On the winding mountain road, Saladin, who rode a war horse and admired the scenery along the way, seemed to be unconcerned about the next battle.

In comparison, the general next to him was not in such a good mood.

"Caliph, I don't understand, why did you entrust such an important task to Ratib?" Elem, the supreme commander of the Qasagi Guard, looked at Saladin with a distressed expression and said in a low voice: "You should know that he is a former vassal of the Abbasid Empire, and he has always been dissatisfied with you. ”

"I know. ”

"And ...... you?"

Saladin didn't answer the question, but turned to Elem and asked something else: "Do you know why I took you with me instead of letting you take on the task of Ratib?"

"I don't know. ”

Saladin flicked the reins of his horse, and as he drove his mount forward, he spoke, "When you understand the second question, you will naturally get the answer to the first question." ”

Elium was stunned for a moment, tilted his head and thought for a long time, but still didn't know what to do.

He urged his horses to keep up with Saladin's pace, and said with a shy smile: "Great and omnipotent caliph, your wisdom is unrivaled, and your subordinates are dull, please ......."

Saladin smiled and raised his horsewhip, pointed to the Lone Rock City built on the mountain peak, and asked, "If I give you 7,000 elite soldiers, how are you going to attack this city?"

Speaking of the war, Elem came to the spirit: "I don't need seven thousand, as long as you give me five thousand, and then send me the artillery team, ten days at most, I can make this city surrender to your feet!"

Saladin laughed and shook his head at Elem and said, "Wrong!"

The latter's face was full of doubts: "Wrong?

"I want you to attack the city, but at the same time I order you not to take it. ”

"Ah???" Elem thought there was something wrong with his ears, "Attack this city, but you are not allowed to take it?!Caliph, you are not joking, are you?!"

Saladin stroked his beard, looked at the other party and smiled, "It's not a joke. ”

"Why?!"

Saladin urged the horses again, leaving only Elem's back.

"When you figure out the first two questions, you will naturally find the answer to this third question......"

Near the east side of the mountain where Lone Rock City is located, there is a steep partial peak, the rock face here is smooth as a mirror, and the stone forest is sharp like thorns, not to mention humans, even ordinary animals, it is difficult to climb here.

However, at the top of this partial peak, a man and a woman stood, looking at the battlefield at the foot of the mountain.

The man spoke, "Lone Rock City can't hold out for long. ”

The woman asked, "Why?"

"I have been to the city and seen that the defenders are less than seven hundred, and the number of troops is too small. The man looked at the woman and said helplessly, "Mother Goddess, according to your prompt, although the regent successfully stopped the surprise attack of the imperial army, they still could not face such a large number of enemy troops. ”

Eleanor stared at the man and asked another question, "Garcia, when will the reinforcements from Lone Rock be able to get back into the city?"

"The fastest is about two days, and the latest is about four days. ”

Eleanor shifted her gaze to the battlefield and asked faintly, "In your opinion, if the reinforcements from Lone Rock City rush back in time, what are the chances of the former winning against the Imperial army?"

"Fifty percent. ”

Eleanor looked at Garcia in surprise: "Even if the reinforcements rush back, the chance of winning is only fifty percent?!"

Garcia frowned and replied, "If the reinforcements rush back and Lone Rock's forces return to their peak state, their victory rate can roughly reach eighty percent, but the Empire's caliph is on the battlefield, so for the sake of conservatism, I have reduced the odds of Lone Rock to fifty percent." ”

Knowing that the other party's words had always been targeted, Eleanor pondered for a moment and said, "In this way, what we have to do right now is to lend a helping hand to Lone Rock City......"

Above the gates of the outer city of Lone Rock City.

"That's the flag of the Casaji Guard. Jennings pointed to a heavy cavalry regiment on the battlefield and sighed as he said, "That army is the Emperor's direct guard, and their presence represents the presence of the ruler of the Ayyubid Empire. ”

Randall looked at Jennings' sad face and proposed, "My lord, in addition to those reinforcements from Lone Rock City, if you want, there is actually an army that can rush here at any time. ”

Jennings turned his head, looked into Randall's eyes, and said word by word: "Before the first king died, he entrusted the kingdom to me, and specially explained two things: first, to protect the young queen until she came of age, and second, to ensure that Lone Rock City does not fall into the hands of others. So, anything that could threaten the royal power, I can't agree to it!"

After saying these words, Jennings returned his attention to the battlefield and continued: "As long as our reinforcements can arrive in time, the victory in this war must belong to Lone Rock City!"

