Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 255: To Live as a Human Being
One night in May, after half a day of city wall combat training and half a day of physical training, Roger lay down on his wooden bed drowsily and started snoring in just one minute.

Just as this light sleep was about to begin, I suddenly heard a familiar short whistle.

Roger had no idea why there were so many problems while serving in the Antiochian Army, and Garys would not admit that he copied a lot of later content when he wrote the infantry training outline.

In short, the night raid crisis that other armies find difficult to deal with is almost a normal training for Roger.

At the sound of the emergency assembly whistle, Roger subconsciously jumped from the second bunk bed to the ground.

All the previous fatigue and slowness were swept away in the blink of an eye. Without thinking, Roger put on his armor just by relying on his "muscle memory". When he went out, he also hung up his sword and took a spear.

In less than four minutes, this unexpected emergency assembly was completed, but the roll call that followed made Roger realize that something was wrong.

A standard company with a full complement of 140 men, no matter how you counted them, including the company commander, Paladin, medics, and veteran platoon leaders of each platoon, there were only 136 men.

Four people disappeared from the company without going through any procedures to ask for leave.

Captain Laurent had a very gloomy look on his face. He was a veteran of the Jerusalem Kingdom Army. He had been present when Reynald led his men to encircle and suppress Garys. In the subsequent battles, he was slightly injured while protecting his comrades.

As the Jerusalem Kingdom Army expanded, their numbers also rose one by one.

The better ones, such as Pierre, have become battalion commanders and can command nearly 600 soldiers. Laurent is in the middle and has become the chief officer of a company.

Maybe at the beginning, following Garys might have been a momentary emotion, but now the prospects are so bright.

Laurent will also be more ambitious, which means that the intensity of his training for his subordinates is often higher than that of his brother troops, intentionally or unintentionally.

It’s just that because Laurent personally participates in the training and the training intensity he receives is higher than that of the recruits, most soldiers don’t dare to complain.

After all, in the eyes of these Antioch recruits, the company commander is actually no different in status from the earlier knight masters.

"This is the first time I've encountered deserters since I became the company commander, and there were four of them in one go!"

Laurent's face and the faces of the other platoon leaders were terribly gloomy in the moonlight.

Their wolf-like gazes frightened everyone in the company.

For a moment, Roger couldn't understand why these officers or veteran platoon leaders cared so much about deserters.

When he was still serving under Bohemond, there were many deserters, but that was all. After all, it was too difficult to catch deserters these days.

Desertion, detachment...these things are almost inseparable from the army. No army in any era can avoid these things from happening.

There are actually many reasons why soldiers desert. It may be because they are frightened by the fierce battle, they may be abused in the barracks, they may not be able to stand the boring life in the army, or they may just miss home.

It can be said that before modern times, deserting or even deserting was an extremely common occurrence.

The low military management capabilities mean that the military system has very weak constraints on soldiers.

After all, the vassal of a vassal is not my vassal. In other words, the soldiers recruited by the lower nobles will sometimes be in a quantum state.

Just like the wave-particle duality, we can only confirm its existence by observing it personally.

This situation did not improve until after the Renaissance, when middle and senior officers could at least determine the exact number of deserters in their troops, but they still often did not know who had escaped.

Taking the infantry phalanx of Naples, Spain as an example, the total casualties in the four years from 1571 to 1574 were 4 people, of which 1290% were killed in action. Among the other 38% missing, most of them deserted.

A Spanish phalanx, with a full strength of roughly 4 men, lost 1290 men in four years, with 62% missing.

This means that in four years, the total number of deserting soldiers has exceeded 20% of the establishment.

This was based on the fact that Spain colonized America, had abundant gold and silver, and could distribute large amounts of money.

Other armies of the same era would only be more serious than this.

At this point in the 12th century, we could even see the strange phenomenon that the total number of deserters was higher than the number of active troops.

Therefore, it was difficult for Roger to understand why his company commanders and platoon leaders would make such a fuss.

“As early as when you were incorporated into the company, I told you that the Kingdom of Jerusalem Army is different from any other army you have ever experienced.”

"This is not only to give you money, but also to let you understand what heaven is."

"If I just want you to die on the battlefield, there is no need to train you all day long!"

