kingdom of nations

Chapter 86: Attack the City! (6)

Baldwin couldn't help cursing in his heart.

He wanted to curse William Marshall. God knows, when he talked to them about the little prince who was about their age, he used the words shy and cute.

He really wanted to pull William Marshall from London and let him see with his own eyes whether this guy who rushed around like a wild boar on the battlefield had even a letter of relationship with shy and cute?
He also wanted to curse Richard. Yes, Arthur the Red-haired was the fourth child of Henry II. He disguised himself as Arthur of Aquitaine, an ordinary French knight. With a letter of introduction issued by Marshall (the prince suspected that Marshall did not know that it was issued by Richard to him), he crossed half the continent and several countries to come to Alaska, just to participate in this holy war.

Baldwin really didn't know that war could have such a great appeal to people. As the future king of Alasar, Baldwin certainly knew that most of these knights who came to fight for his father had no territory or title to inherit. They came here and planned to exchange their own strength, body and life - those who participated in the holy war could not only atone for all their sins, but also become guests of honor of various lords and kings after returning, just like William Marshall.

He hadn't actually fought against the Saracens yet. People heard he'd gone to Alaska and fought for King Amalric I, and so they just assumed he was a Christian knight, a pious and good man. Some had previously mocked him for not redeeming himself immediately after being captured, but now people either didn't mention it or considered it an example of honesty and steadfastness...

But who was Arthur, no, Richard? He was born into a privileged family. His eldest brother, Henry the Younger, had lived at their father's court since leaving their mother's arms. He had only two older sisters, and their relationship with their mother was not particularly close. Therefore, he was deeply loved by his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. At the age of eleven, he was created Duke of Aquitaine and was betrothed to Alice of France, the daughter of Louis VII.

In 72 AD, he became Count of Poitou and received the spear and flag emblems that symbolized his position.

Not long ago, he was fighting against his father with the support of Louis VII - and it seemed that he lost, but if you calculate the time, he might have packed up his money and ran all the way from Frank to Alaska before King Henry II of England and King Louis VII of France reached a ceasefire agreement.

That is to say, he had titles, territories, and property. And because his territories and titles came from his mother and his father's enemy, Louis VII, he did not have to worry about them being taken away.

Baldwin couldn't imagine why he had come here to fight a group of Saracens - could he still be the king of the fifth holy kingdom?

But it was obvious that Richard enjoyed it. His weapon was not a long sword - although St. Paul used a sword in the legend, but this time Richard brought his favorite and most convenient weapon, a battle axe.

He wielded the battle axe with the marks of several weapons: the chopping motions of a sword, the striking motions of a hammer, the throwing and sweeping motions of a flail.

Wherever he went, there was a terrifying mess of blood and flesh, and as if to make up for his previous regret, he ran very fast, taking Baldwin and Cesar away from the main group.

"Where is he going?" Baldwin asked during a break.

Cesar deflected a Saracen crossbow bolt for him and said, panting slightly, "He's running up. He... might want to..."

They looked up together and immediately understood Richard's intention. What else could he do?
He wanted to rush to the top of the fortress, where there was a drawbridge connecting to Fustat.

"Have you asked him how long his grace will last?" asked Cesar.

"I asked someone else, and he said it could at least last a whole day."

"I hope he's not bragging," Cesar said.

What would happen when people encountered a strong and cruel enemy? They would retreat and flee, but some would be aroused to their savagery, or be swept away by fear and despair, struggling and resisting desperately. They could feel that the Saracens around them were falling into this emotion.

Anyone else might have retained some common sense and not chased after those who had fled or surrendered, but Richard didn't care whether the enemy in front of him wanted to kneel down or swing his sword. He shouted loudly, his face flushed, and he would laugh when he saw the enemy rushing towards him. It was obvious that he was the kind of "knight" respected by the priests - to him, the Saracens were not the same human beings, but beasts and demons.

Richard not only did not feel guilty about killing them, but as the priests said, he even felt that killing these pagans was a work for the Lord and a precious merit.

He is also unremittingly fulfilling this oath, charging and killing along the way, leaving behind countless corpses.

When Richard suddenly pushed away a Saracen who was biting his arm tightly, he suddenly felt empty in front of him. It turned out that they had reached their destination. An empty platform connected to a swaying suspension bridge. More Saracens were rushing towards them...

------

At this time, people also saw that more and more Saracens were rushing up the suspension bridge connecting to Laodai Island. They shouted angrily, wanting to retake the fortress from the Crusaders, but they encountered a seemingly insurmountable barrier, which was only three young knights.

They said this because someone had recognized that the people standing in front of this group of Saracens were Baldwin, Cesar, and that... no, that Arthur of Aquitaine.

Amalric I immediately stood up from his chair.

He knew that his son was not the reckless and impulsive type, and Cesar was always calm and cautious, but who knows, perhaps the success on the battlefield had also made the young man a bit arrogant, and he was unhappy that Cesar did not stop Baldwin - he did not expect Arthur of Aquitaine.

However, the news brought by Heraclius later made him realize that he was almost influenced by his father's stubbornness and prejudice again.

"So it's not Arthur of Aquitaine, but Richard?" Amalric I felt a splitting headache. "He actually concealed his name and ran to the battlefield. Didn't his father teach him how to respect the master and king of this place?" "I don't think he is the kind of good boy who follows the rules," Heraclius replied sarcastically. "A few months ago, he was facing his father on the battlefield.

