In the early morning of the next day, the battle in the castle ended.
Since it was still unclear what happened in the castle and what caused it, and the siege was not ready yet, Zhao Ziliang did not act rashly.
Unexpectedly, just after breakfast in the morning, a white flag was erected on the archery tower at the main entrance of the castle.
The white flag kept swaying.
Not long after, the gate of the archery tower at the main entrance of the castle opened, and several giant cannibals walked out with swords hanging from their waists and holding white flags.
Zhao Ziliang and the generals and officials looked at each other with surprise and surprise in their eyes.
These big cannibals have words engraved on their foreheads.
They are all slaves of the Eastern Romans.
It turns out that the internal strife in the castle last night was caused by the slaves.
The slaves fought with the Eastern Roman defenders.
The slave walking at the front came to Zhao Ziliang and saluted Zhao Ziliang according to the etiquette of a cannibal, and said: "Your Majesty, the King of Western Qin and the Regent of the Tang Empire: The villain is Deli Hera, and the Byzantines are here.
Killing our relatives, plundering our property, seizing our fields, and turning us into slaves.
A few days ago, when we learned that His Majesty was coming with his army, they wanted us to defend the city for them.
We all know that only With this city The castle can't stop His Majesty's troops at all.
A few days ago, we learned about the content of the surrender letter sent by His Majesty.
We didn't want to die, so we rose up last night to resist the enslavement of the Eastern Romans.
Now the Eastern Romans in the castle All the Romans were killed by us, and the castle was all under our control.
After discussion, we all felt that we could surrender to Your Majesty, but I don’t know if Your Majesty can fulfill the promise you made in the letter of surrender."
After hearing what the translator said, Zhao Ziliang couldn't help but sigh.
He didn't expect that although he had accidentally asked Li Muchen to write a letter of surrender, he could actually make the slaves in the castle rise up and resist, killing all the Eastern Roman troops, and turned to recruit Li Muchen.
Li Muchen quickly Da Ma walked to Zhao Ziliang.
"What conditions did you promise them in the surrender letter?"
Li Muchen thought for a while and whispered: "Your Majesty, I said in the surrender letter that as long as they surrender, they can all go home safely, the slaves can also regain their free status, and the fields and properties that were taken away from them can be returned to them.
These conditions” Zhao Ziliang was relieved and said to the big eater: "Delihra, right?
As long as you open the city and surrender, I will of course fulfill my promise.
Regarding my integrity, you can ask Deir ez-Zor, Kara Castle and other castles People nearby went to inquire and found out that they had also become slaves of the Byzantines.
It was the arrival of my king and my Western Qin army that allowed them to regain their freedom and return all the lands that originally belonged to them to them."
Delihera whispered a few words to the slaves around him, and then saluted Zhao Ziliang again: "Okay, Your Majesty, we surrender to you."
The next thing became simple.
Delihera and a few people around him returned to the castle, and then someone opened the castle door.
All the slaves put down their weapons and walked out of the castle in several columns.
No one expected that this castle that was originally difficult to break could be captured so easily.
Even Zhao Ziliang found it a bit incredible.
However, in the eyes of the ministers and generals, Zhao Ziliang's move "attacked the heart first".
The plan can be said to be used to perfection.
Previously, in order to fight Zhao Ziliang, Nicerus mobilized all the troops stationed around Beroea and other places in northern Syria.
Now that Beroea was captured, the Western Qin Army occupied northern Syria without any effort, and the sphere of influence was the same.
Extending to Iskenderun on the east coast of the Mediterranean, this is already within the Antioch region.
It only took Zhao Ziliang half a month to send troops to occupy northern Syria and parts of Antioch, completely cutting off the land communication channels between the Eastern Roman Empire and Syria and Canaan, leaving only sea communication channels.
In view of the limited military expenditures for this war, Zhao Ziliang would not waste any more time.
After the army rested, he decided to lead his army to attack southern Syria, but before that, he had to deploy the defenses in northern Syria.
On the tenth day of February, Zhao Ziliang convened the army generals and army officials to discuss matters.
"In view of the limited military expenditures for this war, we cannot delay any longer.
There is no need to delay any longer.
During this period, the soldiers have basically successfully taken over the territory and there has been no fighting.
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Therefore, I have decided to lead the army in two days.
Go south, but we need to leave some troops here to guard against the Anatonian garrison and Antioch garrison of the Eastern Roman Empire.
I don’t know which general is willing to stay."
For generals, the most enjoyable thing in war is to lead the army to attack.
As for defense, no one is willing to do this kind of drudgery.
Defense is equivalent to passively being beaten.
Even military generals who are good at defense are generally unwilling because Being defensive all the time is too frustrating.
After a while, no general stepped forward to take over the task.
Zhao Ziliang looked a little unhappy and had to order: "Fifteen, you are Lao Jiang.
You have rich experience in leading troops in combat and you are old and steady.
Let me lead you."
Leave the soldiers to guard and leave opportunities to the young people.
I will give you 10,000 troops to guard this place."
Xuan Shiwu was ordered by Zhao Ziliang, so he had no choice but to stand up and agree: "Yes, Your Majesty."
On February 12, Zhao Ziliang led his army southward along the Assi River.
Due to the large number of troops, Syria was full of deserts, deserts and salt marshes.
In many places, he could not find a drop of water after walking for several days, so it was necessary to Marching along the water source is the principle that must be followed when marching in the desert.
