The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 51

[John’s Bow (2)]

-1186, Throughout Egypt-

‘Hehehe.’

I barely managed to contain the laughter bubbling up inside me.

My Muslim friends, it’s showtime!

A thrilling sensation coursed through me.

A five-barreled catapult, no less.

I had already decided on its name.

“This is our Crusader’s new weapon, John’s Bow!”

John’s Bow, named after yours truly.

Its original name was ‘Whirlwind Five Cannons,’ but here, it’s reborn as a new siege weapon named John’s ‘Bow’!

‘Since my subordinate made it, it’s only natural that it bears my name, John.’

As the catapult I named John’s Bow began to take shape,

my Muslim friends realized something ominous was happening and started frothing at the mouth, desperately trying to stop it.

“The catapult they’re building is no ordinary one.”

The veteran Islamic commander Safadin was the first to notice.

“We must stop its assembly!”

“If that thing is completed, our walls will fall.”

Perhaps they sensed the dreadfulness of John’s Bow?

Safadin, who had been calmly preparing for a defensive battle while waiting for reinforcements,

started launching fire arrows and mobilizing punishment squads,

doing everything in his power to stop our John’s Bow.

My Muslim friends weren’t blind. This was a truly dangerous siege weapon.

In any case, the Islamic army desperately tried to destroy the new siege weapon, which was gradually taking on a large, magnificent, and bizarre shape.

But what could they do when the assembly was already complete?

“Assembly complete!”

In conclusion, my Muslim friends failed to stop the assembly of John’s Bow.

I raised my sword and declared,

“If you’re ready, fire!”

-Fire at the walls!

“…”

Friedrich the Elder and the Crusaders beside me watched the dawn of a new era in silence.

Soon, the Brothers of Faith, who had become my new mercenary unit,

precisely calculated the angle and fired the five-barreled catapult.

-Thud

-Thud

-Thud

-Thud

-Thud

With a great roar,

John’s Bow moved, and everyone was astonished.

‘It’s even more powerful than I imagined.’

Even I couldn’t help but be amazed.

It was a five-barreled catapult for a reason.

It was huge and incredibly powerful.

“……”

At the spectacular debut of John’s Bow,

the joy and sorrow of the Islamic army inside the fortress and our Crusaders intersected.

“This is the new power I have created.”

“Waaaaaah!”

‘Of course, Evil Bulwhe wouldn’t be able to reproduce the Southern Song Dynasty’s Whirlwind Five Cannons perfectly.’

Of course, it wasn’t a real Whirlwind Five Cannons, and it would be weaker than the original Chinese version.

But that wasn’t the important issue.

Soon, the walls crumbled under the continued attacks of John’s Bow.

Looking at the state of things, it seemed the main force had disappeared.

‘As expected, Safadin has fled.’

As expected, the king of escape, Safadin, was nowhere to be found. He seemed to have fled.

Now, what was left? The surrender process.

“We surrender, we surrender!”

A commander waved a white flag, speaking clumsy Latin.

However,

“They are preparing for a final battle.”

“Indeed.”

None of the Crusaders believed their surrender.

They remained vigilant, each holding their weapons.

Our Islamic friends, whom we fought tirelessly,

were also warriors who lived and died by the sword.

The clear madness flowing in their eyes contained their loyalty, faith, and survival instincts.

A commander with sharper eyes than anyone else

spoke with a displeased look.

“You noticed. We will not surrender.”

As expected, they had no intention of surrendering.

“Attack.”

I said, holding my greatsword.

Because I knew from the start that these people had no intention of surrendering.

Not intending to surrender meant they would fight to the bitter end.

Indeed, isn’t war just a pointless shedding of blood?

**

The commanders of the Khwarazm-Ayyubid Sultanate alliance, bearing the banner of the Sword of Ismail,

guarded the gateway to Egypt.

“John, your achievements have become great, so you won’t be safe. You might end up like John the Baptist.”

John the Baptist, who was beheaded for displeasing King Herod.

The statement meant that he should be careful because he might lose his head.

“Then do you think the Holy Roman Emperor is safe?”

