Chapter 266 Baptize with the Holy Spirit and Fire! (Today’s 10,000 words update)
Time goes back to the moment when Saladin led his troops and arrived at the position.
Not only was Saladin gazing at the Frankish positions, but George and Simon were gazing at Saladin's army as well.
George is the Field Marshal of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the nominal supreme commander of the Army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but in fact the troops he can mobilize are all soldiers from Transjordan.
To be clearer, most of the time George is responsible for training new recruits, improving the structure of various armed forces in Transjordan, and executing Gehlis's will.
This was the first time he had commanded a battle of two thousand men on his own. Apart from being excited, he was actually quite uneasy. He could only follow the advice given by Garris and try to do his best.
They dug trenches, set up barbed wire, backed up the river, and selected a time period that was not suitable for the army to march, to prepare for such a defensive battle.
Even so, he had to fight with 2,000 men against 6,000 men, fearing that he would fall into a long-term siege stage.
Winter in the Levant is the rainy season, which is not suitable for fighting.
This was not only against Saladin's massive cavalry, but also against the defenders in the trenches.
Rainy season means standing water and winter means cold.
Being trapped for a long time essentially means that they are unable to defeat Saladin's troops. On the contrary, their morale will gradually collapse due to cold, hunger, water accumulation, etc.
Therefore, George looked forward to the other party launching an attack more than Saladin, so that the defensive positions he deployed could come in handy.
Simon, who was standing next to George, acted relatively calmly.
Of course, this is also because he is not the first person in charge of this battle.
"Don't worry, George. Think about the ground you're stepping on, and you should be confident in this battle."
Hearing this, George lost his composure and punched Simon on the shoulder. What this guy said was a bit cold as always.
The current situation of religious groups is actually quite special.
According to the consistent naming method of Christianity, the Galis side should essentially be called the Galis sect or the Galis sect.
This title will include all believers, priests, theological systems... and generally refers to this religion.
The special thing about the Gallis sect is that it does not have a church system equivalent to traditional Christianity, but replaces it with religious orders.
The traditional Christian church system is a religious institution established with the clergy, that is, the bishop, as the core and priests as assistants.
But the Order is not. The operating logic of the Order is essentially the same as that of a military order such as the Knights Templar.
In other words, the order was an order of ascetic Paladins.
As for the clergy group in traditional Christianity, apart from their pastoral duties in the Gallis Sect, they are not responsible for the operation of the Taiping Order, a religious institution.
There is no hierarchical relationship between superiors and subordinates. They are only responsible to local believers and form a holy meeting to supervise and review the operation of the Paladin Order, and under certain circumstances, adjust the direction of the order.
In the absence of Gairis and the current Holy Synod is not yet complete, Simon is the leader of the Palatine Order of Taiping and the supreme leader of the Gairis Sect in Transjordan.
As the leader of a religious organization, Simon naturally had to study hard and practice hard. Even if he had no interest in the Bible at the beginning, he could now memorize many passages.
Matching the ground he stepped on, Simon felt that there was a passage of scripture that fit the moment particularly well.
He left, gathered the soldiers in the camp, and said mass and preached to them.
This would be the last mass mass before the war and was a must to boost morale.
Of course, this pre-war mass could not follow any too formal ceremony.
First, there was a brief opening prayer. After the prayer, the atmosphere was set and the devotion of everyone present was aroused.
【The loving Lord, the source of righteousness...】
[...Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 】
[In the name of Christ, Amen. 】
By the way, Simon picked it up and recited a passage from the third volume of the Gospel of Matthew aloud.
There are a few sentences among them that Simon mentioned emphatically.
"Everyone, you know that there are words written in the scriptures thousands of years ago, heralding the coming of the Holy Son and announcing the mission of our order."
"This is what is written in the Bible: The kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent! Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!"
"Many Pharisees and Sadducees have come to the land beneath your feet and to the river behind you, wanting to be baptized."
"When John the Baptist saw it, he said to them: You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"
"'John the Baptist' loudly criticized so many people and said: Don't think that because you have Abraham as your ancestor, you can take refuge!"
“For God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones!”
With this shout, Simon pointed at the soldiers.
"Today, it is the same. The Saracens you are facing, that is, the Arabs, they also respect Abraham as their ancestor and call themselves descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's eldest son."
