One of my crusades happened to bump into rebel Corsica on its way to Jerusalem. It took the castle (2 turns) - no desertions. However, rebel pirates destroyed the crusading fleet and there were no mercenary fleets available in Corsica... So, my crusade got stuck on the islan. A few turns down the road, after some serious desertions (i guess, the crusaders preferred to herd sheep in the mountains of Corsica), it was just my general holding the banner (spare a couple pilgrim units garrisoning the fort) waiting for the the castle + port upgrade so he could get on boats to move further. He did... As he moved out, I thought - what the heck, why not take Sardinia too with the help of some eager to crusade merc crossbows, so he did. Just when the fort in Sardinia fell, someone took Jerusalem. Anyway, the general got "can tell tales" trait.