“With you by my side, I am safe, right?”

-Phew.

At that moment, an arrow grazed Emperor Friedrich.

“Your Majesty, you were almost hit by an arrow just now.”

“Hahaha, John, don’t worry. This is not enough to harm me! I have a host of angels guarding me!”

“Long live the Emperor!”

The top figure here was Friedrich I, the Holy Roman Emperor.

Of course, Saladin and his main force were being properly dealt with by the Prince-Electors’ forces.

My goal, as the Safe Zone, was to assist the old man’s desert journey

and secure the path to ‘Egypt’ by destroying the fortress.

I remembered what Richard had said last time.

[What Saladin really values is Egypt, but Saladin will have to stop me first.]

After that, I secured a base to head towards Egypt.

Of course, I also heard some terrible news along the way.

[Guy de Lusignan’s crushing defeat, supply unit annihilated.]

“There’s a limit to incompetence. That damned bastard.”

I was annoyed.

He could have quietly hidden or just stuck to defense.

“Let’s go forward.”

Fighting had become familiar, but there was something else I really didn’t understand.

Why was Friedrich the Elder here?

I asked directly.

“Your Majesty, why aren’t you going where Richard is?”

Why was the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I

sticking by my side, in a minor league battlefield, instead of the major league battlefield where Richard and Baldwin IV were?

“Because you are the safest, John. Because you are here.”

It was an incomprehensible reason.

**

-Syria Front-

“May I order a retreat?”

Baldwin IV asked cautiously.

Baldwin IV was also a branch of the Angevin family

and knew the temperaments of the Angevins well.

“You may do as you wish, Your Majesty. After all, the commander-in-chief of Syria is not the Lord of Jerusalem, is he?”

“So there was a reason why you entrusted Egypt to… John?”

“Haha, John… Lord of Jerusalem, do not worry. Doesn’t the Holy Roman Emperor reside there?”

And the main force of the Crusaders, led by Baldwin IV and Prince Richard, withdrew their troops.

“We are retreating.”

Once again, the Islamic forces, who had been wary of the Crusaders, ordered a retreat.

This time, Saladin was also in great danger.

“Sultan, are you alright?”

Saladin joined forces with the reinforcements sent by Sultan Tekish of Khwarazm

and operated a large force.

However, Saladin, who was endlessly weakened in front of Richard,

had to experience a series of tactical failures in battle.

Moreover, Richard leisurely sent an envoy.

[Saladin, I hope you realize that the Holy Land belongs only to Christians.]

Richard had the 余裕 [yoyu – leeway/room to spare] to ‘warn’ Saladin.

Around that time,

reports came from all over Egypt.

It was John’s unexpected success.

Other Islamic commanders attributed it to the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I,

“John’s Bow… a tremendous siege weapon. Prince John is indeed a dangerous man.”

Saladin surprisingly thought that the most dangerous person was John, the new hero of the Christians.

‘Of course, John is weaker than his brothers.’

Although he lacked the fame of his brothers, who were currently active,

Saladin thought that John, who had tremendous potential, should not be underestimated.

Didn’t John once again present a new siege weapon after converting Chinese slaves and making them commanders?

At that time, another report came in.

Due to Guy de Lusignan and the Christian Second Fleet’s repeated blunders, the Islamic supply lines were relieved.

Saladin read the letter and smiled.

Because he felt that cracks were slowly appearing in the Crusader army.

It wasn’t internal strife,

but a problem caused by incompetent Crusader knights holding key positions due to connections and bloodlines.

‘The weakness of the Crusaders is incompetent knights. However…’

Still, Saladin was not relieved.

‘The old Christian Emperor is the problem.’

Friedrich I, the most dangerous commander.

‘Friedrich I.’

The Christian leader, known as the Red-Bearded Emperor, who made the Holy Roman Empire a true empire.

But this man had been strangely quiet recently.

Of course, he had been active by putting the Prince-Electors forward,

but Friedrich himself had not moved directly, except for mediating the command.

It was questionable.

“Friedrich I’s movements are strange. Don’t you think so too?”

So Saladin turned his gaze and spoke to someone.

