The next day, under the majestic Acropolis of Antioch, in the open square in front of St. Peter's Church, where the Merchant Agora had been located, was now occupied by hundreds of brightly colored banners and countless men and horses, and in the four corners of the lords and knights were gathered tens of thousands of men of the city, half of them Armenians, Syrians, and Saracens, representing their surviving families, and half of them pilgrims, who spoke to them as words to all pilgrims and townspeople.

In order to control this group of people, there were many cavalry patrolling with weapons on the outer periphery, and no one was allowed to move around at will, and the atmosphere around the entire church was extremely tense.

On the steps, the people in charge of speaking to everyone were Ademar, John. Oakhill, along with Bohemond, the chief of the army, and the rest of the important lords stood on either side of the colonnade under the gable, and first the priesthood and the Patriarch of Antiochus spoke jointly in praise of the common lord and the city, and won over the Greeks and Armenians in the city, and comforted the Saracens in the city, telling them that the chaotic slaughter that had been fought before was "inevitable in war," but that it was now possible to settle down.

"Because we are willing to imitate your Prophet Muhammad and conclude a treaty of protection with all non-Christians, you now have the freedom to worship and proclaim the Scriptures, and Christians are not allowed to beat, abuse, or kill you at will, nor to harass your wives and daughters, and our noble lords and warriors are willing to raise their swords and protect you as believers. But on the other hand, you must serve in the Christian army and donate your wealth to help fund it. In addition, the same is true of the Manichaeans and Jews in the city. ”

The "people" underneath, wrapped in turbans and robes, suddenly made disgruntled but earnest voices, and many of them held their children on their backs in the direction of Ademar, protesting that their food and money had been confiscated (looted) from previous wars.

"There's always a way." The priesthood took the scepter in his hand, and the knights around him, with their swords blaring, said to them very kindly, "We will send people to collect funds according to the size of their houses, and if the houses of your neighbors are destroyed, you will be responsible for the protection of those who survive, and if your own houses are destroyed, you will take refuge in your surviving neighbors." From now on, the big battle is imminent, and you are not allowed to stay outside at night, otherwise you will be caught by the night guard and beheaded for public display. ”

The Crescent Cultists below were even more coaxing and wailing, and they had to be taxed according to the house, and they had to shoulder the responsibility of continuous protection, if they abandoned the house and slept outside, they would be caught by the night patrol and beheaded, there was simply no way to live, and many old people cried bitterly and fell on the stone floor, dying.

"Now there is a solution, that you abandon all your possessions, and men and women join the ranks of Christians against the wicked prince of Mosul, who is trying to destroy our city. The elderly, children, and the sick are allowed to move around in their designated neighborhoods. "This is the plan that Ademar threw at the opportunity.

"The scriptures state that we shall not give military service to those who do not believe in the true scriptures." Several of the stronger young Crescentists shouted.

"Not military service, but hard labor." At this time, Bohemond began to promulgate new "military measures" in place of the priesthood, and Ostu, who was next to him, began to shout in Saracen and Turkic to translate, "From this moment on, I will draw 12,000 men from the pilgrims' camp, 20,000 from your citizens, and with the 2,000 military servants brought by the Grand Duke Gawain, divided into three shifts, to renovate and strengthen the Acropolis Hill, the west fort outside the city, and the old fort outside the city, and from this day our army can unconditionally demolish the old house to obtain wood and stone. And divide you into teams of four hundred, with twenty soldiers in each of them. I promise that when Kobuha is defeated and repulsed, you will be free again, and may Allah bless you, Amen. ”

"Amen!" Then, all the lords, monks, and Italian consuls standing on the steps of the church, including Gawain, collectively drew crosses.

Then the whole city of Antioch was full of shouts, and the Crescentists, who were forced to trade their labor for the right to survive, and the pilgrims who also wanted to survive to the Holy Land, gathered in the three open gates: St. George's Gate, St. Paul's Gate, and the Acropolis Gate, the first two of which had stone bridges over the Falfa River, and the West Fort was connected to the Gawain camp, and the Acropolis Gate was connected to the Holy Spring Stone Fortress - the rest of the gates, which had been blocked by huge stones, were not removed now, in order to prevent the Turks from attacking, and at the same time to save the strength of the defenders.

As a result, the stone bridge was filled with people carrying timber and stone in various carts that had been requisitioned, with sparkling wheels and working all night.

In the camp, a Lombard engineer holding a drawing was following behind Gawain, "His Royal Highness the Grand Duke, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke, I am a company of unicorn craftsmen named Felix. The humble figure of Gedier, I think, I don't think you have heard of me. ”

Gawain turned to look at the engineer and took his hand, "Yes, it was Judge Giovanni who recommended you to me earlier, and participated in the previous battles of Salian Caesar Henry and Duchess Matilda before the pilgrimage?" He once helped the Duchess build a qualified and excellent field camp. ”

The young engineer was inexplicably excited, the Grand Duke had relied on Samuelfa before, but this one's skills were more focused on city defense, ships, and fire recipes; The little sunfish is an engineering equipment, and it is the "clever girl" of the entire army; Now it was finally his turn to play, "The Seljuk cavalry was very fast, and our cavalry, although far superior to theirs, was indeed limited in number, and it was necessary to use the base to control the cavalry, so as to create the conditions for our decisive victory in the field. ”

"Keep saying what you think!" In the crowded camp, Gawain patted the other party on the shoulder.

"Yes, if we rely solely on the old field camps, we can easily be overwhelmed by the superior Seljuk forces, and the enemy army may have good Persians as engineers who will use large catapults to destroy our defenses. So I came up with a new camp plan. Gedier approached the Grand Duke and unfolded the blueprint in his hand.

The plan of this camp, Gao Wen gazed at it, it was based on the camp he was currently in, but the new camp with a long rectangular shape extended forward, in the shape of irregular dumbbells, with its back to the Orontes River, stretched out right next to the Iron Bridge Fortress, which could not only echo Raymond's garrison, but also cut off the route of the Turks to cross the river and outflank, so that the Turks could only attack it alone.

"Then tell me about your thoughts on guarding against the Persian Archers." Gawain was very satisfied with the location of the camp, but he also knew that no matter how beautifully this kind of plane drawing was, it could not represent the actual combat effect. (To be continued.) )