Chapter 184: War Begins
How the envoys reported this matter to their Sultan, we have no way of knowing. But from the records later found by someone in a monastery. Early on the third day, the two envoys re-dispatched by Arslan II appeared before the Crusaders. Their status was even more noble, their clothing even more splendid, and whether in posture or expression, or in wording, they were even more respectful and cautious than the previous two envoys.
They were brought into the King’s tent. Upon seeing Baldwin, they could not help but be shocked by the youth of this King. The matter of Baldwin IV defeating Sultan Nur al-Din of Syria at the Sea of Galilee had already spread far and wide—even though Nur al-Din was already an aging lion, he was not something an ordinary hyena could defeat.
If he had not contracted leprosy, with a life of only these short dozen-odd years, the surrounding Sultans, Caliphs, or Emperors would probably all be tossing and turning for him, unable to sleep peacefully.
The envoys well concealed the surprise and pity in their eyes, stepped forward, and lavishly praised the heroic bearing of the King of Ayyarasa Road, as well as his generosity and bravery. Baldwin listened extremely patiently until they finished, then returned the favor by praising Arslan II a few times—it was not difficult, as although Arslan II had previously been defeated by Manuel I, who but the final Victor has the right to laugh.
These two envoys then had several more boxes carried in; these were gifts from Arslan II to the King of Ayyarasa Road.
This gift was even more precious than that sent by the wife of Manuel I, the Queen of Byzantium. The luster of gold and silk still rippled like waves even in the not-so-bright light, making it hard for anyone to look away once they saw it.
The King of Ayyarasa Road stepped down from his throne, casually picked up a wine cup, turned it to examine it; the engraved hunting scene—not to mention the value of the gold itself—this craftsmanship alone was worth dozens of gold coins.
This was still in Ayyarasa Road; if it were sent back to the Apennines or Francia, the price would only be higher.
He returned to his seat, mildly thanked Arslan II for his generosity, then similarly had someone bring out his return gift to Arslan II. Upon seeing that the box was similarly piled with precious metal vessels topped with a small pointed helmet, jewels and silk, the two envoys’ faces immediately changed.
They had come with a mission. Undoubtedly, Arslan II had no intention of fighting the King of Ayyarasa Road and the Crusaders he led. In fact, if not for Manuel I of the Byzantine Empire exposing his weakness and chaos before even starting the war, Arslan II would even feel guilty in his presence—this was evident from his agreeing to all of Manuel I’s conditions from the start.
Unfortunately, Manuel I rejected Arslan’s initial plea for peace. Clearly, the death of that so-called nephew had caused Manuel I to completely lose his former reason, and some people with ulterior motives kept inciting Manuel I to go to war. They might want to seize a share of the spoils, or intentionally foment conflict between Manuel I and Arslan II, or more likely just to plunder, rape, or kill opportunistically to forge their own fame.
But whichever it was, their goal was achieved.
Arslan II had not expected his victory to come so easily. Although he had not heavily damaged the main force of Manuel I’s army, he had already destroyed the foundation for this army to attack cities—without those siege engines that required time, money, and manpower from raw materials to forging, what could they do even if they reached the city wall? Climb up like monkeys?
Not to mention that these apparatuses were the accumulation of the Byzantine Empire over the past fifty years; they might be able to make new ones, but Manuel I was no longer young, and he could not wait until new apparatuses were made.
No, it should be said that even the current Manuel I was no longer the majestic, invincible Emperor of ten years ago—the army’s ambush did put him temporarily at a disadvantage, but in numbers he surpassed Arslan II; he could completely urge those generals, order the soldiers to hold firm, and then counterattack. In fact, at that time some nobles of the Byzantine Empire did lead their soldiers to repel the Turks.
But the Emperor’s decree caught up with them, ordering them to turn back, and then over ten thousand men retreated together into an abandoned castle, delaying any action, whether breakout, attack, or even fortifying the castle, with no intention of building fortifications.
The Turkish generals had long discovered that in this nearly collapsing military stronghold, everyone seemed to have their own ideas: some held a position, some drank and made merry, some patrolled everywhere, some wanted to leave alone—of course, those who disregarded Manuel I’s decree and deserted the army were soon surrounded by Arslan II’s army; their generals were captured, the soldiers killed.
Arslan II even deliberately surrounded one or two armies that were clearly led by nobles of the Byzantine Empire, hoping to lure Manuel I out of the castle, but it did not succeed.
Arslan II’s age was similar to that of Manuel I of the Byzantine Empire, just a year or two younger; this might be Manuel I of the Byzantine Empire’s last expedition, or it might be his own.
He clearly realized that if he did not seize this rare opportunity to strangle the greatest enemy of the Sultanate of Rum here, there might never be another chance in the future.
He also knew that Manuel I had sent letters to his allies, from Hungary and Serbia to the Christian countries of the Holy Land; for the first two, Arslan II thought they would only gloat and take advantage of the fire, while hopes from the Crusaders would not be great either.
After all, the Crusader knights’ greed was far more widely known than their keeping of promises and oaths.
When he heard that the King of Ayyarasa Road had actually responded to Manuel I’s call for aid, leading a large army here, he was also greatly surprised.
Then he remembered that in Manuel I’s army, there was also the Duke of Antioch; if he stepped forward, the Crusaders’ sudden generosity could be understood.
