by D. N. Carter
“How do you mean?” the Genoese sailor asked.
“His design had a large main sail that was raised up from the front of the ship, its sails already fixed in place. As it was raised, the sails would unfurl without the need for ropes being tensioned by men, and it could be turned to catch the wind. But as they discovered, once in full sail, the sail had a tendency to pitch the front of the reinforced bow downwards into the water, so it could never reach its full speed potential.”
“So how did he resolve that?” the Genoese sailor pressed.
“Paul designed and fitted two large sections to the outer hull at the bows. As the sails filled with air, the faster the ship moved and as it pushed downwards, the two attached sections guided at an angle, the water rushing over them pushing the whole ship in the opposite direction of upwards. And purely by chance they discovered that when it reached full speed, it actually lifted the front of the ship clear of the water, which took away a lot of the resistance, which meant it went even faster.”
“By the Lords, that sounds absolutely fantastical…is that a word?” Simon stated and asked.
“It was. Years ahead of its time,” the old man sighed. “When Saladin saw it, he immediately knew its potential. But he had many other pressing issues to constantly deal with, one of course being Reynald.”
“Why, what did he do?” Sarah asked.
“What didn’t he do more is the question,” the Templar remarked.
“On May the 11th, 1182, Saladin along with half of the Egyptian Ayyubid army and numerous non-combatants finally left Cairo for Syria…but on the evening before he departed, he sat with his companions and the tutor of one of his sons quoted a line of poetry. It read ‘enjoy the scent of the ox-eye plant of Najd, for after this evening it will come no more’. Well Saladin took this as an evil omen that he would never see Egypt again. So far he has not returned. Saladin had also been tipped off that a large Crusader force was massed upon the frontier to intercept him, so he took the desert route across the Sinai Peninsula to Ailah at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Meeting no opposition, Saladin ravaged the countryside of Montreal, whilst King Baldwin’s forces watched on, refusing to intervene. He arrived in Damascus in June and learnt that Farrukh-Shah had attacked Galilee, sacking Daburiyya and capturing Habis Jaldek, a fortress of great importance to the Crusaders. In July, Saladin dispatched Farrukh-Shah to attack Kawkab al-Hawa. Later, in August, the Ayyubids launched a naval and ground assault to capture Beirut; Saladin led his army in the Bekaa Valley. The assault was leaning towards failure and Saladin abandoned the operation to focus on issues in Mesopotamia. Then Kukbary, whom we call Gokbori, the emir of Harran, invited Saladin to occupy the Jazira region, making up northern Mesopotamia. He complied and the truce between him and the Zengids officially ended in September 1182. On 29th September 1182, Saladin crossed the Jordan River to attack Beisan, which was found to be empty, so his forces sacked and burned the town and moved westwards. They intercepted Crusader reinforcements from Kerak and Shaubak along the Nablus road and took a number of prisoners. But the main Crusader force under Guy of Lusignan moved from Sepphoris to al-Fula so Saladin sent out 500 skirmishers to harass their forces, and he himself marched to Ain Jalut. When the Crusader force, reckoned to be the largest the kingdom had ever produced from its own resources, but still outmatched by the Muslims, advanced, the Ayyubids unexpectedly moved down the stream of Ain Jalut. After a few Ayyubid raids, including attacks on Zir’in, Forbelet and Mount Tabor, the Crusaders still were not tempted to attack their main force, and Saladin led his men back across the river once provisions and supplies ran low. Prior to his march to Jazira, tensions had grown between the Zengid rulers of the region, primarily concerning their unwillingness to pay deference to Mosul. Before he crossed the Euphrates, Saladin besieged Aleppo for three days, signalling that the truce was over. Once he reached Bira, near the river, he was joined by Gokbori and Nur al-Din of Hisn Kayfa and the combined forces captured the cities of Jazira, one after the other. First, Edessa fell, followed by Saruj, then ar-Raqqah, Karkesiya and Nusaybin. Ar-Raqqah was an important crossing point and held by Qutb al-Din Inal, who had lost Manbij to Saladin in 1176. Upon seeing the large size of Saladin’s army, he made little effort to resist and surrendered on the condition that he would retain his property. Saladin promptly impressed the inhabitants of the town by publishing a decree that ordered a number of taxes to be cancelled and erased all mention of them from treasury records, stating ‘the most miserable rulers are those whose purses are fat and their people thin’. From ar-Raqqah, he moved to conquer al-Fudain, al-Husain, Maksim, Durain, ’Araban, and Khabur, all of which swore allegiance to him. Saladin proceeded to take Nusaybin, which offered no resistance. A medium-sized town, Nusaybin was not of great importance, but it was located in a strategic position between Mardin and Mosul and within easy reach of Diyarbakir. In the midst of these victories, Saladin received word that the Crusaders were raiding the villages of Damascus. He replied ‘Let them…whilst they knock down villages, we are taking cities; when we come back, we shall have all the more strength to fight them.’ Meanwhile, in Aleppo, the emir of the city Zangi raided Saladin’s cities to the north and east, such as Balis, Manbij, Saruj, Buza’a, al-Karzain. He also destroyed his own citadel at A’zaz to prevent it from being used by the Ayyubids if they were to conquer it.”[86]
“’Tis a pity they did not wipe themselves out,” Peter said, shaking his head disapprovingly.
