"My friends, the bravest knights, the wisest kings from all the nations of Europe. The strongest soldiers - we have come to the city of Jerusalem. This is the Promised Land of God. The holy city where Jesus Christ was martyred, and the place where He was exalted and resurrected!"

When Saladin got the news and hurried to the city, he saw such a scene.

Soldiers as far as the eye could see, heavily armed men from all over the continent, surrounded the whole of Jerusalem. Before that, the various siege engines that had brought great damage to the defenders of Jerusalem and were extremely shocking were also extremely eye-catching.

One of the most striking of these siege machines was a gun that looked several times larger than the surrounding artillery. It's like a monster. The swarthy tube seemed to fit directly into a person. It's chilling.

However, it is not for nothing that there is more frightening than this. That is, now, wearing the full-body plate armor that he had just obtained, exuding a strange charm, straddled the long sword, and rode his horse in front of the crowd of soldiers to give a loud speech, Egil Skadergrímsson.

"We have traveled thousands of miles to brave the wind and waves to come here, what is it for? It is a holy place! We have come for a holy place. In order to regain the city. In order to expel and kill the heretics who occupy this place, blasphemy. To purify this filth!"

With Egil's speech, the soldiers, who had already been impatient, were agitated and teased, and their morale rose sharply. Glory and faith, wealth pricked their nerves. Let their fighting spirit soar.

So, someone might ask: We have come from afar, far from the land where we live. We are isolated and exhausted. But the enemy sat on the fortified city and was prepared. Will we really be able to achieve our goal and win?"

Egil asked, then paused, looked at the expectant eyes of the soldiers around him, and then replied, "Well, my answer is this—we are crusaders, representing justice, truth, faith, and glory, and the army of Jesus Christ!! and we are destined to victory, glory, and history!"

As Egil's words fell, the Crusader soldiers shouted frantically, and their fighting spirit reached its peak. On the contrary, under the momentum of the Crusaders, the Arab soldiers at the head of the city were in two battles, and their faces were like ashes.

"I command you, start fighting! Shelling! Artillery bombardment! Make way for our warriors!!"

As Egil gave the order, the Crusader soldiers shouted in response. The commander of the artillery, as well as other long-range siege weapons, Basumi, shouted at the same time: "Ready, cannons, fire solid shells at that cracked wall." Mortar cannons, fire explosive bombs at the city! Catapult operators, prepare iron artillery, win or lose in one move, it doesn't matter if all the ammunition is shot!"

With no such order, hundreds of artillery pieces began to roar continuously. And more catapults, as well as more chuáng crossbows, scorpion crossbows and ballistas, and even more iron cannons were thrown. This is because if you use the Celestial Flame Bomb, the burning fire will also cause trouble for the Crusaders' attacks.

The most eye-catching thing is still the exaggerated 64-pounder siege cannon. When the cannon was finally cast, Egil gave it the apt name "The Monster". The giant siege cannon named Monster fires a little slowly. But its power is unforgettable.

After all the cannons had fired two or even three rounds, the monster cannon swallowed the gunpowder unhurriedly. The gunner who operated the cannon lit the fuse, then immediately ran to the side, crouched down and covered his ears. Still, the loud explosion sent pain to his eardrums. ...,

Then, the heavy, sixty-four-pound lead projectile roared out of the chamber and slammed into the crack that had been designated by General Asami. Amid the shaking of the mountains, the cheers of the Crusaders, and the terrified shouts of the Arabs, the walls, which had already been bombarded with heavy fire, finally collapsed. Engulfed the hundreds of Arab soldiers above it and under the walls.

"What is this, what is this?! It is simply terrible! Allah, have you abandoned your followers?" At that time, the vast majority of Arab soldiers' minds were blank, while a few more intelligent ones were already wailing in pain.

Previously, Saladin had issued a special order for the imams to advertise among the army the powerful gunpowder weapons of the Norman Empire: These are the weapons of the devil. It is the Crusaders who are further proof of the devil's believers. And the Arabs, who are the elect of Allah, must not be frightened by these things. This is Allah's test for us. In the end, the Arabs' devout faith in Allah will prevail over the devil of the Crusaders and achieve ultimate victory.