"Ask yourself, do you eat as much meat in a year as we do in three months here?"

"Isn't the daily prayer organized by Paladin a salvation for your souls?!"

"Only by sweating more in peacetime can you shed less blood in war. Only then can you survive and become the spark that ignites the wilderness!"

"But some of you have deserted, and among you there are sentinels who have deserted."

When the sentry was mentioned, Laurent, who was standing in front of the queue, looked even more unfriendly.

After such a speech, regardless of whether the soldiers understood it or not, Laurent discussed it with Lian Paladin and decided to report it.

The entire battalion of Antiochus' army was busy dealing with the issue of deserters.

……

Alam was a little confused. He didn't know whether his decision was right.

At the beginning of its service, the Antiochus Army repeatedly emphasized that the punishment for desertion would be extremely severe.

Moreover, unlike ordinary feudal armies, the main force of Antiochus' army was not knights, but infantry.

In addition, the company commander and the Paladin registered all the soldiers in their company and submitted them to the Governor's Office.

The Governor's Office would also send people to each village to verify. In other words, if you were a deserter from the Antiochian army, it meant that you would be tracked down to your village, which would inevitably bring disaster to your family.

The Governor's Office is not a good guy. When the Governor of Reims took office, he had already executed two princes of Antioch.

A Bohemond, a Reynald, and their cronies were suppressed with swift efficiency and the guillotine was used.

Of course, even so, people cannot measure interests very clearly and lack absolute rationality.

A sense of luck, disgust with military life and fear of the battlefield will always make people take risks.

Aram looked at the three people walking in front of him and slowly slowed down his pace.

He hesitated, not sure whether he should flee.

When he first joined the army, the Governor's Office had already advanced half of his allowance for the first few months so that Alam could settle his family.

He still had parents in Antioch, and when he took the money to visit them, his parents smiled with relief.

This was just a mobilization. When Jerusalem was recaptured, he could return to Antioch with more money, honor, and everything.

If he continued to flee, what kind of situation would his parents face... Thinking of the decisiveness of the Antioch Governorate in dealing with traitors, he couldn't help but slow down his pace a little bit.

Actually, military life is not bad, isn't it? There is no beating, scolding, corporal punishment, bullying or bribery, except that the training is so heavy that it makes people feel suffocated.

In addition to daily routines that are calculated down to the minute...

At least here, he can eat meat every day... which is something he couldn't do in the past half of his life...

How would I live if I left the army?

Can he still eat his fill every day?

In this era, hunger is the norm. Except for that one percent of people, everyone else needs to fight a desperate battle for three meals a day.

In this vast land, countless people die of hunger every day and can only compete with birds and beasts for food.

All of this stands like a huge cross before the world.

Aram paused when he came to his senses.

The three people in front of him had disappeared, and he himself was in the wilderness with no village in front and no shop behind.

Aram found a tree and sat down against it.

I don't know where to go in the moonlight.

What to do next?

Aram felt exhausted both physically and mentally. He couldn't help but close his eyes and escape into dreams to avoid the discomfort in reality.

……

Medieval armies often lacked unified command capabilities, and this was very obvious in the troops under Gellis's command.

Not only was the Crusades actually a coalition, but the army that Gellis could mobilize was also actually a coalition.

At present, the Gelis army gathered near Tyre can be divided into four factions.

The standing army directly under the Second Kingdom, the troops recruited by the lords of Tripoli, the troops mobilized by the Governorate of Antioch, and the volunteer army assembled in the direction of Cyprus.

In the direction of Antioch, the commander who can currently make the decision is actually "Insect" Jose, and Russell, one of the earliest Paladins.

As a battalion commander, Pierre is already one of the top 20 important figures in the Antioch Governorate.

He knew clearly that the harsh training that the men under his command had undergone would inevitably cause discomfort among the soldiers as a group.

But so what?
How can you see the rainbow without going through the storm? Sweat more in peacetime and bleed less in war.

Every soldier in Antiochus' army is a valuable asset.

Each investment that the Governor's Office spends on these soldiers can easily maintain three to four times the feudal army. If we consider the cost-effectiveness of military operations alone, this is very inappropriate.

