Chapter 265 Attack and Defense of the Jordan River
Saladin was always paying attention to the Franks' construction of castles. When the latest news came, he breathed a sigh of relief and felt much more relaxed.
The current Jordan River Ferry Castle has not yet been completed. To be precise, it is only in the foundation laying stage. There are traces of excavation everywhere, ravines spread on the ground, and wooden military camps have been built.
"Your Majesty, now is a great time!"
Many generals under Saladin's command believed so firmly.
Since the failure of the siege of Tire in early 1188, the Ayyubid Dynasty's wars have been in an embarrassing situation.
After Barbarossa launched his offensive, the Ayyubid Dynasty suffered two consecutive defeats, although the losses were not heavy.
If the accidental death of Frederick Barbarossa had not been something to brag about, the enthusiasm for jihad in the Islamic world would have plummeted to the bottom.
The subsequent attack and defense of Akka City further revealed the weakness of our own army.
The more times like this, the more news of victory is needed to boost military morale!
Now is a good time to catch the Franks unawares and attack them unprepared. Before the Franks have built a castle, fight with them in the field. This is to use your own strengths to attack the other's weaknesses.
Under this urgent desire to fight, even Saladin was a little wavered. After repeated hesitations and repeated confirmation that the opponent's troops were not large, less than 3,000, he decided to use Jerusalem's army to attack the Franks. attack.
The purpose was to avenge previous humiliation and revive the morale of the Ayyubid dynasty.
Due to the climate in Palestine in November and the fact that the Jordan River penetrates deep into the interior, Saladin cannot actually gather too many troops. He can only use the relatively elite Egyptian Mamluks as the core.
The troops he led were not many, only about 2,000 light cavalry and 4,000 infantry, plus more than 300 heavy cavalry.
This number was twice that of the Franks of Transjordan, and was nearly the maximum limit for marches during this season.
Too many troops are actually not suitable for deployment in that terrain.
As far as the scouts reported, that crossing was actually where a tributary of the Jordan River merged into the main river.
Half of the Frankish construction sites were backed by the river bank, making it difficult to launch an attack.
In this case, Saladin still understood the principle that soldiers should be more valuable than more elite.
Just as Saladin had predicted before, it only took one day to send troops from Jerusalem to approach the Frankish position.
When he stood on the hilly high ground and looked at the place where he crossed the river, he saw a scene he had never seen before.
As the previous scouts said, there is no impressive fortified castle here, nor does it seem that there is any terrain that is so dangerous that it is difficult to pass.
What appeared in front of Saladin was a slightly undulating flat land. There was a wooden wall at the end of the flat land, which looked like a military camp.
According to Saladin's own estimation, the distance from his feet to the opponent's military camp was at least a thousand steps. In this distance of thousands of steps, there was nothing to hide his career.
Except for some wooden piles, it can only be described as desolate.
There is nothing that can be described as a city wall on this land, and there are no towers that must be relied upon to defend the city in the Middle Ages. If you insist on saying that there is anything that is not in line with the natural style, there are only these things stuck everywhere on this flat land. wooden stakes.
It looks like the fortresses in this area are still in the preparation stage and have not been officially repaired.
This is undoubtedly good news for Saladin, which means that he does not need to conduct a siege.
But where are the Franks?
It doesn't exist in the field of vision.
"Muzaffar, let your riders take a look and see where those Franks are hiding."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As Muzaffar went to give orders to his troops, a small group of cavalry ran through the desolate land under the afternoon sun towards the forest of wooden stakes.
Because it had rained a few days ago, they were not riding fast.
After approaching the wood pile forest, I just ran around for a while and never went deep.
"Why don't they go in?" Saladin asked casually.
"Maybe I've discovered something. Maybe those wooden piles have some secrets." Muzaffar replied.
When the scouting riders returned to King Saladin's tent, they reported the situation there.
"Iron wire? You mean those wooden piles are wrapped with a large number of barbed wires?" Muzaffar learned the situation ahead from his riders.