This idealistic propaganda partially dispelled the fears of the Arab soldiers—and yet, under the power of the sixty-four pounds of monster cannons, the armor that the imams had put on their soldiers for months of propaganda was completely disintegrated!

"Devils! These people are devils! We can't win against them!" many soldiers wailed, and put down their weapons and fell to the ground. Immediately afterward, it was fired by Norman mortars, filled with gunpowder, and the flowering shells of explosives exploded into slag. However, many more soldiers came in with the promise of Islamic imams, clergy clergy dressed in Dharma robes, armed with swords in one hand and the Qur'an in the other.

The Arab soldiers frantically responded to the Crusaders' attacks, forming a dense barrage of long-range barrage with bows, javelins, and stones. And hundreds, thousands, of Arab soldiers rushed towards the gap, which had been bombarded by Norman artillery, intending to fill the wall with flesh and blood.

At the same time, the infantry arrays of the Crusaders were already in place. There were more than before, larger, and more sturdy ladder carts, wider than before, and able to accommodate more infantry to charge. Moreover, this time it was not only the northern wall that had such a configuration, but the other three directions, and even the east, were dominated by the Greek army. Basil II also received this handy siege machine!

At the same time, a total of more than 60 building cars with firing platforms also slowly entered the firing range. Immediately afterward, a large number of Norman heavy crossbowmen, armed with the latest steel pulley crossbows, and Norman longbowmen, crowded the wagons. On top of that, the largest of the building cars were even armed with small four-pounder guns.

Thanks to the support provided by these wagons, and on the ground, France emulated the support of English longbowmen, Burgundian and Italian crossbowmen, as well as compound archers from Eastern Europe. The Crusader soldiers were on the besieging side. But in terms of firepower, it has already suppressed the Arabs defending the city. With the help of long-range assistance, the soldiers successfully launched a charge towards the castle tower!

In a few moments, the city was filled with Crusader hoplites. Fierce battles were fought with the Arab infantry. And for long-range attacks, those crossbows on the ground have stopped firing. The bombardment of the city walls also stopped. The building cars, as well as the mortars with high ballistic parabolas, continued to advance the line, bombarding indiscriminately into the city.

The Crusaders were approaching, relying on heavy armor and good equipment. As well as the assistance of various construction machinery and cutting-edge crossbow machines of the Norman Empire, little by little they gained the upper hand. However, under the brainwashing of Islamic teachings and encouraged by the imams' loud recitation of the Holy Quran, the Arab soldiers also went forward one after another, and although their compatriots around them continued to fall, they still gritted their teeth and insisted on meeting the crusaders to live and die. ...,

"Tsk, in this case, it will turn into a tug-of-war again. What a hassle. Standing on a building car a little further away from the battlefield, Egil held a telescope and looked at the battlefield. Although the Crusaders were victorious, in the face of the enemy's desperate counterattack, damage was inevitable. Soldiers from other countries died and died. It doesn't matter how many you die. But if the Norman soldiers died, Egil was heartbroken.

"I don't know if that guy will make a move...... No, you can't expect anything from that kind of guy. I still have to rely on my own strength to win. Egil secretly calculated, and then looked at the battlefield, I don't know when, the Arab forces actually had the upper hand in a corner!

"Damn it, the reserves, two thousand Norman infantry!!" As Egil's words fell, the knights of the surrounding guards sounded their horns. In the heights, the sound of trumpets reverberated throughout the battlefield. A group of Norman infantry immediately shouted excitedly and rushed towards the walls......

Meanwhile.

In a barracks, Zhao Haier, who had been rescued by the Norman spies earlier, was secretly silent, ignoring the persuasion of several Norman spies in front of him, as well as several of his ambitious sworn friends, and fell into deep thought.

Although he was quite dissatisfied with Zhao Haier's behavior, at this time, the spies had no other way than to constantly persuade him. The old man who had been in contact with him before stepped forward and said, "General. We have rescued you as agreed between us. And you hesitate -- who do you have illusions about? Saladin? do you think he can forgive you? or our emperor? Are you testing the emperor's bottom line? His Majesty Egil has never been a tolerant monarch!"!