I Became The King Of Crusaders [EN]: Chapter 150

< 150. Courage in Chaos (5) >

“I know you’re trying to save those prisoners, Baldwin. What I’m saying is…”

Theodora said.

She crossed her arms and walked around the room.

“The stakes are too high. Even if the plan succeeds, the entire intelligence network in Egypt will be shaken.”

She added.

“You’re going to mobilize not only the Kingdom of Jerusalem but also the spies in Constantinople. No one has ever tried this before. We don’t know what the consequences will be.”

“But it’s not too expensive if you consider it the price for the lives of hundreds of knights and soldiers.”

I said.

In fact, Theodora was right.

[Mobilizing all the spies from both the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Constantinople within Egypt to create an opening in the siege and rescue the prisoners is a risky endeavor!]

I would have reacted the same way if I had heard this plan.

But it wasn’t impossible.

‘It was common in Last Crusaders, and there were many similar cases in history.’

One example was the Siege of La Rochelle in France in 1627.

At that time, the Huguenots [French Protestants] of La Rochelle, who were fighting against the royal army, broke the siege with sabotage orchestrated by spies behind enemy lines.

It was still possible.

Anyway, I couldn’t just let the prisoners die.

Even Saladin would not spare those who participated in the rebellion.

‘Then it’s practically the same as me killing them.’

It was me who asked the Assassins to revolt in Egypt.

I hadn’t predicted this situation, but I was partly responsible.

“And even if they are commoner knights and soldiers, they have families in this kingdom.”

I said.

“If they are all executed, it will affect public sentiment.”

“…”

“Our spies alone cannot succeed. But if we receive support from the Eastern Roman Empire, it will be possible.”

With that, I looked at Theodora.

She was contemplating.

Like the Levant, Egypt was once part of the Roman Empire.

Even though Islam is the majority now, the number of Christians was not small.

‘Even if it’s Coptic Christianity, the Eastern Roman Empire has influence.’

Theodora slowly opened her mouth.

“I’ve already left Constantinople. Even if I have some power left, it’s not enough to issue such orders.”

She sighed. A brief silence followed.

“But when I left Constantinople, the Basileus [Byzantine Emperor] told me something.”

“…”

“Just as you fought for the empire in Constantinople, give help whenever the kingdom needs it.”

“Does that mean…”

“Let’s make a plan. The problem is time.”

Theodora said, pointing to the map on the table.

“Saladin is lifting the siege of Kerak and marching to Cairo. Once that army arrives, it’s all over.”

“Lord Balian will be able to hold Saladin back. The knights have already left for Ascalon.”

I said. I had my own plans.

“Recruiting additional troops there…”

“You’re trying to stop Saladin’s advance. You already sent Lord Balian. Did you know I would agree with you?”

Theodora said with a smirk.

I smiled instead of answering.

Pointing to the map, I said.

“Cairo is already in chaos because of the Assassins. Adding a little more fuel to the fire will be enough.”

“What about the Assassins? I heard they raided the treasury in Cairo.”

“The Assassins…”

I looked at the map. They were embezzling the gold and silver in Cairo.

They even brought in black and Frankish prisoners without saying a word to me.

“First, we need to put a surveillance net on them. They wouldn’t have escaped Cairo using the waterways. The risk of being caught in the middle is too great.”

I said. They must be carrying the treasure disguised as several caravan merchants.

“We can find out their approximate location using signal towers. How to deal with them…”

I said.

“Let’s think about it later.”

“Then we have to start right away. Even if we take it easy, we only have about a week left.”

Theodora said, heading towards the door.

She turned around and added.

“The empire won’t give help without a price. Neither will I.”

“The empire already has more than enough gifts, but I don’t know what price you want, Theodora.”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination, Baldwin.”

Theodora waved her hand with a faint smile.

＊＊＊

Five days after Count Guy’s defeat at Hattin.

A fast ship left Acre, cutting through the dark waves.

The fast ship, flying the Venetian flag, arrived at the Egyptian port of Damietta the next morning.

The customs officer, who had received a bribe, granted docking approval without a proper inspection.

The captain and dozens of men who got off the ship headed to the Damietta market.

They met a drunken man with a protruding belly in a tavern.

The captain sat next to him and whispered.

“The Lord Jesus Christ is my strength and shield.”

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

“You’ve worked hard, brother.”

“You came yourself, did something big happen?”

“You’ll see.”

The captain bowed his head and handed the drunkard a papyrus scroll.

The man reading the text widened his eyes and asked.

“You even brought Greek fire [an incendiary weapon that burns on water]? Are you trying to start a war?”

“We need to do that much to attract the attention of the besieging army. And it’s too early to be surprised at that.”

The captain stretched out his finger and pointed to the end of the papyrus.

The man’s face hardened.

“This doesn’t make sense. What does the higher-up think of us? You can’t just order something like this. You need to plan for at least a few weeks, find manpower, and then…”

“The better you do, the more you suffer. You’ve been successful so far, so you’ll be successful this time too, right?”

“…The Lord always tests us.”

The drunkard sighed.

“Okay, I’ll prepare horses for you to go to Cairo. You’ll be able to join the other brothers there.”

