Barbary Pirate King. The Sultan of Central North Africa, who lived to be thirty-five years old, but had nearly twenty-five years of bloody life, was the king of pirates who could raise tens of thousands of troops and thousands of warships to cross the entire Mediterranean Sea at the sound of an order. He also served as the marshal of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. The man given the name Hayreddin by Suleiman was a warrior with piercing eyes and a thin face like a knife blown by the sea breeze. I'm in a bad mood right now.

The original tried-and-true tactics of lure, ambush, and raid lost their effectiveness. This is indeed one of the reasons for Hayreddin's anger, but it is not the main reason. Hayreddin had some predictions about this defeat - the other party's purpose was not to fight them, or to eliminate pirates. Rather, it transports troops to the Holy Land. So it's understandable that they ignore a fleet of pirate ships. What was difficult for Hayreddin to accept was the over-exaggeration of the enemy's armed forces by the captains of the returning decoy ships.

"The other party is just too strong. There were only three ships in pursuit of us, and yet their attacks rained down. The huge steel javelins, which were scorching, were shot out by them with ballistas. It was a scene far more terrifying than the most terrible storm. We ran away a little faster, so we dodged. But another ship was hit by them. sank without suspense. It's a horrible scene......"

Very nasty, that kind of frightened voice, obscene look, and exaggerated descriptions...... Everything is very nasty. So without hesitation, Hyreddin drew his scimitar - as fast and accurate as lightning, and the tremendous force and sharp blade combined with the action of the blade cut off the head of the subordinate pirate captain - and the body stood upright for a few seconds before slowly falling. Arterial blood spilled on the faces of several pirates around them.

"Allah hates cowards. Hareddin said coldly: "Guys, don't believe the lies that guy tells. That's just nonsense from a coward who wants to evade responsibility, not enough to believe. We've been at war with Norman pirates and plundered Norman merchant fleets before. Yes, I must admit, the Normans were different from the other Franks. They are more courageous and good at fighting. And there are very few surrenders. Their ships were better than those of the ordinary Franks - but it was we who won in the end! and the toils and rewards were the same - the goods we plundered on the Normans. That's several times as many as other merchants!"

Hearing Hayreddin's words, the eyes of several other pirate leaders also became eager. Indeed, Norman merchants and Norman pirates. They did deal with these characters. Although they are very powerful. But as long as you gather enough men, you can crush the opponent - they are not invincible.

"Boss Hyreddin, you have a lot of truth - but as far as I know, this Norman fleet is not transporting supplies, but heavily armed Crusader bandits—and even if we can defeat them, we will probably not get as much as the men and ships we have lost?" asked one of the pirate leaders.

"Good question!" said all of the people gathered around Hayreddin to listen to his speech, all of whom had a dozen ships under their hands. A pirate leader with hundreds of little brothers. Naturally, you can't deal with them like you did with the little captain before, and slaughter them with one sword. Hayreddin shouted at this, then lowered his voice. At the same time, he pretended to mysteriously ask the pirate leader to approach him, and then whispered: "You think, if we kidnap the emperor of the Norman Empire. So how much benefit will we get?"

Hearing such an almost audacious declaration as Hayreddin. A bunch of pirate leaders were frightened by his hubris. The vast majority of the people were dumbfounded—these people knew exactly how powerful the Norman Empire really was—or better than the princes of the land. Because those who act as kings only need to close their territories and live on the output of their estates.

Although it is possible to obtain some second-hand information from former businessmen or unreliable spies, this information is often exaggerated. Distorted, unconvincing. So, they had a vague idea of what the Norman Empire itself was, and a judgment of "probably the strongest nation on the continent, right? But there is no accurate, detailed and reliable understanding. ...,

And these pirate leaders. Although the status is much lower than that of those kings - even if it is recognized. The leader of this line, Khareddin, who holds the title of Sultan, is most of the time regarded as a vassal, a bandit lord, rather than the monarch of an independent state.

However, these pirates had a more intuitive understanding of the Norman Empire. These perceptions came from the accepted beliefs of Norman traders, pirates, and Barbary pirates. The "invincible" Norman offshore fleet. With the repeated battles with the Norman sea forces and the defeat after failure, the originally powerful Barbary pirate regiment was defeated and declined. Large numbers of small pirate groups were wiped out. Countless Barbary men were killed, their bodies transported to the shores of North Africa and stacked in Beijing, where human heads were bone-cut and strung together. After that, it was hung on a newly made cross......

