| Afternoon of October 23 - 1248 - Acre - Attila |
All ministers have finished doing what they have been asked to do.
A little while ago the Emperor, after having gone to a safe place from prying ears, brought me the letter that he and the foreign adviser wrote to persuade the King of France to join in this coordinated operation.
This is what it said:
""Dear ally King Louis IX of France. The person who writes to you is the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Swabia. I am sending you this letter even though we met recently to tell you valuable information. Our spies have discovered that with our arrival in Acre, Sultan Al-Kamil has split his army in two. One half is in Nazareth, the other half is marching towards Alexandria to drive you out of the city. Also according to our spies, the army that is coming to you is your equal (in terms of power). So I propose a plan to wipe out the infidels: the night I'm writing you this letter (October 23) a large part of my army will head south, trying to intercept the infidels. We can't do it alone, so I ask for your help and your army to be able to beat the Arabs. So that we can continue our crusade for Jerusalem together. Best regards Federico II""
That letter was impeccably written since the Emperor on a political level cannot force the King of France to join us. So he had to "ask" for his help.
<< Well, now we have to make sure that this letter ends up in his hands and that he decides to help us >>
<< I will order someone to take a small ship and leave for tonight Alexandria >>
<< If you want another piece of advice, I already have someone in mind to embark >>
<< Who would it be? >>
<< The first friend after all these years. His name is Alexios and he is a Templar, I think he is the right person for this position >>
<< You rarely trust someone >> the Emperor was surprised: << but if you tell me then I believe you >>
<< Thanks for your trust Your Majesty >>
Just after this sentence of mine, Gaia came out of an alley and approached us.
Once she arrived next to us she said: << I'm sorry to interrupt Emperor, can I make a report? >>
<< Yes tell me >>
<< While I was patrolling the city I noticed more than a few spies and of those, I noticed I remember all the faces. I, therefore, propose to behead them in the public square to scare their colleagues >>
The Emperor was reflecting.
In my opinion, Gaia's proposal is more than excellent, it could have a greater psychological impact.
But evidently, the Emperor did not think so.
<< Excellent idea Gaia, but I do not act in this way and you know it, just arrest them all without beheading them >>
It was obvious that he was asking for such a thing, I already know that he does not hate Arabs but wants friendly relations and to do so he must appear as a man able to forgive and spare them.
<< I will do what Your Majesty orders me >>
While Gaia was leaving I asked her: << Gaia, do you know by chance at what point is Malik? >>
He turned and said: << Malik has already left a few hours ago with many of his loyalists to Safed as scheduled >>
<< Perfect, then I would say that we are ready >>
After Gaia left, the Emperor and I went to see Alexios, who because of these things I have not been able to see him.
It was in the Christian church that was built in Acre just a few years ago.
My friend was on his knees while he was praying towards the statue of the Madonna.
I called him: << Oi Alexios, come here for a moment please >>
<< Arrival, let me finish praying >>
I didn't want to wait at all: << Alexios, come here now. The Emperor has an important task to entrust to you >>
After he heard the Emperor himself calling him, he went out of the church like a rocket.
He arrived in front of the Emperor and knelt in front of him apologizing: << Your Majesty, I'm sorry that someone like me is wasting your time. Please forgive me >>
<< Yes, don't worry. Rather come with me and Attila to one side >>
Alexios's gaze was curious but at the same time, you could see that he was worried.
While we were walking towards the castle, looking for a quiet place without spies, we saw Gaia who with some soldiers had tied up a lot of people and was taking them for a walk. A sign of the fact that it had already started working.
Among the people linked there were not only Arabs but also many Europeans, a sign of the fact that many of our "allied" people were actually double agents.
Once in the Emperor's rooms, Frederick and I explained what Alexios had to do.
He knew Alexios didn't like war, so sending him as a messenger not only gave him a task he was capable of doing but didn't force him to go into battle.
Alexios gladly accepted his assignment.
Evening of October 23 - 1248 - Acre - Attila |
All the troops were aware that they were not going to sleep that night, so I told them to go to sleep early (around 7 pm).
Those still standing were only the guards of Acre and those under the command of Gaia who now all day go back and forth throughout the city every time they take a person accusing him of espionage.
According to my predictions, Malik and his men are only halfway there. This is good.
In the morning everyone will notice that the whole army has disappeared and therefore they will be on guard and once they see Malik's army pillage a city, the Sultan's army will go all out on him. But since the distance between Safed and Acre is the same as between Nazareth and Acre, Malik should have time to hole up again in Acre.
Night of October 24 - 1248 - Acre - Attila |
I think it is already 3 am, it was time to leave for the south.
Alexios took a small ship and left alone for Alexandria, along the coast, for a few hours already.
The troops had prepared themselves and since they slept they will also be faster than expected.
Everyone lost what they needed and trying to make as little noise as possible, the army left the city.
