Chapter 85: The Field of Reckoning
May 19, 1180 – Southeast of Aleppo
The late morning sun filtered through the hazy Syrian sky, casting long shadows across the undulating hills. From his vantage atop a modest rise just east of Aleppo, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem sat astride his black stallion, staring out across the dry, open terrain. The wind tugged at his cloak and the golden cross banner fluttered above him, snapping in the breeze like the beat of war drums yet to come.
He said nothing for several long moments, letting the wind speak and the dust carry whispers of coming battle. Around him, his captains waited — Richard of England, Balian of Ibelin, Reynald of Châtillon, and Joscelin of Courtenay, along with commanders of the Templars and Hospitallers. Their horses stamped anxiously, as if they sensed the tension in their riders.
"This is the place," Baldwin finally said, his voice even but low behind the silver mask that covered his ravaged face. "But we are not to make it look like a fortress."
The captains looked to each other in surprise. It was unlike Baldwin to leave a battlefield anything less than surgically prepared.
He raised a hand, cutting off any question. "Saladin must think we are vulnerable here. That we grew overconfident with the taking of Aleppo. He must believe he can smash us in one blow before returning to Damascus or the coast."
"Tempt him," Richard muttered, eyes narrowing. "We're baiting him."
"Exactly," Baldwin replied. "Let him believe this ground was chosen in haste. That our lines are stretched, our footing uncertain. We'll hold the real strength just beneath the surface. When he strikes, he'll find the soil giving way beneath his own feet."
He gestured to the terrain. The land sloped gently upward from the southeast, offering an inviting line of approach to any advancing army. Yet behind that incline lay shallow wadis — dry riverbeds with jagged, uneven footing — and low mounds of stony earth that would break up cavalry formations if they charged unaware. It was not a perfect trap, but it could be made convincing.
"We'll post watchfires and canvas tents in scattered lines," Baldwin continued. "Fewer visible palisades. Let the sentries appear poorly spaced, as if we're conserving men. But the pike companies will lie behind that far ridge, ready to form when the horns sound."
Balian nodded. "We'll need discipline. If one man panics too soon—"
"He won't," Baldwin said. "Not if he knows what's at stake. Not after Aleppo."