Текст книги "Eric (СИ)"

Автор книги: Марина Шпак

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Especially worth noting is the attempted theft. In the course of the investigation, interesting details emerged. Pope Innocent III did not forgive Eric's desire to maneuver, not allowing a split in the state. The fact is that he could not choose the full side of Rome and begin to plant Catholicism on his land, as virtually all the Christians that he lived in were Orthodox. The Turkic Jews – Khazars stood in a special way, but they were clever enough not to get into such disassembly. Bishop Honorius, who ran the affairs of Catholicism in the Bosporus, made some fantastic efforts, but his flock grew mainly due to visiting European artisans. Which only confirmed the correctness of Eric's position. Artisans traveled for a reason – through the trading house of Demetra was an active campaign to find talented people in those lands that visit its ships. Of particular value were all sorts of unrecognized "kulibinas," which were not so many, but even in such numbers they were absolutely not in demand. The brook, of course, was slim, but he gave the growth of the flock. However, its size was so insignificant that the maintenance of Catholicism on an official level, albeit formally, looked strange. In this connection, there was an active correspondence with the Patriarch of Constantinople John X Kamatir, who was making no less effort than Honorius, but already in favor of Orthodoxy. This action was a kind of bargaining for a small, but tasty slice. So, in the midst of these events, during the testing in December 1203 of the first crossbow of a new design, an unknown person who secretly penetrated the range of the factory seized the sample and tried to hide with him. All would be nothing, but, firstly, the guy was quick, and secondly, someone helped him very much – the horses in the right places were standing, the doors needed were open and so on. As a result, when trying to leave on the road to the north-west of Feodosia, it was decided to bring it down, since the probability of avoiding the chase was very high, especially if an ambush detachment was waiting for him. Inspection of the corpse did not give anything particularly interesting – no personal belongings and special signs. Began to draw up a map of events. It turned out that all the "accidental" participants were Catholics who had recently arrived on different grounds to the territory of the principality. No evidence, but indirect evidence clearly indicated the involvement of Honorius and, it is not impossible, Innocent. According to the letters de Plesier, the current pope was a rare intriguer and as his informers in the Vatican testify, he is very concerned about the state of affairs in the Bosporus. The fact is that the Templars reported to him about the unique German baron during the incident in Vienna. Innocent appreciated the beautiful improvisation and approved the support of the Catholic order. After the events in the Holy Land, where Erik literally gave a miraculous reviving kick to the Principality of Antioch and the local Templars, he closely followed his activities and contributed to her in every possible way. However, after the establishment of the poly-confessional, he became enraged. It is rumored that he smashed a lot of furniture and utensils, while in a fit. A noble warrior, who bears a high reputation for Catholic weapons, refused to distribute Catholicism to his subjects. Innokenty considered this a personal insult and began to actively monitor his activities. Of course, he was very interested in the manufactory, and indeed the high activity that took place in the area of the Bosporus. And so, having learned about the experiments with some kind of strange crossbow, he gave the order to steal it, in order to study. In general, his emissary allowed only one puncture – he did not set an ambush on the road leading from Bosporus to Feodosia. All these details became known not at once, as the intelligence activity went on neatly. However, already in January it became clear where the wind was blowing, so we decided to take a small step aimed at stabilizing the relationship. Eric invited Honorius to him and in confidential conversation informed that Catholics wanted to discredit in his eyes, but he, like a true Christian, disassembled the insidiousness of the plan and decided to share with the good bishop so that he could take action. That is, they transparently hinted that we understood who did, but do not want to inflame the relationship. This action was favorably received by Innocent, and he began a long written dialogue with Eric.

The basic thesis, which Eric played in his correspondence with the pope, was the act of voluntary acceptance of true faith. And then went the traditional casuistry and demagoguery in order to bargain. The most unpleasant for Innokenty was the knowledge of the fact of a similar correspondence between Eric and Patriarch John. Papa, this situation and oppressed, and angered, it turned out that they are involved in the bride, and this stinker chose which of the girls to take themselves for the night – Catholicism or Orthodoxy. But to leave him without attention was impossible – too dangerous, he was a dark horse. After reflecting on the next answer to the pontiff, Erik was visited by a courier from Boniface of Monferat. This man, being in the role of the leader of the Crusaders, offered the prince to oppose his suzerain, of course, as an honest Catholic against the heretical sect. The reply letter was sent with the same courier and it expressed the desire to wholly help the crusaders in their noble mission. This trump card was to be used both with the pope and with the patriarch, the first informed of zeal for charitable deeds, the second – about blackmail, that is, under the threat of excommunication from the church, Eric should act on Boniface's side. After this, he completed the camps and three days later – on 12 February 1204 he went to sea at the head of a detachment of two full mouths of soldiers. Behind him, the pipes of the manufactory and the forest of the large fortress construction went into the haze, and a big adventure awaited him ahead of him.

