People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 604 Military Discussion

“Once the election results are in, even I will have to obey them”

Richard couldn't help but sneer: "Does the little fox really think he has a sure win?"

Originally, the situation was still unclear. Philip had a slight advantage, but Richard was not much inferior. Philip relied on prestige and interests, while Richard relied on personal bravery and leadership ability. Following him, one could win one victory after another.

Wealth can be obtained by seizure.

Honors can be obtained through military achievements or prestige.

Both of these could be taken on the battlefield, and Richard had a group of loyal supporters on this basis.

Captain Fuller of the Earl's guard whispered, "But His Majesty Philip does have the upper hand right now."

"But the one who has the greatest advantage is probably my uncle. The King of Jerusalem is regarded as the commander of all Franks in the East. We may not bow to him, but doing so will indeed divide the Crusaders."

"So it seems that His Majesty Philip still has a sense of justice?"

"Bah, how is that possible."

Richard was dismissive. Although Philip had not done anything to offend him on the surface, it was Richard who broke his promise first, insulted Philip's sister by saying that she had an affair with his father Henry II, and refused to fulfill the marriage contract.

But after he betrayed his father and seized the crown of Albion, he suddenly thought of something.

Although his father doted on his youngest son, from the beginning to the end, his father wanted to deprive him of his inheritance rights and leave all the territories to John - this was something that Philip II conveyed to him in an unspoken hint.

If the series of struggles surrounding the crown of Albion were likened to a series of colorful murals, then in the shadows in the corners of the murals, there was Philip's thin figure and the faint smile at the corners of his mouth.

"Philip is a conspirator, a venomous snake lurking in a corner with a hissing poison in its mouth, Sir Fuller. If it weren't for the mismatch in time, I would really suspect that he was the son of King Louis' affair with his Greek mistress when he was on the Crusade."

Richard sneered.

King Louis the Old's first wife was his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Now, Philip was born to the old king and his third wife, Adele of Champagne, a long time before the old king participated in the Crusade.

It is worth mentioning that among the three most powerful women in Europe at the time, Eleanor of Aquitaine was appointed regent for all her territories on the European continent by Richard after he set out for the Holy Land.

The second was Richard's wife, who was appointed by him to govern the entire Kingdom of Albion.

The third one was Philip’s mother, the Queen Mother of Gaul, who was also appointed regent of Gaul by Philip. Among the three, two were wives of old King Louis. It can be seen that although the old king had poor fertility (Eleanor could not give birth to a son when she was with him, but after remarrying Henry II, she gave birth to four sons in five years), he still had a good eye for choosing wives.

thump—

From the church bell tower, melodious bell sounds were heard.

This is the signal that the military meeting is about to begin.

Richard opened the window and saw many Crusader nobles in gorgeous clothes and wearing looted silks, riding horses and parading through the streets. They loudly mocked those who were not qualified to attend the military meeting. Those people were not willing to be outdone and shouted back.

They made a lot of noise, disturbing the neighbors to the extreme, but no resident dared to show the slightest dissatisfaction. They all closed their doors and dared not make any sound.

"Your Majesty, I suddenly wondered if His Majesty Philip would manipulate the issue of who is qualified to attend the military meeting?"

The Earl's guard captain said with a worried look on his face: "If more than half of the people in the entire military meeting are supporters of His Majesty Philip, how can we win?"

Richard sneered: "Well, Fuller, when you use your brain, I want to laugh. If Philip really dares to do this, he will only bring trouble upon himself and make this military meeting and himself a laughing stock."

After he finished speaking, he put on his iconic bright red battle robe, shouted to his guards, and rode out of the manor first.

At this time, it was not yet dawn.

Countless torches could be seen along the way. Even if one was not qualified to attend, there were still people who wanted to watch the fun. Almost half of the Crusaders came to participate in this event that determined the focus of the next military strategy.

The ceremony was very complicated, and by the time everything was ready, it was already bright.

It can be seen that the seats in the military council are clearly divided into three parts, with Lothar, Richard and Philip each occupying three directions of the meeting room.

The Lothar faction's troops were placed opposite Richard. He didn't need to stand up to see the plate-armored knights sitting around Baldwin IV. This little trick made Richard sneer.

Even though he had gotten used to it over time, Richard couldn't help being moved by the bright armor worn by the elite soldiers under Lothar. The plate armor forging technology of the Crusaders sent by Lothar had long surpassed those Milanese blacksmiths who claimed to be the best in the world.

"My fellow Christian brothers, we may come from all corners of the world, and we may have never met each other, or even have personal grudges against each other, but under the will of God, we have gathered together today for a common aspiration and a great cause - to rescue the enslaved Christians and recover the Alexandria diocese that has fallen into the hands of pagans for countless years."

Philip II began to speak.

He had obviously drunk the magic potion called "Loud Military Bugle". His voice was extremely loud. Standing facing the morning light, his whole body seemed to be covered with a layer of golden light, which made people feel a sense of admiration and worship when they heard it.

Richard couldn't help but curse under his breath: "Despicable!"

"Martha, give me a similar potion!"

After a bunch of nonsense that Richard thought was meaningless, Philip suddenly held up a piece of letter paper and said, "However, a shocking scene happened yesterday in front of everyone. Reynald of Chatillon, a brave and upright Crusader Knight, was assassinated in the street."

This news was not a secret and had already spread throughout the Crusaders, so the atmosphere was still calm, but it changed completely with his next words.

"We found a secret letter about King Richard among the assassins."

As soon as he finished speaking, a thunderous voice of questioning arose.

"Ah."

The Lionheart snorted coldly, not even bothering to stand up and refute anything.

