Chapter 604 Military Discussion

"Once the election results are announced, even I will obey them."

Richard couldn't help but sneer: "Little fox, do you really think you have a sure win?"

Originally, the situation was still unclear. Philip had a slight advantage, but Richard was not much inferior. Philip relied on prestige and interests, while Richard relied on personal bravery and leadership. Following him, you can win one victory after another.

Wealth can be obtained through seizure.

Honors can be obtained through military exploits and prestige.

Both can be obtained on the battlefield. With this, Richard has a group of loyal supporters.

Captain Fuller of the Earl's Guard whispered, "But His Majesty Philip does have the upper hand right now."

"But the one who has the greatest advantage is probably my uncle. The King of Jerusalem is regarded as the commander of all the Franks in the East. We may not bow to him, but doing so will indeed divide the Crusaders."

"So it seems that His Majesty Philip still has a sense of justice?"

"Bah, how is that possible."

Richard looked down on him. Although Philip did not do anything to offend him on the surface, he was the one who broke his promise and insulted Philip's sister for having an affair with his father Henry II and refused to fulfill the engagement.

But after he betrayed his father and won the crown of Albion, he suddenly thought of something.

Although his father doted on his youngest son, from the beginning to the end, his father wanted to deprive him of his inheritance and leave all the territories to John. This was all conveyed to him by Philip II in an unspoken hint.

If the series of struggles surrounding the crown of Albion were compared to a series of colorful murals, then in the shadows in the corners of the murals, Philip's thin figure and the faint smile on his lips were hidden.

"Philip is a conspirator, a venomous snake lurking in the corner, hissing with poisonous letters in his mouth, Sir Fuller, if it weren't for the time mismatch, I really suspect that he was born when King Louis the Old had an affair with his Greek mistress during the Crusade."

Richard sneered.

King Louis the Old's first wife was his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Now, Philip was born to the old king and his third wife, Adele of Champagne, and the time was far away from the old king's participation in the Crusade.

It is worth mentioning that the three most powerful women in Europe today are Eleanor of Aquitaine. After Richard set off for the Holy Land, he appointed her as regent to manage all her territories on the European continent.

The second is Richard's wife, who was appointed by him to govern the entire Kingdom of Albion.

The third one was Philip's mother, the Queen Mother of Gaul, who was also appointed by Philip as the regent of Gaul. Among the three, two were the wives of the old King Louis. It can be seen that although the old king had a very poor fertility (Eleanor could not give birth to a son with him, but after remarrying Henry II, she gave birth to four sons in five years), he still had a good eye for choosing wives.

Dong——

A melodious bell sounded from the church bell tower.

This was a signal that the military meeting was about to begin.

Richard opened the window and saw many Crusader nobles in bright clothes and horses, wearing looted silk, riding horses and parading in the streets. They loudly mocked those who were not qualified to attend the military meeting, and those people were not to be outdone, shouting and retorting.

They made a lot of noise and disturbed the people, but no resident dared to show any dissatisfaction with this. They closed their doors and dared not make any sound.

"Your Majesty, I suddenly wondered if His Majesty Philip would make a move on who was eligible to attend the military meeting?"

The Earl's guard captain said with a worried look on his face: "If more than half of the people in the entire military meeting are supporters of His Majesty Philip, how can we win?"

Richard sneered: "Okay, Fuller, I want to laugh when you use your brain. If Philip really dares to do this, he will only ask for trouble and make this military meeting and himself a laughing stock."

After he finished speaking, he changed into his iconic red battle robe, shouted to his guards, and rode out of the manor gate first.

At this time, it was not yet bright.

Countless torches can be seen along the way. Even if you are not qualified to attend, there are always people who want to watch the excitement. Almost half of the Crusaders came to participate in this grand event that determined the focus of the next military strategy.

The ceremony was very complicated. By the time everything was ready, the sky was already bright.

It can be seen that the seats of the military council are clearly divided into three parts. Lothar, Richard, and Philip each occupy three directions of the meeting place.

The Lothar faction was placed opposite Richard. He did not need to stand up to see the plate armor knights sitting around Baldwin IV opposite. This trick made Richard sneer.

Even though he had been used to it for a long time, Richard could not help but be moved when he saw the bright armor worn by the elites under Lothar. The plate armor forging technology of the Lothar faction's Crusaders had long surpassed those Milanese blacksmiths who claimed to be the best forging skills in the world.

"Brothers in Christ, we may come from all over the world, and we may have never met each other, or even have personal grudges, but under the will of God, we have gathered together today for a common ambition and a great cause - to rescue the enslaved Christians and recover the Alexandria Bishopric that has fallen into the hands of pagans for countless years."

Philip II began to speak.

He had obviously drunk the magic potion "Loud Bugle", and his voice was extremely loud. He stood facing the morning light, and his whole body seemed to be coated with a layer of golden light, making people feel a sense of admiration and worship as soon as he heard it.

Richard couldn't help but cursed in a low voice: "What a bad thing!"

"Martha, give me a similar potion!"

After reviewing the nonsense that seemed to be worthless, Philip suddenly held up a piece of paper: "However, a shocking scene happened in front of everyone yesterday. Leonard of Chatillon, a resolute and upright man. The Crusader knight was assassinated in the street."

This news was not a secret, it had already spread throughout the Crusaders, so the atmosphere was still calm, but it changed completely when he spoke the next sentence.

"On the bodies of these assassins, we found a secret letter about His Majesty Richard."

As soon as the words fell, the sound of questioning sounded.

"Ah."

The Lionheart King snorted coldly, not even bothering to stand up and refute anything.

No one would believe such a shallow conspiracy. With Lionheart's reputation, people would rather believe that he took out Leonard's heart on the street than that he would do something as dishonorable as paying someone to kill someone.

