Although Saladin had already heard many rumors about the skilled craftsmen and powerful war machines of the Norman Empire. And after seeing those huge and diverse war machines, I also thought I had an intuitive understanding...... However, when the Norman engineers and gunners began to attack with all their might, Saladin realized how wrong he was. The previous thoughts, as well as their own understanding, were extinguished at this moment with the roar of huge artillery and bursts of gunsmoke. When Norman ballistas and canisters of fire oil fell from the sky, Saladin had the illusion of the end of the world for a moment......

"No! I can't give up hope yet. This is just the beginning!" Saladin cheered himself up, giving orders in quick succession. At the same time, large numbers of Islamic imams also ran up to the city at the risk of being shot and burned, chanting the Koran loudly and inspiringly. In order to calm the soldiers - and so, after a brief period of confusion, the Islamic soldiers regained their courage - although their bodies were still trembling and their faces were still pale. On a hot day, I felt chills all over. But after all, they have calmed down.

The soldiers, under Saladin's orders, carried a large amount of sand and soil to extinguish the flames on the walls. Leaning down, he tried his best to endure enemy fire - every now and then some shaky masonry and pheasant battlements would collapse, crushing the soldiers below to death. And the angry guns that came in through those gaps also took the lives of a large number of soldiers. Screams abounded over the city of Jerusalem. It's like hell on earth. In the city not far from the city walls, many buildings have also been injured by accident. The Arab soldiers were in no mood to bother with such things. Some civilians who did not know what to do panicked and tried to extinguish the fire with water. However, the result was that the flames burned more and more.

Eventually, Saladin feared that such a fire would cause unnecessary harm to Jerusalem. If the wind is in the opposite direction, and the other party is ruthless, he cannot say that a single fire can burn half of Jerusalem. So the king of the desert immediately issued an order, asking some reserve troops, as well as improvised civilians to act as temporary firefighters. Shovel soil on the spot to extinguish the fire. Only then did the fire be extinguished little by little.

In this way, in the first round of fighting, the Arab army suffered heavy losses, and the entire army and people of Jerusalem suffered a great disaster. Of course, it would be naïve to think that Jerusalem would be breached in this way.

"Really...... It's sturdy, isn't it...... Or is the current artillery technology not up to par, or not enough?"

After an hour and a half of bombardment, nearly a quarter of the ammunition stockpiled by the Norman Empire was consumed. Although many Islamic soldiers were killed and wounded, and the wall became potholes, the pheasant moat collapsed a lot, and the defense power was reduced a lot. But the walls had no intention of collapsing at all. Egil thought to himself with a frown. Then he stretched out his hand and said lightly: "Stop shooting, order, siege." ”

Thus, after an hour and a half of bombardment, the Norman Emperor and most of the Crusader generals were a little impatient. A fireworks display like this is really exciting at first glance. But after watching it for a long time, I don't think it's a big deal. And the sound is annoying. There are quite a few people who are a little less physically fit and their eardrums are sore - of course, the more important reason is that today's casting technology is still not up to par, in fact, these guns only fire an average of twelve shells per gun, and if they continue to fire, these guns will blow up due to the overheating of the barrels.........

The Crusader soldiers, who had been waiting impatiently, cheered when they heard this. began to push hard the building car, rushing car, ladder car, baffle car forward. And many more ran forward carrying makeshift rough ladders. In the blink of an eye, he rushed to the front.

At this moment, the other three crusaders, as well as the Greek army under the command of Emperor Basil, also began to attack - except for the Greek side, the Emperor Basil refused the fire aid provided by Egil out of dignity, and the defenders of the other two walls were also bombarded to varying degrees - in fact, King Philip of France wanted to continue to let the Norman artillery bombard. When the gunners told him that the barrel was overheating, he took it as a prevarication and a precaution - he had taken note of it, and King Philip, who thought he had learned how to handle the artillery, was so angry that he ran over to operate the cannon himself. And because of his noble status. The other soldiers were not easy to stop. Thereupon......

So his hands were roasted by the hot barrels......

"!!Ahh

"The enemy is coming, shoot, shoot!" Seeing that the Crusaders were attacking, the Arab officers and nobles on the opposite side of Jerusalem immediately ordered. So, the soldiers scrambled to get up and shot down with bows and crossbows under the cover of the pheasant battlements.

