THE FINAL STRUGGLE 185
but it was an army in which there was little discipline and
much dispute. One part of the Crusaders wanted to attack
Alexandria, another Cairo. The former would be much less
difficult to capture, but Cairo was the capital and the seat of
Moslem power and it was argued that "to destroy the
serpent, you must first crush its head ". Ignoring the advice
of the military Orders, Louis decided to advance on Cairo.
The Turks harassed the Christians during the march, but
only in the middle of December was a large Moslem army
despatched to stop the invaders. Bibars, the Egyptian
general, posted his men before Mansourah, and to give them
battle and reach the town the Christians had to cross the
Ashmoun Canal. All attempts to ford the canal failed, but
in February an Arab offered to lead the Christians to a ford.
Fourteen thousand men were chosen to cross the canal and
hold the ford on the other side, where the Moslems had only
a few hundred soldiers on guard. William de Sonnac and a
detachment of the Templars formed the van of this advance
force, with Robert of Artois and the English Earl of
Salisbury in support (February 8th).
The canal was forded safely, and the Moslem guard
scattered. The orders were that the advance force should not
be tempted into pursuit, but Robert of Artois was eager for
slaughter. The Templars protested that they had been
chosen to lead the attack and that Robert had no right to push
in front of them. Joinville reports that Robert's charger
was held by a deaf knight. This knight, not hearing the
protests of the Templars, shouted, "Forward, forward!"
so loudly that he drowned everyone else. Robert at any
rate pursued the Moslems, and the Templars, " feeling that
shame would fall upon them if they allowed the count to
take the lead, spurred after the enemy ", who fled through
Mansourah. The Christians gave up the pursuit on the
plain beyond the town. When they attempted to rejoin the
main army by passing through Mansourah, the Moslems