People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 582: One word comes true

Rashid.

Adil stood on the city wall, looking at the last team that was leaving the city and gradually going away, and sighed softly: "It's time for us to set off too."

In this war that determined the rise and fall of the dynasty, Saladin did not go to Egypt in person, but instead gave himself full command of the war.

He knew that this was a manifestation of his brother's trust in him.

Rather than the sinister intention of some aides maliciously speculating that he should bear the blame for the defeat.

Because no one wants to lose.

In order to win this battle, Saladin gave him almost all the support he could, and dispatched most of the elite troops and all the spellcasters of the Mage Advisory Group to support him.

Needless to say, once this battle is won, his reputation throughout the Ayyubid dynasty, and even in the Zoroastrian world, will reach a peak - the Zoroastrian world is now sorely lacking a victory.

And don't forget, his last name is Ayub too.

Saladin's action was not so much a suspicion of him as it was an act of paving the way for handing over the dynasty he founded to his brother.

"But my brother, how can I be worthy of your trust?"

He looked out to the northeast, out to sea.

The endless stream of Saracen fleets continued to transport supplies and troops here, and on the open sea, conflicts between the Crusader fleets and the Saracen fleets would break out from time to time.

He didn't even dare to think about the consequences of failing in this battle.

The Ayyubid dynasty, which had just been established, would lose its most vital territory. Perhaps they could continue to survive in Damascus for a while, but what would be the final result?

it goes without saying.

Whenever he thought of such horrible consequences, he would toss and turn and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

The heavy pressure made him, who had always been steady, become a little anxious. Sometimes he would fantasize about how he would successfully defeat the Crusaders and meet his brother with honor, with countless Zoroastrians cheering for him.

But more often than not, what he was thinking about were still the scenes that had happened: corpses lying everywhere, the holy fire flag being burned, the sacred land being trampled, and the Crusaders showing off their might and surrounding that shining figure.

"Lothar."

He chewed on the name softly. The joke "You are destined to be my enemy" that he had seen before has now come true. Now, the entire Zoroastrian world is terrified by this name.

"Let us fight it out on the battlefield."

He suddenly raised his head and shouted, "Black Guram, follow me to fight!"

Outside the city, heavily armed cavalrymen with dark skin were seen shouting and forming a battle formation.

Most of these Black Ghulams were Nubian cavalry hired during the Fatimid dynasty. After the Fatimid dynasty was overthrown, they were incorporated into Saladin's own military system. At their peak, their number even reached as many as 30,000.

After Adil took office as the Governor-General of Egypt, he eliminated the old, weak and disabled among the 30,000 black gullams, leaving only the elite ones with rich combat experience and strong fighting ability as his personal guards.

As for his original guards, in order to control this large army, they had been disbanded, and as an officer, they had penetrated into the army at all levels.

Originally, if he did this, he would definitely cause dissatisfaction among the nobles, but now the threat from the Demon Duke is like a thorn in his side, and no matter how rebellious the Saracen nobles are, they dare not risk defeat in this battle and hold Adil back.

"It's really funny when you think about it. There were many factions and local tyrants who refused to obey the king. In the end, they were united because of a Frank."

With a sneer on his face, Adil led the black torrent all the way eastward.

In the palace of Rashid City.

Shemaier was sitting on a cushion on the ground. There was a black pottery jar on the table, which made slight vibrations from time to time. The jar contained the "ghost dragon" he got from the master alchemist.

The ghost dragon is also a member of the dragon family. It is not the continuation of the giant dragon after its death, but a new individual born from its body, soul, and resentment. Because it has no entity, it can be received in a small pottery jar.

Sitting opposite was a handsome young man with bronze skin.

He bared his upper body and asked lazily, "I don't understand, Shemaier. Mudrigi's experience has already shown that the enemy has a restraining effect on dark creatures. Why do you still spend so much energy to cultivate a ghost dragon?"

Shemaier said lightly: "But the easiest thing to get in this world is often what you call the dark power."

All it takes is a curse for a mortal to possess power that even many wizards cannot deal with. The price may be heavy, but if even mortals can afford such a price, is it really that high?
"The only enemies who can control the power of darkness are Duke Lothar and the female angel under him. This ghost dragon can be used to deal with others."

The man smiled noncommittally: "I hope all your plans will come true."

"You don't seem optimistic about the prospects of this battle?"

Shemer frowned.

In fact, he is quite confident about this battle.

A spellcaster who is prepared for battle in advance and has a powerful force behind him will be much stronger than before.

They can improve their combat effectiveness through massive amounts of spell materials and materials.

Those relics and treasures that usually require a lot of time to explore can now be easily obtained through searching in large numbers.

Therefore, during this period of time, his strength has improved rapidly. And not only him, but also the other spellcasters who have joined the Mage Advisory Group have also seen their strength increase rapidly. Some of these spellcasters are so powerful that even he, a powerful spellcaster with one foot in the legendary realm, feels frightened.

In addition, Saladin opened the books of the Library of Alexandria to them without reservation. Shemail thought that his side's combat power at the extraordinary level should be much stronger than that of the enemy.

The man shook his head and said, "I just think that as high-level spellcasters, we are already inferior to others if we delve into these evil spells. We should use our long lives to explore the mysteries of the world instead of wasting them in worldly wars."

Shemaier smiled bitterly and said, "Forget it, my friend. Since you are unwilling to help, there is no need to persuade an old man who has lost his best friend. My feelings are more unshakable than the glaciers in the polar regions."

Timely.

A servant walked in quickly.

"Master, Lord Adil has already set off. Do you want to go with him?"

Shemaier stood up without hesitation and said, "Of course."

Then, he didn't even look at his old friend sitting at the table.

