CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER 116 – SIEGE OF DAMSCUS 6

Damascus – August 7th, 1180Morning after the breach

The city still groaned from the previous day’s violence.

Ash clung to the alley walls like a second skin. The rubble of broken stone and charred timber smoldered in the streets of the eastern quarter. The breach—now widened by further bombardments in the night—gaped like a wound torn open in Damascus’s proud defenses. And from it, the Kingdom of Jerusalem bled in.

By dawn, Baldwin’s army held firm inside the city. Three full blocks had been secured behind the breach—tight quarters, won house by house, room by room. Scorch marks painted the walls of homes. Blood slicked the cobblestones. The first hour of sunlight glimmered against shattered glass and twisted iron.

And yet it was quiet. Too quiet.

King Baldwin IV sat astride a light mount, just within the shadow of the breach. His eyes scanned the street ahead—beyond the cleared lane that led to the marketplace square near the Hammam Gate. The fighting had diminished during the night, but his instincts warned him the Saracens were not done.

"They’ll counterattack at noon," Balian of Ibelin said beside him, armored and grim. "They’ll try to throw us back out before we push further."

"They’ll try," Baldwin replied, adjusting his gloves. "But they will fail."

He turned to the riders waiting behind him—Templars in bloodstained white surcoats, Hospitallers bearing red crosses, and knights from every corner of the Christian world: Sicily, Antioch, Tripoli, France. Their lances had been rearmed. Their horses watered and fed.

They were ready.

Last night, his engineers had quietly cleared more of the corridor leading west toward the mosque square. He’d ordered debris removed, wooden doors reinforced with planks to support charging hooves, and alley walls shored up to prevent collapse. The path wasn’t wide. It wasn’t elegant.

But it would do.

"The Saracens hold the Hammam Gate square," Baldwin said to his commanders. "They mass their strength there. Behind them lie the inner quarters—and then the citadel."

He drew his sword slowly.

"We force them to retreat deeper. Today, we turn a foothold into a flood."

Balian nodded, and with a sharp whistle, relayed the order.

The cavalry advanced.

The Charge

It began as a low thunder—hooves striking stone, the rumble of armored destriers gathering speed in the narrow streets.

The Franks surged forward in waves. First came the Templars, lances lowered, riding with brutal precision through the breach and onto the main street Baldwin’s engineers had cleared. Behind them, the Hospitallers. Then the household knights of Jerusalem, led by Hugh of Jaffa, with men from Edessa, Sidon, and Jaffa trailing behind.

Shouts erupted from the enemy barricades ahead. Archers on rooftops loosed arrows, but the narrow view and sudden rush of the cavalry blunted their effect. Arrows clattered off shields and helms. A few riders fell—but the charge did not slow.

The first barricade—made of overturned carts and hacked-up furniture—collapsed under the pressure of the knights. Lances skewered the defenders behind it, and momentum carried the cavalry straight through the remnants of the barrier.

The Franks burst into the Hammam Gate square like a thunderclap.

Here, the Saracens had massed their defense. Infantry from the garrison, militia from Damascus itself, and armored mamluks under Taqi ad-Din’s banner. For a heartbeat, they were ready. Then the charge hit.

The impact was catastrophic.

The first line of mamluks was bowled over, some skewered on lances, others trampled under hoof. Horses crashed into men and shattered shields. The Franks rode like hammer blows—brutal and unrelenting. Behind the initial wave came a second charge, swords drawn now, hacking down stunned defenders.

Taqi ad-Din’s men tried to rally—but there was no room. The square became a slaughterhouse.

Resistance and Collapse

Taqi ad-Din himself fought at the center. He wore a steel helmet and a coat of mail, his curved blade stained with blood from the day before. He shouted orders to regroup the left flank, calling men to wheel around and form a bulwark at the inner gate. Some obeyed. Some didn’t hear. Others fled.

"The breach has widened!" someone screamed. "They’re through!"

He slashed a Frankish knight from his saddle but nearly fell himself as another Hospitaller rammed a shield into his ribs. Taqi staggered, blood in his mouth, and barely ducked beneath a swinging mace.

The Saracens gave ground. Some of their men fled west into the deeper streets of Damascus, others tried to reinforce the citadel gates.

Taqi cursed. He needed more men. Needed time. Needed a miracle.

Instead, he saw banners—crosses fluttering in the morning light—advance beyond the square and into the next district.

The Franks weren’t just holding their ground.

They were pushing.

Baldwin’s Advance

From behind the cavalry line, Baldwin rode forward with his bodyguard.

The Hammam Gate square was theirs. The defenders had either fled or fallen. Corpses littered the flagstones. Smoke curled from nearby homes, and distant screams rose from deeper inside the city.

A squire approached with dust on his armor and panic in his eyes. "My lord, the Saracens are retreating through the Market Quarter. They’re pulling back toward the citadel!"

Baldwin nodded. "Then we pursue—but slowly. Form lines. Cavalry behind the Infantry. Archers to the rooftops and flanks."

He dismounted and walked through the ruined square, inspecting the broken enemy lines. A wounded mamluk tried to rise, sword in hand. One of Baldwin’s knights dispatched him with a downward stroke.

Godfrey of Toron arrived, grim and triumphant. "That broke them."

"Not yet," Baldwin replied. "But it pushed them where we want them."

He looked up.

The citadel’s towers rose behind the Market Quarter, still defiant. Still untouched.

But now they were exposed.

Baldwin turned to his men. "We’ve taken the quarter. Now we finish the task. Streets are to be held, buildings cleared. The breach must be widened further. Tonight, the catapults will silence the citadel’s towers."