kingdom of nations

Chapter 61: Little Fishes (Part )
With the war imminent, Amalric I certainly could not continue to stay in the Fort of Holy Cross. Although the Fort of Holy Cross was a magnificent building, it definitely could not accommodate the thousands of people needed for this battle, not to mention that many of them were conscripted or hired, and there might be a few spies with ulterior motives.

Amalric I set up his camp in the hills outside the Golden Gate, near the Garden of Gethsemane, which was planted with lush olive trees. Under the shade of the olive trees were countless rows of gray-white sarcophagi - some of Isaacs, some of Christians, and some of Saracens.

It is said that the Savior will enter Alaska from the Golden Gate, and the Third Temple will then reappear in the world, and all the dead will be resurrected. The closer people are to the Third Temple, the sooner they will be resurrected.

After retaking Alassar, some people proposed to move the Saracen remains, but this was rejected by the then Alassar King Baldwin I.

He said that the Saracens buried here were once followers of Caliph Umar I, a wise and enlightened king who once allowed Christians, Isaacs and Muslims to worship here together. Even though he passed away six hundred years ago, he should not have been humiliated like this.

Since Baldwin I made this decision, the subsequent King Alasarus would not disturb these long-dead sages. Amalric I did not even allow his soldiers to cut down nearby olive trees, preferring to cut down cedar and cypress from farther away.

Tents were erected one after another, and bonfires were lit in the dark. People set up racks on the bonfires and hung black pots on the poles. Smoke and steam swirled between the tents, smoking the prey hunted or the meat bought by the knights and squires, as well as their clothes - robes, lining cotton armor and long shirts, and perhaps even socks.

However, most of those who did this were knights who could not afford to hire a washerwoman, and their squires and servants often had to work like a woman.

The washerwomen walked among the tents, often laughing at the fabrics that still had obvious stains. They usually carried a large wooden basin containing their employers' clothes. They would take these clothes, soaked in sweat, dust and blood, to the river to wash them, dry them, and then bring them back - you may ask why there were blood stains?
Yes, the war has not yet begun, but how can those young people who pride themselves on their bravery and fighting skills stay calm and follow the rules during this long preparation period?

A knight might argue with another knight about which noblewoman is more worthy of respect, or one might accidentally hear the other mocking him, his friend, or his lord (this kind of thing is very common), or even just a small bump, a glance...

Although they couldn't engage in a formal duel like in a martial arts tournament, finding a small open space and using fists and swords (they discussed this among themselves) to complete the verbal confrontation could also be a wonderful and enjoyable experience!

Sometimes their followers or armed servants would also get involved, or in other words, some things were instigated by these guys.

The people who followed the knights, whether they were squires or armed attendants, were not necessarily people of the same class as their masters. They might be the sons of craftsmen or wealthy farmers. They were more brutal than their masters and were more ruthless in their attacks.

Gold is of course good, silver coins are also good, even if the followers on the opposite side only have a few copper coins, being able to take off a few pieces of clothes will make them happy.

One of the attendants unfortunately lost in this competition and his arm was broken by a hammer from his opponent. He lay on the ground, biting a piece of wood in his mouth. A monk was trying to straighten his bones, but his condition did not look good. He did not cry out loudly, not because his injury was minor, but because he had fainted.

His master was frowning and talking to the monk. The monk was shaking his head, and the master was holding his purse, which was empty. It seemed that Isaac the merchant outside the camp had work to do again.

The people who had just watched the fight were walking past them, commenting on it, feeling unsatisfied or angry. The anger was of course because they lost money - in this kind of fight, someone would soon come to act as the banker and ask people to place bets. The knights and squires who participated in the fight would also place bets as long as they thought they could win.

A gorgeously dressed herald, followed by two monks, walked through the noisy crowd, passed the followers lying on the ground, and walked towards a tent with flags, heraldic wooden shields and ribbons hanging on it. People looked up and wondered what kind of message they brought to the owner of the tent, whether it was praise or criticism, and it was probably the former.

After the herald left, another attendant walked into the tent holding a sturdy falcon. He was wearing chain mail and an iron mask in the shape of a falcon. He should have an official position in his master's castle. When nobles were called to war, it was not uncommon for them to bring their favorite hawks and dogs. Some people would also bring dwarfs, cooks, and herds of livestock.

Some people may ask, will they bring their wives or lovers?

Basically not, the merchants and courtesans outside the camp have been waiting for a long time - they do business with lords and knights, as well as retainers and soldiers, and they accept all inquiries from mercenaries, servants, and grooms.

This time, Amalric I recruited about a thousand mercenaries, most of whom were wandering knights with nowhere to go like Longinus. They were very eager to be recruited by the king and hardly cared about the remuneration, which made some priests jealous - usually, when hiring these people, they would negotiate the price penny by penny.

This is not surprising. This war can be seen as another type of martial arts tournament. Those wandering knights who cannot afford the entrance fee dream of dominating the battlefield and being invincible, which will immediately attract the attention of the king or the leader of the knight order, and thus embark on a quick path to success.

However, all the above people combined are not as numerous as the peasant soldiers mobilized for this battle.

Their origins were very complex. They might be farmers or craftsmen drawn from surrounding villages and towns at a ratio of thirty to one or fifty to one. They might also be pilgrims who came to the Holy Land but were unable to return to their hometowns for various reasons. Even worse, they were escaped slaves or criminals.

They gathered here out of obligation, money, or faith, and took on all the trivial and heavy work.

