Chapter 582: A Prophecy Comes True

Rashid.

Adil stood on the city wall, looking at the last team driving out of the city and gradually disappearing, and sighed: "It's time for us to set off."

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

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

It was not the sinister intention of making him bear the responsibility for the defeat as maliciously speculated by some staff.

Because no one wants to lose.

In order to win this battle, Saladin gave him almost all the support he could, and sent most of the elites who could support him, including all the spellcasters of the mage advisory group.

Needless to say, once he wins this battle, his reputation throughout the Ayyubid dynasty, and even the reputation of the Zoroastrian world, will reach a peak - the Zoroastrian world is now too short of a victory.

And don’t forget, his surname is also Ayyub.

Saladin's behavior was not so much a suspicion of him, but more like an act of paving the way for the dynasty he founded to be handed over to his brothers.

"But my brother, how can I afford your trust?"

He looked toward the sea to the northeast.

The endless stream of Saracen fleets are still delivering supplies and troops here. From time to time, conflicts between the Crusader fleet and the Saracen fleet will break out on the outer sea.

He didn't dare to think about the consequences if this battle failed.

The Ayyubid dynasty, which has just been established, will lose its most important and important place. Perhaps they can continue to live in a corner and survive in Damascus for a while, but what will be the final result?

it goes without saying.

Whenever he thought of such horrific consequences, he would toss and turn and be unable to sleep for a long time.

The heavy pressure made him, who had always been steady, worry about gains and losses. Sometimes he would imagine that if he successfully defeated the Crusaders, he would meet his brother with full honors and countless Zoroastrians cheering for him.

But more often than not, what he thought about was the scene that had happened, with corpses lying everywhere, the sacred flag being burned, the sacred land being trampled, and the Crusaders showing off their power, surrounding that radiant figure.

"Lotha."

He chewed the name softly, and the joke he once said "You are destined to be my enemy" has now become a prophecy. Now, the entire Zoroastrian world will be frightened by this name.

"Let us duke it out on the battlefield."

He suddenly raised his head and shouted: "Black Gulam, come with me to fight!"

Under the city, dark-skinned heavy cavalry were seen shouting and setting out in formation.

These black gulams were mostly Nubian cavalry hired by the Fatimid dynasty. After the Fatimid dynasty was overthrown, they were also incorporated into Saladin's army system. At their peak, their number even reached 30,000. many.

After Adil took office as the governor of Egypt, he eliminated the old, weak and disabled among the 30,000 black gulams, leaving only the elites with rich combat experience and strong combat effectiveness as his personal guards.

As for his original imperial guards, they have been dispersed in order to control this large army. As officers, they have penetrated into the army at all levels.

Originally, if he did this, he would definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the nobles, but now the threat of the Demon Duke is like a stick in his throat and a thorn in his back. No matter how unruly the Saracen nobles are, they dare not take the risk of defeat in this battle to drag Adil back. leg.

"It's really ridiculous to think about it. There were originally many factions and powerful locals who refused to obey the rules. My king couldn't make them obey orders, but in the end they were united because of a Frank."

With a sneer on his lips, Adil led the black torrent all the way east.

In the palace in Rashid City.

Shemaier was sitting on a soft cushion on the ground. A dark clay pot on the table vibrated slightly from time to time. This clay pot contained the "ghost dragon" he got from the master alchemist.

The ghost dragon is also a member of the dragon category. It is not the continuation of the dragon after death, but a new individual born from its body, soul, and resentment. Because it has no entity, it can only receive a small In a clay pot.

Sitting opposite him was a handsome-looking young man with bronzed skin.

He bared his upper body and asked lazily: "I don't understand, Shemaier, Mudriji's experience has shown that the enemy has the restraint effect on dark creatures, why do you still spend so much energy cultivating a ghost dragon? "

Schermeyer wrote lightly: "But the easiest thing to get in this world is often the dark power in your mouth."

Just a curse can enable a mortal to master power that even many wizards cannot deal with. The price may be heavy, but is it really so high that even a mortal can afford it?

"The only ones that the enemy really possesses the ability to restrain 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 everything you plan can come true."

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

Shemeier frowned.

In fact, he is quite confident about this battle.

A spellcaster who is prepared for battle in advance and has strong support behind him will be far more powerful than before.

They can improve their combat effectiveness through massive casting materials and massive materials.

Those ruins and treasures that usually require a lot of time to explore can be easily obtained through a sea of ​​​​people searches.

Therefore, during this period of time, his strength has improved rapidly, and not only him, but also the other spell casters who have joined the mage advisory group have also improved rapidly. Some of them, even if he has half a foot in the legendary field Powerful spellcasters will feel frightened.

In addition, Saladin opened the collection of the Library of Alexandria to them without reservation, Shemeier thought that his side's combat power at the extraordinary level should be even stronger than the opponent's.

The man shook his head and said: "I just think that as advanced spellcasters, we have fallen into the inferior category by studying these evil spells. We should use our long lives to explore the mysteries of the world instead of wasting it in secular 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 heart is more unmovable than the polar glaciers."

Timely.

A servant walked in quickly.

"Master, Master Adil has already set off. Would you like to accompany him?"

