Deep in his mind, Marin thought of the famous Earl Tilly during the "Thirty Years' War". This guy relied on the Spanish phalanx trick he learned in Spain to fight all over Europe, "a trick that is popular all over the world." In the end, relying on this trick, he got the title of Earl of the Empire.
If he hadn't met the more powerful "father of the modern army" Gustav II in the end and was killed, this guy might have been promoted to Duke.
Tilly didn't become a knight, and, in the 17th century, knights had completely declined. Relying on the infantry tactics of the Spanish phalanx, this guy has grown from a small mercenary leader to a famous boss in Europe.
In fact, Marin had already imitated Earl Tilly's idea. However, before, he considered that even the smallest Spanish phalanx had more than a thousand people.
And in the Emperor's Army, to be qualified to command more than a thousand people—even infantry, the minimum requirement is to be a nobleman. But Marin is currently only an apprentice knight, not a knighted knight, not a nobleman. Therefore, he never thought of forming a team by himself before, but planned to be a nobleman first.
Because, at present, German mercenaries have just emerged, and all officers must be nobles. In the army, civilians can at most be non-commissioned officers, which is a position between officers and soldiers.
As for the mercenaries before the emperor, in fact, they all relied on the troops gathered for him by some local nobles. To be more precise, the emperor's current greatest military reliance is the Swabian Alliance (vassals and vassals in the Swabian region, including the Earl of Württemberg, etc.).
In other words, the current generals in the emperor's army are mainly nobles of the Swabian family. As for officers of noble origin in other regions, they are only a minority.
This is also something that can’t be helped. At the beginning, the former emperor Frederick was very pussy and fought with Hungary. As a result, he lost most of his hometown Austria, and even lost Vienna. Therefore, not many people were willing to support the incompetent Habsburg family at that time. As for Maximilian I, who took over the position of emperor, few big nobles supported him at the beginning of his accession to the throne. Even, many electors and their supporters want to restore the electoral system and break the monopoly of the Habsburg family on the throne.
The Swabian Alliance firmly stood by Maximilian I's side at the most difficult moment of Maximilian I. Even when Maximilian I formed German mercenaries for the first time, it was the nobles of the Swabian family who strongly supported and responded first.
For example, Frederick II, Earl of Hohenzollern of the Swabian League, responded most positively to Maximilian I. Even later, this guy became the best friend of the emperor, and Maximilian I trusted him extremely, and handed over all the power of the government to him. Now, this earl is the supreme commander of the army controlled by the Habsburg family.
Because of this, most of the emperor's early troops were Swabian generals. The mercenaries in other places have not developed yet. It was not until the 16th century that mercenaries in other parts of Germany would develop.
But in any case, in Germany, mercenaries are still a new group, and it has not yet formed a fixed habit. In other words, at this moment, Marin can completely lead the trend instead of following it. Because the trend has not yet formed.
Although, according to the unspoken rules of ancient Europe, all officers should be nobles. However, although Marin is not an aristocrat, he is also a descendant of an aristocrat. Therefore, they can barely be regarded as the "own people" of the nobles. Pull up a team by yourself, and it is the lowest infantry team, and no one will embarrass yourself. If you were born as a serf and wanted to pull a team by yourself, you would definitely not be recognized by the aristocracy. This is ancient Europe.
After discussing with his two smarter men-Kohler and Schwartz, Marin decided to recruit those young people who were not selected under the guise of an official knight. Of course, recruit the best of them.
The reason why he lied that he was an official knight was to win people's trust. In ancient Europe, the prestige of nobles was very high, although there were many scum among them. Everyone must think that the aristocrats recruited troops for a serious business, and it should be for the purpose of defending their families and the country.
If any civilian goes to pull up a team, it may be considered by the officials to form a bandit team, and then directly send troops to suppress it...
For this reason, Marin played the family emblem of the Hoffman family - on a shield, there is a knight carrying a black cross flag...
