Water Margin people

Chapter 1642 Crossing the River

Euphrates River.

"It looks like the fight was pretty fierce!"

Sun Lei looked at the corpses floating along the water and said, among them there are those wearing Crusader robes and those wearing black robes.

"Your Majesty, do you want to speed up?"

Ruan Xiaoer asked.

"No hurry, let them fight!"

Sun Lei smiled and shook his head. He was prepared to stop the fight, but that didn't mean he was doing it for the sake of the Arabs and the Crusaders. Killing two half-dead dogs was in the best interests of Qi.

"Yes!"

Ruan Xiaoer understood and waved his hand. The fleet slowed down, but several small boats went upstream quickly.

The Crusaders in the west were also surrounded by the Qi army at this time. There was no suspense in the battle. The Qi army charged and beat the Crusaders into fleeing in panic. The cavalry quickly penetrated the Crusaders, not even giving them a chance to escape.

"How dare these rubbish come to trouble us!"

Yang Zhi said disdainfully that the fighting power of these Crusaders was only slightly stronger than those sand bandits.

"Kill them all, leaving no one behind!"

Lin Chong gave a direct order that he did not intend to keep these Crusaders. Since they had chosen to be enemies, they would only have one way to go, and that was death.

The horn sounded, and the Qi army quickly began to strangle.

"General Lin! There is news from His Majesty!"

Wang Jin came over on horseback.

"Where is your majesty?"

Lin Chong asked hurriedly.

"Your Majesty has led his troops upstream, heading north, apparently to look for the Crusaders and the Arabs!"

Wang Jin spoke.

"Your Majesty has few soldiers and horses, we must hurry over!"

Lin Chong immediately spoke up and said that Du Fu was leading a large army to besiege Baghdad, and Lu Zhishen and others would also go to help. Sun Lei only had 20,000 troops with him, so they must rush to protect the emperor.

"Well, so the battle here must be fast!"

Wang Jin nodded.

"All the troops move forward and quickly strangle the enemy."

Lin Chong gave orders to the army around him, saying that he still had 5,000 reserve troops and it was time to send them forward.

……

The number of Crusaders being hunted was getting smaller and smaller. Although they were close to the river beach, which reduced the pursuit of the Arabs, the Arabs were all light cavalry. Saladin directly ordered the cavalry to charge to the front and successfully slowed down the speed of the Crusaders.

"We can't let this go, we won't even have a chance to cross the river!"

Conrad III spoke while panting, they had fled for a night, and now only ten thousand were left out of the 20,000 who broke through. If they continued like this, they would all die.

"Cross the river now?"

Louis VII pointed to the rushing river and spoke.

"That's fine with me!"

Conrad III said directly that he could swim a little and swimming across the river was no problem, but if he crossed the river alone without his army, he would not be able to return to the empire alive.

"Let's go then!"

Louis VII spoke directly and he also felt that continuing to escape was not a solution. If he got injured, he would have no chance of survival.

“These are the Lord’s believers, we cannot abandon them!”

The cardinal spoke now, holding the cross in his hand.

"Don't worry, the water is flowing fast here. Ten miles ahead, the water will flow slower. Let the soldiers who can swim cross the river first with ropes. Soldiers who can't swim can also cross by pulling the ropes!"

Baldwin IV told them his own solution. Many of the Crusaders could not swim, so it would be very troublesome for them to cross the river, but there was a way.

Baldwin IV knew very well that without a large army, they could not return to Jerusalem. Saladin led a large army to pursue the Crusaders all the way. Seeing that the number of Crusaders was decreasing, he felt a little relieved. As long as he continued to pursue, the Crusaders would be destroyed.

The Crusaders soon reached a slow-flowing river, and those who could swim swam to the other side with ropes.

Hundreds of ropes were soon secured on both sides of the river.

“Cross the river!”

Baldwin IV roared.

The Crusader soldiers immediately pulled the rope and headed to the other side.

"What about you?"

The cardinal looked at Baldwin IV and asked, after all these things, he had a new understanding of the Leper King. This believer who was once punished by the Lord has now been forgiven by the Lord and has shown great wisdom. This is a blessing for their Christianity.

"Your Excellency the Archbishop, cross the river first. I will stop the enemy here."

Baldwin IV spoke.

"This won't work!"

The cardinal immediately denied it. He was surprised by the strategy and wisdom displayed by Baldwin IV. Such a talent must not be buried here. He had already made up his mind that such a talent must be brought back to Rome to meet the Pope and give full play to his greatest talents.

"Don't worry, Archbishop. The soldiers I left with me are all good swimmers. They can protect me while I swim across the river!"

Baldwin IV said that he had not learned to swim because he had leprosy since childhood.

"I feel relieved now that you are prepared!"

The Cardinal was relieved to see that Baldwin IV had already made plans. He stopped trying to persuade him and crossed the river under the escort of the Crusaders.

"kill!"

The Arab cavalry also discovered that the Crusaders were crossing the river, and they immediately launched a crazy attack in an attempt to stop it.

But the Crusaders who stayed behind were the most devout Christians and the most powerful knights. They relied on the huge rocks outside the river beach to defend themselves and blocked the attack of the Arabs.

"They're going to cross the river!"

Saladin was shocked when he received the news. If these people were allowed to run away, the future holy war would never end.

"Quick, let everyone charge in, and those who can swim should cross the river and chase after them!"

The rest of the Arab nobles immediately became generous, and they were unwilling to let these Crusaders go either.

"It's too late to cross the river now. If we cross the river from upstream or downstream, we will be attacked by the enemy!"

Saladin immediately stopped the nobles. The enemy had already crossed the river, and crossing the river at this time would be suicide. A thousand enemies on the shore could stop thousands of troops, not to mention that they were all cavalry, and crossing the river meant giving up their horses.

"So what should we do? Let them run?"

Everyone was very anxious and they were unwilling to let the Crusaders leave.

"Kill everyone on the riverbank. They can't get back to Jerusalem after crossing the river. Also, if they want to go back to the West, they can only go through Asia Minor, and the people there won't let them pass!"

Saladin spoke to the crowd.

"So that's how it is. Once they cross the river, they can't go back!"

Everyone laughed. Even if they couldn't kill those people, it was good to recapture the holy city. Besides, those people might not survive.

"Let's go to the river beach!"

Saladin said, looking at everyone.

The Arabs finally reached the riverbank. They were numerous and powerful, and no matter how elite the Crusaders were, they were not omnipotent.

"Your Majesty, let's go!"

William urged Baldwin IV that there were fewer and fewer Crusaders on the riverbank, their main force had already crossed the river, and it was time for them to leave.

"and many more!"

Baldwin IV shook his head.

"Your Majesty, what are you waiting for?"

William was very anxious because the Arabs had surrounded the entire river beach, and there were so many of them that it was impossible to tell how many there were.