I Became The King Of Crusaders [EN]: Chapter 49

Land Lease Crusader (4)

* * *

Theodora was greeted by Ruark and the Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre.

They were all fully armed, escorting the princess.

“I heard you all performed admirably in your first battle. His Imperial Majesty is very pleased with your achievements,” Theodora said with a smile.

“May the Lord’s blessings be upon the Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre.”

“We are only glad to be of service to the Imperial Family. All of us in the Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre are the Emperor’s swords,” Ruark said.

The Guardians of the Holy Sepulchre.

It feels strange thinking about it in Korean.

Holy Sepulchre.

It sounds like a guard protecting a sacred cat.

I wonder if they would be angry if they heard this.

I shook my head.

She passed Ruark and stopped in front of me.

Numerous maids and servants followed behind her.

It was as if a small palace had moved.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, Young Lord,” she said.

“Congratulations on your victory in Cyprus. His Imperial Majesty also asked me to convey his gratitude on his behalf.”

“I only did what I promised His Imperial Majesty,” I replied with a smile.

It was hard to have a conversation because of the citizens’ cheers.

The citizens of Cyprus who came out to greet the princess were cheering loudly.

“I heard you performed another miracle while occupying Cyprus.”

“If everyone calls it a miracle, I suppose I should think of it as a miracle too,” I replied with a smile.

It felt more like a navigation role than a miracle.

My cloak fluttered in the wind.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that the King of Jerusalem has agreed to His Imperial Majesty’s proposal. So, you’ll be staying in Cyprus for a while.”

She smiled…

“Until we go to Jerusalem.”

“….”

I coughed involuntarily.

Hmm, what’s a good thing to say right now…

“I didn’t expect you to bring such a large fleet,” I said, looking at the ships behind her.

There were at least dozens of them in sight.

Did they bring all of that with them?

“I heard that you’ve been gathering various supplies for the past few months,” she said.

“So, I asked His Imperial Majesty before I left. He agreed to let me take as many surplus supplies as I wanted.”

I tried hard to suppress my cough.

Is that *all* supplies?

Dozens of ships.

If they are filled with supplies, that’s an enormous amount.

“So, you brought so many ships.”

What an unexpected gift.

She burst out laughing when she saw my expression.

“Even if I loaded all my clothes and jewelry, I couldn’t fill that many ships.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I said with a smile.

She approached Bult, who was standing next to me.

“This is the horse I saw in Constantinople. Its fur color is still the same.”

Bult neighed and stuck out his tongue.

He leaned his head in as if Theodora was his owner.

Theodora smiled and stroked his head.

“Good boy, good boy.”

It’s the first time I’ve seen him so docile.

I said, “Let’s move to the fortress first.”

She and I each mounted our horses.

Crowds of welcomers were gathered in the city center as well.

Flower petals scattered everywhere as we passed.

“I wasn’t just playing around in the Imperial Palace either. I’ve gathered various information,” Theodora said.

“I heard that Saladin is gathering his army to attack northern Levant [the historical region encompassing present-day Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, and Jordan].”

“Yes, that’s right. He probably left Damascus by now,” I said.

As expected, the Eastern Roman information network is not to be ignored.

“It will still take two or three months to capture the small fortresses and reach Aleppo.”

“Then I suppose your gathering of supplies is related to that. Isn’t it?”

I looked at her without a word.

I felt it in Constantinople, but she always gets to the heart of the matter.

Is this what it takes to survive in the Roman Imperial Palace?

I bet her intrigue and political skills stats are incredibly high.

“Would you mind telling me exactly what plans you have?” Theodora asked with a calm smile.

“I’m very interested.”

“I’ll explain when we get to the fortress.”

“Let’s take our time. After all….”

She said, “We have plenty of time left.”

The cheers of the Cypriot citizens echoed.

Garnier, who was leading the way, came up from behind and whispered, “I’ve been feeling this for a while, but you two seem to get along very well.”

“Anyone would think we’ve already had a wedding,” I said with a sigh.

A fourteen-year-old kid and a twenty-year-old bride.

I wish I was my original age instead.

* * *

Aleppo

Citadel

The castle was crowded with all sorts of people.

Wine pourers.

Tasters.

Clowns and supervisors.

Even poets and judges.

But none of them could soothe Atabek’s heart.

Atabek Masoud shouted, his face red.

“Saladin’s army is marching here! What have you been doing until things have gotten this bad?”

“Saladin has started a war with no justification. This sudden attack….”

“Predicting it is your job! You get paid regularly, but what do you do?!”

Masoud sat down, breathing heavily.

The officials all hung their heads.

Masoud looked at a general and asked, “Sulaiman, tell me. What is the reaction of the citizens of Aleppo right now?”

“There are a few insolent ones, but all the citizens support Atabek.”

“Just a few insolent ones?”

Masoud scoffed.

His large turban shook from side to side.

“There are rumors openly circulating in the streets that I should go to Mosul and do laundry. Are there only a few insolent ones?!”

He shouted.

“My ancestors fought the Franks [a historical term for Western Europeans, particularly the French] directly and obtained these lands. The rights to this land belong only to me!”

“Atabek is right.”

“But now Saladin is trying to take it by force. If this isn’t tyranny, what is it?!”

Masoud shouted nervously.

“The citizens are treating Saladin like some kind of hero.”