Morning of October 30– 1248 - Port Said - Louis XI King of France |
Someone knocks on the door while I'm sleeping.
<< Your Majesty can I enter? >>
It was the voice of my advisor, who hadn't understood that I was still sleeping.
<
<< Your Majesty is very important, please let me in >>
He really wants to piss me off: << I'm sleeping! And you are waking me up! Do not break up and wait for it to finish sleeping! >>
<< Your Majesty, a Templar has come and delivered you a letter from Emperor Frederick II >>
Thing? Did my friend Federico send me a letter? Then maybe it's really important, better get up.
<
<< Come in then >>
My adviser rushed in and handed me the letter.
<< Where is the Templar? >>
<< He had arrived aboard a very small ship, he says he rowed for days to get to us in Alexandria, but he saw our flags here in Port Said and so he went down here. Now he is resting, he is still a Templar >>
<>
Federico has rarely ever sent me letters, so I guess it's serious.
I opened the letter and read it.
After doing so I yelled: << Tell the troops we're about to leave! We must move! >>
Morning of November 3 - 1248 - Near Bardawil Lake - Attila |
Even though we were in a hurry, I advised the Emperor not to go to the forced march.
This is because I am pretty sure that almost 4 days should pass before the Sultan reaches us.
I made sure that the Sultan has 4 things to do, which in his eyes each of these is excellent, but in reality, he has now fallen into the trap.
The Sultan could: 1) Try to intercept Malik's army in time and win a battle;
2) Besieging Acre now that the Emperor's army is no longer there to defend it;
3) Return to Jerusalem thinking that the Emperor tried to overtake him to capture the city;
4) Try to chase and fight since we are outnumbered.
That may be difficult but the theoretically correct one is the last, but also the most inconvenient in terms of timing.
Consequently, I thought that having troops less tired due to the march to give their best in battle.
We were near a lake, which has the peculiarity of being a skipped lake since it has an outlet to the sea.
But beyond the lake lay a huge, nameless desert.
We all looked for a higher point from which to see the entire territory.
Once we arrived we saw two armies that were fighting, one the Arab one and the other had the French flag, a sign of the fact that the King of France listened to us and engaged in battle.
The Emperor had all his 20,000 troops lined up and gave him a speech: << Foot soldiers and knights! Today the time has come to fight with all our strength against the infidels who have stolen Jerusalem from us. You don't have to be afraid! You don't have to feel guilty after you kill someone! God who is in heaven will forgive our sins! The Pope assured us that our souls will be saved by the angels and taken to heaven, what do we have to lose then ?! Nothing! I, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III of Swabia, I order you to help the French army and to win this battle for God, for the Pope, for the Empire! >>
There was a general cheer but nothing special, they weren't charged enough.
Ask the Emperor: << Your Majesty, can I ask to give a speech to the soldiers? >>
The Emperor looked at me in a perplexed way, but since we are nowhere as planned, he decided to grant me this honour.
He got on his horse and I put myself in the center shouting I said: << Men! I am Attila, a knight appointed by the Emperor himself! I'm talking to you because you are not excited enough after the Emperor's speech! How dare you?! >>
There was a general silence.
I resumed: << Come on, do not make a long face, I'm kidding! I agree with you by saying that the Emperor's speech was a bit obvious. So I'll make one in his place >>
I looked at the Emperor who seemed quite offended, I made him the sign of prayer as a sign of forgiveness.
I continued: << Men, listen to me! What are we fighting for ?! For God ?! For the Pope ?! No! We all know deep inside that we only do it for money and fame! We all know that nobody cares that much about God and the Pope! You can read it on your face! But don't worry, it's nature that made us like this! Man is greedy and cruel! We don't give a damn about all these things, we just want new territories and riches! Men, don't lie to yourself, accept reality for what it is! Now we are here today because we can exterminate all these "infidels" who are really just people with different skin but who are still men! And we are going to kill them all just because they believe in something different from us! We are all aware that we are going to kill our fellow men just to steal their wealth! So men if you want money and fame enough to risk your lives, the most precious thing you have then follow these instructions! Let's help our ally King of France who has complied with our requests! Breakthrough the Arabic lines from the sides like rams on huge doors! Exterminate all our enemies not because they believe in anything else, but because you all want their riches! >>
I still can't figure out which corner of my brain this horrible talk was coming from.
What I knew was that my face had twisted by itself into a grotesque and frightening grimace.
Everyone was silent, the Emperor and his advisers were fired, the troops likewise.
But after a few seconds, I realized that my words had a greater effect than expected.
Suddenly the men laughed out loud and after a few moments, there was a wonderful chorus.
The normal troops repeatedly praised, with all the voices they had, in chorus: << Hurray! Hurray! >>
The infantrymen slammed their swords on the shields, like the Roman legionaries, with all the strength they had.
The cavalry made sure that the horses too sang with their verses and that their hooves beat frantically on the ground.
After that speech, there was nothing human in those men, but only profound selfishness.