The loud noise of artillery fire shook the earth, and the thick smoke covered the battlefield.
Hundreds of siege mortars were lined up in a row, and the dense shells were like a rain of meteorites, pounding the city gates of Baghdad heavily.
This city, known as the "gift of God", as the capital of the Abbasid Empire, has been struggling to support itself for a month under the offensive of the Ayyubid Empire.
As more than two thousand shield vehicles and tens of thousands of soldiers advanced again, the battlefield, which had been silent for a moment, once again sounded the sound of muskets and shouts.
On a low mound 1,500 meters away from the city gate, thousands of cavalry were guarding a mighty middle-aged man wearing a white scarf. The latter quietly observed the war situation without saying a word.
In the distance, a general wearing Maranmo mail armor shouted excitedly while galloping on his horse: "The great caliph! The omnipotent Emperor Saladin! The enemy can no longer hold on!"
Saladin, who was nearly fifty years old, looked nothing like the legendary "Invincible God of War" who roamed the battlefield, but more like a scholar who had been immersed in academics and books for a long time. He heard the general's
When he shouted, he did not have the pride and joy that others expected, but instead had a solemn expression and sharp eyes.
While looking at the weak resistance on the city wall, Saladin stroked the gray beard on his face and said to the running general: "Issam, send another envoy to persuade the nobles in the city to surrender."
The general known as Ilam reined in his horse, widened his eyes, and asked in disbelief: "Are we going to persuade you to surrender again?! Caliph, with all due respect, at this point in the war, there is no one who can persuade you to surrender.
necessary……"
"Tell the nobles in the city that my condition for persuading surrender is that they are allowed to take all their property and servants and leave Baghdad."
"Allow you to bring all your property and servants with you?! Emperor Saladin, did I hear you right? The first time you asked them to surrender, you asked them to give up all their wealth and only spared their lives; the second time you asked them to surrender, you allowed their family head to surrender.
, taking away an amount of gold equivalent to their body weight; when it came time to persuade them to surrender, you even allowed them to escape with all their property?!"
"Caliph! I don't understand why the more advantageous the battle is to us, the more generous the conditions you offer to persuade us to surrender?!"
Saladin laughed and waved his riding crop, whipped Ilam's mount fiercely, and shouted at the figure running further and further away: "Remember the conditions I said! Just do it!"
Half an hour later, the envoys urging surrender entered the city, and the entire battlefield fell into deathly silence again.
After another half hour, the surrender delegation returned to the central army and reported back to Saladin.
"Great Emperor, the Abbasid nobles learned of your proposal and divided into two groups. One group decided to take their wealth and withdraw from Baghdad, while the other group swore to use their lives to guard the coffin of the Caliph of the Abbasid Empire and the members of the royal family. These people
We plan to abandon the outer city and retreat to the inner city."
Saladin looked at the city filled with smoke and asked in a deep voice: "How many defenders are there in the inner city?"
"Three thousand people, one thousand of them are the royal guards of the Abbasid Empire."
Issam tightened the reins and whispered to Saladin: "The strength of the last army in the inner city cannot be underestimated. Moreover, the terrain there is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are countless turrets and forts. This will be a difficult task."
A tough nut to chew."
Saladin stroked his beard and smiled: "No matter how hard your bones are, they will never escape being broken into pieces."
The Ayyubid Empire's army retreated ten kilometers back, while Baghdad opened its city gates and the flags symbolizing the Abbasid dynasty on the city walls were slowly lowered.
Saladin, who was riding on the horse, looked at everything in front of him and nodded slightly.
Ilem looked at the noble caravan slowly moving out of the city, imagining the wealth loaded on it, biting his lips with heartache, and sighed.
Saladin unscrewed the stopper of the kettle, took a sip of water, looked at Elim and shook his head and said, "Look further."
"Caliph! We have 70,000 troops and 170 artillery pieces. To us, Baghdad is like the fruit on the tree. We can pick it by just standing on tiptoes!" Ilam said sadly: "Although it is said that inside
There is still royal wealth in the city, but the property of these nobles
It's only a lot more than that! And now, so much wealth is slipping away quietly under our noses! If we can intercept this money, we can form an army of one hundred thousand... no, two hundred thousand, here we are.
At that time, no one in this world can compete with you!"
Saladin saw the other person's expression in his eyes, smiled and repeated the words he just said: "Elem, take a longer view."
Ilem turned around and looked around, and whispered to Saladin: "Caliph, why don't you allocate me a cavalry, I will order those soldiers to take off their uniforms and hide their flags. We can follow the nobles and wait at a suitable place.
Launch a raid at a location that no one will know about..."
Saladin waved his hand and rejected the proposal in one sentence: "In front of Allah, my promise is as unshakable as a law!"
After waiting for six hours, the convoy of Baghdad nobles finally disappeared from the army's sight.
Saladin led the army and entered this ancient southern city with a history of thousands of years.
