Eagle Byzantium

Soon, the Norman army and the Gemmage brigade in front of Herod's Tower also rushed to attack.

Tancred was the first to take action. While he was still drinking his horse in front of St. Stephen's Monastery, two Turkic beys slipped out from the wall of Herod's Tower and were brought to him. The two beys begged for their lives and Willing to open the city gate to the Norman young general so that he can be the first to seize the temple.

"Blow the trumpet and charge!" Tancred did not hesitate. After making a promise to protect the lives of the two traitors, he asked them to lead the way: Enter through the gate of Herod's Tower, which is the traditional "Jerusalem" "Upper City", pass there diagonally, and then break through the old wall of the Holy City, you can capture the palace area of ​​the Holy City from the side and behind, which is the so-called Temple Mount.

Six thousand Norman troops, led by about 300 well-armored knights and sergeants, rode forward on horseback, followed by servants of light cavalry and infantry of various races, and captured the left half of the wall of Herod's Tower like a tornado - and then, Four thousand Ghemakis soldiers (the rest remained in the garrison of Beirut and Jubail) also raised their flags and captured the other half of the city wall.

Soon, the St. George flag and the Silver Spike flag continued to rush along the upper city where the fireworks were ablaze. Tancred kept charging towards the old wall inside the Holy City, but many Normans followed but "lost" it, because When they saw a beautiful house along the way, they went in with their swords and killed the owner who was hiding in the house, killed the men and stabbed the women to death. They would pick up the wailing children and babies by their feet and tear them in half, or throw them against the walls and door frames and smash them into pieces. Then the Normans would stand in the middle of the courtyard with bloody swords and attack the trembling children. The servants of the house said, "Now you, together with the furniture, the grain, the wine, the silk clothes, and the money of this house, all belong to my new master."

On the battle line beyond the Tower of David, the Franks were also holding axes and spears, chasing and killing any heretics. However, in the end they were impatient to identify each other, as long as they saw strangers, no matter they were Saracens, Maronites, or some other ethnic group, they were all hacked to death in the streets and houses.

Corpses covered the streets, and the residents of the lower city beyond the Tower of David were wiped out in a short time. The remaining people led camels and donkeys, carried wives and sons on their backs, and swarmed towards them, crying and shouting. Escape to the only place you can count on: the Temple Mount.

Godfrey, Baldwin, Robert and other lords walked from the captured towers to the streets piled with corpses. They stood there, trembling, looking up at the towering towers, city walls, and the blue sky. , and there was smoke floating by. It felt like the whole sky was spinning, and people's shouts were echoing everywhere.

"The Holy City is in our hands. We are the true sons of Jesus, and now we have finally liberated this city from the hands of the evil illegitimate son." Godfrey looked up to the sky and let out a sigh, and then, like a demon, he thudded Kneeling on the bloody ground, he kept crossing himself and praying to the sky.

The surrounding lords kept asking what to do.

But Godfrey didn't answer, so everyone asked Baldwin again.

"Follow me, everyone. We will follow this street and capture the old wall and the temple over there." After some thought, Baldwin immediately put on his turban again, got on his horse and unsheathed his sword, and then countless Frank soldiers shouted Then, waving various weapons and flags, they followed Count Adana like a furious wave and headed towards the Temple Mount.

The Temple Mount, in fact, in the time of King Herod, was located exactly in the middle of Jerusalem. To the north is the New City, and to the south are the Upper City and Lower City. There is also the so-called Old Wall in between, and there are two walls beyond it ( Upper City and Lower City) and the Three Walls (New City); until later during the Roman Empire, until the Crescent Church conquered and ruled, Jerusalem The regulations of Lengcheng have undergone great changes. The upper city and lower city have gradually shrunk a lot. Gradually, only the two core areas of Herod's Tower and the Tower of David are left, while the new city is facing the west and northwest. It expanded a lot, so that the originally spindle-shaped city gradually became a loaf-shaped city - and the Temple Mount also changed from its original mid-section position to its southeastern position.

As for the temple itself, it is what pilgrims in this era call "Solomon's Temple" or "King's Palace", but in fact it has nothing to do with Solomon at this time - the first temple built by Solomon, which contains The treasure of the entire Jewish kingdom and the holiest place for the priests, it was later razed to the ground by the Neo-Babylonians; after the restoration of the Jewish state, King Herod restored the temple on its original site, which is commonly known as Second Saint However, a huge war broke out between the Roman Empire and the Jewish rebels, and the Second Temple was completely destroyed by the Roman general Vespasian (only a few protective walls were left, including the famous Wailing Wall). The kingdom fell again, and its subjects fled around the world. The conqueror Romans built a Temple of Jupiter on it; then after the Crescent Army conquered it, they built the famous "Dome of the Rock Mosque" and "Dome of the Rock Mosque" on the Temple Mount. Al Aqsa Mosque.

Therefore, the current Temple Mount actually contains two mosques...

However, the golden tower of the mosque still makes it the most eye-catching target.

Now Tancred was also advancing there, and so was Baldwin, with two groups of troops, one on the left and one on the right.

As for Gregor, he led the Gemmage Brigade through the gate of the old wall and rushed to the area of ​​King David's Palace. He did not kill or loot too much along the way, nor did he fight with Tancred. We drove away from the Temple Mount and came to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of Jesus in the northwest corner of the city.

The Cathedral of the Holy Sepulcher houses the tomb of Jesus. Of course, it was just an open space at first. After Jesus died, a simple Jewish-style cemetery cave was dug here, with a sign erected on it. Ironically, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, he built a temple dedicated to Venus, the goddess of beauty, on the tomb of Jesus, allowing the goddess of beauty to accompany Jesus for a long time. By the time of Emperor Constantine, Helena, whose mother was also the craziest "archaeological queen" in ancient times, excavated Jesus' tomb and cross. Later, the cross was called the "True Cross", and then Helena placed it on the tomb. Three interconnected Christian churches were built, the most famous of which is the circular "Resurrection Hall". In the central core position under the dome, there is a "tomb chamber", below which is the tomb of Jesus. ...

When Gregor carried the Silver Spike Flag to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the entire square in front was filled with begging city residents, and their cries were loud.

An old man wearing a simple hat and a cassock walked through the crowd, came to Gregor's horse, and looked at him, "I am Gerald, the director of the Holy Sepulcher Hospital, the Lord's Servant. General, I beg you to stop killing, no matter what the other person’s beliefs are.”

After Gregor learned the identity of the other party, he quickly dismounted and placed the sword in Gerald's palm. "I am the general of the great patron. Please allow my brigade team to protect the entire church and All people taking refuge.” (To be continued~^~)