Chapter 155: Breaking Through (4)

When the fully armed soldiers charged out of the south gate of Aleppo Castle, the people who saw this scene felt a sudden sense of relief—they still thought this was an army sent by the new Sultan to quell the chaos in the city. Unfortunately, these valiant cavalrymen did not linger in the city at all and chased directly out of the gates. The First Lady, the new Sultan Salih, and the Grand Vizier had no intention of wasting their strength at this moment to help those impoverished commoners.

Although according to doctrine, this was the Sultan's right and his duty, neither Salih nor the First Lady possessed enough prestige to command any Emir or Fatah to act. This meant that if they wanted to drive even a single soldier, they had to use money, and the price was clearly much higher than when Sultan Nur ad-Din was still alive.

The head eunuch also found it difficult to easily comment or intervene in this matter. His alliance with the First Lady was not yet solid enough to point out the other's mistakes. Furthermore, he vaguely sensed that these bandits creating chaos and disaster might have received some kind of promise or indulgence—how many people were involved and how many deals were made was hard to say.

Regardless of anything else, the First Lady and the new Sultan Salih could save a large sum of money—if Kamal or any other minister with a shred of responsibility were here, he would have vehemently opposed it, even accused them. But the group with a sense of responsibility had already left Aleppo, and among those who remained, even if there were neutrals, seeing the new Sultan held tightly in the First Lady's arms, they shut their mouths and, being sensible, said nothing more.

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The army pursuing Cesar numbered about 1,500, and on the second and third days, the First Lady added another 500.

Aleppo is about 90 leagues (350 kilometers) from Damascus. This journey took them nearly half a month when they came, because they had to escort the coffin of Sultan Nur ad-Din. Now they could gallop with all their might, but both horses and knights have times when they are exhausted. Although the members of the Order once joked that with Cesar's blessing, they might be able to run all the way to Jerusalem, everyone knew this was impossible.

Moreover, they were intercepted many times on the road. It was not just the army; those Saracens appearing in the dust belonged either to nearby villages or to surrounding tribes. They had been fighting the Christians for nearly a hundred years, and every encounter did not necessarily allow them time and opportunity to explain.

Occasionally, Cesar would also think of Baldwin far away in Jerusalem.

If they could return safely, he must talk to Baldwin about this incident—he had never discovered before that the other party actually had an extraordinary talent for divination. If it weren't for Baldwin's insistence on equipping him with such a formidable team for a diplomatic mission, he would certainly be in a very sorry state now.

During this time, he had become very familiar with them. He knew their surnames, origins, ages, and personalities. He had cooked for them, hunted with them, or fought bandits. They prayed under candlelight, sat around campfires singing and dancing. These young men would argue, make noise, and chatter; each had their own shortcomings and their own strengths.

Indeed, as people expected, Cesar became the leader of this group of young men and gained their support. But at the same time, this meant that Cesar had an inescapable responsibility toward them. Even in this era, in this place, death always followed like a shadow, especially for a Crusader knight. Even a king like Amalric I died hastily in an expedition, without warning, irredeemably.

But Cesar still dared not think about what it would be like if he took these people away and only half or fewer returned to Jerusalem. He would be so ashamed that he would have no face to see anyone, let alone have others come out to blame him. Fortunately, Baldwin's excessive care made this diplomatic team unprecedentedly large, and large meant that in many cases, they were overwhelming to others.

They crushed bandits or tribal warriors more than once, and set two ambushes when the pursuers were closing in, beating the latter into disarray and scattering them like birds and beasts, yet they could never shake off the other side's pursuit and predation—some unsettling words had already arisen within the Order.

The most uneasy, of course, were those Saracens, the former ministers of Sultan Nur ad-Din. They were either plagued by illness or physically disabled, and some were already extremely elderly. Such non-stop galloping and fighting brought a heavy burden to their bodies and minds. They tried their best not to drag down these Christian knights, but sometimes the body does not obey the mind.

"There is an oasis ahead," Kamal said in a hoarse voice. "We can rest there for a night."

"No, we can only rest for half a night," Cesar rejected his suggestion. They had just wiped out a team of Nubian slaves, and before executing the captives, they managed to force out some information—there were still no fewer than 2,000 people chasing them.

And the nearest ones might be only a day's journey away. But they had been galloping for two nights and one day in a row. Even if his power could greatly alleviate the knights' fatigue, their spirits were almost unable to hold on.

There must be a village around the oasis; this was beyond doubt.

A shepherd saw them and immediately abandoned his flock, running toward the village. There happened to be a "scholar" here, who immediately led the warriors in the village, quickly mounted their horses, and rushed toward the oasis.

To them, Cesar's mission was a large army capable of destroying them. As Saracens, they did not fear losing their lives on the battlefield, only worrying about their wives and children. Fortunately, these Christians did not immediately launch an attack but sent out a young knight from their midst. Behind him, riding together, was actually a Saracen. At first, the scholar thought it was a guide, but then he realized something was wrong.

Kamal jumped off his horse. As he landed, he felt his knees go soft, and his body tilted forward involuntarily. Fortunately, Cesar had already dismounted at this time and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.