"I think that by saying faith in the Lord, I can take refuge. Replacing the sincere heart with mechanical numbness is a departure from the will of the Lord."
"And we, the descendants raised up from the stones, follow the [Holy One] [Prophet] and step on the way of the Lord!"
"I tell you, John the Baptist said at that time: Now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. I baptize you with water, that you Repent. But he who is coming after me is more powerful than I, and I am not worthy even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire!”
"He has a winnowing fan in his hand to purify his threshing floor and gather the wheat into his barn but burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire!"
"Where is the Holy Spirit and the fire?"
As he spoke, Simon pointed to the cannon on the side amid enthusiastic cheers.
"The Holy Spirit and fire are right there!"
Immediately afterwards, Simon led the enthusiastic soldiers and continued to pray again and again, boosting the morale of the soldiers to a climax.
"Lord, that man has returned from death to accept your will: use the sword as a pen and the bow as a thread to reorganize the earth!"
"Although the kings of the nations are high and high, they are nothing more than dust and withered grass. When the wind blows, they will disappear!"
"The new heaven and new earth are before us, and the old authority will eventually be overthrown. You have chosen us to walk on this unimagined path!"
"Opening roads in the wilderness and flowing rivers in the desert are the blessings you bestow, and they are also the testimony of our sweat!"
"Go forward with your head held high! When the kings of all nations are swept away, we will be the new masters of the new heaven and new earth!"
"Amen!"
……
Just like the Battle of Jacob's Crossing, this Battle of the Jordan River also took place in a location that contains religious stories.
Jacob's Ferry established the name of Israel, and the place where this battle broke out, according to the research of the Franks, should be exactly the place where Jesus was baptized.
It was here that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and given new life by water and the Holy Spirit.
[And all the people were baptized, and Jesus also was baptized; and as he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit came down on him in the shape of a dove, and a voice came from heaven: "You are my beloved Son, I am happy with you.”]
There, John the Baptist vetoed the absolution of the corrupt upper echelons of the Jewish people and declared to the world: If God is willing, He can find the descendants of Abraham in the stones. This coincides with what Garris did.
And that sentence: The kingdom of heaven is near, you should repent! Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!
It has even become a catchy slogan for soldiers in Transjordan.
Indeed, the kingdom of heaven is near, and every sinner should repent, step on the right path, and eradicate all injustice, injustice, and injustice.
Such a firm belief calmed the soldiers' uncontrollable panic in the face of war.
Gaspar's squad was an artillery squad, responsible for a 4-pound cannon.
This artillery had just left the factory. In fact, before entering this position, although Gaspar's team was an artillery squad, it actually never had its own cannon and could only use public cannons at the training ground.
Productivity is such a thing these days. Even Transjordan cannot actually implement all the establishments.
But Gaspar was not unfamiliar with this new arrival, and he was not in a hurry.
Instead, in an orderly manner, he led the soldiers in the squad to unpack the cannon box that was delivered with the cannon.
In the gun box, apart from the gun barrel, there is the [Holy Oil] to protect the weapon from rust, and the parchment with a wax seal and written declarations and prayers as the [Purity Seal].
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
Before officially operating the cannon, Gaspar took out the [Purity Seal] and led everyone in prayer, praying that the Holy Spirit could appease the new cannon.
The main prayer content comes from the ninth canto of Psalms: "God is the protection of the righteous".
Then, the secondary prayers are the artillery instructions from St. Stalin, such as: "Artillery needs to be used intensively" and so on.
Then there are the operating specifications of the artillery, which clarify how to use this small cannon safely so that it can kill the enemy more effectively.
These contents not only need to be read, but also recited, and are suitable for practical application.
In addition, on the back of these [Purity Marks], the production date, storage date, number of times used, charging limit, operating instructions, applicable shell types, etc. of this 4-pound cannon are also recorded in detail.
Make sure that the artillerymen know how to operate the weapons, and use the power of the Holy Spirit to calm the artillery and avoid exploding the barrel.
According to the opinion of the religious sect, each military branch should have its own [Purity Mark], and each military branch should pray devoutly and recite it every day.
Artillery has artillery operating regulations, and pikemen have pikemen's queue commands...
And it is an act of piety that is effective enough to rival the seven normal daily prayers.
It can be said that the soldiers in Transjordan proved two things with their actual actions.
One: They are the most devout believers of the Lord.
Two: The Lord does protect them because they use these prayers to strengthen themselves more effectively.
