Chapter 486 - 347: The Advantage Is Mine

The Arabs’ desecration of Yajisiyan’s head quickly caught the attention of the Turkic People.

Although they had never served under Yajisiyan, and had not even heard his name a month ago, anger still flared up quickly within the ranks of the Turkic People.

They found their own officers and reported the incident with embellishments.

"A fallen Turkic man must never be humiliated like this!"

"They’re a bunch of useless bums who rely on us to fight. We should teach them a lesson and make them pay for their foolishness!"

"These Arabs are still living in their imperial fantasy. Their caliph is nothing more than an old dog of ours."

"These idiots from the desert—don’t they know that their dignity depends on us to be won?"

"Hahaha, a virgin’s thighs are the only territory these Arabs are willing to fight for!"

"What a strange people, the Abbas! Their ancestors conquered half the world and built the most prosperous cities, but look at them today! We took their Empire, and they tolerated it. We conquered their capital, and they were actually happy to give us gifts!"

"..."

So that night, a fire broke out in the Arab Cavalry’s pasture. The flames burned the withered grass and fallen leaves on the ground, as well as the surrounding, relatively lush grass. Only the surrounding pasture burned, not the tents, making it look like a case of spontaneous combustion due to dryness.

However, a dozen or so unfortunate Arab Shepherds were burned, and one of them died from the severity of his injuries.

Although there was no proof, the Arab Cavalry still blamed the Turkic People. So, the next night, they devised a way to retaliate that could also be plausibly denied. They cut their Cloaks into strips, sewed them onto their robes in the shape of a Cross, shaved their beards, cut their hair short, and removed their headscarves and all other identifying marks, disguising themselves as Crusaders.

They bribed the Persians serving as lookouts for the Turkic People in advance and launched a surprise attack on the Turkic Cavalry’s camp, setting their tents ablaze. Because the total number of troops in the army of Aleppo was over thirty thousand, everyone’s tents, including the Arabs’, were pitched close together. As a result, the fire spread much faster than the Arabs had anticipated, causing hundreds of Turkic People to be burned and destroying several Catapults.

To appease the anger of the Turkic People, Sharafi secretly executed eight Arab Bedouin who had been acting suspiciously that night. The Turkic People also demanded that the Arabs’ heads be hung on their tents as a deterrent, but Sharafi stopped them.

To avoid similar incidents, Sharafi kept only a small number of cavalry as a mobile force and chose to pull back the majority of the Arab and Turkic Cavalry units. One was withdrawn to the upper reaches of the Orontes River, and the other to its lower reaches. They were positioned to the north and south of Hama, respectively.

The two large forces had to be kept far enough apart that they could not see each other.

The assault on Hama was left primarily to the Infantry.

After all, cavalry was of little use in a simple siege, and Sharafi was confident that his massive army had already intimidated the Crusaders in the city. With his forces being large enough to surround all of Hama City, he knew that if the enemy had any sense, they would realize that coming out of the city for a decisive battle would be foolish.

Although these unpleasant events had occurred, they did not affect Sharafi’s mood. He had learned today that one of his Commanders had contacted a Muslim defender inside Hama City. If Sharafi promised to protect the man and his family and grant him wealth and honor, he would help Sharafi’s forces scale the tower he was guarding.

The friction between the Arabs and the Turkic People was just a trivial little episode.

Besides, he had always believed that with forty thousand men against fewer than ten thousand Christians, the advantage was absolutely his.

...

Inside Hama City, the Crusaders’ morale, which had been low, soared thanks to the manifestation of Christ and the Holy Spear.

Almost everyone was in high spirits. Faced with the impending battle, they were no longer fearful, but eager.

On the morning of the ninth day, the defenders on the walls of Hama City first noticed something unusual in the enemy camp.

A night watchman complained to Hook Eye that the enemy was "too noisy."

In contrast, another guard smugly reported that the Arabs had "learned to be a little quieter"—this put Hook Eye on alert.

He was certain that the Mu’adhin of the Saracen army wouldn’t just "quiet down" simply because they were facing a Christian city, so he began to suspect that the enemy army had been divided. (A Mu’adhin is the person at an Islamic Mosque responsible for proclaiming the five daily prayers. Muslims take one with them when they go to war.)

A messenger hurried through groups of men who were cleaning their weapons or just chatting idly. They shot him impatient glances, seeing his anxious expression, but recognizing that he was on official business, they made way for him.

The messenger arrived at the castle and relayed the news to Eric and the others.

"My lords," he said, bowing to the Counts and Barons present, "the Saracen cavalry is gone."

"What?" Stephen immediately sat up straight, on high alert.

"Almost all the horses are gone, and from what I could see, maybe half the army as well. The night watch said they saw two columns of torches heading north and south, respectively. They never saw them return," the messenger replied.

"What about Sharafi’s tent?" Eric asked.

"It’s still there."

"And there were no strange signs before this?" Eric continued to ask.

"Uhh... a few days ago, some Arabs were shooting at Yajisiyan’s head. Of course, they might have just been bad shots, trying to hit us... Oh, I remember now! A few days ago, it seemed like their camp caught fire. It was chaotic, all the horses were whinnying, it gave you a headache," the messenger recalled.

"It is the fire of Christ! Yahweh rained down sulfur and fire from heaven, destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the inhabitants of the plain; not even the plants of the earth were left!" a Priest shouted loudly.

"This is a sign from Christ. It is time for us to strike. Christ is calling to us!" a Baron said excitedly.

"Christ protects us!"

"Kill all these heretic dogs!"

"..."

Eric, however, was still studying the defensive map of Hama. His gaze then fell upon a tower, and he looked at Leif. "Leif, has it been confirmed that the Shiite has contacted Sharafi’s Commander?"

"Yes, I saw them talking below the tower. They were speaking Arabic; I heard them clearly. The time is set for tonight. They will send an advance party to that tower to try and scale the city walls.

I’ve placed all the Welsh and Genoese there to give them a grand feast."

"Don’t kill them all at once. Leave a few alive to create the illusion that their advance party is succeeding, so they’ll send more soldiers. Tonight, I want to draw all their attention to this tower." Eric pointed at the tower on the map. "Leave one hundred Knights at that tower. The rest of the Knights will ride out of the West Gate with me."

"Six hundred Knights riding out of the West Gate together? Perhaps we could split into two groups, and leave from... from different places." Stephen suddenly raised his hand, though he seemed hesitant.

"Different places?" Eric looked at Stephen.

"Hama only has three gates. That tower is in the south, near the South Gate. If not the West Gate, then what? The East Gate? The East Gate is too far," Belem said, waving his hand dismissively.

"I... I-I previously discovered a stone drainage channel on the north side. It’s large enough for a person to pass through."