After Guwaz left, Vitus summoned the remaining Mamluk officers.
Most of the officers had a vague attitude and wanted to continue to wait and see, while only a handful of officers accepted the offer.
Vitus murmured in his heart, "Do I have to capture Nile Delta and Mamluk groups before they are willing to surrender?"
On April 29, the expeditionary force ended its rest and began to attack the southern part of Levant.
This journey was relatively easy. All the Mamluk along the way evacuated, taking their families and property back to the Egypt homeland. Four days later, the Eastern Roman Empire army left the rolling hilly area and arrived at the northern suburbs of Jerusalem.
The moment they saw the city, the queue of Knights Hospitaller started making noises. The knights dismounted, some prayed in low voices, and some looked at the blue sky and shouted loudly to vent their inner joy.
There was also a commotion in the Roman Legion's queue. Many soldiers started talking in violation of orders, and were severely scolded by the non-commissioned officers.
After the discussion in the team subsided, a small number of soldiers still stood on tiptoes, trying to look beyond the figures of their companions and look ahead.
Vitus rode a white horse to the highest point of the hills to overlook the city and surrounding terrain.
"What a desolate scene."
The outermost periphery of Jerusalem is a thick light yellow city wall. Many sections of the city wall have collapsed. Under the scorching sun at noon, the wall shows a warm golden luster.
The eastern suburbs are hills covered with olive trees, hence the name Mount of Olives. The southern suburbs have sparse vegetation, are barren and dry, and the west of the city is hilly.
At this time, Boranov from Dragon Cavalry Brigade came to report, "Your Majesty, we entered the city at eight o'clock in the morning to conduct reconnaissance. The defenders have already withdrawn. There are about three thousand residents inside."
So few?
Vitus thought his subordinate had made a mistake and quickly asked, "Is it three thousand households or three thousand people?"
Boranov asked the cavalry to carry over a small half box of documents, "There are three thousand people. Local residents claim that the city has maintained this size in the past few decades. The brothers found some information in the official residence, and it is all here."
Vitus thought about it for a long time and could only blame the war.
Among them, the most destructive one was in 1244, when Egypt Sultan hired the remnants of Khwarazmian to raid the weakly defended Jerusalem, and many buildings were looted and destroyed.
"More than two hundred years later, I thought Mamluk rebuilt this city."
With a few words of emotion, Vitus found Andronikos and Cesarini and asked them to prepare a decent celebration ceremony as soon as possible.
Later, he asked the grand leader Rastique:
"According to the agreement between Pope and I, I will allocate a large piece of land south of the city to the Knights. The price is that you hand over Rhodes and the affiliated islands. Have the Knights discussed it internally in the past few days?"
Knights Hospitaller was founded in 1099, and its original headquarters was located in the hospital in Jerusalem city.
In 1187, Jerusalem fell, and the Knights' headquarters moved to Acre.
In 1291, after the fall of Acre, the Knights took refuge in Cyprus. In order to obtain economic income, the Knights began to engage in maritime plunder, so they were expelled by Lusignan family.
In 1306, with the assistance of Genoa people, the Knights captured Rhodes and made it the new headquarters of the Knights.
Now, Vitus is willing to exchange the land in the south of Levant with the Knights. This condition is favorable enough. After all, their name is Jerusalem Saint John Knights Hospitaller. There is no reason to stay at Rhodes.
Holy See fully agrees with this plan.
Knights Templar, the strongest among the three major knights, was destroyed, Teutonic Knights was lingering in Prussian Region, and only Knights Hospitaller could be used. Pope looked forward to Knights Hospitaller assisting in the defense of Jerusalem, at least not to let it be lost during his term of office.
The grand leader looked at the map and saw a large area circled south of Jerusalem, extending from the west coast to the inland hills, with an area similar to Rhodes (1,400 square kilometers).
He accepted the condition.
Under an olive tree in the suburbs, Vitus and Rastique signed their names at the end of the parchment, and the Knights promised to complete the relocation within half a year.
Andronikos and Cesarini also signed at the end of the agreement, representing Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Curia respectively, as witnesses of both parties.
It is now two o'clock in the afternoon on May 3, 1451. From this moment on, Eastern Roman Empire has officially recovered all Aegean Sea islands.
The grand commander put away the document that belonged to his side and suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, how many troops do you plan to station here in the future?"
