Chapter 70 The Great Murder

When Emperor Norman and the huge number of Crusaders marched towards the battlefield at a relatively fast speed, Saladin finally made up his mind.

"Let's go on a larger battle... Although the situation is not good for us, this is probably the best solution to the problem." Saladin was like this, and he didn't know whether he was talking to himself or someone, but Zhao Haier wanted to speak but stopped talking. In the end, he closed his mouth and said nothing.

Under Saladin's order, four gates of Jerusalem opened. A large number of Arab troops emerged one after another. Among them were more Mamluk heavy cavalry and Mamluk archers; more Gulam heavy cavalry and heavy Sibien archers equipped with heavy armor and compound bows. In addition, there were a large number of Arab light cavalry, from Numidia, equipped with light leather armor, or simply upper body, holding javelin shields, and scimitars, employed heavy cavalry from Armenia wearing chain armor, helmets, maces and round shields, desert light cavalry from desert tribes without armor, holding spears, scimitars and other light weapons, as well as camel cavalry with the same dress and equipment.

What is more conspicuous here is a group of troops who came to participate in the jihad from farther Middle East and Persia. The warriors who were originally under Timur Khan gave up their original territory and migrated westward after being defeated by Mongolia in succession. Many of them joined the jihad for the sake of their chance--of course, of course, also for their beliefs. The heavy cavalry among them also used Oriental-style scale armor, armor and spear scimitars. These are not surprising. However, their light cavalry sequence is very different from the desert nations, showing the freedom and unrestrainedness of the Central Asian nomadic peoples--compound bows, scimitars, and the fur clothing of the grassland nations (this hurt them in desert battles). They looked closer to the grassland cavalry participating in the crusades. Therefore, they were vaguely hostile to many people.

The cavalry units of such a large number of regular and informal troops ranged from about 18,000 to 20,000. The number is similar to that of the Crusader cavalry. However, the equipment is slightly worse--the scale armor and armor equipped by regular heavy cavalry are heavier than the Western-style heavy chain armor and plate-chain composite armor, but their defense is slightly worse. The Mamluk cavalry equipped with spears is not as impact as that of Western European knights holding heavy cavalry. However, a large number of equipment is more suitable for chopping and slashing maces, and the Eastern cavalry with better armor-breaking ability, but melee hand-to-hand combat is stronger than that of the Crusader cavalry.

Following these mixed cavalry were the elite heavy infantry under Saladin. The Egyptian Imperial Guards holding big axes in both hands, wearing heavy scale armor and armor. These soldiers were extremely elite assault infantry. Although they were not as good as Norman Assault Infantry wearing composite armor of plate chains and metallurgical improved tomahawks in terms of equipment. However, compared with the two-handed swordsmen of other continental countries, the halberd soldiers were more powerful and disciplined. A total of 5,000 Imperial Guards were the strongest infantry armed forces under Saladin.

In addition, the only two regular infantry sequences under Saladin were 20,000 armored spearmen equipped with scales, armor, shields and spears. These soldiers tried their best to learn the tactics of the Roman Empire in combat. They were the backbone of the infantry sequences under Saladin. The front formed by shield spearmen is often the most solid in Egypt.

It’s just a pity that Egypt, even the entire Arab, and the entire Islamic world have always paid attention to the development of cavalry. They even took the lead in organizing heavily armored cavalry. However, in terms of infantry, the Islamic world is now lacking in quality. Saladin has only more than 20,000 regular army armed forces. The rest are temporary recruitment of soldiers from various emir territories, tribes and cities, as well as spontaneous jihadist forces.

The soldiers from the wealthy Emir territory, or the wealthy militia from the Saladin city, were slightly better. Most of them were equipped with bare arms and could not protect the lower body of the chain armor shirts, or the crotch armor style of the thigh armor, and were even more leather armor. In addition, most were equipped with helmets. This was due to the wealthy economy and developed agriculture of the Mesopotamia, as well as the Nile River Basin. Their weapons were spears and shields, which were the most common and simplest equipment.

However, the infantrymen from various tribes were not so lucky. Apart from a few commanders with armor, the others were usually wearing a burqa of the desert ethnic tradition. Their discipline and training level were worse than those from the infantrymen from the city. The only relief is that these people are usually very capable of fighting - the bravery bred by the cruel desert environment makes them stronger than the urban people who grow in better environments.

