Marin was actually a little dissatisfied with this exercise, but what was he dissatisfied with? Mainly the group of archers.
In fact, the damage of archers is very large. Even if there is no arrow, the pure arrow body can hurt people within 50 meters. It's just that his group of cowardly archers were frightened by the emperor's prestige, so they kept their hands back during the exercise, not daring to hurt the emperor's mercenaries in Zhengyin. Therefore, during the point kill within 50 meters, everyone did not dare to pull the bowstring to the end, lest these "temporary workers" hurt those "regular workers". Otherwise, when the opponent's 100 people rush to 10 meters, there will never be 40 people left, and it will be considered good luck if there are at most 20 people.
In this regard, Marin decided to collectively punish those archers afterwards. But the emperor suddenly called, so he had to deal with the emperor first.
"Congratulations, Marlin Knight, I am amazed by your military talent."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment!" Marin wanted to be humble at first, but suddenly remembered that this is Europe, not China, and there is no need to be humble. So he changed his tune...
"You are indeed very talented, Marlin Knight, and the defense lines of your two trenches are indeed difficult to break through. What I want to ask is, if you command a complete phalanx, if the enemy goes around to the flanks and avoids you at the beginning What are you going to do with the ditches and pickets?" Count Frederick asked seriously.
"My lord, if I command a complete phalanx, if my phalanx is alone against the enemy, I will dig trenches in all four directions, and no one can rush in. If my phalanx is not Facing the enemy alone, my flanks will definitely be protected by friendly troops, don't worry about that."
"That's true. Such a defense is indeed difficult for the enemy to break through. But what if the enemy has artillery?"
"All get down..."
"Get down?" The emperor and the count looked at each other.
"Yes, how can the human body resist artillery shells? If my army faces the enemy alone, when the enemy fires, I will let everyone lie down and avoid the shelling. When the enemy infantry comes up, stand up and continue to fight .Because, when the enemy artillery fires, the enemy infantry will not charge, so as not to accidentally injure their own people."
"What if your phalanx is with friendly troops?"
"Then you have to listen to the commander's command. After all, you have to watch the coach's transfer on the battlefield." Marin looked at Earl Frederick, knowing that he was afraid that he would not obey the command, so he simply said something he liked to hear. s answer.
Sure enough, Count Frederick nodded in satisfaction after hearing this...
"However, Marin Knight, your phalanx seems to have only a defensive function, not an offensive function?" Emperor Maximilian I asked.
Maximilian I knew military affairs very well. He saw that digging a trench not only blocked the enemy, but also trapped himself. If you give up the trench attack, the defensive ability will be greatly reduced.
"Yes, Your Majesty, as far as it is concerned, this phalanx does not have any sharp offensive methods. I am thinking about the specific method..." Marin said honestly.
"You are honest!" The emperor smiled.
"How can I lie in front of His Majesty the Emperor?" Marin said pretending to be serious, which made the Emperor feel refreshed again.
The emperors and kings in the West are different from those in the East. The etiquette of the East is strict, and the lowest nobles like Marin are not qualified to stand up when they talk to the emperor in the East, and they can't even look directly at the emperor's face. Because, the Eastern Emperor holds great power and controls the life and death of the people in the world. In the West, emperors and kings are nothing but the greatest lords. Even, because the tax law is not perfect, once the war comes, the emperor and the king even ask the lower nobles to raise money and pay taxes to help tide over the difficulties. Therefore, in Europe, the emperor was not so superior to the lower nobles. Of course, in front of serfs and commoners, the emperor and king must be superior. The existence of the aristocratic parliament made it necessary for European emperors and kings not to offend the aristocratic class. Otherwise, want to increase taxes to deal with war? Everyone voted no to stop you...
Moreover, in the Middle Ages, the common people were largely illiterate. If the emperor wants to appoint officials, he must rely on the noble class with the highest literacy rate. In the east, although the literacy rate is not high, the emperor can choose to select talents from among the common people who are studying. Therefore, the emperor of the east can suppress the nobles as he likes, and launch the Meridian Gate to behead him if he resists. Western emperors, on the other hand, had to rely on the aristocracy, otherwise the country would not be able to be reorganized.
