Volume 6 – Chapter 5 – The enemy…
|Morning of October 10th - 1249 - Shores south of the Caspian Sea - Present-day Iran - Batu|
After five days of rest, and some fun (at least for me), the time has finally come to get back on the move and continue our journey full of massacres and plundering.
Yet I notice that my men are more "lazy than ever."
I mean that everyone is only doing the bare minimum to maintain the camp. They seize every moment to lie down and do nothing, perhaps the march has been too much for them.
Indeed, crossing that almost deserted territory with only mountains must have been hell for them.
But there is no time for their rest; they must resume marching, as we are less than a month away from the battlefield.
I gathered all my men; I decided it was time for a speech.
"Men! I know you are tired, I know you still need to recover. But, by the will of your Khan and the vast blue sky, WE MUST march. WE MUST reach our destination!"
My soldiers looked at me in silence, but from their faces, it was clear that their rest was over and they had to march again.
No dramatic reaction, but that's okay.
Jerusalem, I'm coming.
|Morning of September 25th - 1249 - Balcony of the castle of Acre - Acre - Attila|
After my visit to the Sultan, the time has come.
The time to move from words to actions.
"King Attila, the crowd is awaiting you. Good luck."
Bruno still hasn't realized who he's dealing with.
Once out on the balcony, I saw again a sea of people, there just to hear what I had to say.
By now, I am no longer intimidated by the situation, I have no stage fright.
This is a crucial moment in my story; the Mongols are a huge obstacle to overcome. The difference in numbers on the battlefield is hardly surmountable, so I must improve all the other aspects where I can gain an advantage:
- Weapons: I have had more long spears produced (suitable for killing horses) and bought as many as I could. Now, every soldier has a spear.
- Training: every soldier who has been recruited (or volunteered) has received at least a few months of training (mostly focused on the spear).
And last, but not least:
- Morale: I can say whatever I want, but in reality, I am sending people to die for a kingdom that for many is seen only as a puppet kingdom, subjugated by external realms and intruders in this territory. It's obvious that they don't have many reasons to do so, and this is where I shuffle the cards.
It's time to speak, but let's take it step by step.
First of all, we need to try to reassure the people as much as possible by providing the necessary information.
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Technically, I said a half-truth. The Mongols are indeed overwhelmingly superior to only my forces; saying otherwise would have been like lying. But the fact that I have allies, at least in the eyes of the people, reassures them significantly.
If they were to know the real condition of our armies, they would understand that even if we were to combine them, we are not as numerous as the Mongols. But obviously, this part will not be revealed.
Now, we must stoke the people's pride.
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Now that everyone has felt involved, both soldiers and ordinary civilians, we must unleash their repressed anger.
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At this point, the crowd was already in turmoil; I heard many crying, and many others becoming agitated.
Now that the crowd is emotionally involved, I must channel this anger towards our enemies.
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Create a clash of civilizations.
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Demonize the enemy.
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Close off all diplomatic avenues.
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Impose only one solution.
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Final rallying cry.
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I am breathless; shouting for so long is not for me. Yet I could see that every single person within the crowd was in such euphoria that it broke the sound barrier.
People seem to have gone mad.
Very well.