The 1,000 Frisian prisoners of war seemed to have accepted their fate and no longer resisted the strict discipline requirements imposed on them by the officers. However, as the supreme commander of these prisoners of war before, Sivager seemed to see that Marin was going to let these 1,000 people be trained as cannon fodder.
Therefore, the former Frisian general Sivager, who was stranded on Texel as an important prisoner, took the initiative to find Marin...
"Master Baron, do you want to make a big move?"
Marin was stunned for a moment:
"How did you see that?"
"Isn't this obvious? The small Wadden Islands need 5,000 soldiers to protect? Also, my 1,000 men have also been trained. It seems that they were still trained as cannon fodder!"
"Hehe, so smart." Marin was not worried about Sivager talking nonsense. Because the Wadden Islands are isolated from the world, and Texel Island only opens trade with the outside world, and outsiders are prohibited from entering other areas. Therefore, even if Sivager wanted to spread the news, he had to go to the island.
"My lord, do you still want to seize Friesland? I don't think you have the ability to defeat the Duke of Saxony..." According to Sivager's understanding, it is probably because Marin has an undying heart for Friesland. However, what Sivage said is correct, Marin can't compete with the Saxon system in terms of background.
"I didn't say I wanted to seize Friesland either..." Marin spread his hands.
"It's not Frisian, could it be... East Frisian?" Sivager quickly thought of it.
Because, in the surrounding areas, Marin is not very easy to do, except for East Frisia.
Among other things, the Netherlands is the family territory of Marin's master Maximilian I. Marin must not be disturbed, and he has no confidence to compete with the Habsburg family. As for the Friesland region, it has been occupied by the Duke of Saxony. The strength of the Duke of Saxony, including the entire Saxony family, is no weaker than the emperor.
As for the Principality of Gerdes, it is also a powerful country, so it is not easy to mess with it. And the Archbishop of Utrecht is a subordinate of the Holy See. In today's absence of religious reformation, anyone who dares to annex the archbishop's country indiscriminately will definitely get tired of life.
Then, after much deliberation, there are only the Counties of East Frisia and Oldenburg in the east. However, the Earl of Oldenburg is not easy to mess with. Although the strength of this uncle country is average, its relatives are powerful.
For example, the powerful Danish king Hans belonged to the Oldenburg family and was of the same family as the Earl of Oldenburg. If Marin dared to annex the Earl of Oldenburg, the possibility of Denmark sending troops to intervene is extremely high.
Today's Denmark is not the Denmark of the later generations, which only has a small land of tens of thousands of square kilometers, but the only powerful country in Northern Europe. What Norway and Sweden are all under the control of Denmark and form the Kalmar League.
Therefore, it is impossible for Marin to have the idea of singled out Denmark, nor will he attack the Earl of Oldenburg, which is too powerful in the future. Then, the only possibility is that East Frisian County, which is regarded as a barbarian by the Germans.
The Frisians are an alternative to the Germans. They are independent, have a tough personality, and like to sail, and there are more differences among people in other parts of Germany.
Moreover, although the Counties of East Frisia swore allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor and officially became a vassal state, none of the empire regarded East Frisia as their own. Even in the imperial aristocratic council, there is no seat for the Count of East Frisia.
You know, in the empire, it is okay to say that the baron cannot enter the imperial parliament, but as a count with a territory, he cannot participate in the imperial parliament, that is Chiguoguo being discriminated against...
Even Emperor Maximilian I did not regard East Frisia as a vassal state, but as a barbarian chieftain. That's why in 1516, Maximilian I forced the Earl of East Frisia, Edsard I, to hand over the succession of the Earl to the Duke of Saxony. Of course, in that military campaign, the combined forces of the emperor and the Duke of Saxony failed. But it is undeniable that the whole empire really did not take the Counties of East Frisia seriously...
At the beginning, if it weren't for the weak strength of the Earl of Oldenburg and the Frisian Noble Republic surrounding East Frisia, and the fact that the Bishop of Münster was not absolutely sure of being able to take it, East Frisia would have been coveted long ago. Sure enough, when the Duke of Saxony swallowed West Frisia, he set his sights on East Frisia again...
Right now, East Frisia is difficult to deal with, but Sivage believes that it may not be particularly difficult to win East Frisia with Marin's "cunning and treacherous" and command combat ability.
However, as the former supreme military officer of East Frisia's neighbor West Frisia, Sivager is still very aware of East Frisia's war potential. He knows that East Frisia can mobilize thousands of horses, and that the main force of East Frisia's standing army is 1,000 heavy armored swordsmen, that is, straw hat swordsmen.
