Chapter 38: Volume 5 - Chapter 1 - The start of preparations ...

| Afternoon of January 28 - 1249 - Acre Castle Balcony - Attila |

<< Attila… >>

<< Attila? ... >>

<< Attila! ... >>

<< WHAT DO YOU STILL WANT BRUNO?! >> I answered rudely.

<< Forgive me for my insistence, my king, it was already for some time that he was staring at the city with an absent gaze. So I thought I'd call her to see if she was okay >>

<< Ah, you did well then, sorry if I yelled at you Bruno >>

<< Don't worry my King, on the contrary, it is I who apologize to you >>

I'm still here on my castle balcony seeing the refugees out here, which means it's been a few minutes since he forced me out of the game.

Better this way, from now on every minute is essential to prepare for the onslaught of the Mongols.

Now I have to hurry to give directions to my ministers.

| Evening of January 28– 1249 - The provisional throne room of Acre Castle - Attila |

I was sitting on my throne when I gathered all my ministers.

Aaliya and Mansour were both leaning towards me.

<<Rise>> I said to them, and they did.

<< I know that you have been working a lot lately, but unfortunately, I have new work for you. The Mongols are coming this far, as King, I cannot allow them to besiege Acre and Jerusalem. Having said that, I will now tell you what you need to do with the utmost urgency >>

I took my sheet of notes and said: << As education minister you have to include in the school curriculum all the history known up to now about her Mongols. But this time not only their history will be written, but it must be understood that they are enemies for our whole world. That they must be swept away and that it is they who will suffer our wrath. I understand this is a terrible thing to do, but it has to be done. Maybe you haven't had time to inform yourself Aaliya, don't worry, later I'll give you a sheet with the whole history of the Mongols >>

After pronouncing the order, Aaliya stood up and said: << As you order, Your Majesty >>

I turned my gaze to Mansour: << As finance minister you are the person with the clearest ideas even than me about how we are financial. Having said that, you must do everything in your power to ensure that you find any money to devote to the purchase of weapons, especially spears, and mercenaries. You do not have to drain all the money of the kingdom I allow you to allocate only money that you deem appropriate and that it is not removed from the projects we already had under construction or that we need to run the kingdom >>

After my order, Mansour got up and said: << As you order, Your Majesty >>

<< Well, now go immediately to execute my directives >>

<< Under your orders >> both ministers said and walked towards their offices.

<< Ehm ... Majesty? >> said a confused voice.

It was Bruno's, who was on the sidelines all the time.

I told him: << Listen, Bruno, you too must get to work. Your job is to help me and my ministers in our work. For now, go and help those two >>

<< As you wish >> said Bruno leaving the room.

Now that the room is empty, I can think about what to do.

Unfortunately for me, I have no other people to whom I can entrust other tasks. So I have to think about the other reforms personally.

First of all, I must have a clear objective, which is to stop the Mongol advance. To do this (since I am the King of a small kingdom) I have to resort to everything I can do to achieve my goal.

I will start by establishing a ranking for obtaining a home for all refugees. Many of them are still out on the streets, waiting to be offered accommodation.

But this, in addition to resulting in a general disorder, could be a weapon in my hands.

In fact, by establishing a ranking, I will be able to put a clause that guarantees accommodation for all families who have one or more people enrolled in the army.

In doing so, families who want to house quickly will send me people who will become soldiers.

I know it is a sneaky way to force many people to risk their lives to give their families a decent place, but the troops of the kingdom of Jerusalem alone and any mercenaries will not be enough.

Considering that there are many refugees, I should have a large number of soldiers available.

This reminds me a lot of what the Roman Empire did for years with the barbarians on the borders.

Once this is done I will have to write the document on the Mongols which I will deliver to Aaliya.

This will ensure that schools will not only get information about our enemies but also propaganda against them.

Even if I push back the Mongols, they will continue and still be a threat to us for years to come. By propagating in schools, the students who will become adults will be much more willing to fight them in the future or to do everything to stop them.

After that I will put the compulsory conscription, I will only put it for one year after which people can decide whether to continue to pursue a military career or whether to continue doing civilian jobs.

If they choose the latter, they will still be men who I can deploy in battle as an emergency and they will not be useless since they have received basic training.

This latest reform is made for the future since I don't think it will have immediate results, but it will guarantee me decent money for the years to come.

Finally, I have to write to both Frederick II and the emperor of Constantinople to inform them of the situation, writing that I am at the head of the coalition with some Arab states and that I need their economic and military help as soon as possible.

Of course, this means that I will owe both of them, but in this situation, I can not help but be satisfied.

| Morning of February 2– 1249 - Acre Castle Balcony - Attila |

After a few days of work, I thought it was also time to speak to the nation, which I have always tried to avoid since in that kind of situation I am still embarrassed.

And here I am, off the balcony where all the people of Acre were watching me.

Many of them see me for the first time since I was locked up in the castle.

My goal is to officially inform them of the Mongol threat and to incite them to respond to the threat.

<< Now is your time >> Rasha said in my ear with an attractive voice.

<< I know, now I'm ready >>

The crowd roared.

I showed all my subjects my right hand and dragged it to the left closing the palm of my hand.

The crowd fell silent instantly.

It was my turn to speak: << I send my greetings and all of you, honourable subjects. I hope you can forgive me for locking myself up in the castle for a while. I've had a lot of things to do to take back the reins of this realm. I am here today to inform you of a great threat that you have surely heard of, namely the Mongols. Northern barbarians who bring death and destruction wherever they go, who also kill innocent women and children. These demons could also reach us or worse, reach Jerusalem. As King of this realm, I cannot ignore this huge problem and I have already taken effective countermeasures, so you can rest assured. Many people have decided to leave their homes and take refuge here, I want to let these people know that they are welcome in the kingdom and that it does not matter where they come from, we are happy to be able to welcome and fix at least a part of them. I hope that even once the Mongol threat is over you will decide to stay here. Having said that, I inform you that in order not to succumb, both I and all of you would have to make many sacrifices. Those cursed beings are many, while we are numerically inferior to them. For this, I appeal to you dear subjects! Together we should face this threat as one kingdom! Death to the Mongols! >>

After my words, the crowd went crazy in euphoria.

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