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Although countless generals and commanders emerged during the entire crusade, there are only a handful of people who are the most admirable and memorable. Among these people, Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem, Saladin, the founder of the Ayub Dynasty, and the famous "Lionheart King" of Richard I of England, these three were in the same era and had competed with each other. Their games and confrontations directly determined the pattern of the Middle East for hundreds of years, and their process and personal deeds are very memorable and commendable.
regret in life
Hemingway once said that the greatest regret in life is that a person cannot have youth and the feeling of youth at the same time. In fact, it is saying that you cannot release pure enthusiasm and infinite energy without truly cherishing the moment.
That kind of ignorant and reckless burning seems to have a natural contradiction with the deep love after precipitation, as if we were born unable to combine two precious qualities at the same time. Our unforgettable youth is actually nostalgic for the unparalleled enthusiasm and presumptuousness, and at the same time regretting the hasty and hasty at that time. But there are always people who are fortunate enough to combine the two under various coincidences, even if it is extremely short-lived, it is enough to shine in the starry sky of history.
Baldwin IV was one of them. His accession was a coincidence. At the time, his uncle, Baldwin III, participated in the baptism as the child's godfather. A nobleman mocked the king for giving nothing but his name. As a result, Baldwin III took out the sand-blue stone and looked at the Holy Cross. He laughed and replied, "The Kingdom of Jerusalem!" Baldwin IV, who was only 13 years old, was put on the throne in this way.
The picture comes from the Internet and he is not facing a wealthy family, but a dilapidated and helpless endgame.
The miracle of the first crusade exhausted the luck of the crusaders, and the second crusade that followed soon fell short. And the various atrocities during the Eastern Expedition became a bloody feud in the word of mouth among Muslims, and almost everyone wanted to slaughter the Crusaders and exterminate their clans! At the same time, the hero Saladin unified the Arab world with lightning speed, surrounded Jerusalem from three sides, and rebuilt it with Byzantium, cutting off the foreign aid of the Kingdom of Heaven. Churches and countries as far away as Europe are also busy with disputes, and they stand by and watch the Holy Land's request for help, as if those people are just vested interests in the Holy City, and they should assume the responsibility of defending the Holy Land.
Worst of all, Baldwin IV himself, was not only young but also suffered from leprosy, which is regarded by Christianity as an unclean disease but God's punishment! The entire kingdom was thus shrouded in a gloomy cloud of failure.
You can imagine the stress a teenager is under. A man abandoned by God is the king of the holy city? As if he was born to take the blame for the end of the world. There is also the pain caused by the decaying body, the double torture of spirit and body tormenting the young life day and night. The saddest thing is that he is by no means mediocre, talented, intelligent, and wise. The rational mind undoubtedly deepened the pain caused by the bleak reality, and perhaps he has also asked himself countless times - why did I come to this world?
In his life where he could see the head at a glance, there was no answer. Only the cold echo seems to answer him, all your dreams will be in vain, everything you protect will be destroyed, and none of your loved ones will be kept...
That time will come soon. In the autumn and winter of 1177, Saladin led a mighty attack on Jerusalem with 30,000 elites, and his striker went straight to the port of Ascalon! At this time, due to an intelligence error, Baldwin IV was rushing to the port with a small number of knights, and the two sides met unexpectedly. After a short contact, the Crusaders realized that they were facing no ordinary harassment, and quickly retreated.
Baldwin IV escaped temporarily, and everyone rushed back to Jerusalem. Perhaps hiding in town would be the wisest option. But at this time, the young man, who was suffering from pain and despair, refused, and gave the order in a clear and firm tone- call the knights! Everyone thought the king was crazy, a child who was always sick and withdrawn, a rookie who had never led an army to war. At this moment, he is going to challenge Saladin's army of tens of thousands! ?
Baldwin certainly wasn't crazy, nor was he a spirited gamble. He was very keenly aware of the fighter plane. Saladin's army was busy looting the port at the moment, and the troops were scattered and lacking vigilance. And I never imagined that a sick child would dare to fight back! More importantly, he realized that the most important moment of his life had come!
The knights who received the order tried their best to move closer to the king, and soon they assembled a knight army of less than 400 people, plus thousands of infantry. This poor strength is almost only one-fifth of Saladin's army, or even less!
