As if receiving divine assistance, the first Holy Army gathered from all the countries on the eastern shore of the Abyss Strait successfully passed through the storm and arrived at Kossoa.
"Why did you choose Kossoya as the first attacking target?"
Ask Scythian, who has the best personal relationship with Pope Theold.
They were sailing on the abyss on a white warship protected by many ships. The Pope was determined to be the commander-in-chief of the Holy Army movement himself, but he himself did not appear in the army rushing to Cossoaia.
The Holy Army convened this time is divided into three groups. The first is mainly composed of people from the Hopeless Inner Sea and the alliance of the small countries in the abyss. This Holy Army is the closest to Legrand, and it is also the first to be prepared. It is also called "" Holy Army of the Sea". The main force of the second Holy Army is the Holy Empire. In this Holy Army, it includes the most elite troops of the Holy Court, the Temple Knights and the Eternal Knights. Because of the large number of people and more preparations, they are the second group to go there. Legrand's Holy Army. This is the most powerful army under the control of the Pope, known as the "Holy Army of the Holy Land". The last Holy Army consisted of the Holy Army of the North and the Frontier Holy Army of the Lowland Alliance.
The last Holy Army will not officially join the battlefield until mid-July.
The three holy armies formed an unprecedentedly large army, with a total of more than 200,000 people. [1]
The Pope unhurriedly planted small white flags on the sand table, and the flag symbolizing the Holy See's direct sea legion was planted in the forefront, with a golden cross: "Legrand's golden place, Cossoia. If We did not encourage the Five-Port Alliance to monopolize the business of southeastern Legrand, do you think that in the business competition from Abyss Strait to Hopeless Inland Sea, the Lowland Alliance or the Southeastern Legrand Chamber of Commerce will win?"
Xician was not familiar with shipping and commerce. He frowned and thought about it: "I heard that the ships of the Lowland Alliance are better than Legrand. Even without our help, it should be the Lowland Alliance."
"Wrong, it's Legrand." The Pope said, "You only see the ships of the Lowland Alliance, but you don't see their internal disputes. They are composed of dozens of small city-states and small countries, which are a group of lambs gathered together. When the flock gathers, they can protect themselves, but they are powerless to dominate the world. But Legrand is different.”
The Pope closed his eyes slightly, as if recalling something.
"In the 11th century, Legrand William I began to relax export restrictions and formulated the first tariff support regulations. Although this regulation was opposed by the nobles in the later period, William I turned to help the establishment of the Five-Port Alliance, the original purpose of the Five-Port Alliance. It is to help the emerging commercial city in the southeast of Legrand resist the oppression of the monastery and the old aristocracy." The Pope opened his eyes, "Business is an industry that is opposed by doctrine, and it is also a class that naturally stands opposite to us. From that time, Legrand saw where they could borrow swords against us."
"The Five-Port Alliance developed the most prosperous period under the influence of the royal family, and repeatedly repelled Blasey's expeditionary force. If the Five-Port Alliance continues to develop in accordance with the original wishes of the Legrand royal family, it will form an unprecedented The Southeast Chamber of Commerce Alliance will weave a net that touches every port in the world centered on the port of Cossoaia, and gold will flow into Legrand through this net."
"That's why we secretly helped the chief family of the Five-Port Alliance for so many years."
Xisai'an suddenly realized, and at the same time, he was vaguely frightened.
He did not expect that The Olde had such a deep understanding of these matters, or that the Holy Court would place such importance on Legrand. Being able to discover this development trajectory in advance means that the Holy See has always been paying close attention to Legrand's every move. Vaguely, Sisean seemed to understand what the other sanctuaries among the Twelve Sanctuaries of the Holy Court were doing all these years.
