After my, in fact, announcement of going to war, the people reacted even more enthusiastically than expected.

They were in total jubilation, many of them finally ready for revenge.

After about three days of preparations, my army and I set out towards Damascus to join forces with the Sultan's army.

But he had already warned me that the situation in the city was very "tense"; in other words, the city couldn't accept my army within its walls, so we would camp outside Damascus for the necessary time to complete their preparations.

Just before leaving, I made a careful selection of the men; obviously, in my army, there are mainly three categories of people.

1)Those who can't wait to fight (and there are many, so that's good).

2)Those who are ready to fight with neutral emotions, like mercenaries and troops from our allies.

3)Those who ended up there only because of the military draft that I had to impose to have at least someone to send into battle. They are the most problematic because they will be the first to flee during the battle.

Since the sum of our army (including the Sultan's men) is inferior to the Mongols, but still a sizable force, it needs a great and efficient supply line.

So, we might as well put all the weaklings to work on logistical operations of loading and unloading goods. It's always better than bringing them into battle uselessly.

So, I assigned a good part of those I deemed to be in the third category to do simple logistics.

The Mongols, being a very mobile army, need very few supplies because they plunder every square meter they set foot on. We can't do the same thing, so having a strong and reliable supply line is of the utmost priority.

Obviously, under my directives, logistics will be much more efficient than what was already present in the Middle Ages at that time.

|Evening of October 2nd - 1249 - Outside the walls of Damascus - Damascus - Attila|

Here we are outside the walls of Damascus.

While I told my men to organize a base camp for the army, I overheard some soldiers' conversations.

They were indeed talking about how unnatural this alliance with the Sultan was.

Or rather, they understood that it was an alliance of necessity, but for them, who had just returned from a recent crusade, allying with the "infidels" in such a short time was perceived as almost impossible.

And obviously, the Sultan's soldiers will think the same. In fact, from their point of view, it's even worse because they see us as invaders who wanted Jerusalem at all costs without thinking about human lives and the damage we could cause.

Having said that, the Sultan and I have already discussed this possibility, namely that the troops may not get along. So as soon as I arrived, the Sultan came out of the walls and welcomed me with open arms.

I had already prepared a banquet to which I invited Al Kamil as well; the invitation was open to him and all his soldiers.

He called some of them, and others joined shortly after. In the end, it was a good banquet, full of songs and drunken people.

Fortunately, no one in drunkenness caused any problems. In this way, I think the problem is not solved but at least improved.

|Night of October 2nd - 1249 - Outside the walls of Damascus - Damascus - Attila|

After a pleasant evening of drinking, I spent a very enjoyable night with Rasha, full of sex.

I had to keep her mouth shut to keep her from screaming too much.

So, once I relaxed, I tried to fall asleep.

Suddenly, I felt my eyes lurking and a very strong interference sound in my brain.

For a moment, I thought it was something fleeting, perhaps caused by alcohol, but slowly and with increasing frequency and intensity, I experienced this thing.

I got up impulsively, moving Rasha who was sleeping with her arms around me.

Once I did that, the pain and noise were gone.

<<Attila, is something wrong?>> Rasha asked me.

<<No, it's nothing, let's go back to sleep.>>

Let's hope this sensation doesn't return.

Hey there, it's me again. First of all, I apologize for the brevity of the chapter; I've been busy and literally had no time. Anyway, get ready because we've reached the crucial moment. See you in the next two very long chapters soon! :-)