"My child, I believe in the steadfastness of the Count of Normandy, who has not seen the restoration of the Holy City and the Temple, and whose ambition will not be reversed, and the red skafu he wore when he joined the expedition was not sewn for him by your wife Adella and his sister herself? If you give up halfway and return to your hometown, and someone asks, "Count of Normandy, since you have returned, you must have recovered the Holy City and visited the Holy Sepulchre, how should Robert reply at this time?" Ademar trembled and lifted Count Stephen to his feet, but in his words, he remained unwavering about the disposition, of course he knew that Stephen and Robert . Curtis is a brother-in-law, "Robert's slackness should be caused by his own lack of firm faith in the Lord and his wavering." ”

"Think again, Honorable and loving Priesthood," said Earl Stephen, who knew that if this punishment was to be made, his brother-in-law would really starve to death, and how would he tell his wife when he returned to his hometown.

Unexpectedly, his shoulder was pinched by Ademar's backhand, and the tears on the old priesthood kept flowing in front of Stephen, "What can I do, what can I do?" Who can do anything about this city wall built by the power of the devil that is impossible to destroy with guns, spears and ballistas! With that, Ademar hung his head, wept silently in despair, and knelt down in front of the earl's arm, and the young priest beside him hurried to help.

The three of them were silent, and in front of them was the vast and impregnable city of Antioch, with its tumbling Orontes River, the mountains and dense towers on which it rested. The crowd of pilgrims below was like watching a swarm of ants overwhelmed by the storm and wind. Yaji. Siyan triumphantly held his long beard and continued to look at his slave. Whipping the Patriarch of Antioch hanging from the gloomy walls of the prison.

The three stone throwers facing the walls of the Dog Gate were pulled down in a sparse and lonely shadow in the winter sun, and they threw countless stone bullets, but they did not cause any practical damage to the towers and gates of the Dog Gate. In the wilderness, trembling pilgrims wept and buried the bodies of their companions killed by the Turkic light horsemen, and told them everywhere. "The supplies from Port Saint-Simon are gone, and everyone will continue to starve."

In the evening, the besieging camp of more than 100,000 pilgrims was filled with voices of wailing and suspicion. People's hearts sank to the bottom like the winter rain a few days ago.

Stephen, helpless, returned to the camp with the escort cavalry. The two neighboring Roberts, the Count of Normandy and the Count of Flanders, were told about the decision on Ardmar's punishment.

The Count of Normandy burst into tears, tears dripping down his long-unkempt beard and thin, yellow cheeks. Then it gathered on the chin, and swayed, and the servants in the tent also began to weep. Then there was Flanders Robert, including Stephen himself. They came together on pilgrimage expeditions and were most closely related. Sometimes in the face of bullying by a big boss like Bohemond, they can only huddle together to keep warm.

There was a cry of mourning in the tent. Curtis finished crying, wiped away his tears, and left angrily, "I take all the remaining knights, leave Antioch City, and go back along Cilicia, I don't believe that Baldwin and Gawain will not let me go." ”

"I approve of your departure, and when you go to Seleucia, inform me, and I will take the opportunity to leave here with my men." Just when the more serious Flanders Robert was just about to persuade him, the words that made him even more terrifying actually came out of the mouth of the "Military General Staff of the Council of Cardinals".

"You're all crazy!" Flanders Robert was shocked and stood up to dissuade the two brothers-in-law from speaking.

"I am not mad, on the contrary I am very sober, and when we were triumphant all the way through the city of Nicaea, Curtis and I received many gifts and supplies from the Greek emperor, and then plundered many riches in the various Turkic fortresses on the plateau. But now I see that even the capture of Antioch consumed all my loyal men and goods. The interests and benefits are also Godfrey, Raymond or Bohemond, who are the predators who can get a piece of the pie, and we are just poor miscellaneous fish. Stephen put his arm on his shoulders and said bitterly, "What a military staff, I can still boast in my letter to Adella, but in reality I am just a poor man caught in the gap at the mercy of the cardinals." So while I still have some money, I hurry back to my hometown, I want to see Adele and the child, and I won't think about anything else. ”

Then the two brothers-in-law also persuaded the Count of Flanders to act with them, but Flanders Robert rebuked him sternly, believing that this was a betrayal and desecration of the holy pilgrimage, even if he could spare his life and return home with some money in the future, the shame on the family would be eternal, and don't forget that you are all descendants of William the Great Conqueror!

After these words, the two men were ashamed and hesitated again, and then the Count of Flanders continued to cheer them up, begging them to stay for the time being, and wait for "the reinforcements from Denmark, Norway, the Franks, Lombardy, and Constantinople after the beginning of spring, especially the army of His Excellency Gawain, and the army of the Emperor of Greece." ”

Then, the Count of Flanders also specially reminded the two that their words and deeds just now must not be spread outside the camp tent, because most of the knights and sergeants under their command are in debt, and they have followed them here. If our wavering hesitation reaches the ears of the soldiers, it will have a great negative impact on morale and morale, and we will become sinners of Christ and be ashamed for thousands of years.

"But it is said that Kobha, the prince of the Turks in Khorasan, is commanding an army of unprecedented size toward Antioch." Stephen asked.

"At the Council of Cardinals, we plead with the city of Edessa in Tancred, to resist the infidel army, and to wait wholeheartedly for reinforcements from all sides." The Count of Flanders replied, and then he told the two that now Robert . Curtis's rations were deducted by the priesthood, and Stephen and I each gave some food to help Curtis tide over the storm and keep going.

The three of them could only wipe away their tears and encourage each other, "If the Norman city of Edessa could not resist the infidel army, Curtis and I would still be determined to leave." Stephen eventually stuck to this point.

The messenger of Orcelium arrived, asking the three to go to the vital pre-battle military meeting about the attack on the city of Antioch. (To be continued.) )