Fighting in a place like the Holy Land, the problem of supply is the most important thing that cannot be ignored.

The Battle of Harding, the example of the Crusaders being wiped out due to lack of water, is a constant reminder of this in Lothar.

Today, the crusaders are growing in size, from more than 20,000 to 30,000.

The distance that such a large team can travel every day is only about 20 kilometers, which means that even if the road is unimpeded, it will take at least three days to reach Arish, the gateway to Egypt, from Gaza.

But everyone knows it's impossible.

Adil would never let go of the idea of attacking the Crusaders if he had no problems with his mind, and those Bedouin cavalry, who were familiar with the local environment, could tear apart like hyenas besieging a male lion under the guidance of a falcon in the sky, consuming the energy of the crusader lion.

Coupled with the fact that Arish had already been burned, it would be impossible to get any supplies even if they got there, and it would take at least three more days to march to the city of Feremai.

"At that time, I don't know how much combat strength our army will have left."

Lothar was worried.

Supplies are abundant, so that he can restrain the soldiers.

Otherwise, even if he invaded Egypt, he would only lead a group of hungry, bright-eyed bandits who would plunder and destroy every town in sight, which was absolutely contrary to his original intention of gaining the allegiance of the Copts.

If they choose to march by sea, they don't know how long they will have to wait, and the number of ships in the Crusader's fleet will certainly not be enough to transport all the nearly 30,000 Crusaders to Egypt at one time.

This requires a multi-batch login, with the risk of being defeated by the enemy individually.

And if they wanted more transports, the Eastern Empire certainly didn't expect it, their fleet was destroyed by half of the Isaac Puppet Emperor, and the rest was all thrown into the war with the Kingdom of Sicily.

So, Lothar's choice was only for the greedy trading city-states.

These Apennines, who were desperate for money, would surely slaughter Lothar, just like the Venetians during the Fourth Crusade, and what they wanted was either trade monopoly in the coastal cities, or even the rule of some of the cities.

In the Fourth Crusade, weren't the Venetians who benefited the most from renting ships from the Crusaders? They have even been called three-eighths of Rome ever since.

In addition, the kings of the continent, coveting the honor and wealth of Egypt, would definitely hinder his negotiations with the Apennine merchants, so the march by sea, although it was easy for Lothar to tell Raymond, was definitely a last resort for himself.

There is not enough time, and the more you delay, the greater the variables.

He was almost certain that Saladin must be trying to find the caster's support right now.

For example, those Zoroastrian priests, although most of them are only good at one or two small tricks, but who knows if there are any more powerful hermits among them, once the crusade is successful, it will be difficult for Lothar to find such a good opportunity in the short term, not to mention, it will also be a heavy blow to his personal prestige.

"My lord, the recent expenses have been a bit big."

Coors held a thick ledger in his hand: "Every day there are pilgrims who come empty-handed to join the crusade, and the pressure on our logistics is getting heavier and heavier, and now the whole crusader army is on our own. ”

Lothar rubbed her eyebrows, her face full of helplessness: "There is no way, if you want to use the banner of the Crusaders, you have to carry these burdens." ”

Otherwise, where would there be so many volunteers who brought their own dry food and did not need military salaries?

Because of their large numbers, Hebron's training camp could not accommodate all of them, and most of them still marched with the army, and the combat effectiveness of these people was very average, but it was no problem to do some hard work.

If Lothar is not kind, when directly charging into the siege, the cannon fodder battalion that consumes the enemy's arrows is also worth the money.

Even if Lothar couldn't do such a thing, it would be a good choice to leave them behind and garrison the cities he had taken, an army of 30,000 men, which is a lot, but it would immediately be overstretched in the whole of Egypt.

Curles said suddenly, "By the way, my lord, I don't think you need to worry about the enemy's falcon anymore, do you remember the gargoyles that Miss Flynn summoned when she dealt with that demon dragon?" ”

"Of course."

Lothar realized, "You mean, Flynn can now use the spell that summons gargoyles at will?" ”

"I think so."

Coors smiled and said, "During this time, you rarely see Miss Flynn because she is doing hard training in private. ”

Lothar couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Flynn really gave me a surprise quietly, without the falcon, the Saracens are like blind in one eye, and if they want to harass us, they will have to pay an even heavier price!" Since his first encounter with the Saracens, Lothar has suffered from the enemy's "all-in-one" opening, which has made it difficult for him to come up with surprise moves, and each time, at best, he has created a head-to-head situation.

…

In front of me, it was dark.

The wind and sand have plunged the whole world into a haze.

Cellina tightened her trench coat, she wrapped it tightly from head to toe, but the wind and sand still seemed to permeate.

"Can you really find an oasis in this kind of place?"

Cellina frowned, wondering if she was on the wrong track.

Then.

She suddenly let go of the hand that pressed the veil, and there was no movement in her hands, and the two sharp blades behind her had already appeared in her hands.

She held her breath and looked at the silhouette of the figure in the dust in front of her.

"Is it Miss Cellinina?"

A charming female voice came from afar.

Cellinina relieved herself and asked, "Yes, it's me." ”

The person who came immediately walked forward quickly against the wind and sand.

It was a plump young woman with smooth skin like milk.

She had a flattering smile on her face, which added a dog-legged temperament to her whole image of a noblewoman that did not match her temperament at all - to put it mildly, it might be a bit like Hans.

Under the mask, Cellina pursed the corners of her mouth, she recognized this woman, the head of the "Dark Shadow" under the Curs steward, a "native" vampire, whose strength was okay, but it was okay.

"Good day, Lady Julia."

"No, no, no, just call me Dog."

Julia looked a little scared, she knew very well that she could only be regarded as a small character under the command of Lothar, a terrifying and admirable dark tyrant, and Celinina was the descendant.

Cellina tugged at the corners of her mouth helplessly, "You're so polite, Lady Julia." ”

"Where's the Oasis?"

"Right ahead."

In the yellow sand, more than a dozen figures wearing light armor and khaki hoods gradually appeared, which were quite unnoticeable in this environment, each of them carrying a longbow nearly a man high.

This means that they are all woodland shooters, athletic, and skilled in light armor combat, sniping enemies from a distance, and no one is better suited to the job of the Dark Shadows.

Julia introduced, "These are the members of the Dark Shadows that the adults have recently transferred to us, and each of them is a good player. ”

"Ahead is the largest oasis in the vicinity, and the lord of this place, Yasar, has sent a cavalry to burn it."

Cellina wondered, "What about the cavalry?" ”

"Buried under the small dirt slope ahead, the mounts they left behind gathered in an oasis where there was a makeshift camp left behind by Bedouin nomads, now ours."

Julia was a little proud, more than a dozen woodland archers, plus her, a vampire with extraordinary strength, and dozens of cavalrymen, were ambushed in advance, and they could be easily solved without any damage.