Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 259: The sun dims, the stars fall; the sea boils, the souls become one.

At night, the walls of Acre stand not far away like an iron curtain.

Brightly lit towers and torch-bearing patrols constantly patrolled the walls of Acre.

Unlike cities in China, most cities in the Mediterranean world in the Middle Ages did not naturally have the function of administrative centers.

City walls are often built by citizens themselves to separate the city from the outside, dividing it into two worlds.

In this land, even without the visible city walls, it has actually been divided invisibly.

No matter how high the wall was, no matter how majestic the people living within the city were, Garys wanted to destroy it.

Perhaps it would take many detours, cause many deaths, and fill Jerusalem with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

But Gellis will not stop, because only flowing river water can remain clear forever, otherwise it will only decay and decline.

The Antiochus army had completed its vanguard mission and successfully built a large camp near the coast outside the city of Acre, as well as a large number of temporary docks for quick docking.

The inland sea characteristics of the Mediterranean make the effectiveness of these temporary docks particularly prominent.

Under normal circumstances, the high and low tides in the Mediterranean are only about 30 centimeters, which means that even a temporary dock made of wooden piles, combined with a pontoon bridge, can transport supplies and bring soldiers ashore day and night.

On the second day after the attack on Acre was launched, thousands of soldiers and artillery arrived at the camp on ships from Italian city-states and began to build positions.

During this process, it was often the long-trained Geiris troops, along with the German Crusaders or conscripts from Tripoli, who carried out civil engineering work, built trenches outside the city, and pushed various types of artillery to their proper positions in the evening of the next day.

Everything was silent and quiet, and the people on the city wall turned a blind eye to it all.

Of course, so what if I saw it?
Even though Saladin had deployed some cannons on the city walls of Acre, most of the cannons he produced had been captured in the previous battle with Barbarossa.

The few that remained were far inferior in caliber and number to the enemy forces that could be seen on the top of the wall.

Even if they had to go out of the city to fight, the defenders in the city would think it had nothing to do with them. After all, Saladin's main force was not actually in Acre.

In order to take advantage of his own situation, Saladin assembled his army in a large camp south of the city. He tried to use this to leverage the power of both sides and ensure that the city of Acre would not fall into the dangerous situation of being besieged for a long time without any reinforcements.

Therefore, they were naturally unwilling to take the initiative to go out of the city to fight.

And what about Saladin?
Saladin was also preparing for the subsequent war and sent a large number of cavalry to harass the Crusader camp.

In Saladin's opinion, they had just completed a 40-kilometer forced march and were still building the camp yesterday, so they would have to rest for two days before the official siege began.

After all, this was not a small-scale war involving a few thousand people, but a large-scale military march involving tens of thousands of people.

Saladin, who had experience in commanding an army of tens of thousands of people, naturally knew how difficult it would be to coordinate between different armies.

When there are a lot of people, all kinds of unexpected things will always happen. It is impossible for a commander to give an order and command tens of thousands of people.

The same is true for Garys.

It's just that his solution to the problem was even more devious.

Since there are always all kinds of unexpected things happening when there are so many people, shortening the duration of the battle is actually a way to reduce the occurrence of unexpected things on an objective level.

In the coalition system, the only troops that Gellis actually directly intervened in command were those formed by his own subordinates, as for the German Crusaders and the feudal lords' army in Tripoli.

After the two sides reached some consensus, Gellis almost completely delegated power and would not give orders.

The army, with just over 4,000 men, was able to be quickly mobilized with the support of a hundred or so men who had followed Garys for two and a half years.

These 4,000 men actually did nothing but stabilize the front line, dig the camp, and push the artillery into the designated positions.

Then they went to rest in batches.

……

The night of May 1189, 5 was a difficult night for the defenders in Acre.

The Crusaders who were just repelled last month had tens of thousands of people who appeared out of nowhere.

Life a month ago is still fresh in my memory.

At that time, the Venetians blocked the port, and it happened to be a lean season.

There wasn't much food stored in the city, so the Emir who was guarding the city naturally refused to release the food.

After half a month of defending the city, many people were already unable to afford food, and some even starved to death.

Zakaria is one of them, and he shudders when he thinks about his life a month ago.

For this reason, he took the initiative to sign up and join the garrison organized by the Emir. He did not ask for anything else, but just hoped that the Emir would give him some food so that his family could survive.

