Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 254: Army Assembling
The Imperial Knights are indeed good in every way, with year-round combat readiness, elite cavalry, infantry support, and artillery fire.

It can be said that this was a nearly perfect solution in the late Middle Ages.

But with a quick calculation, the annual maintenance cost of such a brigade of imperial knights would not be less than 2 gold dinars.

The maintenance costs alone are so high that even for the major Western European countries, it is an outrageous expense.

But that doesn’t mean that the Second Kingdom really can’t afford it.

It is not quite appropriate to describe these cities as pearls; it might be more appropriate to describe them as hens that lay golden eggs.

The Mediterranean economic circle can be roughly divided into the Christian world and the Muslim world. These two separated worlds show completely different economic behaviors.

The reason why it was mentioned earlier that Acre's income was higher than that of England is that it is difficult to compare in terms of productivity.

But Acre's ability to extract physical currency in precious metals was almost certainly superior to that of contemporary England.

In Europe, even powerful feudal lords had extremely limited means of obtaining money.

In medieval Europe, there was a shortage of currency on the one hand, and a shortage of goods that could be purchased with currency on the other.

We are in a dilemma of having no money and no goods in the market.

In this case, currency cannot actually be efficiently converted into resources. Instead, manors and real estate can provide a stable supply of troops, supplies, and conscripts.

Many people tried to hold onto wealth in other ways: nobles and kings stored gold and silver utensils and gems in chests, while churches accumulated gold and silver communion vessels.

When unexpected payment was needed in the form of currency, the crown, decanter or cross had to be sold or pawned; or it could be sent to the local mint to be melted down.

This custom was also prevalent in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was besieged, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre donated its silver.

The fact that the speed of exchanging currency is extremely slow makes it necessary to sell property at critical moments, but such sales are not easy and not always profitable; the value of the stored treasures themselves is not too high. How much can the value of a gem be equivalent to several days of military expenses for the army?

However, the productivity and currency circulation in the Levant were relatively not as poor as those in Western Europe.

Take the poll tax levied by Reynald for example. A Saracen peasant had to pay more than one dinar (a woman was half of a man's, and a child was half of a woman's). A family of four would have to pay about two dinars. If a village had 200 households, that would be a full dinars.

If such abundant currency could be obtained simply by plundering the farmers, then it would serve as a trade hub and bridge of commerce between the Arab world and the Christian world.

After the rise of handicrafts in northern Italy, the customs taxes collected solely from this commercial activity amounted to an astronomical amount of physical currency in Europe at that time.

In a sense, cities such as Tyre, Antioch, Tripoli, etc. are equivalent to the customs borders of Europe.

Most of the goods that traveled to Europe via the Silk Road were heavily taxed in the Levant.

Although the kingdom abolished the poll tax, it actually levied more stringent customs and commercial taxes.

However, even so, the situation in the kingdom is still extremely militaristic.

It can be said that all the taxes collected by the kingdom last year were actually invested in military construction.

The construction of new urban areas or the reconstruction of the royal government all depended on borrowing.

The difference is that the construction of the new urban area was funded by land-mortgage bonds, while the loans needed for the reconstruction of the royal government came from the Knights Templar.

have to say.

The Knights Templar were undoubtedly a groundbreaking existence in this era.

As a military order, its combat capability may not be that amazing, but as a multinational financial institution, its large number of branches in Europe naturally form a huge financial network.

This enabled it to gather a large amount of funds in Europe in a relatively short period of time and transfer them to the Holy Land.

In addition, a large amount of loans was obtained from Venice to build the kingdom's army to deal with possible counterattacks by Saladin.

After all, the German Crusaders are now leaderless, and Saladin, who has clearly failed on the battlefield, is beginning to have the upper hand.

They also sent out a large number of nomadic light cavalry to harass construction sites near the city of Tyre, causing huge economic losses and slowing down the construction of the new city.

Faced with this situation, Gellis has decided to start pushing the front line southward, personally organize the legion, and improve the predicament of Tyre, which is both a front line and an economic center.

No matter what, the city of Acre must be taken back, otherwise the scale of the Imperial Order cannot be too large.

……

Two weeks later, Eden returned to Gillis's simple cottage and saw Gillis again.

"Of the army my father left behind, six thousand men are willing to stay, including one thousand knights."

Hearing Eden's words, Gailis nodded. The number was actually a little more than he thought.

If the troops he was gathering and mustering were included, then at least nine thousand of the original large German Crusaders remained in Tyre, willing to continue participating in the war to retake Jerusalem.