Just when Zhao Ziliang led his army southward, the Syrian governor Nicerus finally returned to Damascus and could be said to have narrowly escaped death.
However, he soon received the news that Beroea had fallen and the main force of the Western Qin army was heading south.
This made him Again like an ant on heat.
Nicerus is not an idiot, nor is he someone who just waits to be killed.
He knows that with the current strength of the garrison in southern Syria, they will only be defeated by the Western Qin army one by one.
There is no way to resist it.
The only way to fight against the Western Qin army is The best way is to concentrate the troops to have a chance of winning, otherwise the Western Qin army will only attack Damascus again.
At the suggestion of his subordinates, Nicerus quickly ordered the garrison troops from various places to abandon the towns and fortresses originally garrisoned and assemble towards Damascus to prepare for another large-scale battle with the Western Qin army.
Zhao Ziliang quickly got the news.
He ordered the army to increase the speed of march, intending to fight Nicerus before he could gather all his troops.
In this way, the Western Qin army would face much fewer enemies.
If he waited until Nicerus Cyrus gathered all his troops, and the Western Qin army would definitely suffer much greater losses in the battle with him.
The Western Qin Army accelerated its advance and was quickly noticed by Nicerus.
He knew that the Western Qin Army must have guessed his plan.
In fact, he gathered all his troops in Damascus and could not hide it from Zhao Ziliang.
As long as the Western Qin Army If there was a normal person among them, he would guess his plan from the emptiness of the troops everywhere.
For this reason, he had to order to speed up the gathering again, trying to gather all the troops before the Western Qin army arrived.
Damascus.
"The troops coming from all over the country have reached 18,000, but this number is far from enough.
The Western Qin army has a main force of 20,000, and a large number of servants.
The number of these servants is only 50,000, which is only more than 50,000.
In addition to many others, they also have a partial division led by a general named Li Siye.
They have now captured the Amman area.
Although The threat to us is not great for the time being, but if they and the Western Qin King's troops attack us from two directions, we have almost no chance of winning.
I think we can send troops to defeat Li Siye's partial division before the Western Qin King's army arrives. , and then concentrate on dealing with the army of the King of Western Qin," a general reported to Nicerus.
Nicerus did not comment on this battle plan.
He asked: "How many people are coming from all over the country?"
The general replied: "There are at least 20,000 more."
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"The speed of assembly is too slow."
Nicerus frowned, with a worried look that made even the generals unhappy.
At this time, an official came quickly from outside and saluted Nicerus and said: "Your Majesty, Governor, His Majesty the Emperor's decree has been sent from Constantinople."
Nicerus stood up involuntarily, and everyone else cheered up, "What is your Majesty the Emperor's will?"
The official took out an order and said: "His Majesty the Emperor has learned about the Western Qin army's attack on Syria and Damascus.
In view of the fact that Constantinople is currently being attacked by the Bulgars and the siege is prolonged, the Eastern Roman Empire We must preserve our strength and cannot The two-front war cannot be fully launched against the Western Qin for the time being.
Therefore, His Majesty the Emperor orders you to immediately lead the army back to Constantinople by sea and land, and try to take away everything you can.
If you really can't take it away, abandon it.
Quickly withdraw from the sea before the arrival of the Western Qin Army."
After hearing this, Nicerus was about to announce to his generals and officials that he was immediately ready to retreat from the sea back to Constantinople, but he immediately swallowed the words that came to his lips and thought of something.
Question, asked: "Even if we withdraw, the Western Qin army will occupy After taking over all the land of Syria and Canaan, they may not necessarily call it a truce.
If they continue to attack the Anatolia region northward, wouldn't our retreat be equivalent to handing over Syria and Canaan to the Western Qin Dynasty?
Qin may not appreciate it yet."
The generals and officials nodded after hearing this.
But the official said: "His Majesty the Emperor has already considered this matter and has made arrangements.
The Governor does not need to worry about this.
What you have to do now is to lead everyone to retreat from the sea and return to Constantine."
Fortress.
Moreover, Syria and Canaan have been places of chaos since ancient times, and the tribes are too There are many people with mixed beliefs, and the local people are fierce.
Even if the Western Qin army occupied this area, they would have to spend great efforts to manage it.
This is a rich and fertile land, but it is also a huge quagmire.
If they occupy this area, it may be harmful to them.
If it’s not a good thing, they will have no time to cause trouble for me in the Eastern Roman Empire.”
At this time, the Western Qin army had captured the city of Homs.
Zhao Ziliang stood up in surprise after receiving Wang Can's report: "Why did you say that the Eastern Roman Army, led by Nicerus, was rapidly advancing towards Beirut on the Mediterranean?"
Wang Can said: "Yes, and they also carried a lot of baggage.
Our spies in Beirut found that a large number of ships were gathering on the seashore.
After inquiring, we found that these ships were forcibly recruited to the Beirut harbor."
Zhao Ziliang was stunned for a while, "It seems that Nicerus is going to lead his army to withdraw to Constantinople by sea.
Although he is the governor of Syria, if he wants to abandon Syria and withdraw to Constantinople, there is no way for Leo IV to do so."
He would never dare to follow the orders of Leo IV, so his withdrawal this time is probably due to the order of Leo IV.
But since Leo IV is so understanding, how can I not accept his message and order to speed up the advance as soon as possible?
Occupy Damascus” "promise":