Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 287 The war is coming
"Adil, do you think Jerusalem needs to be defended?" Saladin asked his brother in the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Adil had led the last group of Mamluks out of Egypt and arrived in Jerusalem not long ago. As Saladin's younger brother, Adil was the person Saladin trusted the most, and he always played the role of the second person in the Ayyubid dynasty.

When Nur ad-Din died, Saladin went north to seize the throne, and from then on Adil ruled Egypt for Saladin, gathering a large amount of resources and manpower for Saladin during the years-long campaign to usurp the throne.

When Saladin established his position as Sultan, Adil gave up his management of Egypt and turned to govern Aleppo. Adil's actions proved his loyalty and won Saladin's trust.

Therefore, starting from 1186, in order to reconsolidate the rule over Egypt, Adil was released back to Egypt to sort out Egypt's internal affairs.

"This is a dead end. An isolated city cannot be defended for long." Adil was frank in response to Saladin's question.

Saladin smiled after hearing his brother's words, and then he said: "I know it is a place of death, but the problem is that someone wants me to die here."

Adil did not respond. He knew who Saladin was talking about. Who else could it be? It was Abbasid Caliph Nasr.

"Not long ago, he announced to all Muslims that I was the guardian of the third holy land, saying that I could mobilize the power of all Muslim emirs. In the letter he wrote to me, he praised my achievements in retaking the holy land and encouraged me to continue fighting the Crusaders. It can be said that he provided all the help except for the actual help. There was no reinforcement, no money, and he just gave me the great cause of protecting the holy land!"

"Adil, tell me, if I give up Jerusalem at this time, what kind of situation will I face?"

"How high you are lifted, how deep you will fall. All the glory of the past will become shackles to constrain you, and those emirs who are only nominally loyal to us will easily give up their allegiance to the Ayyubid dynasty."

When Adil discussed this issue with his brother, he was frank and did not need to be as cautious as others.

Saladin was silent for a while. He could naturally see the future that Adil could see, but for him, such a future was unavoidable because Saladin saw no chance of winning.

All great causes need to be supported by victory on the battlefield. Only those who can bring hope to the Islamic world can shoulder the great cause and then turn it into their sword to slash at their enemies.

Those who hold great justice but disappoint Muslims time and time again will only suffer backlash.

"Adil, do you have any suggestions?"

"We will fight the Crusaders again. If we win, everything will be fine. If we lose, we will withdraw our troops to Egypt. Compared with the righteousness of the Muslims, we must always consider the continuation of our family first."

Adil had never had a direct confrontation with the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and he did not know the situation of the current war. In his opinion, even if the Crusaders had an advantage in military strength, the Ayyubid dynasty would be able to fight if it gathered all its troops. The most important thing was that if they abandoned the city without a fight, they might not be able to keep even Egypt.

In the Muslim world, no one would support a ruler who betrays the righteousness of his faith. After all, the Sultan is not just a simple secular king, but often also an authoritative religious leader.

Saladin remained silent again. He looked down at the city of Jerusalem, and couldn't help feeling bitterness in his heart. It had been less than three years since he captured Jerusalem in 1186, and the situation had deteriorated to such an extent.

Adil felt that there might still be a chance of winning on the battlefield, but Saladin understood that the chance of winning was very slim. If he followed his usual habits, he would naturally not gamble on that slim chance of winning.

But the problem is, as Adil said, after the Caliph has elevated his righteousness to this level, if he does not flee without fighting, he may end up in a situation where he will die without a burial place. Without righteousness, how many troops can Saladin trust other than the Mamluks?
Of course, what he didn't know was that even the Mamluks could not be trusted. The reason why they obeyed Saladin now was that Saladin still had a high prestige. However, when the prestige of the Ayyubid dynasty declined, it was the Mamluks who seized power in Egypt.

"At least we have to consume those unreliable forces..." Saladin did not say this out loud. He just made a decision to weaken those emirs who might threaten him as much as possible while retaining his core strength.

When there was a conflict between religious interests and family interests, Saladin decisively chose family interests.

"There is one more thing," Saladin continued.

"Who among my children do you think is suitable to succeed me? To inherit the throne of Sultan?"

After hearing this question, Adil frowned and was quite hesitant. He knew all of Saladin's children. It could be said that none of them could reach the level of Saladin. Even asking them to just maintain the status quo was a bit difficult.

When Sara saw that Adil was silent, he actually understood what he meant. He patted his brother on the shoulder, did not continue speaking, but turned his head and took another look at the holy city.

"Jerusalem, you can be worthless or have endless wealth, but now you have become a pair of shackles."

……

The atmosphere of the Franks' counterattack enveloped the Ayyubid dynasty. Border clashes continued one after another. The lightly armored Tukopo cavalry and the tribal riders had bloody clashes.

The Knights of the Imperial Order guard a trade route from Arnon to Tyre, and any enemy that dares to invade here will be expelled.

Lightly armed cavalry, heavily armed knights, mounted infantry and high-speed mobile light artillery constituted the main force of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in these days.

In short distances, their mobility is no less than that of Saladin's troops, and the firepower advantage brought by light artillery can easily break the balance of the battlefield and defeat the enemy amid the neighing of horses.