With Kamal's explanation and guarantee, the scholar reluctantly accepted them. Of course, the other side would still not lower their guard. Every Saracen in the village would stay awake all night, sleeping with their weapons, until they were far away from this place, but this was not a problem for these Christian knights to consider.

As soon as they saw the clear lake water, they couldn't help but let out a joyful shout. Except for the knights responsible for guarding, the other knights dismounted one after another and walked toward the lakeside. With the help of their squires, they unbuckled their iron gauntlets, took off their hoods, stretched out their hands, lifted the icy lake water, put it to their lips, and drank their fill.

Then they filled their waterskins and brought them to their mounts to drink. The Saracens who were peeking here finally felt a little relieved. A person's character can often be revealed from small places. If these Christian knights were unwilling to waste even the lake water, then there was a high probability that they would not break their previous promises.

The scholar stood by the window. Although others urged him to rest, he just shook his head. He also saw those Saracens in a sorry state. Although he might not be able to recognize their identities, he could still see from their expressions, actions, and clothing that these people were not ordinary commoners—in the Zengid dynasty, men's clothing did not have distinct class distinctions, and their prophet Muhammad did not advocate for men to wear jewelry or silk, but there were always places that could highlight the uniqueness of those in power.

Strangely, these people looked as if they had just been tortured; bloodstains, missing limbs, and weakness could not be hidden.

And not long ago, Sultan Nur ad-Din's coffin had just passed by them. Needless to say, the scholar guessed that some bad things had happened in Aleppo city now. He pondered for a long time, and when the knights lit a campfire and sent a few squires to buy food from the villagers, he generously agreed.

Then he called the warriors over and told them to pack the necessary items as soon as possible: "We are going to leave here temporarily—when these Christians and Nur ad-Din's ministers leave, we will also go."

"What?" Hearing the scholar say this, the warriors couldn't help but feel a burst of surprise. "Is it because of those Christians?" a hot-tempered warrior said. "Are you saying they will attract their army? Then we might as well go out now and kill them."

"No," the scholar said. "What worries me is not these Christians—are you willing to listen to me? If not, then I will take my family and leave. But I hope you can follow my arrangements, children. Dark clouds are coming from Aleppo."

The people here hesitated for a long while, but the scholar had always had great prestige among this group of Saracens. Even if they were still a bit reluctant, they all returned to their respective homes, sorted out all the important things, took what they could, and tried to bury what they couldn't.

Those Christians left before the sky brightened, taking advantage of the night, silently. The scholar, who had been watching them, immediately gathered the people in the village. Carrying bags and baskets, they quietly headed toward a rocky mountain near the oasis. That rocky mountain had a natural large crevice, and at the end of the crevice was a cave hollowed out by wind and sand. The cave was large, and although it could not be lived in for a long time, there should be no problem staying there temporarily.

"How long are we going to stay here?" the scholar's wife asked uneasily. "Until those people have been here," the scholar said. At this time, they didn't know who the "they" the scholar referred to were. But soon, on the afternoon of the second day, a young man who had received the prophet's revelation and had been left behind by the scholar to observe the village situation ran back, his face pale, his body trembling, and sweating profusely.

People gave him grape juice to drink, and he finally calmed down a little. He told them that just at noon, when the sun was most poisonous, a group of Oghuz Turks arrived at their village. They discovered the traces left by the Christians at the lakeside and rushed into the village fiercely with weapons in hand. They searched and looted everywhere, shouting and yelling, but because of the scholar's early warning, everyone had left, and they found nothing.

In the end, they could only angrily burn down a few houses in the village before leaving sullenly. It is imaginable what would have happened if the people in the village had stayed there waiting for them.

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After resting, Cesar and his team galloped for another day and night. At dawn on the fourth day, they were not far from Damascus, but the most powerful pursuing force finally found them and was galloping toward them.

The knights put down the Saracens on their horses one after another. They were placed behind a sand dune; their fate would depend on the outcome of this battle. If the Christians could win, then they might be able to enter Damascus and receive protection there. But if the Christians lost, the result went without saying.

Since the First Lady and the new Sultan Salih had already sent pursuers, it meant that they would no longer regard them as trusted ministers, and the only end for a rebel was to be executed.

Kamal gasped with difficulty twice. His eyes had sunk deeply in these few days, his lips were chapped, and his hair was disheveled.

But there were some things he had to say—"Next, my lord, if you can find an opportunity, just leave on your own. We were never a responsibility you should have borne—let it be like this. You have already done what even a Saracen might not be able to do. We will always remember your kindness to us. If... if my colleagues and I have a future, we will definitely repay you."

He stared at Cesar, placed his hands on his chest, knelt down again in front of the hooves of this Christian knight's horse, "All praise belongs to Allah, my lord. I hope we will meet again."

Cesar nodded calmly. In fact, as a Christian, it was impossible for him to order his subordinates and companions to sacrifice themselves for a group of Saracens. They had indeed done their best. Once they repelled this group of pursuers, it might be time for them to truly part ways.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 156 =====