Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 439 Egypt wins three times, Jerusalem loses three times.

In this retreat, Egypt has a total of three wins, while Jerusalem has a total of three losses.

The first victory was that the Egyptian army could assemble in large numbers and take advantage of its manpower; the second victory was that the Fourth Legion destroyed a total of seven Jerusalem army camps, leaving the Jerusalem army with nowhere to rest; and the third victory was that the soldiers were exhausted, and Suez, as a port city, could rest and recuperate.

Jerusalem suffered three major setbacks: First, the long and arduous expedition to Sinai was difficult, and the lack of food and clothing made it difficult to sustain itself; second, the people of Sinai were fierce and difficult to govern, and a long-term stay would result in significant losses; and third, the soldiers, having been away for a long time without any results, were bound to lose morale and want to return home.

When these three wins and three losses were summarized by General Lagarde's staff, Lagarde breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, although the Sinai campaign has made great strides, at least the number of soldiers lost has not been too great.

The reason for the retreat was that there was no hope of continuing the stalemate in the Sinai Peninsula.

Even though the Egyptian Eighth Legion is not theoretically under the command of any of the legion commanders, if the Fourth Legion suffers heavy losses, his influence in the Eighth Legion Council will decrease.

If he really does crash the Fourth Army on the Sinai Peninsula, then when he returns to Egypt, he will probably face trial.

On the other hand, even if he lost the Sinai Peninsula, as long as he could preserve the main force of his troops, even Robert, the Duke of Alexander, would at most reprimand him and wouldn't really do anything to him.

What is this called?

Oh, if you preserve the people but lose the land, you will ultimately lose both the people and the land; but if you preserve the land but lose the people, you will ultimately preserve both the people and the land.

What is the people?

Is Fira a member of the people?

No.

But the soldiers under Gallard's command were certainly considered the people.

This is the foundation upon which their eight groups ruled Egypt.

Having found a way to deflect criticism at the meeting, Gallardo no longer lingered at the St. Catherine's Monastery. However, before leaving, he still ordered someone to invite Archbishop Callistratus over.

According to his plan, he should not only invite the archbishop over, but also take the other monks with him.

He didn't want to be entertained by a bunch of local bullies when Jerusalem occupied the area.

In particular, this group of local strongmen has a strong religious influence in the Sinai Peninsula and knows the terrain of the area like the back of their hand.

However, when the soldiers he sent came to report, he received some surprising news.

"What? You mean Archbishop Callistratus ran away?!"

"Yes, General."

The messenger was trembling.

"Not only is the archbishop missing, but many monks have also vanished. There seems to be a tunnel beneath the monastery that provides easy access to other bunkers!"

For a moment, General Gallard seemed to realize something.

When the soldier who brought the news brought him to the monastery's quarters, seeing the floorboards that had been torn up, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally died.

It seems there's no doubt that the enemy was able to find out the location of his camp.

If from the very beginning, the monks of St. Catherine's Abbey were passing intelligence to the army in Jerusalem, then this would make sense.

Anger surged through him, and his face flushed red.

Immediately afterwards, Galard felt some difficulty breathing, his vision blurred, and suddenly, with a snap, he fell backward.

If it weren't for the quick reflexes of the soldiers nearby, Galard would likely have hit his head on the floor and died on the spot. Upon waking, in a fit of rage, Galard actually ordered his soldiers to loot the Abrahamic monastery, which was revered by all three religions. Had someone not intervened, he might have even set it on fire.

The reason for persuading him to stop is quite simple.

After all, according to legend, it was here that the prophet Moses encountered the burning bush, received God's command, and led the Israelites out of Egypt.

Even the monks at St. Catherine's Abbey, following church tradition, believe that the shrub is actually the one Moses originally saw, not a later replacement.

Moses was tending the flock of Jethro the priest of Midian, his father-in-law. One day he led the flock out into the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb.

The angel of the Lord appeared to him out of a burning bush; and Moses looked, and behold, the bush was ablaze, yet it was not consumed.

When God saw that he was going to look, God called out from the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”

……

Putting aside the fact that his boss almost fell to his death from dizziness due to anger, leaving the Sinai Peninsula was still a happy thing for Henry.

There is nothing here.

This is not a metaphor, but a fact.

There are no fresh vegetables, not enough water, and even warm shelter is lacking; winter clothes are not being distributed.

As a region at the same latitude as Egypt, many areas of the Sinai Peninsula have an elevation of over 1200 meters, with the famous Mount Sinai reaching 2285 meters.

If winter in the Nile Delta is slightly freezing, then winter in the Sinai Peninsula mountains means facing sub-zero temperatures.

Damn!

Henry felt a chill run down his spine at the thought of that previous winter.

Regarding winter clothing, the Fourth Army Corps, which had been stationed in the Nile Delta region for a long time, could not be said to have been completely unprepared, but their preparations were practically nonexistent.

In the Arab world, the history of cotton cultivation and the history of wearing cotton-padded coats are actually quite long.

However, the inexperienced logistics department of the legion prepared winter clothing based on the winter temperatures of the Nile Delta.

This resulted in Henry's 100-man squad being allocated only about 10 cotton-padded coats for night duty and guard duty.

Moreover, the thickness of the cotton-padded coat was quite suspicious, raising the question of whether it had been withheld by logistics officials.

Thinking of the conditions during that winter, during the retreat, Centurion Henry instinctively shouted, "Erskin! Erskine! Bring me the wine!"

However, after calling out for a while, no one responded.

At this moment, Algar said quietly, "Henry, Erskine died in the previous scouting mission. Have you forgotten that?"

After a moment of confusion, accompanied by the pain of toothache, the memories Henry wanted to forget surged into his mind once again.

The memory he most wanted to forget was the scouting battles he waged against the Bedouins under Jerusalem's command in early spring.

Henry felt a sense of dread at the thought that those Bedouins could actually wear iron armor.

Admittedly, he survived the brutal cavalry battle, but many of his brothers died there.

He died in this Sinai wilderness.

(End of this chapter)