However, the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem did not attach much importance to these victories, and Saladin did not care much about the defeats. They both knew that what would really determine the fate of both sides was the battle that was about to be prepared.

The battle naturally began with a clash between light cavalry.

Over the past year, the Tukopos have been at the forefront of conflicts. They may have suffered a high casualty rate, but many officers and sergeants have emerged from their ranks.

They paid the price of blood, and the kingdom gave them honor and generous material rewards. When this model was passed back to the Tukobo tribes, it attracted countless young Tukobos to come. This led to a growing number of Tukobos under the kingdom, from the initial one battalion to two battalions.

For the Tukobos, the heads of the nomadic tribes active in Palestine have become impressive military exploits in their eyes.

Diego dismounted and checked the traces left by the Saracen riders. The squadron he led was patrolling the border between the areas controlled by the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the areas controlled by the Ayyubid Dynasty.

Not long ago, he found traces of about two hundred horses, tracing them all the way back here. Judging from the freshness of the horse manure, the distance between them was getting closer and closer.

Diego found Paladin Carlisle from the squadron. He was a veteran who had joined the army since Transjordan. He had followed Garys in battles over the past two years and had seen quite a lot of scenes.

"Those Saracens approached Nazareth after breaking into the Galilee territory. Before being discovered by the local garrison, they quickly left the Galilee territory. Carlisle, do you think we need to chase them?" Diego asked Carlisle.

Carlisle stroked his bearded chin and looked in the direction left by the two hundred horses. That direction had already gone deep into the area controlled by the Ayyubid Dynasty.

"I always feel like something is wrong." Carlisle noticed something unusual in the Saracens' behavior.

"The beacon tower system in the border area has not yet been completed. They could have done something before evacuating, instead of just coming here for a visit."

"I think so too," Diego said.

"Five leagues, then?"

"can."

After the squadron leader of Diego's squadron and Paladin reached an agreement, the entire company of more than 100 cavalrymen mobilized again and entered the area controlled by the Ayyubid dynasty, without paying any attention to the so-called border line.

However, what was waiting for them was not an enemy or an ambush, but a completely looted village.

……

When June 1190 arrived, the kingdom's army was assembled again in Tyre. Together with the scattered vassal troops, this time Gairis had a total of 6 soldiers under his command.

But this was not all the troops, at least it did not include the garrisons from various parts of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Antiochus' army.

Those troops would also need to deal with enemy forces from Damascus.

"Reports have come in from the front saying that in the areas controlled by the Ayyubid dynasty, nomadic tribes have been looting Muslim villages," Conrad walked into the staff office, took off his hat, and said to Garys who was measuring the distance on the map.

Hearing what Conrad said, Gailis frowned, then relaxed. This kind of thing was indeed distressing, but it was also an inevitable result.

At present, everyone in the Palestinian region can imagine that a war will break out between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin. Moreover, after experiencing several previous confrontations, quite a number of nomadic tribes are actually aware that Saladin may be defeated. They cannot live and die with Saladin, so they will naturally think about making a fortune before leaving.

"I understand about that matter. I have proposed a plan. Come over and take a look." Garys said as he called Conrad over.

"Jerusalem is not the first priority in this plan. You know that it is almost July and the sun in Palestine is very scorching. If we don't want to suffer too many non-combat casualties, we have to consider logistics and the logistics march."

Listening to Garys' words, Conrad nodded. Commanding a force of 20,000 people on a march of nearly 200 kilometers without relevant experience would easily lead to losses if he acted rashly.

At this time, Gellis pointed to the map and continued, "In this plan, we will march along the coastline, from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. every day to avoid the impact of the hot climate on the army. At the same time, the Venetian fleet will accompany us, take on part of our supplies, and transport the sick. The first city we have to capture is Jaffa."

Jaffa is located 130 kilometers south of Tyre. It is an important port city in the Palestinian region. It is only 50 kilometers away from Jerusalem. In the past, pilgrims from Western Europe often landed here and crossed the hills and forest trails of Palestine to reach the holy city of Jerusalem.

"After we take over Jaffa, it will be much easier to transport supplies and mobilize troops. Then we will have a solid strategic base near Jerusalem and be able to continue to maintain the operations of our army."

If the target is set directly as Jerusalem, the marching distance from Tyre to Jerusalem will reach 160 kilometers.
The starting point of 70 kilometers is in the area controlled by Saladin. The route is unfamiliar to the people and facing harassment from Saladin's riders, there will inevitably be various casualties and losses.

Perhaps if a large-scale battle breaks out between the two sides, it will still be Garys' side that wins in the end, but such behavior is actually unnecessary.

Garys and his men developed a suitable marching route and combat plan for this problem. Although it required a longer detour, it reduced a lot of risks. Another advantage of marching along the coastline was that the sea could always protect the right wing of the army.

"This plan is fine," Conrad said.

Garys also felt good about it. He said, "Then we can hold a coalition meeting to evaluate and review this plan, and then assign tasks."

At present, the military strength of Gelis is quite complex. It includes the regular army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the recruited Tukopo mercenaries, the Imperial Knights, the Hospitaller Knights, the Knights Templar, vassal troops recruited from all over the country, and the German Crusaders led by Eden.

It takes a lot of effort to mix all the good and bad ingredients together.

(End of this chapter)