Part 3: A Scotsman In Egypt - Chapter 2

"To the walls lads, the walls!" screamed the Highlander commander, and his men lifted the ladders and began running at a quick trot, followed on all sides by the other units chosen to scale the walls. They were close to 500 men, the Highlanders who had travelled to Egypt with Prince Edward and Edmund outnumbered by the mercenaries hired to help them, who themselves consisted mainly of rabidly fanatical Christians who believed themselves on a divine mission from God.

"Angus, what in the hell have we gotten ourselves into!?!" cried one Highlander as he gripped the ladder tightly and ran towards the imposing stone wall, arrows flying past them as the rebel troops on the walls sought to bring them down.

"It's just like a bar-room brawl, Rory!" laughed the Highlander on the opposite side of the ladder, his mouth hanging wide open in a crazed grin,"Just with a few thousand more lads to bash up!"

They reached the walls first, giving a cheer as they saw the others spread out along the wall reach their targets, their commanders roaring at them to raise the ladders and climb, climb, climb!

In desperation, the archers fired their arrows down the ladders at the quickly climbing soldiers, but they kept coming, seemingly unfazed as rebels desperately tried to push back the weighted ladders and the men on them. Reaching the top, swords swung and the poorly armed archers quickly retreated, offering little resistance at the only time they might have successfully repelled the invaders. Religious mercenaries seemed to be possessed of almost divine strength as they reached the top, letting loose a roar as they swung swords and cleaves heads from necks, grabbing panicked archers and pitching them off the side of the
wall to the ground far below.

"Take the gate, take the gate you bastards!" screamed the Highland Commander,"Open the gate!"
The Highlanders surged forward like demons, their faces painted and the terrified rebels retreating before them as they let loose a bloodcurdling battlecry. Angus burst through the gatehouse door, charging directly into a rebel as the man tried to drop his bow and draw his sword. Lifting him bodily into the air, he flung him into the wall, the rebel slumping to the ground like a sack as more Highlanders pushed inside, taking control of the gates.

"FORWARD!" boomed Edward as his messengers brought word the gate was theirs,"KILL THE HEATHENS! THEY HOLD CHRISTIAN LAND!"

The religious mercenaries left loose a scream of triumph as they passed through the gate, as further inside Jerusalem the Rebel Captain roared for his men to pull back from the streets and hold the City Centre, to make the Crusaders come down the narrow streets to them and offset their numbers advantage.
The last of the archers who had escaped the massacre on the walls ran in horror, finding themselves overtaken by the Scots and slaughtered despite any cries of protest.

"My Lord," gasped the messenger as he reached Edward's side near the gates of Jerusalem,"The Rebels are holding the City Centre, our men must move narrowly down the main road!"

"Send a unit of mounted Knights to the front," ordered Edward,"Have them charge the rebel spears."

"My Lord, Spearmen will make short work of the caval...."

"THEN," growled Edward, narrowing his eyes at the messenger,"Move two more units of mounted Knights to either flank of the Rebels, pull back the first and send in our infantry to engage the Spear at the front. Then have our Archers fire over the top of our men into the rear of the Rebels."

"Aye my Lord," gasped the messenger, saluting,"I apologize for my hasty words."

"Kill them," whispered Edward as the messenger rushed away to impart orders,"Kill every last heathen bastard."

Edward's orders had the desired effect, as the Rebels found themselves essentially surrounded, with no way to retreat back without allowing the entire Scottish army to take the City Centre and crush them like an unstoppable wave. The Rebels knew they had no other option to fight, and screamed their defiance as they fought back, but found their intensity surpassed by the religious fervor the fanatics had whipped themselves into.

"KILL THE HEATHENS!" screamed a mounted Knight as he laid into rebels with both horse and sword,"KILL THEM! KILL THEM! IN THE NAME OF GOD AND JESUS! JESUS! JESUS!"

"Aye, Jesus!" proclaimed Angus as he cut down a Spearman with a laugh,"Good lad that Jesus, always gets his round in!"

"Ahahaha by God Angus, if I get killed from laughing I'll haunt ye the rest of ye life!" laughed Rory.

"By hell you will," laughed Angus, smashing in the face of another rebel,"Ye'll be watching ye're own sister bathe in the lake back home!"

A small group of Bedouin Cavalry pulled through the mass of death and maiming taking place before the Highlanders, and one raised his sword as he saw that much of the force was behind him now, with only unmounted Highlanders between him and the city gates... and perhaps freedom. He charged his horse forward, thinking the Highlanders would part before him, and to his great shock one appeared to laugh as he jumped aside and grabbed the man by the arm, hauling him off of the horse and roughly to the ground.

"وفّرتني أنا أكون زعيمتهم!" cried the man.

"A gah-lah bala to you too, laddie," grinned Angus, and bashed in the face of the Rebel's Leader, Captain Reis.

A collective moan rippled through the Rebels as news quickly spread, and suddenly the already dominant Scots found themselves tearing through their opponents, wiping out the last of the Rebels. Arms grew weary as the sword was lifted high and brought low again and again, as every last rebel soldier was massacred where they stood, lay or ran. Finally, there was nothing left to kill, and momentarily confusion seemed to hold sway over the victorious Scottish army, the haze of killing lifted and the religious fervor of the Crusaders temporarily halted.... and then a massive cheer lifted up from the assembled men, Jerusalem was captured! Jerusalem was theirs!

Jerusalem was..... Scotland's.