Outside the city, the Crusader knights complained and lamented as the steel gates of Jerusalem fell. With Saladin's escape, he returned to the city of Jerusalem. Their princely titles, fiefdoms, and the glory and wealth of the rest of their lives vanished. Even if they go back like this, they will also receive a very good reward, and then they will live a life without food and clothing. But compared to a grand prize like the Prince of Jerusalem, those seemingly generous rewards are nothing. The knights were not uncomfortable.

After that, in anger, the knights ignored the pleadings and surrenders of the remnants of the Arab soldiers, and slaughtered the Arabs under Jerusalem who had not had time to flee. At the walls of Jerusalem, the defenders trembled and had no intention of going out to meet their own army, even though their opponent was a cavalry force of no more than six hundred men.

In this way, Egil once again planted the cross outside Jerusalem, but this time, Saladin did not dare to go out of the city again, and buried the bodies as he had done the last time. After this failed campaign, the Arabs lost nearly 50,000 soldiers. More importantly, and more tragically, their confidence was eroded by the defeat of this campaign. And that day, the scene of Saladin's meeting with Egil. It also spread in the city of Jerusalem with the deliberate spread of malicious Norman spies.

Whether it was Egil's feat of holding a long knife and crossing steel bracers at the beginning, or Assasin's hurtful actions behind his back after this meeting, or the next thing about Egil chasing Saladin. All of them make Muslims feel humiliated. And the battle that followed also proved that the opposing emperor's skills were not only amazing. It is also outstanding in leading the war. Such a mighty king led a stream of pagans from all over Europe to attack their cities. Muslims should not be afraid.

Saladin tried several times in the hope of quelling these rumors, which were outrageous, but completely unfavorable to himself and to Arabia. But in the end, it failed - he didn't look like Egil, who had the reputation of a tyrant. He can do whatever he wants to annoy his subjects. Saladin has always boasted of justice and gentleness, kindness. It may be okay to ask him to put on a show of hypocrisy, but it is not his specialty to engage in white terror. These rumors further undermined Saladin's prestige and demoralized the Arabs.

Of course, these things do hurt people's character. But these things are nothing compared to the other thing. The sword is sharp or something, and it can be justified: "Can all the heretics be so strong? No matter how strong the Norman emperor is, he is only one person." Moreover, the sages and sages taught us that it is not the sword that is strong, but our faith. Firmly believe in the teachings of the Qur'an, and Allah will bless us. In this way, the assassination of Assasin can also be claimed to be the cause of the Assasin himself - and indeed it is true. As for temporary failures, this one is even more problematic. Victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers. The defeat of a campaign in a short period of time does not mean much......

However, there was one thing that Saladin could not justify in any way—that he had slaughtered his own soldiers that night in order to flee for his life. In addition, after retreating into the city, he ordered the gates to be closed and watched the remnants of his army be slaughtered by the Crusaders. These two events made Saladin's usual benevolence and justice a joke. greatly hurt Saladin's prestige. Whether it is to slaughter one's own people, or whether one's own people live or die, it is a very hurtful thing. In the case of the latter, it can also be prevaricated on the grounds that the Crusaders will rush in and Jerusalem will fall. But the first one, there really is no good reason. ...,

Greedy for life and afraid of death, ruthless, human-faced and animal-hearted...... Adjectives like this can all be applied to Saladin after this incident. And Saladin's guards, the Casaji cavalry, who were personally in charge, also went from being a hero sung by everyone to a tyrant's ferocious minions. If Egil looked at Saladin's attributes at this moment, he would be pleased to find that this guy's prestige had dropped from eighteen to eight, barely maintaining the level that a powerful monarch should have. And the virtue, which was originally eighteen points high, has now dropped by twenty points all at once. Became two points of brutality......

"If it goes on like this, it's over...... Before the Crusaders come to attack the city, there may be a rebellion and overthrow me......" A few days later, Saladin was on a tour of the city, and the treatment he encountered was completely different from before. Before that, wherever Saladin went, he would be welcomed by hundreds, thousands of Muslims. The people cheered loudly, praising Saladin's mercy and justice. He was called the great hero of the Islamic world, a great prophet and leader like Muhammad. But now it was different, and everywhere he went, he was greeted with a cold, slightly hostile, unfriendly face. In a trance, he almost felt as if Jerusalem had fallen. He was not in his own city, but had been taken by the Crusaders. It made him feel very uncomfortable.