The city of Acre is now quite depressed. A large number of the original Franks have been sold into slavery or expelled.

Only local Muslims like him, or ethnic minorities such as Orthodox Christians and Koppelin Christians can still live within the city walls.

The moonlight was like silver, sprinkling on the rough stone surface of the city wall. The wilderness in the distance was shrouded in night fog, and vague outlines were faintly visible.

Zakaria patrolled the high walls with heavy and cautious steps. The sound of footsteps and the collision of armor were particularly clear in the silent night.

"Watch out for the shadows outside the city."

The leading team leader said this in a low voice.

Organizing night patrols is an important part of defending a city to prevent the enemy from destroying or infiltrating under the cover of darkness.

The patrol stopped at a section of the northern side of the city wall, which was the lowest level and vulnerable to attack.

The soldiers took turns tapping the wooden shields on the inner side of the wall with their spears to make sure no hidden enemies were climbing up. Several archers approached the firing holes, put down their torches, and put their ears close to the stone wall to listen for any unusual sounds below.

A gust of wind blew by, bringing with it the sound of dead leaves hitting the city wall.

The leading team leader frowned and motioned Zakaria to climb up the watchtower and check the front.

Zakaria on the watchtower lit a weak torch, placed it next to the observation hole, then raised his longbow and aimed at the area in the distance where the enemy might be hiding.

"What's the situation?" the team leader asked in a low voice.

"I haven't detected any movement," Zakaria replied, but his tone was full of uncertainty and tension, "but there seems to be some strange light and shadow in the northeast."

His night vision was indeed not very good, but those Crusaders seemed to be doing something.

It's already early in the morning. Could it be that they are preparing to attack the city as soon as the sun rises the next day?

Zakaria felt a little regretful. He joined the army just to make a living. He didn't care about making achievements or anything like that. It was all for more food.

If people die, then there will be no food to eat.

Just when Zakaria was feeling a little flustered, he suddenly saw a flash near the location of a fire in the distance, and then a whole row of fire flashed.

Those flames that should have been dazzling when viewed up close were actually not that different from starlight in Zakaria.

Just as he was wondering, Zakaria felt something strange and a little creepy, and sensed a sense of danger.

Then there was a loud crash, and he felt the watchtower beneath his feet shook, and then all kinds of panicked screams and groans came from under the tower.

When Zakaria stuck his head out and looked at his patrol team, he saw that the team leader who was holding the torch had somehow been broken into two pieces.

Then someone else shouted, "The enemy is firing! The enemy is firing! Go and sound the alarm!"

The war is about to begin?

Zakaria was somewhat bewildered and felt that the division was unreal.

How can we fight in this early morning when we can’t even see each other’s faces?
……

Although relying on the absolute advantage of artillery, the Crusaders fired at the northern end of Acre in the early hours of the night, causing certain casualties.

But in terms of the current artillery effectiveness, it is not enough to efficiently destroy the city walls.

In particular, the walls of Acre used a large number of marble strips as raw materials.

Its strength is far beyond that of ordinary brick walls.

Therefore, it is unlikely to be able to destroy the wall in a short period of time.

But it is true that these artillery bombardments were a prelude to the attack.

The company Roger was in was awakened when the artillery sounded.

They had been resting for the past day, relaxing the tension of their first battle and the fatigue of the previous march.

However, they are not the first to take the lead today.

Following the direction of his gaze, he saw some troops already gearing up for battle.

Unlike ordinary troops, these people did not wear heavy armor, and did not even have any long weapons, but they were tied with cloth belts with some round objects hanging on them, and held unlit torches covered in oil in their hands.

And the [Prophet] was now inspecting these "Grenadiers" and giving a speech.

"Our mission is to blow down the wall and create a gap for the brothers behind us!"

"That's how it is in Aka City. You have all fought with me so many times, and you have never lost with me!"

"Everyone, work together, charge in, and rush forward. You may die, but if you stand still, you will be a sitting duck and will definitely die!"

"But as long as we win this battle and make the enemy surrender, no one will die! Do you understand?"

"understand!"

Garys no longer preaches about what happens after death, because everyone knows those things.

There is also a difference between death and dying.

The soldiers under Garys's command are true religious believers, and they naturally know what kind of future awaits them.

They knew, they wanted to believe, that the end of history was a happy one, because the Word was before them and the resurrection was not an idle word.

The miracle of life is concentrated before them, and the candle of hope lights up this dark earth.