Everything was organized and everything went according to plan.
This sense of security allowed Gaspar and the others to apply the results of their daily training to the battlefield almost perfectly.
The Mamluks were marching with their heads high and their chests held high. They advanced forward in an indomitable manner, with neat steps and a rainbow of momentum.
The soldiers at the front found a gap in the barbed wire fence, and the Mamluks swarmed in. As they charged into position cheering, a muffled explosion rent the air.
The explosion of black powder tore apart the silence, and a wave of air accompanied by countless iron pieces ravaged the crowd. Flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the aftermath of the explosion stirred up a patch of loess, obscuring his vision. In this flying dust, blood spread all over the wasteland for the first time.
When the Mamluks arrived at the designated location, Gaspar, who silently recited a prayer and prayed for the protection of Saint Stalin, lit the fuse.
Bang!
A dull explosion shot out from the muzzle and slammed into the crowd.
Wherever the iron ball hit, flesh and blood were mixed, and the Mamluks screamed in agony.
All of this is the power brought by daily devout prayer and hard training...
……
Saladin withdrew, but not all his troops.
He built a large camp nearby, following the example of the Franks, digging many defensive trenches and leaving about 3,000 people behind.
Although he was sure that he could not conquer the "fortress", at least he wanted to ensure that the enemy forces in Transjordan would not continue to press forward and threaten Jerusalem.
If war is a game, then both parties involved in the game must at least have the hope of winning before they have the motivation to actively advance the game.
Now, after Saladin suffered several losses in succession, the game has reached a stalemate. He can't find a point to break through. If he goes north, he will face Garris, and if he goes east, he will face Gehrys. That "fortress" where no one can be seen.
Of course, this is not to say that Saladin felt that he had no hope of winning, he just felt that he needed to lick his wounds.
Starting from the battle with Barbarossa, he fought a total of three battles with the Christians, and failed all three times. Even if Saladin could withstand these successive defeats, it also meant that the morale of his army had declined unstoppably.
At least those nomadic light riders are completely unreliable. His elite Mamluk army also lost its vigor because of such a big loss.
Now Saladin is no longer in a hurry to counterattack. He needs time to restore morale, reorganize his army to accumulate more strength, and find a more suitable opportunity to counterattack.
Saladin was not in a hurry, at least for now Jerusalem was still in his hands. Relying on Jerusalem's towering city walls and a large number of artillery, it did not seem difficult to defend the city, at least Saladin thought so.
……
Jerusalem is a holy city, but why it is holy actually has its own merits.
Initially, the Israelites conquered the city of Salem and established Jerusalem.
Then in the Old Testament, God told the prophet Ezekiel that he would place Jerusalem “among the nations.”
In other words, God indicated that Jerusalem is the central kingdom, the kingdom of China.
In the Middle Ages, people believed that this was not a metaphor.
The Map of the World, which is kept at Hereford Castle in England, is evidence of this view.
The map was drawn around 1300 AD. The map depicts the holy city of Jerusalem as a core. All human nations, whether Christian or pagan, were born and developed around the center of Jerusalem.
People not only believe that this is a geographical fact, but also a truth in the world. People also believe that the land of Jerusalem is full of miracles.
This understanding stems from education and development from childhood. Various stories in the Bible are all recorded in this land.
This land has the traces left by the ancient emperors in the Old Testament, as well as the life of Jesus of Nazareth in the Bible.
The Savior of the world, Jesus, was born in Nazareth, baptized in the Jordan River, and preached throughout the Levant. He was betrayed and arrested by Judas in Gethsemane, died on Golgotha, and taught the world on the Mount of Olives for several weeks. Overlooking the city of Jerusalem.
In this land, Jacob struggled with God and was given the name Israel. Abraham built an altar and followed God's instructions, using Isaac as a sacrifice...
Countless stories and legends are spread among tens of millions of people. No wonder they regard Jerusalem as the kingdom of heaven, and no wonder they regard Jerusalem as the center of the world.
For devout believers, setting foot here is like walking into a myth.
But now, the appearance of Garris seems to have once again smeared a mysterious color on this ancient and sacred land, shrouding it with a strange aura.
[Don’t be afraid, you worm Jacob and you people of Israel! I will help you, says the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. 】
Now, Gairis is standing on this land and will march south to recover large areas of Palestine.
(End of chapter)