King of German Mercenaries

Marin is actually a little dissatisfied with this exercise. As for what he is dissatisfied with? Mainly the archers.

In fact, the kills of the archers are great. Even if there is no arrow, a simple arrow can injure people within 50 meters. It's just that the cowardly archers under him were frightened by the emperor's prestige. During the exercise, they kept their hands and did not dare to hurt the emperor's mercenaries. Therefore, during the point kill within 50 meters, no one dared to pull the bowstring to the end, lest these temporary workers would hurt those regular workers. Otherwise, when 100 opponents rush to 10 meters, there will be no more than 40 people left, and at most 20 people will be considered good luck.

In response, Marin decided to punish the archers collectively afterwards. But the emperor suddenly called, he had to deal with the emperor first.

Congratulations, Marlin Knight, your military ability has surprised me.

Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty! Marin began to want to be humble, but suddenly remembered that this is Europe, not China, so he doesn't need to be humble. So he changed his mouth...

You are indeed very talented, Marlin Knight, and your two trenches are indeed very difficult to break through. What I want to ask is, if you command a complete phalanx, if the enemy first goes around the flank and avoids you What will you do with the trenches and pickets? asked Count Frederick earnestly.

Lord Count, if I command a complete phalanx, if my phalanx faces the enemy alone, I will dig trenches in all four directions, and no one can rush in. If my phalanx is not Fighting the enemy alone, my flanks will definitely be protected by friendly forces, so don’t worry about that.”

That's true. It's really difficult for the enemy to break through such a defense. But what if the enemy has artillery?

All 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 make everyone lie down and avoid the shelling. When the enemy infantry comes up, get up and continue to fight. Because, when the enemy's artillery fires, the enemy infantry will not charge, so as not to accidentally injure their own people.

What if your phalanx is with allies?

Then you have to listen to the command of the coach. After all, it is up to the coach to move on the battlefield. Marin looked at Count Frederick and knew that he was afraid that he would not obey the command, so he simply said what he liked to listen to. s answer.

Sure enough, Count Frederick nodded with satisfaction after hearing this...

However, Marlin Knight, your phalanx seems to have only a defensive function, not an offensive function? Emperor Maximilian I asked.

Maximilian I was very knowledgeable about military affairs. He saw that digging trenches not only blocked the enemy, but also trapped himself. If you give up the trench to attack, the defensive ability will be greatly reduced.

Yes, Your Majesty, for now, this phalanx does not have any sharp offensive means. I am thinking about the specific method... Marin said honestly.

You are honest! The emperor smiled.

How can I lie before the emperor's majesty? Marin pretended to be serious, which made the emperor feel somber.

The emperors and kings of the West are different from those of the East. Eastern etiquette is strict, and the lowest-ranking nobles like Marin are not qualified to stand up when talking to the emperor in the east, and they cannot even look directly at the emperor's face. Because, the emperor of the East is in control of the life and death of all 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 to pay taxes to help them through the difficulties. Therefore, in Europe, the emperor is not so high above the lower aristocracy. Of course, in front of serfs and commoners, emperors and kings must be on the top. The existence of the aristocratic parliament made the emperors and kings of Europe must not offend the aristocratic class.

Otherwise, want to raise taxes to deal with the war? Everyone voted against to stop you...

Moreover, in the Middle Ages, ordinary people were mostly illiterate. The emperor wanted to appoint officials and had to rely on the most literate aristocracy. In the East, although the literacy rate is not high, the emperor can choose to select talents from the common people who read. Therefore, the emperor of the East can suppress the nobles at will, and launch the Meridian Gate beheading if there is a little resistance. On the other hand, Western emperors must rely on the aristocracy, otherwise the country cannot be reorganized.

The Holy Roman Emperor was actually a tough emperor. It sounds that the emperor's name is more popular, and it is above the king. But in fact, the Holy Roman Emperor, like Zhou Tianzi of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, has no real power at all. But better than Zhou Tianzi, the Holy Roman Emperor at least owns a relatively large direct territory like Austria. And Maximilian I, through marriage, controlled the Principality of Burgundy no less than Austria. Therefore, the difference between the Holy Roman Emperor and Zhou Tianzi is that the emperor himself is also a powerful prince who can participate in the hegemony.

In real terms, the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor is far worse than that of the French king. After all, from the beginning of Charles VII, France had regular taxation, which made the French King's purse much stronger than the Emperor Shinra. Moreover, after 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 a strong enemy like Britain in the north of France and a powerful country like Spain in the southwest, France might have the conditions to encroach on 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 Shinra Empire to cut off the wealthy Alsace and the location of Europe's largest iron mine, Lorraine. It is precisely because of this that the enmity between Germany and France for hundreds of years has been created.

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 trying to kill itself. It’s just that there is a traditional rival to the north, the United Kingdom. Therefore, although France's financial situation is very good, it is difficult to achieve any grand ambitions when being beaten by groups.

...

Maximilian I found that he admired this little knight who was loyal to him, but he was a little tangled in his heart. why? This has to mention some of the habits of Europeans in this era.

In medieval Europe - even in the 18th century, officers in the army were generally nobles, and there was basically no possibility of civilians serving as officers. Of course, except for those commoners who came from noble families. Those aristocratic children who came from aristocratic families but could not inherit the title have a very special title in Germany - Junker. Strictly speaking, Marin is a Junker.

By convention, the highest commander of the imperial army is usually 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 deputy earl, which can be regarded as a 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 full-fledged knight.

The knights, in the imperial army, generally serve 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, just a new knight.

Moreover, Marin's team did perform well in the exercise, but the emperor could not guarantee that Marin's mercenary regiment would still be so sharp in a real war. After all, a real war must face the test of death. Those who do well in training and drills may be a mess after the actual battle.

It was not impossible for Maximilian I to promote Marin to baron, but he also had to take into account the feelings of other nobles. Appointing a knight as the phalanx commander is indeed a bit of a break with tradition.

But the emperor thought again and again and decided to give it a try. Because, his mercenary system in the empire is already against tradition. Therefore, he doesn't mind disobeying it again, and of course, he can't go too far.

Eventually, the emperor appointed Marin as the acting phalanx commander, in charge of an infantry phalanx of more than 1,000 men. As for the source of troops, they are directly selected from the recruitment site.

The reason why the word agent is added in front is to avoid irritating the old nobles. If Marin's ability is strong enough, he will perform well in the next battle and make military exploits, the emperor will not be stingy with the reward, he can be promoted to a baron and appointed Marin as the official phalanx commander. But if Marin didn't perform well next, the emperor could completely remove Marin from the position of phalanx commander and demote him to company captain. Provided, of course, that Marin was still alive at the time...

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