Chapter 484 Holy City

Boom!!!

With a loud bang, a hole was blown in the wall of Jerusalem. The Roman soldiers cheered and then rushed towards the gap.

"Hold on, don't let them in."

Hundreds of people fought fiercely around the gap. The defenders had to use three times as many people to withstand the attack of the enemy soldiers. If this goes on, the manpower will be exhausted.

From day to night, although they withstood their attack, they also suffered heavy losses. Jerusalem might not be able to hold on until reinforcements arrive.

At dawn the next day, the lord of Jerusalem left the city alone and came to the camp of the Roman emperor.

Peter had just woken up and asked the servants to help him dress. He received the news that the lord of Jerusalem had arrived.

"This is a surprise..." Peter said to himself. He should bring Alexander to witness this moment. "I will come soon"

This is another collision between two religions, but the last time the Crescent Church had the upper hand, but this time the attack and defense changed.

The city lord met the Roman emperor. Peter's appearance frightened him. Is this the man who destroyed the Anatolian tribes? Will he bring the same disaster to Jerusalem?

"At this time, I think you should still defend the city. Why did you come here? Are you going to surrender?"

"Jerusalem is the city of Allah. The great monarch Saladin recaptured it, but it has been 200 years."

The city lord talked about the history of Saladin's recapture of Jerusalem, and then changed the subject and said, "Roman emperor, if we surrender, can you give us proper respect?"

It seems that the other party is ready to surrender, but hopes that the emperor can give them respect. However, he seems to have forgotten that the Roman emperor is not Saladin.

"Interesting, a few days ago you said you would fight for Jerusalem to the last man, but now you want to surrender. It seems that your Allah will not bless you."

Hearing that the emperor was disrespectful to Allah, the other party immediately refuted. "Allah does not want too much killing"

"But you killed a lot of people, right under the gaze of your Allah."

Peter's aggressive attitude made the conversation impossible to continue, and he left after leaving only a sentence that he would not surrender unless given decent conditions. Before leaving, he also said that the reinforcements from Mecca were on the way, hoping that he would seize the opportunity.

"You are so bold to threaten me." Peter summoned all the officers in charge of the siege and issued an order: "Attack regardless of everything, use as much gunpowder as you can, even if the city collapses, I can rebuild it here."

With the emperor's order, these people no longer care. A large amount of gunpowder was used for blasting. In order to save trouble, they directly piled all the gunpowder under one wall. As the fuse was lit, the Western Wall of Jerusalem collapsed completely, and now no matter how many people there were, it would not be able to fill it.

The defenders retreated all the way, and the Christian and Armenian districts were recaptured first. The others could only hide in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. During the retreat, many people died, including the imam of the mosque and the lord of Jerusalem. He died in just half a day.

Peter walked on the streets of Jerusalem, surrounded by soldiers searching. The bishops of the Orthodox Church and the Armenian Church had been waiting for a long time. They congratulated the emperor at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Congratulations to the Roman Empire for regaining Jerusalem again after 800 years.

"Without the help of the Roman people, I would not have taken it back so quickly. This place needs to be reorganized."

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre will be the seat of the Orthodox Church, and other buildings also need to be cleaned up. All traces of pagans need to be removed.

By the evening, the defenders in other areas had been eliminated, leaving only the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

There were hundreds of refugees inside, most of whom were women, children and the elderly. They were praying to Allah, hoping that a miracle would happen.

But the miracle would not happen. The gate was opened by Roman soldiers, and they could only run desperately inside.

Peter came to the door, and the people inside took a step back when he took a step forward. Until there was no way to retreat, they looked at Peter in panic. Although they didn't know who he was, he would definitely decide their life and death.

Everyone was controlled, and the mosque was taken into their pockets. The entire Jerusalem was recovered, and this was also the most religiously significant city recovered since Peter ascended the throne.

Peter ordered the redistribution of the Jerusalem area, and the Christian area became the largest area. The Crescent Parish was left with only a small area around the Al-Aqsa Mosque as the center, which was also to take care of the feelings of some people in the country. However, this area needed to be monitored by Roman soldiers, and no one except the emperor could carry weapons when entering Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was also rebuilt under the order of the emperor. In addition to retaining the original area, Peter also planned to build a new city outside. The new city was twice as large as the old city and could accommodate more than 50,000 people.

To be honest, the economic value and geographical value of Jerusalem were not very important, but the religious significance was significant, and the emperor could collect a little toll from it. The local area can develop a pilgrimage economy, and all kinds of believers can come here for pilgrimage, and their spending power must be high.

Due to the fall of Jerusalem, all other towns that were still holding on surrendered, and the entire Palestinian area was recovered. Peter re-established the Palestinian province with Jerusalem as its capital.

The news of the fall of Jerusalem also reached Egypt and Mecca. Mahmud ordered the withdrawal of the Roman army when he saw the Roman army coming. This time, Egypt's siege of the canal area lasted for 48 days and lost more than 10,000 people, but still did not gain any advantage.

The Mecca region was also shocked by the speed of Rome. They had not yet formed a complete team, but they had already occupied it. Next, it would be either Egypt or them, and they had to defend it strictly.

However, Peter had no interest in the peninsula area, and then attacked westward toward Egypt. The towns and tribes of the Sinai Peninsula surrendered, and the canal area was no longer an enclave.

The news of the recovery of Jerusalem also spread back to Constantinople, and the people were jubilant. This time, Jerusalem was recovered, and it was still with the power of Rome.

In order to commemorate this day, the Patriarch established the day of the recovery of Jerusalem as a memorial day, and a church will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. It is named after Saint Peter and is also to commemorate the emperor.

At the same time, the news of the Egyptian Sultan's retreat made the sea merchants excited, and they could continue to do business. The closed river channel was reopened and ships flocked in, which suddenly prompted the Chamber of Commerce to increase its investment, especially in the canal zone, to ensure that such a thing would not happen again.