At first, he had not taken this relief army to heart; not long before, the Crusaders who came to expedition against Mulai had suffered a great defeat here—they came in vast numbers with high fighting spirit, then fled in disarray with heads bowed, practically becoming a joke circulated among Turks and Saracens.
Having suffered such heavy losses, how many troops could they muster again?
But after the previous two envoys returned to the Sultan, they said that the tents and torches they saw all told them that at least ten thousand men were stationed here, or more, but certainly not fewer.
So on the third day, he sent two of his most trusted ministers to negotiate peace with the King of Ayyarasa Road, and granted them great power. This power was that they could reach an agreement with the King of Ayyarasa Road on behalf of the Sultan: as long as the King of Ayyarasa Road was willing to turn back, he would bear all the expenses of this expedition and give even more in return.
So the gifts these two envoys brought were not merely exchanges between monarchs, but also served as a “deposit.” But the King of Ayyarasa Road’s return gift of equal or even greater value was saying that he did not agree to Arslan II’s plea for peace.
“If we do not kill Manuel I, and also release your Duke of Antioch?” the envoy asked tentatively.
Baldwin rejected them almost without thinking: “We all know what ending the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire will face if he causes too great a loss on the battlefield, arousing the dissatisfaction of ministers and the people.”
In the history of the Byzantine Empire, there were precedents for what happened to Emperors who did not perform convincingly enough against enemies—according to the traditions of the Byzantine Empire, they would have their eyes gouged out, be stripped of their splendid robes, driven from the palace, exiled to a monastery, or expelled from the city.
And this time, those accompanying Manuel I on the expedition were the most prominent nobles of the city; if they and their soldiers could not return to Constantinople, and only Manuel I went back alone, his opponents would inevitably swarm him and tear him to pieces.
If so, what difference was there between staying here and being killed by Turks, or returning to Constantinople and being killed by angry masses?
Nominally they had come for Bohemond, but everyone tacitly knew it was still for the Emperor Manuel I of Byzantium.
“I have seen your barracks; they stretch continuously over hills, your soldiers are like trees rooted on these hills, covering mountains and plains, countless.
And we also have tents vast as the sea, our soldiers numerous like fish in the sea. The Sultan is not proposing this suggestion out of fear of you; he more hopes that the two monarchs can reach an agreement peacefully, rather than whitewash away the lives of himself and his soldiers.”
“Please go back and tell your Sultan,” Baldwin said in that unhurried, mild tone: “I also believe that two monarchs should base peace talks on friendship, but our conflict already exists and cannot be eliminated—since that is so, since we have come to such a close place, we should fight like two fierce beasts, to prove who is the leader here.
I want to meet him on the battlefield.
If we win, have him withdraw his army and let Manuel I return with his great army. If you win, we will immediately leave this place and pay the ransom for me and my knights.”
His promise made the two envoys hesitate. Arslan II’s original intention was not to fight the Crusaders, and they had already seen that at least in numbers, the Crusaders were not at a disadvantage, but Baldwin IV’s attitude was very firm, so they could only hastily give thanks and return with the King of Ayyarasa Road’s gifts.
A few days later, Arslan II’s envoys came again, still the original two. However, they brought a personal letter from Arslan II.
Arslan II agreed to Baldwin’s conditions, but also made his own demands.
First, he limited the numbers; after all, he could not mobilize all his forces for this war, or else Manuel I and his army still in the castle could see the gap and break out.
Second, the commanders of both sides in this war could only be Baldwin IV and Arslan II.
Third, before the battle, he demanded to meet Baldwin.
This demand naturally aroused unanimous opposition from the Crusader generals.
They believed the King could die on the battlefield, but not in a conspiracy. They even mentioned another monarch named Arslan.
He was a leader who could make enemies tremble at his name, but his death was quite ridiculous.
In a campaign, he successfully defeated the opponent and captured their general. But this general was not one to accept his destiny; when soldiers escorted him before the Sultan, he struggled fiercely, broke free of the soldiers’ restraints, drew a sharp sword from beside them, and charged at the Sultan.
And this Sultan was extremely skilled in archery, so he signaled the guards to stand down, drew his bow to shoot and kill this pathetic assassin himself, but something astonishing happened to everyone: he actually did not stand steady, fell, and his prisoner took the chance to stab his chest with a short sword.
He died of his wounds four days later; people at the time all felt pity for him, and even he himself could not help but mock himself.
He said: “In my youth, a wise man advised me to be humble, cautious, not to overly trust my own strength, and not to despise any insignificant enemy, but I ignored these precious words, cast them behind me, and indeed, I paid a heavy price for it. Just four days ago, I was still on horseback, overlooking my army sufficient to make the whole world tremble; now I pay the price for my negligence, dying worthless.”
Baldwin and Caesar had long heard his name, and quite early on, when Heraclius was teaching them, he had repeatedly mentioned this monarch who died from his own vanity and rashness; this was his warning to Baldwin—he would likely become the King of Ayyarasa Road in the future.
And Baldwin’s generals and subjects mentioning this person here was also because they feared that if the King agreed to the Sultan’s invitation, when he entered the tent, what greeted him would not be an honest embrace, but a treacherous cold arrow.
But as always, Baldwin did not adopt any of their suggestions, so they turned to persuade Caesar, especially Raymond.
