Yogurtsburg.
Overlooking the land from the top tower of the castle, you will see a vast expanse of river valleys, which are the traces of vicissitudes left by the diversion of the Jordan River.
The dust kicked up by the two lightly-armed riders was speeding toward the castle.
The guards in the tower immediately shouted: "Someone is coming, perhaps your lord's messenger, ready to ask for their identity and open the city gate."
The geographical location of Fort Jorge is very advantageous, and it is surrounded by flat areas. If a large army attacks, it will not be able to hide it from the guards on the tower.
There were only two light riders, and it was obvious that they had no ill intentions.
Guard officer Model, wearing a red and white burqa, asked doubtfully: "Messenger from Fort Kalle? We have no communication with Fort Kale. Let them come in."
"Thanks to" the relationship between Lothar and Count Leonard, they are obviously neighbors, but there is very little contact and communication between the two places.
Yogurtsburg, which is far away from the trade routes, has not been visited by outsiders for a long time.
The two messengers walked in with some anxiety. After hesitating for a moment, they saluted Model: "Excuse me, are you the guard officer of Fort Jorge?"
"That's right, tell me why you're here, the messenger from Fort Kalle."
Model looked at the two messengers with a cold face, obviously not thinking that anything good would come to him.
The two messengers looked at each other.
This is not the first time they have come to Yogurtsburg, but it is obviously completely different from before. The solid, new stone walls stand on top of the tower with a stone-shooting machine.
And inside, the towering fortress-like building, and this luxurious all-stone lord's hall.
It is completely different from the dilapidated little castle of the past.
Except for being smaller in size, this castle seems to be no less impressive in decoration and solidity than the Castle Carle that Count Leonard spent a lot of money to build.
What this means is self-evident.
After hesitating for a moment, the messenger still said: "Your Majesty the Guardsman, I honor my master, the noble King of the Dead Sea, the Lord of Hebron and Transjordan, the Patron of Caleb, Montreal, Adil and Tafila. The order of Count Leonard de Chatillon requires the recruitment of all the armored sergeants of Fort Jorgelu to assist in the defense of Fort Kalle."
"Oh, if I remember correctly, your master's distinguished title does not include Baron Jorgellsburg?"
Model scoffed.
The messenger emphasized his tone: "This is Earl Leonard's will. You have to think about it carefully. If you make the wrong decision, it will only bring trouble to your master."
Another messenger said angrily: "We treat each other with courtesy, but you are so ignorant and have offended my master. Be careful that we send troops to attack!"
Model slammed the table and said angrily: "Count Leonard is indeed very powerful. He has thousands of troops and is one of the most prominent lords in the Kingdom of Jerusalem."
"Moreover, he was cruel and violent, and would rob passing caravans and villages doing business with pagans from time to time - many lords were afraid of him."
"But what does that have to do with me?"
"The army of Yogurtsburg only obeys the orders of my master, Baron Lothar. Not to mention you are a little messenger, even if your master comes in person, I will still not change my answer."
"Who dares to cause trouble in Yogurtsburg?"
A rough voice sounded.
I saw a giant man wearing only a pair of shorts pushing open the door and entering.
His bronzed upper body had muscles as sharp as marble, and he held a giant hammer the size of a human head in his hand. The terrifying pressure instantly frightened the two messengers and froze them in place.
"Just you two?"
The giant lowered his head and looked down at the two little ones.
"No, no, no, we are just having a pleasant meeting with the guard officer."
"Please, please, don't kill me, I'm just here on command."
It seemed that the pressure of the giant Mallus was too strong. One of the messengers, who was only less than 1.6 meters tall, fell to his knees with a thud.
Model sneered and said: "Hey, Mr. Mallus, please carry these two poor guys out, otherwise, I'm afraid they will be frightened and pee in this sacred place."
Mallus nodded and said, "I'm willing to help."
After that, a messenger in each hand picked them up and threw them out of the door.
The two of them rolled and crawled, got on their mounts, and hurriedly left Yogurtsburg without even daring to say a harsh word.
...
In the empty wilderness.
An army of thousands of people was advancing slowly.
They carried the flag of the Black Eagle and the Cross of Jerusalem.
The red and white burqa rendered the entire army as a whole.
It was different from the Northern Expedition.
Going north, there are territories of the Kingdom of Jerusalem everywhere along the way, and these are located along the Mediterranean coast, the most elite part of the Levant, and supplies can be obtained at any time along the way.
However, when marching to the east, apart from being able to resupply once in Bethlehem, the march would be long and it would be difficult to find water sources.
Therefore, the entire army was divided into several branches by Baldwin IV and marched in order to relieve the baggage and logistical pressure.
Otherwise, this army of nearly 15,000 people will probably lose most of its combat effectiveness due to thirst before it even encounters the enemy.
They would meet in the city of Montreal, then integrate all their armies and march together to Fort Kalle, which was besieged by Saladin.
Lothar took the lead and came to the front of the team with Hans.
He pointed to the village ahead and said with a smile: "Hans, this is your fiefdom. It seems you haven't been here yet?"
Sego, the surname of Hans, comes from this village.
Hans said with some resentment: "Not only have I never been here, I have never seen a copper coin of tax money fall into my pocket."
Lothar said righteously: "Men become bad when they have money. I take care of your food, your drinking and your housing. What do you want money for? What else can it be besides going to whoring?"
Hans opened his mouth and sighed: "Sir, you always have a set of fallacies that can convince me."
It was a common thing in Jerusalem that knights did not live in fiefs, so instead of building a lot of construction here and spending money on building a wooden castle.
It is better to entrust the tax collection obligation to the tax collector and take the commission yourself.
Every tax collection day, the tax collector (often a local leader) would come here with warriors hired with money to collect taxes.
Lothar looked at the inspector on the side and asked: "Andrew, according to legend, the Saracen palace kept huge manticores and giant war elephants wearing iron armor. We will see them on the battlefield. ?"
Inspector Andrew De Porti shook his head and said: "Sir, this is also my first time to have a head-on confrontation with the Saracens. Before this, I have only fought some sporadic small battles."
"You can ask Richard. Although he is a civilian, he has served in the Knights longer than me. He may know some information."
Lothar called Richard at the back of the team and asked again.
"There may be armored war elephants, but the probability of a manticore is very small. The Saracens have tried to tame this beast, but they have never heard of any successful examples."
Richard said.
The team rested for a while in Sego Village before setting off again.
Lothar sent Ulm as a messenger to Jorgelusburg. He wanted to summon the newly trained hussars and Varangian guards to join the team, and also brought over the armor that Mallus made for Prajna.
