Chapter 36 The Feast of the Desert Vultures

The attack of the Seljuk Turks disrupted the defensive posture of Duke Frandel. When Anudin led the three thousand Seljuk Turks to attack the eastern territory of the Kingdom, Duke Frandel, who received the news, accidentally broke his favorite glass cup given by the southern city-state of Milan. In order to prevent the soldiers and nobles from shaking, the duke decided to conceal the news, but gradually some nobles still received the news.

"Sir Duke, the camp of Earl Belu is empty. He seems to have led his troops back to his territory." The Duke got the news in his tent. For several consecutive days, nobles close to the eastern territory quietly left the Duke's troops and returned to their territory in the early morning to protect their land and property.

"Is that so? After reading the news, it was spread. Did Saladin take any action?" The old duke held his forehead. He felt that his body seemed to have become an empty shell, and his whole body had been exhausted. Without the support of the nobles, this army was in danger.

"No, it seems that they are still waiting for us to weaken further." The attendant reported to Duke Frandel that since Saladin's vanguard troops were hit by Greek fire, Saladin has remained silent, which is in line with his usual cautious use of troops.

"How many people do we have?"

"It's less than eight thousand." After the servant in the tent said, he lowered his head. Anyone could predict the outcome of the battle, and Saladin was just waiting for the right time for that beautiful blow.

"Put the soldiers' emotions, the morale cannot be shaken now. We have not lost yet? The Crusaders who had defeated the enemy under the siege of hundreds of thousands of pagans laid the foundation of this kingdom. We cannot just give up and stick to our posts for your glory." Duke Frandel stood up, waving his fists wrapped in chain armor and ordered his generals.

"The nobles have abandoned us, we are finished." In the camp, there were soldiers shouting loudly. Around him, the soldiers of Duke Frandel were surrounded, and more and more nobles and their troops left the camp, making the soldiers who saw them more and more confused. The colorful flags that were flying over the camp like the ocean now were now only a few laziness left. This situation made anyone who saw them feel heartbroken, and the voices of the pagans on the opposite side became stronger and stronger every morning, as if they were mocking their enemies for their loneliness.

"Who is spreading rumors?" The officer pulled out his whip in a furious manner and tried to drive away the soldiers gathered together, but in return it was a hatred look, which made the officer helplessly put down the whip in his hand.

"This is the fact. Since the nobles have given up, why do we still have to die here?" The soldiers said this to each other with their spears, and then walked out of the camp.

"You can't leave, you have made a vow, and now you are fighting for God." At this time, after receiving the news, Duke Frandel quickly put on his armor and rode on his horse, blocking the entrance of the camp to prevent the soldiers from leaving. He vowed that Saladin's plan would not succeed. He could not lead more than 10,000 troops out of Antioch Castle, but he fled back to the royal court in a mess.

"Mr. Duke, we respect you very much, but you know very well that without the support of the nobles and their army, we cannot win at all." A veteran walked out of the soldiers, and he respectfully said to Duke Frandel.

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer, I'll ask you for your request." Duke Frandel found that he could not argue with the soldiers' words. He could only helplessly beg the soldiers' help. Seeing the old Duke running like this for Antioch's safety in his twilight years, some soldiers returned to the camp, but more people were already hopeless about the victory of the war.

"Look, isn't that Earl Belu? Why is he back?" While the two sides were in a stalemate, the sound of horse hooves and people came from outside the camp. Someone saw a slanted yellow and blue banner, which was the flag of Earl Belu who had just left.

"What's going on? Why are they back?" Duke Frandel couldn't believe his eyes. All the nobles who had already left were back. Although they were out of breath, they were in order.

"Sorry for my farewell to the Duke without saying goodbye. It's really a damn attack from the Seljuk Turks that worried me. My wife and children were all in the castle without many guards. I was worried about them." Earl Belu was a bald, bearded, short middle-aged man with sweat on his head without a helmet.

"Then why are you back?" Duke Frandel could not blame them. They must have not expected the sudden attack of the Seljuks. If it were the Duke himself, it would be difficult to leave his family alone.

"I'm very lucky. On the way, we met the messenger sent by Antioch Castle. He told us that Anudin and his puppy cavalry had been defeated, thank God." Earl Belu raised his hands excitedly, and the other people beside him also cheered the same.

