kingdom of nations

Chapter 84: Attack the City! (4)

Compared to Heraclius's frustration, Amalric I did not care at all and even welcomed it. He consoled Heraclius by saying, "Think about when we were their age."

"I'm not like that!" Heraclius said firmly.

"You just didn't do it too obviously. Every time we called you, you excitedly took your hammer and rode on your horse to go with us?" Amalric I exposed him without any mercy.

Heraclius coughed twice. "That was also to protect those poor pilgrims... What they did was too risky."

"If not now, when?" Amalric I replied. "Baldwin and Cesar are in worse shape than we were."

Amalric I was not the queen's eldest son. His elder brother was Baldwin III, a wise and powerful king. No one expected that he would die at such a young age and without an heir. At that time, just as Count Etienne and all the second and youngest sons felt, all the glory was shrouded in the first heir.

Whether it is the father's appreciation, the mother's love, or the support and attention of the ministers.

Although Raymond and Bohemond were considered "non-blood brothers" of Amalric I, they were chosen together by the saint under the gaze of God - but at that time, no, it should be said that until the death of Baldwin III, they would rather be a servant beside the former than accompany Amalric I.

Amalric I would not be angry about this, otherwise he would not have continued to use them. Otherwise, what would happen? He would have a title and a territory, but more things would require him to rely on courage and luck to obtain them one sword at a time.

He could not do anything for Raymond or Bohemond. He could not send troops to drive out Raymond's illegitimate uncle (who had been fighting with Raymond for Tripoli), nor could he expel Bohemond's stepfather and mother and recapture Antioch for the adult Bohemond...

But when he thinks back to himself at that time, Amalric I does feel a sense of sadness that is hard to suppress.

"You know Baldwin," Amalric I said, "he can be very stubborn sometimes."

Since Baldwin received God's blessing and showed the great favor he received from the saints, more and more people wanted to return to or come to him, the first of which was of course David, and then Abigail - he had been forcibly sent back to Antioch by Bohemond, but now he has returned.

There were also other young men from surrounding lords and knightly orders. Amalric I also advised Baldwin not to be too resentful, and that a king should be magnanimous. However, Baldwin said that he did not hate them, but it was difficult for him to continue to like them.

"Cesar once told me that precious emotions are like a flawless jade plate. Once broken, even the best goldsmith cannot repair those tiny cracks. The same is true for my feelings towards them."

He persuaded Amalric I in turn: "Instead of letting them stay with me and remind me of the past from time to time, let us stay away from each other. In the future, perhaps we can still live in harmony as king and subject."

Amalric I was also helpless about this. He was worried that if Baldwin was left with only Cesar...

He hoped that there would be more people around Baldwin, and now he didn't care so much about Cesar's background - he really couldn't say the word "slave". How could a child like Cesar be a slave?
No one will believe it.

Fortunately, since joining the expedition, as more and more lords and lords have come to participate in this holy war, the number of young people has also been increasing. Although there are villains and scoundrels among them, most of them are brave and pure good guys.

They had no ill feelings towards Baldwin. Even though in their hometown, lepers were considered people punished by God or cursed by the devil, Baldwin did not have the terrible morbidity that they had seen or thought of before.

His eyes are still bright, his skin is still smooth, his mind is still clear, and he is even sharper and smarter than most people. His left hand may be a little less flexible, but who else can receive as much favor from St. George as he does?

The favorite thing for these young men to do was to gather around Baldwin and ask him to summon the spear of St. George. Although they could not touch the spear, just by looking at it, they felt as if they had received infinite blessings and graces. They felt full of energy and strength. Even if they wanted to charge into the Saracen army, it would be no problem!

Amalric I was initially worried that Cesar would take the opportunity to sow discord and spread rumors and slander in order to continue to monopolize Baldwin's friendship - just like Witt had done before, and tell these people to stay away from Baldwin.

He was wrong.

Cesar was not a real child. The soul inside his body had already grown up. He looked at Baldwin as if he was looking at the unfortunate little patients he had seen in the ward before.

Now Baldwin's condition is stable, and thanks to a "blessing" that he still finds difficult to understand, he has gained powers that ordinary people do not have. Now he has many more enthusiastic children around him, and he is so happy that he can't contain himself.

