"Mr. Justinian, one hundred and fifty archers sent by Thebes had arrived at the barracks yesterday."

"The three hundred heavy infantrymen from Papadoros's family have set out from the Modong Fortress and are expected to arrive in three days."

"The Regent of Senna on Patra also sent thirty Latin knights and more than two hundred archery militia to assist in the war."

At this moment, the army was gathering here in the barracks outside Athens. In just a few days, Justinian had completely integrated all the power of Peloponnese. This time, without the previous constraints of Prince Theodor, all the old nobles and Latins who opposed him were completely expelled and deprived of all their property. In addition, he also obtained a large amount of ransom paid by the merchants of Pisa as a condition to release them from the city of Athens.

But now Justinian didn't have time to be complacent and got news from the Ross pirates on the sea that Macedonia in the north had become the main battlefield for the struggle between Mikhail and Theodor. Except for Thessalonika, other places were in danger. On the other hand, the Latin Empire and the Bulgarians were even more eyeing him. Without him, if Antonia continued like this, it would definitely cause chaos. Therefore, in the past few days, the northward intervened in the Epirus civil war was put on the agenda by Justinian. All the troops that could be drawn were gathering on the Attica Peninsula.

"Walking by land? I think it will be more secretive when it comes to sea. If you march directly from Thessaly, you will be so powerful that you will not be afraid of attracting the fear of the Dukas family? Not to mention, there are many crusaders entrenched there. Alexander of Memphis was killed by you, and his remnants should not be underestimated." In the military tent, Igor was sitting by the wooden table, flipping through the records of food and supplies statistics in the past few days.

Justinian was looking at the entire map of Greece and Macedonia in front of him, drawing something in circles on the picture with a quill pen, turning his head to look at Igor behind him and answering: "This is exactly the effect I want. What I want is so grand. If they have no fear of me, that is the most dangerous thing. Just like the first thing the hunter who hunts giant bears in the wasteland does is to let go of his own hounds and let the prey know his existence."

"But this will undoubtedly be extremely dangerous. I have seen many people, but it is the first time that an alien like you has seen. Do you know what it means if you do this?" Igor in Constantinople has seen too many intrigues, and all kinds are difficult to enumerate, but one thing is the same, that is, the dignity of the nobles. However, in Molia, he saw Justinian pulling this fig leaf down without leaving an inch. Of course, this made Justinian squeeze out amazing potential for war by relying on the barren Peloponnese, but it also means that the land of progressive size will be a sea of ​​corpses and bones after this - because in the eyes of those old nobles, Justinian is already more abominable than the Latins.

"Of course I know this. The danger you mentioned is indeed so great, but the benefits are equally huge." After saying that, Justinian turned around and looked at the extremely mottled map in front of him again.

He finally waited for this day and had been preparing for nearly a year. All the layout finally came to fruition. But not everything was foolproof, the only problem still exists...

After closing the account book in his hand, Igor said slowly: "The food and supplies are enough for the next year of Peloponnese, and the warehouse goods dropped by the Pisa merchants, the logistics can completely keep up, but now Molia seems to have few troops to assemble."

Justinian nodded. This was the biggest problem he faced now. "Most of the new army formed by young and middle-aged people have been stationed in Macedonia for almost a year. With the full plan and half of the troops that Zalius could transfer to return to Mistrasse, the maximum number of troops that could gather in Athens is probably only 2,000."

"Then if you go north like this, it would be like an old hunter with a limp leg to catch a bear." Igor did not mean to joke. In fact, although Justinian became famous after suppressing the Latin rebellion, it not only brought many enemies, but also the exhausted Molia was extremely empty. While ensuring the safety of the local area, Justinian could take away few troops this time, and it would undoubtedly take a lot of risks to enter Epirus. In addition to the Ducas nobles, Macedonia also retained a large number of crusaders.

