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Thread: War of the Holy Lands

  1. #1

    Default War of the Holy Lands

    BACKGROUND: The War of the Holy Lands is an AAR during one of my Milanese Campaigns (VH/VH). The Year is 1196 AD after my second crusade of Jerusalem. Yes, second crusade. I was forced to give the city to the Papal forces due to wars in Italy against France and the Holy Roman Empire. Both times I managed to travel across with the same general, Catelano Rossi (The Chivalrous). The city was taken from Egyptian hands in the year above and I am now set to the defense of the city. The story starts at the opening of my stand in Jerusalem against Sultan Sala Gerrahan and a massive army on a Jihad for their Holy City.



    The day was young, as the hot Middle Eastern sun peaked above the distance sands, leaving a warm shower of light upon the city of Jerusalem. The city was one in constant war, constant struggle. It was said by many of the age that soldiers have endured hell, while the citizens of Jerusalem live within it. The people of the city feared nothing. An invasion would be yet another slaughter and that was something they accepted. Allah would decide where those who died would go, and hence they were at easy with the brutal fate that might come. It was no great surprised when the storm of troops arrived over the horizon, crossing the sandy dunes of the vast desert. It was the Sultan Sala Gerrahan’s mighty force. It was not there to just retake a city, but take it in the name of Allah. This jihad would end with the death of mighty men and all for nothing except stones and a belief.

    There within the city stood the aging Catelano, a veteran general of Milan. He was a man of stature, one who had endured numerous wars and struggles in the name of glory, god, and perhaps most importantly to him, Milan. He had expected the return of the Sultan after his defeat in Acre the ten years before in the first crusade on the holy land. This was perhaps not a battle for only a city, but a battle of revenge. The Sultan, who had been nothing more then a provincial leader in the first crusade, had been utterly crushed by the same Milanese general who stood within the walls awaiting the engagement. Catelano sighed lightly as he turned around in his tower, studying a worn, old map sitting upon a wooden table. He studied it for what seemed hours, but time truly had only passed a few minutes.

    “What news do we have from Nicosia? Will the Byzantines send us the reinforcements”, asked the Milanese general as he turned to meet the eyes of a messenger who had stolen into the city shortly before the arrival of the Sultan’s army. The messenger looked at his liege with a look of hidden despair. They both knew that the Byzantines had hoped for the Milanese to fail in their crusade, having offer no support. Now they had the chance to kill off the Milanese crusaders, and of course they took the gift from god with a smile.

    “My lord, Emperor Alexandros refuses aide to you…he uses the pretext of the war with the Turks, however there has been no true military activity for months. His aide can not be expected. The crusading army from Venice has been sighted near Corinth and also will not be here within time. My lord, we are alone.”

    “As I expected would be the case. This is going to be an engagement of the ages…” he turned back to his map and looked down at it. Then, he continued, “We have provisions to last months, but lack troops. I sit with 5000 veteran troops, 2500 militia, and a total of 750 archers from that entire grouping. If they attack us with artillery and take out the battered wall in any location, we are bound to struggle. If they reach us with towers, we can light them aflame and so I don’t expect the Sultan to attempt such a dangerous stunt. Anyway, I expect his troops to exceed 75,000…” Truthfully, he spoke to himself, though aloud as the messenger heard it all. He turned back to the man with a smile, hiding his steady thoughts about the battle to come.

    “Prepare the armies, the Sultan arrives”, stated the veteran Catelano. With those words, the messenger disappeared from the tower, running down to the army stationed beneath them. As he rallied the scattered troops in the large city of Jerusalem, the Sultans force of 80,000 men approached. In the distance, they could only be seen as specs of sand, or ants from an ant hill. However, the large clouds of sand that scattered around them announced the approach of a massive body moving in the direction of the Milanese defenders. As the army approached and the realization of their size hit the men standing upon the battlement, a general panic was spread. The 7500 or so men defending the city realized that even if they could all manage to take 5 men or more with them in death, they would still be enormously outnumbered. This fact did not stop Catelano, however. He mounted his white steed, patting its metal plated neck as he gave it a minor jut in the sides. It grunted lightly and moved forward, the sound of the horses hooves could be heard hitting the stone path of the city. Followed by his personal guard of 12 men, he approached the main gates, waiting. Now all that was left was to wait.

    As the Sultan’s army now found itself within range to use its artillery, the whole mass of bodies stopped. The equipment that was being dragged along slowly behind was pulled to the front. The trebuchets were loaded swiftly, the massive number of them ensuring a quick entrance into the city. It was not going to be a battle, but a slaughter. Once that wall crashed, it was a battle of strength, a battle of survival. Every Christian soldier within knew their fate. To lose was death, to surrender was death, and to hesitate was death. There was no alternative to fighting except heaven or hell. Catelano left none of this phase him as he rode down his battle line, who awaited the destruction of the weakest portions of the wall. As he rode by, he was accompanied by yells of praise. As a crusader, as a general, and as a man of humane intentions, he was known well throughout much of the known world. He nodded to his men as he rode by, giving short bursts of encouragement to the lines as he passed by. He was forced to stop and turn with his men and rush to the main gates however. As he rode back at full speed, he could hear the heavy thud of trebuchet’s launching their loads of destruction.

