I'm playing the HRE expert/early & GA. I have completed Dang Nach Osten & have got Tripoli with a crusade( I would ahve taken Palestine first but when I was launching the crusade it didn't appear in the GA parchment). I have 2 armies ready to take Rome & Naples for the Holy Roman Empire GA(I already have the rest). I have launched a crusade to Palestine & it has the castle under seige. The castle only has 1 60 unit in it & won't fall for 8 years(I have only 4 years left to get the GA points for the crusade). So I send down a load of spys 3 of them are valour 5 but they all get 0% chance of ending the seige. Everytime I try to assault the castle the Egyptians attack with a small force which I beat easily but it stops me from ending the seige in time to get the GA points(they haven't even launched a jihad for it). Is this the AI being clever?

I also noticed that the Byzantines & Novgrond have 2 emmissaries with the pope at all times & both are allied with the papacy. The papacy won't let me crusade aginst either of these & calls for help whenever they are attacked(the byzantines have antioch & I can't get it with a crusade). I'm not sure if this is normal behaviour as I have never seen this before because the Byzantines have always been crushed in my previous campaigns.