Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 316 Meeting is not as good as being famous
The Chinese name "德" actually means "from", just like the German "冯".

The surname at the end is actually the hometown of Garys’ ancestors, or the territory of his ancestors, representing his noble status.

Guéris de Villeroy, this name should be read as: Guéris from Villeroy.

David Soslan had never heard of Villeroy. Perhaps this territory really existed in the Frankish land, or perhaps it was just the result of the nonsense made up by Garys's ancestors.

There are actually many precedents for this. After all, the Crusades gave opportunities to many people of humble origins.

Take the Ibelin family that David Soslan had heard of, for example. In just two generations, they went from being unheard of to becoming a wealthy and noble family in a kingdom.

Perhaps, this is also true for Garys.

From being worthless in the past, he gained the supreme power of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by chance.

But no matter what Gellis's family background is, it will not change one reality: his current power and prestige are enough to change the political situation in the Levant.

You must know that today, the Kingdom of Jerusalem is no longer what it used to be. The geopolitical goals that the Kingdom of Georgia has long dreamed of have in fact been achieved by the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

That is to say, a circle of buffer states was set up outside the core territory of the country to avoid the brutal looting of the Saracens.

After years of development, Jerusalem not only recovered its homeland, but also truly became vassal of Antioch, Damascus, and Cyprus, becoming a regional power and entering a golden age of a country.

Put yourself in his shoes. As the husband of the King of Jerusalem, it is obviously unlikely for such a high-ranking and powerful person to appear alone in the chaotic Anatolia.

You know, even David Soslan didn't dare to cross Anatolia alone because it was too dangerous.

Therefore, David Soslan's first reaction was that the man was lying and was trying to gain benefits by pretending to be a nobleman in Jerusalem.

But what benefits can be gained?

For a moment, David didn't understand.

In this state of doubt, David shifted his focus to details that he had not taken seriously before.

"You said that the other party just waved his hand and made all the arrows you shot fall to the ground?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. At that time, I wanted to teach him a lesson, but... I couldn't hurt him no matter what."

Hovanis repeated the scene at that time. At that time, he just wanted to draw his sword, but found that his sword was already on his neck.

The two sides are not on the same level at all.

After listening to this, David pinched his chin, increasingly wondering if Hovanis was trying to cover up his own incompetence by making up such a lie.

Unless he is a wizard or a devil, how could an ordinary person possess such power?

As a mature military commander, even though David Soslan did not doubt the existence of wizards or demons, he would try his best to maintain his rational thinking and avoid being disturbed by information that was irrelevant to the battle situation.

After thinking about it, David Soslan ordered: "Doesn't the other party want to see me? Then let him come over by himself, and you go and help me deliver this message."

After hearing what David said, Hovanis felt like crying but had no tears.

But he was also aware of the words he was saying, and anyone with a brain would easily believe them.

After all, the Saint of Jerusalem, the Head of Cyprus, the Imam... this series of titles, to other people, is nothing but pretense, no different from those charlatans who go from village to village.

But he really saw that the other party just waved his hand and the arrow couldn't hurt him!

At that time, there were still more than a hundred other people who could help him testify!
However, Hovanis also knew that once David Soslan started to dwell on this issue, he would only become more convinced of his own guesses. Only when he saw it with his own eyes, perhaps he would be able to put aside his prejudice and face the reality.

Before that, it would be impossible for him to convince David Soslan.

To be honest, Hovanis would rather disobey David's orders than make Garys uncomfortable in front of him.

After all, disobeying David's orders would result in dismissal at most, but if he angered Garys, Hovanis would feel that no one in the world could protect him.

"Your Majesty, can you please change someone? I feel a little...?"

Hovanis originally wanted to find a reason, but after thinking about it, he couldn't come up with a good answer, so he just spoke frankly.

"...I am a loser. It is really difficult for me to complete your orders!"

David Soslan looked at Hovanis with a rather unfriendly expression. He only met him once, but he dared not to carry out his orders.

Even in the way of admitting that you are a waste and ruining your own reputation.

You know, in this era, for the nobles, admitting that they are useless is actually no different from social death.

The family of Hovannis will be disgraced because of him!
"You know what this means, right?"

David Soslan's hand had already reached for the sword at his waist. Hovanis's refusal of his order was actually a questioning of his authority. If other people in the army followed suit, then the morale of the people would be dispersed and the team would be difficult to lead.

"I-I know."

After taking a deep breath, David Soslan did not draw his sword after all. After all, the other party was an Armenian nobleman and he might be useful in the future.

"I will send someone else to inform the other party. I hope he can be as miraculous as you said."

Hovanis, who escaped the disaster, hurriedly thanked David profusely and left David's tent. He did not dare to tell others what had happened during this period.

……

There is actually marginal benefit in people's use of land. Suitable land is always cultivated first, followed by inferior land, and then it spreads out in all directions after being connected into pieces until it reaches the boundary of the farming area.

Then, in areas where it was not suitable to obtain nutrients directly from the land through farmland, people would rely on the grass-livestock-dairy products method to obtain sufficient nutrition in order to survive.

Contrary to what many people believe, it is not very common for herders to eat the livestock they raise.

If an ordinary shepherd family starts to eat a lot of meat, it actually means that their herd is beginning to decline uncontrollably.

After all, dairy products represent the interest produced by cattle and sheep, while eating meat means that the herders' principal is being consumed.

However, whether eating meat or dairy products, this means that the food of the pastoral group is extremely monotonous. Even if they find some wild vegetables during the grazing process, they are just better than nothing.

In the absence of vitamin intake, a series of diseases such as scurvy, night blindness, and beriberi plagued herders.

