Eagle Byzantium

At this moment, after weaving the twig bags and wooden boards, Godfrey, Baldwin and the knights beside them put on their helmets and nose guards, raised their swords and axes, and then there were tense and heavy breathing everywhere.

"Don't be in a hurry, Baldwin - are all the leather bags in the back ready?" Godfrey asked his brother calmly.

"All ready, waiting for your order at any time."

Godfrey then saw through the light between the wooden boards that in the smoke, the guards under the tower over there were shouting and rotating their large crossbows on the cardinal wooden frame, which was mounted with the same hollow tree trunk as before, and it was still covered with iron pestles and iron spikes, burning fiercely, and in a short time aimed at the siege wooden tower where they were.

"Pray, pray to the omnipotent Lord." After Godfrey finished speaking, he closed his eyes and began to pray devoutly.

The stones thrown by the catapults and crossbows of the surrounding defenders and besiegers kept hitting the battlements with a loud noise that seemed to break people's hearts. With the Duke's order, everyone put their hands together and prayed silently for God's mercy: Even though Jocelyn had planned and prepared for how to deal with the big tree trunks, the real situation was unknown.

In the previous offensive, Godfrey escaped the siege tower and survived, but this time they were not going to retreat again, which meant two possible outcomes: one was success, they could jump out of the siege tower next, occupy the tower in front of them and the surrounding battlements, guide more pilgrims into the city, and recapture the Lord's tomb; the second was that the defenders succeeded - the burning tree trunks would burn and destroy the tower, and none of the leaders such as Godfrey, Baldwin, and Robert would be able to escape the bad luck, and they would all be burned alive wearing heavy armor.

In that case, the eastern expedition to the Holy City would end in a complete defeat.

Now was really a life-and-death moment, and Godfrey, who was praying, seemed to be able to hear the sound of the noose on the crossbow.

"Fire!" All the Turks and Saracens howled in unison. The big tree trunk flew out of the crossbow under the powerful ejection, swept the flames and smoke, and spanned the entire defensive wall. A ball of fire exploded and accurately penetrated into the siege tower.

All the characters in the meantime seemed to have encountered an earthquake. The entire tower shook violently. Many people fell on the wooden boards. Smoke and fire began to spread. Coughing and groaning filled the ears of Duke Godfrey who struggled to get up. He also heard the shouting and cheering of the enemies on the battlements and towers outside - they must have thought that we were all finished, or were about to be finished.

"Baldwin!" Godfrey shouted with his veins popping out.

"Yes, put out the fire!" Baldwin shouted, and the brave soldiers around him regained their composure in the flames and smoke and began to raise the leather bags in their hands.

Now, the siege tower that was shot and exploded under the Tower of David was visible to all the pilgrims and soldiers deployed along the Mount of Olives: the hermit Peter saw it from the top of the mountain, and the believers around him knelt down in the thousands, facing the road Jesus had walked, the hilltop where Jesus had been hanged on the cross, and the sacred gate of Jerusalem. Countless hands were raised and lowered again, and the begging to God resounded through the sky.

On the other side, in front of St. Stephen's Monastery, Tancred, who was looking at the "Herod's Tower" on the west side of the Holy City (it is another tower group and defense wall of Jerusalem, named after King Herod, and it is sandwiched with the Tower of David, one east and one west, protecting Jerusalem), and Gregor, the general of the Gimges Brigade, heard the tragic battle horn and the rising black smoke.

"No matter what, be prepared for battle, raise the ladder and climb the rope net." The two generals ordered almost at the same time.

Outside the siege tower, the crossbows and the guards beside the tower looked at the big tree trunk that had penetrated with almost unbelievable eyes. It did not continue to burn! Instead, it began to emit blue-gray smoke, and the fire on it became weaker and weaker!

"What's going on!?" Sokman on the main tower of David grabbed the window and roared with his eyes about to fall out.

In the wooden tower, Baldwin, Robert, including Hartman, Duoduo, Werner and many other soldiers who rushed up from the second floor, all held leather bags and kept throwing "fire extinguishing water" at the fire.

This kind of fire extinguishing water was something that Jocelyn and Gawain had planned in advance.

In fact, it was a large amount of fruit vinegar, plus soda ash produced in the Cappadocia Salt Lake mixed in water, and put in a leather water bag that could prevent corrosion very well. Once it was poured on the big tree trunk, the fire that was originally difficult to extinguish was quickly extinguished.

In the end, the shaky siege tower miraculously stood up and persisted.

"Lord, have mercy on us, long live!" All the warriors drew their weapons and shouted excitedly.

At this moment, on the second floor below, a Frankish knight named Lithold could not hold back even more than the people on the top floor. He shouted to several sergeants to pull out several long beams and planks, and then rushed to put them on the wall of David's Tower, which was exactly 45 degrees. Then Lithold was skilled and daring. He took the lead in holding up his sword and shield, and stepped on the extremely high and swaying long wooden planks that were only less than three feet wide. He was the first to jump into the defensive wall. "God has given me such a warrior's wonderful skills and luck!" Lithold shouted excitedly, waving his long sword and splitting two Turkic archers who could not dodge into four pieces.

Then he braved the arrows and climbed to the top of the fence, so that everyone inside and outside the city could see him. Amid the angry shouts, he cut off the crescent flag that Sokman had erected there.

At this moment, the wooden boards on the top of the siege tower were also pushed down by the soldiers shouting, and fell on the temporary fortifications of the guards. Arrows and fireballs were shot at the exit like water. The soldiers around Godfrey had stacked up a tight and airtight shield wall in advance to resist them one by one.

A correct version in 16-9 Book Bar!

The shield wall was scattered, and the soldiers behind it threw the equally lit spears onto the straw bags and wooden strips on the fortifications. The flames crackled and quickly emerged from everywhere, and the suffocating black smoke was like a whirlwind that swept the entire damaged tower - the guards behind were unable to bear the smoke, and began to cover their mouths and noses and abandon their posts and run outside.

"The Holy City, the Holy City belongs to the great Jesus!" Duke Godfrey raised his sword, and rushed into the tower with several people over the fireworks, followed by Baldwin, then Earl Robert, and then...

Soon, the residents of the Upper City, the New City, and the Old Palace District saw in horror that on the solid walls, crescent flags were cut down and discarded, and cross flags were erected. The Turkish and Saracen soldiers shouted and screamed, lost their fighting spirit, and fled from the battlements and the entrances of the towers.

"Our city has fallen, and the Gallic barbarians have invaded!" Such a shrill cry exploded and soon spread throughout the city. (To be continued ~^~)