Such as setting up and dismantling tents, collecting fodder, food and fuel, taking care of horses and dogs, building crude fortifications - wooden fences and trenches, as well as siege engines that might be used later, making consumable weapons - wooden spears, round shields and arrows, and preparing some simple dry food such as cheese, unleavened bread, oats and mixed fruits (the kind that Geoffrey had eaten)...

These peasant soldiers were required to provide their own armor and weapons, and because of this, they looked messy, dirty, and in a mess. Some carried bows and arrows, some carried hammers, some carried flails (wooden farm tools), and some simply made a wooden stick or spear on the spot.

Few of them could wear a helmet. Occasionally, you could see someone wearing a skullcap, which looked like a priest's small hat but was made of black iron or hard cowhide. It was a bowl-shaped iron piece that knights wore over their chain mail hoods to enhance their defense. But sometimes, you know, on the battlefield, it might roll into the dust and be picked up by the peasant soldiers cleaning the battlefield.

It is even more impossible to see chain mail, scale mail and lamellar armor on them. They may only have one set of clothes. You may see some things like leather armor and inlaid armor, but if you look closely, you will be amazed at the imagination and creativity of human beings in patchwork and makeshift.

They could not become the main force on the battlefield. Even though they were sometimes classified as "infantry", they were completely different from the sword and shield infantry of the Knights Templar, the spearmen and crossbowmen of the Crusaders, the heavy infantry of the Holy Roman Empire, and the heavy shield soldiers of Byzantium - they were just consumables used to interfere with the enemy's vision, consume the enemy's arrows, and fill trenches.

Even if they managed to survive on the battlefield, few people would be willing to spare their lives - because they were worthless, and their value might not even be enough to cover the wheat they ate.

It was not until today that Cesar learned that before the siege, there was a team in front of the army, which included scouts, arsonists and foragers.

Their job was simple: they would comb through the enemy's castle like a rake, burning houses, driving out people, looting food, and destroying fields to cut off the enemy's supply. More often than not, the enemy would do this first. If they encountered a kind lord, they would allow their people to take refuge in the castle. But if they were cruel enough or decided to hold out for a long time, they would block these people without houses or food outside the thick city walls, leaving them to starve to death or be killed by the invading army.

"This time... my father might not do that... after all, this is a war between Christians." Baldwin said this with a guilty conscience.

In Frankish areas, there were many wars between lords and lords, lords and kings, and kings and kings. When it came to siege warfare, even if the church said "killing Christians is a sin", it could not stop the lords' horses from trampling the fields and the soldiers from setting houses on fire.

But what is the responsibility of the civilians?

It was the Knights Templar who were greedy for money, and it was Amalric I who promoted authority, but they had to bear all the sins.

The only thing to be thankful for is that there are not too many villages and towns between Tortosa and Yalasa Road.

"Can you lend me something precious? A relic, a weapon, or jewelry, anything is fine." Cesar asked in a low voice.

"You can take whatever you like from my box. But you have to tell me what you want to do with it," Baldwin said.

"I want to go to Geoffrey and ask him what kind of man Walter de Lemesnil of Tortosa is."

"and then?"

"I want to meet this man and persuade him to surrender to Amalric I."

After Baldwin confirmed his meaning, he couldn't help showing a puzzled look: "Why," he said sincerely: "Why, Cesar, we have sworn to each other that if someone asks you to do something you don't want to do, you only need to say that you have sworn to me that you will never kill anyone who has not raised a weapon against you - whether he is a man, a woman, an old man, a child or a pagan.

That's all. If they doubt you, I will vouch for you and make sure they can't hold you accountable."

"I know this is... a very strange and even somewhat ridiculous idea, but I've met so many people these past few days... this thing is not unchangeable."

"But this is war," Baldwin said. "This is Alazarus."

"Maybe I'm a coward, as you thought before. I can't just stand by and watch, Baldwin, not just a thousand people here, not just a thousand people there, but many more people lose their lives in vain."

Baldwin laughed angrily. "Coward? No, Cesar, that's not cowardice. You're so audacious that it's shocking. You actually want to be a messenger? Not for the king, but for a group of pilgrims and peasant soldiers. How are you going to persuade the Templars of Tortosa? Perhaps the next day I'll see your head used as a stone bullet by a ballista and fired into my father's tent!"

"So I want to know, what kind of man is the Templar Archdeacon of Tortosa?"

"Geoffrey won't tell you, my father won't allow you to go, and neither will Professor Heraclius. Even if you go, how could a Templar Grand Master listen to you? He would regard it as a disgrace and would never stop fighting with my father..."

"Yes," Cesar said.

Baldwin stared at him for a moment, then understood: "You've made up your mind, haven't you?"

"I need your support."

"And then watch you die."

"Baldwin, I thought you understood," Cesar said, "There are always some things in this world that you know you can't do, but you have to do them."

He thought he would never forget the mother and son standing in the snow peeling tree bark to eat, and the three people running out of the simple mud house.

------

Geoffrey must have completely forgotten the people in that room, otherwise why would he count the people he had killed before going to bed every day to act as a sheep to keep himself asleep?
He said the same thing as Baldwin: "Are you going to die?"

"No," said César, "I am not a man who does not know how to judge the pros and cons. Besides, there are people here whom I care about and who care about me. But if you knew what kind of man Walter de Lemesnil is—if he is what I think he is… perhaps I could try a thing or two."

"What good will this do you?"

Cesar looked up and thought for a moment: "Will more people call me 'Little Saint'?"

(End of this chapter)