The battle to cross the river was lackluster.

The governor of Damietta, Ibn, did not seem to have placed his main force in the line along the river, and the vanguard led by Hans succeeded in building an outpost after crossing the river without even encountering a few large-scale resistances.

More than half of the soldiers of the heavy infantry company took off their armor and began to work on civil engineering in full swing.

Hans wielded a sledgehammer and nailed a stake into the mud to carry out the preliminary work for the construction of the pontoon.

Later, they would attach the collected ships with ropes and lay planks on them for the passage of the army.

"It seems that even if it gets dark, at most half of the people will be able to cross the river."

Listening to the sound of rushing water in his ears, Hans's expression was a little heavy.

The Nile River is now in the flood season, and even its tributaries have an astonishingly large flow of water.

The number of ships collected by the army on the other side is too small, and even if they are all used, they can only build three pontoon bridges at most.

"I heard some Coptic soldiers who surrendered to Cheng say that if it had been two months earlier, that is, at the beginning of autumn, the river would have been more turbulent, and even overflowed, then the river would have been really dangerous."

He picked up another handful of black soil: "Your Excellency said that if you take 'Lower Egypt,' the land here will feed all the people of Germania." ”

Cellinina just listened silently, not replying.

Upper Egypt (Nile Valley) and Lower Egypt (Nile Delta) are the most elite and densely populated regions of Egypt.

When she was on the other side of the river at Fort Feremai, she could see the villages on the other side, far more densely populated than Hebron and Transjordan.

She was thinking, if these people were all on the opposite side of the adults, what should he do?

(PS: During this period, it is generally believed that Egypt had a population of nearly 10 million, as for why the population of Egypt under Ottoman rule did not increase but declined, in addition to the continuous war disasters, there was also the desertification of the land)

…

By noon, the pontoon bridge was completed.

Lothar also crossed the river.

Even if the eclipse is stepping on a rickety pontoon, it is still walking on the ground.

He rode the eclipse and roamed back and forth from around the humble camp like a gust of wind: "Raise your guard, the Governor of Saracen Ibn will not let us cross the river so easily, and today we will have a great battle." ”

Lothar raised her head, and in the clouds, the figure of a falcon quickly hidden.

The territory of Ibn Ibn, the governor of Damietta, alone was estimated to have a population of several hundred thousand.

He did not believe that the governor of Ibn could not have any mobile force except for the more than 10,000 reinforcements sent to the other side, and even if Ibn was wasteful and cowardly, it was impossible to wait for their whole army to cross the river and prepare siege equipment in a timely manner.

That's what Lothar wants.

Siege is not an easy task.

No one would think that Lothar would be able to take Egypt in a month or two.

Half a year, or even longer, to conquer one, or two, large cities is the common sense of this era.

During the First Crusade, 50,000 elite crusaders besieged Antioch and fought for more than half a year before they were reluctantly victorious under the cooperation of the defenders.

This is certainly related to Antioch's strong city defenses, but it also illustrates the difficulty of siege warfare.

It is precisely because of this that the monarchs of Europe feel that they have an opportunity.

Lothar did not want to fight a brutal siege war, he preferred that the enemy would take the initiative to send the main force to him, and then make himself swallow it in the field.

Hans rode over, pointed to the captives in the camp and asked, "What to do with these captives?" Among them, there were Copts and Saracens, some believed in Copticism, and some even believed in the old gods of Isis and Horus. ”

"Those Saracens did not prohibit this kind of behavior, and some scholars even believe that these old gods were Zoroastrian saints, and some Saracen nobles also believed in some Egyptian old gods to a greater or lesser extent, and even hid images of the old gods."

Lothar frowned.

It seems that the integration of the Arabs into Egypt cannot be said to have no effect at all, and the vast majority of ethnic groups that have been mixed for a long time will have a tendency to gradually integrate.

In this case, it seems likely that if the one-size-fits-all approach to paganism in his realm were to be followed, it might provoke considerable revolt.

But in his plan, he didn't plan to commit any offense against the Zoroastrian temple and altar, and the priests have always been big moneymakers.

He pondered for a while, and then said, "Let it be as it is, and those who are willing to leave will be stripped of their armor and let them go, and those who have done many evils and have a bad reputation will be executed after a public trial, and those Copts who are willing to join the crusaders will let them join." ”

He paused, then added, "Form an army on its own, and try not to let them suffer too much damage." ”

This is not a woman's kindness.

He is not a robber, but a new conqueror.

For this land, you can't just show your iron fist.

…

It's getting late.

The crusaders' crossing of the river has long since stopped.

As the night deepened, the noise in the crusader camp gradually became inaudible.

"Your Excellency, it is getting late, and the Frankish barbarians have been busy all day, and it must be a time when people are sleepy. Moreover, the scouts have observed, and now there are only 5,000 people crossing the river, and the enemy cannot take care of each other, so it is a good time for us to attack. ”

The governor of Ibn condescended, standing on a border tower, carefully observing the enemy's camp.

He still hesitated: "But the camp of the Franks is in good order, and I have heard that the prince of Lothar, who is the enemy, has led an army to attack the camp of King Saladin at night, so they should be on guard." ”

"Your Excellency the Governor, this is the best time to do so, and if we delay any longer, by the time the Franks have all crossed the river, we will have only one way left to hold Damietta."

Now, even the most arrogant Saracen generals do not expect to be able to defeat the Crusaders in one fell swoop in the field.

This was something that King Saladin could not have done, let alone a small local governor.

"The secret medicine I asked for from the imam is sure to work, right?"

The governor of Ibn clutched the reins tightly.

He was nervous, and if he could really crush the enemy's army across the river in one fell swoop, and even capture the prince of Lothar, his popularity in the entire Saracen world would quickly jump to an extremely terrifying level.

But if he fails, he will completely bury the last of his main army, and by then, even Damietta, his base camp, may not be able to hold it.

"It has been tested, and it is determined to be effective, as long as it is put in the water tank, every soldier can temporarily gain the ability of night vision after drinking, those heretics would never have imagined that we still have this kind of secret medicine."

Ibn nodded.

The imam in his mouth was not a Zoroastrian priest, but a priest who still believed in the old gods of Horus, and lived in seclusion on weekdays, and even King Saladin failed to invite him out of the mountain.

Therefore, the enemy would never have expected them to have the ability to see at night.

In this battle, the advantage is very great.

"Then let's go out. Senmut, take the head of the Frankish prince, and I will report all your merits to King Saladin without any discount! ”

The general, known as Senmut, immediately stroked his chest solemnly and said: "I swear in the name of the Holy Fire that I will do my best in this battle and will not stop fighting!" ”

"The flame burns forever!"

"Supreme, supreme!"

In the darkness, ghostly figures, riding war horses and dromedary camels, covered their movements as much as possible, and touched the crusader camp.

But before he could get closer, a sharp whistle was heard, and then the brass bell was ringed.

Rockets flew over their heads, illuminating the night raids.

"The Franks are on guard!"

Senmut was shocked.

But at this time, the arrow is on the string, and it has to be fired, even if the enemy has already been prepared, they have a huge advantage in having more enemies and fewer enemies, and they have a huge advantage in night vision, and the balance of victory is still inclined to them.

"Charge me, kill the chieftain of the Franks, get the name of the first Pharys of Egypt, and a thousand gold!"

Senmut roared loudly, dressed in silver-white scale armor, his legs clamped between his mounts, and he led the guards to the forefront.

(End of chapter)