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Prelude to the Battle of Harding, the historical background of the film Dynasty of Heaven
The Art of War of Sun Tzu says: "Those who were good at fighting in the past were first invincible, so that the enemy could be victorious; the invincible was in himself, and he could be victorious over the enemy." ”
Before us, those who were more powerful, those who were good at fighting and often won battles, were trying to create conditions, first putting themselves in an undefeated situation, and then staring at the enemy, waiting for them to make mistakes, looking for opportunities to defeat them;
No matter how the enemy acts, the initiative of whether or not he will fail is always in his own hands, and whether he can defeat the enemy depends on whether the enemy gives him a chance.
Saladin, the hero of the Muslim world and a man respected by christ, brought this art of war to full play in his classic battle, the Battle of Harding.
A Battle of Harding
The troublemakers Raynal, the Knights Templar, and the Knights Hospitaller, after tireless efforts, finally pushed Jerusalem and Saladin to the brink of war.
On the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in the narrow land, the sound of horseshoes moving troops could be heard everywhere, and some people listened with great excitement, while others listened with sadness, among them, in addition to the common people, there was Also Raymond, Count of Tripoli.
This brother regent Jerusalem when the leper king was still alive, but then the rich man Geyi hooked up with the leper king's sister Sibylla, who had the power over the kingdom of Jerusalem after the leprosy king and his nephew returned to the west, so Raymond became a thorn in the eye of the king of Gei;
At the same time, Raymond was also a typical representative of advocating the observance of the truce agreement and maintaining peace with Saladin, so he became a thorn in the flesh of Raynal's gang.
Although the two groups of people on the other side are not very united, the enemy of the enemy is a friend, so raymond's realm of this brother can be imagined, and it will not be good at all.
At the critical moment when the two sides were tense, Raymond's dream of an alliance and truce with Saladin was still not shattered, and even let Saladin borrow the road, that is, the brothers let Saladin's cavalry troops pass through Tripoli's territory in spite of the opposition of their subordinates.
How could opponents let go of such an opportunity for the whole person.
King Gei, Raynal, and the Knights, united around Raymond, unanimously criticized and lashed out at him, and even some of his subordinates showed dissatisfaction and complaints, and the final blow was the decision of the Church: if Raymond did not declare opposition to the Muslims and join the fight, he would be expelled from the church and his marriage would be annuled.
It really has to be lamented that the church's sense of responsibility and influence is so wide that even other people's marriages can be announced to be canceled.
Raymond gave in, and this submission led to a great reduction in the prestige of the goods, and naturally fewer people listened to him, and the influence fell to the surface of the water, and even a ripple could not rise.
So, later on, the fatal mistake of the Crusader tactics, Raymond used the strength of the milk, and he could not pull it back.
The 20,000 main forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, including of course the Knights Templar and knights hospitaller, carried the most holy relic, the True Cross, which is said to be the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, so called the True Cross, and marched to Nazareth, where they stopped, perfected the military fortifications, recharged their batteries, and waited for Saladin's iron horse.
However, war is far more a test of human nature than the stock market, if you are "insight into human nature and insight into people's hearts" by the enemy, and at the same time you can't control your own heart, you can't control your hands, that is, you are dragged by the enemy with braids.
Saladin, who followed his uncle Shaku to Egypt several times, was apparently proficient in the secrets of his uncle's psychological warfare.
Saladin did not attack Nazareth, he found a nearby plain with mountains and water, set up camp, and set up a village.
The mountain is an extinct volcano, and the bottom of the mountain is called Cape Hatting; the water is a freshwater lake, and the city next to it is called Tiberias.
After resting, Saladin attacked a fortress in Tiberias, and the defender of this fortress was Raymond's wife.
Supposedly, the Muslim army of 12,000 men in cavalry alone would easily take such a small fortress, but Saladin ordered: Don't take this fortress down so quickly, let the bullets fly for a while, give them some pressure, see their reaction, yes, the reaction of Nazareth.
Nazareth's side exploded, and the main warrior faction, needless to say, was eager to immediately send troops to Tiberias to fight;
On the one hand, not many people listened to his words, but he still advocated defending on the spot and not taking the initiative to attack; on the other hand, in the place where he needed assistance, his wife was eager for reinforcements.
