Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

The image of Minas Tirith, the classic White City in The Lord of the Rings, appeared on the sky curtain.

Epic music then began to play.

[This ancient city built on the banks of the Orontes River was first built during the Seleucid Empire and was later reinforced by the Roman Empire.]

[The city is backed by mountains and faces the water. Its defense system is very strict, with 12 towers and 30 kilometers of triple city walls, with the highest point of the city wall reaching meters.]

[The top of the city is densely covered with crossbows and boiling oil. ]

[Antioch is also the prototype city of the White City in The Lord of the Rings.]

[The degree of firmness is far beyond imagination! 】

[At this time, the main force of the Crusaders had been reduced to less than 50,000 due to famine and fighting. ]

[It is easy to imagine how difficult it is to conquer such a city. ]

[The only good news is that due to the fragmentation of the Seljuk Empire at this time, Antioch actually became an autonomous city. ]

【The city's defenders were few in number, so they allowed the Crusaders to besiege the city. 】

[But besieging a city does not mean that the city can be captured. ]

[The defenders had cut down all the trees outside the city in advance, leaving the Crusaders with nowhere to find materials to build siege equipment.]

[It was the dry season, the riverbed was exposed, and the soldiers had to go to a water source several kilometers away to fetch water, and on the way they had to avoid guerrilla harassment from the Turkic cavalry.]

[At the beginning of the siege, the Crusaders were in a desperate situation with no supplies. ]

[In the winter of 1097, a blizzard swept through the camp, and the price of food soared to half a pound of moldy rye for every pound of silver.]

[After all the horses were slaughtered, the soldiers began to dig up grass roots, cook leather, and even commit cannibalism.]

[The monks accompanying the army recorded: "The hungry knights used the tips of their swords to pick out the entrails of the dead to satisfy their hunger. One in seven of them fell in the snow and never got up again."]

[At the same time, the Seljuk Turkic reinforcements continued to harass the periphery and cut off any possible supply lines. ]

[The Crusaders were forced to split up and plunder surrounding villages, but were often ambushed, further exacerbating casualties.]

[The nobles began to fight among themselves for limited resources, and there was even an incident of fighting between French and Norman knights.]

[At this time, the Seljuk reinforcements were coming from Persia, and every day scouts reported that "dust was rising from the horizon, covering the sky." ]

[The Byzantine reinforcements also fled. ]

[It looks like the Crusaders are besieging Antioch. ]

[The result was that the people in the city enjoyed themselves, while the Crusaders outside the city suffered serious non-combat casualties.]

【At this shaky moment. 】

[The Crusaders' heavily armored knights defeated the reinforcements led by the Emirs of Damascus and Aleppo one after another while hungry.]

[And the reinforcements, supplies, and craftsmen coming from the sea gradually arrived. ]

【The Crusaders begin to recover.】

【And the Antiochian defenders began to panic. 】

【But the Crusaders also received news from Baldwin that the 100,000-strong Seljuk Turk army led by the Governor of Mosul, Kboga, was only one week away from Antioch.】

【But the turning point lies in the crisis. 】

[The Crusader general Bohemond had already found an insider. ]

[Bohemond was jealous of Baldwin, who had set out with him at the beginning. He had now become the ruler of a region and a king of a country.]

【So he also wanted to occupy Antioch. 】

[He requested that after the city was conquered, he should take possession of Antioch himself.]

[The other Crusader lords agreed, but asked Bohemond to promise that if the Byzantine emperor demanded Antioch, he would give it to Byzantium.]

【Bohemond also agreed.】

[On June 1098, 6, Firouz, the commander of the Armenian garrison in the city, bribed by Bohemond's promise of wealth, opened a side door at night.]

【The Crusaders finally entered the city and began a massacre, not even sparing the Christians.】

[After a bloody battle, they occupied the city of Antioch.]

【However, this is just the beginning of a greater disaster. 】

[As soon as the Crusaders occupied the city, the Governor of Mosul, Kboga, led 100,000 reinforcements to counter-encircle and trap the conquerors within the city walls they had just captured.]

[At this time, the granaries in the city had been burned by the defenders, and the city was also severely damaged by the looting of the Crusaders.]

[The exhausted Crusaders had to go into battle again. ]

【The Crusaders begged for assistance from Byzantium.】

[But the Byzantine Emperor Alexius heard that Kerboga had an army of 100,000 and was at the peak of his power, so he felt that he could not fight him to the death.]