Schemaier stood up without hesitation and said: "Of course."

Immediately, he never looked at his old friend sitting at the table again.

The man watched Schemaier leave and sighed with some regret: "Shemaier, you must not know that the polar glaciers move with the ocean currents every day. I really can't understand why you guys are like moths to a flame. A person who is thrown into the world."

Aren’t the so-called glory, wealth and personal enjoyment just like floating clouds?

Those materials that secular people can collect for you, can’t we collect them ourselves? What does the extra time we spend count for our long life?

"It's a pity. I originally had another topic that I wanted to invite you to study together. Forget it, let's go find Anna. She is very knowledgeable through the massive collection of books in Constantinople, and she is even better than Shemeier. One chip.”

…

Baron Fulk is riding a camel. This large animal may have the disadvantages of slow speed and insufficient impact when charging into battle, but as a pack animal, it is much stronger than a horse. When traveling long distances, the speed is not good. Will be inferior to horses.

Baron Fulk has almost fallen in love with this big animal.

Ivan rode on a war horse that was obviously shorter than him and walked up to Fulk: "We are going to fight the Franks again. Fulk, you are ready to fight with your former self." ?"

"I've already done this."

Fulk put his hand on his chest and smiled a little bitterly.

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

On the contrary, he often woke up in the middle of the night and prayed to God for forgiveness of 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. Now that I have made a decision, I will not be soft on the battlefield. I am just worried. After all, we have failed once, and you should also know Frank well." People - those Christians really have the Holy Spear, and the Holy Spear really has unparalleled power. The 'Devil Duke' you call can even summon angels to come to the dust. Can we really win?"

"certainly."

Ivan’s tone was very firm, with a sense of ease that should have been there: “Fulk, don’t be too superstitious about the so-called divine favor.

In my hometown, as well as the Cumans and Pechenegs, there are witch doctors who can cast spells. Many of them are so old that their teeth are about to fall out, and they can’t even stand up straight without anyone to support them. "

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

Originally, according to the custom of the Cuman tribesmen, after defeating other tribes, all the adult males were slaughtered. They were useless anyway. They were happy to turn these prisoners of war into treasures and sell them to the Saracens. .

There was a relaxed smile on Ivan's face: "That Lothar is just a younger and stronger wizard. We have the magic-blocking gold and King Saladin's mage advisory group to chop off his head." , he still has to die."

Fulk smiled bitterly and nodded.

Even if Ivan said this, he still subconsciously felt that even if Marquis Lothar, oh no, he was already Duke Lothar, even if his head was chopped off, the next moment there would be a golden light and an angel coming to the dust.

Then, like Jesus, the Duke will rise from the dead, return to the Crusaders, and conquer the heretics.

"Fulk, 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 Lothar's prisoner. However, his immediate superior, Saladin's nephew and former Egyptian governor Takidin, quickly paid for Ivan's death. There were also captured Mamluks who were ransomed.

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

In order to save his life on the battlefield, he killed a noble Crusader noble. There was no way back, so he officially joined Ivan's command and became a Mamluk officer, responsible for training Mamluk Frank-style pistol charges. .

Although the main source of Mamluks is the other side of the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, there is no shortage of Franks. Most of these are the descendants of captured pilgrims, or the populations plundered 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 charge tactics pioneered by the Normans, but also formed many Latin cavalry companies like the Eastern Empire (the Eastern Empire called the Franks Latin people).

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

This also reflects the importance that Ivan places on him. You must know that he is just a Frankish prisoner of war. He is not the kind of Mamluk who has received special closed training since childhood and has a good foundation. Under normal circumstances, it is difficult to get promotion opportunities.

Their mission sent to Egypt by Takidin was to escort an important convoy.

These were transported in large wooden cages. They were all huge beasts that looked like rhinoceroses, but had a mouth full of sharp teeth. The single horn on their head was like a sharp knife extending more than half a meter long.

Although they suffered a disastrous defeat in the last war, it does not mean that the giant beasts are useless in the war.

The impact power that the Crusader knights are proud of is not worth mentioning in front of these giant beasts. Unfortunately, it is too difficult to flexibly control these giant beasts. As long as the Crusader cavalry are not stupid, it is impossible. Hold your lance and confront these giant beasts.

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

Aside from these flaws, transporting these behemoths is the most difficult aspect.

If they want to stay active, they need a huge amount of food every day, so during non-war times, they have to take a sleeping potion to reduce consumption.

"Look at those giant beasts. We are responsible for transporting only one of them. There are even bigger and more giant beasts transported by other legions. Imagine what kind of terrifying power they will explode on the battlefield?"

Ivan held up his riding whip and said confidently: "Counting the civilians and the Ghazi warriors who came from all over the country to support us, we have assembled an army of nearly 100,000 this time. The Crusaders only have less than 30,000, and we still have local fighters. Advantage, this time, we will be able to expel all the heretics from the Holy Land."

"hope so."

Fulk sighed.

He said in his heart, Ivan, you are constantly looking for evidence to convince me that I will win this battle. Doesn’t it just show that you don’t have the confidence in your own mind?

Not so much convincing me.

Rather, the last failure has already given you an invincible intuition about Duke Lothar, right?