Abu Zakariyya`s Campaign

Part I: Planning for attack

Anno Domini 1247, June, Marrakesh. The Khalifa Muhammad I, ruler of the Almohad Dynasty dictated a letter to his ally King Jean II of France:

“My dear friend,
I know as a pious man you have to honour whom you call ‘Pontifex Maximus‘, Pope Anselmo I, but I ask you, is his judge not unjust? He autorizes all ‘crusades‘ of this wicked Emperor, may Allah curse the name of this demon that even collaborates with the hellish hordes from the east, the Scourge, and he speaks of how pious and couragous this man is, but did nothing to pretend him from taking away your lands. He must see that he will doom you, if he allows the Germans to spread into the Iberan Peninsular, for then you would be surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered. Were you not also his faithfull servant and a good catholic and isn`t it Gods will that you rule what is yours? Yet, the men gathering in Burgundy in number of thousands have his permission to wage holy war and only our strength and courage prevents them to seal your fate.
So hope not for his interference, for he would not save you if you were the last pious ruler of Europe. But I, your true friend and ally won`t allow your dominion to be torn apart by this malicious Germans.
So take heed to what I suggest:
Some years ago, I have autorized my Iberan amirs to use their fonds to form a new army. This army now awaits my orders in Cordoba. It is composed of thousands of the bravest and strongest warriors that could be found in my vast dominion. For next year I plan to send this army under the command of one of my best generals to the Normandy where imperial forces threaten to overrun you. When the Germans are disrupted, the army will march south to Anjou, where it will meet with other forces coming over land from our provinces. The enemy will have to flee or face secure death. Since Anjou his not of great importance to him and our forces there will be far stronger than his, I do not expect a fight there. The Germans will fall back to gather their troops and retake it later. They will expect that we will hold it for ourselves or give it back to you, whom it rightfully belongs to. But instead, we will leave it imeadiately. You are free then to take it back, but on our departure, the Germans might try to rush back in as fast as possible. If you were able to reject any attempts from them, this might weaken their position significantly. Most parts of their forces will be bond by then, because our army will, after leaving Anjou, not march back to our lands, but instead march on Paris
I`m sure the Emperor won`t expect that he will have to deal with an attack there and most of his troops will be gathered in Burgundy with the crusaders or will be moved to the north to retake Normandy. Our army will then move through the Emperor`s lands, embarrassing him and proving him unable to protect his own people. These brave warriors will fight their way to the North Sea from where our fleet will bring them to savety. The Emperor`s forces will be scattered across his lands trying to catch this raiding army and you can easily conquer back much of what they have stolen from you.
Be assured that we do not intend to hold any lands that fall to us during this raid for we consider all that what is north of our current possesions, from Brittany to the Rhine to be yours.
May Allah be with you my friend.

The Prince of the Faithful, Khalifa Muhammad I“

The same year, two months later, Nantes, Royal Court of King Jean II

The king was alone with his general, Lord Brulart de Sillery, the Grand Chamberlain. The king spoke in an amused tone: “This infidels are courageous. Foolish, but courageous. But this idiots would follow any plan their ruler conceives, however insane it is.“
De Sillery was worried, “shouldn`t we try to convince the Khalifa to use his forces for some more realistic plan?“ The king laughed, “no, why? This is the best thing that could happen.“
“But the Moors are our only hope to repel the forces of the Emperor.“
„It`s hopeless“, the king shook his head, “nothing could stop the Emperor, except maybe an intervention of the pope, but this cretin is so frightened by the Sicilian forces all around Rome that he would allow the Germans everything, just to keep the Emperor on his side. No, our only chance is to use other means than war. The Khalifa`s plan can never work, his forces will soon be outnumbered three to one, but as long as the Emperor doesn`t decide to increase the garrison in Normandy, the landing there should be easy enough even for Moors. Who knows? Maybe they will even reach Paris before they are crushed. In any case they will anger the Emperor enough to draw all of his attention on them. That infidels dare to set foot on the lands of the mightiest man in Europe will be so outragous, that he will rage against them untill he has the head of the Khalifa. Ha, I nearly wish their plan could work. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if they would cross the Rhine In any case, he will completely forget about us. And if we change sides at the right moment and swear alleagiance to him, we even may forge an alliance with him against the Moors. And maybe, if we can assemble enough money, we could buy the permission for a crusade and some of the Moorish lands could even fall to us.
The muslims will seal their fate and soon the pressure we feel now will shift on them. Therefore I will write the Khalifa that I`m very pleased with his plan and wish him much luck, ha ha ha.“