Saladin naturally heard what was going on, but he still didn't understand why they did this for a while. After all, could he stop his army with just wires?
Strategically speaking, Saladin believed that he had insight into the Franks' intentions.
After the Franks from Tire in the north launched a counterattack and captured Acre, they were bound to continue their drive south.
Transjordan in the south took the opportunity to make an offensive stance at this time, forcing Saladin to send his troops back to aid the city of Jerusalem.
In this way, the main regiment of the Franks in the north can take more initiative and regain more territory.
Under this situation, Saladin knew that he had been mobilized by the enemy, and he also knew that the newly built "fortress" next to Jerusalem should actually be a poison bait.
If Saladin spends too much force and too much time on this "fortress", then Saladin is actually being restrained.
And if such a "fortress" is ignored, sooner or later it will become stronger and more difficult to remove.
Therefore, Saladin's decision was to take advantage of the fact that it had not yet been completed and use his thunderous force to give the Franks a warning.
Just in the previous battle around Acre, we suffered two losses in a row. Now we have a new Mamluk army with high morale. We attack an unfinished fortress and win a small victory to strengthen our subordinates. Being brave can also be regarded as sweeping away the bad luck of previous losses.
Although he thought so, Saladin was actually prepared for the poisonous bait to be difficult to swallow. After all, the enemy was the Franks.
But who could tell him what the desolate open space in front of him was? Is it a fortress? Is it a fortress? Are there Franks hiding here? Are the Franks mice?
Just relying on a few wooden stakes and wire wrapped around it, and at most digging some ditches, is this a castle?
Saladin was really confused. This form of war was so different from the overall style of this era.
To say that when he fought with Garris's troops before, he could still understand what the Franks' troops were doing and what their purpose was, but now, he had no idea at all.
Saladin was not in a hurry to launch an attack. His troops were setting up camp. Even if he wanted to launch a tentative attack, he would have to wait until the next day.
……
[The dark purple-red shadow was replaced by garnet red, and the blood-red light swallowed the sky, as if dawn filled the night sky. This light did not come from the sun and the moon, but the gnawing of endless fire. 】
[The blazing flame tongue spits out, turning people and stones into ashes. The disaster screamed in a hoarse and eerie voice: "Listen to me, neighbor! Listen to me!", and the shrill cry echoed in the wind: "It's too scary! This is too scary!"]
At that time, Saladin's scribe Qadi Fadil once described the disasters suffered by the Franks to the Caliph in Baghdad in beautiful words. But now he found that those words were slightly modified to describe his own suffering more appropriately.
On November 8, in King Saladin's tent when he attacked the "fortress" at the crossing of the Jordan River, the atmosphere was so oppressive that all the generals did not dare to say a word and were as heavy as lead.
From time to time, there would be a simmering sound outside, and they already knew that it was the Franks' artillery being fired. From time to time, there would be another explosion, but it was the wooden stakes harvesting the lives of the soldiers...
These sounds are what the generals and Saladin himself will hear every time they attack, and along with the transmission of these sounds are all kinds of incredible bad news.
Starting three days ago, Saladin launched several tentative attacks.
As soon as he recalled the process during this period, Saladin felt that he was in a strange world.
In this strange world, the iron laws of war in the past have been broken.
The truth of the world is distorted and displayed in front of me in a way that I have never imagined.
Putting away those frightening thoughts, Saladin recited some scriptures silently, and then left the king's tent, followed by the emirs in silence.
As soon as I walked out of the tent, the sight that greeted me was wounded soldiers everywhere.
The autumn wind blows in November, bringing desolation and despair.
The wounded soldiers were leaning or lying down, moaning and crying, or just staring at Saladin silently, with uncontrollable pain in their eyes. He knew exactly what had happened in the past three days. And precisely because he knew it clearly, he knew that he was wrestling with an opponent on another level.