"Now, what should we do? Prophet, even if we include other reinforcements, our total number will not reach 20,000, but Saladin's legion will become more terrifying as time goes by."

Faced with the current predicament, even Eden, who had witnessed the "miracle" of Garys, was not so confident.

The previously powerful German Crusaders were defeated and now only have 60% of their strength left. It seems that they are not so sure of winning against Saladin's army whose morale has been restored.

As for the Second Kingdom, or the remaining Crusader States, Eden actually didn't think highly of them from the bottom of his heart.

After all, how many people can be mobilized when only half of the land here is left from its heyday?

Under the feudal system of Western Europe, the number of troops a country could mobilize was very erratic. In many cases, the monarch could not force his vassal to gather a certain number of troops to serve him.

This is even more true for religious knightly orders. After all, whether it is the Knights Hospitaller or the Knights Templar, their relationship with the Crusader States is more like that of collaborators rather than vassal states.

Therefore, the upper and lower limits of the military forces that a country can mobilize are very touching.

But Eden did not dare to question Gailis directly. After all, in front of Eden, a notebook recording the military strength of the Crusaders was turning pages by itself without anyone touching it.

This small house in the old city of Tyre, which has no strange appearance, seems to have become a sanctuary because of Gellis's stay, full of infinite possibilities and wonders.

"In half a month, I will be in Akka City and give you the mission to go north."

Eden looked at Garys, unsure of what that meant.

Although Barbarossa had won the previous battle, Saladin's army was not seriously damaged. Instead, most of the siege equipment on the Crusaders' side was burned.

"I will take action myself."

Eden didn't quite understand what this sentence meant, but he could only wait and see.

After accepting some gifts from Gellis, Eden left the residence with a pamphlet.

He still had a lot of things to do, such as gathering some scattered Crusaders.

Or he might write a letter to his brother, hoping that his brother would be elected emperor and be able to provide some assistance to his younger brother who was forced to "exile" to a distant place.

After Eden left the cottage, Isabella came out from another room.

Then a question was asked to Gellis.

"Do you know who his wife is?"

"Has he got a wife?"

Garys really doesn't know this.

"It's just an engagement, not a marriage. It's a girl who's not even ten years old. Of course, age is not the point. His fiancée is actually a Hungarian princess, the youngest daughter of King Bella III of Hungary and Agnes de Châtillon."

"Châtillon?"

Garys seemed to understand something.

"Yes, that's right. Agnes is the daughter of Reynald and Princess Constance of Antioch, and Frederick's fiancée is actually Reynald's granddaughter."

I can only say that in the European aristocratic circle, after going around in circles, I found that they were all familiar faces.

In fact, the bloodline of the Hungarian kings has spread over time, meaning that almost all the rulers of Europe are descendants of Agnes of Châtillon, and thus of Raynald.

With a sigh, Gailis did not pursue the issue any further.

……

The reason why Garys didn't delve into it was mainly because he didn't care. After all, he didn't intend to leave Leonard without any offspring.

But Lance is different, Lance really needs to care.

Each region under Garys's command had its own special circumstances, and he adopted a large number of ruling policies tailored to local conditions.

Not to mention other places, in Antioch, the so-called governor's palace was actually a large military camp.

Reims recognized the autonomy rights of local Armenians, Greeks, Muslims, etc. in exchange for their taxes and service.

He also asked all ethnic groups to assist the Governor's Office in eliminating the Norman noble lords.

Thanks to Tukopo's assistance and the fact that the Antioch nobles were completely unaware of the artillery, the cleansing operation in Reims was actually relatively easy.

Since Reims did not actually carry out a massacre, but rather deprived people of their land, the resistance of the nobles was relatively not particularly stubborn.

……

A few months ago, the German Crusaders landed in Cyprus.

Roger, who had previously followed Bohemond south to Tripoli, was gathered and reorganized by Reynald as a surrendered soldier, and was finally defeated by Gellis's troops, and he still lived a fairly comfortable life.

Here life always flows quietly according to the rhythm of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

In his occasional free time, Roger would choose to go fishing by the river and enjoy a rare moment of peace and tranquility.

On this day, Roger carried an empty bucket and walked slowly along the familiar path in the village. His shoulders drooped slightly, his hair was a little messy in the evening breeze, and the empty bucket made a crisp echo between his footsteps. Seeing this, several old men and idle women in the village greeted him with a smile.

"Roger, your bucket is empty again today!" An old woman holding a basket of freshly picked vegetables said with a teasing look in her eyes.

Another man chimed in: "Three days out of five you didn't catch anything, Roger, you're not good enough!"

