"Antonia!" Seeing the Genoese girl pointing the crossbow at the Macedonian mountain people below, Eudocia subconsciously wanted to stop it, but Sir Baptiste who was standing aside stepped forward to block the princess.

"Your Highness, you should know that sometimes we have to make sacrifices." The Latin man looked at the angry mountain people under the city wall and persuaded Odosia.

"But they are not wrong, we abandoned them." Seeing the subjects of the empire below being pierced by sharp arrows, Eudocia burst into tears. Today, Rome is torn apart, but her leaders are still going to use cruelty to

The civil war continues.

"It's not safe here, Your Highness, so let's leave these matters to us! I think that's what Lord Justinian meant when he arranged this." Baptiste said to Eudocia calmly.

As foreigners, it is most appropriate for them to act as black gloves for this matter. As a flag princess, there is no need to come forward at this moment. Even if she rescues with all her strength with sympathy this time, people are most willing to remember her.

What always matters is her weakness towards the Genoese. On the contrary, while treating the people with leniency, one must also treat them with cruelty. Then, although the people have dissatisfaction with the monarch, they will become angry when faced with challenges to the ruling authority.

Feeling worried. This is a quality that a ruler should possess. It is a pity that Princess Odosia does not possess it yet, or is unwilling to possess it.

…

On the other side, the mountain people under the city are rushing towards the city gate and tower. However, this group of poorly equipped villagers and peasants are like moving targets under the city, and the Turkic archers draw their bows without any scruples.

Shooting arrows, many people fell down quickly after being hit by arrows, but this did not stop them from continuing to crawl up the city wall.

"Look at the enemies who are killing us on the top of the city. The rebels who betrayed His Majesty Mikhail are colluding with the Turks to massacre fellow Orthodox Christians! Don't back down, go up to the city and kill him. Your Majesty's army is with you.

Let's go and liberate our Thessaloniki." Priest Eustatius stood far behind the crowd and encouraged the mountain people who believed in him to continue to serve as cannon fodder, while the heavily armed Epirus-Bulgarian coalition was

The rear pressed the formation, and whenever the mountain people pushed their flesh and blood into the land of size, they slowly followed up.

Looking at this scene, Mikhail Dukas sneered, "I want to see how long you can last!" This time, the coalition forces of Epirus and Bulgaria chose to fight slowly and use the mountain people as cannon fodder.

Push forward bit by bit to pull out all the traps outside the city wall, never giving the defenders in Thessaloniki a chance to destroy the siege equipment.

The defenders who understood this could only use whistling arrows and hurled stones to greet the people below. However, the brave mountain people who were not afraid of death had no intention of stopping and were repulsed again and again.

He stepped forward again, even though the corpses below the city were getting higher and higher, he still kept shouting "Go into the city, go into the city." He climbed the outer city wall in an attempt to capture the tower above.

Faced with such a situation, the Turkic warriors led by Arslan were a little overwhelmed. There were fewer and fewer bows and arrows in the quiver, and their arms were already sore and numb under the high-intensity firing of the bows.

"Huhuhu~" Antonia, who kept stringing the crossbow, was panting at this time. This was not the first time she had experienced the battlefield, but when she devoted herself to the killing, even from a long distance, the heaviness was almost

It overwhelmed her. But the Genoese girl seemed to be immersed in it, as if she was trying to forget something, so much so that she was standing on the side of the city wall and enemies were climbing up the city wall and jumping down beside her without even reacting.

Fortunately, at the moment when the sharp knife almost pierced the girl's delicate body from behind, an arrow shot from nowhere hit the opponent's chest, and the Genoese girl escaped. When Antonia noticed it, she was everywhere.

When she looked around, the person who saved her life had disappeared.

"Get ready to engage the enemy!" Arslan shouted after witnessing this scene and responded immediately. Following this order, the Turkic warriors immediately dropped their bows and arrows, began to draw their swords, and slashed the enemies who climbed up from the ladder.

Corpses and severed limbs fell from the walls and crenels, and blood was everywhere. But at this time, the coalition forces from Bulgaria and Epirus had also mixed in. Their weapons and equipment were better. When the refugee cannon fodder in front opened a gap for them, the coalition forces were waiting for work.

Taking advantage of the situation, they launched an all-out general attack on Thessaloniki.

…

At the same time, Princess Eudocia, who had withdrawn from the city wall, was originally escorted to a safer underground palace for refuge. However, due to her repeated insistence, the accompanying escort took her to a civilian area.

Although it is said to be a civilian area, after being besieged for days, it has already turned into a filthy slum, and the residents here are obviously resistant to the arrival of the princess in front of them. In their eyes,

, the dedicated relief and comfort over the past few months was not as powerful as the news a few days ago that their princess and the Genoese people were unclear.

Some people say that their Highness has been bewitched by the witch from Latin and has become another "puppet of the Westerners". Rumors are spreading like a plague. The secret contempt for Eudocia is already vague, but it is certain.

The relief food sent by the Genoese people was delivered to the square every day and was quickly eaten up.

Looking at the residents of Thessaloniki who were staring at her intently, Odosia could feel their dissatisfaction. The guards around the princess were also very nervous, and never took their hands off their scabbards for fear of a civil uprising breaking out in front of them.

, that would be disastrous consequences.

And Odosia pushed back her guards and walked alone into the sight of everyone in the civilian area, letting her white dress be stained by the mud under her feet.

The princess took a deep breath, looked at everyone in front of her, and said sincerely: "People of the empire, I know the dissatisfaction in your hearts, and I also try to listen to your voices, and understand that I owe you too much in the past.

.Perhaps, being born in the Purple Chamber, I am not even qualified to plead with you to fight for me. But I still hope that the descendants of Romnus can come down from the Seven Hills and put aside their past grudges to fight against the enemy together, just like they did thousands of years ago.

Rome belongs to the Roman Senate and people, and Thessaloniki also belongs to you. I don’t think it is a glorious thing for foreigners to die to protect this city.”

After saying that, Odosia turned and left the civilian area. She did not dare to look back behind her to see the reaction of the people of Thessaloniki. Maybe there would be more curses on her! The princess smiled bitterly in her heart,

But she must hold back and not show her weak side. Regardless of whether she succeeds or not, she must now return to convince the nobles headed by Ioannis.

…

At this moment, the offensive and defensive situation in Thessaloniki has almost taken a turn for the worse. The aristocratic army of Thessaloniki has not yet come to support, the city's civilian army has just withdrawn from the battle, and the disadvantaged Turkic mercenaries and the Vadaritai garrison are very weak.

Soon it became unbearable. Below the city tower, the Bulgars who had arranged siege equipment used rams and began to smash the city gate. Under the huge impact, the door beams of Thessaloniki creaked and dust flew down.

On top of the Italian regiment that was firmly holding on to the door bolt. These old troops who had followed Justinian from Moria were now in crisis, but they were facing fierce enemies in front, and they were suspected of being behind them.

Many people have been reluctant to lend a helping hand.

"Hold on! Hold on, everyone, and guard the city gate!"

The soldiers of the Italian Legion gritted their teeth. As mercenaries, they firmly held the front in front of them and refused to take a step back. Their roars resounded in the sky of Thessaloniki as they fulfilled their obligations.

The Thessaloniki militiamen who had been watching with cold eyes and withdrawing from the battle finally reacted. The leader of the militia stood up and said: "Her Royal Highness is right, we are not fighting for her, but also for ourselves.

War, Thessaloniki also belongs to us. I will never be like those decadent and cowardly nobles, hiding behind foreigners and surviving. Anyone with blood will come with me!" As soon as these words came out, it was already clear that
Chapter completed!