Traces of the war are scattered all over the city, trees have been cut down cleanly, houses are covered with traces of gunfire, and the cries of women and children can be faintly heard behind closed doors.
"Go down the order! First, no soldier shall commit violence in the city; second, the military medical team will immediately go to treat the injured and sick in the city; third, order Emmeni to lead the governor's army to maintain public order in the city!" Saladin finished speaking to the secretary.
After these words, he shouted to Elim: "Before we attack the hard core of the inner city, let us first see the real wealth in this city!"
Under Elim's puzzled expression, Saladin led his army into the building complex in the north of Baghdad.
Looking at these majestic buildings in front of him, Saladin dismounted, lowered his head, and walked forward instead.
Elim followed the same instructions and looked at the tall and gorgeous buildings in front of him, and asked in a low voice: "Caliph, where exactly is this place?"
"The courtyard and buildings in front of you are the University of Baghdad; the buildings on your right are the University of Nuristan; and further away, there is the Wisdom Palace, the largest library in the world."
Saladin's rich voice made a group of people hiding in the building come out. They were in ragged clothes and had sallow faces, but their upright posture and wise eyes made their identities obvious.
Saladin handed the riding crop to the guards beside him and walked quickly towards the group of people. He smiled and said as he walked: "Issam! Do you see it? These are the most precious treasures in my heart!"
After a brief exchange of greetings with the scholars in Baghdad, Saladin remounted his horse and shouted to everyone: "In the name of Allah, the Most High! I hereby declare that everything here is under the protection of me, Saladin."
! Food, medicine, safety... everything you need here, I will provide it all!"
After issuing a series of orders, Saladin took the helmet handed to him by the guards, put it on his head, and waved his riding crop in the direction of the palace in Baghdad: "It's time to break the last bone in the remnant body of the Abbasid Empire.
It’s time! Let’s go!”
At this time, the inner city of Baghdad had already been heavily surrounded by the troops of the Ayyubid Empire.
The muzzles of hundreds of artillery pieces were pointed towards the main entrance of the palace, and the soldiers repeatedly checked the powder and flints of the muskets.
Before Saladin rode to the inner city, he asked an old general in charge of the attack: "Nazar, what is the situation with the enemy?"
"Something is wrong." Nezhar turned back to Saladin and said: "There are no enemy troops on the city wall. We called several times but no one answered. There is silence in the inner city. It looks like a...dead city."
Just when the army was in shock and confusion, the gate of the inner city slowly opened.
A majestic giant nearly two meters tall, with a metal devil mask on his face and his body covered with arrows and broken spears, pushed open the door from the inside.
Immediately afterwards, several giants in the same attire walked out of the city gate and knelt on the roadside, motionless.
Saladin, who was sitting on horseback, looked at these strange giants in front of him, and his heart moved.
At this moment, a young man, wrapped entirely in black robes, walked out of the city gate. He spoke loudly in a slightly awkward Arabic: "The great and wise Emperor Saladin, your best wishes."
My humble servant, I now dedicate to you the Baghdad Palace, the supreme diamond in the imperial crown!”
Saladin took a deep look at the young man kneeling on the ground and led his army into the inner city without saying a word.
As soon as he entered the city gate, Issam looked at the scene in front of him and said doubtfully: "It's strange, the Baghdad Palace in my memory does not have such a high hill?"
The old general Nazar saw the scene in front of him clearly, opened his eyes wide, made a loud voice in his throat, and shouted: "By Allah! This is not a hill at all!"
A "mountain" made of human corpses appeared before everyone's eyes.
Thousands of dead people, some were guardsmen guarding the palace, some were maids and servants in the palace, and some were even extremely noble members of the royal family. All were stripped of their armor and clothes, and their bodies were divided and torn into pieces.
They were piled together and turned into an extremely brutal "landscape".
What is happening in front of them is simply not something that humans can do. Only demons can behave like this. Even warriors who have experienced hundreds of battles and soldiers who are used to seeing death, this scene makes them feel sad from the bottom of their hearts.
Deep in the depths, a biting cold air arose.
Saladin pulled the reins of his horse and walked up to the man in black. He looked at the man who lowered his head in front of his horse's hooves and asked in a deep voice: "Did you capture the inner city of Baghdad?"
The man's body did not move, but his voice seemed to come from the ground: "Yes, great Emperor Saladin, my men and I defeated the enemies in the inner city."
Saladin glanced at the group of two-meter-tall "giants" and then asked: "How many people do you have in total?"
"three hundred."
"How dare you deceive the wise Caliph?!" The angry Isam came over on horseback and began to scold the man in black loudly.
Saladin raised his right hand to stop Issam's cry.
Looking at the young man surrounded by hundreds of muskets, Saladin thought for a moment on horseback, and finally asked: "Young man, tell me your name."
The man in black lifted his hood, revealing a pale face. He smiled and said, "Supreme Emperor Saladin, my name is Throat Bone."