No one would believe such a shallow conspiracy. Given King Lionheart's reputation, people would rather believe that he took out Reynald's heart in the street than do such a dishonorable thing as hiring someone to kill someone.

Philip raised his hand, signaling Richard's followers to stay calm. "Yes, that's right. This murder case is ridiculously childish. If it was really an assassination planned by the Crusaders, wouldn't it be easier to distance themselves from it by hiring a few pagan assassins?"

"As I said yesterday, this is a conspiracy by the Saracens, a conspiracy to make us hate each other and fight each other! If the pagans could assassinate Lord Reynard in the street, wouldn't they do something more terrible? In the city of Semanude, which was recaptured by Duke Lothar himself, there are still spies from the Saracens. How can I sleep peacefully after knowing this?"

He raised his voice and said, "I am not concerned about my own safety, but the safety of the great cause of the entire Crusade. Therefore, I spent a whole night to finally find this spy hiding in the city of Semanud, a minion of Saladin!"

"Come here, bring him up here, and punish him with the death penalty in front of everyone!"

When Master Saman was dragged up, his legs were weak. He was wearing heavy shackles and his face was frighteningly pale.

Until now he still doesn't understand why Adil betrayed him.

Could it be that he, the hermit lord of the city of Semanude and a big businessman who had built a huge trade network, was not even worth winning over?
That's what the devil duke is like.

Such were the two kings of the Franks.

Even Adil, whom he regarded as his own, was the same.

As the four ropes were put around his limbs, he closed his eyes in despair.

...

at this time.

In the Saracen camp on the west shore of Lake Bruluce.

Adil, the governor of Egypt and brother of King Saladin, was also giving an impassioned speech to the Saracen troops gathered under the banner of the sacred fire.

He paused halfway through his speech, and his voice became sad and angry: "My brothers, I just received news that the Crusaders executed a respected wise man, Saman of Semanud. They used four horses to pull the four limbs of this poor old man.
Look at what happened to those who joined the Crusaders. Saman, a man of noble birth and high moral character, fell into such a tragic end because he believed the lies of the Franks and lost his usefulness. "

"Poor Samanid sage, he has already given up everything he has in order to survive. When the Crusaders asked for money, he gave away the wealth he had worked so hard to earn. When they asked for food, he opened the granary that he had spent more than ten years to accumulate. But even so, the greedy and brutal Franks were still unwilling to let go of this virtuous man. After squeezing everything out of him, they still used such cruel punishment to execute this poor old man!"

Someone in the audience shouted loudly:

"This is what happens to traitors!"

"You deserve it! This is the will of the Holy Fire, the retribution for betrayal!"

Adil shook his head and said, "No, he just wants to live!"

He was so emotional that two tears squeezed out of his eyes: "Should we blame a brother who struggled to survive under the swords and guns of the Franks? No, even if King Saladin were here, he would only pity the tragic experience of this wise man, and would not blame him for his betrayal."

"Because he was forced to do so. It was the fault of the Franks, those greedy, shameless Crusaders who were more brutal than the cruelest robbers under the banner of holiness!"

"Brothers, among you there are conservatives, conservatives, Christians, and believers of the old gods. Perhaps you have thought in your heart that this is not your war, but please know that as long as you live on this land, the Franks will not show you any tolerance once they gain power, given their barbaric and overbearing style. Even if you can seek temporary peace, you will become slaves and let those barbarians do whatever they want."

"Are you willing to be a slave and beg for mercy from the pagans in exchange for a miserable life?"

The Saracen army roared, "No, of course not!"

"Kill all the infidels!"

"Fight them!"

"The holy fire burns forever, supreme and great!"

Adil waited until the crowd calmed down before speaking again: "You are all a group of fearless warriors, fearless men who are unwilling to live in disgrace. I certainly believe this. Otherwise, you would not have gathered under this flag."

"Warriors, the decisive battle with the barbaric Franks is approaching. We have built siege equipment and prepared sufficient food and water. Next, please follow me to fight and let the barbarians see that we are braver than them!"

He shouted, steered his mount, and led his guards out of the camp first.

The various units of the Saracen coalition immediately responded and followed in an orderly manner.

Looking at those red-faced faces, everyone's blood is boiling and they can't wait to fight the Franks to the death.

“That’s a great speech.”

Baron Fulk sighed.

He also led the knights under his command to fight against the neighboring lord, but before the war, he just said a few words such as "God's will" and "rob all the food and women in the neighboring village". How could he be as eloquent as Adil?

Not only the content, but also the voice of Governor Adil seemed to contain magic. Even though he was a Frank, he couldn't help but feel his blood boiling after listening to it.

Ivan smiled and said, "Is what Lord Adil said a lie?"

Fuller shook his head helplessly.

Although he was a Frank, he could not refute this. The Frankish army was indeed more brutal than that of the Saracens. If the Saracens captured a Frankish city, they would rape all the women in the city and sell all the men and women into slavery.

But if the situation is reversed, it was the Franks who captured a Saracen city.

Then they would most likely launch a brutal massacre, killing both men and women (the Crusaders generally only slept with prostitutes from Europe and would not rape Saracen women, on the contrary, the Saracens liked Frankish women very much).

That being said, didn’t the Kingdom of Jerusalem still achieve symbiosis with the pagan local leaders? After the chaos brought about by the massacre, order would always be restored, and the Franks were also divided into different types.

For example, the army of Lord Lothar would never massacre a city at will.

Fuller silently tried to make amends for his former accomplice in his heart, but he asked, "Ivan, have you heard of the wise man named Saman?"

"of course."

Ivan looked a little strange. "But the version I heard was that he was just an ordinary businessman with some power, but not much."

(End of this chapter)