【So the Byzantine army continued to operate in Asia Minor to consolidate the newly occupied areas. 】

[The Crusaders have no food or fodder inside, and no reinforcements outside. ]

[Kboga attacked for a week, and although the Crusaders managed to hold on, they had no food. ]

【You can only wait for death. 】

[In desperation, a religious farmer named Peter claimed to have dug up the "holy spear" that killed Christ under St. Peter's Basilica. ] [This carefully planned scam inspired terrifying religious fanaticism. ]

[In the decisive battle on June 6, the hungry and shaky soldiers, wearing rags and holding high wooden crosses, charged.]

[The army of Mosul Governor Kboga is large in number. ]

【But it’s just a mob. 】

[Many of them were small warlords and tribal elders, who came here unwillingly due to the intimidation of Kboga.]

[You can only play in favorable situations, but not in tough battles. ]

[When Bouillon's Godfrey flag appeared behind the enemy, the Seljuk coalition collapsed instantly. ]

[In this battle, the Crusaders were surrounded after a difficult siege.]

[Miraculously, with only 20,000 remnants of the army, they defeated the 100,000-strong Seljuk Turkic army.]

[This siege lasted 241 days and ended with a tragic victory for the Crusaders. ]

Outside the sky.

We saw in this battle that the Crusaders relied on their extraordinary fighting power to survive despite being cut off from food and supplies.

Actively attack the Turkic army which is several times larger than itself.

And even when being surrounded, he relied on his extraordinary bravery to completely defeat Kboga's army of 100,000.

Even the ancients who had previously looked down on the Crusaders.

At this time, we had to seriously examine the combat effectiveness and fighting will of this group of people.

Outside the sky.

Liu Bei looked solemnly at the tragic scene of the siege of Antioch on the sky.

When we saw the Crusaders entering the city, there was no distinction between men, women, young or old, and no distinction between race or belief.

When bandits wantonly massacred the city and divided up the spoils and territory.

Liu Bei couldn't help but said angrily:

"These Crusaders marched in the name of God, but they burned, killed, looted, and murdered innocent people. They are no different from the evil thief Dong Zhuo!"

However, although I despise the character of the Crusaders.

Everyone also noticed the fighting power of the Crusaders.

Zhuge Liang said:

"My lord, during the Battle of Antioch, the Crusaders were short of food and fodder, and diseases were rampant. In such a harsh environment, the army's morale did not disperse, which shows that they were strictly disciplined and well-trained."

Liu Bei also nodded.

“It does take some perseverance.”

"An army that has the fortitude to endure pain that ordinary people cannot endure."

"Even if it's a murderous army full of evil."

“But he still has the ability to accomplish great things.”

"Even if they are just a group of bandits."

Liu Bei pointed at the sky.

"Alas, but since ancient times, wars have been everywhere, and the massacre of cities by the Crusaders is even just a common occurrence."

"I've seen a lot."

"The key lies in the Crusaders' combat capability. In this battle, they defeated the strong with the weak, and defeated the Turkic army head-on with the few against the many. This shows that their combat capability should not be underestimated."

"They can fight so bravely on the battlefield and not fear the strong enemy. They are indeed a brave army."

"I heard that the cost of the Crusader Knights is very high."

"Perhaps, it's expensive for a reason."

"Next, we will see what the next move will be for these Crusaders who have won a tragic victory in the siege."

"Of course, the premise is that they don't fight among themselves because of uneven distribution of the spoils."

The sky continues.

[After the Crusaders captured Antioch in 1098, they divided interests among themselves and conflicts intensified.]

[At the same time, the Byzantine Empire and the Crusaders broke up over the ownership of Antioch - Bohemond I designed to withdraw the Byzantine army and take the spoils of war for himself, which led to a complete fallout between the two sides.]

[More and more knights betrayed their vow not to stop until they reached Jerusalem.]

[Instead, he stayed in the newly conquered lands of Antioch and Edessa and became the local lords.]

【The nobles quarreled endlessly.】

[But the lower-class knights and soldiers sold their property and took their families with them, and would not give up until they achieved their goal.]

[The lower-class religious fanatics used extreme means to force the nobles to move forward.] (End of this chapter)