Chapter 483 - 344: State of Despair

However, the approaching Muslim army was in no mood to wait until tomorrow. News of them arrived that very afternoon.

A clamor and the sound of Knights’ horns echoed through the streets of Hama as the Barons summoned their soldiers.

The Norman Infantry marched toward the south wall, with a few Knights leading the column.

Eric glimpsed Brother John. He was holding a Sword, something a Monk should never touch, and was locked in a heated argument with a group of nobles.

Hook Eye, supported by two Knights, was making his way toward Eric.

Eric went to meet him. A few days prior, the Persian Physician, Joseph, had successfully removed the arrowhead from Hook Eye and treated his other wounds, but he had still developed a fever.

Eric had given him a Chamomile Sleep Potion. He needed a long rest.

Hook Eye’s face was flushed red from the fever, and he gasped for breath. "My lord, the Emir of Aleppo approaches, doesn’t he? We must organize our army and prepare for battle or, God help us, for a siege," he said. "My master, let me join the fight. I would rather die on the battlefield than in a sickbed. Whether it leads to Valhalla or the paradise of the Lord of Heaven, battle is the only ladder."

"Nude, you need to rest. I promise you, this won’t be the last battle. Save your strength for Jerusalem. That is where you are meant to give your life." For the first time, Eric used his real name instead of his nickname, trying to persuade him.

But Hook Eye rejected Eric’s counsel, shaking his head. Every word he spoke was an effort, wracked with physical pain.

"I can’t fight for you on horseback, and I’m not the most exceptional warrior, but I can still stand by your side and be your eyes. Remember? That’s... that’s what you told me when you knighted me.

I can still stand on the walls now and keep watch for you."

Eric sighed and nodded. He then led him to the wall towers known as the Sister Towers, climbing to the top by the same steps he had descended three days before.

From the taller of the two towers, they could see the entire landscape outside Hama City.

To the northwest, the vanguard of the Muslim army advanced along the river road.

A column of horsemen in pristine white robes, black banners hanging from their Long Spears, snaked along the path. The formation moved like a giant, black-and-white serpent, extending toward the riverbank before disappearing into the water’s shimmering reflection.

Looking further out, an endless army came into view, as dense as a rising tide, resembling an unstoppable storm.

The army was suffocatingly vast, a torrent threatening to swallow the city and crush all resistance at any moment.

Forty thousand was likely a conservative estimate; the number was probably closer to fifty thousand.

Eric and Hook Eye could hear their drums and horns, along with the prayers of their Priests.

Eric could feel the heavy mood of his soldiers, their gazes sinking with every step the enemy army took.

"Father in Heaven!" a boy beside Eric cried out. "We’ve come so far... Why?!"

Hook Eye had his Attendant help him into his Armor. The Attendant then brought him a stool so he could sit and rest.

After giving orders for the defensive preparations, Eric left the wall. He had to arrange the miracle for tomorrow night.

....

That evening, the Normans were attacking the castle, led by Belem. But Belem was furious; the Emir of Aleppo’s army had already all but surrounded the city.

Belem had anticipated that the enemy would try to contact Mahmud in the Mountain Castle. And just as he’d expected, he captured a suspicious Muslim who confessed under torture and interrogation.

Belem executed the man in public and had his head thrown into the Mountain Castle.

Even without direct contact, Mahmud was likely stirred, perhaps now filled with a greater passion than ever to break out of the Mountain Castle.

To further provoke the enemy, Belem executed more Heretic prisoners before the Mountain Castle.

When the Turkic People inside the castle witnessed this, they let out wails of grief that continued for two days straight.

The commander of the Aleppo forces stationed near the Mountain Castle—apparently Yajisiyan’s nephew and Mahmud’s brother—demanded the return of his uncle’s head for proper burial so that he could enter Heaven.

Belem retorted that none of them, with or without their heads, were welcome in Hama and thus refused to surrender the skull.

Belem then deliberately hung Yajisiyan’s head from a gate tower, leaving it for the crows to tear apart.

In retaliation for Belem’s dismissal of their request, the siege from outside the city walls began in earnest.

The army of Aleppo began operating their Catapults, hurling rocks over the walls. But they weren’t just flinging stones; they were also launching the dismembered bodies of Christian villagers from the surrounding area into Hama City, spreading terror in retaliation for the Crusaders’ desecration of Yajisiyan’s corpse.

The stones landed amongst piles of corpses, sending body parts flying. One unlucky man had his back broken when he was struck by a corpse hurtling through the air.

Whenever the enemy Catapults fell silent, Brother John organized teams to collect the Christian bodies. They were burned in a mass pyre, with prayers offered to help their souls ascend to Heaven, and also to prevent the spread of plague and infectious diseases.

The entire city was shrouded in a grim haze. The ash drifting down like dirty snow was the cremated remains of the dead.

....

After a single night, the ferocity of the Aleppo army’s assault was clear. They had toppled all the watchtowers along the first moat and killed every Crusader Soldier in the surrounding earthworks and trenches.

They had already crossed the first moat and completely occupied the open ground between it and the second moat.

They had pushed the siege lines to within a few hundred paces of the city walls.

They had seized the Crusaders’ former camps. Every slope outside Hama City and every position near its three main gates was now occupied. They had even begun building their own siege towers, and with their superior numbers and abundance of engineers, the construction was proceeding at a remarkable speed.

The Crusaders were completely surrounded.

Meanwhile, the Crusaders in Hama City had gathered all the food they could find, but it was a pitifully small amount.

The Crusaders could not withstand a siege for more than three weeks. Everything now depended on whether the miracle would happen.

Late last night, all the boats at the ferry crossing had departed, dealing a heavy blow to morale. It felt as if everything and everyone was abandoning the Crusaders.

Meanwhile, Brother John was vehemently protesting to the various Counts and Barons about the ravings of the peasant, Stephen. He demanded Stephen’s arrest, believing the man’s heretical nonsense was blasphemous and would cause the Crusaders to lose God’s protection.

Despite the heated debate on the matter, all agreed that it should be kept secret unless some proof could be found.

However, this morning, a Priest whom no one had ever seen before suddenly appeared in the marketplace. He loudly proclaimed that he too had seen Christ, and that the Holy Spear was hidden somewhere within the city.

When people tried to press him for more details, the Priest vanished before their very eyes. No one knew where he had come from or how he had disappeared.

And so, the news of the three great portents spread like wildfire: the peasant’s dream, the vision of Christ and the Holy Spear, and the mysterious Priest who had vanished. Hama City was in an uproar.

Every Knight, every soldier, indeed the entire army, now demanded a search for the holy Relic.

All awaited the coming of night, for the peasant Stephen had claimed that tonight, Christ himself would appear and cause the Holy Spear to be revealed.