But Godfrey after being again elected king of Jerusalem sent his brother Balduinus to Edessa. Then the Emperor ordered Isangeles to hand over Laodicea to Andronicus Tzintziluces and the forts of Maraceus and Balaneus to the soldiers of Eumathius, at that time Duke of Cyprus; and go on further and do his best to get possession of the other forts by fighting. And this he did in obedience to the Emperor’s letter. After having handed over the forts to the men mentioned above he went to Antaradus, and made himself master of it without fighting.
Atapacas of Damascus
Directly this came to the ears of Atapacas of Damascus he gathered a large supply of troops and marched to meet him. As Isangeles had not sufficient forces to face such a number, he conceived a plan which was more clever than courageous. For he said boldly to the inhabitants, ” As this fortress is very large, I will hide myself in some comer; and when Atapacas arrives, you must not tell him the truth, but assure him that I fled because I was frightened.”
So when Atapacas arrived and asked about Isangeles, he believed the story that he had run away, and being weary from his journey pitched his camp close to the walls. As the inhabitants showed him every kindness, the Turks felt safe and, not suspecting any hostile action, they turned their horses loose into the plain. One day at noon when the sun cast its rays vertically, Isangeles, strongly armed, and his men with him (these were about four hundred) suddenly threw open the gates and dashed right into the middle of their camp. Those of the Turks who were accustomed to fighting bravely did not spare their lives but stood up to him, and submitted to a battle; the rest tried to secure their own safety by flight. Owing to the width of the plain and its not being broken by any marsh or hill or ravine, the Latins were able to overpower them all.
Thus all fell victims to the sword, only a few were captured. After overcoming the Turks by this stratagem, he marched to Tripolis. Immediately on arrival he went up and seized the summit of the hill (which is a branch of Lebanon) opposite Tripolis, in order to have his fortified camp there and also to divert the water which flowed down the slopes of this hill to Tripolis. He then wrote a report to the Emperor of what he had accomplished, and begged him to have a well-fortified stronghold built there before more troops arrived from Chorosan and overwhelmed him.
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