After casually glancing at these hundreds of wounded soldiers, Saladin did not stay in the military camp. He walked out of the military camp to the west.
This was not his first time here, but he hoped this would be the last time he witnessed the scene before him. Nearly a thousand corpses were spread out on the ground, while many people who were still alive were digging pits on the side to pay attention to these corpses. Buried.
Not long after, I climbed over a mound and a pungent stench hit my face.
He stopped, and the sight before him made him close his eyes and pray: hundreds of corpses were scattered all over the land, and not far away, people were digging pits to bury these dead companions.
Unlike the corpses he had seen before, these people had long been torn out of shape. The missing limbs, the blasted chest and abdomen, mixed with the smell of iron and gunpowder smoke, turned the battlefield into a flesh and blood mill.
Iron and gunpowder smoke turned the battlefield into a flesh-and-blood mill, but Saladin himself was an executioner, personally sending his subordinates and soldiers in and getting a bloody answer.
In a show of mocking kindness, the Franks allowed Saladin's men to collect the bodies and even tend to some of the wounded. When these wounded soldiers returned to the barracks, they brought back not hope but suffocating fear.
Saladin accepted this "favour", but in exchange for the opportunity to witness the horror before him.
The low temperature in November is not enough to breed too many insects and flies, but the stench and smell of death are enough to make people sick.
The soldiers responsible for burying the corpses looked sad, and mechanically threw the body parts into the pit with shovels in their hands.
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They were unable to identify whether these mutilated bodies belonged to the same person. They could only collect the reward money and relics from the corpses and record their ownership in detail.
Saladin stood there for a long time, and finally praised and prayed to the Greatest One again, his hands trembling slightly. He didn't look at the corpses again, turned around and left silently.
The emirs behind them didn't say a word. The only sound was the sound of iron boots on the soil, which was an elegy murmuring.
Ten minutes later, Saladin came to the front line and saw the wooden piles, parapets, barbed wire and trenches that were not easy to see that swallowed countless Saracens.
Here, Muzaffar, who is pale and hysterical, is gathering an army of a thousand people, preparing for another charge. For him, this "fortress" has been a lifelong nightmare. .
"Stop, let's withdraw." Saladin came to the veteran general's side and whispered.
The green wolf in front of him knelt on the ground, grabbed two handfuls of blood-stained loess with both hands, and cried loudly.
In the past three days, he had experienced more pain and powerlessness than he had ever experienced in his entire life.
Behind Saladin, there are many elite Mamluks, "elite" soldiers who were bought as slaves since childhood and received high-intensity military training.
All of them showed panic. Their comrades died worthless on this land, but they were powerless to do anything.
Seeing such a scene, Saladin knew that the spirit of the troops under his command had been crushed into the dust.
Recalling what he saw on the first day, Saladin didn't know what to say to boost their morale.
It was November 5th. On that slightly chilly morning, a group of Mamluk soldiers came to this wilderness with high morale after having a full meal.
The sun shines through the thin clouds and barely shines on this land. There is a sense of depression about to be stained with blood in the desolation.
In front of them, it seemed that there were only some wooden stakes and wires as obstacles, which seemed insignificant. It seemed that nothing could stop their progress.
Before the infantry charged, the bronze cannons brought from Egypt fired first. The sound of cannons was deafening, and the light of fire cut through the morning fog. The morale of the Mamluks reached its peak due to these loud explosions, as if victory was within reach.
But there was nothing worthy of shooting in sight.
The bombardment was more of a morale-boosting ritual than an actual battle.
Accompanied by loud war cries praising Allah, the Mamluks finally took action.
They marched forward in an unstoppable manner, with neat steps and a rainbow of momentum.
Because of the obstruction of the barbed wire, the cavalry could not participate in the charge. This was a pure infantry offensive.
The heavy infantrymen in the front row held their swords tightly, fully prepared for possible close combat, while the archers in the back row were ready for the battle that might come at any time.
