Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 423 Lucy
The Crusades promoted European military technology.

When the Crusades first emerged, the overall war model in Europe was still one between lords, who interacted with each other according to certain feudal rules, and the scale of war was generally small.

On the one hand, this was limited by the productivity at the time, and on the other hand, it was because the overall military technology was not enough.

In fact, people who play games can easily understand this: if they are in an environment with a single tactic and low level for a long time, it is easy for them to integrate into the segment and develop many bad habits without knowing it.

Saracens, or Muslims, although their overall ranking is not actually high, at least they offer a different way of playing war.

In the friction between these different development directions, many sparks of inspiration were created.

On the one hand, the Crusaders were exposed to more complex siege technologies, such as heavy catapults, siege towers, and tunnel warfare technology.

On the one hand, the Crusaders built a large number of sturdy fortresses in the Middle East. These fortresses prepared for national wars often had sides of hundreds of meters. They were easy to defend and difficult to attack, and controlled strategic locations, providing a reference for the castles of high-level feudal lords in Western Europe.

At the beginning of the Crusades, Europe was still in the golden age of knights, who occupied the absolute center of military operations.

By the time of the Third Crusade, powerful heavy infantry groups had become the backbone of the battlefield.

By 1291, when the Crusades ended, Europe had already passed gunpowder technology back to Western Europe through exchanges with the Arabs.

It also includes innovations in military tactics and even improvements in logistics systems.

After all, after the disastrous First Crusade, no one with a bit of brains and experience wanted to repeat it again.

Especially when the scale of the troops' march becomes larger, logistics has become a factor that must be considered.

In St. Helen's Chapel, Lagarde looked at the sand table in front of him and realized something. He then ordered the messenger beside him to "invite" the abbot over.

After a while, two soldiers, one on the left and one on the right, came to the general with the abbot Callistratus.

The general frowned and waved his hand, signaling the soldiers not to be so rude, but the abbot, who was also the Archbishop of the Sinai Church, old man Callistratus, still looked at General Lagarde with resentment.

As a church with a long history, the Sinai Church has been sponsored by courts of various countries since its establishment. Although it is not very wealthy, it has a high status.

Even during the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western Churches, the Sinai Church was able to receive dual funding from the Eastern Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Even Jews and Muslims often come here to worship and show respect to St. Catherine's Monastery because this is the place where Moses, the prophet revered by all three religions, witnessed the revelation of God.

This should have been a holy place isolated from the world, but now it has been occupied by the Egyptian Crusaders and used for military purposes.

All the food that the monastery had painstakingly accumulated was looted and used as military rations.

Under such circumstances, how could Archbishop Callistratus show a good face to Lagarde?
"Your Excellency, Archbishop, I asked you to come here mainly because I want to know whether there is any area within the range of 10 leagues nearby that is suitable for thousands of people to live."

"I want to tell you that the heretics in Jerusalem have already pushed their army into the Sinai wilderness, and they will sooner or later lay their hands on this holy land."

However, the archbishop responded: "Heretics? The heretics you are talking about were sending food, cleaning the monastery, and donating money until three months ago."

"But what about you? Farmers in nearby villages have come to me and told me more than once that your men would not even let go of their remaining chickens."

"As for this area, where is it suitable to live?"

"Is there any other place besides here or El Tor?"

El Tor is another small town in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

When mentioning Eltor, General Lagarde shook his head and said a place name: "You don't want what happened at the Reitu Monastery to happen again here."

At the mention of Laitu Monastery, the Archbishop's breathing quickened.

Once upon a time, the Sinai Peninsula was much more than just the Monastery of St. Catherine, but a large number of hermits came here to seek connection with God and escape the filthy life of the city.

But the other monasteries were basically abandoned one after another due to the massacre of the sand bandits. Lai Tu Monastery was one of them, located in El Tor.

What Lagarde said was actually a naked threat.

The archbishop had to either reveal the surrounding geography or their monastery would face massacre.

If it were an ordinary general or commander, it would be unlikely for him to make such a threat, but Lagarde was a blasphemous villain.

Is this also considered a crusade?
Those apostate guys in Jerusalem never said they would simply demolish the monasteries of other sects!

Faced with the imminent crisis, even though the archbishop had a more favorable impression of Jerusalem, he still added some information on the sand table and informed the archbishop of the situation of the surrounding oases.

As the information about the Sinai Peninsula became more and more complete, the previously vague areas suddenly became clear.

In this vast land of 6 square kilometers, if we don't march directly through it but instead station there for a long time, there is actually only a small amount of space.

Moreover, the military strength of the other side's single stronghold is definitely inferior to his.

You know, an Egyptian legion has about 5,000 soldiers.

"Thus……"

After discussing with several of his adjutants, he naturally came to the conclusion that it was better to strike first.

After all, once the other party has a clear understanding of their position, it is actually not much better.

When both sides are stationed on weekdays, they have to disperse, otherwise they will not be able to survive in this barren land of the Sinai Peninsula.

……

Gellis preferred the city of Tyre, but Jerusalem was his home now.

After dealing with the turmoil in Tripoli with Isabella, he embarked on the journey back to Jerusalem.

There were no accidents along the way. After all, the territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was relatively safe and there were no more bandits.

After returning to Jerusalem, Isabella had to take care of various government affairs, and Gairis himself was also busy, not even going home. He received all kinds of news, including some wars on the southern front, which required his opinion.