Garys had naturally thought about solving this problem, so he cultivated vegetable fields near the Arsalan tribal settlement, trying to help them find more suitable vegetables to grow. Of course, he also solved his own vegetable problem by the way, he couldn't always follow Arsalan to eat dairy products.

Garys felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach.

In addition to farming every day, Gailis would occasionally go out hunting to see if he could find some prey to improve his meals.

At the end of a hunting day, they found a wild boar, knocked it unconscious and carried it back home, walking to the mountain pass.

Gailis's expression was a little weird, and the corners of his mouth and the look in his eyes looked a little unnatural.

The scene before him made him feel distressed.

The vegetable garden that he had carefully cultivated was now being wantonly ravaged by a group of peasant soldiers from the Kingdom of Georgia.

Many of them were wearing coarse cloth, with flags on the side representing their affiliations. At this moment, they were all picking juicy green vegetables.

Whether it was the tender green spinach or the lettuce leaves that had just emerged from the ground, they were all picked greedily by them.

What is even more infuriating is that several horses were allowed to roam freely in their own vegetable gardens, trampling everywhere and gnawing on the immature leaves.

After taking two deep breaths, Gailis threw the tied wild boar to the ground and stretched his muscles slightly.

He greeted the group of people and then walked up to them.

Those people were a little confused at first, but then they were all stunned.

The other party was obviously a little angry, so when he attacked, he unconsciously used a lot of force, and every punch hit the flesh.

……

Still in the military camp near Erzurum, David Soslan received a group of defeated soldiers.

The appearance of this group of defeated soldiers was simply horrible. Although they all had intact limbs and even their armor was not cut, their faces looked particularly horrifying.

Some people's eyes were black and blue, swollen to a narrow slit;
Some had crooked noses and blood dried on their cheeks.

Some people have swollen corners of their mouths, loose teeth, and even their speech is hoarse;
Some people even had collapsed cheekbones and one of their eyes could hardly be opened at all, as if they had been crushed by something huge.

But in the final analysis, apart from losing their weapons and armor and having bruises on their faces, these dozens of people actually didn't suffer any losses.

But their respective fears began to spread like a plague.

When David Soslan saw this group of people, he saw that their expressions were all very broken. Some people subconsciously protected their cheeks with their hands, fearing that they would be hit by fists that appeared out of nowhere.

Another person was so frightened that he was shaking all over, his steps so unsteady that he looked like he would fall at any moment.

After all, the fact that dozens of people could not beat one person really overturned their previous understanding of life.

Faced with this situation, David Soslan's fists were clenched so hard that veins bulged.

After completing the measurement, his follower returned to David Soslan's side, looking quite uneasy and extremely unbelievable.

"Your Majesty, it can be confirmed that it was indeed done by one person. Both the armor and the shield were left with complete fist marks."

"The marks are so clear that you can even distinguish the curvature of the knuckles. With a little comparison, it can be confirmed that they were made by the same person."

After hearing what his follower said, David's face twisted in an indescribable way.

Is it possible that there really are people in this world who can knock down dozens of soldiers with just their fists?

He even used his fists to deform shields and armor!
But no matter how much David Soslan felt like it was a dream, the irrefutable evidence before him made him unable to help but believe it.

It was in this situation that he gave an order to the side.

"Send Hovanis here. I have something to ask him."

……

Mountains and grasslands intertwine in the sunlight, and the boundary between heaven and earth becomes blurred.

The mountains in the distance are rolling, and at the foot of the mountains are sparse pine forests.

Further down, the mountains gradually become gentler, and mountain streams meander out and merge into the lowland grasslands.

The grassland here is not as vast as the sea of ​​grass, but undulating, divided into gentle slopes by hills and rocky hills.

In such a picturesque land, the husband of the King of Georgia was marching with a team of nearly three hundred people.

When he reached the halfway point of the mountain, David Soslan looked to the west and realized that his army camp was not that far away, just a little over half a day's ride on horseback.

In fact, David Soslan had not originally planned to come.

But his two waves of soldiers were defeated successively by Garys, and he could no longer control the spread of rumors in the army.

Although those rumors were not defeatist, the awe they contained seriously shook the army's will and made it difficult for them to concentrate on the war.

You have to know that this is not groundless, but more than a hundred people have confirmed it, and even shields and helmets can serve as physical evidence.

Just comparing them with the fist marks on the shields was enough to make ordinary soldiers exclaim that there were such brave warriors in the world!
Then he thought of the other party's title of the Holy One of Jerusalem, and his heart began to beat fast.

The Georgian army is not an iron army. At most, it is a slightly reliable mob. It is impossible to limit the spread of rumors in the army.

In order to solve this problem, David Soslan, as the commander-in-chief of the army, had to go there in person to verify whether the rumors were true and to calm the inexplicable emotions in the army.

However, when he arrived at Gillis's cabin and met Gillis in person, he felt that Gillis was a guy who was not as famous as he seemed.

The thirty-year-old man in front of him seemed no different from an ordinary farmer except that he had a handsome face and a relatively muscular body.

He even personally cultivated the land in the summer and worked in the fields. Except that his clothes were a little cleaner, he behaved no differently from the farmers David had seen.

After meeting David Soslan, Gailis didn't pay any attention to the soldiers following him. He just put the dung shovel in his hand back into the dung bucket and invited this distinguished majesty to his house for a chat.

In this way, the two most distinguished men in the Middle East met. One had an entourage of three hundred people behind him, and the other had only a Turkic apprentice beside him. Even just now, he was still pouring farm manure on the vegetable field.

(End of this chapter)