However, many of these people came for Cesar. They were not like the lords and lords who would sigh when they heard about Cesar's background.

They simply didn't believe that Cesar was the son of a farmer or a craftsman. It was impossible! Moreover, he was already a close servant of Baldwin, just waiting for Baldwin to ascend the throne. What did he want, a title, a territory?
Like Baldwin, they even thought of their widowed sisters or aunts. It didn't matter if Baldwin was unwilling to let them go. The women could just marry into Alasar with their dowries. Just like Baldwin I's third wife, she was the widow of the lord of Sicily. After marrying into Alasar, didn't she let Baldwin I use her dowry to build several castles?

"For that face alone," said one knight to another, "my aunt would gladly travel a thousand miles."

"Your aunt doesn't even have any territory or inheritance rights," said the knight with long golden-red hair. "I don't think Baldwin would be willing to give Cesar's hand in marriage to such a woman."

"Do you have any good candidates?" the knight asked rudely.

"I do have one, but she's a bit old. But she's very wealthy and owns a vast territory," said the knight with long, golden-red hair. "But she has one big flaw."

"What kind of shortcomings?"

"Her husband is still alive."

The knight who had spoken first laughed heartily, apparently thinking the other party had just made a joke. "Oh," said the knight with long golden-red hair, "they're back."

Arthur, Blondel…” Baldwin entered the tent and the two knights bowed to him together, with Cesar moving slightly away to avoid being misunderstood.

These two young knights, Arthur from Aquitaine and Blondel from Nelle, were both people of extraordinary birth. Arthur's father once served Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he was able to come to Alasarus to participate in the holy war because of the letter of introduction from the knight Marshall.

Arthur was seventeen years old this year, but according to him, because of some things he had to do, he had obtained golden spurs and sword belt and became a knight. He had also participated in several wars before. "But if possible, I would rather call this war my first battle!" He said with bright eyes and loud voice.

"It's going to be a very difficult battle, and there won't be much spoils," Baldwin said mildly.

"I only wish to kill as many Saracens as possible!" Arthur shouted, and Blondel couldn't help but roll his eyes. Neyron was in eastern France, and Aquitaine was in southwestern France, but he hadn't heard much about an Arthur in Aquitaine. However, when he asked about the situation in Aquitaine, the Arthur answered fluently and was also very knowledgeable about the court and the affairs of Louis VII. He turned to get a cup of water for Baldwin, but found that Cesar beside Baldwin had already filled a silver cup with sweet but slightly warm water. He gave it to Baldwin first, then to Arthur, and then to Blondel. He also took a cup and sipped it slowly.

"I like ice water," said Arthur. "No ice cubes, and not too hot."

"Too cold water can make your internal organs explode," Baldwin said.

"What kind of damned theory is this, Saracen?" Although Arthur complained a few times, he drank as slowly as anyone else. In a blink of an eye, it was as if there was no water in the silver cup at all. He walked over to pour the water himself. This impolite and rude behavior made Blondel sigh deeply.

Baldwin and Cesar didn't mind. Arthur was probably the one among these young knights and apprentice knights who got along best with them. He was straightforward, brave, and generous enough.

He had won several tournaments that Amalric I had held to wear down the knights' energy, but he did not take the losers' horses or armor, nor did he ask for a ransom, as if his fate was only to fight.

And compared to the other knights who were still hesitating whether to approach Cesar, he was the first one to take Cesar's arm and sit with him to drink and dine.

He even exchanged tunics with Cesar, but unfortunately Cesar didn't have a coat of arms yet - Amalric I probably waited for Baldwin to give him one, but Arthur's tunic was embroidered with sparkling lilies.

"I've heard Marshall talk about you," he said, gazing curiously at Baldwin and Cesar upon their first meeting. "Especially you. I heard you once walked alone into the Templars' Tortosa Castle, just to plead with the cruel Walter not to allow countless civilians to die because of his conflict with Amalric I."

"But that sounds like something a monk would do," he asked Cesar. "Why don't you join the tournament?"

"I'm not keen on or good at fighting," Cesar said, "and I'm only an apprentice knight. If I were to fight as a squire, I, blessed by God, wouldn't be fair to ordinary people."