Eventually, Saladin came up with the idea of a very simple idea, which had some side effects, but it didn't work so much at this time, and it could be summed up in five simple words: find a scapegoat.

And, in fact, Saladin had a very good scapegoat on his hands. Whether it is status, behavior, or mutual affection, it is only fitting that this person should come forward to bear the guilt - it is Saladin's general, confidant (past tense), Zhaohail Suikili.

Of course, Saladin's conviction of him was not a complete wrongful act. After all, that night, the order for the Kasaji cavalry to slaughter their own soldiers to open the way was actually given by Zhao Haier. Although Saladin did not prevent him from giving the order, and objectively acquiesced in his actions, he could not be merciful at this time.

So, Saladin summoned Zhaohaier with an order. The general saw Saladin's gloomy face, and thought that he would be reprimanded again--but he didn't expect that Saladin would be ruthless in his heart to deal with him--On that day, although Zhao Haier gave such an order for his own life, objectively, it could be regarded as saving Saladin's life. If it weren't for murder to open the way. I can't say that at this moment, Saladin's corpse is rotten.

"Master......" As soon as Zhao Haier bowed his head, he was ready to be trained, but what awaited him was not Saladin's angry scolding, but the rude Kasaji guards, rough ropes, and cold dungeons.

"Saladin!! you bastard, ungrateful beasts are inferior to !!!!" at that time, when a group of Kasaji cavalry pressed him to the ground and tied him up. Saladin, on the other hand, had a grim face and laid all the charges on him, and Zhao Haier's face suddenly turned red—he knew that after such a crime was convicted, he would not be spared in any way. Saladin would have killed him—and in the fear of death, Chauhair burst out, and two or three sturdy Kasaji cavalrymen struggled to hold him down. And bundling or something, in this state can not be carried out. Eventually, it was Assasin's leader, Hassan, who walked over and snapped two of his arms, which led to him being tied up. ...,

"Suppress him, and at the same time send people to propagate, that is, Zhao Haier, who ordered the massacre of his compatriots that day, has been bribed by the crusaders. When I have defeated the Crusaders, I will kill him as a consolation to my fellow soldiers who died that day. Seeing that Zhao Haier, who was scolding all the way, was dragged away. Saladin commanded. Let the Kasaji Guards spread the word. After that, he turned to Old Man Hassan and said, "In addition, please also, Old Man Hassan, let your men also move and spread the news like this." ”

"Of course, that's what I'm supposed to do. Hassan nodded, turned to leave, and after a few steps stopped, turned to Saladin and asked, "Say, caliph." Why don't you just kill that guy and keep him alive?"

"I have my own opinion on this matter. Saladin said with a wave of his hand.

"But be careful, if you don't die, you will suffer from it. That's what you should know. Hassan finally reminded him. Then he turned and left. Saladin was left alone, his face cloudy and uncertain, looking a little hesitant.

Thus, in the following days, Saladin's propaganda, as well as the effectiveness of scapegoating, gradually became apparent. Calm gradually returned to Jerusalem. Although doubts about Saladin still come from time to time. But the situation is not as serious as it used to be. In addition, someone deliberately preached: "Now the infidels are overwhelmed." The most important thing in this time is unity. There is anything to wait until the infidels have retreated. Now the first task is not from time to time infighting, but war with the infidels. ”

In this way, the situation in Jerusalem was finally stabilized. Saladin's prestige and moral attributes were also restored with this. At the cost of an unforgettable hatred from one of his cronies.

And in the few days when Saladin was busy pressing the internal problems of Jerusalem, the Crusaders were not idle. Under Egil's maneuver and a series of orders, the Crusaders were reorganized, rewarded, and celebrated. Order and morale were restored. Moving on, they gradually besieged Jerusalem......

*J Novel Knight