paranoianovel Chapter 816 Asking for help
Chapter 816 Asking for help
Chapter 816 Asking for help
Just after noon, the remnants of this sturdy castle named "Saladin" were completely wiped out by the Crusaders.
The green, red and yellow holy fire flags were cut off by the Crusaders who climbed onto the top of the city walls and thrown away, and were replaced by crosses and double-headed eagles.
Fort Saladin was a commanding height. Once the flag was changed, most of Cairo could see it clearly. Even if there were a large number of defenders in the city, the morale of the troops was shaken and they were terrified.
Siege wars have always been protracted, lasting for months and years. How could it be possible to capture a fortress in just half a day?
In addition, with the magic dragon in the air, the Cairo defenders had no means of counterattack at all. Those giant golden crossbows that blocked magic were still a threat before Radon was promoted, but now even if they could still penetrate Radon's armor, they had no way of hitting him.
If the siege had been carried out by a more gentle Crusader monarch, Cairo would probably have been ready to open its gates and surrender.
But Lothar would not give in. A small ship is easier to turn around. If he did not take advantage of the establishment of the country to clean out a group of the original rentier classes, as time went on, it would be hard to tell whether he conquered Egypt or Egypt conquered him.
He didn't like to raise the butcher knife high and scrape off the rotten meat, so he simply raised the threshold for becoming one of his own.
While he was thinking, the royal treasurer Kurs, who was wrapped in shadows, came up to him and reminded him in a low voice: "Sir, the Holy Light Seed of the Knights has asked you to join the siege."
The Seeds of Holy Light refer to those Knights Templar in the Temple, Hospital and Teutonic Knights who have initially mastered the power of Holy Light. Their total number now exceeds one hundred. Although their combat power is still far inferior to the reinforcements of the Knights Hospitaller in the simulated battle, it is also a real extraordinary force.
Losa came back to his senses and shook his head, saying, "Tell them to be patient. They will be useful tonight."
He planned to repeat his old trick and take Cairo in one fell swoop through a night attack.
This tactic has always been effective when elite troops fight against a mob. Cairo is already a piece of fat meat at his fingertips. If he ignores the losses, the city will be captured overnight. However, he came here to train his troops, not to send his men to die.
As the sky grew darker, the Crusaders, who had been fighting all day, gradually retreated to safe fortresses, towers, and city areas at the sound of trumpets, picked up the sumptuous dinner brought by the logistics team, and feasted on it.
Lothar was about to go out to patrol the camp when the imperial emblem he wore on his chest suddenly became hot.
He picked up the phone and heard Anna's slightly tired voice.
"Good night, the noble King of Egupisto, the Holy Lord of Heaven, the nightmare of the Saracens, the slayer of legends, the king of the Eastern Franks, the rider of the dragon."
Losa couldn't help laughing and said, "Don't flatter me, Anna."
"You should be close to taking over Cairo now."
"You are quite well informed."
"Of course. The Levant Wizard Association still has some members, and they usually share what they have with each other."
Losa smiled, but he didn't doubt that Anna had planted spies around him.
"How is your war going in Sicily?"
"Not good. The fake King Tancred of Sicily has reached an agreement with the Venetians. In fact, since the empress ascended the throne, she has abolished many of the Venetians' commercial privileges, and the relationship between the two countries has reached a freezing point."
She paused for a moment, and continued, "The Empire lost a large number of ships in the Battle of Cyprus. Now the Empire's fleet is no match for the Venetians. They have blockaded the sea and cut off our supplies. The situation that we originally had the upper hand has become confusing again."
Lothar frowned. "Didn't Henry VI just subdue the city-states of Northern Italy? If they put together a fleet and persuade the Genoese, the old enemy of the Venetians, to take action, and add the sea dragon you raised, they should be able to solve this dilemma, right?"
Anna sighed somewhat helplessly.
"A new round of Crusades is gathering in Pannonia. They have been bribed by Alexios of the Angelos family and intend to join the journey to claim the throne for him. Lothar, our situation is very bad now. We don't know when they will board the Venetian fleet and attack the heart of the empire like a wolf."
Isn’t this the infamous Fourth Crusade in history?
He didn't expect that even though he conquered Egypt and made the Third Crusade a great victory, the Fourth Crusade still happened.
Losa frowned and said, "Anna, do you mean you want my help?"
The other party was silent for a moment, and then said helplessly: "Yes, I know you are in the critical stage of attacking Egupstat and it is difficult to spare troops. I shouldn't have said this, but I know that you are the only one who can help me."
Things are different now. Lothar has been crowned King of Aegyptus and occupies Alexandria and Cairo, two powerful cities in the Mediterranean world second only to Constantinople. His power and wealth have made him one of the top monarchs.
She really couldn't think of what price the Empire could offer in exchange for Lothar declaring war on his fellow Franks.
Losa did not comment and said, "Tell me the details."
"Alexios has been in exile for many years. Now he has the support of King Bela III of Hungary. He has bribed the Crusaders stranded in Croatia, Austria, and Veneto, and reached an alliance with the Venetians. He has made a large promise that I think he can never fulfill, and has recruited a huge army of no less than 50,000 people."
Anna paused for a moment and continued, "It is estimated that there are no less than 5,000 knights, tens of thousands of armored soldiers, and countless followers and pilgrims. The Empire's legions stationed in Thrace are unable to contend with them."
Lothar could not help but sneer and said, "Such a large army should have been sent to the Holy Land long ago. I'm afraid Saladin can't even defend Aleppo now and has to flee to Baghdad."
Merchants were profit-driven, and the Venetians didn't care about the sacred cause of jihad at all. As many people took ships to go overseas, they raised the price, which resulted in a large number of jihadists being stranded and unable to support the front line.
When he thought about the fact that the Venetians had previously planned to use funding as a price in exchange for trade privileges in cities such as Alexandria and Semanude, and to establish their own commercial ports, he could not help but feel a strong sense of resentment.
"It seems that your previous treatment of the Venetians offended them severely."
Anna said helplessly, "There is no other way. The empire's commerce is about to be hanged by the Venetians. If we want to revive the empire, it is impossible without removing the Venetians' privileges."
Losa sighed and said, "I'm afraid you think that with the weak land forces of the Venetians, you only need to maintain a few ships at sea that can slightly contain the Venetians. With the help of the Genoese, the Venetians are not worth worrying about, right?"
In fact, when it comes down to it, it was all because the previous emperors of the Eastern Empire did not understand economics. They only knew that they could get a large amount of funding by signing a piece of paper with the Venetians.
Who would have thought that as time went on, they would find that the financial and tax resources they could mobilize were becoming increasingly scarce, and they would begin to think of turning their backs on their obligations.
Anna smiled bitterly. "That's right. Who would have thought that old man Enrico Dandello was so vicious? He has reached an alliance with the Hungarians and deliberately delayed the Crusaders to incite them to attack the Empire together? I'm afraid they have been planning this plan for several years."
"I can help you with your favor."
After thinking for a moment, Losa spoke.
On the one hand, it was out of friendship with Anna, and on the other hand, his overseas country was newly established in the eastern Mediterranean and it was a time of reconstruction. Reaching an alliance with the empire would be beneficial to his country as both sides would gain what they needed.
"But what price can you pay, my dear friend?"
Lothar then asked.
"All gifts in this world have a price tag on them. I am not like the Venetians, who would lie to you and trick you into signing a contract you cannot afford, but I will not participate in a war that has nothing to do with me for no reason."