"Anything can become a double-edged sword, and so does the Alliance of Five Harbors. It can expand outward and become a net covering both sides of the abyss, or it can turn around and become a net that imprisons Legrand himself. Net." The Pope said, "They are not stupid. They have been trying to change its direction all these years. In fact, war has always existed, invisible, tangible, and over the past so many years, we and Legrand have been on the same line repeatedly. The contest, the establishment of the Free Chamber of Commerce, means they won in the end."
"But it doesn't make sense. Now Kossoya is still destroyed. After all, it is us who will win."
Sisean said with respect from the bottom of his heart.
"Under our efforts to suppress, Legrand's southeastern business can still develop to this point, and we have already lost. There is nothing to be happy about, this is a shame." The Pope shook his head, "Besides, there are Another reason... Even if I come here in person, do you think all the Holy Seas can really obey my orders 100%?"
"... They..." Sisien hesitated, knowing that Siold obviously didn't need his own compliments, so he chose to tell the truth, "I don't think so. The guys from the Abyss Alliance and the Hopeless Inner Sea Alliance are a group of businessmen who can drive All they have is profit."
"Yes, we can't control it."
said the Pope.
He stretched out his hand and pulled up all the small flags that were planted in the port of Kossoya except for the golden cross flag, and held it in his hand.
"Then don't control it." The Pope stretched out his hand, and the flags were scattered across Legrand's southeast abdomen. "Pamper them and stir up their ferocity. This is a group of greedy wolves. We don't need to tame the wolves. They just need to give them a target, and let them turn their heads and aim their fangs at us to tear Legrand's southeast trade route to shreds."
Sisien was slightly taken aback.
"We are here to destroy this country, not to conquer."
The Pope raised his head and glanced at Xi Sian, and there was some kind of extreme chill in his eyes.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Sisien was awe-inspiring, and this time he naturally addressed Theodore as "Your Majesty".
"If the country is to be destroyed, why not let the angels come directly to Legrand?"
"Do you think the appearance of the Dragon Wing battleship at the pier of God's Throne is just an accident?" the Pope asked, "The Angel Legion has their own enemies. In this war, the winner is not in the kingdom of God, nor in hell." "
The Pope looked down at the entire sand table.
He planted a second flag with a golden cross near the city of Hrid.
"In the Holy Empire and the Legrand Empire."
"In our hands."
…
If there were people who couldn't understand the significance of the king's order to summon "all men from sixteen to sixty years old to fight for Legrand", now they understand. Whether it is nobles or commoners, they all understand. The fall of Cothsoaia and the slaughter of Cothsoaia and its surrounding towns have said it all.
The meaning of picking up a sword is only one—
Guard Legrand.
At night, the neighing of the war horses continued, the tents camped in the valley were neat and tidy, and the flag of the Rose King, which symbolized the Legrand royal family, was rustled by the cold night wind. After a day and night of galloping, the army led by the king himself finally settled down to rest.
Most of the soldiers had fallen asleep with their swords on their backs, and the lights in the royal tent were still bright.
The king, General John, and several other noble officers stood around the map laid out on the table, and the candlelight shone on everyone's faces, all looking equally solemn.
With more than 200,000 enemy troops, this is a huge and terrifying army. [2]
In the face of such an army, any country will only end in destruction except to surrender. The heavy pressure was on everyone's shoulders, making them almost breathless. Even the Legrands do not have optimistic hopes for this war. And the rest of the countries have long regarded Legrand as the ruins of the future.
However, no Legrand would like to let the tragedy of Kossoya happen to the whole land of Legrand.
Now, all these pressures are on the shoulders of these men who are leading the army, who are carrying the fate of this country.
The Alchemist Knights marched the fastest, led by the Queen Mother of Illinois herself, and rushed to the city of Herid. During the rebellion some time ago, the director of the trial bureau was stationed in Hrid City for a long time. The "Crows" spy network, which was in charge of the internal affairs director, tried their best to infiltrate and returned some extremely important news.
The Holy See has undertaken a massive transformation of the Swan Harbour in Hered City.
It is very likely that you want to prepare for the "Holy Ship Tianzhou" in other ways.
