Chapter 577: Philip the Fox

In Damietta's tavern.

A group of strong knights were guarding a noble in a red robe embroidered with a golden lion.

To be honest, Richard the Lionheart felt that he had a good life these days.

The delicious wine, the cheap spices in Europe, and the unique specialties of the East all made him linger.

It was just too leisurely.

The king should live on the battlefield, not waste his ambition in comfort.

Richard felt bored to death, and he wished that Saladin would lead his troops to fight a real battle.

"Fuller, let's play another game of Gwent. This time I'll use your Jerusalem deck."

Fuller nodded silently and exchanged the decks of both parties.

Even a boring person like him felt that playing cards was much more interesting than playing dice.

It would be better if there was no guy who kept chattering next to him.

"Your Majesty, the fruits of your victory have been stolen. Are you just going to sit here and watch him show off his power?"

"He is just not as skilled as others."

Richard dug his ears in annoyance.

Cardinal Sebastian has been jumping up and down these days, trying to persuade him to seize Damietta's military power while Lothar is away.

But in his opinion, he is just a clown who does not know his own status.

Don't you look at the people's support? The strength comparison between the two sides?

Do you really think that a king's title is better than thousands of troops?

Perhaps Philip's court will need such a jester.

At this time.

A group of people entered the tavern with a fierce momentum and a burst of exclamations.

The man was handsome and had carefully groomed brown curly hair, but the most eye-catching thing was the exquisite golden crown inlaid with various gems, and his blue-based coat embroidered with many golden irises.

Philip?

Richard looked at the man opposite in astonishment.

This Augustus, whom he had just mentioned, naturally did not come alone.

Behind him, Reynald, Guy and other Gallic Crusader nobles followed behind Augustus and clearly stated their positions.

Especially Guy, he and his brothers only recognized the rule of the Capetian royal family and tried to kidnap his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. They were so bold!

Richard stood up, waved his hand to dismiss the guards who wanted to stop him, and frowned at him.

Philip laughed heartily: "It's been a long time since I last saw you, my brother. You looked so wonderful. You didn't expect me to come here?"

"Indeed, my brother, you have always been cautious. Before your army crossed the sea, I never thought I would see you here."

"By the way, how long has it been since we last met?"

"It's been a long time."

As they talked, they greeted each other in a harmonious and happy atmosphere, as if they were old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.

The relationship between the two was indeed very good. They even slept in the same bed, slept with their feet touching, and ate at the same table.

Richard was able to challenge his father only with the support of Philip II.

The unofficial history of Losa's time even said that the two had an extraordinary friendship.

Of course, this is nonsense.

How could the two most noble monarchs in the Christian world commit such a crime of rebellion that is equivalent to murder?

The so-called sleeping in the same bed is actually more like a signal to the outside world that "the two of us are about to form an alliance", which is the same as sleeping side by side during the Three Kingdoms period.

"I heard that you just suffered a small loss?"

"What happened."

Richard looked unhappy: "We defeated a main force of the Saracens together, and the spoils captured were countless. Every soldier gained a lot and clamored to participate in the next battle."

"Hahaha, that's great. Speaking of which, Richard, why aren't you the commander-in-chief of the Crusaders? Didn't the Duke of Lothar give you the position?"

He said playfully: "Or do the nobles in the East not know your reputation for winning every battle?"

Richard couldn't hold back his smile, and whispered: "The position of commander-in-chief will naturally be left to you, the most honorable Augustus."

The honeymoon period of the two had long passed. As he sat on the throne of Albion, he became the biggest competitor to King Philip.

He also broke off the engagement with Philip's sister Princess Alice on the pretext of her infidelity, breaking the promise Philip made when he helped him to ascend to the throne.

In fact, it is common for both parties to play their own games in aristocratic marriages.

Richard's use of this reason can only mean that Richard unilaterally tore up the covenant with Philip.

Therefore, the two former close friends had long turned their backs on each other and drifted away.

"But to be honest, Philip, I don't think it's rational for you to participate in the holy war. If you become the commander, I will worry about the success or failure of this crusade."

"Ha."

Philip sneered and had no interest in continuing to talk nonsense with Richard. Compared with the ability to lead the army, he was indeed not as good as this former friend.

But in his opinion, Richard was like a bull that could be blinded by throwing a piece of red cloth, just a reckless man.