"Raise your shield, raise your shield!"

The soldiers who pushed the building carts, rushing carts and baffle carts were equipped with siege machinery to shield themselves from arrows. Thus not many were killed, but the soldiers who rushed to the front carrying the long ladder were not so lucky—better if they were regular troops with full armor. Unless you are shot in the face, where there is no armor to protect you. Otherwise, it's hard to get hurt. But the improvised conscripts, the spontaneous Christian crusaders, the Bavarian army, which had not yet undergone military reform, were not equipped with excellent armor. Quite a few were shot down by condescending Arab archers.

Fortunately, many of the crusader officers and nobles had been battle-hardened. And the shield is not as expensive and complicated as the armor. After the officers had given such a loud order, the crusaders raised a large number of shields of all kinds—composite shields of fine workmanship with elaborate coats of arms, to rough skinned wooden shields. There are even things that look more like pot lids, door panels, and rattan plaques that are crudely crude, apparently improvised and shoddy...... Under the cover of these shields, the Crusaders' advance slowed down, but the casualties became fewer.

In particular, Basil, the eastern wall of the main attack of the Greek army, sent three heavy infantry brigades of the Eastern Romans to attack as soon as he got his hands on it. With a squad of centurions giving orders in a loud voice, the guys even formed a few slightly messy tortoiseshell formations, leaving the Arab archers facing them at a loss......

"Prepare the Nafa fire pot, prepare boiling oil and boiling water. Prepare the stones!"

In this way, the Crusaders were seen getting closer and closer. The Arab officers gave a new order. Immediately soldiers brought a large number of garrisons from under the city, from inside the towers, and the reason why they had not brought them before was because of Saladin's orders. I'm afraid that those fire oil and the like will be destroyed by the Norman siege machinery. It turned out that such an order was correct. Otherwise, the previous fire would definitely be even more arrogant and cause more damage to the Arabs with these helps.

After a few minutes of marching, the first Crusader soldiers, often the lowliest cannon fodder, had reached Jerusalem. The soldiers set up ladders to the edge of the wall, some holding on to the bottom, while many more scrambled to start climbing. Immediately after, boiling oil, boiling water, and stones crackled down on the city walls. There was a terrible howl under the city walls. The soldiers, scalded by hot water, boiling oil, and even blown up, screamed - while those who had been hit by the rocks fell to the ground without saying a word, and some of them were not too badly injured by their shields - scalded to death and second-degree burns. The difference between being stoned and having your arm broken. ...,

Subsequently, many of those ladders were also burned out and broken. Or it was directly pushed down by the Arabs. However, there were still many crusaders who persevered and continued to climb up.

"Smash them down!" Seeing that the enemy was getting closer and closer, the attacks on the walls were getting more and more intense. Bows and arrows, crossbows, javelins and stones, boiling oil, and in addition to the secret weapon of the Arabs, the Nafa fire jar. The siege soldiers were also suffering more and more damage. Under the city walls, charred, deformed corpses have been laid a layer of ground. And there is a tendency to continue to increase.

"Really. If this continues, there won't be enough lives......" Egil watched the tragic scene of the siege. I couldn't help but sigh like this. Although it is said that the dead were all spontaneously organized Christian crusaders, or Bavarians, French and Italians, who had little to do with him. But seeing such a tragic scene, Egil's mood was still a little heavy.

"The Empire's army is on the verge of rushing forward. Your Majesty. At this time, beside Egil, Alpha, the captain of the Death Knight, said. Egil nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Hopefully, the better-equipped Imperial soldiers will perform better. Egil said this, and at the same time looked at Asami, who was running towards him, and smiled: "Good work, Asami." ”

Maybe it was the drunken incident a few days ago, after which Egil called her by her first name. Asami protested slightly, and after the protest was ineffective, she also acquiesced to the title.

"My lord, although the firearms are temporarily unusable, the other siege machines can still continue to fight. Why at this time—"

"—Because the time has not yet come. Egil interrupted her and said, "I never expected Jerusalem to be captured in a single attack on such an important and well-fortified city. ”

"Well, then this attack ......"

"This is a declaration that I have come. ”