“That is correct. He is only giving orders from behind to the Prince-Electors and is not coming forward himself. That is not like him.”

“Anyway, that is not important. I will drag out the war as much as possible, so please inform your lord.”

“Understood.”

“May Allah’s peace be upon you.”

“May Christ’s love be upon you, even though you are a heretic…”

Anyway, Saladin was generous.

**

-Egypt Front, John’s Camp-

News came that some of our Crusader ships had run aground.

The sea supply route had been raided.

Although we hadn’t completely lost the sea control I had worked so hard to establish,

this was not a good sign.

The Sicilian fleet was literally drunk,

The Iberian fleet was too intoxicated with victory.

The most important Genoese fleet was even dragging its feet,

and the Venetian fleet showed the spectacle of scuttling itself while loading more slaves than enemies.

Ha…

The problem was the state of the Iberian and Sicilian fleets, which had the most powerful fleets…

My brothers-in-law operated those two fleets!

‘Was it not simply incompetence that caused them to lose sea control, but was it intentional? It seems they deliberately lost to avoid weakening their own power.’

Rational suspicion began to arise.

King Alfonso VI of Castile.

King Gughielmu II [William II] of Sicily.

I really had to keep an eye on my brothers-in-law!

Around that time, a letter came from my beloved wife Mary in Ireland.

[John, your second and third children have been born. They are twins, a boy and a girl. What should we name them?]

I replied to the letter like this.

[Name the son Charles and the daughter Elizabeth.]

Anyway, my shoulders became heavier after sending the reply.

I was happy that my children had increased again,

but the sense of responsibility also grew.

War is full of variables in many ways.

You always have to be careful because you never know what might happen.

I thought of the battles so far as luck,

but I thought I had to do my part to make that luck valuable.

“Are you nervous, John?”

“Not at all.”

On a large field,

our Crusaders and the Muslims were facing each other.

It was a scene that often appeared in movies set in the Middle Ages.

“As always, I trust you this time.”

“Pardon?”

As I asked back,

Friedrich the Elder said.

“Your match, Safadin, is over there.”

“…”

I couldn’t speak.

A somewhat familiar face was visible in the distance.

The heretic who fought fiercely with me on the sea last time,

‘Safadin.’

He was about my uncle’s age,

but recently, Safadin, who was called my rival, was in front of me.

Just as I was conscious of Safadin in the distance,

I could feel him looking at me with sharp eyes.

There was quite a difference in age, but still.

‘I won last time.’

In the last naval battle,

we had fought once.

But I was not a brave person like my brother Richard,

just a nobleman who tried to get some easy benefits.

If I was careless here,

I was afraid that I would become the disgraceful loser John.

Fear. Overcoming that fear was the first thing to do.

I ordered Godfrey to form the most orthodox battle formation,

and I immediately gave the order.

“Archers, fire your arrows!”

-Phew.

Arrows began to fly from the improved crossbows and longbows.

-Phew.

Of course, arrows also flew from the other side.

After a few skirmishes from afar,

-Heeheehee.

“Advance towards the center of the enemy!”

With my command, the knights began to run across the battlefield.

“As always, we will protect Your Highness.”

“We will drown the heretics in the Jordan River.”

“We will sweep away all the heretics who aim for Your Highness!”

Godfrey, Charles, Robin.

And.

“I will assist my lord.”

Even Evil Bulwhe, who came from the East.

Under the protection of such commanders,

-Heeheehee.

I pulled the reins

and began to sing in a loud voice.

“Long live Henry II, long live England!”

“I, Ala-ad-Din, Prince of the Khwarazm Sultanate, will face the heretic John!”

A young commander shouted in Arabic.

Who is this guy again? If he’s not on Safadin’s level, get out of the way!

Of course, I was never careless as it was a battlefield,

and I properly gripped my sword and faced the enemy.

-Clang.

The exotically 생긴 [saenggin – 생긴 means ‘looking’ or ‘appearing’ in Korean] Islamic commander’s sword was quite fierce,

“Waaaaaah!”

The Islamic commanders poured out all at once,

and a great battle began.

Khwarazm Prince