Eagle Flag of Epirus

　　 Peloponnese-the Moria Military District of the Byzantine Empire, this is the essence of the empire and the hinterland. The ancient city-state civilization was born here, although with the rise of Thessaloniki and Constantinople in the north, it is no longer as prosperous as it used to be, and it can be a unique piece of land. Therefore, although the Achaia vassal territory established here is not large, its strength should not be underestimated.

Nominally, he was a vassal of Thessaloniki Kingdom, but Boniface would never have thought that the knights he had no intention of sending there to investigate the situation were actually defeated ten times by the strength of hundreds of people. The Byzantine army on its side annexed the entire Peloponnese in one fell swoop. William Chapulit and Gottfried Willehard, who were originally unknown, established the Achaia state for the monarchs here. This made Boniface regret it and had nothing to do, so he had to admit it. Status status.

　　 Today's Achaia state can vaguely fight against Epirus and Bulgaria's Thessaloniki, and even go to Athens several times to contact him, asking him to become his own vassal.

　　 But for now, I am afraid that William Chapulitt has no mind to care about the intrigue between him and other lords, because Epirus' attack on Athens half a month ago made him finally a little nervous. It seems that his territory, the Peloponnese, is unique in geographical conditions, but in fact, he is surrounded on three sides by the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. If Athens one day falls, it means that he will be connected with the Kingdom of Thessaloniki. After being completely cut off by the Greeks, many nobles also asked to go to Athens for support, especially Prime Minister Gottfried who was particularly firm. However, Marquis William hesitated.

Because of this, William conscripted all the nobles in his domain to participate in the council. He tried his best to convince his vassals not to get involved in the battle between the Greeks and Thessaloniki Kingdom. After all, the Principality of Athens was only a vassal of Boniface. He even hopes to reach a peace agreement with Epirus.

　　 But at the conference of the Principality of Achaia, the other nobles did not respond so positively to the king. They didn't think they had to compromise with the weak Greeks in their eyes. In their opinion, the approach of the Marquis William was incredible.

　　 "Is it really necessary to do this, Sir William?" As his deputy, Prime Minister Gottfrey decisively did not agree. Instead, he insisted on mobilizing all the nobles to take the initiative to fight Epirus.

The other nobles who participated in the Great Council also agreed. The peace proposed by William before really puzzled them. European knights who were keen on war were more willing to open up territory and expand their territory. What's more, the Athenians also sent envoys to rescue them before. Boniface was battered for Bulgaria, and now is their best opportunity to put the Principality of Athens under their control.

And seeing this scene, William frowned slightly. Of course he could understand this reaction. After all, the Byzantines had already retreated before, but William firmly believed that Epirus was absolutely impossible to give up, especially that of Agrinion. Theodore, it is absolutely impossible to give up here willingly. Once he has the truth, the situation of Achaia will be very dangerous. In today’s situation, since Emperor Baldwin’s disastrous defeat in Adrianople, the entire country established by the original Crusaders has struggled against the counterattack that helped his remnant forces. Now Achaia and Athens are both in their mouths and teeth, but He had a hunch that it was only a matter of time before the Greeks came back. So because of this, William convened a large board meeting against the crowd, hoping to reach a consensus on the restoration of relations with Byzantium, but he did not expect that the large board meeting was met with fierce opposition.

　　 He asked the barons of various territories to withdraw their troops from Corinth and give up preparations for war, and at the same time strengthen Andravida's coastal defense to prevent Epirus from attacking from the sea. But now it seems that everything is not as smooth as he thought, these vassals are more willing to join forces with the Athenians to prepare to attack Epirus together.

"Duke Willeha, do you still think that the Greeks are as vulnerable as before?" Looking at his friend, Marquis William asked with a heavy face. He really couldn't understand why the opponent insisted on the main battle, because they were able to win at the beginning. The Byzantines hadn't lost their war armaments for many years before they took advantage of their emptiness. Now they still want to take the risk of hitting the rocks with pebbles.

"Of course not, but our iron cavalry is enough to break through all enemies, Lord Marquis." Gottfrey certainly understood the meaning of the monarch before him. Although he is now a subject of the opponent, he was also a comrade-in-arms in the past ten years. A sense of crisis like William Chapulitt.

"What if I insist?" Looking at his friends for many years and not standing on his side, William was also helpless. The large council composed of nobles convened by the monarch is the highest authority of the Principality of Achaia. The feudal system imitating William’s mother country, France, is called "Assizes of Romania" (Assizes of Romania), which grafted French customary law onto Byzantine law, which is different from other Thessaloniki or Constantinople’s dissatisfaction. William’s two years The laws implemented here went smoothly and even affected other Greek crusade countries. Certain noble titles of the original Byzantium and the Pronier system (see Byzantine military district system) have also been retained, but they have been transformed into the Western European feudal system suitable for the principality, and their decisions are binding on the whole country and even the monarchs~www.mtlnovel. com~He cannot mobilize all the troops without their support.

　　 William, who held the big council, wanted to achieve his goal, but now the nobles used it to restrain his power. Suddenly the man coughed violently, and an unhealthy rosy appeared on his pale face.

　　 "His Royal Highness, are you okay!" The other nobles all worried and cared. After all, they were all one of the hundreds of knights at the beginning, and they had the same affection. William Chapulit has been bad since the Battle of the Olive Grove at Condoros, and the hot and humid weather in Peloponnese made him extremely uncomfortable, so his health went from bad to worse.

Seeing that his old friend was already so weak, Gottfrey also nodded helplessly, "Why, William, if this is the case, it is better to temporarily withdraw half of the troops, and the rest will continue to observe the movements of the Greeks. In this way, we can avoid unnecessary losses, and we can also use this as a condition to make Duke Otto pay some price." The Duke Alto mentioned by Gottfrey is Otto de la Roche, the monarch of the Duchy of Athens. The opponent is a Burgundian knight, and the relationship between the two parties is not harmonious.

The other noble knights also nodded one after another. Looking at this situation, Marquis William also understood that he could no longer put his beak. His health was not good, and many affairs were left to Gottfrey. In addition, he has no direct male heirs, so this old friend has been regarded by everyone as the future monarch of the Marquis.

No objection, the depressed Marquis ended this council, but William Chapulitt’s premonition was correct. At this time, an army was riding on a warship to attack his territory, but everyone They all fixed their gazes to the south, but didn't know that the danger had already arisen from behind.