The man watched Shemaier leave and sighed with some regret: "Shemaier, you must not know that the polar glaciers are moving with the ocean currents every day. I really can't understand people like you who throw yourself into the secular world like moths to a flame."

The so-called wealth, glory and personal enjoyment, aren’t they just like floating clouds?

Can't we collect materials ourselves if secular people can collect them for us? What does the extra time we spend count for our long life?

"What a pity! I originally wanted to invite you to study a topic together. Forget it, let's go find Anna. She has a huge collection of books in Constantinople and is very knowledgeable. She is even more knowledgeable than Shemer."

...

Baron Fulk rode on a camel. This large animal might have the disadvantages of being slow and lacking impact when charging, but as a pack animal, it was much stronger than a horse, and its speed was not inferior to that of a horse when traveling long distances.

Baron Fulk was almost falling in love with this big beast.

Ivan rode on a warhorse that was obviously shorter than him and walked up to Fulk. "We are going to fight the Franks again, Fulk. Are you ready to fight against your former comrades?"

"I've already done that."

Fulk put his hand on his chest, his smile a little bitter.

He had taken the oath of Zoroastrianism, but as a convert he did not display the same enthusiasm as others.

On the contrary, he often woke up in the middle of the night and prayed to God to forgive his sins.

Ivan teased, "But your performance that time was not very good. I almost lost my life trying to save you."

Fulk smiled bitterly and said, "Ivan, you know me well. Now that I have made the decision, I will not show mercy on the battlefield. I am just worried. After all, we have already failed once. You should also know the Franks very well. Those Christians really have the Holy Lance, and the Holy Lance really has unparalleled power. The 'Devil Duke' you mentioned can even summon angels to the earth. Can we really win?"

"of course."

Ivan's tone was firm, with a sense of relief that should have come from it: "Fulke, don't be too superstitious about the so-called divine favor.

In my hometown, among the Cumans and Pechenegs, there are witch doctors who can cast spells. Many of them are so old that their teeth are almost falling out, and they can't even stand up straight without someone to help them. "

Ivan's parents were Slavic slaves captured by the Cumans, and they were also an important source of Mamluk slaves in the Saracen army.

According to the custom of the Cuman tribesmen, after defeating other tribes, they would slaughter all the adult males. Since they were useless anyway, they were happy to turn these prisoners of war into treasure and sell them to the Saracens.

Ivan had a relaxed smile on his face. "That Lothar is just a younger and stronger wizard. We have the magic-blocking gold and King Saladin's wizard advisory group. Even if we chop off his head, he will still die."

Fulk smiled wryly and nodded.

Even though Ivan said so, he still subconsciously felt that even if Marquis Lothar, oh no, now he is Duke Lothar, even if his head was chopped off, there would be golden light and angels would appear in the next moment.

Then, the Duke will be resurrected from the dead like Jesus, and will take charge of the Crusades again to fight against the pagans.

"Fulke, we lost once, but believe me, we won't lose again this time."

Ivan said firmly.

In the last battle, Ivan and Fulk were defeated and captured and became prisoners of Lothar, but his immediate superior, Saladin's nephew and former Governor of Egypt, Takieddin, quickly paid to redeem Ivan and the captured Mamluks.

Among them was Fulk, the unfortunate man who was forced to join the Saracens.

In order to save his own life, he killed a distinguished Crusader noble on the battlefield. Since he had no way back, he simply joined Ivan's army and became a Mamluk officer, responsible for training the Mamluks in Frankish-style lance charge.

Although the main source of the Mamluks was across the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, there was no shortage of Franks, most of whom were descendants of captured pilgrims or people abducted by North African pirates from the Apennine coast and southern Gaul.

After the Franks defeated the Saracen army many times, the Saracens not only imitated the lance charge tactics first developed by the Normans, but also formed many Latin cavalry companies like the Eastern Empire (the Eastern Empire called the Franks Latins).

Now Fulk was the commander of such a Frankish cavalry company.

This also reflects Ivan's high regard for him. You know, he was just a Frank prisoner of war, not a genuine Mamluk who had undergone special closed training since childhood. Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for him to get a chance for promotion.

Their mission in being sent to Egypt by Takieddin was to escort an important convoy.

These were transported in large wooden cages and were huge beasts that resembled rhinos, but had a mouth full of sharp teeth. The single horn on their heads was like a sharp knife extending more than half a meter long.

Although they suffered a crushing defeat in the last war, it does not mean that the behemoths are useless in war.

The impact force that the Crusader Knights were proud of was nothing in front of these behemoths. Unfortunately, it was too difficult to control these behemoths flexibly. As long as the Crusader cavalry were not stupid, it would be impossible for them to charge against these behemoths with lances.

But even if it can only be used to attack the enemy's infantry phalanx, it is enough. The main responsibility of the attacking cavalry is not to fight against the enemy's cavalry.

In addition to these defects, the transportation of these behemoths is the most difficult part.

In order to maintain their activities, they need a huge amount of food every day, so in non-war times, they have to take a sleeping potion to reduce their consumption.

"Look at those behemoths. We are only responsible for transporting one of them. There are even bigger and more behemoths transported by the rest of the legions. Imagine the terrifying power they will unleash on the battlefield."

Ivan raised his whip and said confidently, "Including the civilians and the Ghazi warriors who came to support us from all over the country, we have assembled nearly 100,000 troops this time. The Crusaders only have less than 30,000. We also have the advantage of fighting on our own land. This time, we will definitely be able to drive all the pagans out of the Holy Land."

"hope so."

Fulk sighed softly.

I thought to myself, Ivan, you keep trying to find evidence to convince me that we will win this battle, doesn't this just prove that you yourself are unsure?

It's not so much convincing me.

Rather, the last failure has already given you a gut feeling that Duke Lothar is invincible, right?

(End of this chapter)