“So Saladin had to fight more people of his own faith again,” Sarah stated, puzzled.
“In effect yes. Muslims and others. Earlier in that year, Saladin had turned his attention from Mosul to Aleppo, sending his brother Taj al-Muluk Buri to capture Tell Khalid, sixty miles northeast of the city. The siege was set, but the governor of Tell Khalid surrendered upon the arrival of Saladin himself on May 17th before a siege could take place. After Tell Khalid, Saladin took a detour northwards to Ain Tab, but he gained possession of it when his army turned towards it, allowing it to quickly move backward another fifty miles towards Aleppo. On May 21st, he camped outside the city, positioning himself east of the Citadel of Aleppo, while his forces encircled the suburb of Banaqusa to the northeast and Bab Janan to the west. He stationed his men dangerously close to the city, hoping for an early success. Zangi did not offer long resistance. He was unpopular with his subjects and wished to return to his Sinjar, the city he governed previously. An exchange was negotiated where Zangi would hand over Aleppo to Saladin in return for the restoration of his control of Sinjar, Nusaybin and ar-Raqqa. Zangi would hold these territories as Saladin’s vassals on terms of military service. On June 12th Aleppo was formally placed in Ayyubid hands. The people of Aleppo had not known about these negotiations and were taken by surprise when Saladin’s standard was hoisted over the citadel. Two emirs, including an old friend of Saladin, Izz al-Din Jurduk, welcomed and pledged their service to him. Saladin replaced the Hanafi courts with Shafi’i administration, despite a promise he would not interfere in the religious leadership of the city. Although he was short of money, Saladin also allowed the departing Zangi to take all the stores of the citadel that he could travel with and to sell the remainder, which Saladin purchased himself. In spite of his earlier hesitation to go through with the exchange, he had no doubts about his success, stating that Aleppo was ‘the key to the lands’ and ‘this city is the eye of Syria and the citadel is its pupil’. For Saladin, the capture of the city marked the end of over eight years of waiting since he told Farrukh-Shah that ‘we have only to do the milking and Aleppo will be ours’. After spending one night in Aleppo’s citadel, Saladin marched to Harim, near the Crusader-held Antioch. The city was held by Surhak, a minor Mamluk. Saladin offered him the city of Busra and property in Damascus in exchange for Harim, but when Surhak asked for more, his own garrison in Harim forced him out. He was arrested by Saladin’s deputy, Taqi al-Din, on allegations that he was planning to cede Harim to Bohemond the Third of Antioch. When Saladin receive
d its surrender, he proceeded to arrange the defence of Harim from the Crusaders. He reported to the caliph and his own subordinates in Yemen and Baalbek that he was going to attack the Armenians. Before he could move, however, there were a number of administrative details to be settled. Saladin agreed to a truce with Bohemond in return for Muslim prisoners being held by him and then he gave A’zaz to Alam ad-Din Suleiman and Aleppo to Saif al-Din al-Yazkuj. The former was an emir of Aleppo who joined Saladin and the latter was a former Mamluk of Shirkuh who helped rescue him from the assassination attempt at A’zaz. As Saladin approached Mosul, he faced the issue of taking over a large city and justifying the action. The Zengids of Mosul appealed to an-Nasir, the Abbasid caliph at Baghdad whose vizier favoured them. An-Nasir sent Badr al-Badr, a high-ranking religious figure, to mediate between the two sides. Saladin arrived at the city on the 10th of November 1182. Izz al-Din would not accept his terms because he considered them disingenuous and extensive, and Saladin immediately laid siege to the heavily fortified city. After several minor skirmishes and a stalemate in the siege that was initiated by the caliph, Saladin intended to find a way to withdraw without damage to his reputation while still keeping up some military pressure. He decided to attack Sinjar, which was held by Izz al-Din’s brother Sharaf al-Din. It fell after a fifteen-day siege on December the 30th. Saladin’s commanders and soldiers broke their discipline, plundering the city; Saladin only managed to protect the governor and his officers by sending them to Mosul. After establishing a garrison at Sinjar, he awaited a coalition assembled by Izz al-Din consisting of his forces, those from Aleppo, Mardin and Armenia. Saladin and his army met the coalition at Harran in February 1183, but on hearing of his approach, the latter sent messengers to Saladin asking for peace. Each force returned to their cities and al-Fadil wrote: ‘They, Izz al-Din’s coalition, advanced like men, like women they vanished.’”
