But his soldiers told them that he’d been advised he could not defend both Ascalon and Jerusalem, and he feared that no garrison could be trusted to hold firm after the killing of the men at Acre. So rather than have it fall intact into your hands, he chose to destroy it.”
It was obvious to Richard that Humphrey believed them, but he was still not convinced that Saladin had truly taken a measure so desperate. “See that they are fed, Humphrey,” he said, and then looked around at the other crusaders, all of them dumbfounded, too, by what they’d just heard. “Take a galley at first light,” he told Joffroi de Lusignan, “and see if Ascalon is truly in flames.”
AS SOON AS Joffroi de Lusignan had finished speaking, Richard moved to the center of his tent. “Well, we know it is indeed true. But the city is not fully razed to the ground yet, so there is still time. I will take part of the fleet on the morrow whilst the Duke of Burgundy follows along the coast road. It is only thirty miles from Jaffa, so we ought to be able to seize the city ere Saladin can complete its destruction.”
“Attack Ascalon?” Hugh of Burgundy was staring at Richard in disbelief. “Why would we want to do that? Now that we hold Jaffa, we can march upon Jerusalem.”
Richard was taken by surprise, for the advantages of taking Ascalon seemed so obvious to him that he hadn’t expected to have to argue about it. “Ascalon controls the road to Egypt,” he said, striving to hide his vexation beneath a matter-of-fact demeanor, “and Egypt is the base of Saladin’s power. If we hold Ascalon, we can cut off his communications and supplies from Alexandria. Moreover, Saladin will fear that we mean to strike into Egypt itself, and so we could—”
“Have you lost your mind?” Hugh was on his feet now, but the Bishop of Beauvais was even quicker.
“I cannot speak for the rest of you,” he said angrily, “but I did not take the cross to help Lord Lionheart add Egypt to his Angevin empire! Was Cyprus not enough for you, Richard? Are you lusting after the riches of the Nile now, too?”
“I am not seeking to conquer it, you fool! It is enough if Saladin thinks we are, for if he believes his Egyptian domains are threatened, he’ll be all the more likely to agree to favorable peace terms—”
“Now we come down to it,” Hugh interrupted. “I’ve been suspicious of your intentions from the first, for you opened talks with Saladin as soon as you arrived at Acre, treating this infidel as respectfully as if he were another Christian prince. But I can assure you that the rest of us did not come to the Holy Land to make peace with the enemies of God. We came to recover the city of Jerusalem!”
“And how do you plan to do that, Hugh? We were able to reach Jaffa because we had the support of my fleet; they kept us supplied. When we head inland toward Jerusalem, we have to bring all our provisions with us. Have you even spared a thought to what a march like that would be like? We cannot put an army in the field to match Saladin’s; we cannot even replace the horses we lose!”
“What are you saying, my lord king?” Even though he was from one of the noblest families of France, Mathieu de Montmorency usually kept quiet in such councils, acutely aware that he was only seventeen years old and a battle novice. But he was too distraught now to remain silent. “You mean we have no chance of retaking the Holy City?”
“I am not saying that, Mathieu,” Richard assured the boy. “But we must first make sure we can protect our supply lines. If we had marched toward Jerusalem from Acre as some of you wanted, we would likely all be dead by now. We reached Jaffa because you listened to me, not the Bishop of Beauvais and his ilk. So heed me now. Ascalon is the key to Jerusalem, and if you doubt that, why would Saladin destroy it rather than risk its capture? It is not enough to take the Holy City. Then we must hold it. And if we have Ascalon, we just might be able to do that.”
Richard had been focusing his attention upon Hugh and Beauvais. Turning toward the others, he was dismayed by what he saw—or did not