eastern european eagle

Chapter 7 Army Building from Surplus

With trade surplus as capital, Peter can also expand his army.All kinds of weapons are also produced through the weapon workshop he opened.You must know that there is food and guns, so that you can not panic.

Moreover, Peter also improved the traffic.All kinds of bridges and roads were built and rivers were dredged, which made Dobroja's trade passages smoother, and Peter abolished Dobroja's entry and exit taxes as well as the use of roads and bridges before.This is also an important reason for the rise of Constanta's commerce.

There are still many tasks for Peter.But the most important thing is to expand the army.

Infantry archers are easy to deal with, but cavalry is a bit difficult.You must know that it is still very expensive to form a cavalry in Europe now, except for those with particularly strong financial strength.

"Let's let it go for now, let's expand the infantry first." Peter said to Alexander, the treasurer.

In Peter's mind, the next step is to expand the army, recruit some free people from other places for training, and then integrate them into a legion.

"My lord, we can recruit troops from Bulgarian refugees and domestic farmers for training. If we can give them some concessions, they should be happy to serve."

"Exactly what I want!"

Peter agreed with Alexander's opinion, and there are still large undeveloped areas in his territory.It can be used as a fief for these soldiers.

Outside the city hall, a large number of merchants and craftsmen are selling various commodities in the market.

"Come and see, the best beeswax and wine are new arrivals."

"Come and see my jewels from Hungary and Bohemia, come and see them all."

Although some cities stipulate that merchants are not allowed to sell, this is only for Western Europe.Eastern Europe has no such restrictions.

The expansion of the port of Constanta has invigorated foreign trade. Generally speaking, cities near the sea will be richer.Constanta is no exception. In addition to the previous sales of grain, the fishing industry is also very promising.

Constanta, this should be one of the most prosperous towns in Southeast Europe.Only Athens, Belgrade, Constantinople and Edirne can be compared.

If it was in a peaceful age or in Central Europe, Peter, as the lord, really didn't want to work hard.You only need to manage the territory well and be able to collect taxes to maintain your own life.

Unfortunately, he is now in Eastern Europe, and on the Balkan Peninsula.And he came when the Ottomans were rising, plus Poland and Hungary.This doubled the difficulty of his survival.

However, see the current situation.He can still live a good life, and he can also build a great career.

Currently, Peter's main source of income is the export of salt and grain, as well as dividends from the chamber of commerce.This gave him the capital to do great things, and it also allowed him to continue to build an army.

Don't underestimate these two commodities. In the 1415th and [-]th centuries, table salt was very scarce.Especially in Eastern Europe, because salt is produced in Britain and West Pomerania, Poland, Lithuania and the Teutonic Knights do not produce salt at all.

In this era, the production of table salt in Europe was low, so the price was high.In the UK, because of the extensive use of coal to boil salt, the salt output is quite high.However, British salt was not only supplied to Eastern Europe, but also to England, Scotland, Ireland, France, the Lowlands, and northern Germany.In short, there are many salt buyers in the UK, so there is no need to worry about sales.

Moreover, because of the licensing system set up by the Hanseatic merchants to suppress competitors, it blocked the possibility of others intervening.Although, it is very profitable to transport salt to the east coast of the Baltic Sea for sale.However, without a license, the British cannot intervene in the salt trade here.

But Peter is different. He can sell salt to Poland and Lithuania by land.It is also possible to trade by sea through the Dnieper River north to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.And there were millions of people in Northeast Europe during this period, so you can imagine how big this consumer market is.

Moreover, although Poland and the Teutonic Knights are deadly enemies, it does not prevent people on both sides from doing business.In addition, salt is a scarce commodity in the Baltic Sea region. Therefore, merchants from the two countries also often buy salt from Hanseatic merchants in the Teutonic Knights and ship it back to China for sale.

The situation in Poland is not bad, because they are close to the German region in the west, and they can import relatively low-priced table salt from the German region.But Lithuania was not so lucky, and could only rely on the salt that was re-exported from the Teutonic Knights.It is not that there are no Polish merchants who can transport salt.However, land transportation costs far more than sea transportation.The salt of the Teutonic Knights was transported directly to Königsberg by Hanseatic merchants through the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden, and the transportation cost was relatively low.