Vitus Brushed the fallen leaves from his shoulders and looked at the vast hills in the northern suburbs, his interest suddenly waned.
"The empire Finance is nervous and is in a hurry for money. The treasury owes a large loan and has not repaid it. It is impossible to send a Field Legion to station here. The cost is too high.
I plan to form a special unit, named Holy Land Guard Legion, to attract Orthodoxy believers who voluntarily sign up. The military treatment is similar to that of the second-line troops, and the defense zone is located in the north of Jerusalem. Just make do with it, as long as it lasts."
Hearing the emperor's remarks, Andronikos, Cesarini, and the Grand Commander's expressions were astonished.
We just regained this area and didn't even hold a celebration ceremony. Now we just want to muddle through. This is too foolish.
Due to the identity of Vitus, everyone present could only pretend not to hear.
When Heraclius recovered Jerusalem, a grand ceremony was held. He took off his crown and Purple Robe, and personally carried the true cross into the city gate.
At this moment, Vitus did not show any joy or excitement, which is really hard to understand.
Looking at the emperor's leaving figure, the Grand Commander stroked his gray hair and sighed in a low voice, "The emperor is simply, well, different from ordinary people."
The sunlight penetrated the branches and leaves, casting numerous light spots on the ground. Andronikos's black robe was soaked with sweat, and he held a thin wooden board to fan the wind, thinking to himself:
"Actually, when we were children, there was nothing unusual about us brothers.
As we grow older and realize that the empire is about to end, our mentality changes.
The eldest brother has the heaviest responsibility, has a melancholic and silent character, and mainly focuses on two things: seeking support from the West and praying.
Theodore stays at Morea, hunting and having fun all day long, to escape the pressure of reality.
I was dispatched to Thessaloniki. Due to physical reasons, I neglected government and military affairs and stayed in the official residence to recuperate for a long time.
Constantine devoted his energy to honing his martial arts, wanting to grow into a brave and skilled general, and personally kill Ottoman Sultan on the battlefield.
Demetrius pursues pleasure, but Constantinople is deserted and dilapidated, with nothing to enjoy. Under the influence of various factors, his character has become bad and depressed, and he becomes indulgent whenever he has the opportunity.
Thomas is the youngest and enjoys himself at Court all day long. When he was fourteen years old, he realized that the empire was in danger and had a pessimistic attitude for a period of time.
Not long after, the Thrace war broke out, the empire regained a large area, and the situation suddenly improved. Thomas's inner pressure dissipated, and he began to pursue pleasure again. After many years, his character is the most normal among us.
As for Vitus, he stayed in the courtyard reading all day, and he probably received a divine revelation similar to Jeanne·Dake, or experienced the Eureka moment and became the Eastern Roman Empire most outstanding military commander in thousands of years."
(Eureka, the ancient word Greece, represents someone's sudden inspiration.)
May 6th, early morning.
There was a light rain last night, and the air was slightly humid. Vitus led a group of high-level officials to walk into the city. The streets were narrow and cramped, and many houses were uninhabited, making it particularly deserted.
Soon, the group arrived at the northwest city, which was filled with large and small monasteries, and the buildings were stacked on top of each other.
Passing through a stone arch, in front of you is your destination - Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The building is made of light yellow stones, with a semicircular gray dome on top.
According to last year's agreement, this church is jointly managed by multiple denominations. Vitus waited outside the city for two and a half days because Andronikos, Cesarini and others were discussing related matters and arguing over certain details, which delayed the celebration ceremony.
After a busy morning, Vitus went through all the procedures and donated an additional amount of money to repair certain buildings and facilities.
At the end of the ceremony, he led a group of staff and accompanying guards and set off for Jaffa on the west coast.
This journey is about forty miles. The first half of the journey passes through hilly areas, where the air is hot and sparsely populated. At intervals, there are watchtowers or castles left by Crusaders.
At dusk, everyone spent the night at a military station.
The military station is located in an abandoned castle, and two auxiliary companies are stationed there. They just arrived here yesterday and had no time to clean up the ruins.
The worst thing was that the enemy threw a dead sheep into the well, and the water in the well was contaminated. The soldiers were forced to use horse-drawn carriages to transport water back from the creek on the south side.
The next day, Vitus set off again. The terrain became flat and open. The wheat fields on both sides had turned yellow, and olives, grapes and other cash crops were planted on the slopes.
