People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 871: All parties are shocked and angry

Chapter 871: All parties are shocked and angry

Syria, Homs front, Crusader camp.

The three giants of the Military Council held another internal meeting.

The key to the issue was how the Northern Crusaders should treat the Germanic Crusaders who had landed in Tripoli and their leader, Emperor Henry's representative "Leopold of Austria".

"Leopold of Babenberg? How many men did he bring with him?"

Richard was somewhat disdainful. Babenberg was a relatively prominent noble family and had some kinship with Philip's Capet family. They were both branches of the Robert family, but this status was not enough in front of him and Philip.

"Forget it, it's not important. With all due respect, there are three voices in the Military Council, and that's enough. I don't want another one added."

Raymond naturally thought so in his heart, but he would not show it on his face. He said indifferently: "Duke Leopold came as a representative of Emperor Henry after all. The German nobles in the army will naturally lean towards him. If we don't give him enough say, I'm afraid he won't agree."

Richard looked disdainful and said, "If they don't agree, just let them go. We don't need them here at all."

In his opinion, the Ayyubid dynasty today is not even half-crippled, but has one foot in the grave. There is no need for more people to share the spoils.

Moreover, in his view, the Germanic people, whether nobles or ordinary soldiers, were extremely crude, reckless, and undisciplined, and their fighting effectiveness was far inferior to that of the Gauls.

"Well, the Teutons set out the latest, but they arrived earlier than your army, which has always been the most enthusiastic about the Crusades."

Philip sneered and said that the Crusaders from Gaul, which had set out from Provence or Lower Burgundy, had arrived many days ago, and only Richard's army was still drifting on the sea.

Richard could not help but retort, "Before my brave warriors arrived, they had already defeated the Moors in Portugal and proved their strength, but your army has not yet achieved any success."

Philip sneered: "It's a pity that the brave warriors under your command are all subjects of my most noble Augustus, the King of Gaul, and even yourself, the lion who is complacent about wearing the crown of an overseas island."

The two men glared at each other, with their swords drawn.

Raymond coughed lightly and said, "Your Majesties, now is not the time to quarrel. Let's..."

He actually wanted to reach an internal consensus to exclude Leopold together, and it would be best if they could squeeze out these Germanic Crusaders. The current triumvirate was relatively stable. Although he had the lowest status, he had the advantage of being a local tyrant.

As he was speaking, a messenger rushed in quickly.

There was not even a report, so you can imagine that this was definitely the most urgent military situation.

This inexplicably familiar scene made the three of them stunned for a moment.

"My Lord, and the two Majesties, we have just received news from Jerusalem that His Majesty Baldwin has abdicated ahead of schedule, and His Majesty Lothar of Egypt has been crowned as the new King of Jerusalem in Jerusalem."

"How could he!"

Raymond was shocked and angry: "This is totally illegal!"

Richard's face was a little stiff. He had originally aspired to compete for the throne of Jerusalem. By then, if it was combined with the newly conquered Syrian territory, it would be like dividing Ayyubid with Lothar.

With the prosperity of Syria and Jerusalem, he could easily build a more powerful army and launch an endless holy war at the forefront of the fight against the infidels.

Deep in his heart, he even had an ambition to bring the entire Fertile Crescent under his rule, and even launch an expedition that surpassed Alexander.

Now that he has lost the throne of Jerusalem, would he still stay in the Holy Land as the Marquis of Holmes or the Duke of Damascus?

Philip raised his eyelids, his expression somewhat gloomy.

Although he had never thought of giving up the throne of Gaul and staying in the Holy Land, he did consider taking one or two important cities such as Damascus as his overseas territories and sending one or two relatives to serve as governors here in imitation of the Saracens.

With the example of Losa, Philip also saw the huge profits in the Eastern trade in Egypt.

He even considered forming a caravan in the future, using this overseas territory as a base to transport a steady stream of Eastern treasures from the Holy Land to Gaul and sell them to local lords and clergy.

Philip snorted and said, "He's so quick, Lord Raymond. Didn't you say before that His Majesty Baldwin authorized the Regency Council to discuss the candidate for the successor? How come now it seems that the so-called discussion is nothing more than a notification?"

