The Great Arcanist Who Traveled Through the World of American Variety Shows.

Chapter 639 Conspiracy
Richard sent envoys to these small countries respectively, and these envoys told them that the Western Roman Empire would not attack them for the time being.

But if you want to surrender, His Majesty the Emperor of the Western Roman Empire will give you corresponding treatment based on your contributions, the size of your country, and your population.

At the same time, he promised them that if their contributions were great enough, they could be granted the titles of marquis and duke with territories in the future.

Of course, Richard did not deceive them on this point. He did promise to enfeoff these people as marquises and dukes, but the prerequisite was that their contributions were great enough.

As it stands, these people basically cannot meet this standard.

If someone really did it, Richard would keep his promise and allocate him a piece of territory.

Anyway, there is a lot of land around the Roman Empire, so when the time comes, just divide it up and send soldiers to help him conquer the land.

As for whether he can hold on or not, that depends on his ability.

It was precisely because of Richard's promise that these small countries saw hope. They had seen with their own eyes the strength of the Western Roman Empire.

They were simply unable to resist such overwhelming momentum, so once the Western Roman Empire attacked, their failure was inevitable.

After recognizing this reality, these people began to think about how to gain more benefits, and the attacks on each other became more and more intense.

In fact, these small countries all understood that this was Richard's strategy, but they had to obey it.

Because they know very well that even if they don't do it, other countries will definitely do it, and then they will be the ones who suffer.

This is the helplessness of small countries.

Therefore, these small countries could only attack each other to gain more land and population, and then exchange them for higher meritorious treatment when Richard's army arrived.

Time has always been on Richard's side.

The Western Roman Empire had been stabilized. Although large-scale construction was underway in various places, food, soldiers, and military equipment were constantly increasing.

The Western Roman Empire now has about 50,000 regular troops and 50,000 government soldiers. Under normal circumstances, government soldiers are scattered around to farm. Only in times of war will some be recruited.

The regular army was stationed in Gaul, on the Rhine Line, in North Africa, in Spain, and in part of the newly occupied Balkans.

Although the Gallic Rhine Line recaptured the Rhine River, it bordered too many Germanic barbarians and the defense line was very long, which required the stationing of a large number of troops.

There were 10,000 regular troops stationed on this line of defense, as well as 10,000 government soldiers.

The North African province had only 5,000 regular troops and 5,000 garrison troops, and the same was true for Spain. The Balkan Peninsula also had only 5,000 regular troops and 5,000 garrison troops stationed there.

In fact, Richard could only mobilize 25,000 regular troops, of which 5,000 regular troops and 10,000 imperial troops were deployed to defend Rome and the Italian provinces. There were only 10,000 imperial troops in the Greek Islands.

Richard did not plan to form too many regular troops. According to the current military system of the Western Roman Empire, a regular army would need to consume a lot of supplies.

The entire Western Roman Empire now has a population of only eight or nine million. If it really wants to support an army of 100,000, the finances will not be able to bear it.

Therefore, Richard implemented the military system to save military expenses.

If the Byzantine Empire is annexed in the future, after reform, the empire will have no problem maintaining about 200,000 regular troops and 500,000 palace soldiers. A regular army of 200,000 troops is already overwhelming the entire Europe, Africa and West Asia. Even if the Persian Kingdom gathers a large army, it cannot form a regular army of 200,000.

Many soldiers of this era were not professional soldiers, just like Attila, the Emperor of the Hun Empire, who swept across Europe and overwhelmed Rome.

Only a small number of Huns in his army were professional soldiers, and the rest of the Hun army was just organized by herdsmen from various tribes.

The productivity of the times determined that no country could supply a large number of full-time soldiers.

Only when productivity develops and can feed more people will professional armies appear in large numbers.

The alliance of the Byzantine Empire became a mere formality. Without the participation of the surrounding countries, Byzantium could only rely on its own strength.

The areas that the Byzantine Empire actually controlled now were Thrace, Asia Minor, Jerusalem and other regions.

As for Egypt, it was still in rebellion and did not obey the orders of the Byzantine Empire.

After clipping the wings of the Byzantine Empire, the next thing to do is to deal with the Byzantine Empire. Although the Byzantine Empire surrendered to the Hun Emperor Attila, even Attila did not conquer Byzantium.

The army that Attila prepared at that time was larger than Richard's current strength. He mobilized the vassal troops of the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Alans, and then used the method of siege and attack by the large army.

The two sides were deadlocked for several months, and Attila ultimately failed to conquer Byzantium. However, Byzantium finally gave in and agreed to all of Attila's tribute requirements.

Eventually, Byzantium paid a one-time payment of about two tons of gold, and was required to pay an additional 700 kilograms of gold each year.

Although the Huns did not capture Constantinople, they destroyed the army outside the city, besieged Constantinople, and forced Theodosius II to surrender.

Now the Byzantine Empire has learned the lesson from the last siege by the Huns. It has dug several moats outside the city and reinforced the city walls. It has also built a navy on the other side to transport supplies into the city.

Run Constantinople like a fortress.

Facing such a castle, siege equipment is of little use.

The moat was dug on the west side of Constantinople, and the terrain was narrow, so the number of troops that could be deployed at one time was limited, and the number of siege vehicles, ramparts, and ladders was also small. If the number was small, it would be impossible to suppress the enemy.

The other side is by the sea, so the only way to attack is by ship. However, when transporting troops by ship to attack, the open space outside the city wall is very limited, making the attack more difficult.

Richard didn't want to storm such a city.

In the end, Richard decided to attack and besiege at the same time. The army would clear all defenses outside the city and then besiege the city, while the navy would cut off the sea side of Constantinople.

After a period of logistics and a long siege, Richard will lead his army to conquer all other areas. When only Constantinople is left in the entire Byzantine Empire, Richard will have plenty of time to waste.

What's more, without external material support, even if they had stockpiled a large amount of supplies in advance, how long could the entire Constantinople hold out?
One year, two years, or three years?
After Richard occupied all other places, the only option left for Constantinople was surrender.

Richard formulated a battle plan and began to prepare supplies for the subsequent conquest of the Byzantine Empire.

(End of this chapter)