In front of the Norman navy, which was much better equipped and tactically superior to them, the Barbary pirates, who had always been arrogant, were beaten to the point of crying and crying for their mother. The power was greatly weakened. And with the victories of the Norman Empire, in the minds of the Barbary pirates, this empire gradually replaced the Romans and replaced the Italians. became their number one enemy - and the invincible kind.

"That's the Emperor of the Norman Empire...... Boss Hayreddin!" An emotional pirate leader's eyes widened. Waving his arms: "It's the emperor of the Norman Empire with the most powerful navy and the most powerful one!

"Don't look down on yourself too much!" helled Hareddin, "Do you think that I was unprepared to make such a move with enthusiasm? And now we have gathered nearly 500 boats, a total of more than 30,000 heroes!

"Even if you say so, Boss Hayreddin. Our brothers are desperate, a big fight. Defeated them. So what are our interests?, the Norman Emperor?" asked another pirate leader, "such a big meat ticket, it's hot." ”

"Indeed, indeed. This order is bought and sold. If it's just us Barbary people, it's really risky. Hayreddin laughed: "You are afraid, it is not easy to deal with the kidnapping of the Norman Emperor, is it? In fact, we don't need to bargain with the Norman Empire - I have already negotiated a deal with the Sultan Saladin of Egypt - we will sell the Norman Emperor to Saladin." In this way, the Norman Empire will not be able to blame us. Saladin could also defeat the Crusaders and defend the Holy Land more easily. We also did our best for Allah and contributed to the holy war. With that, we can definitely go to heaven when we die!"

Hearing Haireddin say this, all the pirate leaders exclaimed, but they didn't know when Haireddin, who had always eaten Turkish barbecue, was next to Saladin's thigh. And many pirate leaders thought about it carefully and found that what Hayreddin said was true. Although this thing sounds dangerous, it is not impossible to accomplish and unimaginable -- what kind of life did the pirates live? Isn't it just that they are bleeding from the knife every day, and wading through the water and fire? At this moment, the sea boss pointed out a way for everyone to become famous and rich, and everyone naturally longed for it.

"How much is the Sultan of Saladin, the boss of Hayreddin, willing to pay to buy his brothers?" the pirate leaders discussed for a while, and then one of the representatives asked the question of their greatest concern.

"It's up to your brother to answer this question. Seeing that he had been moved by the pirate leaders, Khareddin turned his face to the man beside him, who had not spoken for a long time, and then announced in a loud voice to the pirate leaders: "This is the messenger of the Sultan of Saladin, General Zhaohail Suikili!"

Just now, the pirate leaders wondered how there was another person by Hairedin's side, and after listening to his introduction, they realized that this person was Saladin's messenger. However, when I looked closely, I felt that something was wrong - this man did not seem to be an Arab. Look at his complexion, long light brown hair and slightly blue eyes. But it's more like a Frank......

"All warriors who fought for Allah! I am here to bring the promise of the great Saladin! There is no one in the whole world who keeps his promise more than my master Saladin, and his promise is absolutely valid! Everyone, listen well! The Sultan is willing to pay you 100,000 dinars for this operation! If you can successfully kill the pagan devil, the Norman emperor, then the Sultan is willing to pay 500,000! If you can bring him alive to Egypt, the Sultan will be generous enough to open all five of his great coffers in Damascus, and give them half of the gold stored in them as a reward to the warriors!!"

The messenger shouted this, and took out from his bosom a contract with Saladin's coat of arms, fingerprints, and signatures—no more than the one that Egirmont had deceived Pugachev—and it was true!

Hearing such an announcement from this person. The pirates were dumbfounded, and then they all went crazy! After hearing Saladin's generous promise, the last shred of fear of the Norman Emperor vanished. The pirates shouted frantically, brandished their scimitars frantically, and swore vows, insults to the Norman Emperor, and prayers to Allah. They have made up their minds thoroughly. Capture Egil alive and send him to Saladin for money that will never be spent in a lifetime!(To be continued.) )