The next morning, all the defenders of the Tower of David laughed at the sight of the pilgrims gathering again around the battlements and canals, and clustering around the new, taller wooden siege towers, for they had mobilized many men to fill the gaps in the catapults destroyed by the catapults with straw bales and willow baskets, and that the Maharaja Sochman had sent more men to strengthen the garrison at the Tower of David, and had carved out two large tree trunks for backup to destroy the pilgrims' siege towers. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

In the bright sunlight of the Holy City, Sokman and his warriors stood on the tower, looking at the siege towers that were coming towards the city like giant beasts, "Prepare the fire, and twist the trunk of the big tree on the string of the ballista to be fired!" Ladies and gentlemen, according to the information of the Egyptians, the supplies and timber of this group of pilgrim bandits in front of them are almost exhausted, and this siege tower must have been created by them from all over the valley with all their strength, and if we burn it, this group of bandits will no longer be able to help us and the city. ”

Hearing this encouragement from the prince, the turbaned crescent devotees between the defensive walls and towers raised their hands in applause, and then began to carry stone bullets, pile up fires, and build fences. Beneath their busy ramparts, the Christians' massive siege towers had been pushed to a distance of just over 200 feet from the Tower of David.

Duke Godfrey still stood on the top floor, looking at the siege procession of pilgrims like ants and insects below, waving his hand and shouting, "All muster up the last fighting spirit, for the birthday of Jesus, and for this siege tower that was bought by the sacrifices of hundreds of pilgrims." You must immediately listen to the commands of the brothers Joceland and Garilland. ”

At this moment, Baldwin, with his shield and helmet, faithfully stood in front of his brother, standing side by side with him, and he saw the rows of enemy towers and fortresses in front of him, the stretches of walls, the enemy guards running around like grains of wheat, and the many anti-siege tower shooters they had erected, the clouds and the sun flowing beside him, and the wind swept through everyone's cloaks, making the faint of heart whirlwind in the world.

The majestic temple of Solomon in the great holy city is vividly visible, located in the southeast of the city, where the smoke of prayer and the smoke of the city's residents and soldiers rise everywhere, accompanied by loud and pious hymns, Count Adana repeatedly silently recited in his heart, "Gothchild, and my son Jervi, your former kiss on the hilt of my sword will give me great courage and fortune today, and my brother and I will not lose, we will never lose!" ”

When a large number of wheels under the siege tower ran over the line marked with white clay, the knight of Joceland, who was standing beside it, looked up at the sky, and the many crossbows on the battlements of the Tower of David began to riap the burning stakes and large arrows that began to shoot towards the siege tower, and Jocelan waved the banner in his hand when he saw this, "Gariland, you and all the heavy crossbowmen rush forward in a row!" ”

His brother Galilan received the order and followed the siege tower with a heavy and steady pace with hundreds of strong warriors in overlapping armor—Galilan and all the warriors were dressed in triple armor, one of which was Byzantine linen on the outside, lined with soaked and fire-resistant linen on the outside, and lined with flaky chain armor on the inside; Inside, the chain mail worn by the Franks, wrapped around their bodies; The innermost layer is the armor used by the Byzantines and Turks, clinging to their jackets; They wore sturdy iron helmets and nose guards on tops, and chains around their necks, shoulders, and wrists, revealing only their eyes, so that they were dressed in this way in the still scorching heat of the Holy City, and they still stoically climbed the small fence around the siege tower, or followed it on foot.

Garilan was accompanied by two lightly armed servants, one holding a shield in both hands, covering his left and right, and the other carrying a full three crossbow machines and crossbow arrow skins, walking behind Garilan, bending over and kicking on the crossbow arrows, and then handed them to Garilland. The rest of the heavy crossbowmen are also staffed in the same way.

Galiland took over the crossbow machine, raised his hand and "buzzed" a tailless crossbow arrow, which cleverly pressed against the slightly sloping defensive wall, and shot a defender soldier who poked out his head - brains and blood burst out, splashing everywhere on the wooden fence, like a blooming blood flower.

Then Gariland went on his way, and then he took another crossbow, and this time he shot into the hole behind the wall, and a Saracen, who had just lifted the stone and was about to throw it down, was shot through the abdomen, and his intestines went around the crossbow arrow that had sunk into the flesh, and he fell to the ground screaming and dying.

The rest of the crossbowmen also did the same, shooting bursts of crossbow arrows in turn, and the defenders on the Tower of David fell and fell to their deaths with continuous arrows.

"Call my bravest archers, and shoot arrows in line, and hold them down." With Sokhman's order, many Saracen, Turkic, and Coptic archers with small round shields on their arms poured out of the vertical wall corridors of the various towers, gathered behind the fence, and without aiming at all, they hurled the arrows from the recurve bow into the sky at the top of the fence, causing them to fall wildly and play a lethal effect.

The arrows slammed into the ground, and puffs of dust splashed at Calilland's feet as if raindrops were falling, and Garilland's body shook slightly—his linen armor had been hit by four or five arrows in an instant, but the triple armor protected him, and the arrows did not even touch his skin—two servants, one holding his kite shield high, and the other crouching under it continued to load the bolts for the crossbow, and Gariland and the rest of the heavy crossbowmen were undaunted, and shot the defenders on the battlements so that they could not lift their heads.

"Projectile stone projectiles, cover the duke, and crush enemy defensive walls and towers." About 300 feet behind, Josseran turned over his horse and continued to wave the battle flag, and six erected stone throwers, three on the left and three on the right, spread out on either side of the siege towers—the weak and unarmored pilgrims were gathered here, pulling the ropes on the stone throwers in groups, swinging up and down with a huge hoarse sound, constantly throwing tumbling stones, smashing the defensive walls around the Tower of David to the ground, shouting and shouting, the sound of horns, and the whistling of arrows and flying stones shook the whole holy city. In the midst of the smoke and fire, Godfrey, Baldwin, and Flanders Robert all bravely stood on the top of the dozens of feet high siege tower, approaching the core tower where Sockman was located.

The besieging troops, with the skillful cooperation of the brothers Joselan and Garilland, suppressed the defenders on the battlements, seized this good opportunity, and the siege towers began to approach the battlements in a squeaky and sharp sound, and the towers began to collide and rub, and broken bricks and stones continued to tumble and fall.

The location of the siege tower was also cleverly chosen: it was a tower that had been destroyed earlier, and the defenders were holding spears and bows and arrows, and had built a temporary barrier with planks, straw bags, and willow baskets, and many people looked at the top of the siege tower close at hand, howling and igniting the spear tips wrapped in sackcloth, grabbing the booming jars, and preparing to throw them all in unison to burn all the enemies inside! (To be continued.) )