After approximately seven months, the armies finally arrived at Nicaea. The crusaders were prepared to attack and defeat this now common enemy. The goal of this campaign was to sack this heavily fortified city that was located relatively close to Constantinople. The crusaders wanted badly to lay siege to this city and win it back from the Seljuk Turks in the name of the Catholic Church. The crusaders prepared, they sharpened their weapons, discussed their tactics, practiced their skills, readied their resolve, and said their prayers. In every sense of the word, these soldiers were ready. Anna Komnena described this spectacle, “After approaching Nicaea by these routes they apportioned its towers and the intervening curtains among themselves, as they intended to carry on the assault on the walls by regular succession so that mutual competition should cause the siege to be conducted very vigorously” (Comnena 2001). Then, in a disheartening order from Emperor Komnenos, the crusaders were told not to attack the city. The talented leaders of the crusaders were furious. After all of the preparations and hard days of travel, they were told to steady their weapons and wait. The tension and frustration was tangible.
Emperor Komnenos decided that the way to take the city of Nicaea was to deploy boats in the water behind the city and then attack the city from both sides. Once the boats had been built and prepared, they were set to the water. At this point Emperor Komnenos sent word to the crusaders to prepare to attack the city. Anna Komnena describes his orders as, “is orders to them were that directly they disembarked they were to occupy the fort of St. George and pack the load of arrows they carried on mules; dismount from their horses at some distance from the walls of Nicaea, march forward slowly and fix their palisades opposite the tower Gonates, and then by agreement with the Franks attack the walls in close formation” (Comnena 2001). Before long, they had captured the important, fortified city of Nicaea.

Comnena, Anna. “The Alexiad of Anna Comnena Book XI.” Internet History Sourcebooks, February 2001. https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/AnnaComnena-Alexiad11.asp.