In addition to these main troops, the rest are jihad troops that can be regarded as extravagant. In the previous wars, most organized jihad troops had been ordered by the Norman Emperor and turned into zombies on the cross. The remaining small number of defeated soldiers also looked depressed and their morale was low. It seemed that they could collapse again at any time.

In this way, after Saladin's order, the outermost defenders in the entire Jerusalem, about 70,000 troops, which accounted for about one-quarter of the total Saladin's army, immediately rushed out of the city as quickly as possible and advanced towards the battlefield. The remaining troops immediately organized, ready to wait for Saladin's orders to come for reinforcements.

In this way, by accident, Saladin's move to boost morale made the decisive battle between the Crusaders and the Muslims staged in advance.

At that time, at around 1:00 p.m. When the cavalry of the Norman Empire had completely taken advantage, the reinforcements of both sides entered the battlefield one after another, making the entire front wider--the dunes, flat ground, Gobi Desert... The soldiers from both sides almost filled these places. And it was increasing continuously--there was no shouting, single-handed or other brainless actions on both sides. As soon as they contacted, a terrifying battle broke out. Inspired by faith and honor, the vast majority of Christians and Muslims fought for the first place and sprinkled blood on the battlefield!

"Bow and arrow! Bow and arrow cover! Take that position! Soldiers, attack, destroy them and destroy!!!"

Because the sound of the horn could no longer command the battle, Egil shouted at this moment, and the guard knights around him also began to serve as messengers to convey Egil's orders--However, Egil could not control the overall situation at this moment in such a chaotic battlefield. The two kings of Burgundy and France had already served as deputy commanders on both wings. Of course, after learning from the lessons of the last, the second Battle of Budapest, Egil was particularly concerned about Philip, who was the commander of the left wing, hoping that he would not make any mistakes. But vaguely, Egil wanted this guy to make something so that he could kill him in the name of God.

Under Egil's order, a large number of Norman longbowmen arranged on the second line and archers from other regions began to shoot - of course, they would inevitably shoot their own people - but they couldn't care about so much at this moment - under the cover of bows and arrows, the Norman assault infantry holding two-handed battle axe opened the way, and together with the assault infantry from other countries, pushed the Norman Knights on the front, and then fought a bloody path among the Mamluk heavy cavalry. After losing mobility, on the chaotic battlefield, these heavy cavalry had no chance of winning when facing the heavy infantry holding long axes and halberds. Soon, the soldiers occupied the highlands that Egil said. Under the escort of a group of super-split infantry, more longbowmen, crossbowmen and archers also advanced towards the dune highland on the front. Then a large number of arrows poured over the other's heads.

"Take back there!" Seeing that under the suppression of firepower of the Crusaders, the Arabs suffered heavy losses, and on the Arabs, several Arab officers on the front line discovered the bad news, so they shouted, leading the Egyptian Imperial Guards, some Mamluk heavy cavalry who had lost their war horses, and a small number of Guram cavalry attacked the dune positions.

At this moment, Alpha, who was deeply trapped in the enemy formation and even thought he was about to die here, was so energetic that he was so energetic that his reinforcements arrived. However, the Knight Captain looked at him, but he could not see his own people, so he knew that it was impossible to do anything, so he turned his horse and broke back. When Alpha rushed to Saladin, the Kasagi Guard was naturally everyone who fought desperately, but when he was about to break out, no one wanted to stand in front of this evil god--the 500 Kasagi Guard killed at least eighty of him. In addition to other Mamluk heavy cavalry, Arab light cavalry, Alpha killed at least two hundred Arabs in this battle! It is worthy of the name of the strongest knights in the empire!

At this moment, on the front battlefield, the Crusaders gained some advantages because of Egil's command. However, in the left-wing battlefield, the situation was still stalemate--French King Philip was not as proficient in n languages ​​as Egil, and even commanded it was difficult when facing such a chaotic army. The soldiers from Italy were better--they understood French and Latin more. The German troops, which were more illiterate and more severely irritable, and Eastern European troops were not able to do so. Although the soldiers of the Norman army could understand his poor Norman language, they did not take his orders seriously. They were so angry that Philip jumped straight. In short, the only thing he could command was less than a thousand French soldiers gathered by him...
Chapter completed!