Sailing past February 15 past Constantinople, Eric did not go there to call in and not celebrate. There was absolutely no need for his presence there. There was a terrible mess going on. Back in January, he, through the company of Demetra and his secretary of state security, was able to conduct a series of events that brought the criminal situation in Constantinople to a whole new level. He built two independent gangs there, who competed with each other, engaged in looting public buildings and killing various officials. By mid-February, the city was doing something amazing – it was a razed-beet hive, which could not be calmed down. A part of the city's residents joined the activities of the gangs that worked at the demeter's farmstead. On the streets from time to time there were massive fights, including with weapons. The city administration was practically paralyzed by the situation. The threat of an invasion of the Crusaders required the concentration of all resources on the feverish gathering of the army, which was being formed in Thessaloniki. Money to hire at least some city guards no longer existed. Only the imperial palace more or less kept at the expense of a small personal guard. On February 18, part of the recruited army marched in the direction of Constantinople. There were only 1,500 militiamen hastily armed and practically without armor, but the city had to be rescued. On the evening of February 20, when they entered Constantinople and got stuck in street battles, Eric planted in Thessaloniki, who are still unaware of the danger that these red-and-white cottages conceal in themselves. The troops of the prince quietly seize the port gates and carry out a series of measures to assault key knots that were reconnoitered in advance. In the morning the city did not even notice what had happened, only passers-by were surprised that instead of the city guard on the gate were the soldiers of Prince Bosporsky. By dinner Eric gathered representatives of noble families and brought to their attention information about the seizure of the city, and invited the noble gentlemen present to decide what to do with him. There were only two options – the first was to destroy the city, the second – a ransom. The option of destruction and destruction, of course, was a bluff, since there was no need for such a thing, but it helped the best people in the city to make the right choice, because the destruction implied the complete extermination of the inhabitants, including themselves. Quietly, calmly, in the working order there was a ransom collection with a progressive scan – the richer, the more you pay. They took cloths, precious stones, silver, gold. As a separate article – in the city all lists of books and all movable crafts of the antique period, that is, all the statues that could be dismantled and taken away, were confiscated. Of course, at night from February 20 to February 21, a treasury was seized, which was intended for recruiting an army, and the set stopped, and all couriers from Constantinople were gently killed away from human eyes. As a rule, they were invited to the residence of the ruler, where they no longer left. On March 23 it became known that Boniface had landed with his men in a suburb of Constantinople and had against seven hundred half-naked militiamen, plus hundreds of guardsmen to eight hundred knights and several thousand armed servants. But he did not know this, because he had misinformation about the five thousandth garrison of mercenaries. So he invited Eric to take part in the assault. It is a sin to refuse such a generous gift, therefore on March 25, having completed the collection of tribute in Thessaloniki, the prince went with his companies to the ancient city, in order to continue his most beloved of charitable deeds – robbing the infidels. According to preliminary estimates, without estimating antiques and books, in February-March the Bosporan budget was replenished by fifteen thousand Bosporan denarii. And exclusively peaceful and painless way. True, the local nobility has remained almost in loincloths, but nothing terrible – still stolen. March 27 Eric arrived in the camp of Boniface and officially joined the siege of Constantinople.

Chapter 7

Innocent nervously paced the cleanly scraped floor boards, and the echo from every step was buzzing in the air of a rather spacious room. He was dressed in simple neutral clothes, and only expensive fingers gave out in him a very powerful and rich man. Nearby, practically stretched on a stand still, stood Bishop Honorius and watched as the head of all Catholics of the world nervously plays with knuckles and paces. Between them stood a small decorative table, on which were two letters. The first dad received from Eric and was very pleased with him, and the second was a letter that the prince sent to the patriarch. The bishop's people stole it from John's personal papers. The letter to Innocent was written in classical Latin and in a harmonious, beautiful syllable, to which very few people write, and to John Kamatyr a letter written in the same harmonious Greek language was sent. Both are by the hand of Eric.

" Honorius, I was told that the prince owns only the Latin and southern dialect of the German language. "How do you think, when and where could he learn Greek?

– So you exclude the possibility of recording under the dictation?