If Polish merchants took the salt imported from eastern Germany across Poland and sent it to Lithuania, the cost would be too high.Because, in addition to the high cost and small volume of land transportation, the numerous tax collection gates on the land are also an important reason for the high cost of land transportation.

Wallachia, on the other hand, has a geographical advantage. Relying on the Danube and Moldova, the salt produced can go to the north by water and land.

It can be said that as long as you have salt, you will have endless wealth.

Peter came to the infantry training ground, where Constantine was training the new soldiers.

"Left, how do you go right."

"Hold your weapon steady, haven't you eaten?"

"What about you, take it."

Watching Constantine yell at these recruits, Peter has more confidence in facing Osman in the future.

In order to better train the army, Peter spent a lot of time writing the training outline.As a traveler, the famous Spanish phalanx must be known.Others, such as the Morris phalanx, Gustav line, and Napoleon's artillery tactics, are slightly understood.

If possible, Peter would like to use Napoleon's tactics.But that is unrealistic. You must know that European artillery is still in the age of bronze guns.Equipped with a small bronze cannon, the cost is very high.Because, at present, the price ratio of silver and copper in Europe is about 1:15, and the price of copper is too high.Forget about a small lord like Peter, the cost is too high.

Moreover, let alone Napoleon's artillery tactics, even Gustav's line array, he has no conditions to engage in it.Because, the Gustav line used a lot of musketeers, and they were flintlock musketeers.Let alone the flintlock gun at this time, even the matchlock gun has not been invented yet.So don't even think about forming a musket phalanx, let's complete the formation of the spear phalanx first!

The spear phalanx requires high discipline and courage.In terms of courage, Peter wasn't worried.It's just that he is a little powerless in terms of discipline.

Because almost none of these people are literate, and they don't understand what left and right are.So Peter painted their hands with two kinds of paint.Look at one side when you say left, and look at the other side when you say right.

Peter also personally trained 12 squad leaders and cavalry. In addition to training personal combat skills and battle formation coordination, he mainly taught several commanders some wartime marching, setting up camps, defending enemy attack facilities and buildings, day and night sentry, and emergency order transmission. Skills such as the order of evacuation from the theater, identification of the enemy's situation, and analysis of the battle situation.

Seeing that they were all training in full swing, Peter also got on his horse and went to train with the cavalry.

At this time, he seemed to be possessed by Alexander the Great. He was riding on a black horse, holding a broadsword in his right hand, and staring at a row of thatched men fifty steps away. He lifted it up, then kicked the horse's belly lightly with the spurs under his feet, and the war horse under his crotch immediately galloped forward. The distance of fifty steps came in the blink of an eye. Peter's body on the horseback was slightly tilted to the right, and the broadsword in his hand rose and fell with his right hand. The "heads" of the thatched people were cut off one by one, and then the horse ran for more than [-] steps before stopping the horse. Looking back, a total of four thatched people were "beheaded".

"My lord is too powerful!" a cavalry exclaimed.

"What is this, there is no one in Dobroja who does not admire your lord." Another veteran cavalry said to him.

Although only 11 years old, Peter has not failed in various military trainings.Here, without those electronic products, you can improve your physical strength and skills.

He learned all the soldier courses such as horseback riding, archery, and weightlifting. He imagined himself as the savior of Rome.Lead an army to defeat those traitors and become the master of Constantinople.

No matter who thinks so, after all, there are quite a lot of spirits.

And for Ottoman's powerful cavalry.Peter also thought for a long time, and finally decided to restrain them with a crossbow.

Compared with the bow, because there is no need to aim at the same time when pulling the string, the physical and technical requirements for the user are relatively low.Although the loading time is much longer than that of the bow, generally speaking, it has a longer range, stronger lethality, and higher hit rate than the bow. It was a powerful long-range lethal weapon in ancient times.

There are also many types of crossbows, except for the portable and flexible waist crossbow.The bed crossbow with a longer range and greater power has also become Peter's manufacturing list.

(End of this chapter)