Philip raised his hand and signaled to Richard's followers to calm down: "Yes, that's right, this murder case is ridiculously childish. If it was really an assassination planned by the Crusaders, wouldn't it be better to hire a few pagan assassins?" Can we clear up the relationship?"

"As I said yesterday, this is a conspiracy concocted by the Saracens, a conspiracy to make us hate each other and fight among ourselves! If the heretics can assassinate Lord Leonard in the street, don't they? Will he commit more terrible acts of destruction? There are still such Saracen spies lurking in the city of Semenud, which was recaptured by Duke Lothar. After learning about this, should I still Can you sleep peacefully?"

He raised his tone: "I am not concerned about personal safety, but for the safety of the entire Crusade. Therefore, I spent a whole night and finally uncovered the secret hidden in Semanud City. Spy, Saladin's minion!"

"Come here, bring him up and chop him to death in front of everyone's eyes!"

When Mr. Saman was dragged up, his feet were weak. He was wearing heavy shackles and his face was frighteningly pale.

To this day he still doesn't understand why Adil betrayed him.

Is it possible that he, the hidden king of Semanud City, a big businessman who has single-handedly weaved a huge trade network, is not even worth such a small win over?

That's what the demon duke is like.

Such is the case with the two kings of the Franks.

Even Adil, whom he regarded as one of his own, was like this.

He closed his eyes in despair as four ropes were wrapped around his limbs.

…

at this time.

In the Saracen camp stationed on the west bank of Lake Brulus.

Adil, the governor of Egypt and brother to King Saladin, also spoke impassionedly to the Saracen troops who gathered under the banner of the sacred fire.

In the middle of speaking, he suddenly paused and his voice became sad and angry: "My brothers, I have just received news that the Crusaders executed a highly respected sage, Saman of Semanud. They used four horses to The horses grabbed the poor old man's limbs respectively.

Look what happened to those who surrendered to the Crusaders. Saman, a man of noble birth and noble moral character, fell into such a tragic end because he mistakenly believed in the lies of the Franks and lost his use value. "

"Poor Sage Saman, he has given everything he has in order to survive. When the Crusaders asked for money, he gave up the wealth he had earned through hard work. When the Crusaders asked for food, he spent more than ten years to accumulate it. The granary was opened, but even so, the greedy and cruel Franks still refused to let go of this noble man. After draining him of everything, he still wanted to execute this poor old man with such cruel punishment! "

Someone in the audience shouted loudly:

"This is what happens to traitors!"

"You deserve it. This is the will of the Holy Fire and the retribution of the betrayer!"

Adil shook his head and said: "No, he just wants to live!"

He spoke emotionally and squeezed out two tears from the corners of his eyes: "Should we criticize a brother who struggled to survive under the sword of the Franks? No, even if King Saladin was here, he would only pity this man. The tragic experience of a wise man, without harshly criticizing his betrayal."

"Because he was forced to do nothing. This is the fault of the Franks and the fault of those greedy, shameless Crusaders who, under the banner of holiness, are more barbaric than the cruelest bandits!"

"Brothers, among you there are sects, sects, Christians, and believers of the old gods. Perhaps you have thought in your heart that this is not a war for you, but please know one thing, as long as you survive in this land "With the barbaric and domineering style of the Franks, once they gain power, they will not give you any tolerance. Even if they can seek peace for a while, they will have to become slaves and let those barbarians dominate."

"Are you willing to be slaves and beg for mercy from the pagans in exchange for a living?"

The Saracen army roared angrily: "No, of course not!"

"Kill all the infidels!"

"Fight them!"

"The holy fire burns forever, supreme and great!"

Adil waited until people calmed down and then said again: "You are all a group of fearless warriors, fearless people who are unwilling to survive. Of course I believe this. If not, you would not gather under this flag."

"Warriors, the moment of decisive battle with the barbaric Franks is coming. We have built siege equipment and prepared sufficient food and water sources. Next, please follow me to fight and let the barbarians appreciate that we are better than Their bravery!"

He shouted, rode his mount, and led his guards to rush out of the camp gate first.

The various units of the Saracen coalition immediately responded and followed them in order.

Looking at the red faces, everyone was already excited and wanted to fight to the death with the Franks immediately.

"What a great talk."

Baron Fulk sighed.

He also once led his subordinate knights to fight against the lord next door, but before the war, he only said a few words about "God's will" and "rob the food and women of the next village." How could Adil be so eloquent?

Not only the content, but also the voice of Governor Adil seemed to contain magic. Even if he was a Frank, he couldn't help but feel his blood boiling after listening to it.

Ivan smiled and said: "Is what Mr. Adil said a lie?"

Fuller shook his head helplessly.

Although he is a Frank, he cannot argue with this. The Franks' army is indeed more barbaric than the Saracens. If the Saracens capture a Frankish city, they will rape the entire city. The women of the city sold all men and women into slavery.

But if it were flipped around, it was the Franks who captured a Saracen city.

Then they will most likely set off a brutal massacre, regardless of whether they are men or women (the Crusaders generally only rape prostitutes from Europe and will not rape Saracen women. On the contrary, Saracens like Frank women very much).

It’s just that, but doesn’t the Kingdom of Jerusalem still achieve symbiosis with the pagan local chiefs? After the chaos caused by the massacre, order will always be restored, and the Franks are also divided into types.

For example, Lord Lothar's army would never massacre the city at will.

Fuller silently made amends for his former accomplice in his heart, but asked: "Ivan, have you heard of the sage named Saman?"

"certainly."

Ivan's expression was a little strange: "It's just that in the version I heard, he was just an ordinary businessman with some power, but not much."