Ch.176Unstoppable Momentum (4)

# At the time when the Mongols were rapidly conquering the Iranian region, kings of the Crusader armies began gathering in Europe, calling for a holy war.

Among them was Frederick I, King of Italy and Burgundy, famous for his red beard.

“Finally, the time has come to take revenge on those infidels.”

The knights nodded at the emperor’s words.

Currently, the Holy Roman Empire’s forces numbered 30,000 men, including 3,000 knights. It would be no exaggeration to say this was the largest force among those participating in the Crusades.

There was a reason why the emperor, who had previously opposed the Pope, mobilized such a large army and personally led it to join the Crusades.

It was because Heinrich the Lion had refused to provide troops for the conquest of Italy. This enraged the emperor, who confiscated Heinrich’s territories and distributed them among his loyal followers to govern.

As a result, the emperor couldn’t help but be suspicious of the princes who followed him. So he ordered them to mobilize as many troops as possible, and the nobles, having witnessed how the powerful Heinrich had fallen out of the emperor’s favor and lost his territories, had no choice but to squeeze out as many troops as they could.

In any case, this resulted in the Holy Roman Empire’s Crusader force being the largest in history. It was larger than the armies of Richard the Lionheart of England or Philip II Augustus of France.

While the emperor was lost in these thoughts, an aide approached him and pointed to a river in the distance.

“Your Majesty. It is clear that God is watching over the Roman Empire. The river is calm, making it suitable for crossing.”

“Good.”

The emperor said this and took the reins. Then, looking at everyone, he shouted loudly.

“It is winter now, but the current is slow, making it suitable to cross the river. We will cross this river and eliminate the infidel king Ayyub!”

“Hurrah!”

“Long live the Roman Empire!”

“May Rome’s glory continue!”

“Now, let’s cross!”

With that, the emperor tried to be the first to cross the river. But an aide urgently approached him.

“Your Majesty. Just to be safe, wouldn’t it be better to remove your chain mail when crossing the river?”

“Remove my armor? Don’t you know that a man participating in war could die from a stray arrow if he removes his armor?”

The emperor was a veteran general. Having been on battlefields since his youth, he knew the importance of armor better than anyone.

So he showed displeasure at the aide’s words.

“Your Majesty. Still…”

“It’s fine. God will protect me, so I won’t die by falling into the river.”

The emperor said this and made the sign of the cross. Suddenly, a raven cawed loudly from the sky.

Caw!

Startled by the sound, the horse suddenly raised its front legs. Having never experienced such a thing before, as it was trained as a war horse, the surprised Frederick fell off.

“Oh no!”

Red Beard, sprawled on the ground, blushed with shame. At that moment, something caught his eye.

“This is…”

It was none other than the corpse of a raven floating down the river. For some unknown reason, the corpse was floating downstream in a rigid state, as if it had collapsed upon touching the cold water.

Surprised, the emperor calmly approached the river and touched it.

“It’s extremely cold.”

The emperor immediately withdrew his hand from the cold that seemed like it would freeze his hand instantly. Then, looking up at the sky, he murmured softly.

“God is warning me.”

He made the sign of the cross, then turned his head and thanked the aide who had advised him.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. It is an honor to be of service to you.”

The emperor nodded and removed his chain mail, revealing a quilted armor underneath.

Since chain mail alone would provide insufficient protection and was vulnerable to arrows, he had to wear this quilted armor made of fabric. This quilted armor was made of materials that would expand when wet, so the emperor removed this fabric armor as well.

“Move slowly. The river’s current is slow, but it’s really cold, so everyone be careful.”

The emperor said this and stood at the front, being the first to cross the river. Although it was concerning that the water reached up to the horse’s legs, Frederick was able to cross the river safely because he had removed his heavy armor.

“All soldiers, remove your armor and pile it on one side. The last ones to come will load it onto rafts with ropes and transport it.”

This was the Anatolian peninsula, so there were more stones. But fortunately, being near the river, there were many trees suitable for cutting.

By making rafts from these trees to transport the armor, it would take time, but they could cross the river safely.

Anyway, following Red Beard’s orders, the soldiers crossed the river one by one. Suddenly, the water level increased, and one or two soldiers were swept away.

“Ahhh!”

“Glub glub!”

The two who were swept away couldn’t grab the rope thrown by the imperial army and died. Seeing this, Frederick made the sign of the cross and personally felt God’s protection.

“If I had been wearing chain mail and been swept away like them, I wouldn’t have escaped death.”

It was a terrifying thought. So Frederick, thinking how fortunate he was that such a thing hadn’t happened to him, looked at the river.

Suddenly, he became curious about the name of this river.

“Aide, what is the name of this river?”