“Why do we need to know all of this?” the farrier asked, looking at everyone in turn.
“Because it was after these events that Reynald, having pushed his luck and after many deliberate provocations, thought his time had arrived to strike Saladin whilst he could. On the 2nd of March, 1183, al-Adil from Egypt wrote to Saladin that the Crusaders had struck the ‘heart of Islam’ after Raynald de Châtillon had sent ships to the Gulf of Aqaba to raid towns and villages off the coast of the Red Sea. It was not an attempt to extend the Crusader influence into that sea or to capture its trade routes, but merely a piratical move. Nonetheless, Imad al-Din writes the raid was alarming to the Muslims because they were not accustomed to attacks on that sea, and Ibn al-Athir adds that the inhabitants had no experience with the Crusaders either as fighters or traders.”
“But I thought all Crusader harbours were monitored by Saladin to keep watch on any ship building activities…how did he get ships?” the Genoese sailor asked.
“Remember when Lord Montferrat visited Paul in Cairo along with Brother Matthew? He took notes on how to construct ships in sections inland. They took that knowledge and adapted the technique. Reynald commissioned the construction of several ships at Kerak. When they were ready, they simply moved them overland and constructed them almost instantly ready to sail,” the old man explained. “Don’t forget, Reynald had threatened many times to attack Medina itself and destroy Mecca.”
“Mecca?” Gabirol asked.
“Yes. Saladin also received word that Reynald intended to relocate Muhammad’s tomb to Crusader territory so all Muslims would have to make their pilgrimages there. Crusader attacks were deliberately orchestrated to provoke further responses by Saladin. Reynald of Châtillon, in particular, harassed Muslim trading and pilgrimage routes with a fleet on the Red Sea, a water route that Saladin needed to keep open. In response, Saladin built a fleet of thirty galleys to attack Beirut in 1182. Reynald threatened to attack the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In retaliation, Saladin would eventually twice besiege Kerak, Reynald’s fortress in Oultrajordain, in 1183 and 1184. But I shall cover that later for it was the battle that took place in March 1183 that changed much for Paul and would lead to consequences further down the line, especially with Reynald.”
Cairo, Egypt, March 1183
Alisha hugged Paul as Arri wrapped his arms around his legs screwing his face up. Husam was outside waiting with a full escort. A damp mist hung in the early morning air, the sun only just beginning to break over the horizon. Percival kissed Nyla on the lips as tears streamed down her face. Sister Lucy finished tying up a large cloth satchel full of fresh food and then gave it to Theodoric.
“I shall tie this to Adrastos securely. I will collect him from Fustat later with Luke I assure you,” Theodoric said as he held the satchel high. “I wish I was coming with you.”
“You are going nowhere,” Sister Lucy shot back instantly and frowned hard at him.
Paul laughed and rubbed his hand through Arri’s hair. He had grown so much he reached Paul’s waist.
“Thomas and his men remain. They will look after you as they always have. And this action against Reynald…well, it is a deterrent. If my ship can dissuade him from his path of destruction, then surely that is good for all of us no?” Paul said as Arri squeezed his leg tighter.
Alisha looked into Paul’s eyes, the sadness in them very clear to see.
“This is not your fight…please, please do not go. I would even rather you explored the passages beneath the pyramids than do this,” she pleaded.
“Don’t go, Papa,” Arri said and looked up, his eyes large and wet with tears.