When everyone left, the Executive Yuan seemed a little empty. Garys pushed open the door of the conference room and saw someone waiting outside for a long time.

Looking at that slightly haggard face, Garys felt a pang of heartache. After not seeing her for half a year, when they met again, he didn't know what to say.

When the thousands of words in my heart came to my mouth, only one sentence remained: "I'm back. How have you been these days?"

"Not good, not good at all. Every day has been terrible since you were away." The girl looked at Garys and couldn't help but speak wilfully. "And don't hide the flowers behind you. I can smell their fragrance."

Gailis awkwardly took his hand from behind his back and handed a flower to the girl.

This flower was grown in a greenhouse. With sufficient glass, it is not difficult to build a glass greenhouse.

When Gillis succeeded in doing this, it caused a sensation in Jerusalem.

After that, even in the cold winter, Jerusalem could smell the fragrance of flowers, and many nobles and wealthy businessmen regarded this gardening technique as an elegant hobby.

The girl took the flower, sniffed its fragrance, threw it aside indifferently, and threw herself into Gailis' arms.

"I don't want that kind of thing, I just want you to stay with me."

she said softly.

Feeling the girl in his arms whom he hadn't seen for more than half a year, Gailis's first reaction was that his daughter had grown taller. From only reaching his abdomen before, she now almost reached his chest.

This expression of true feelings made Gailis feel a little overwhelmed, because in the days to come, separation would be just an ordinary thing.

When my daughter grows up, she will have to face many storms on her own.

……

Celia is a maid in the palace and Isabella's secretary. Born into an ordinary merchant family, she never thought that she would serve the queen every day.

Of course, the so-called ordinary merchant family had actually gone bankrupt in the previous war, and the inheritance left by the father after his death was not enough for their entire family to squander.

After the establishment of the new kingdom, many of these servants were recruited from society, and many of them did not realize who they would serve before entering the palace for training.

This is completely different from the situation in the old-style royal palace.

After being recruited half a year ago, Celia also tried to consider whether to leave the palace. After all, the various unforgiving systems and regulations here gave people a slightly depressing feeling.

But as long as she thought that only here could she get enough salary to support her family, Cecilia endured all kinds of hardships.

Thanks to the business knowledge she learned when she was young, when Isabella said she needed a secretary, she was recommended by the head maid in the palace.

From this time on, Cecilia began to have more contact with Isabella.

Queen Isabella seemed to be a few years older than her, and although she seemed a bit unapproachable at first sight.

But when they get along, they are surprisingly kind. In daily life, they are very tolerant of many things, and when they treat Cecilia, they often act as a teacher, not a master.

Cecilia even had a vague illusion that Isabella treated her as a sister with equal personality.

This illusion is so strange that it is hard to believe, but it also proves Isabella's personality.

A month ago, Isabella left Jerusalem and rushed to Tyre, leaving Celia to take care of Princess Lucy.

During this month, Lucy, who was only thirteen years old, had complained about many things more than once, saying that she was abandoned and that her parents were evil people.

But Cecilia could tell from the girl's expression that Lucy didn't really think so. She was more mature than many children.

The reason why she said this is that it is more like a kind of coquettish behavior, to vent her own dissatisfaction, and even more so to deceive others' love, especially Cecilia's.

And today, Lucy got the news from somewhere, and hurriedly took Cecilia away from the palace and took a carriage to the Executive Yuan.

In the corridor of the State Council, perhaps he was expressing his dissatisfaction with his parents leaving.

Lucy whispered to Cecilia a lot of embarrassing things about Isabella and Gaillis.

Cecilia could only listen and made up her mind to pretend she knew nothing afterwards.

And when recalling some sweet memories, the smile on Lucy's face made Cecilia envious. After all, her father died early and she had never experienced what fatherly love was.

It was only afternoon when they arrived at the State Council, and by the time the government affairs in the conference room were handled, the sky outside had begun to darken.

As for Garys, when he walked out of the meeting room, he didn't even notice Cecilia in the corridor, and was bumped into by his daughter.

When Garys picked up Lucy as a princess, he noticed that there was actually a third person in the corridor.

This was very embarrassing. Gailis originally planned to carry Lucy out of the Executive Yuan and put her in the carriage outside, but considering that there was a stranger nearby, Gailis put his daughter down again.

When Lucy realized that Cecilia had seen what happened just now, she shyly hid behind Garys.

"Hello, my name is Garys, Isabella's husband and Lucy's father." Garys introduced himself to Cecilia and was very approachable.

Facing Garys' politeness, Cecilia was not prepared for it, and she seemed a little flustered. Finally, she introduced herself with a slight stutter:
"I... I'm Celia, from Jerusalem, and now I'm... I'm the trainee secretary of Her Majesty the Queen, and I've been taking care of Her Highness Lucy these days."

"Then I guess you've worked hard these days."

"No, it's not hard. This is what I should do. It is my honor to serve Her Majesty the Queen." Cecilia said politely.

She found that neither Isabella nor Gellis were typical monarchs, nor were they typical nobles. Perhaps they truly regarded themselves as equal communication partners. When this thought popped into Cecilia's mind, she was a little frightened by her own thoughts.

Gailis held Isabella and Lucy's hands and left the Council of State. Because Cecilia was there, they were very restrained. The emotions that had burst out from their long-parting reunion gradually calmed down as time went by.

(End of this chapter)