The Ayyubid Empire's army was assembled at the foot of the mountain in Lone Rock City. The soldiers knelt on the ground, their foreheads against the ground, palms up, and listened to the old imam chanting scriptures. After a series of religious ceremonies, the infantry regiment began to draw its weapons, raise its shields, and make final formations, the musket regiment cut holes in the ground, set up the gun mounts, and began to check the arquebuses and magazines, and the artillery regiment, led by scholars, calculated the trajectory over and over again and adjusted the ruler and angle.

Looking at the terrifying heretic army in front of them, the defenders of Lone Rock City all turned pale and their legs trembled.

The soldiers of Lone Rock took out the crosses on their chests and began to recite Bible prayers in their mouths, while Jennings called his lieutenant and asked in a low voice, "Is there any news for reinforcements?"

The adjutant shook his head.

Jennings frowned and looked at the enemy troops outside the city, but unexpectedly spotted a small group of men and horses walking out of the imperial army and slowly walking towards the city gate.

With doubts in his heart, Jennings looked at the leader of the squad, a stocky imperial official, who walked to the city gate and shouted: "Great and merciful Saladin the Great, willing to give you a last chance before the wrath of Allah comes upon you!"

Persuasion?

Jennings' hands clenched into fists and slammed the walls beneath him.

After a while, he whispered in a hoarse voice, "Let those fellows come to the city in hanging baskets." ”

The adjutant was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly persuaded him: "My lord, once this kind of thing is negotiated with heretics, once it spreads to the diocese, I am afraid it will be detrimental to your reputation!"

Jennings glared back at the adjutant and snarled in a low voice, "I know! But at a time like this, pretending to negotiate peace is the only way we can stall for time!"

Looking at the imperial army in front of him, Jennings gritted his teeth and said fiercely: "As long as you can drag until the reinforcements arrive......"

Randall watched what was happening on the city walls, and he had a vague bad feeling in his heart.

It is impossible for the invincible emperor not to understand the truth that the soldiers are fast, he used light cavalry to raid the city gate last night, but today he sent a messenger to persuade him to surrender, what kind of premeditation is behind it?

Late that night, in the camp of the Ayyubid Empire.

Elim, the commander of the Casaji Guard, came to Saladin's tent and asked for an interview.

After the Guard's briefing, Elium met the Emperor in his tent reading at night.

"Caliph, the messenger sent to persuade him to surrender has returned. ”

Hearing this, Saladin looked away from his book, and when he saw a stinky face darker than the bottom of the pot, he smiled and said, "Let me guess, they neither agreed to surrender nor openly resisted. ”

Elium said angrily: "These cunning old dogs are completely trying to stall for time!"

Saladin's expression did not look surprised or annoyed, he put down the book in his hand, and said to his henchman, "There is nothing wrong with the enemy choosing to do this at this time. ”

When Elim heard this, he asked tentatively: "In that case, can we start fighting directly tomorrow without persuasion?"

Saladin nodded lightly and said, "Yes, we can start the war tomorrow......"

"Great!" Elam shook his hands and said excitedly: "Caliph, as long as you give the order, I promise to be able to ......"

"Don't forget what I said to you before. ”

"Huh?"

Saladin slapped the table and whispered, "I allow you to attack Lone Rock City, but you can't take Lone Rock City!"

When Elium heard this, his face suddenly drooped.

Saladin ignored him, instead turned his gaze to the north, and said to himself, "Calculate the time, it's almost time for Lone Rock to know the news." ”

At this time, in the barracks of Lone Rock City, the regent Jennings stood at the table, looking at the huge map in front of him. He hadn't been rested for a long time, with two dark circles under his eyes and a slightly pale face.

"Today is the second day after the messenger's departure, and there should be news back. Jennings looked at the map and thought back to everything that had happened in the past two days, and he always felt that he had missed something important.

A rush of footsteps interrupted his train of thought.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, the Courier is back!"

Jennings looked up and saw the herald standing at the door, his eyes widened, and he yelled, "Let them in!"

The sentry who came to give the order said with a embarrassed face: "My lord, the messenger has only returned one person, and some have come...... Others ......"

Jennings was stunned for a moment, then quickly moved his steps, pushed away the sentry at the door, and walked out quickly.

Walking outside the door, the first thing Jennings saw was a knight he had never seen before. He was short and stocky, and wore a black armor with a cross umbrella pattern.

On the back of this knight, the messenger of Lone Rock City was lying like a gossamer, and his life and death were uncertain.

An anxious Jennings ordered his men to take the messenger from the knight and shouted for a doctor.

The messenger sent for help was shot in the chest with a musket and covered in blood. He opened his bloodshot eyes, looked at the regent of Lone Rock City, and swallowed his last breath after just one word.

"The Empire's fleet...... 3 days ago...... Landed on the north side ......"