Alien Knights

Looking around at the officials in the room, Todd nodded and motioned Huggins to read the latest battle report from the East.

"On January 17, the Ayyubid Empire took advantage of the freezing of the river and marched northward the day before the Advent of the Father. Mamluk dragoons disguised as merchants cut off the communication between the cities. The Hades Corps used towed artillery and threw explosives to blast open the gates of Mesca, Ties and Mozanluliuk. The Parthian Army's gun shield formation defeated the defenders of the above-mentioned cities."

"On February 5th, the Ayyubid Empire approached the Holy City in the East, and the Orthodox Church issued a jihad order. On the same day, King Payazi XI of the Holy City recalled all the kingdom's foreign troops and began to stick to the Holy City."

“On February 19th, the Ayyubid Empire’s soldiers approached the holy city. Saladin sent envoys to persuade the king to surrender, but was rejected and the envoys were killed. The offensive and defensive battle of the holy city officially began on the 20th.”

"On February 28th, the ninth day of the war, the casualties on both sides exceeded 10,000. On the same day, the Second Expeditionary Fleet of the Ayyubid Empire bypassed the Assyrian Peninsula, forcibly broke into St. Sol Bay, and began to suppress the XC area of ​​​​the holy city."

"On March 6, under the cover of the fleet's artillery fire, the Ayub army built an artillery position on the hills on the west coast of the holy city. The landing force used lifting equipment to transport 16 heavy mortars from the ship armor to the hilly position, and used poisonous smoke bombs and incendiary bombs to achieve a coverage attack on the central city of the holy city."

"On March 11, the King of the Holy City, Payazi XI, led the Royal Guards, Kedora Knights, and the Most Holy Religious Army. A total of 743 knights and 8,000 soldiers attacked the mortar position. The war lasted for a full 27 hours. Under the attack of the fleet and the camp defenders, the attacking side of the Holy City fought to the end, and no one surrendered. King Payazi was hit in the neck by a stray bullet and eventually died of excessive blood loss..."

When Cumberland heard this, he sighed deeply: "The fate of the king of the holy city will eventually end on the battlefield, and it has been the same for three generations."

Todd glanced at Cumberland, and then said to Huggins, "Keep reading."

"On March 13, Saladin, the caliph of the Ayyubid Empire, proposed a one-day truce to the holy city and allowed the defenders to collect the body of King Payazi for the funeral."

Todd was secretly surprised when he heard this, but his face showed an expression of approval: "The emperor of the Ayub Empire—Saladin, is at least an enemy who respects his opponent."

Emerson glanced at Todd with a frown, but didn't speak.

"On March 19, the Holy City formally surrendered to the Ayyubid Empire in exchange for Saladin's three promises of "no massacre, no enslavement, and no expulsion."

As Huggins finished his last sentence, the room fell into a deathly silence.

After a long time, Cumberland stroked his silver whiskers and said quietly, "The city of ten thousand cities, the cross sanctuary that will never fall... One month, just one month, it fell into the hands of the Southern Empire."

Emerson continued: "After reading a lot of materials about the Ayub Empire, I thought I had a clear understanding of them, but now it seems that I still underestimated them."

Todd tapped the table with his fingers, thought for a while, and said to Huggins: "I want to know the information about the arms, weapons, commanders, formations and other information of the Southern Empire this time. You tell the Alien Association in the city and ask them to cooperate with you in this matter."

Huggins nodded yes.

Turning his attention back to the battle report, Todd suddenly said, "Have you noticed something strange?"

Seeing many officials looking at him, Todd said while thinking: "The war between the Ayyubid Empire and the Abbasid Empire lasted for three years, and it was not until last year that the former ended in victory. This battle involving the two empires lasted for a long time, and the word tragic is not enough to describe it. According to common sense, after the war is over, the first thing should be to stabilize the domestic environment, accumulate national strength, and prepare the army. But this Saladin did the opposite and immediately started a siege campaign against the holy city. You don't think this is very Is it strange?"

Cumberland and Emerson looked at each other, and the two exchanged a look.

Cumberland said, "About the question your Majesty mentioned, I think of two reasons."

Emerson shrugged. "I think of three."

Cumberland glanced at Emerson, snorted, and said to Todd: "First of all, from the perspective of logistics, the southern army that has just ended the war must have experienced a shortage of supplies to varying degrees. After the victory of the Ayub Empire, Saladin incorporated the army of the Abbasid Empire. Although the army in his hands expanded to 100,000, there must be problems with the supply of food, cloth, herbs, and funds. The risk is to use the rationing system within the empire; the other is to launch another war immediately before the war machine has completely cooled down, and rely on looting to make up for the logistics deficit of the empire."

Todd said incredulously: "But didn't he consider the risks involved? In the situation of lack of clothing and food, he rashly launched an attack on the holy city. If the war is dragged into a protracted stage, the entire empire will fall into complete chaos because of his strategic policy."

Cumberland nodded: "If I'm not mistaken, when Saladin launched the Battle of the Holy City, the food and funds in his hands were only enough for the army to use for a month at most."

Todd closed his eyes and took a long breath: "Then what about the second reason?"

"The second reason has to do with us," Cumberland continued.

Todd asked puzzled, "It's related to us?"

"In the late autumn of last year, the Muxi Knights fought side by side with the Holy Guard, defeated the church coalition forces, and completely wiped out the troops directly under the Church of the Heavenly Father. The result of this battle was beyond everyone's expectations, but it was enough to be taken seriously by those who cared. I guess Saladin was one of them. If Saladin was still hesitating whether to go all-in on sending troops to the Holy City in the early winter of last year, the news of the defeat of the church coalition forces completely strengthened his determination to go out."

Cumberland stroked his beard and said with a smile: "By the way, Pope Alexander of the Church of the Heavenly Father was also mentally disturbed and contracted a severe cold because of the failure of the church's coalition forces. He managed to survive this winter, but was completely cut off by the sad news of the fall of the Holy City."

Emerson waited for Cumberland to finish speaking, then took over the conversation: "Saladin sent troops to the holy city. In addition to these two reasons, I guess there is a third reason, which is civil strife."

"Civil turmoil?"

"The Ayyubid Empire used to be a vassal state of the Abbasid Empire in history. For a long period of time, Saladin called himself a courtier in front of the emperor of the Abbasid Empire." Emerson said with a sigh: "Saladin has always been extremely obedient in front of the emperor. When he fought back, almost no one dared to believe his decision. Therefore, after he came to power, the intricate political environment and pope factions in the country gave him great pressure. The Nestorian faction, the Nestorian faction... many divided domestic forces intend to set off a wave of rebellion against this man who overstepped his power and proclaimed himself emperor at any time."

Todd nodded and said: "So, in order to stabilize the political situation in the country, Saladin used the war in the Holy City to divert domestic conflicts... This is a gamble, a gamble with all chips on the table. If the Holy City persists for another half a month, if the landing is blocked, if..."

Cumberland slowly shook his head: "There are no ifs in war, even if it is a gamble, just look at his tactical arrangements - intelligence, weather, hydrology, terrain, commander and situation, it is not difficult to find that before the gamble started, Saladin had already calculated all possible outcomes, so he won in the end."

Emerson said regretfully: "If the guns of the Ayub Empire are the claws of beasts, then the emperor Saladin endowed this beast with human wisdom... The most chaotic era in the south has passed, and the following days may be the beginning of disaster in the diocese."