Raymond looked extremely gloomy. Having served as the regent of Jerusalem for many years, he thought he knew Baldwin quite well. After all, the two had been cooperating and opposing each other for so many years.

But he never expected that Baldwin would choose to abdicate so decisively and hand over all the political affairs of Jerusalem to Lothar.

If he really had no attachment to power, why did he fight with me for so many years?

If it weren't for Baldwin's bias, how could the so-called Queen Mother's party, who were able to oppose him, fight against the Lord's party, who represented the vast local lords of Jerusalem? Was it just because of that madman Reynald of Châtillon?

"It seems that the person we have to deal with now is not just Leopold."

Raymond said coldly: "Your Majesty, we need to put aside our differences and cooperate sincerely."

Damascus, Imperial Palace.

The black eunuch carefully woke up the sleeping Saladin and handed him two pieces of bad news.

"Your Majesty, your brother Turanshah has abandoned his territory and crossed the sea to Hejaz. And the governor of Cyrenaica, Sulem, said he was under heavy attack by the Franks and hoped that we could send navy to support him."

Saladin had more wrinkles on his face recently, and he waved his hand to indicate that he understood.

He had not expected how long the remaining forces in various parts of Egypt could hold out after Adil's defeat. Without expectations, there was naturally no disappointment.

Although the Slav slave rebelled and embezzled the treasures from the diplomatic corps that were originally intended to bribe governors and high-ranking officials of various parts of the Sassanid Empire, his original plan was half accomplished.

Now, in the Sassanid territory, public opinion has been fermenting to launch a jihad, support fellow brothers, and retake Jerusalem.

Every day, Ghazi warriors from all over the country entered the Ayyubid territory.

But it is obviously a pipe dream to rely on human wave tactics to stop the Crusaders.

Now the Crusaders are attacking Homs, which is considered the hub of the Ayyubid dynasty's current territory. If the Crusaders can break through this place, they can go straight to Aleppo in the north and Damascus in the south.

These two places were both Saladin's confidants. He was heartbroken after losing Egypt. If he lost either of these two places, the Ayyubid Dynasty he established would be completely destroyed.

"Fortunately, the greedy wolf Lothar finally got full after swallowing Egypt. Now his only enemies are the two kings of the Frankish barbarians and that old dog Raymond."

Saladin tried to cheer himself up and asked, "What does Prince Reuben of Cilicia say? They should know what the Crusaders are like. Without us to rely on, they will be eaten up by those jackals sooner or later."

Cilicia is the territory of the Armenians, who have always been determined to revive the Great Armenian Kingdom and "rescue" their compatriots who were enslaved by the Turks.

Although they also believed in Christianity, as a small country half-surrounded by pagans, they had always tried their best to maintain good relations with Ayyubids after the fall of the Principality of Antioch by the Crusaders.

After all, their former overlord, the Eastern Empire, was almost unable to protect itself in Asia Minor. To the north of the Reuben Dynasty were their mortal enemies, the Turks, and to the east were Antioch and Aleppo, which were occupied by Ayyubids.

As a small country, the Reuben Dynasty had no choice but to pay tribute to Saladin.

"Prince Reuben said that he had a good relationship with the Frankish Pope and could not bear the charge of waging war against his brothers. And as you know, the Crusaders who originally besieged Constantinople had already cooperated with the Greeks under the mediation of Lothar and launched a war against the Roman Turkic Empire."

Saladin sighed softly. The Franks who had originally occupied Gudes (the holy city) were surrounded by his territory, and now he was the one who was isolated and helpless.

"Well, let these jackals see that even though a lion is covered in wounds, it still has a pair of sharp fangs!"

He straightened his back, which had been bent since Adil's death, and said in a cold voice: "Call my sons and gather the troops. We are going to have a decisive battle with the Frankish barbarians under the city of Homs!"

At that moment, a servant came quickly with a letter sealed with wax.

"Your Majesty, the news comes from Goodes. King Baldwin abdicated, and the shameful and greedy Lothar became the new king."

In an instant, Saladin felt dizzy and almost collapsed on the bed.