In medieval Europe, there was no national flag, but each noble family had its own emblem. Only aristocratic families will have an emblem representing the identity of the family. A family emblem like the Hoffman family implies that this is a family of knights. For those royal families, a crown is often stamped on the family emblem.
In fact, Marin, as a wandering knight who was kicked out of the family, should not be allowed to play the original family's family emblem. Because, from the moment he was kicked out of the house, he should start a new life and no longer belong to the Hoffman estate on the Ruhr River.
But now, in order to be convincing, it's okay to borrow the family emblem. Moreover, he is indeed from this family. Even if old Hoffman and Adler knew, they wouldn't say anything. Besides, he only intends to deceive the common people from the bottom of the society, not the nobles, so he doesn't have to bear any legal responsibility.
…
Next, Marin played the name of the Hoffman family fief knight, and began to fool those unlucky, but actually very good, unlucky people who were eliminated.
For this reason, Marin personally selected in the competition field. Because as long as there are one hundred and ten people, Marin can choose alone.
Marin's selection criteria are different from ordinary people. First of all, he naturally wants stronger people. However, power is not the only criterion. For example, for those losers, Marin's requirements for martial arts are not the most important.
What Marin values most is the spiritual performance of those losers in the competition. For example, an indomitable fighting spirit...
Marin knows that on the battlefield, it is not enough for you to be good at martial arts. Mental endurance and courage are also very important. Those with poor psychological quality can easily collapse when they encounter disadvantages.
But the quality of psychological quality, it is difficult to judge. Generally speaking, for a winner, you can't tell whether his psychological quality is good or bad. It depends on the quality of a person's psychological quality, mainly when the person fails.
Only when a person encounters failure can he show his vulnerable and unbearable side. Those who are not reconciled to failure and those who face failure calmly are the qualified psychological quality.
As far as the army is concerned, it is the most rare quality to have a kind of unwillingness to admit defeat when it fails. If you look at it with colored eyes, you can also think that such a person is aggressive.
Of course, while being brave and ruthless, but also maintaining obedience to discipline, this is the best soldier. Otherwise, those who refuse to obey discipline and are aggressive are not soldiers, but robbers.
…
For several days, Marin selected more than 200 young people who were not reconciled after failure. Moreover, these people have an indomitable spirit in the duel, not afraid of injury.
Then, Marin asked Kohler to come to the small courtyard he rented to talk one by one...
Marin told these people that after the emperor's second batch of funds is in place, he will definitely expand his army again. After all, the French have 60,000 troops. If the emperor wanted to fight against the French, he had to recruit at least tens of thousands of people.
It would be a pity for those who failed the recruitment to go home now. And Marin, in the name of the Hoffman family, plans to form a mercenary regiment by himself, and stay near Vienna first, and concentrate on training and improving. After the second batch of emperors started to recruit soldiers, they applied in the name of a whole to increase the chances of being selected.
"Mr. Hoffman, why should we listen to you?" A rebellious young man questioned.
Marin was not angry, but said with a smile:
"Because I come from a noble family and have learned how to command an army!"
"This..." Immediately no one said anything.
You must know that these applicants for spearmen are basically from poor families, and basically have no culture, let alone know how to command and fight. In front of this group of rough people, Marin can show off his cultural level to his heart's content, and the other party is powerless to refute...
"And what about the salary?"
"I'm not the emperor, how can I have so much money..."
"Then you still recruit us? Do you want to command us without paying?"
"I don't have money to pay my salary, but before the emperor recruits soldiers for the second time, I can provide you with food for free. Presumably everyone is from a commoner family and has little money. If you stay in Vienna for a long time, eating is also a big expense. I can Pay for the meal on your behalf... ”
…
"Okay, just do as you said, you train us with military command methods that only nobles understand, but you have to take care of our food and lodging..."
In the end, 80 surrendered. The remaining one hundred or so people were either rebellious and did not obey orders, or they looked down on Marin, a small temple, and refused to give in.
Therefore, Marin finally recruited 80 good young people and formally formed the "Hoffman Mercenary Group" that will shock Europa in the future...