"Even squires are blessed," Arthur said. "And what's the point of not being good? I heard you killed hundreds of men alongside Baldwin on the battlefield of Tortosa, and even withstood the mauling of a orphaned bear before everyone's eyes. Although I didn't see you disguised as a noblewoman and annihilated the Saracens, I've seen you galloping beside Baldwin before, striking down any enemy who dared approach."

"Don't mention the lady's matter. It was a last resort," Cesar said. "Like everything else you've heard, it was simply the fulfillment of a friend's and a subject's duty."

Hearing this, Arthur looked up at Baldwin and said, "Have you really sworn an oath to be brothers, just like the legend says?"

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Baldwin asked.

"Nothing, except that as a future monarch," Arthur said, "some might think you're not being cautious enough."

But that was probably several months ago. Now Arthur is just like everyone else. Not only does he not think that Cesar is not qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with Baldwin, he even thinks that if Amalric I had not redeemed Cesar from the Isaacs, Cesar might have had a better choice.

"Come, Arthur," Baldwin called, "and see what we have discovered to-day."

Arthur and Blondel are also "chosen ones". Arthur's saint of admiration is St. Paul. Like Walter, St. Paul does not seem to be a saint with a calm temperament.

Arthur is as warlike as Walter, even a little violent. He is even taller than Baldwin and Cesar - six feet five inches, but his shoulders are much broader and his body is heavier. It can only be said that if Baldwin and Cesar are tall and thin (it is not an exaggeration to say that they are thin), he is a giant with a broad back and strong arms, and he may be even stronger in the future.

Blondel's vision was of Saint Martin, a saint famous for his long suffering in prison, and the favors Blondel received were also related to protection and relief from suffering.

It is hard to say whether Baldwin's choice of them as his assistants was related to this - he knew that some people compared him and Cesar to "the spear and shield of God". Although he felt that Cesar's power should be more than that, for the time being, at least when he could not fully protect him, this metaphor was not a bad thing.

When he was choosing a knight, after he chose Arthur, he subconsciously chose a "shield", even though he knew that Cesar would not leave him to protect others... but...

"Who drew the picture?" Arthur's question woke Baldwin up. "Cesar drew it," he said.

There are two bridges connecting Laodai Island and Cairo, not counting the aerial suspension bridge. One is a wooden bridge (it seems that the king's intelligence was still wrong), built in the center of Laodai Island, leading directly to the King's Gate in Cairo. They are unlikely to choose this one. The other is located at the southernmost tip of Laodai Island, some distance away from the city gate, but not far, at least the cavalry can reach it with a sprint.

"They will attack the King's Gate first, so that the Saracens inside cannot rush out to support them."

"But if they discover us, they can still rush to reinforce us from the drawbridge between the city wall and the fortress." Arthur measured the parchment with satisfaction. This map was not as gorgeous and exquisite as the ones he had seen before, but it was extremely clear - the plane, the side and the approximate structure, and the detailed dimensions were also marked.

"Where did you get these measurements?"

"Cesar dived down to measure it."

Arthur couldn't help but glance at the black-haired boy. Sure enough, his hair was still a little wet. "You?"

The knights would learn to swim, but swimming was not the same as diving. If it were not for diving, the Saracens guarding the bridge would immediately discover the invading enemy.

But what Arthur envied most was Cesar's map-drawing skills. As a knight and a future general, no one knew better than him how important a detailed map could be in a battle.

Even though he had never seen this kind of "map" before, it was like presenting the scene vividly in front of him. Just by looking at it, he could think of how to fight, how many people, which direction, and what to use - catapults, crossbows or Greek fire... Cesar even marked the material of the arrow tower at the bridgehead.

"There's one more thing," Cesar reminded him. "We have to be careful tomorrow. Someone upstream might lower a boat tied with iron chains and attack the people on the bridge."

"Is that what you saw?" asked Arthur.

"I can't swim that far, but I saw arrow marks and burns on the bridge."

Arthur's eyes shifted uncontrollably to Baldwin.

"I have a suitable marriage partner... Your Highness, beautiful, wealthy, and possesses a vast territory... His only drawback... will soon be gone..."

(End of this chapter)