People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 486 Night Attack
The battle across the river was lackluster.

Governor Ibn Damietta did not seem to have deployed his main force along the river defense line. The vanguard team led by Hans successfully built a tower without even encountering a few large-scale resistance after crossing the river. Outpost camp.

Most of the soldiers in the heavy infantry company took off their armor and started doing civil engineering work in full swing.

Hans wielded a sledgehammer and drove a wooden stake into the mud to carry out preliminary work for building a pontoon bridge.

Later, they would connect the collected ships with ropes and lay wooden planks on them to allow the army to pass.

"It seems that even if it gets dark, at most only half of the people will be able to successfully cross the river."

Listening to the sound of rushing water in his ears, Hans looked a little heavy.

The Nile River is now in its flood season, and even as a tributary, the water flow is astonishingly large.

The number of ships collected by the army on the other side is too small. Even if they are all used, they can only build three pontoon bridges at most.

"I heard from some Coptic soldiers who surrendered that if it had been two months earlier, at the beginning of autumn, the river would have been more rapid and even overflowed. At that time, the river would be truly dangerous."

He picked up another handful of black soil and said, "Your Excellency said that as long as 'Lower Egypt' is removed, the land here can feed everyone in Germania."

Chelinina just listened silently and did not speak back.

Upper Egypt (Nile Valley) and Lower Egypt (Nile Delta) are the most elite areas of Egypt and the most densely populated.

When she was at Fort Freima on the other side, she could see the rows of villages on the other side. The population density was far more dense than that of Hebron and the territory of Transjordan.

She was thinking, if these people are on the opposite side of the adults, how should he deal with them?

(ps: During this period, it is generally believed that the population of Egypt was nearly 1000 million. As for why the population of Egypt under Ottoman rule declined instead of increasing, the reason was not only the continuous military disasters, but also the desertification of the land)

...

By noon, the pontoon bridge was completed.

Lothar also crossed the river.

Even if the eclipse steps on the rickety pontoon, it still feels like walking on flat ground.

He rode the eclipse of the sun and patrolled back and forth from around the simple camp like a gust of wind: "Be on guard, Governor Ibn of Saracen will not let us cross the river so easily. Today, we will have a big battle."

Lothar raised his head, and in the clouds, the figure of a falcon quickly disappeared.

The territory of Governor Ibn of Damietta alone is estimated to have a population of several million and 10.

At this point, he didn't believe that Governor Iben had no mobile power except the more than 1 reinforcements sent to the other side. No matter how useless and coward Iben was, he couldn't just watch and wait for their entire army. Cross the river and have some time to prepare siege equipment.

This is exactly what Lothar wants.

Siege is no simple matter.

No one thought that Lothar could capture Egypt in a month or two.

It is common practice in this era to take half a year, or even longer, to conquer one or two big cities.

During the First Eastern Expedition, [-] elite Crusaders besieged Antioch and fought for more than half a year. They barely won the victory due to the cooperation of traitors in the defenders.

Although this is related to Antioch's strong city defense, it also illustrates the difficulty of siege warfare from the side.

It is precisely because of this that European monarchs felt that they had an opportunity.

Lothar did not want to fight a brutal siege. He hoped that the enemy would take the initiative to send the main force in front of him, and then let himself devour them in a field battle.

Hans rode over, pointed at the prisoners held in the camp and asked: "What to do with these prisoners? Among them, there are Copts and Saracens, some believe in Copticism, and some even believe in Isis. Horus, the old gods.”

"Those Saracens did not prohibit this behavior. Some scholars even believed that these old gods were saints of Zoroastrianism. Some Saracen nobles also believed in some old Egyptian gods to a greater or lesser extent, and even had old gods in their possession. statue of the god."

Lothar frowned.

It seems that the integration of Arabs into Egypt has no effect at all. Most ethnic groups that have been mixed for a long time will have a tendency to gradually integrate.

In this case, if he were to follow the blanket approach to paganism in his territory, it seemed likely to arouse quite a bit of resistance.

But in his plan, he did not intend to do anything wrong with the temples and altars of Zoroastrianism. Priests have always been big money-makers.

He thought for a while and said: "Let's keep it as it is. Those who are willing to leave, strip off their armor and let them go. Those who have done a lot of evil and have a bad reputation will be executed after a public trial. Those Copts who are willing to join the Crusade, let them join." ." He paused and then added: "Establish a separate army and try not to let them suffer too much damage."

This is not the kindness of a woman.

He was no robber, but a new conqueror.

You can't just show your iron fist to this land.

...

It's getting late.

The Crusaders' process of crossing the river had also stopped long ago.

As the night deepened, the noise in the Crusader camp gradually became inaudible.

"Lord Governor, it's getting late. The Frankish barbarians have been busy all day. It must be the time when people and horses are exhausted. Moreover, the scouts have observed that there are only 5000 people crossing the river now. The enemy cannot look at each other from head to tail. It is us who are attacking Great opportunity."

Governor Ibn stood condescendingly on a border tower and carefully observed the enemy's camp.

He still hesitated: "But the camps of these Franks are in order, and I heard that the enemy's Prince Lothar once led an army to attack King Saladin's camp at night, so they should be prepared."

"My Lord Governor, this is the best time. If we delay it any longer, we will only have to defend Damietta when all the Franks come across the river."

Nowadays, even the most arrogant Saracen generals do not expect to defeat the Crusaders in one fell swoop in a field battle.

This is something that even King Saladin can't do, let alone their small local governor.

"The secret medicine you asked for from the imam is definitely effective, right?"

Governor Ibn held the reins tightly.

He was very nervous. If he could really defeat the enemy's army crossing the river in one fell swoop, or even capture Prince Lothar, his reputation in the entire Saracen world would quickly rise to an extremely terrifying level.

But if he fails, he will completely destroy his last main force. By then, even Damietta, his base camp, may not be able to hold it.

"It has been tested and it is confirmed to be effective. As long as it is put into a water tank, every soldier will be able to temporarily gain night vision after drinking it. Those pagans will never imagine that we have this secret medicine."

Iben nodded.

The imam he spoke of was not a Zoroastrian priest, but a priest who still believed in the old god Horus. He usually lived in seclusion, and even King Saladin failed to invite him to come out.

Therefore, the enemy would never expect that they have the ability to see at night.

In this battle, the advantage is huge.

"Then go out. Senmut, get the head of the Frankish prince. I will report all your achievements to King Saladin without any compromise!"

The general known as Senmut immediately held his chest solemnly and said: "I swear in the name of the holy fire that I will fight with all my strength in this battle until death!"

"The holy fire burns forever!"

"Highest and greatest!"

In the darkness, ghostly figures, riding war horses and dromedary camels, tried their best to cover up their movements and headed towards the Crusaders' camp.

But before he got close, he heard a sharp whistle, and then a copper bell was rung.

Rockets flew over their heads, illuminating the figures approaching at night.

"The Franks were already prepared!"

Senmut was shocked.

But at this time, the arrow was on the string and had to be fired. Even if the enemy was prepared, they had the huge advantage of being outnumbered and having night vision. The balance of victory still favored them.

"Come on, kill the Frankish chief, and be named the first Faris in Egypt, and be rewarded with thousands of gold!"

Senmut roared loudly, wearing silver-white scales, his legs clamped tightly on his mount, and he took the lead with his personal guards at the front.

(End of this chapter)