And from what I've heard, he still hasn't received his father's forgiveness. Henry II is furious. He's already forgiven his two sons who also betrayed him, granting them lands and castles, but he's vowed to punish Richard severely. He probably doesn't even know Richard has fled to us."

"I think Baldwin has probably figured it out."

"He must have discovered it. That's why he must be by Richard's side." In a war like this, the god of death never cares how young, noble, or worthless a person is. His scythe sweeps across the battlefield like cutting wheat, treating everyone equally, even if you wear a crown.

In the siege that lasted for most of the day, many knights and lords had died.

Some were hit by thrown stones, breaking their necks and losing their lives; some were shot in the head by arrows and fell to the ground immediately; some were thrown off their horses and trampled by horses' hooves, wailing as they went to see God.

Just now the king received bad news that a siege tower built by a lord had collapsed.

While Amalric I was making various siege weapons, this lord was not idle either. He suddenly had an idea and drew a blueprint. He paid for it out of his own pocket and asked the craftsmen to build him an extremely sturdy engineering tower. It looked very sturdy indeed. It was surrounded by oak fences and covered with thick cowhide. It was dozens of feet high and more than ten feet wide.

But something went wrong. The siege tower was pushed unsteadily to the city wall by the soldiers. Before the drawbridge could be lowered, it was too heavy and sank into the mud under the city wall. Then it began to tilt. If it fell towards the city wall, it would have been fine. But it didn't. It fell to the other side, and the people below fled in panic.

Beams, pillars, floorboards, leather bags filled with sand, and everything piled inside, all came crashing down like hail, burying everyone inside, including the wisecracking lord, and killing nearly twenty knights.

This ridiculous mistake not only attracted the ridicule of the enemy, but also dampened the morale of his own people. The king was angry but could not say anything, after all, the lord himself was dead.

Then there was a young knight whom he valued and wanted to promote to a higher position. The knight had already learned this news from Amalric I. Perhaps for this reason, he wanted to win a merit as soon as possible. When a siege hammer hammered a gap in the temporary barrier set up outside the city gate, he was extremely excited because he saw the enemy on the other side of the gap.

He shouted loudly, urging the people to widen the crack, but several spears shot out from the crack and pierced his chest, killing him instantly. Not only that, the hateful Saracens even threw hooks from the wall, caught his mail, and hung him on the wall. Then they treated his body cruelly, cutting off his head and putting it in a trebuchet to throw it out of the city, and then they hung his naked body on the wall.

When people saw this situation, they couldn't help but cry out loudly. It was not until a long time later that his body was thrown down. They sewed his head and body together and dressed him in the best clothes. There was still anger and fear on his face, but he was still brave and fearless. The king had decided to bury him on the most sacred slope, and he would ascend to heaven and accompany the saints.

But inevitably, the death of the young knight made the king begin to worry about his own children.

For a long time he could not see or know where he was going - even if there was only a fortress on Laodai Island, it would not be easy to attack it, not to mention there was a wooden bridge, and the Saracens were reinforcing the defenders in the fortress from the wooden bridge and the drawbridge.

The knights fought with the Saracens for a long time before they finally burned the wooden bridge. Then, one after another, people rushed out from inside the fortress to the platform where the drawbridge was suspended. At first, they didn't even know that the prince, Cesar, and "Arthur" of Aquitaine were here, and they were shocked.

Even if we count from the time of Chenshi (9:00 a.m.) to the time of Wuzhong (2:00 p.m.), they had already held their ground and fought for half a day. There was not even enough space on the platform to pile up the corpses, which were thrown directly under the tower or into the river by them or the Saracens. The three young warriors, including two apprentice knights, were already covered in blood and exhausted even though they were deeply blessed by the saint. After being rescued, they fell to the ground and fell into a deep sleep.

----

When Cesar woke up, he found that everything around him was silent. He was so startled that he almost jumped out of the bed, but was immediately held down by a familiar hand.
"teacher?"

Heraclius nodded, struck the flint, and lit the candle.

He had just been treating Cesar, but the problem was that Cesar's injuries were not serious, he was just exhausted - he not only had to protect Baldwin, but also Richard, who might be the son of Henry II... and at the same time he had to fight the Saracens.

One person took on the responsibilities of three people. He was the last one to wake up. Heraclius could not complain about Baldwin, but he could complain about Richard. It was a pity that Richard, this careless guy, might be a little sharp on the battlefield, but away from the battlefield, he was a standard idiot - he could not understand Heraclius' eyes at all.

"Baldwin, and...Arthur?"

"He was here just now..." Heraclius said, and then suddenly showed an extremely bored expression - he heard heavy footsteps, and then the tent was opened, and "Arthur" dragged Baldwin in. They had all bathed and changed clothes. "Arthur" seemed to no longer disguise himself, and was wearing clothes that matched his true identity.

A white silk shirt, a sleeveless scarlet velvet jacket, a gold belt, orange tights and brown deerskin boots. On his chest hung a large gold cross inlaid with rubies, which looked like an openable reliquary.

"I must first apologize, my friend," he said sincerely. "I concealed my name and identity because I would rather go to the battlefield of the holy war as an ordinary soldier. I am Richard. Son of Henry II, King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou, and Duke of Aquitaine, and Queen of England, Duchess of Aquitaine."

"Secondly, I want to thank you for your help and shelter. You saved my life."

"Finally," he asked sincerely, "I have a good marriage proposal. Would you like to try it?"

(End of this chapter)