Yes! Almost certainly one can say that both letters are written by Eric himself and meaningfully. And you can not write down dictation like this, – he ran his hand over the letters. – I am extremely surprised by the style, so in our time there is no correspondence.

– Yes, I agree. Absolutely unusual style, especially for those who mastered these languages after their own. Do you know if the Chaplain of Lenzburg Castle owned the Greek language?

– Alas, I did not have a chance to talk to him, since he died during the attack of the robbers together with the prince's uncle. According to those who knew him during his lifetime, we can say quite confidently that he not only did not know Greek, but also had serious problems with Latin.

– Even so?

" Not only that, you will be surprised, but the same people testified that the prince, before certain events, which caused the death of almost all his direct relatives, did not pay attention to his studies. As evidence I was shown three bastards that grew up in the village.

"But Eric was less than fourteen. "

"The prince joined in this simple affair at once, as he had such an opportunity, namely three months before his fourteenth birthday. "Actually, he was so carried away that he threw all the cases and terrorized the young girls of the whole district. If he had not been a baron's son, he would have been beaten mercilessly, and so, using actual immunity, he created a terrible debauchery.

– All this is strange, since it does not fit with his subsequent behavior, nor with the fact that he is credited with many serious improvements in the blacksmith and military craft. How do you evaluate the events near Edessa?

" Using our agents, we learned the details of that battle. Honestly, I'm deeply shocked by what happened there. This is not even an adventure, but some kind of insanity, which, strangely enough, it succeeded. Remember, immediately after the events came very conflicting information about the exact size of his squad at the time of the attack on the troops of Suleimanshah II.

Yes! Did you find out the exact number?

– This is nonsense!

– Yes, that's what everyone thought on that advice when Eric decided to attack. They then sat for a while and decided to see what he would do, having thought, they came to the conclusion that he wanted such a gesture to manipulate and subordinate to his will.

" Why did they contact him at all? "He organized a massacre among civilians there.

" That's why they contacted. "Initially, Emir Mosul had a plan to use the prince to repel the attack of the Sultan, and after that he was killed, since he brought so many losses and grief to these places.

"And what changed his plans? "

– The Battle of Edessa. When he learned that this madman not only won, but did not suffer losses, he was stupefied. Yes, in fact, they all went into a deep stupor, as they made inquiries about him, who he was and what he had been doing before to try to press. And then the perfect surprise.

" Do not go aside. "So, they all were stunned. What next?

" In general, they decided not to quarrel with such a comrade, for such amazing accidents do not happen, and on the advice to offer to pay a ransom for the deceased noblemen. "But the spirit of no one to say this was not enough straight, only hinted. In general, they talked. They received much more than they could have guessed – a successful trade corridor, which seriously simplified matters on the southern branch of the Great Silk Road. And the anticipation of gold saved these prudent and mercantile people from claims against Eric. Not only that, the ruler of Edessa invited him to stay and, according to al-Zahir, spoke of him as the most educated person he had met in his life.

– Here you are what.

– Miracles And what about the Bospor? You said he built a lot of different structures and using them produces iron of excellent quality?

" Yes," he took a knife from his bag and handed it to Innokentiy. "He gave this device to me as a sign of location. "They say that in the market it will cost about a hundred denarii. – Dad took in hand a small, neatly made knife, carefully examined it, tried to finger the sharpness and elasticity of the blade and put it on the table, and he himself, finally, settled down in a small wooden chair.

– Indeed, the amazing quality of iron. When the prince built these structures, he, I believe, used some drawings. Did you get them?

– No, and I doubt I can.

– Why?

– Because they are not. He practically did everything based on some of his conclusions.

"What, no strange texts at all? "

" Why, we managed to get some things of absolutely unclear content. "Here, "he took from his bag a small bundle of crumpled paper. – We could get these sheets by bribing one of the servants in the residence. Erik called him to clean up the room, and the guy was able to pull out a few crumpled sheets from the basket that stood near the fireplace.

" Is that paper? "He spends a fortune writing on paper from China? I thought that it was he who gave me honor and respect with such letters.

" It's true, it's paper. "Only it is made in the workshop of the Bosporus, and not in a far eastern country.

aboutIn that case, can you organize purchases for my yard at a fair price?

– I think this is out of the question, since it is only for internal use. The maximum I can promise is a gift in a number of sheets.

– Did our people try to read these texts?

Yes! To no avail. The language is unknown to them. The only thing they came to is that these groups of small geometric figures are used to write numbers, and the whole text was some kind of calculations. He was stolen back in the summer of last year, during the development of his strange in every respect crossbow.