When life is reborn, there will be no more sadness, and they are willing to use their lives as the driving force for the coming of "heaven".

Garris took a deep breath and then slowly let it out. A shovel was tied to his back and a piece of writing was hung on it.

They each held a wooden barrel in their hands and carried them on their shoulders.

There is real danger in these two barrels.

Many times, chemistry is not as profound as many people think.

The ancient alchemists were not entirely charlatans.

Many of their achievements have become the cornerstones of later chemical industry.

In the 8th century AD, Jabir ibn Hayyan described in his writings the preparation of strong acids, including nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and substances similar to sulfuric acid, by distilling alum and sulfur.

By the time Gairis made his move, it was no longer difficult to make acid by primitive methods. Although Gairis's artillery mainly used brown gunpowder, and he could also make "perfect" black gunpowder, those things were still not enough to face the walls of Acre.

For this, Garys even needs to prepare some more dangerous things himself.

Add concentrated nitric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid while stirring, and wait until the container is cooled to room temperature.

Then mix in cotton fiber or starch.

The process is so dangerous that Gellis has to be very careful to ensure that the temperature does not exceed 50 degrees Celsius.

When all the added starch is soaked in the acid and becomes a thin paste, stop stirring and let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add clean cold water to another container and then pour the reaction solution into it.

After several precipitations, crude nitrified starch was obtained.

Nitrostarch, also known as nitrate starch, was still an important explosive in the 20th century and was widely used in artillery shells, grenades, mines and industry.

The higher the nitrogen content, the stronger the explosive power. Nitrate starch with a nitrogen content of more than 12.2% can even be more powerful than TNT.

And in the small wooden barrel on Gellis's shoulder was more than 80 kilograms of nitrstarch.

Its explosive power is 5-10 times that of black powder.

Garys didn't dare let anyone else make such a dangerous thing. He relied on his own hands to make only this much.

It can be said that success or failure depends on this one move.

In the cover of night, hundreds of cannons of various calibers fired small projectiles that streaked across the sky and hit the city walls.

The flashes of the muzzle fireworks tore through the darkness, and from time to time, they illuminated the faces of the gunners nearby.

The moonlight now is actually just right, allowing people to operate the artillery by the light of the fire.

Several cannons on the walls of Acre also began to try to fight back, and the two sides engaged in the first clearly recorded artillery battle in history.

But under the cover of these artillery shells, Gellis and his grenadiers had already left the barracks, left the main force, and ran towards the north wall of Acre.

Roger, just watching these people disappear into the night, couldn't help but feel brave.

The time when Roger served Bohemond seemed like a long time ago in his previous life. He joined the Antiochus army at first just to protect the peace of his hometown.

But now I have developed a deep affection for this army.

After several months of training and education, he found the meaning of his existence.

He was convinced that what he did could bring good to more people. He was convinced that what he did was in line with the teachings of Christ and was saving himself and others.

A new era is opening up, an era without heavy taxes and where people can seek justice for themselves...

This role alone has already fascinated countless people like Roger.

They can't wait to see more.

To this end, they followed in Garys' footsteps.

They strode forward in the night, breathing the air filled with gunpowder.

Gelis is not one of those pagan gods who are jealous of man's happiness.

They also don't need to be like Sisyphus, with endless labor.

The end is right there, beneath the walls of Acre.

It was three hundred steps away, and within a few minutes, the guards on the city wall were attracted by the artillery, but they did not dare to show their heads.

By the time Garys rushed to the city wall carrying two 80-kilogram barrels of explosives alone, the people on the wall were unaware of what was happening.

After that, it was time to write and dig, and all of this had to be done by Garys alone.

The manuscript and shovel were swung in Garys's hands, making rustling sounds.

No one had ever been as fast and aggressive as him, so in less than two minutes, Garys had dug a hole in the city wall and stuffed in two barrels of explosives.

A full 80 kilograms of explosives were buried under the northern wall of Acre, and then Gellis inserted the fuse and left it for about 5 seconds.

After Gellis used the fuse to light the fuse, he quickly moved a hundred meters away and returned to the group of "grenadiers" who were traveling with him.

All of this is not something that ordinary people can replicate.

When the grenadiers saw Gellis "flash" back, they found it incredible even though it was not the first time they witnessed a "miracle".

And when Gellis stood in front of them, looking towards the wall of Acre, he counted down to five.