But if the Governor's Office wanted to truly govern Antioch, it needed talents, a large number of talents who could help them govern the local area.

These talents need to be literate, understand the country, and be willing to support the ideals of the sect.

If only one tenth of the stones polished by the army could understand the necessity of the coming of the kingdom of heaven, they would become unpolished jade.

As Gaillis said, the banquet in heaven should not be for only a few people, but for everyone.

When Pierre heard that four soldiers from Laurent's side had escaped, he remained silent for a long time.

But he still personally led the guards to organize this deserter search. The cult is the cult, and if they let it go on like this, what is the difference between them and other armies?
That night, Pierre did not walk too far. After only a hundred steps, he saw a "deserter" sleeping against a tree.

Pierre was silent again, with a slightly strange look on his face.

This is indeed difficult to determine, as it is impossible for a deserter to only run a hundred steps.

The other teams catching deserters had already walked several miles away, but I was too lazy to walk too far, so I met them near the military camp.

After thinking it over, he shook the guy who was obviously sleeping soundly.

The soldier in front of him stretched in confusion.
He had just woken up and was still immersed in the beauty of his dream.

He even forgot that he was a deserter and didn't recognize who Pierre was. He just felt that he looked particularly familiar.

Pierre was silent and Aram was confused. The two men stared at each other for a long time before Aram realized that he was a deserter and the person in front of him was his battalion commander.

"Aram, right?"

"The prophet once told me some stories. Do you know how the Prussians treated their deserters?"

"Prussia?" Aram obviously had never heard of this name.

Although in this era, the concept of Prussians actually already existed.

Prussia first appeared in Latin documents, such as "Prussia" or "Prutenia". This is directly related to the name of the indigenous Baltic Prussians (Prūsa).

Of course, the Prussians that Gellis was referring to were naturally the Prussians of later generations, not those of his contemporaries.

"The Prussians would strip the deserters naked from the waist up and march them in two rows of 200 soldiers, each of whom was required to beat the prisoners with a wet stick."

"The sergeant walked behind the prisoners, pushing them forward with his rifle, while some non-commissioned officers would whip those soldiers who did not hit the deserters hard enough."

"Musicians were needed to play music around them to drown out the screams of the tortured. The deserters had to go through this thirty-six times over three days."

Amur shrank back a little, knowing full well that Pierre was trying to intimidate him.

“Have you ever heard of Switzerland?”

"also not……"

"The Swiss are simpler. They will just hang the deserter in public and let his comrades spit on his corpse."

Aram swallowed subconsciously...

"Battalion Commander," Aram said.

"what's up?"

"I heard from Heike and Tigranes that they wanted to take a sailboat from Sidon back to Antioch." One thing Aram didn't say was that he was the one who made the suggestion.

"Very good, then, Aram!" cried Pierre.

"Here!" Aram subconsciously stood up straight and answered loudly. This was the reaction that had been engraved in his mind over the past few months.

"Soldier! I order you to join my team and start arresting deserters who violated military discipline and punish them accordingly. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

It was another knee-jerk reaction, and he didn't take the time to understand the intent of Pierre's order.

In this situation, Pierre patted Aram on the shoulder again.

"Next time you go out to take a shit, remember to report to your squad leader, and don't fall asleep in the middle of it again."

"Uh?"

It took Aram a long time to realize whether he had passed the test.
In short, after having a clear direction, Pierre contacted the Tukopo Light Cavalry and went directly to search.

In the evening of the next day, the other deserters were caught.

The deeds of Heike and Tigrane were reported to all military camps of the Second Kingdom. They were sentenced to one week of confinement and their allowances for a full six months were deducted.

As for Alam himself, he was confined for three days for desertion and had his three months' allowance deducted, but it was not reported to the public.

Many people think that such a punishment is too light.

It seemed that without whipping, the soldiers would not be made to remember the price of running away.

However, Pierre stopped those who suggested increasing the severity of the corporal punishment and insisted on using confinement and deduction of allowances as punishment.

"We don't need a group of puppets who only know how to obey orders. We need people, real people who know what is good and beautiful, who know shame and understand what is ugly, rather than people who are simply afraid of the whip."

In the battalion headquarters' conference room, Pierre was presiding over a meeting of cadres at the platoon level and above.