The 16-year-old Baldwin IV struggled to get on the horse with the help of others. The echo of fate seems to be haunting your ears again, all your dreams will be in vain, everything you protect will be destroyed, and none of your loved ones will be kept... Maybe, but not today! After wiping away the fine sweat, his face was still intact, his blond hair fluttered on his forehead, and his bandaged right hand weakly and powerfully pulled out the long sword! "Everyone, follow me! Advance!" The knights were boiling, and the unclean people who were once suspected by them were standing tall and galloping at the forefront! What is there to doubt? Can hesitate? Can be tangled? "Follow the king and move forward!!"
Hundreds of people surrounded him, roaring into the distance like a hurricane. Soon, a long army of Saladin appeared on the horizon. They were crowded and pushed, and they were being tossed and exhausted by the heavy trucks in the mud. "Raise the true cross!" Baldwin ordered loudly, like a veteran, an elder, a phoenix about to die! The historic battle of Mongiza begins.
The metal-wrapped cross stood upright, and the real cross that was reflected in it radiated a dazzling light! All the knights present at that moment were on fire! Maybe they have already passed their youth, and maybe they are still fighting for various interests. At that moment they all turned into the king's sword, the king's spear, the king's will and the king's sharp light!
The blood and purity they once had was incomparably sublimated and burned at that moment! "Everyone, attack with me!" Baldwin shouted with all his might, unleashing all the passion and high-spiritedness in his life, he wanted to interpret life with his life, and turned it into a ray of light that pierced the dark curtain of fate !
Saladin, who was caught off guard, hurriedly responded to the battle, and the infantry quickly scattered and fled. The last hope is that the Mamluk cavalry will arrive in time, and the two sides will collide like a spark hitting the earth.
Maliuk is the kind of war orphans who have been castrated since childhood. They have no relatives, no feelings, and no romance and hesitation. They are the purest fighting machines and cavalry born for war.
The picture is from the Internet, but at that moment, in front of Baldwin's burning hot soul, everything was like a collapsing iceberg, quickly melting into the ocean! The army collapsed, and the soldiers threw their weapons and fled for their lives, as if they were not facing the same creature. is God? is it an angel? Or the phoenix that burns its own nirvana? No one can stop it, no one can face it, and the vast wilderness is covered with corpses. Saladin hurriedly evacuated from the battlefield on a camel, and the elites of the Arab world were almost devastated! An army of 30,000 people returned to Egypt for less than one tenth! And the Crusaders only had less than 2,000 casualties!
The hurricane hit, and the grass was like awn. Baldwin's life seemed to be frozen at that moment, the young man with flowing blond hair, weak and firm, who was invincible with his long sword. After completing this brilliant record, he did not gain the favor of the gods, but his condition worsened. Soon after, he was forced to show his iron face because of the festering of his face. And he seems to accept everything that fate has given him, the pain, the glory, the responsibility and the imminent death.
In the following 8 years, Saladin never dared to attack again, but he completed the comprehensive siege of Jerusalem step by step. But Jerusalem has always been alone and has no foreign aid. But even so, on the few occasions when the two armies faced each other, Saladin would retreat even if he saw Baldwin's banner from a distance. Maybe he understands that a young king who is about to die, a person who has seen the end of his life and still has an unyielding soul, even if he has only a broken body, he can still burst out amazing energy!
And this energy is actually far more than the so-called "sacred object", but people at that time may not realize it. By 1185, Baldwin's life was about to come to an end, and he looked back on his life and went to see God with his rotting body.
A 24-year-old youth has finished his whole life, and he guards the Holy Land with his own remnants. He has a benevolent heart, and treats all people equally regardless of religion or nationality. Under his rule, Jerusalem opened its doors for all to worship and communicate. At the same time, he is wise and martial, and with unparalleled courage, he has repeatedly defeated the weak with the weak! And thus won the respect of the enemy and the legend of later generations. Although some scholars of the Holy See later slandered him, it is just like the line in the movie - "How can you bein hell when you are in my heart? (How can you be in hell when you live in my heart?) "
In his whole life, he has both youth and the feeling of youth, and burns the energy of his soul to the extreme with his own obsession. Not only has no regrets , but it is perfect! Shine your own light among the stars of humanity!
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