Water Margin people

"Your Holiness, if you don't punish them severely, there will be countless traitors in the future! Where is the dignity of the church?"

A cardinal spoke up.

Pope Eugene III looked at those archbishops. He knew very well that these were extremists in the church. They could not tolerate any sand in their eyes and would kill pagans without mercy.

"The Knights Templar are ready!"

An archbishop said that the Knights Templar were the most ruthless towards pagans among the three major Crusaders.

"No, our goal is to kill the Qi army and eliminate the leaders. The civilians cannot be touched!"

Eugene III spoke.

"Your Holiness, you can't be so merciful!"

Some people raised objections.

"I have made the decision, you just need to follow it!"

When Eugene III saw that these people dared to disobey his orders, he immediately showed the authority of the Pope.

When the archbishops heard what Eugene III said, they could only remain silent, but they were still dissatisfied in their hearts.

In the church, many people believed that Eugene III was too weak, that he failed to demonstrate the majesty of the Holy See at all, and that he constantly compromised with the unreasonable demands of the empire and the kingdom.

The Crusaders marched towards the city of Venice, holding huge crosses and various flags.

Along the way, there were nobles and merchants coming from Venice to surrender.

"The Qi State really sat still and didn't flee, but just let the believers pray on the coast!"

Conrad III frowned. Having suffered at the hands of Qi, he now had an ominous premonition in his heart.

Louis VII on the side also frowned. The information brought by these surrendered people should be correct. It was very abnormal that Qi State did not make any move.

"Is there any trick?"

Conrad III looked at Louis VII and asked in a low voice.

"I do not know either!"

Louis VII shook his head. He couldn't understand it either. There were only a few thousand people in Qi State. What kind of conspiracy could there be?

"How about sending someone over to take a look first?"

Conrad III hesitated for a moment, still not feeling reassured, as he knew that Qi had a conspiracy.

"Okay, let's send some people over to take a look!"

Louis VII nodded and said that it was impossible for their 250,000 troops to go there at once, and some would go there in the beginning and some in the end.

"Your Majesty, how about we from the Kingdom of England go over there? We are the most valiant Crusaders!"

Richard I spoke with a smile, his face full of pride, as if he was really proud, and he also glanced at Philip II inadvertently.

Philip II was not prepared to speak, but at Richard I's signal he also rode forward.

"Who said you English are the bravest? The bravest are of course our French!"

Philip II also spoke proudly.

As soon as these two people spoke, Philip I Beard could no longer sit still. He was the King of the Kingdom of Germany and the next Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The brave crusaders should be the army around him.

"We'll go if we have to!"

King Philip I spoke.

The three of them argued over who was the bravest Crusader.

"Then let's go together and see who is better!"

Richard I saw that Philip I had been fooled and said with a smile.

"Okay, let's see who has the ability!"

Philip I was unaware of this and looked at Richard I and Philip II with disdain. These two were no match for him.

The three of them, with more than 10,000 cavalrymen, headed towards the city of Venice first.

The city of Venice.

The streets in the city are empty, as the followers of the Imperial Church have all gone to the beach. Today, the missionaries of the Imperial Church are going to start preaching again, and they say that His Majesty the Emperor of Qi will bestow blessings.

"Governor, there are more than 10,000 cavalrymen coming fast! What should we do?"

Several generals looked at the Governor and asked.

"How many troops are left?" asked the Governor.

"Just...just over 5,000!"

Those generals looked embarrassed. They originally had an army of tens of thousands, but with the arrival of the Crusaders, the soldiers began to flee, and now there are only five thousand people left.

"Five thousand? Only five thousand left?"

The Doge looked miserable. The once glorious Venice was gone forever.

"If you want to surrender, then surrender! I'm going to the beach!"

The Governor looked at the crowd and said.

……

The Crusaders who arrived outside Venice stopped and looked at the city quietly.

"There are no defenders. It seems that the Qi army is hiding on the coast and islands!"

Richard I observed for a moment before speaking.

"The coast is full of civilians. If we go over there, we're afraid it will cause a riot. By then, the Qi army will be hiding in the crowd, and it will be difficult for us to distinguish them!"

Philip I said that it was too easy for thousands of Qi troops to hide among hundreds of thousands of civilians.

"No matter, let's go take a look first."

Philip II smiled and called on his soldiers to move forward.

On the coast, believers prayed devoutly.

But as the news of the arrival of the Crusaders spread, some people could no longer sit still. They quietly went north and south, leaving the prayer team, and also leaving Qi State and the Imperial Religion.

Lu You and Xin Qiji led an army of two thousand to block the Crusaders' path.

"It's you!"

When Philip I saw the flag of the Qi army in front of him, he said with a gloomy face and full of murderous intent that according to the report from his soldiers, these were the people who attacked his army.

"Haha, you still dare to come over here!"

Xin Qiji looked at Philip I and laughed wildly.

"court death!"

Philip I was furious and immediately ordered his army to prepare for the attack.

Richard I and Philip II did not react. They seemed to be looking for the enemy's weaknesses, but had no intention of taking action.

"Go! Let the Qi people kill you! I will help you get revenge!"

Philip II thought silently in his heart that it would be perfect if Philip I could die at the hands of the Qi people.

"Raise your shield and kill!"

Philip I gave the order. He knew the power of Qi's firearms, so he prepared shields this time.

The Qi State naturally responded with a volley of gunfire, and the hardwood shields blocked most of the bullets.

But the horses were not so lucky and fell to the ground after being shot.

Under the successive firing of guns, all the cavalrymen who rushed forward from the front row fell down.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Qi State did not only have guns, but also a lot of mortars.

Under the double blow of artillery shells and bullets, the cavalrymen were doomed to die.

"It feels so good! No wonder His Majesty asked me to deal with the Westerners this way. It feels so good to fight like this!"

Xin Qiji laughed and said that he had heard the emperor talk about this tactic more than once, and it was indeed invincible when used today.

"Your Majesty seems to be talking about the Eight-Nation Alliance? This group of people should include eight countries, right?"

Lu You spoke up and said that he had also heard the emperor say these things, but he didn't quite understand them at the time. Now he understood that it was to deal with the coalition forces of eight countries.

"We are fighting this Eight-Nation Alliance! Move forward!"

Xin Qiji didn't care about that. When he saw the enemy was about to run, he immediately ordered his troops to move forward. He wanted to continue to kill these enemies. (End of this chapter)