    It was no long wait before the thud of rocks smashed into the walls, battering the already weathered walls. Catelano sat in front of a section of the wall upon his steed with a solemn face. With his long sword in his right hand and his horse’s reins on the other, he awaited the walls tumble. No sooner had his drawn a breath, the wall crashed. The screams of men could be heard as the wall tumbled beneath them, god’s earth disappearing before them. As the wall reached the ground and the cries died as men died within the tumble of rock, arrows hissed from the battlement upon the storm of Islamic forces. The ground shook as the massive army approached the removed section of the wall. The Islamic spearmen who permeated the city first meet a row of spears from the Christian defenders. Swords rushed from behind the spears and from behind shields as the two armies clashed within the wall. Catelano stood back some with the second line of defense, his crack troops directly from Milan. These Broken Lancers had followed him through Europe and on the former crusade. They stood strong as the militias before them broken, running from the never ending flow of Egyptian troops. As the front line that blocked the crashed wall began to completely shatter, Catelano patted his horse once again and leaned down close to its ear for a moment, his army creaking with sand and age within it.

    “One last ride, my dear friend, one last ride”, he silenced himself as the enemy force rushed towards the second line of men. The Broken Lancers stood around Catelano as he pulled his facemask down. He waved his sword high and kicked his horse. This was it. “God awaits our arrival, let’s not keep him waiting”, he yelled as the horse pushed from its powerful hind legs. In glory, the dismounted Broken Lancers yelled their war cries as the standard lines broke into a frantic run forward. Catelano and his horse were the first to meet the lines of the Egyptians, his sword hissing down to his side, cutting through skin and bone as his horse powered through the line with his elite guards carving their way behind him. In a twist of fate, by the end of his charge he had reached the shattered walls of the holy city. By this time, his valiant horse had succumbed to the numerous wounds. Much like his own horse, the majority of his remaining men’s steeds had fallen under the blows of numerous spears in the rush. He now stood surrounded by 20 men in the center of the rubble, spears rushing from all sides into his fatigued unit. He himself was truly injured in numerous places, but he refused to succumb to the impetuous Egyptian charge. His men continued to strike deadly blows unto the mass of Egyptians, taking many with them as they themselves finally fell one by one. Finally, Catelano stood alone within the small space between the walls. Whatever was going on within the central fortress where his men were supposed to make a final stand was of no importance to him. He was alone, but unhindered. At 43, he seemed like a young tiger, prime and ready for the hunt. Blood soaked and surrounded he carved his way through as many spears as he could. He glanced up for but a moment, and in that time his eyes met those of Sultan Sala off in the short distance, riding at full gallop upon his steed followed by his guards. In that time, he felt calm, he felt no pain. Everything grew silent as his vision began to blur. He felt his legs giving beneath him, the heavy army dragging him down. As he fell, his head went back, his eyes looking into the sky as his mouth opened wide, but nothing came out as the blurred vision became darkness. Then with a final thud, the body of the valiant Catelano Rossi met the ground, a spear through his upper back. His blood ran freely as he was trampled while the Egyptian army passed into the city.

    A slaughter raged on for another few hours within the center of the city before the whole of the Christian defenders were finally trapped and exterminated. It was a sad day for Christendom, but a glorious day for Sultan Sala. After the battle, as they collected the dead for burning the body of Catelano was found and brought to the leader of the Egyptians. He looked upon the pale, blooded body of his former foe. He looked upon this man, realizing he would no longer be a threat. However, he could not help but feel honored by the presence of the Christian invader.

    “A man of such valiant deeds demands the respect of even his foes”, stated the Sultan to himself as he bowed lightly before the body of his dead enemy. Catelano was dead, but not forgotten. His deeds within Jerusalem will be remembered by future Crusaders. Catelano the Chivalrous will always be remembered as the guardian of Christian Jerusalem.



    AFTER NOTES: Catelano’s son, Pietro, returned 15 years later to the city with a Milanese army and slaughtered Sultan Sala’s defending forces. The Sultan died in 1215 AD, a few years before Alexandria, his last city, was taken by the Milanese crusaders. Pietro later became the Milanese leader and assassinated the Byzantine Emperor Alexandros. At his death in 1231 AD, Milan controlled the greater region of the Mediterranean.


    "War is but the first step to peace."


  2. #2
    Saladin45's Avatar Semisalis
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    Default Re: War of the Holy Lands

    Dang. That was a really interesting peice. I found that I was clinging to each word.

    Sad to hear about Sultan Sala. Seemed like a bit of a chivalrous guy, so did the Milanese Cateleno. Heh, interesting history you have there. It kept me hung on each word. Nice job. Keep this stuff up. I didn't even need to see pictures, you write beautifully. It painted a picture in my mind of the situation.

    -Echo
    "I am the death of the pale faces, I am the killer of Romans, I am the scourge sent upon you, I am Zarrar Ibn Al Azwar!"

    "May Cowards gain no comfort from sleep."

  3. #3

    Default Re: War of the Holy Lands

    Danke. I really wanted to change the Sultan's name to Sal Al-Din, but it would have taken the orginality away.


    "War is but the first step to peace."


  4. #4

    Default Re: War of the Holy Lands

    awesome work. do u hav any screenshots?

  5. #5

    Default Re: War of the Holy Lands

    yeh screenshots combined with nice story= masterpiece
    But this is good work as well!

  6. #6

    Default Re: War of the Holy Lands

    I take screenshots, but I generally don't post them to a story. I'll upload a Catelano pic later.


    "War is but the first step to peace."


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