In the next moment, a thunderous sound rang in the ears of tens of thousands of people throughout the city of Acre.

It was a loud noise that surpassed everything, it was the collapse of the sky and the splitting of the earth, it was the gate of hell being pushed open, and the huge explosion shook every inch of the air.

Thousands of defenders of Acre and the ill-fated warriors on the city walls were swallowed up by the violent explosion and had no chance to resist.

The flying debris and fragments of flesh and blood disappeared in the smoke and dust in an instant before anyone even had time to notice them.

The ten-meter-high city wall completely collapsed at this moment.

Countless bricks flew in all directions like huge cannonballs, tearing through the air and sweeping away everything around.

The power of mankind became so insignificant in the midst of fireworks and explosions. All sounds outside the city of Acre disappeared at that moment.

At this moment, the limit of life and the edge of death were almost brought very close.

When the aftermath of the roar ended, a faint corner of the rising sun finally appeared on the edge of the mountains in the east.

A new sun is rising and a new day is about to begin.

This new heaven and new earth, a corner of it was torn open in this deafening sound.

It was then that Gellis gave the order.

"attack."

The city of Acre has opened its arms.

Afterwards, the "grenadiers", or suicide squad members beside him, would rush forward, seize the gap and hold it tightly, then wait for reinforcements from behind until the entire city wall was captured.

……

[A horn sounds]

[The earth and mountains were lifted up and shattered]

【Then terror will happen】

[Heaven will be torn apart, because that day it will be extremely fragile]

The end of the world, the end of the world is coming!

Zakaria became hysterical. Just now, the city wall was like a rope, shaking violently in front of him.

It was a nearly ten-meter-high city wall with a collapsed hole.

When the loud noise came, he even felt that the sky was falling and the earth was splitting apart, and it was the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth!
Like Christianity, Islam conceptualizes the relationship between this world and the afterlife in terms of a diachronic timeline.

The history of mankind in the world began with the fall of Adam and ended with the judgment of God.

However, contrary to Christianity, Adam's fall did not result in a complete separation of humanity from the transcendental world.

The two other worlds (heaven and hell) are close to this world in both space and time.

thus……

[The sun is dimming, the stars are falling]

[The sea is boiling, the souls are united]

[The scroll is unrolled, the world is stripped away]

[Hell is burning, and heaven is near]

Zakaria is in a state of detachment from the world, but he will eventually stand up.

Because the end of the world has not yet come, but those "Crusaders" who charged in the first ray of sunlight are almost reaching the gap.

The remaining Muslim soldiers, under the command of the officers, barely formed a human wall and staggered to the gap, fearing that another earth-shaking roar would occur.

However, immediately afterwards, Garys, who was still the leader, noticed that enemy troops began to appear in the gap, and he took an iron "grenade" from a soldier nearby.

The grenade weighed about 4 pounds, was filled with black powder and had a fuse inserted.

When the fuse was lit, Garys threw it out with a little force.

The 4-pound grenade drew an arc in the air, flew 50 steps, fell into the gap, and hit a soldier's helmet.

When the other party was a little confused, another "earth-shaking" roar indeed occurred.

Saladin would not leave Gheris long.

Gellis must take the soldiers around him and the reinforcements behind him to capture the city of Acre as quickly as possible.

He did not intend to engage in any field battle with Saladin. After all, his own troops were relatively small and lacked mobility on the battlefield.

At this time, it is natural to play to one's strengths and avoid one's weaknesses.

Acre has three walls.

These walls divide the city into three areas.

They are the old city of Acre, the new city, and the buffer zone between the two city walls.

The first explosion blew up the outermost wall of Acre, which was also the most magnificent one.

Accompanied by one explosion after another that became much smaller, the grenadiers used grenades to clear out the remaining enemy troops on the wall.

Next, Roger's Antiochus army began to provide support and firmly guard the gap in the city wall, so that the real main force could pour into the city of Acre and attack the remaining city walls.

As the leader of the German Crusaders in the siege of Acre, Eden naturally had to lead the way.

When he came to the gap in the city wall, he looked at it in a daze.

Before, he had felt the shaking of the ground in the camp.

Only when I stepped aside did I realize what "great power" meant.

When they looked at Garys who was commanding the troops, they couldn't help but open their mouths in admiration.

This is the demeanor that the Son of God, “Jehovah of Hosts,” should display!
(End of this chapter)