Roger did not make any further excuses, but said to the wine seller beside him: "Warm a bowl of wine, and a plate of beans."

The voice was calm, but it made everyone around laugh.

"Stop talking about it. Every time he fails to catch any fish, he always has a bunch of excuses! The line is too thin, the hook is small, the lead is broken, and the bait is wrong... We are tired of hearing them." A young man slapped his knees and laughed, and his laughter echoed far away in the evening air.

The people around him were joking one after another, but Roger was not annoyed. He simply sat down on a bench at the entrance of the village, as if immersed in the laughter and jokes with a hint of fireworks.

Although life is dull, it makes people feel at peace.

A few months ago, Roger was still traveling on the battlefield, following Reynard to fight in all directions. But that disastrous defeat brought him and a large group of people back to their original state.

When I returned to the village, all I had left in my pocket was the severance pay, plus fatigue from the journey.

But he did not complain - at least, this peaceful life was always more worth cherishing than the sword-fighting of the past.

Especially after the establishment of the Antioch Governorate, the small village became more peaceful than ever before.

The villagers were no longer harassed by the lord's minions, and the aggressiveness of the tax farmers became a thing of the past.

Roger often thought that such ordinary days might be the ones that truly belonged to them.

At this time, the proprietress of the village tavern came out with a pot of hot wine and shouted with a smile: "Roger, come quickly, the wine is warmed for you, and the beans are ready!"

After hearing this, Roger stood up and walked towards the tavern carrying the empty bucket.

He looked at the village behind him and felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. He already cherished this peaceful life with a hint of fireworks.

Life should be like this, plain but full of warm details.

However, this tranquility was broken by the sound of hurried horse hooves.

Turning around, he saw a messenger galloping from the village entrance, with the bag on his chest swaying up and down with the horse's shaking.

His clothes were stained gray by the dust from the road, but the anxiety on his face could not be concealed.

He ran all the way to the threshing ground in the center of the village, then grabbed the bronze bell hanging on the tree and began to shake it vigorously.

"Ding-a-ling-ding-a-ling--"

The sound of bells echoed in the village in the early morning. The usually leisurely villagers stopped what they were doing and gathered near the threshing ground, looking at each other with anxiety.

Roger stood at the edge of the crowd, feeling a sense of foreboding.

The messenger dismounted, dusted himself off, and held up a document sealed with bright red wax. He took a deep breath, unfolded the document, and announced in a loud voice:
"The counterattack! It's about to begin! The war is about to break out!"

The crowd was in an uproar, and everyone was talking in low voices. The messenger continued, "The Governor's Office of Antioch has issued a mobilization order. In order to protect our free life from slavery, every village must fulfill the contract and send people to join the army. All villages must send one man out of every five households, and an additional five people will be sent to serve long-term!"

These words struck everyone present like thunder.

The villagers were silent. The old men who had been joking just now now looked solemn; the women exchanged glances with each other and pursed their lips.

Roger's hand gradually tightened around the handle of the empty bucket, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

"Roger, do you have to go again?" someone asked in a low voice, with a hint of tentativeness in the tone.

Roger didn't answer, but mixed emotions were swirling in his mind.

He told himself that he didn't want to go again - he didn't want to return to that chaotic battlefield, and he didn't want to wander in the shadow of death again.

But he also knew that if no one stood up, the village would sooner or later be torn apart by a crueler reality.

It is precisely because of this contract that someone paid with blood to gain the current peace.

"This blood tax..." Roger smiled bitterly. This village, which was exempted from the head tax and reduced the agricultural tax, seemed to be treated preferentially, but it had to pay the price somewhere else.

He stood in the crowd, listening quietly to the messenger reading the mobilization order.

Suddenly, he thought of his old comrades, the years he had spent under Reynard's command, the sleepless nights, the irreversible sacrifices... everything seemed to be happening right before his eyes again.

When the messenger's voice stopped, the crowd began to whisper and some even sobbed softly.

Roger stared ahead silently, and finally, he took a deep breath and walked forward slowly. He said to himself, this might not be what he wanted, but if he didn't protect the peaceful life in front of him, who would it belong to?
"I'll go." Roger said, his voice low but firm.

There was a low roar among the crowd. Some people breathed a sigh of relief, while others wiped away their tears. But Roger's face showed no expression. He just turned and walked towards his home.

Back inside, Roger put the empty bucket on the doorstep and then opened an old cabinet.

There lay a sword and a set of rusty mail quietly. He gently stroked the blade with his hand, caressing those bloody days.

