The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 11

Egypt, Fortress of Al Mansoura, 1249

On all Christian ships, rumor has it that the sultan is maybe dead. However, he was also said to be cured of his many illnesses, even writing to his emirs telling them he was anxious to get on his horse.

The army first set up a camp at Pharescour, a town on the eastern Nile bank. For security measures, only sailors are allowed to leave boats to ensure supply.

Alas, riders from Fortress Al Mansoura, defending Cairo's access, continuously harass our soldiers. The king then decides to move toward a safer place, Sarensah, where sultans once owned a magnificent palace. But, unfortunately, the last traces of this beautiful edifice were swept away by burning winds, endlessly carrying desert sands.

Finally, on December 19, after a long march over this land made of small rivers we have to cross, our army reaches Al Mansoura.

Mohammedan fortress raises its high ramparts on the other side of the Nile, along the Aschmoun, a channel about as wide as the Seine but undoubtedly deeper. Waters thus separates our army from infidels, whose chiefs gathered important forces ready to defend their territory.

On the plain where Christians take positions, ditches are dug and palisades erected in lack of natural barriers. From ships, rowboats unloaded material to fortify the camp and build war machines to send huge stones against enemies.

Alas, food starts to run out, and four of our boats leave for Damietta to resupply. But, unfortunately, they soon come back because sailors saw Egyptian ships like ghosts rising from nowhere.

This disturbing news throws Christians into great disarray.

Now fear rules on ships, especially at night when sailors lit torches. They carefully scan waters, bows drawn, crossbows loaded, because they're soldiers too, defending their lives and ours dearly.

With Azalia and Johannes, we carried pots filled with lime on high parts of the stern. We will have to throw them on Egyptian boats having the idea to show themselves for suffocating and blinding crews.

King Louis ordered the building of a causeway allowing the army to cross the Aschmoun and conquer Al Mansoura. It's vital to take the fortress before moving to Cairo. So Christians began constructing eighteen large wooden towers, several stories high, connected by closed galleries in which men worked on the causeway in complete safety.

Unfortunately, Egyptians dug trenches to divert the Nile's course. Hardly finished, waters immediately carry away the causeway. Yet, despite fatigue and privations, our soldiers persist in rebuilding it without getting discouraged.

All are ready to fight Fakhr ad-Dîn, the Mohammedan's supreme leader. Spies have reported sultan's widow, a former slave named Shajar al-Durr, is in power awaiting a legitimate heir, sultan's son believed to be somewhere in Anatolia.

Caution is required in the Christian camp because many lone knights have been killed or taken prisoners. A sergeant working at the causeway thought he recognized a beautiful, big fruit floating on the Nile. He rushed into the water to grab it. Horrified, he realized the fruit was hollow and a Saracen's head, alive, was hiding inside.

The unfortunate sergeant engaged in combat, but the Saracen probably captured him because he wasn't seen again.

Fakhr ad-Dîn has placed a large detachment around Sarensah to surround our army. Thus, our sovereign and his war council have to make new battle plans. So, King Louis sends to rear his third brother, Alphonse of Poitiers, with many soldiers, while Counts of Anjou and Artois, their knights, the king himself, remain in the vanguard.