" Do you suppose he has anything to do with his device? "And why did you take so long? It's been more than six months.

– What is the point in the unencrypted text? Our people have been trying to disassemble it all this time.

" What sort of man is he? "In appearance, the usual butcher, and you dig deeper, then the questions are much more than answers. By the way, do not you know what rumors are about him? Maybe people say something interesting to us?

– Rumors go the most diverse, and are classified from delirium to complete delirium.

YesCurious. Tell me the most delusional.

" That's just one rumor. "It is rumored that Eric is the earthly embodiment of the ancient Greek god of war Ares, he is Mars in the Romans. Say he settled into a guy when the assassins killed him, and since then it's not a little boy, but an ancient god.

– Really, delirium. He is, of course, a striking person, but only a man. And where did this bike come from?

– You will be surprised – from the Order of the Knights Templar.

–

– Yes, I also almost lost my speech when I heard this from the Grand Master.

"Is he sure about that? "

– No, of course not. This is just a guess. However, in my opinion de Plessier very much desires it.

Why? Just why? ? What is the benefit to him?

– Well, how – the ancient god, who once acted as a competitor to the true God, now accepted Catholicism and performs great charitable deeds. The hearts of many people will be affected by this news. And theologically it will be very profitable. The main thing is not to give any official comments. Let it be only rumors.

Ok then Gossip. Something really hurts a lot about one living man of strange rumors and legends. I have a strong impression that we are playing with fire, a very dangerous fire. But this is not scary, but the fact that we do not know anything about it at all – only scattered pieces of contradictory information that mutually exclude each other. You say, the ruler of Edessa speaks of him as a very educated man. Right?

'Certainly.

"How much did he kill civilians there while robbing caravans? "

– Thousands. But all the witnesses were random and saw him only from afar.

– And how to connect this? One of the most educated people is independently engaged in such matters? Have you seen at least one learned monk who was eager to release guts to the gentiles only because they have something to profit from?

"Do you think I'm not an academic enough? " Honorius looked down and blushed slightly.

" But you and you're right. "We completely overlooked this detail.

– I neglected it, because it can not be true. He is too independent. I serve the holy church, and he – to anyone.

– You did a wonderful job. Return to Bosporus and continue in the same spirit. Work with his wife, maybe she will shed some light on this walking hoax.

Honorius bowed and quietly retired, closing the door behind him, and Innokenty remained sitting in his chair and with a thoughtful look to twist in his hands a knife of strange iron.

A large white tent stood on a hill in the line of sight from the gates of Saint Roman. It hosted a military council of the Crusaders.

" Gentlemen," Eric began, "according to our information, Alexei has the forces of five thousand Bulgarians hired by him. "If not for the prudent act of Prince Eric, then to our approach he would have owned an even larger army, which he was recruiting in northern Greece.

" What is the composition of his army? "Are there many noblemen? Baldwin asked Flanders.

– It is not known, but hardly a lot.

" Gentlemen, I propose to storm several gates at once, to disperse Alexei's troops, which he will undoubtedly divide to reflect all our sorties. "I take on the most difficult – the Golden Gate.

– What is their complexity?

– After the gate itself, a small stone fence inside the perimeter is still organized. No other gate like this is observed.

" Very well, prince. "We have enough strength to attack a couple more gates. I will lead my troops to the Holy Roman, and you count, go to the gate of Vlaheria. Thus, we can simultaneously strike and maximally stretch the troops of the emperor. Especially do not hero, we play for good luck, that is, the unwillingness to quickly move troops along a long wall. We attack tomorrow with the first rays of the sun.

