Chapter XI.
Bellum Crucis.
"Their shelter has become their tomb."
Leonor of Aquitaine referring to the Siege of Damascus.
After the Muslims invaded Edessa and almost conquered it the Pope called the faithful to take the arms and protect Holy Land once more from the Sword of Islam.
The crusaders divided in three attack groups, Northern or Persian, in the direct hands of Manuel I Komnenos, the duke of Edessa and the Armenians, Syrian led by the King Baldwin III of Jerusalem, the count of Tripoli, Louis VII of France and Conrad of Germany, lastly African, led mostly by the Normans of Sicily and France and some Anglish crusaders although the main force was sent to fight the Wends.
After reaching Holy Land, the Christian leaders debated in the council of Jerusalem what should be their target: Damascus, Aleppo or Mosul, after some heated argument the crusaders decided to attack Aleppo and Damascus, first Aleppo.
In the way to Aleppo they laid siege upon Hieropolis to secure a direct way to Aleppo. Raids against the crusaders continued throughout the siege and almost forced the crusaders to abandon the siege, but the withdrawal of Saif ad-Din and his troops allowed the crusaders to gain the upper-hand and beat back Nur ad-Din’s forces around the city. The sight of the Saracen withdrawal caused the defenders of the city to lose hope and surrender the city, delivering it into the hands of the Christians. Hama and Caesarea were the next cities to fall to the crusaders as the moved north towards Aleppo virtually unopposed, Saif ad-Din having abandoned the campaign and returning to Mosul, whilst Nur ad-Din fell back to Aleppo to prepare the city’s defences. The crusader army now travelled through the Syrian desert towards Aleppo, later on the duke of Anjou Geoffrey and the duke of Burgundy, Robert. Their arrival also brought much needed supplies for them, since they had been struggling and suffering with the issue of supplies for the length of the war.
In early August the Armies of the Cross laid siege over Aleppo, preparing themselves for what will be a long siege.
In the Northern front things were more complicated as they had to fight the Ghaznavids and their armies capables of causing several droughts in the land they passed, Manuel I tried to engage them in Artsaj but he was repelled, he then retreated to the Armenian highlands to have the advantage of the high ground.
In more than one opportunity the Roman soldiers started throwing stones to Persians, killing mens and animals along breaking some transports.
Then they retreated further in Anatolia, camping near Lake Van, where a "battle" ocurred, near seventy thousand Persian warriors marched against the Christendom, in paper sounds dangerous, in reality only means one huge logistical inconvenience and problem, leading to things like running out of water very soon.
Some general had the "brilliant" idea of taking the water from the Lake Van, which is saline and you know what happens to the body when we consume excessive salt quantities.
Almost all the army died or get severely ill to fight, then the Romans came and finished those who didn’t died or fled.
The Ghaznavids then decided to send small armies to harass the crusaders instead after this humiliating defeat.
In the African front the Normans harassed the Fatimid armies and ravaged the coast of Egypt, disembarking in Damietta, capturing it after a two months siege and establishing crusader control on the Sinai, creating a buffer zone between Egypt and the Levant.
In late November the siege of Aleppo came to an end, despite being close to defeat and starvation, the defenders of Aleppo continued to hold out, led by Nur ad-Din, until they were finally overwhelmed by a mixture of sheer numbers and starvation. The crusader sweep through the city, Nur ad-Din was killed as he attempted to fall back to the citadel. With this, the crusaders had succeeded in establishing what was to become part of the Duchy of Syria and capturing one of the main centres of power in the region.
After the fall of Aleppo the crusaders quickened to reach Damascus, letting the Germans to protect the rear in case of an Abbasid attack, the march north now began, first to Banias and then onto Damascus itself. When they arrived outside Damascus they attacked from the west, setting up their camp in the orchards there after driving back the Abbasid who were defending them.
After a catapult volley wrecked the gate and extensive parts of the walls the crusaders trampled the Islamic defenders, overwhelming them and breaking the barricades and barriers erected in the night, the subsequent sack of the city was so brutal and dishonorable that the king Louis executed many of the offenders.
In the north an Armenian army of fifty thousand recovered Edessa only to lose it again when the Caliph himself and a massive army swarmed and expelled the Armenians, even reaching Antioch and Cilicia.
The Franks tried to aliviate some pressure by cutting the Abbasid supply lines, something that worked until the Abbasids returned and chased them.
Because this the Armenians managed to retake land, they advanced and laid siege upon Mosul, that was severely unmanned after a plague wiped the garrison.
In Cisjordania, the armies of the Caliph entered like a beast, the Muslims reached the Dead Sea and captured the surroundings, reaching the vincinity of Jerusalem, being capable of using their siege weapons, but the arrival of the Norman duke to the zone halted them and created a stalemate between both armies.
The last blown against the Muslim Caliphate was the battle of Tikrit where Romans, Armenian and Crusaders battled against the Caliph himself and his army of sixty thousand soldiers after receiving reinforcements from the surroundings against them the Christian army was of fifty six thousand soldiers better trained and with better morale.
The battle ended with the death of the Caliph in the hands of the French King, his last breath was a hateful and impotent one, then his body fell and the Muslim demoralized and routed, creating a military anarchy that doomed the Abbasid caliphate and dinasty forever.