kingdom of nations

Chapter 273 Spreading Wings (9)

This statement doesn't even qualify as a problem; even the most foolish person wouldn't disagree with the king and most of his colleagues at this time.

Inside the tent, as always, the king sat high on his throne, with Count Cesar of Edessa to his right. High-ranking nobles lined up on either side, their eyes clashing and their lips barely moving. They were all old men who had been immersed in both the battlefield and the court for decades. Although they often told the young knights that sending those damned heretics back to hell was the most obligatory duty and responsibility of a crusader knight, in reality, neither glory nor faith could compare to tangible benefits.

"Our target is Damascus," Raymond began. "We have already lost more than a thousand men, including 134 knights and their squires who have been blessed by God." As he spoke, his heart ached; his son David had nearly been among them.

As with every previous landing, this one was just as dangerous and bloody. In fact, because it served as a decoy, if Cesar hadn't launched the attack before the main force, there probably wouldn't be as many survivors as there are now.

“We can agree to the Saracens’ conditions, but they will have to pay the price,” Bohemond said.

"Will those Saracens agree?" another lord asked. "Their losses are greater than ours, but they still have eight or nine thousand men, and perhaps they can recruit more."

“They have lost,” Bohemond replied coldly. “Among the Saracens, a loser has no voice. If they want to continue fighting us, as you said, they need to recruit more tribal soldiers, but their funds are not inexhaustible.”

They are also somewhat different from us; they came to rescue Damascus. If Damascus also shuts its gates to them and reneges on its previous debt promises, the reward they receive may not be more than what they have paid, and they will have to consider whether this deal will even be worthwhile.

He gave a sharp laugh. “Don’t ever think that those heretics have any firm beliefs. What they say and what they do are always two different things. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the chance to gain a foothold here in the first place.”

Although his words were not pleasant to hear, they did elicit nods of agreement from some people, while others looked at the king and Cesar to his right, which made Raymond feel uncomfortable again.

In this battle, if we were to say who was the bravest and most fearless, it would undoubtedly be his son David. However, there was another reason why he initially prevented David from becoming the vanguard: the roles of a knight and a minister were completely different. Now we can see the results. Cesar is now able to sit down with a group of courtiers to discuss military affairs—every word they say, even a single word, can determine the fate of tens of thousands of people.

Among these tens of thousands of people was his son, David.

As a knight, his bravery certainly earned him respect and praise. But as a minister who had served both King Baldwin III and King Amalric I, Raymond naturally hoped that his only son could step out of the game and become the player, not just a pawn.

He looked at Cesar, the man sitting beside the king whose appearance, achievements, and humility were all piercing Raymond's eyes.

Baldwin also saw Raymond's less-than-pleasant expression and Bohemond's strange, forced smile, but so what? He had already achieved his initial goal.

If he continues to keep Cesar by his side, Cesar will forever remain just a knight, even though he already possesses Bethlehem and Cyprus and has enough authority among the knights. But Baldwin's original intention was to elevate Cesar to a position similar to Raymond, Bohemond, and Berion—to put it simply, if he were to die now, Cesar would not be able to become regent even with his will.

After all, the Crusades needed a commander, not a brute.

He wanted more people to see César's value, not just as the king's "friend" and "cousin"—and César was fully capable of withstanding such a test—his plans and actions were arguably the key to turning the tide of the entire war.

Before them, hadn't anyone thought of infiltrating upstream to build a bridge and launching a surprise attack? But that was difficult. The wilderness doesn't allow people to act recklessly. On the contrary, it's like a giant beast that can open its bloody maw at any time, but always pretends to be asleep. It seems harmless, but it can devour thousands of people silently at any time.

Not to mention the knights' courses were diverse, but do you really think they could master and apply all of them? Don't be ridiculous. Some knights were very fond of Cesar's decimal system because they counted on their fingers and toes just like farmers.

Baldwin didn't believe that an angel had actually descended to Cesar's side to help him build the bridge. In his view, the bridge and the glory it brought should all belong to Cesar. Moreover, Cesar was not without merit in this war. In fact, it could be said that the series of decisions he made after arriving at the battlefield were the real stroke of genius that shook the Saracens' fighting will.

Although he only had three hundred knights and their squires, he dealt a great blow to the morale of the Saracens.

Arson, slaughter, destruction of supplies and provisions—the Saracens suffered heavy losses as a result. They then broke through the Saracen lines and rushed to the shallows to rescue David and his vanguard, who were in dire straits. Countless Saracen soldiers witnessed their camp being utterly destroyed.

This seemed to foreshadow the outcome of the war and facilitated the birth of these peace talks.

In an instant, all the criticism vanished. No one saw César, sitting to his right, as a courtier who had climbed the ranks through blood ties and childhood friendships; they had to respect him, whether willingly or unwillingly.

"The eel is getting cold," Cesar warned.

The grilled eel on the plate gradually lost its original temperature, and the oil was about to solidify. If it wasn't eaten soon, the fishy smell hidden in the fish meat would start to rise.

Baldwin smiled. Of course, he couldn't be honest with Cesar about what he was thinking... because he knew Cesar didn't care about these things—but there were some things that Cesar wanted to change, and without power, it wouldn't work.

This is a gem he polished himself, waiting for the future when he will set it on the crown of Arrassa Road—in his lifetime, he will surely give Cesar unconditional trust and love, he is another version of himself, so young, so healthy, so kind, he will be Baldwin's most important legacy to Arrassa Road.

“This eel is unbelievable.” Urged on by Cesar, Baldwin scooped up a spoonful of eel and put it in his mouth. He was surprised, which was to be expected—before this, the servants in the kitchen only grilled fish or made fish soup. Although the eel he was eating now was also grilled, it was completely different from the dry grilled fish Baldwin had eaten before. Every bite was full of oil, the surface was slightly browned, and it was drizzled with a sweet sauce.