“There is no one as disgusting as Saladin, who calls himself Sultan!”

Sulaiman shouted, shaking his fist.

“To disguise his greed as a holy war, a jihad [a religious duty of Muslims to maintain and spread their religion]. Where is such blasphemy?”

He added.

“My army and I are on our lord’s side. So, Atabek, please rest assured.”

“Yes, you’re the only one I can trust. Have you gathered enough supplies to prepare for the siege? What about Hama and Homs?”

“We have issued an evacuation order, but Saladin is advancing so quickly that I don’t know if it will be completed in time….”

The white-bearded chancellor trailed off.

Masoud frowned.

“If the outer cities fall, Saladin will effectively win. Come up with a countermeasure quickly.”

“The King of Jerusalem has made a proposal.”

“You mean the leper king. He’s making a proposal to me?”

“He said he would provide supplies to fight against Saladin. Weapons, food, anything.”

“The Franks are going to provide us with supplies? Is that true?”

Masoud leaned forward.

“Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

“First, we needed to confirm whether their proposal was sincere. I found out….”

The chancellor said, “That Baldwin of Cyprus has been gathering a large amount of supplies for the past few months.”

“Baldwin, you mean the kid who went to Constantinople. He’s been gathering supplies until now.”

Masoud sighed.

“Then he predicted Saladin’s invasion. I was right in front of it, but I didn’t know….”

“It’s just a coincidence,” Sulaiman said.

“Isn’t he just trying to sell it at a high price since a good opportunity has arisen?”

“Yes, those vile Franks won’t give us supplies for free. What do they want?”

“First, 150,000 dinars [a gold coin formerly used in various Arab countries] in exchange for the supply of goods….”

“The price doesn’t matter. Are we in a situation to worry about that?”

Masoud jumped up.

He said with a bright smile, “Send a messenger to Hama and Homs as soon as possible. We will send supplies soon, so no matter what….”

* * *

“Young Lord, your plan is to support Masoud. Send the necessary supplies to Hama and Homs….”

Theodora said.

She tapped the map.

“Meanwhile, the Jerusalem army attacks Saladin’s territory by land and sea.”

“In simple terms, yes,” I nodded.

In the original history, the Kingdom of Jerusalem cannot check Saladin during this period.

The reason was simple.

Because of the chaos in Eastern Rome.

In the original history, Andronikos seized power and the massacre of the Latins occurred, plunging Eastern Rome into chaos.

But the situation is the opposite now.

Alexios’ imperial power was certain, and he had the justification and will to support me.

‘It was worth the hard work in Constantinople.’

Thanks to that, the containment plan could be implemented.

When Saladin moves north, Baldwin IV takes advantage of the gap to attack the Damascus area.

In response, the Roman-Tripoli allied fleet puts pressure on Egypt.

They besiege the port city of Damietta.

“It will be difficult to capture the city,” I said.

The Roman navy is still being reorganized.

“But there will be no problem putting pressure with dozens of ships.”

“If both Egypt and Damascus are in danger, Saladin will have no choice but to turn his army around,” Theodora nodded.

“And if Masoud receives material support, the siege will be even more difficult. But doesn’t this break the peace agreement between the kingdom and Saladin?”

Theodora tilted her head.

“I thought you stopped Lord Reynald in Eilat to keep the peace agreement.”

“That’s right. But the situation is different now,” I said.

Reynald’s massacre of pilgrims was an act with no benefit.

‘Of course, it would have been nice for him to plunder….’

It was a foolish act that drove the unprepared kingdom into war.

But now it’s the opposite.

We were fully prepared.

We can’t just sit still and let this opportunity pass.

“Saladin will create the justification first anyway,” I said.

There’s no way Saladin wouldn’t have thought of this.

He must have prepared a separate response force to check the Jerusalem army.

They would surely plunder farms and villages in the border area.

‘He’s probably trying to draw attention there.’

But we don’t care about that and put pressure on Damascus.

I stared blankly at the map.

Everything was like a well-choreographed dance.

When we move, Saladin moves accordingly.

Conversely, when Saladin moves, we respond.

The side that makes a mistake first loses.

“Did you predict this situation when you came to Constantinople? So, you helped the empire and even Cyprus….”

“Archangel Michael didn’t tell me everything,” I said with a smile, shaking my head.

I knew the future.

‘I can also predict how each camp will react.’

But not everything can fit perfectly.

Flexible planning and improvisation were both important.

I never thought military academy education would be so helpful.

When I return to reality, I should tell them to open a class for game possessors.

“I just had a lot of plans in place.”

“I told you before. No one moves with as much certainty as you do,” Theodora said with a smile.

She pointed to one side of the map.

“It seems like there is still one problem left. To transport supplies from Cyprus here, through the County of Tripoli….”

“We’ll have to cross the territory ruled by Saladin. But we won’t take that risk,” I nodded.

We should avoid the route through southern Tripoli.

It would be a disaster if we were caught by Saladin’s army.

“It could end up helping Saladin. There is a simple way to deliver supplies to Hama and Homs.”

There was another force in the eastern mountains of Tripoli.

A fourth force that did not belong to the Crusaders, Saladin, or Masoud.

I pointed to one side of the map.

The Assassins.

A byword for assassin groups.

“We will use them.”

* * *