"It seems that I will have to wait a little longer for these peaceful days." He said to himself, his tone revealing helplessness and hidden determination.

The next day, at the entrance of the village, Roger set out on his journey again.

This time, he did not have too many lofty ambitions, but only hoped that with the efforts of himself and the villagers, this peaceful life could continue for a while longer.

For Roger, putting on a military uniform again was not something that he was completely opposed to. Although the arrival of the conscription order temporarily broke the tranquility of the village, it also brought some benefits and even made Roger look forward to it.

The monthly allowance of one gold dinar was a huge sum of money for the farmers who could barely make ends meet in the past.

More importantly, the Governorate of Antioch promised that if a soldier died of natural causes during his service, his family would receive compensation of twenty times his allowance; if he died on the battlefield, the compensation would be as high as forty times his allowance.

This kind of guarantee made Roger confident that Antiochus would not easily use his soldiers as cannon fodder.

After all, every soldier who died in battle meant a huge financial expenditure - forty denarii, one thousand dead meant forty thousand. Even if Antioch was rich, it was impossible not to settle this account.

This guarantee gave Roger peace of mind.

Compared to the days when he had no confidence working for Bohemond's lord, joining the Governor-General of Antioch seemed more reassuring.

Because of his experience in military life and no major problems with his physical examination, Roger easily became a member of the Antioch Governor's Army.

He was then assigned to a recruit camp and began to receive recruit training organized by the non-commissioned officers of the Arnon regular army.

Compared with his previous military career, this time's military life made Roger feel unprecedentedly comfortable.

The Governorate of Antioch was particularly generous with the soldiers' food - not only were they fed, but they even received a daily supply of meat.

These were unbelievably luxurious for Roger, who was used to simple and rough farm meals.

Although the training was strict and the intensity was much higher than before, it was full of regularity and order. The day-to-day drills, the neat and uniform formations, and the satisfaction of falling asleep exhausted every night all made Roger feel a long-lost sense of fulfillment.

In addition to training, there are many interesting and entertaining activities in the army, such as mass readings or simple literacy education.

This busy and fulfilling life gave Roger a subtle sense of happiness.

"Days like this are like opening a new chapter in life," Roger thought.

Although he did not understand that this sense of satisfaction actually came from the physiological and psychological effects brought about by exercise and orderly life, he knew that he liked such a life - carefree and goal-oriented.

However, Roger also knew that this kind of life was doomed to be short-lived. The shadow of war always loomed over them.

As time went by, at the end of April 1189, when Barbarossa died unexpectedly, the Kingdom's Military Affairs Department conveyed military orders to the Governorate of Antioch.

As soon as Roger finished his recruit training, he was assigned to his company and ordered to assemble along the coast.

Roger, who had been away from the village for several months, now wore armor and set out on the march with his companions.

They crossed rugged mountains and flat fields and finally arrived at the port of Latakia.

Here, neatly arranged ships were waiting for them.

After four days of sea travel.

When the ship slowly approached the port of Tyre, Roger walked down the gangplank. The feeling of being grounded made him feel heavier in his heart.

The hustle and bustle of the port, the interweaving of soldiers and civilians, and the city walls and war preparations vaguely visible in the distance all reminded him: war is no longer far away.

It was here that they were told that they would have to undergo additional training for the next month in preparation for the war with Saladin, even including a week of "Devil's Week".

Roger was not sure what "Devil's Week" meant. When he asked his squad leader, he couldn't give a precise answer.

But one thing is clear: his company commander, the company Paladins, and the officers from Transjordan all looked very bad when they heard the term "Devil's Week".

When the company commander was speaking to the entire company, he even said with a heavy face: "I hope that after that week, everyone can still stand here and chat, instead of lying there and being lectured by me."

The one-month additional training was not specifically aimed at the Antiochian army. In fact, all the troops nominally belonging to the kingdom, except for the Tukopo troops who needed to guard the border, were included in the additional training list.

Even the newly formed Imperial Order Knights Brigade was included in the additional training list.

The number of training days per week was increased from one and a half days to three full days.

During the training days, thousands of people had to run and jump around the city of Tyre, and the amount of exercise they did every day was incredibly high.

If the days in the recruit company were fulfilling, then this month of extra training was just numb...

Although the food supply has doubled, and the allowance has also increased a lot due to the pre-war training, the five-kilometer long-distance run on the morning of the training day is really unbearable...

Even for Roger, who had military experience, he never thought that he would encounter such intense training.

This made many people back out, and some people around Roger even deserted...

(End of this chapter)