He came to the table and sat down magnanimously, and said in a calm tone: "Okay, Richard, we haven't seen each other for many years, and we finally meet again in this sacred place. Why do we need to carry a gun and a stick? I still remember that we used to Great time together in Paris. Maybe we are rivals in Europe, but not here."

Philip picked up the beautifully made Gwent cards on the table and looked at them for a while: "Tsk, nice little thing. This Duke Lothar has quite some brains. If he was born in Gaul, I would be happy to give him a The position of finance minister is sitting there, but unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to understand his position. I heard that he wants to usurp himself and become the king?”

Perhaps it was because of the previous situation of the Capetian royal family that "the decrees could not leave the island of Gaul", Philip did not like enfeoffment, and he preferred to appoint bureaucrats to rule the territory for himself.

Cardinal Sebastian on the side saw the opportunity and interjected: "That's right, Your Majesty. In fact, his title of duke was based on the canonization of Coptic heretics. It has no basis and should not be recognized at all."

Philip glanced at him, frowned and said, "He deserves the title of Duke. After all, he has contributed a lot to the Eastern Expedition."

As for the Copts Sebastian mentioned, to be honest, Philip didn't care at all.

He put aside the Pope's orders to deal with heretics in the territory, let alone the Copts who had to rely on Egypt.

"Philip, are you trying to join forces with me to deal with Lothar?"

Richard raised his eyebrows: "Come on, two kings unite to deal with a young marquis. If you don't think it's embarrassing, I do."

What's more, it may not be right.

Richard knows best how many chips Lothar has in hand at the moment.

Unless Lothar makes extremely serious mistakes in decision-making in the next battle, even if he loses the battle, his position as generalissimo will be almost unshakable.

To solve this problem, first control the supplies of the Crusaders.

Richard changed the subject and added: "But you are right about one thing. We are not opponents here, but Christian brothers who are also fighting for God and fighting to regain the Alexandria diocese."

Although he was smiling, what he was actually thinking about was that he was not his opponent.

As king of Gaul, Philip competed with him for the support of the Gallic lords.

This dispute will naturally extend to the Holy Land - because the main force of the Crusaders has undoubtedly always been the Gallic Crusaders.

Neither of them brought much of their own troops. If they wanted to expand their strength, they would have to compete for the support of the local Crusaders.

However, although Richard was upright, he also knew that this was not the time for the two of them to quarrel.

"Speaking of which, how did you get here?"

Philip smiled and said: "Of course it's the same as you. Otherwise, I don't know how long it will take to set off from Provence by boat."

Richard suddenly laughed and said: "It's Leonard, right? I ignored this one."

In the Holy Land, the only one with the strength and motivation to take over King Philip was the former King of the Dead Sea.

Leonard is not a small character, at least not the former Archduke of Antioch and Count of Transjordan.

Leonard, who was mentioned, bowed his head to Richard humbly.

Richard nodded perfunctorily: "No wonder he frequently attacks those Bedouin settlements that have little profit during this period. It turns out that he is collecting materials for the teleportation array for you."

Philip emphasized his tone: "Sir Leonard only wanted to kill the heretics and promote the power of God."

He would not accept such a serious accusation of using blood sacrifice.

Richard sneered and cursed "hypocrisy" in his heart. In fact, he brought people to teleport here and also used the blood sacrifice method.

Otherwise, Sebastian would lose everything by simply using magic materials.

…

Lothar, who did not yet know that Damietta, another ambitious monarch, had arrived, was standing on the tower of a magnificent building, listening to the people's exclamations.

"What is this?"

"I don't know. Last night there was still an empty space, but today this huge building complex just went up."

"It's a miracle!"

"Yes, this is a miracle, and it is a miracle unique to the Duke. Have you forgotten what you heard last night, the story told in the pamphlet?"

This building that went up overnight was a cavalry academy.

Its actual name is the Sipaxi Heavy Cavalry Barracks. This type of cavalry comes from the Ottoman Empire and is an Eastern feudal fief knight equivalent to the Western European knight. The difference is that the fief cannot be hereditary.

After the Janissary Guards became dominant, the Sipaxi cavalry gradually became an auxiliary unit.

They usually go into battle lightly and use mounted bows and javelins to fight. They also have fully armored and heavily armored cavalry that imitate the Crusader knights.

In the system military camp, they wear a full set of plate and chain armor, and their mounts are matched with horse armor or horse clothing. They are a kind of heavily armored shock cavalry. They can be considered to be a variant of the Crusader Knights.