“It’s the Saleph River, Your Majesty.”

“Saleph River… Saleph River… I will never forget the name of this river. And I will reflect on this incident whenever I act rashly.”

The emperor said this and repeatedly called the name of the river. Each time he called the river’s name, the river twisted greatly, as if under a spell.

As if the world had changed.

* * *

A strong wind blew, tearing the flags. In this gale, the tall young king shouted loudly.

“Keep bailing out the water! God will not abandon us!”

Whether the king’s words helped or not, the soldiers gritted their teeth and bailed out the water. Thanks to this, the ship, which seemed like it would capsize in the storm, maintained its stability.

At that moment.

“Your Majesty! The right flank’s sail has been broken by the storm! They seem to be falling behind!”

The young king gritted his teeth and shouted loudly.

“Throw grappling hooks to bring the two ships together!”

“Your Majesty! If we do that, both ships might collide and wreck!”

At the aide’s words, the king made the sign of the cross.

“God will protect us.”

In truth, the king had no other options in the current situation. The storm was so fierce that if they continued like this, they would surely wreck or drift.

So the king tried to hold out as much as possible by hooking the ship that was about to wreck.

“The king’s order has been given! Throw the grappling hooks!”

“Throw them!”

The sailors threw the grappling hooks. When the hooks caught on the railing on the opposite side, the sailors on the other side pulled the rope and tied it to the ship, not wanting to miss the opportunity.

Thanks to this, the two ships became like one.

This increased the durability of the ships, but there was one drawback. If the two ships moved apart and then collided again due to the rope, they would wreck immediately—a fatal drawback.

So the young king, Richard, looked up at the sky and gritted his teeth.

“God! Do not abandon me. I am your faithful servant.”

Suddenly, a light descended from the sky. With that light, as if by a miracle, the storm began to subside.

“The storm is subsiding!”

“God is protecting us!”

The sailors cheered with joy. Seeing this, Richard, as if nothing had happened, proudly climbed to the highest point of the ship and raised his sword.

“Look! Warriors of England! God is watching over us! So do not be afraid!”

“Lionheart! Lionheart!”

“Richard! Richard!”

The young king smiled and responded to the sailors’ cheers. At that moment, a sailor shouted loudly.

“Your Majesty! The destination is in sight!”

At the sailor’s words, Richard turned his head. And seeing the island in the distance, he smiled.

“Cyprus…”

Richard clenched his fist. He and his soldiers had come by ship from England to Cyprus.

During the journey, they encountered a storm and almost wrecked at Cyprus. If that had happened, morale could have hit rock bottom before they even fought the Islamic infidels.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen. And having safely arrived at Cyprus, they just needed to occupy it and use it as a forward base.

This place was ruled by Isaac Komnenos, who had rebelled against the Komnenian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. Although they both believed in Christianity, they followed the Orthodox Church while Richard followed Catholicism, so eliminating him wasn’t a big issue.

“Distribute five days’ worth of water and bread to the soldiers. I will use them as the vanguard to occupy this place. Afterward, the rear guard will join with ten days’ worth of additional supplies.”

Richard was someone who approached war very systematically. He moved according to plan, thinking about supplies first when setting up battle plans.

According to his plan, it was only a matter of time before the 7,000 English troops occupied Cyprus. So he planned to occupy this place within five days and use it as a forward base to attack the Levant region invaded by Ayyub.

“If we don’t move quickly, that cynical Frenchman might pick a fight…”

Richard said this and turned his head. That was the landing point of Philip II, the King of France.

In fact, the relationship between Richard, King of England, and Philip II was not good. They had been in great conflict over England’s territories in France.

However, with the Pope’s request for a Crusade, they could no longer be at odds. At least on the surface.

With this thought, Richard gestured to summon his subordinate. And he casually spoke to him.

“Send sheepskin as a gift to the French king. And find out what state he’s in right now.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

To know the opponent, it was best to make as much contact as possible. But since he couldn’t approach in a hostile manner, Richard decided to use a gift as a pretext to gauge his intentions.

“If he readily accepts the sheepskin, he has other intentions.”

Sheepskin was a common gift. Therefore, it was a gift that could be accepted without any issues.

So it wouldn’t matter if he just accepted it, but Richard thought differently. Because of his bad relationship with Philip II, he was sure the French king would refuse even a small gift.

But the French king, though cynical, was quick-witted. Accepting sheepskin from Richard, with whom he had personal grudges, would mean swallowing his pride, suggesting he had some ulterior motive.

Therefore, in the current situation, the most realistic action Philip could show was not to accept the sheepskin.

Richard thought this and turned his head. There, Philip was setting up a mangonel catapult, which he had grandly named “The Bad Neighbor.”