"Lord Baron, attacking East Friesland is a bit difficult..."
"I know, so I prepared 6,000 people..." Marin said indifferently. Sivager is considered one of the captives, he has no personal freedom, so don't worry about him talking nonsense.
"Are the 1,000 people I accepted abandoned?"
"It's not an abandoned son, but your 200 heavy armored swordsmen will definitely take the lead. In my army, there is no such powerful unit as the heavy armored swordsman."
"What about the other 800 people?"
"Rush along with those 200 people, and you can take cover or something."
"My lord, can I ask you something."
"Tell me..."
"I know that these 1,000 people must be the first to charge, and casualties are inevitable. But, can you equip the other 800 people with some armor?"
"Armor? Sivager, it's not that I don't want to equip them. However, swordsmen in heavy armor are all strong soldiers. Otherwise, ordinary soldiers won't be able to run if they wear iron armor..."
"What about chain armor and chain armor? They risk their lives to rush to the front, can't they have no protection?"
"This... is a problem..." Marin began to think...
"Hey... yes!" Marin suddenly slapped his thigh, thinking of a suitable armor...
Just now, Marin remembered the Spaniard's practice of removing all the armor behind him and keeping only the armor in front of him in order to reduce the weight of the armor.
This method can not only greatly reduce the weight of the armor, but also tell the soldiers a message - you have no armor on your back, if you turn around and run away, you are more likely to die...
Of course, Marin didn't want to directly adopt the front half armor promoted by the Spaniards in the 16th century. Instead, he wanted to make another discount—directly use the three-quarters of the front breastplate...
That is, the two iron plates of the three-quarter breastplate worn by the cuirassiers are compressed into only one iron plate, only the front chest has armor, and the back has no...
A complete three-quarter breastplate weighs 8 kg. The three-quarters of the breastplate, which only retains the iron plate on the chest, weighs only 4 kilograms. Such a weight, even for ordinary soldiers, can bear it.
As for how to equip the iron plate on the chest, Marin naturally has a way-directly ask the tailor to sew a vest with leather or linen. In the front of the vest, there is a huge pocket for the iron plate.
And this vest can also be a black cross vest on a white background. Usually, when there is no war, the iron plate in the large pocket of the vest and breastplate can be taken out and kept for safekeeping. Once a war broke out, the iron plates were carried by vehicles during the march. Before the battle, everyone lined up to receive iron plates, poured them into the big pockets on their chests, and used them for defense...
Of course, this was not Marin's invention. Once, Marin saw on TV that the bulletproof vests worn by many special police officers were leather jackets filled with steel plates. Of course, the special police are filled with modern ultra-high-strength alloy steel plates. And the new simplified version of the armor that Marin designed for his subordinates is filled with iron plates...
However, because the long-range weapons of this era are far less destructive than the thermal weapons of later generations, even iron-filled plates can withstand many attacks and even save lives.
Moreover, Marin also decided to install a mask on the original iron helmet that imitated the steel helmet of later generations to strengthen the frontal protection ability. Moreover, this mask is movable and can be pulled up to reveal the face. Only in wartime, it needs to be pulled down.
However, such a mask can also block ordinary bows and arrows, and it is definitely useless when facing muskets. However, at least this can give them a lot of confidence in wartime and strengthen their courage...
Ever since, the iron helmet with a movable mask and the iron plate on the chest of the black cross vest with a white background became Marin's new simplified version of the armor. Of course, this is what ordinary soldiers wear. As for the elite soldiers, the kind used for assault, they still had to wear the full three-quarter breastplate, both front and rear. The simplified version of the armor is actually aimed at soldiers who are not strong enough to save their physical energy. It is not that Marin deliberately cut corners...
Marin assured Sivager on the spot that he would equip his men with this simplified version of armor, which finally satisfied Sivager.
It's not that Marin loves the POWs, but if the POWs are better at beating them, then the cover for Marin's Musketeers is better. When it's time, you'll have a better chance......
Moreover, this simplified version of the armor, because the breastplate has only one iron plate, is very simple to forge, resulting in very low cost, and it is also convenient for large-scale installation. Even if the movable mask is installed on the iron helmet, it is a little troublesome, but the cost is not very high. For military equipment that needs to be equipped on a large scale, the lower the cost, the better. Of course, the quality can't be too bad. Otherwise, it will affect the battle...