Part XXX Dominus Vobiscum (1689-1695)
In 1689 a new alliance was created. Under the leadership of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Venice, Siena, Georgia and Armenia agreed to help each other out in case of war. Sadly Venice was only a shadow of a shadow reduced to a one province minor.
No real crusades had been started for many years but Amalric decided that it was time for a new crusade to take back some Holy Land. The obvious goal was to liberate Constantinople from the Ottomans. Of course this project demanded a large fleet and a lot of soldiers but Amalric felt he wanted to go down in history as the one who turned Hagia Sophia into a church again and prepared for a major war against the Ottomans.
the Netherlands
When Amalric was preparing for war chocking news reach him. The bastards in the Netherlands had declared war on the Kingdom of Jerusalem! Amalric acted fast and decisive. He ordered his troops in India to attack the unfortified Dutch colonies there and soon three colonies were captured. In Ciskei an army from the Kingdom was beaten back but the Kingdom still had the upper hand in the war. However, neither side had the wish to continue the war and in 1690 Amalric paid 15 gold for peace.
The preparation for the war on the Ottomans went on and Amalric sent for his best commanders, the Grand master of the Knights of Jerusalem Sir Roy de Lac and the naval expert Sir Richefort. He appointed Sir Roy de Lac as general commander over the army and entrusted Sir Richefort with the command over the Royal navy.
Amalric himself was going to lead the marines that were to storm the great Ottoman castle at Rhodes because he had always dreamt of liberating the island earlier belonging to the Hospitallers. All these preparations obviously impressed Europe because in 1691Venice, though only a one province minor, accepted to become vassal to the mighty Empire.
the D Day
In the spring Amalric summoned sir Roy de Lac and sir Richefort and all of his other knights and equipped his ships to cross the sea. Before he left Jerusalem he made a little speech based on a speech that Bernhard Clairvaux once had made.
The knight of Christ, I say, may strike with confidence and die yet more confidently, for he serves Christ when he strikes, and serves himself when he falls. Neither does he bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister, for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of the good. If he kills an evildoer, he is not a man killer, but, if I may so put it, a killer of evil. He is evidently the avenger of Christ towards evildoers and he is rightly considered a defender of Christians.
Should he be killed himself, we know that he has not perished, but has come safely into port. When he inflicts death it is to Christ's profit, and when he suffers death, it is for his own gain. The Christian glories in the death of the pagan, because Christ is glorified; while the death of the Christian gives occasion for the King to show his liberality in the rewarding of his knight. In the one case the just shall rejoice when he sees justice done, and in the other man shall say, truly there is a reward for the just; truly it is God who judges the earth.
Sir Roy the Lac was the first to take the cross while the assembled crowd called out “God wills it”, God wills it”. A huge force departed to Aleppo to prepare the invasion force there. In the meantime the earlier invasion force currently stationed in Taurus under the command of sir Saint Gilles started to prepare for the war. Amalric set out together with sir Richefort and Sir Roy de Lac to board the ships in Lebanon. Thereupon Amalric boarded his flagship and the sails were raised to catch the wind.
The wind was good and soon they could see Rhodes for which Amalric thanked our Lord. When the Christians had disembarked Amalric went straight to the castle with his men and started a violent attack together with sir Roy de Lac.
In the meantime a large army crossed the borders of the Ottoman Empire up in the north and slaughtered small troops that tried to stop them. Saint Gilles left Taurus with his veterans from the previous war and attacked newly recruited Ottoman forces. In India large Moslem hordes from Delhi and Bengal fell violently upon the small Christian forces in Bombay and cut them down to the last man.
the assault on Rhodes
Amalric himself led the assault and he acted very valiantly in the battle. The Christians lost more men than the Ottomans but the Christians were numerous and did not lose the momentum. Later on when the battle raged man-to-man Amalric spotted the feared Moslem commander Altonuglu. Altonuglu was very cruel and infamous because he had personally tortured many brave knights in ways to horrible to mention. Amalric spurred on his horse and gave Altonuglu such a great blow with his sword that he struck off Altonuglu´s nose.
Altonuglu obviously chocked managed to return the blow and wounded Amalric. Amalric now furious and with his bright and keenly sharpened sword struck Altonuglu on his helmet with all his strength. Nothing could prevent Altonuglu from feeling the blade as far down as his teeth.
Amalric wrenched out his sword and Altonuglu fell to the ground dead. When the Ottomans saw Altonuglu dead they lost their heart and fled. Amalric and his men pursued them and killing them and cutting them down so violently that no Moslem survived.
When Amalric and his men entered the castle many Christian slaves and captured knights were freed and they as well as Amalric thanked our Lord for this great victory. Amalric instructed his cook from Zimbabwe to slice up Altonuglu like a carpaccio and then feed the crows outside the castle.
All over Anatolia violent battles raged and in 1692 Konya was captured. Far in the North the brave Georgians captured Sochi and in return for this province they accepted peace with the Ottomans. In India Bombay was captured by the Moslems but a small force in Goa managed to defeat a Moslem invasion force from Bengal.
Sir Roy de Lac captured a few months later Anatolia and the Ottomans were close to defeat.
France intervenes
Then suddenly France declared war on the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Nobody knows why really but the Ottomans and France had historical ties as enemies to the Habsburgs and maybe that was the reason for the intervention.
When the war with France broke out the royal navy was outside Constantinople. The French fleet attacked and sank many ships. Eventually sir Richefort had to order his ships to retreat because the French was murderously bombarding his ships. The Moslems cheered when they saw the French fleet pursuing sir Richefort.
However Amalric would not allow these miserable fools from France to save the Ottomans and when the French captured the small colony Matawa earlier captured from Oman he gave this colony and 300 gold to the French in return for peace. Now he could focus on the Ottomans. Sir Roy de Lac attacked Smyrna and after three failed assaults Smyrna was captured. In the meantime sir Richefort transported Amalric to Constantinople where a siege was initiated.
It lasted several months but in the end the Christians broke through the walls and entered the city. The Ottomans panicked and offered Konya, Kastamonu, Antalaya, Anatolia, Rhodes and Macedonia for peace. Even though Amalric most of all wanted Constantinople he could not refuse such a good offer.
Hence he accepted and withdrew from Constantinople sorry for not being able to liberate this great city and recapture Hagia Sophia. Immediately he reinstalled the Hospital on Rhodes and the order agreed to become vassals to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. All over Europe, well except in France and the Netherlands, this great victory was celebrated. Amalric was pleased but he had yet to recapture Constantinople.
In addition to recreating the Hospital Amalric released an African Christian nation Xhosa after they had promised to help fight infidels in Africa. Well Amalric reasoned that the Kingdom could not fight everywhere in the world and with new high technology Xhosa might overcome their neighbours and spread the word of God to them.
Hey even with all that you are on here reading....