"That's why I'm going to trouble you to go there." Justinian said, and threw the key on his waist onto the table in front of Igor. This key was used to open the treasury of the merchants of Pisa, which stocked up the wealth accumulated by Baron Pierre in his life and the goods that the merchant group had originally planned to ship to the East, but now it has become Justinian's wealth.

"Is this?" The young Varyag picked up the key on the table and asked carefully, rubbing it with a smile.

Justinian said lightly: "Why do you ask me knowingly? Everything in the treasury is at your disposal. Except for the twenty pounds of gold and one hundred pounds of silver sent by Romanus, the goods of the Pizza people are believed to be easily removed from the Holy Land of the East. When you and I meet again, I think you can bring back a powerful army."

"Go to the East to recruit soldiers? Are you sure?" Igor was shocked by Justinian's thoughts. Although he guessed that Justinian would want him to recruit soldiers overseas, he thought he was going to Italy, but he didn't expect Justinian to actually want him to go to the holy land.

Faced with Igor's suspicion, Justinian was very sure, "Yes, it's there." Although the Roman world had undergone tremendous changes with his arrival, Justinian believed that he had not brought much impact in the distant holy land. If everything was not surprising, in 1204, King Amaric of Jerusalem had signed a peace agreement with Egypt's Sultan Al-Camille. The following year, he died, leaving his young girl, Maria.

At this time, in 1207, Maria, who was only 16 years old, was not even married and could not control the chaos in Cyprus, Beirut and Sidon. The Germanic Crusaders, who had been unfavorable to the French, were returning to Germany in large numbers. This was a chance that Justinian could take advantage of - this group of high-quality troops would establish the famous Teutonic Knights in more than ten years. If they could be intercepted as mercenaries, they could greatly expand their combat power.

"It is probably unrealistic to let the crusad attack the crusaders." Justinian's amazing thoughts made Igor look at him, but the other party was confident.

"But what if the Crusaders knew that they were attacking a group of heretics who were expelled from the church?" Justinian asked with a meaningful smile on his face.

At this moment, Igor was stunned and pondered. Yes, he also heard that the Pope of Rome fired the crusades who ransacked Zara on the way. If that were the case, the frustrated crusaders from the Holy Land would not have any psychological pressure to attack them.

Justinian continued: "Although the Venetians later handed over the letter of repentance, the matter was left unresolved, considering that the war between the Holy Land and the Egyptians caused the news to be blocked, many people must have had little understanding of this matter. If they now knew that they could still stay in the East and have a generous reward, they would have gone there happily." Justinian had considered this matter for a long time. Most of the Latin Crusaders in the Roman Empire were French and Italian nobles. They were not in the same way as the Germanic Crusaders. Relying on this fierce army was enough to eliminate the enemies. The only thing to beware of is the unique rebels of the Teutonic Knights, as long as they did not become the Polish King Conrad, it would be no big problem.

Seeing Justinian persisting so much, Igor readily put the key in his pocket, looked at Justinian and asked, "You believe me so much, and you are not afraid of embezzling them? Don't forget that we are pirates, and we may also betray you if we can give up the **ssa people."

"I'm sure you won't do that." Justinian shrugged and replied with ease.

"It's because Miss Antonia? I just owe her a favor, and it doesn't mean that I am her subordinate. It was not necessary to help you this time." Igor said mercilessly.

But Justinian shook his head and said, "Of course I know this, but the real reason you helped me is not her, but because of that map!" When he came to the pirate alone and was surrounded by a group of ferocious Ross pirates, what surprised him was that the person in charge of the island was a thin and thin young man about the same age as him, that is, Igor in front of him. When he saw him at first, Justinian knew that this was a difficult character to deal with. Sure enough, when he mentioned Antonia, the other party did not react much. Until Igor saw a special map in the things he carried with him, his attitude changed drastically. So Justinian was sure that the reason was the map given to him by Vasily, the leader of the rebel army, before leaving Constantinople. It can be confirmed that these two must have a great relationship.
Chapter completed!