looked out from the ramparts of the walls, to watch the outcome of
the battle, holding the sign of the Lord's cross in their hands,
faithfully making the sign of the cross over the army as it marched
forth. In the order I have given, they marched out the gate in front
of the temple which our people call the Mahometry, walking so slowly
that even a weak old woman would not have asked for a slower pace.
God Almighty, with what heartfelt groans were you invoked; while
their frail, frightened bodies were being overcome by long hunger,
how rapidly did the grief of their wretched hearts reach your ears, O
most high one! With what anguish were their minds still lingering in
their racked bodies! When weakness was compelling them to despair of
victory, God alone remained steadfast in the minds of all in their
suffering for You. Their hearts were shattered by long anguish;
desiccated by famine, their eyes were too dry to weep; since the
exterior man was almost without material substance, spiritual desires
struggled violently. Good God, what could you have denied to such
devotion when you saw them, or rather made them burn in such agony?
When I consider how they maintained a military fierceness on their
faces, while their inmost hearts were preparing to undergo martyrdom,
I seriously think that no army ever equalled their constancy. Indeed
I truly should have said that they raised a shout to heaven; but then
I say that they, who performed not with physical strength but with
unusual daring of soul, made the sacred trumpets sound.

Meanwhile Kherboga saw them leaving the city, moving slowly; he
laughed at the small size of the group, and said, "Let them leave,
the better that they may, when they have fled from battle, be shut
out of the city." But when the entire army had passed through the
gates, and Kherbog noticed that the Frankish forces were mighty in
order and in number, then, at last, he trembled. As he made