Charles wrote a letter to the king during his cultivation, and described in detail how he felt when the holy ship Tianzhou appeared at that time. Even if the temporarily built shrine could not summon the complete holy ship, it was enough to have a subversive impact on the entire mortal war situation.
Therefore, the Queen Mother of Illinois led the Alchemy Knights to go first, and once there were relevant fluctuations, they would immediately attack.
In addition, the first army of the Holy Army arrived in the southeast of Legrand, but this was only the army of the abyss countries and the hopeless inland sea countries as the vanguard. The Holy Army, the most important Holy Land Holy Army in the Holy Army, had not yet arrived.
Among all the Holy Army, the Holy Land Holy Army is the one that poses the greatest threat to Legrand.
"The Holy Army's target is in the middle."
The king watched the whole battle, his voice steady and powerful.
The fall of Cossoa and the looting of the Holy Army at Sea made many people feel panic. At this time, the majesty and calmness displayed by the king calmed everyone down. Along the way, thanks to the king who always rode his horse in front of the team, the soldiers could always see the king's flag and their presence, and the cohesion of the army was not reduced but increased.
"Who will command this army?"
General John frowned at the map.
"Pope, Theold."
said the king.
Everyone in the main tent showed disbelief, but the king did not intend to explain. He marked several castles on the map.
"With our strength, we must try our best to avoid large-scale frontal conflicts with the Holy Army in the early days of the war. These castles must be defended by us and must not be occupied by the enemy." The king calmly made the most important decision. Decision, "The 200,000 troops will all arrive at Legrand within a month. We cannot and will not be able to face the opponent head-on."
"From the port of Lacey in the northeast to the Koya Mountains in the south, we must build an impregnable line of defense, and under the impact of 200,000 troops, maintain this line of defense for at least four months until the end of summer, the end of autumn, and the arrival of winter. ."
"At least four months."
The king looked up and looked at everyone.
"Even if you fill it with bones and pile it up with heads, you have to support this line of defense for me."
…
Goulund steppe.
The wind blew across the earth, and a chilling cavalry set out towards the Holy Spirit Bay, they held high the golden battle flag. The horses galloped past, and the men and horses were all fierce.
At the front of the line, the emperor of the barbarian empire, the former leader of the ancient cavalry, Herr Moor, stared at the horizon with gray eyes like eagles.
His son Hanmu caught up with him: "Father, Legrand has been cut off from us."
He showed some concern.
"Holy Army, the Holy Court is threatening, do you think Legrand can hold it? Compared to Siold, Poolan is too young. Can he stand it?"
Can he
Hull squinted and turned to look at the other side of the Abyss Strait.
In front of him floated a young emperor who was facing away from him across most of the battlefield, his silver hair stained with blood, and his icy blue eyes with a familiar cold light.
"They don't have to worry about us, our battlefield is coming!"
Hull said.
"Walk!"
That is the monarch who was raised by the lion of the empire.
That is a free country where dragons bury their bones.
The author has something to say: [1] Data referenced from (British) Charles Auman. History of Medieval War Art Volume 1 [M]. Beijing: Taihai Publishing House. 2018.
[2] In the Middle Ages, countries with low population density and low productivity had poor military affordability, and the number of troops at that time could not be measured by modern standards. Quoting more reliable data from Jeffrey Parker's comprehensive information, in the 1470s, among the major European countries, the Spanish army numbered about 20,000, the French 40,000, and the British 25,000. [It should also be mentioned that mercenaries were very common in medieval warfare. In addition, the British military system also has a civilian military system. In 1181, Henry II stipulated in the Military Act that all free people should have combat weapons in preparation for war. Henry III further revised this basis in 1252, and then reiterated it in the "Winchester Act". However, the main thing to note is that the civilian army is generally used for local defense and self-defense. One comment is that "the first front against foreign aggression is not the regular army, but the militia."]