The next morning, a caravan of dozens of people left Damietta for Cairo.

Among them were the captain and the drunkard they had met in the tavern the day before.

＊＊＊

“We’ll run out of food soon, Captain. It’s time to consider surrendering…”

“And go back to being those bastards’ laborers?”

Turpin asked.

He turned his head and looked at the fortress walls.

Only Franks were on the half-built walls.

Most of the black people who released them were either dead or had fled.

In fact, they were the only ones defending the fortress now.

“Fighting any further will only lead to a dog’s death. If we stay alive, we’ll have a chance someday, won’t we?”

Turpin’s subordinate said.

“Surely a prisoner exchange will take place soon.”

“If there had been exchange negotiations, we would have been released a long time ago. And even if an exchange does take place, we won’t have a place in the kingdom.”

Turpin said, closing his eyes.

Four years.

It had already been more than four years since he was brought here. He betrayed his brothers.

Instead of dying with them on the battlefield, he chose to live wretchedly.

‘We fight until the last flag falls!’

It was the tacit rule and tradition of all the knights.

But Turpin survived.

And he and other prisoners had been put into the construction of this Cairo fortress for the past few years.

Whips and blatant insults.

Only those who could pay the ransom were released.

No one would pay for commoner knights or soldiers like Turpin.

He endured silently even when his colleagues, exhausted from hard labor and disease, collapsed.

If he endured a little longer, a prisoner exchange would take place and he would have a chance to restore his honor.

‘…’

But that day did not come.

It was not the Franks who released them, but the Nubian blacks who had revolted.

‘If the rebellion succeeds, I will release all of you! I promise on my life!’

Turpin scoffed, recalling the words of the black captain.

They had already all run away.

“Even if we are lucky enough to return to the kingdom, they will treat us as cowards and traitors.”

He said, turning around.

Hundreds of knights and soldiers all looked at him.

“Wouldn’t it be better to kill even one more Saracen bastard here and be martyred?”

“If that’s what the captain wants…”

The rusty spears and swords glittered in the sunlight.

“We will follow you too.”

“How many times have we been whipped by those bastards?! Now it’s our turn to pay them back!”

“Let’s show those cowardly bastards what we’re made of!”

“Even if we get caught again, all we have to do is carry stones, right?”

The fortress walls were filled with laughter and cheers. Turpin smiled at the sight.

“Yes, let’s go out in style.”

At that moment, a commotion was heard from below the fortress.

The shouts of excited soldiers.

“What’s going on?!”

Turpin ran to the top of the wall.

The entire view of Cairo was visible from the wall.

“Something seems to be happening in downtown Cairo. Some of the troops are leaving.”

“They’re reducing the siege force now?”

Turpin muttered.

It didn’t make sense. The Egyptian army had been attacking for the past few days.

Despite the enormous damage each time, they did not reduce their momentum.

“Have the Assassins started assassinating again?”

“Captain! Someone has come to the front gate!”

“Is it the enemy?!”

“No, they say they came to save us. He says he’s…”

The soldier standing on the wall said in a hesitant tone.

“He says he’s from Jerusalem.”

＊＊＊

“They say it’s a cavalry led by Balian of Ibelin. There are no infantry.”

Taqi al-Din said. He removed the piece of cloth covering his mouth and looked at his uncle.

“It seems that the knights from Ascalon have also joined.”

“Isn’t Ascalon the land ruled by Guy?”

Saladin said. He was on horseback and looked around.

A barren desert with nothing.

There were still several days left to reach Cairo.

But suddenly, a Frankish cavalry appeared and attacked them from the rear.

“Then Guy must have won the civil war…”

“Then Balian wouldn’t have led the troops himself.”

Saladin shook his head.

“He’s on Baldwin’s side. Guy wouldn’t have entrusted him with the troops.”

“Are you saying Baldwin won?”

“Yes, probably. Just as I expected.”

Saladin muttered.

“But to end so quickly.”

“But if Baldwin won against Guy, then why…”

“Why are they trying to stop us now? Yes, we need to find out.”

“They may be thinking of taking advantage of the momentum and conquering Egypt.”

Taqi al-Din said in an excited tone.

“They’re trying to hold us back and then swallow the entire Egypt.”

“No, the rebellion is only happening in Cairo right now. The army of Jerusalem cannot conquer the entire Egypt right now. Baldwin himself knows that better than anyone else.”

Saladin said.

“And there’s still time left for their reinforcements to come from Europe. Even if they invade Egypt, they wouldn’t attack us like this.”

“Then that means…”

Silence fell. Taqi al-Din looked at his uncle without saying a word.

“If they’re not trying to conquer Egypt, then they only want one thing.”

Saladin opened his mouth.

“They’re trying to delay me from arriving in Cairo at all costs. So they’re attracting attention with a small number of cavalry.”

He looked down at his nephew and said.

“I’ll leave it to you to deal with those cavalry, Taqi al-Din. I’ll give you a thousand cavalry, so stop them from approaching any further.”

He added.

“You don’t have to fight too seriously. They’ll probably try to buy time while avoiding a head-on confrontation.”

“Then uncle…”