Water Margin people

"Everyone, this is not the Empire. Many times here you can't be as casual as you are in the Empire."

Baldwin IV looked at everyone and spoke.

These words made the nobles look pale. Baldwin IV seemed to be reminding them, but in fact he was warning them.

"Let's not worry about Qi State for now. Our main mission is to find the Ark of the Covenant!"

The cardinal coughed twice to stop everyone, then spoke.

Everyone nodded and then remembered the Ark of the Covenant.

Just then, there was a commotion outside the church and someone was shouting to come in.

"Your Majesty, it's our knight!"

William walked up to Baldwin IV and spoke.

"Let him in!"

Baldwin IV said that this was a church, a very solemn place, and his knights must have understood how many important figures had come today. Something big must have happened if they were able to break in at this time.

"Your Majesty, the Arab cavalry vanguard has appeared outside the city. The Arab army is on its way, probably numbering more than 100,000!"

The knight walked into the church without caring how many people tried to stop him, and he bowed and reported directly to Baldwin IV.

"Hundreds of thousands of Arabs!"

Before Baldwin IV could say anything, the nobles were already in a panic. They did not expect the Arabs to come so quickly and in such large numbers.

"Blow the horn."

"Gather the troops!"

"Prepare for battle!"

The nobles immediately issued orders in a panic.

The Crusaders outside the church were also running around the city gathering troops.

Without waiting for the cardinal to speak, all the nobles rushed out of the city.

"Your Majesty, do you have any good ideas to repel the enemy?"

The cardinal looked at Baldwin IV and asked, they had all just arrived in Jerusalem and didn't know much about the surrounding situation.

Baldwin IV just smiled and shook his head.

"There are a lot of Arabs coming this time. I'm afraid their purpose is not simple. It will not be easy to make them retreat!"

Baldwin IV spoke. Not to mention that he had no solution, even if he had a solution he would not want to say it. These new nobles and Crusaders were too arrogant. They were all very self-important and looked down on others. They would not be kept honest unless they knew the severity of the situation here.

"Archbishop, I just returned to the city and the enemy is attacking again. I still have a lot of things to deal with. I'll take my leave now!"

Baldwin IV stood up, bowed to the cardinal and the bishops, and left.

Back at the palace, Baldwin IV called everyone together for a meeting.

"What are the losses in the city?"

Baldwin IV asked.

William immediately reported the situation in the city. Fortunately, Baldwin IV returned in time and the losses were not too great.

"Your Majesty, are we really responsible for the food supply of 50,000 people?"

The commander of the Knights Hospitaller said that Jerusalem was only a city of a few hundred thousand people and could not afford the food consumption of an army of 50,000.

"Of course it can't be provided by us!"

Baldwin IV said that the food and grass of the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem were not enough to feed 50,000 Crusaders.

"What should we do? If we don't handle it well, these Crusaders might rob civilians again." Someone immediately said that these Crusaders were not good people, and their leaders were all high-ranking church officials and imperial nobles. If they really started to make trouble, they would not be able to stop them at all.

"Whoever sent them here should be responsible for their food and fodder!"

Baldwin IV spoke.

"Your Majesty, you mean the Merchants of Venice? But they are misers who never give a penny."

William frowned and said that the Venetians were all masters of business and they could definitely afford the expenses of the Crusades, but how could a miser possibly pay?

"Aren't there still Genoa merchants? They didn't make it this time! Spread the word to me that because the situation is tense, the Kingdom of Jerusalem will soon impose martial law and outsiders are not allowed to pass!"

Baldwin IV spoke.

What the church leaders wanted was the Ark of the Covenant, but the nobles and Crusaders probably wanted something other than holy objects. They might be more interested in the treasures of Manichaeism.

Behind all this, the unscrupulous businessmen who funded and instigated the Crusades were even more covetous for the treasures.

“National martial law!”

William immediately reacted. If the merchants of Venice and Genoa wanted to obtain the treasures of Manichaeism, they would have to pay something. If the Kingdom of Jerusalem did not give them the way, they would not be able to get any treasure.

"I understand!"

William accepted the order, and thus the problem of food supply for the Crusaders was solved.

The Crusaders in Jerusalem gathered together in a hurry, and their ranks were extremely messy.

"How can we fight like this?"

The cardinal frowned as he looked at the Crusaders. These people were of mixed origin and had not received any systematic training. They were just guerrillas.

"Out of town!"

A Crusader leader dressed in luxurious clothes shouted, he was Conrad III, King of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. He had only sent one man to the meeting just now, and he was leading people to plunder property.

The Crusaders shouted and walked out of the city holding crosses and flags.

"What a bunch of ignorant ruffians! These Germanic barbarians don't know what war is!"

Baldwin IV looked coldly at the army leaving the city. This time, the Crusaders were mainly composed of Germanic people, who were notorious northern barbarians.

"Your Majesty, should we remind them that Saladin is no ordinary man?"

A noble said that although the Crusaders had lax discipline and were prone to trouble, they were on their side after all. If there were too many casualties, it would not be good news for them.

"It's okay. With the city, there won't be any big problems. Saladin won't dare to enter the city easily!"

Baldwin IV said that the defeated Crusaders would definitely run into the city, and then they would just have to guard the city walls.

The Crusaders leaving the city began to line up. They did not have a strict military formation, but gathered according to region and degree of familiarity, and then rushed outside the city in a black mass.

When the Arab cavalry who were wandering and observing outside the city saw the Crusaders leaving the city, they all retreated far away and did not dare to fight against them.

"Fifty thousand Crusaders!"

Saladin only frowned slightly when he received the news. Together with the Arab coalition forces, he already had an army of 150,000, so he didn't need to fear the Crusaders at all.

“The army marches forward, all the way to Jerusalem!”

Saladin gave orders to the army, saying that there were many strong castles outside Jerusalem, which were the barriers of Jerusalem. If he had not captured them before, he would not dare to lead his troops to approach Jerusalem.

But now it’s different. His army is large enough, so he doesn’t have to worry about those castles with more than a thousand people. A few hundred or a thousand people rushing out are not enough for his army to strike a single blow.

The Arabs in black lined up in a row, and the barren desert seemed to be submerged in darkness, rushing towards Jerusalem like a tide.

The Crusaders outside the city became nervous when they saw that the enemy was of such a terrifying scale, three times their number, and all of them were cavalry.

Because they had to travel across the ocean and were recruited from the public, the Crusaders had to prepare their own weapons, armor, food, and horses. They could handle other things, but not horses. Ordinary people simply couldn't afford them. This led to the Crusaders being mainly infantry, with only nobles and knights as cavalry. (End of this chapter)