Saving the wife or avoiding the trap, this is a problem.
After reading the 3 versions of the Battle of Harding, it was basically certain that the discussion of the Jerusalem army was just waiting in place or going to the rescue, did they really not want to besiege Wei to save Zhao at that time, such as I went to attack your Damascus, or I simply went to raid your Mecca and see what you did.
There are only three situations for this explanation, either they really do not have this wisdom, or the historians of later generations of the enemy and us have leaked this matter at the same time, or the objective conditions at that time did not allow them to do so.
Saladin also knew his opponents and successfully led them to his own preset battlefield.
Since it has arrived at the battlefield preset by others, the initiative is really completely in the hands of others.
From Nazareth to Tiberias, about 25 kilometers away, there is no water source along the route, and in the middle of summer, the sun is like fire.
Even so, Saladin would not let you walk in peace, and along the way there were constantly small groups of Muslim cavalry and arrows to get close to the Jerusalem army, and they could not wait to welcome it.
The scorching sun overhead had made the soldiers unable to care about Saladin's greetings, and their greatest wish now was to hurry to the Freshwater Lake of Tiberias and have a good drink.
However, when they finally saw the sparkling lake and felt the aroma of the lake, they found Saladin standing between them and Lake Tiberias, smiling at them.
I want to drink water, I haven't agreed to it, sample.
One side was thirsty and stared at the lake with red eyes; the other side waited for work and waited for a strict position, and at the same time, the retreat of the Jerusalem army was cut off by another of saladin's men and horses; the great war was about to break out.
On July 4, 1187, the blades of the thirsty red-eyed soldiers and the impatient soldiers finally sparked, and the battle was extremely fierce, and the generals of the kingdom of Jerusalem, although they lacked wisdom, had to be praised for their bravery.
Again and again to the lake, again and again to be repelled and slaughtered, and then again and again, until Saladin's son ran over and shouted to his father: "We have won!" King Gei's tent still stood on the top of the hill.
Saladin looked at the tent and said to his son, "When the tent is pulled down, we will really win." ”
As soon as the words fell, the tent at the top of the mountain fell sadly. With the exception of Raymond and a small number of Knights who broke through the siege and fled, the rest of the Jerusalem army was either killed or captured.
Saladin sat in his own tent, looking at the high-ranking captives brought by his men, showing his famous hospitality, inviting King Gei to sit next to him, treating him as a guest of honor, and then handing him a glass of cold water.
King Gei gulped down a sip and felt refreshed; turned his head to look at Raynal, who was trembling and constantly glancing at the water cup, and handed the water cup over.
Saladin looked at King Gei, "I didn't say let you bring him water to drink, I didn't forgive him. ”
To interject, the Arabs have a tradition that if a prisoner is given food or drink, he has been pardoned.
Apparently, Raynal was not among the pardons.
Saladin looked at Raynal: "How many times have you reneged on your word?" How many times have you signed a contract yourself and then refused to admit it? You have done bad deeds and treachery.
Raynal was already full of fear, and his head could not be lowered any lower, but this time, he was not so lucky, Saladin fell with his knife in his hand, and Raynal's head fell to the ground.
King Gei looked at the scene and began to tremble, but Saladin's performance surprised him greatly: you need not be afraid, Raynal is just taking the blame, you and your soldiers will be released; but the knights of the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller must receive the same punishment as Raynal.
II Saladin's Righteous Deeds
The main force of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was largely wiped out, and the next series of victories was a matter of course, although it was very wordy, but it was necessary to refine it, so that there was no need to explain why Saladin was respected by the enemy.
