God's Kingdom Part 19 - Muslim Magic
As Grandfather was returning from a meeting to invite the Hospitallers along on another campaign of slaughter he succumbed to his sickness. No one asked him how he contracted syphilis and no one was ever going to tell Grandmother that's what killed him. We'd never hear the end of it. Instead we told her he caught a sudden cold. Everyone knew how ferocious those summer colds could be. I refused to give it any more thought. I had a kingdom to keep together and a war to fight.
Word reached Jerusalem that Duke Bernard was unhappy with me coming to power. He felt that he only owed allegiance to my grandfather but now that he's gone he didn't have to be ruled by me. I tried to buy his support with some gold and even named him Cupbearer. There was no way I would actually trust him to not poison me but it was the thought that counted. Even after all that he was still considering declaring his independence. Probably the only thing keeping him in check was the fact that his newly conquered lands were filled with unhappy Muslims who refused to fight for him.
Sometime along the way Grandfather threw a mercenary captain in the dungeon for fighting against him. He was a bit absentminded in the end and probably forgot Fadil was down there. I didn't want the extra mouth to feed and he didn't have the gold for ransom so I just let him go.
Buying off nobles and freeing unwanted prisoners apparently went a long way to improving your reputation. But considering some of the names people were starting to call me I'll not complain that they began to see me as charitable.
One last thing I wanted to do before going off to fight the Shia was to ensure the Pope wouldn't come in while I wasn't looking and excommunicate me. Apparently the Pope learned his lesson by letting Grandfather get off for only 20 gold. Demanding over 2000 gold in order to secure my place in the Church was an insult. I decided to take my chances being labeled a heretic. And if the bastard did excommunicate me I'd march my armies to Rome and burn the city down around him.
With matters of state taken care if it was time to make my way to Cyrenaica. I opted to only bring my personal levies and the Hospitallers to war. Most of the nobles were still unsure of me and I didn't feel like upsetting them by demanding they give me levies as well. That decision seemed to be a sound one since the Shia seemed to not have much in the way of opposition.
As I focused on capturing territory in Cyrenaica I sent the Hospitallers south to screen my army and kill any Muslims marching north. It was a job they had done before and excelled at. Hospitallers tended to get bored and cranky when they were besieging castles. Not enough killing for their liking.
Vile sorcery!!! As the Hospitallers and the infidel army charged at each suddenly all of the heavy knights of the Hospitallers fell over dead. Somehow the Muslims found a way to bespell the knights as they charged and wipe them out in the blink of an eye. Without their heavy cavalry the Hospitallers were hard pressed. It was only the superior training of their footmen coupled with the skill of the Grandmaster that carried the day. However the losses were horrific.
The Knights Hospitaller holding out against the infidels
The Knights Hospitaller didn't have long to rest. As the battle against the infidels ended and they buried their dead a second, larger Shia army was spotted marching south. Without his heavy cavalry the Grandmaster knew he didn't stand a chance and instead retreated as fast as he could.
With the Hospitallers neutralized by Muslim magic I had no choice but to raise the levies of my vassals. I refused to lose to the Fatimids. Grandfather defeated them time and again. I would look weak and vulnerable if I went on to lose to them.
I called up the levies none too soon. More infidels keep coming in from the south. Perhaps the Muslims have more magic. Not only can they make all the heavy cavalry die during their charge but they are also creating soldiers from thin air as well. God protect us!
The Grandmaster gathered an army up around his Hospitallers and the levies fresh from Jerusalem. In Gizeh the two armies came together. Prior to battle the Christians all prayed to be protected from Muslim magic but to no luck. As the battle began the cavalry falls over dead. In the end my army is victorious but again at great cost. For over a century the Hospitallers were the dominant force on the battlefield. Wherever they went they easily smashed the infidels. I feared for my success knowing that they have been blunted.
The Grandmaster gave chase after the battle in Gizeh. With 2 to 1 odds he felt confident in finishing off the Muslim army. As the battle began things started to go wrong. The infidels fought as if they were possessed. For perhaps the first time in their history the Hospitallers broke and fled the field. With the Hospitallers in rout the Duke of Tripoli on his flank couldn't hold out for long.
Defeat. Jerusalem has lost battles before but this defeat had many underlying issues. I was unsure if we could win against the Muslim's new found magical abilities. For some reason they suddenly could rendering all cavalry useless. I began to pray.