"Laurent."

"To!"

"Don't conduct any reorganization in your company, and don't deliberately increase the intensity of training. Rest well in the next two days. The Devil's Week that follows will be difficult for you."

"Yes!"

Knowing why you are fighting, realizing your own ugliness, and feeling sorry for your sins are things that cannot be whipped out.

What is needed is true faith, which is not just words but faith that comes from the heart.

God does not exist alone; God and the Kingdom of God—that is, the Kingdom of God—are inseparable.

Only by believing that God is the Lord of heaven, the poor are the chief guests of heaven.

Only by believing that the lives of the poor need to continue and believing that God has imprinted his image and likeness in human lives.

Then life will be a sacred life, not just a survival of the flesh.

Pierre sighed, placed his hand on a booklet beside him, and made the sign of the cross, ending the meeting.

Next, all the troops currently in training in the Kingdom of Jerusalem will begin the Devil’s Week training.

This was the last high-intensity training before launching the next siege of Acre, aimed at improving the soldiers' siege experience.

Minimize the casualties of soldiers. As Pierre said, these soldiers who have lived in these barracks, participated in bloody battles, and received military ranks will become the spark to ignite the wilderness.

Their fight is not limited to the battlefield, but a fight against the "eternal" order between heaven and earth that strangles the lives of living people.

A strong physique, an ascetic religious life, and the experience of fighting on the battlefield will all turn into nutrients to nourish them and make them grow.

After two days of rest, the Devil's Week began.

Not only is it special training, Devil Week is also a military competition. Whether it is the Antioch Army, the Kingdom Army, or the volunteer troops, they all undergo high-intensity assessments in company units.

For three consecutive days, there were three emergency assemblies for random events, and then a 20-kilometer forced march in full armor.

The training intensity instructions given by Gellis have exceeded the limits of what the European army can bear at this time.

So much so that when Eden went to visit, his legs couldn't help but tremble.

These troops who "pledged allegiance" to the prophet were truly "fanatics" who lived an ascetic life.

When we wake up every day, we do some running exercises while singing hymns.

Next, Paladin led the prayer for the whole company, followed by the morning city climbing simulation. During the rest period, there were three-hour prayers, and three-hour prayers were also held before lunch.

In the afternoon, each company has its own sermon meeting to preach the doctrine and then the nine-hour prayer.

As for evening prayers and bedtime prayers, these will also not be missing.

It is to create a true "Crusader".

The piety of this army exceeded that of any other Crusaders.

Before, he had not paid attention to how the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was trained, but when he put aside his arrogance, he saw the truth that he had never expected.

I also understand a little bit why the senior officials of the Second Kingdom, such as Balian, are still full of confidence in the cause of the "Crusaders".

In those military camps, prayers that were different from the past were being repeated over and over again, strengthening the faith of many people.

[Lovely God, Source of Justice]

We come before you in awe and trust, for you are the refuge of the oppressed, the hope of the poor and the oppressed.

[You spoke to the powerful through the mouth of the prophets; You broke the shackles of injustice through the life of Christ.]

【Today, we stand up for your truth and call for strength for your justice. 】

【Lord, you see that the battle we face is not just against the flesh, but against the rulers, authorities, and evil forces that govern this dark world.】

[You know that power and greed have built high walls, and oppression and indifference are like shadows covering the earth.]

[However, You taught us that no matter how ferocious the enemy is, like a roaring lion, Your love and justice will eventually prevail! ]

Please give us courage so that we no longer fear the powerful, and wisdom so that we can distinguish between good and evil. Please open our eyes to see the faces of the suffering and hear the cries of the oppressed.

May you be our shield, enabling us to use faith and action to tear down the towers of unrighteousness and liberate the imprisoned souls.

【Lord, we pray for those who walk in darkness. May your hearts turn to the light.】

We pray for those in power, that your truth will crush the pride in their hearts.

[We also pray for ourselves, grant us humility and strength, so that we can become instruments of Your justice and build a kingdom of justice and peace with You.]

【Lord, your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.】

May your people remain vigilant in battle, find hope in suffering, and see glory in struggle. 】

In the name of Christ, Amen.

(End of this chapter)