"Oh? Is it true?" Duke Frandel couldn't believe his ears. He remembered that there was no military power in the Antioch Castle. Could it be that the Duke of Bellason from the north was finally willing to send troops?

"It's true, Anudin has been defeated." Among the cavalry of the Earl of Belu, a man dressed in an envoy came out. After saluting the duke, he announced to everyone the process of the defeat of the Seljuks, and Schwab led the Teutonic knights to escort the captives into the Antioch Castle, and everyone watched this exciting ceremony of entry.

"Teutonic Knights? They are them." Duke Frandel did not expect that the unknown Earl Schwab and his Knights would defeat the vicious Seljuk Turks.

"That's right, Lord Duke, now our eastern territory is guarded by the strong and reliable Teutonic knights, and the Seljuks will no longer be able to take a step." The messenger rode his horse and announced loudly. This was really good news, which means that the Duke Frandel would have no worries, and the nobles and soldiers could also concentrate on fighting.

"Great, the servant prepares for the celebration party immediately and brings out the wines I have treasured~~~." Duke Frandel finally showed a long-lost smile on his face, and he felt God's grace bathing on everyone in the Antioch Kingdom.

"Sultan, is there laughter coming from the Antioch camp?" Muhard said in confusion in the camp opposite Saladin. In recent days, the Antioch camp was as dead as a cemetery. The scouts kept reporting that some nobles left the camp in the early morning, as if they had returned to their territory. This means that Saladin's plan was successful. It must be that the Antioch backyard had caught fire, so the nobles were impatient to return to their territory. But what happened now caused the Antioch to revitalize.

"Sultan, no, our spy just got the news that Anudin and his men were defeated." At this time, a general handed over a piece of intelligence, and a sand eagle stood there on his shoulder, with yellow and round eyes looking at it.

"This is impossible. Antioch has no power anymore. Besides, are the Seljuks easy to mess with?" Muhard shouted loudly. He didn't believe that the information was true.

"But, this spy never made any mistakes." The general defended.

"It's a trick, it must be the trick of the Antiochs." Muhald shook his head.

"Quiet, Muhald, don't let his heart blind his mind." Saladin finished reading the note, handed it to Muhald and said, as Saladin stood in the camp and looked at the Antioch camp.

"Sultan, is this true? But~~~."

"Nothing, but this is war. You will never know where Allah's test is. Haha, the Seljuks have always looked down on the Antioch. This time Anudin fell apart, and he will definitely regret it." Saladin's mouth curled up slightly, and his face showed a naughty expression. Thinking of the unruly Seljuk Sultan, Saladin felt funny. Anudin was just a spoiled child. This was Saladin's first intuition.

"So what to do next?" Muhard asked.

"Well, I have to destroy the Antioch in one breath. I originally wanted to retain more troops, but it seems that this plan has failed." Saladin turned back to his tent. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and Saladin's mood became slightly irritable as the weather. According to people in the palace, the Sultan seemed to have been affected by some bad effects recently, so the matter here must be completed as soon as possible, and then lead the army back to Eju and catch all the treacherous ministers who took advantage of their reluctance to deceive the Sultan.

The air was filled with a tense atmosphere, and in the sky were circling desert vultures that ate carrot. They flew droolingly and patiently waiting for the start of a feast. Of course, it is also good to enjoy a performance before the feast begins. The content of the performance is the story of a group of two-legged animals fighting each other. The blood, flesh and howling sounds began to play like a prelude. The desert vultures screamed excitedly, expressing their appreciation for the performance.

"Wow~~~." A spear suddenly pierced into the knight's neck. The knight had just fallen from his horse and fell to the sand. His war horse was shot to death by the sultan's bow and arrow. The chain armor worn by the knight was very heavy. When he stood up staggeringly, he was stabbed in the neck by the spear of the Sarasen spearmen. The knight screamed and fell to the ground. Blood dyed the white shirt embroidered with a red cross along the chain armor.

"Peng~~~." But the Sarasen spearman had not had time to be happy and rushed past another knight. The knight took his sword and cut off his head quickly. When his head rolled on the sand, half of his body without a head fell like wood. The battle of thousands and tens of thousands of people dyed the sand a terrifying red.

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Chapter completed!