Sometimes, a towering pigeon tower will appear in the field of vision. It has an earthy appearance and is more than ten meters high. The internal walls are densely filled with caves for pigeons to nest, like a large beehive.
Phew~
Large swarms of pigeons spewed out from the top of the tower. The pigeons circled and gathered above the top of the tower, and then dispersed and flew to the surrounding areas to feed. At night, they would fly back to the pigeon tower to roost.
Vitus looked at the pigeons that were gradually disappearing, "The climate here is dry and the light is sufficient, which is suitable for the growth of pigeons. Unfortunately, the pigeon tower is the exclusive property of the lord and cannot be afforded by the people."
For a long time, although the identity of the builder of the Pigeon Tower was not explicitly stipulated, large groups of pigeons went out to forage and often pecked the grains in the neighbor's farmland. Only the lords and squires had the ability to solve these troubles and maintain the normal operation of the Pigeon Tower.
At noon, the group rested at the military station fifteen miles south of Jaffa. The military station was also located in an abandoned Crusaders castle. The surrounding terrain was flat and densely populated, which could provide abundant products.
Carefully observe the stone carvings of the castle. It was built in 1141 and was conferred by King Jerusalem to Baron Ibelin to block attacks from the direction of Egypt.
Vitus sighed softly, "Balian of Ibelin."
Some of the attendants recalled the deeds of this nobleman. The most significant deed in Balian's life was guarding Jerusalem, fighting fiercely with Saladin for many days, and finally getting a decent surrender terms.
In the subsequent power struggle, this person wavered between Guy and Konrad, and finally climbed up to Richard the Lionheart and obtained a new fiefdom Caymont...
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Vitus arrived at Jaffa.
The city is located on the coastal hills, and on the west side of the hills is the port area. There are more than fifty ships moored in the harbor, and the remaining dozens of ships are moored outside the harbor, with the sea undulating slightly.
Arriving at the dock area, Vitus happened to meet a group of listless Western knights.
These knights came from Europe, hoping to make a name for themselves in the war to regain the Holy Land. However, before they landed, Jerusalem had already recovered it.
In the Sea of Galilee battle, the coalition forces defeated an army of 30,000 soldiers at a cost of 1,500 casualties and captured over 10,000 prisoners.
The knights acknowledged the glory of this battle, but why did the emperor fight so quickly? Couldn't he wait a few more days to let them show their faces?
Vitus was lazy and entangled with these unstable factors, and said loudly:
"Everyone, the main force of the enemy army has been wiped out, and the situation at Levant has been generally stabilized. Next, I will attack Egypt southward. You can go to the Holy Land for pilgrimage on your own. You can stay as long as you want.
One more reminder, I will not charge any fees from pilgrims, and if Knights Hospitaller or the city guard asks you for money, it has nothing to do with me."
Get rid of these people, Vitus found Fleet Admiral Caboto, and asked for this personnel roster and material list.
This time, the fleet transported First Dragon Cavalry Brigade and two Auxiliary Brigade from Lycia, as well as Theodore and Thomas.
Theodore intends to live in Jerusalem for a period of time and has no intention of participating in the subsequent war.
Vitus reminded the second brother, "Don't go east of the Jordan River, and don't stay away from the city and main roads. There are some broken troops remaining in the mountains, and the army is organizing a clearing campaign."
Thomas had the same reaction as the knights, lamenting that he had missed the title of "Restorer of the Holy Land".
He observed the entourage behind Vitus and asked, "Have you moved the command headquarters here? When will you launch the attack?"
"The army is collecting camels and it is estimated that it will take half a month."
I heard that there is still time, Thomas plans to go to Jerusalem with Theodore to visit various ruins in the city.
Before leaving, he repeatedly asked Vitus, "When you launch an attack, you must say hello to me."
"Got it."
After seeing off the two brothers, Vitus settled in the official residence in the city and was busy processing various documents sent from the country.
The highest priority document comes from Minister Foreign Affairs, detailing the news about Naples.
Vitus didn't care about this and threw the file aside casually.
House of Anjou's navy is weak. It was severely damaged by Aragon a few years ago and is currently in a slow rebuilding stage.
The Eastern Roman Empire fleet can be called the best navy in the world. You don't need to care about the attitudes of Franks people and Italy people.
If House of Anjou gathers forces in the name of King Jerusalem, the Ionia fleet will blockade their ports and even sink their troopships.