Having reached his camp in front of the Golden Gate, Eric ordered to send a pigeon-mail letter to the courtyard to keep the plans in force. The fact is that even during the commencement of the disorders, Demetra concentrated on the order of the prince at the courtyard to two hundred hired fighters, by easing the marksmen in the crews of the ships of the company. That is, at the courtyard was a group of two hundred shooters, equipped with crossbows, swords, chain mail and helmets. Power is not small. Their task was to capture the Golden Gate at night, to loosen the lock girders and create the appearance of defense. What was done exactly, therefore, with the first rays of the sun on April 3, ballisticists Eric began shelling the gate. Already with the third salvo, the weakened shut-off burst and the gate swung open. In both of them rushed to the attacking colony of both companies of the prince. They were sluggishly fired from bows that had been captured by the defeated gate guards, but the arrows did not cause any damage. And when the troops came two dozen steps to the knocked-out gate, Eric's people simulated the flight. On this first part of the staging was completed – the gates were taken in less than fifteen minutes. Further, joining with the troops of Demeter, the prince began to rapidly occupy the area of Psamatiya, knocking out a few patrols and avoiding looting. By noon he had completely controlled the areas of Pasmatia, Triton, Xerolophos, including the Arcadia forum and the territory of his farmstead, as well as partly the Exokonnon district and the Eleftherius port. Not having siege machines, Boniface and Baldwin still stormed the gates, there were noticeable losses, especially at the margrave, since almost all the militia and some volunteers were concentrated near the gates of Saint Roman. Demeter people took refuge – a small part of the farmstead, and the rest on the ships, which were specially waiting for them near the bay. Closer to the evening, Eric attacks the gates of St. Roman from the city side and smashes a significant part of the militia. The battered Boniface forces rush into the city along the road leading to the aqueduct, practically losing control. The prince also advances the company to Vlakherni and helps Baldwin, who has already practically taken the gates, and then begins the process of patrolling the territory that he chose for himself to occupy. The whole land on the right hand of the Likus River was sent off to the prince for looting, and since there were only poor quarters there, no one dared to challenge his claims, expecting a rich booty from the central districts of the city. Alas, but in addition to the Imperial Palace, the city center was defeated and robbed long before the start of the assault. That is why, from lunchtime, energetic loading of valuables was actively carried out on the ships of the trading company Demeter, which were delivered in covered wagons from the courtyard, on which they had previously accumulated. Why did Eric occupy the poorest quarters? Everything is simple – this is the most densely populated part of the city, and if he can save these people from massacres, traditional when looting, he will get a good attitude to a significant part of the city's population Yes, almost all, since the rest will survive only in a small number. Having organized the order in the occupied territory, the prince ordered to organize distribution of food to the needy near the Mocion tank. There was no bread, so they handed out dried fish and vegetables, which they brought in advance to the farmstead. In short, until April 4-6, an infernal hell was going on throughout the city – they were robbing, killing, raping, in the zone of the prince's occupation there was silence and peace – checkpoints on all five bridges across the river and all ten gates of the city, along with regular patrols, did their good a business. In the evening of the sixth of April, he dropped Demetra's gunmen back, changed them into cottages of their flowers and replaced them with soldiers in patrol duty. Fortunately, there was no special fighting skills there. In the morning of the seventh of April, the ancient region of Strategion, protected by the oldest fortress wall, was taken and plundered. And already at lunch a meeting of the council for the election of the emperor of the new empire began. The fact that Boniface concluded with the doge Enrico Dondolo deal, according to which the fourth part of the empire was transferred to the elected emperor, it was chosen by six Venetians and Crusaders. Eric was part of an electoral group from the Crusaders, and Teleph, the elder brother of Demeter, was in a group of Venetians. Thus, the prince had two votes, which he used in favor of Baldwin. This caused resentment Boniface, but the explanation was simple: "The count has an heir, but you do not. It is not good to leave an empire without an heir. " Of course, Eric was cunning, because Benno, the son of Mary was his son and he was looking for benefits primarily for him, but none of those gathered knew such things. In general, the guys had to swear for a long time. Therefore, on April 10th, leaving Telef as his representative, he plunged into the ships waiting for him and departed to Attica to engage in business, that is, to continue the looting. Especially worth noting is the fact that Demetra strained all efforts to export the Constantinople prize to Bosporus, where it was easier and faster to export than to Venice. The calculation of the total cost of the trophies was still difficult. As in Thessaloniki, special articles were books, primarily lists of ancient authors, and sculptures. But in Constantinople the picture was the opposite, if more than three thousand were taken out of the books, then there were practically no sculptures, because the Christian leaders managed to either mutilate them or destroy them.