When they approached the first barbed wire fence, the soldier at the front took out his sword and tried to cut off the barbed wire fence in front, opening a passage for the infantry behind, while some other soldiers looked for the barbed wire fence. gap, trying to cross it as quickly as possible.
At this moment in this wilderness, except for the occasional roar of the Mamluks, the Franks or enemies hiding in unknown places did not make any movement.
Until those Mamluks found a gap that could quickly break into the position, the Mamluks swarmed forward. When the soldier at the front rushed in a few steps, he did not notice what he stepped on.
Then there was a dull explosion, and the sound was accompanied by the explosion of two kilograms of black gunpowder. Metal fragments danced in the crowd, and the air waves generated by the explosion set off a burst of loess, and blood was the first in this loess. Splashed on this position for the first time.
But this is just the beginning, just a signal. The successful detonation of the mines tells Yanon's militiamen that the fish has taken the bait and the beast has stepped into the trap.
There is no barbed wire connecting the two wooden stakes. This is a gap deliberately left for the Mamluks to advance. It is not difficult to cut the wire with an iron sword, but it is quite time-consuming. It is important to stay rational on the battlefield. It's a very difficult thing to do. After the passion rises, the actions of ordinary soldiers as a group are not so difficult to figure out.
As they swarmed into the gap, the Mamluk soldiers also saw the Franks for the first time.
In addition, they also saw the black muzzle and the flame that flashed a few seconds later.
With a command, the fuse was ignited, followed by a dull explosion and a 4-pound iron ball flying through the air and hitting the crowd.
Wherever the iron ball hit, blood and flesh were everywhere, and the soldiers screamed in agony.
The god of death, wielding a scythe, quickly harvested the lives of the Mamluks. The air was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder smoke, and wailing and moaning began to resound in the wilderness.
This is a battle between two eras, this is a collision between flesh and artillery. Just two rounds of cannonballs were fired from each muzzle, and the Mamluk Army, which was so proud in the past, collapsed.
They couldn't find anyone to fight with. What they faced was ruthless gunpowder and metal.
When the smoke dissipated and the fleeing soldiers fled to a safe distance, they looked back at the desolate and slightly undulating land. The enemy was once again lost in their sight.
If it weren't for the fact that the wounded soldiers beside them were bleeding and the ground was covered with corpses, they wouldn't be able to help but doubt whether what they just witnessed was true.
This is like the Battle of Bicocca that broke out in 1522. The French army (mainly Swiss mercenaries) launched an attack on the camp of the Holy Roman Empire in Bicocca.
At that time, the Spanish on the Shinra side occupied a favorable defensive position, built earth forts around the village of Bicocca, and set up a large number of musketeers.
Not only that, trenches were dug to limit the charge of the Swiss gun array.
When the Swiss launched a charge, the trenches on the position restricted their movement and made them slow.
Then, as they were approaching the Spanish position, they were shot head-on by musketeers who were ambushed behind the earthen ramparts. The intensive musket fire greatly weakened the impact of the Swiss formation.
Spain then used light infantry and artillery fire to destroy the subsequent Swiss attack.
The Transjordanian army was not equipped with muskets, but the more carefully prepared defensive positions worked wonders.
The production of iron wire is not complicated. In fact, chain mail is made of iron wire.
With the assistance of some simple machinery, barbed wire can be produced quickly. Although iron tools are expensive in this era, it can gain battlefield advantages through productivity, so why not?
Besides, wire is not irrecyclable.
Not only were the trenches and wires limiting the Mamluks' charge, Saladin was unable to effectively encircle the position due to his backing to the Jordan River.
Even by ship, the ships in the Arnon Valley can use the Dead Sea to reach the position directly to transport supplies.
Saladin did not have a fleet in the Dead Sea, and he never thought about why he needed to pay attention to the control of the Dead Sea...
Dead Sea? Isn’t that just a big bathhouse...
On the other side, the Transjordanian side, it's a completely different story.
(End of chapter)