After the Battle of Harding, Raymond's wife in the Tiberian fortress surrendered and was allowed to leave with their respective possessions by Saladin;
Two days later, Aka fell without a fight, Saladin first retained the Italian merchants to continue to contribute to the city, and for those who insisted on leaving Aka for Tyre, Saladin allowed them to leave with all their finances and sent troops along the road to escort them to prevent banditry;
Then, Galilee, Samaria, Haifa, Nazareth, Saida, Beirut, Jubail surrendered after a little or no resistance at all, saladin allowed the other side's personnel to choose freely whether to stay or flee, and most of the exodus went to Tyre and Jerusalem;
The exception occurred in Jiafa, where the Muslim army encountered strong resistance, and eventually Saladin's brother Adil led an army to capture, and the whole city was reduced to slavery, taking care of women and children a little, but remaining slaves;
Finally, after the capture of Ashkelon, Jerusalem was at hand.
Saladin wrote to Jerusalem: Friends, as long as you peacefully sacrifice the holy city, I guarantee that each of you who wants to leave will leave with your possessions, and those who want to stay will be honored, and the places of worship of Christians will be respected, and the pilgrimage of all people will not be restricted in the future.
The Jerusalem war faction, mainly Westerners, including Roman Catholics and warriors, replied: It is impossible for us to surrender Jerusalem!
The Jerusalem Lords and Patriarchs, mainly Orthodox Christians, replied: If the Westerners die and do not surrender, we will open the gates of the city and revolt.
On September 20, 1187, the siege began, in fact, there were no decent troops in the city, even if it was a small force, and the scene in the movie "Heavenly Dynasty" should be watched as a movie. On 29 September, Barrian, a representative of the city, begged Saladin for forgiveness and offered to surrender.
But this time, Saladin refused, saying that he had not given you a chance, and now that he knows that he regrets it, spares you, how do I explain to the generals and soldiers? How do you explain the souls of the Muslims who were slaughtered by you before?
Barrian did not give up, seeing that the begging was ineffective, and turned to threaten: the great Saladin, the people of the city know your kindness, and are now willing to give up their weapons and surrender, because they know that you can forgive them; if you do not accept their surrender, then they will kill all the people in the city, all the livestock, destroy all the buildings, including the church and the mosque, destroy the holy stone (the stone of the ascension of prophet Mohammed), and leave you nothing.
Saladin listened to it and made sense, and felt that with the virtue of these people, this kind of thing is not impossible to do, and everyone discussed it, and they all felt that everyone's goal was Jerusalem, not murder or money, so let them go.
On October 2, 1187, the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's journey to the Night, Saladin led an army to take jerusalem.
Saladin not only kept his promise, but also went above and beyond his promises to the vulnerable Western civilian population, risking being blamed by his subordinates.
First, all generals and soldiers were ordered that no Christian, including Westerners and Orthodox Christians, should be harmed in any way;
The destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the city and the protection of places of Christian worship are permitted to protect the freedom of Worship of Westerners at any time;
At the same time, the crosses covered on the mosque will be removed as much as possible, and the Exa Mosque, which will be converted into a church, will be restored;
Saladin then went beyond his promise to waive ransoms for the poor, the elderly, women and children, and church personnel, send soldiers to protect those who had left jerusalem for the city of Thiel, and for widows and orphans, Saladin ordered people to give gifts of necessities of life; for the rich, they were freed after paying the ransom as agreed.
In this vigorous moving movement, only from the perspective of economic interests, the party that benefits the most is the Jews in the city, because after the rich people have paid the ransom, most of them have sold their assets and left, in that environment, no matter how high-quality assets are, you can't sell them, and many of the people who undertake these assets are Jews in Jerusalem;
On the other side were the people of the church, so that Saladin's treasurer could not bear it: Your Majesty, if the poor could be exempted from the ransom, the number of rich people who paid the ransom was too small, and the ransom paid was too low, and they took away a lot of wealth;
Look at the church personnel, who left with gold, carpets, and all kinds of valuable items, and we allowed them to take away their personal property, but did not say that they could take away the property of the church and the monastery.
Saladin was silent for a moment, looking at his treasurer: We must keep the covenant so that Christians everywhere will always remember the benefits we give.
In fact, during the entire Crusade War, the battles won by the Islamic side rarely occurred, such as slaughtering the city, but everything had to be found to be typical, in order to be conducive to propaganda and remembered by the people, and Saladin's series of righteous deeds in that era were later remembered by the people as a typical and respected by the opponents, which was really well-deserved.