Athens met Eric very aggressively and did not even dock at the port of Piraeus, showering ships with arrows from the walls. I had to snap fire at crossbows, but since there was no sense to join the battle now, the squadron of the prince had left more morally. The effect of surprise, which so successfully helped in the noble cause of the looting of Thessalonik, it did not work out here – the prince was waiting. Strange as it may seem, no one prevented the landing at a certain distance from the city, only by the end of the day the envoy arrived with a letter to the camp of the druzhina camp fortified with a palisade. Having given the packet to the guard at the gate, the messenger remained waiting for an answer. Eric was offered a meeting to discuss the current situation. That same evening they met with the parliamentarian from the city. Have communicated. The situation turned out to be quite lousy. The local leader not only did not send his troops to help Alexei, but taxes for the most part remained for the last five years. Therefore, in the city there were about fifty wage warriors from among the German and French poor knights and up to a thousand city guards. While the prince was only two and a half hundred people, it is true, they were all warriors, but this did not become much easier. At the end of the talks, seeing that the parliamentarian had no instructions for discussing the surrender of the city, Eric summed up the conversation with the phrase: "In short. You got me with your prattle. As a result, your city has only two possible options – either you voluntarily surrender and pay me tribute, or I take the city by storm and cut out all people, regardless of gender and age, which I'll find there. So think – the term you – two days, starting tomorrow morning. If on the third day the gates are still closed to me and my soldiers, then I will begin the assault and will not spare anybody, in general, no one. " Then he silently looked the parliamentarian in the eye, forcing him to turn away his gaze, turned around and left. In the morning, leaving the second company in the camp, the prince, led by the first, mounted a horse march to the surrounding villages. It was necessary to look around, to scare the local people, and also to think about how to take the city. It's only easy to say that he will take it by storm, with such a garrison. If to speak in essence, then the goal was two: the first is the port of Piraeus with its valuable port warehouses, the second – actually Athens. In the port, according to the information of the traders of Demetra, there must be up to three hundred militia fighters dressed in quilts and armed with bows and spears. The main problem is the possibility of a strike to the rear of the troops of the Athenian garrison. To kill will not be killed, but the losses will be substantial. Therefore, on the evening of the second day, Eric moved all the troops to the walls of Athena from their northern side, near the gate. There, his soldiers built up a stormy activity in the arrangement of the temporary camp. And as it got dark, they were replaced by two dozen servants, whose task was to create the appearance of activity and wakefulness in the camp. The troops themselves are very quiet, they bypassed Athens in a large arc and approached the city of Piraeus on the west side, where they were already waiting for the ballista with the teams. At 3 o'clock in the morning, in pitch darkness, artillery was driven to the strongest, and therefore worst of all guarded gates at a distance of 30 meters. These gates were a massive mono-bar, which also functions as a lifting bridge through a small but deep ditch. The ascent was carried out by chains. Therefore, all four ballistae pointed at the attachment points of these chains, which were clearly visible from the other side. They gave a volley, and both companies ran to the collapsed gates. In the portal tower there were only a dozen people, who, after typing impudence, slept. The roar of the fallen gate awakened the half-room, the benefit that it was small. Therefore, in ten minutes to the place of the breakthrough, the first disorganized detachments of the garrison fled. They were met by sighted fugitive shooting from crossbows practically at point-blank, which instantly interrupted their vital functions. At four o'clock, after completing street brawls and killing up to two hundred militiamen, the prince's troops controlled almost the entire city, excluding the citadel. A firefight ensued – the soldiers who had settled in the citadel sprinkled openings of suitable streets with arrows, not knowing exactly where their enemies were, the prince's people answered, shooting rather by sight than by sight. At this time, Eric noticed that against the background of a rapidly brightening sky, loopholes began to be seen. In this connection, he ordered that the bolts should not be wasted and shot only in the loopholes in which the blackout appeared. The effectiveness of the shooting was not very high, but by dawn, an hour after the start of the duel, the firing from the citadel ceased, as well as any stirring along the walls. Taking advantage of the situation, about ten people dragged a decent log from the port and began to knock out the gates that were so unsuccessfully located that it was almost impossible to shell them with ballistics. After another twenty minutes, the guys knocked the gate. And they occupied the inner courtyard of the citadel. The remaining troops numbered up to twenty people retreated to the dungeon and from there fired from the bows. They drove up the ballista and, placing it on the platform of the portal tower, fired at their positions. From a distance of 20 meters the effect from the penetration of the nucleus into the loophole was astonishing – not only the response from the bow was stopped, but mercy was also requested for the fifth shot. The comrades promised that they would open the gates of the donjon themselves, and then they would kill them. Not very nice, but there was no desire to mess with the captives. Already at the stage of the siege of the citadel couriers were sent for the transfer of servants from the distracted and fortified camps. Closer to dinner, Eric gathered the inhabitants of this small town and promised them life and health in the case of support and assistance. More precisely, he put them before the fact – or they with a smile and a song of cheerful are eager to help him, or die. Literally an hour after the meeting, the city magistrate, on its own initiative, allocated three dozen loaders to help the prince's people in the port, where the seized Athenian goods were actively loaded onto ships that had already arrived at the berths.