Paul’s stomach knotted and turned as he looked at him. He knelt down and looked at Arri eye to eye.
“My beautiful son. I must do this. I promise you I will be home before you know it. Now I need you to be the man of the house and look after Mummy,” Paul said softly and looked up at Alisha as she struggled to remain calm. She feigned a brave smile yet inside she was frantic with apprehension and worry. She bit her thumb nail. Paul lifted Arri up and looked at Alisha. “You know I have to do this. I am only going to make sure the ship works properly. I may not even see any of Reynald’s forces. His actions are wrong, and rightly or wrongly, I must do what is right and help put an end to his reckless ways. Deny him access to the sea routes and he will be contained. If not, it will be him and his men that come here and destroy our way of life.”
“I hate to agree with him, but sadly he is right, Ali,” Percival said looking very solemn.
“We have not been apart in many years. I shall miss you,” Alisha said emotionally.
“And me,” Arri said and wrapped his arms around his neck tightly.
“Reynald may be a Christian and we have friends and family that fight alongside him, but he is consumed with a madness that goes beyond religion… or logic for that matter. I am not choosing a side here, but I am choosing to do what has to be done,” Paul explained as Nyla started to cry. Arri looked at her and started to cry. Paul kissed the side of his face and held him close. “Arri…I promise you I shall return and soon.”
“And you never make promises you cannot keep…right?” Arri asked bravely and wiped his face on his sleeve. Paul smiled at him and nodded.
“I love you, my little man,” Paul said and kissed him again. “And you know I love you, my dearest. If your sister Queen Tamar can see the logic in curtailing Reynald, then I hope you can do likewise and not resent me doing this?”
Alisha leaned into Paul and kissed him on the lips.
“I have never resented you, nor shall I ever. I love you. Now go…go for the sooner you depart, the sooner you will return.”
Paul put Arri down as Alisha clasped his little hand to hold him back. Percival kissed Nyla again and picked up a large case beside his feet and began to follow Paul toward the main front door. Paul took one last glance back to see Nyla sobbing being comforted by Sister Lucy and Alisha standing with Arri. Her shoulders were dropped and she looked in pain as she fought to control the emotions she was feeling. Arri looked up at her and seeing the hu
rt in her eyes, he kissed her hand and put his arms around her waist and rested his head against her. He looked at Paul and forced a smile. Theodoric backed himself out of the front door with the satchel and held it open as Paul and Percival walked out into the street, the mist covering them as he disappeared from view.
Outside, Paul checked Adrastos and adjusted the main straps as Percival checked his horse. Theodoric placed the satchel over the back end of Paul’s saddle.
“I bet that hurt eh?” Theodoric said as Husam approached.
“You have no idea how much,” Paul answered and mounted Adrastos. “Look after them for me.”
“Get out of here, you daft fool…you know I will. Just make sure you come back,” Theodoric shot back.
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Husam looked at Paul through the thinning mist and nodded as if to ask if he was ready. Paul nodded back he was. He reached down and shook Theodoric’s hand, looked him in the eyes and without any further words, he followed Husam as he led the troop away.
The journey to the docks at Fustat was not long, but it felt like it took forever as Paul’s mind raced with many thoughts and fears. His stomach churned and every part of him simply wanted to turn Adrastos around and race back home. The past two years had flown by and he had spent every single day and night with Alisha and Arri. They had not been apart other than the few hours he spent at work each day. The ever present fear that Turansha might return or some disgruntled nobleman from Queen Tamar’s court might turn up was never far from his mind. He had not even boarded his ship yet but already felt homesick. He looked at Percival riding beside him deep in his own thoughts. He was glad he was coming along with him. He had spent the past two years studying every aspect of naval warfare alongside Husam, who had repeatedly tried to commission him to his forces. Percival had always declined. He had read the book Saladin had given Paul as a gift many times. Now he was accompanying Paul as his very own naval advisor. Percival noticed Paul looking at him. He smiled and it reminded him of Taqi. He wondered how he was doing and if Tenno had indeed visited Al Rashid on his way to Georgia with Queen Tamar. Alisha had received many letters and orders from her but never once anything from Tenno nor any reply to her letter to the king. Queen Tamar wrote saying she had given him her letter, but he had still to reply. It hurt Alisha but she also understood why he perhaps did not wish to. The mist cleared as the column neared the main port of Fustat to reveal several large ships and Paul’s ship looking starkly different from all the others.