship with Antioch even closer.

But when everyone was preparing to deal with possible invading enemies, there was a sound of surrender in the city. The Catholic Bishop of Antiochra said that in order to prevent the city from being massacred, they should open the city and surrender.

This was also a clerical position established during the Principality of Antioch. It had disappeared, but suddenly it popped up again. This left the people a little confused. What on earth is the bishop doing?

The bishop actually had his own ideas. Although it was uncomfortable to be under the rule of pagans, fortunately the other party respected his beliefs, and he could still pray and preach in Antioch. But if Rome, which believes in Orthodox Christianity, regains this place, will he still have a good life?

Therefore, he would rather let pagans rule here than let Rome rule here.

But his actions ended there. Morris took the soldiers on board the ship and headed for Antioch. The weather at sea was very good, and with a strong east wind, they reached the coast of Antioch in less than two days, less than 20 kilometers away from Antioch.

"Tell the soldiers to hurry up and get to Antioch before dark."

"yes"

As time goes by, things will change, and Morris is worried that as time goes by, others will take advantage of Antioch or something will happen. And things were just as he thought, there was already a quarrel in the city of Antioch.

Orthodox Christians and Catholics attack each other, and the bishop wants to promote defeatist rhetoric and is besieged by Orthodox Christians in the church. But the majority is still dominated by Orthodox Christians.

The army led by Maurice arrived in Antioch in the afternoon, and the Patriarch asked the believers to open the doors to welcome the army into the city.

Maurice ordered the double-headed eagle flag to be raised, announcing Antioch's return to the Roman Empire. As for those Catholics and bishops, they were reduced to coolies, contributing to the construction of roads between the city and the port.

----Dividing line----

Operations were also underway across the Balkans, with conscription starting in urban and rural areas such as Adrian, Sofia, Thessaloniki, and Constanta. People signed up enthusiastically.

After Rome entered the war, the Illyrian region began to become unstable. Many uprising teams demanding separation from Rome appeared in cities such as Zaregbu, but they were not large in scale and had been annihilated by the defenders.

On the Austrian border, they were well prepared, and neither Austrian Archduke Albrecht nor the Count of Tyrol was willing to take the opportunity to regain the lost territory. The Principality of Milan is busy building a good relationship with the Principality of Romagna. Everyone knows that behind him is Rome, so everyone is a little afraid of it.

Poland and Lithuania in the north have some thoughts. Wladyslaw and Vytautas want to join forces and annex the Cossack Emirate to restore the territory of Greater Lithuania. When the time comes, the two countries will be united, and then they will conquer Scandinavia in the north, Moscow in the east, and HRE in the west to build a world-class empire.

Obviously, this is ideal. But the problem is that reality will not give you such an ideal environment. Rome has strengthened the control of the Cossacks. Mircea issued a new order last year. Cossacks can obtain Roman military ranks and official positions as long as they have merit. And there are also many Cossacks in the army. The proportion of Cossacks in the garrison of the Crimean port city of Aaron reached an astonishing half.

Rome also economically incorporated the Cossacks into the empire's trade territory, and Rome provided a large amount of daily necessities and food. It also used finance and diplomacy to obtain the right to build roads within its territory, and a road from Iasi to Mircea Fort and then to Dehrem was started; before this, the main road from Aaron to Mircea Fort was built. Finish.

Among the tribes within, Rome adopted a policy of mutual checks and balances and gradual annexation to penetrate the ruling class. As the control of the Northern Yamen continued to strengthen, it was only a matter of time before the Cossacks were incorporated into Rome.

At this time, Ukraine did not have the productivity that would be praised by later generations. It was not the breadbasket of Europe, the essence of European land, or even the womb of Europe. Except for Kiev, Mirceaburg and the small eastern area under Roman control, the rest were open grasslands and closed farms. The Spear of God and the Head of the East are fighting secretly here, and they can be seen everywhere from Lviv to Kiev.

Poland and Lithuania not only had to face Rome in the south, but also had to defend against Moscow in the east and the Teutons in the north. After Samogitia was occupied by the Teutons, they had always wanted to take it back. In addition, the Knights also control the downstream areas of the three main rivers in Poland and Lithuania (Nieman River, Vistula River and Daugava River), which has a great impact on the export trade of the two countries.

Poland wanted to have access to the sea. Emperor Lajos the Great wanted Poland to have access to both the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea, but now it has become a landlocked country. Therefore, the northern Baltic Sea outlet is very important to him, and the Teutons must spit out the occupied Pomerania area.