And what absorbs the broth so it doesn't spill everywhere isn't bread, but rice.

Rice was also a popular dish among the Crusaders. Although they learned to eat rice from the Saracens, they mostly treated it as a dessert and rarely as a staple food. However, rice was definitely the best dish to have under grilled eel, rather than bread. Cesar always felt it was strange to eat bread.

Is this a lot?

“A lot.” As Cesar dived into the Jordan River to secure wooden stakes in the rapids, an eel, disoriented, burrowed into his shirt and thrashed around for a while before he brought it ashore.

The rivers and surrounding lakes are home to many plump fish that live freely with almost no natural predators until people arrive.

"It can serve as a source of food, as well as waterfowl and fruit." The Hula Valley is an area that the Crusaders have not yet explored. It is not suitable for farming, but it is indeed a good hunting ground.

Baldwin looked at the eel on the plate, hesitated for a moment, then called a servant outside the tent and asked him to send a portion to David, who was recuperating inside. David had not suffered a fatal injury this time. But like Cesar in Damascus, he had exhausted the saint's grace before collapsing. When he awoke, his strength would be further enhanced, but he would certainly be very weak and in pain.

Hopefully, this delicious food can soothe his anxious heart.

Speaking of David, Cesar couldn't help but think of another person: "What about Abigail? Didn't you keep him with you?"

In fact, both Cesar and David faced extremely dangerous situations in this battle.

David faced Saracens, that's true, but Cesar faced a far more unpredictable enemy—lost paths, hunger, plague, wild beasts, even riots—any one of which could wipe out their entire army. Moreover, they bore an incomparably important responsibility.

If David fails to hold back the Saracens, then Baldwin, the king of Arazarus across the river, will be the first to be in danger. And if Cesar fails to carry out his plan to the end, David and his knights will surely be torn apart by those ferocious pagans.

And following closely behind the king—indeed, in battle, the royal banner and golden armor are the targets of all enemies, but no one can deny that the king's side must be the elite of the elite—why did the Knights of the Holy Grail remain obscure in several Crusades? It was precisely because they needed to guard their Grand Master and the king at all times; they could not charge into battle, and of course, they could not leave behind much glorious reputation.

In other words, Abigail's position, though seemingly precarious, was actually quite secure. It could be said that as long as King Arazarus was not betrayed or suffered an accident, those around him were more likely to survive.

Even so, Abigail did something he thought was clever. While the knights rode across the river with the king and launched their charge, he looked at the narrow pontoon bridge and came up with a plan—he deliberately slowed down his horses.

At this moment, everyone's attention was indeed on the king, and few people could notice him. Or rather, everyone wanted to compete for credit and victory, and it would be best if someone could give up their position. Who would care whether the other party was just being negligent or had other intentions?
And so Abigail slowly fell behind all the knights, then spurred his horse toward a reed bed and took off his cloak there, his bright coat of arms too conspicuous to behold.

He stayed in the reeds with his horse for several hours until the wounded and dead on the shallows were transported back to the camp. Only then did he put his smock back on and hurriedly, as if by accident, blend into the ranks—he even remembered to cut a few holes in his smock and smear some dirt on his face to show that he had also participated in the battle.

But... the knights just don't care, they're not blind.

Moreover, as the son of the Grand Prince of Antioch, people would surely think of Abigail when they saw David. However, they were still somewhat skeptical. Until the very end—even though they had given up hope for Abigail, they were still a little angry—not because of his cowardice, but because… did he think everyone was a fool for doing this?

"I heard he broke his leg?"

"His father, Bohemond, insisted that his son was cursed by the devil, and that he fell off the pontoon bridge at the start of the war, killing his horse and breaking his leg." Baldwin paused for a moment, "I had a priest check on him, and he did indeed have a broken leg, but we don't know how he broke it."

"It should be alright, right?"

“It really won’t hinder him. He’ll still be able to stand up, run, jump, and fight.” Baldwin lowered his voice. “The person who did it was skilled and efficient.” He couldn’t help but sigh. “I thought he would change.”

He shouldn't have been influenced by David to think that Abigail would also change.

Are there cowards among the knights? Baldwin had to regretfully admit that there were. When the knights charged side by side, some even said that if you threw an apple or a pear between those rows of spears, it would be impaled.

While this is certainly an exaggeration, it is not without factual basis—but why would such a team formation exist? It is because some knights, when first entering the battlefield or suddenly facing the enemy, may have thoughts of retreating, and once arranged in a formation, they must always maintain consistency with their companions.

If he instinctively tries to slow his horse and avoid the fight, he will be knocked down by the riders behind him, fall to the ground, and be trampled by their hooves.
A general once bluntly stated that it was cowardice that drove these cowards to charge forward desperately.

But Abigail was, after all, the son of the Prince of Antioch and the father of the future King of Arazarus. Not to mention that he was blessed by God, and the possibility of him dying in a charge was far lower than that of ordinary knights. Yet he was still afraid and retreating, which made him utterly despicable.

"He will probably rest in the tent next."

"Aren't you going back to Yalasaroo?"

“His father wouldn’t allow it. When Bohemond met me, he said he would attack the city with Abigail—they would go up the tower.” Bohemond no longer needed to do so; it was purely for Abigail's sake…

“But I don’t hold out much hope for that, unless Bohemond decides to have another son.” Baldwin paused here. “Can we stop discussing this topic?”

He looked at Cesar and said sincerely, "The eel is delicious, and I don't want this to ruin my appetite."

César then readily changed the subject: "So, what kind of outcome do you hope to achieve in the final negotiations?"

(End of this chapter)