The Holy Roman Emperor was actually a hard-working emperor. It sounds like the title of emperor is more popular, and it is above the king. But in fact, the Holy Roman Emperor, like the Emperor Zhou of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, had no real power at all. But better than Zhou Tianzi, the Holy Roman Emperor at least owns a relatively large directly subordinate territory like Austria. And Maximilian I, through marriage, controlled the Duchy of Burgundy, which was no less than Austria. Therefore, the difference between the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the emperor of Zhou is that the emperor himself is also a powerful prince who can participate in the struggle for hegemony.
In real terms, the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor is far worse than that of the King of France. After all, starting from Charles VII, France has had regular taxes, making the French King's pocketbook much stronger than that of Emperor Shinra. Moreover, through the efforts of several generations of kings, the French king took back the privileges of many princes and strengthened the centralization of power. If it weren't for France's strong enemy like Britain in the north and Spain in the southwest to restrain it, France might have the conditions to cannibalize the princes of the Holy Roman Empire. And later in the 17th century, France did encroach on the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, that is-Alsace and Lorraine.
After the "Thirty Years' War", the French took advantage of the weakness of the Shenluo Empire and took away the rich Alsace and Lorraine, where the largest iron mine in Europe is located. It is precisely because of this that the enmity between Germany and France for hundreds of years has been caused.
Of course, no matter how poor and poor Maximilian I was, he was also the only emperor in Europe in this era. In terms of prestige, the emperor was clearly higher than the king of France.
France, on the other hand, is also doing its own thing. It’s okay to have a traditional rival to the north, the United Kingdom. It also teases Shinra and Spain everywhere. Therefore, although France's financial situation is very good, it is difficult to achieve any ambitious hegemony if it is beaten by groups of people.
…
Maximilian I found himself admiring this little knight who was "loyal" to him, but he was a little entangled in his heart. why? This has to mention some habits of Europeans in this era.
In medieval Europe—even in the 18th century, officers in the army were generally nobles, and it was basically impossible for civilians to serve as officers. Of course, those "common people" who came from aristocratic families were excluded. Those noble children who were born in noble families but could not inherit the title have a very special title in Germany - Junker. Strictly speaking, Marin is a Junker.
By convention, the supreme commander of the imperial army is generally either a duke or an earl. The commanders of the legions and phalanxes below are generally barons (the empire does not have the rank of viscount, only the Netherlands and Lombardy have the title of vice-count, which can be regarded as viscount).
Maximilian I believed that Marin was capable of commanding a phalanx. However, Marin's status is too low, he is a young man who has just been promoted to a formal knight.
The knight, in the imperial army, generally served as the captain of the company (generally about 250 people) and the leader of the squad (generally about 25 people). What's more, Marin is not a veteran knight, but a new knight.
Moreover, Marin's team did perform well in the exercise, but the emperor couldn't guarantee that Marin's mercenary group could still be so sharp in a real war. After all, in a real war, one must face the test of death. Those who perform well in training and exercises may not perform well in actual combat.
It is not impossible for Maximilian I to promote Marin to a baron, but he must also consider the feelings of other nobles. The appointment of a knight as the leader of the phalanx is indeed a bit of a break with tradition.
But the emperor thought twice and decided to give it a try. Because, his mercenary system in the empire has already violated the tradition. Therefore, he doesn't mind breaking it again, and of course, he can't go too far.
Eventually, the emperor appointed Marin as the acting phalanx leader, in charge of an infantry phalanx of more than 1,000 men. As for the source of soldiers, they are selected directly from the recruiting site.
The reason why the word "agent" is added in front is to avoid stimulating the old nobles. If Marin was strong enough, performed well in the next battle, and made great achievements, the emperor would not be stingy with rewards. He could be promoted to baron and appointed Marin as the official phalanx leader. But if Marin's next performance is not good, the emperor can completely remove Marin from the position of the phalanx leader and demote him to the company captain. Of course, the premise is that Marin is still alive at that time...