Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 360: Garys holds a meeting!
Let’s not discuss the chaotic relationship between the Turkic Bentu and the Xiongnu for now.

The First Turkic Khaganate, or the First Turkic Empire, was born in 546 AD in the Chinese calendar and reached its peak in 576 AD.

Established a vast empire spanning Europe and Asia.

This was the first Turkic state to use a Turkic name politically.

After the death of the fourth Khan, Taspar Khan, the country was divided into two due to the issue of succession rights.

At the same time, the Sui and Tang dynasties supported or suppressed it, forcing it into a state of civil war.

Among them, the Eastern Turkic Khanate was defeated by Li Jing of the Tang Dynasty in the Battle of Yinshan in 630, and the Khan was eventually captured and sent to Chang'an.

As for the Western Turkic Khanate, it was also conquered by Su Dingfang of the Tang Dynasty in 657, and Li Shimin took office as the Heavenly Khan of the Turks.

But this is not the end of the history of the Turks, but the beginning of another national wave.

"In short, whether it is the Eastern Turks or the Western Turks, many of their tribes chose to migrate westward because they suffered too much at the Peach Blossom Stone."

"Among them, the Western Turks may be the ancestors of you Seljuk Turks."

"And the Eastern Turks gave rise to a large number of other branches, one of which was the Kipchak people."

Hearing this, Arsalan began to understand what Gairis meant.

"You mean, those who looted the nearby villages were Kipchaks?"

"It could be the Cumans, but they're not much different."

Then Gairis added: "Relatively speaking, the Seljuk Turks entered Central Asia relatively late, and then interbred with the Persians, Arabs, Kurds, Greeks, and Armenians."

"So you tend to be brown or black, with a narrow face, a high nose bridge, prominent cheekbones, a hooked nose or deeper eye sockets."

"As for the Cumans or Kipchaks, they have long been mixed with the Slavs and other Eastern Europeans, so they look similar to what you said."

In fact, as far as Gellis knew, in subsequent Mongol conquests, the Cumans or Kipchaks, because of their more European appearance, were often used as spies.

But why would a group of Cumans or Kipchaks, who should have appeared on the East European steppes, appear here?
The reasons behind this are obviously worth pondering.

After all, it is very convenient to come here from the East European steppes. It is nothing more than taking a boat across the Black Sea, or crossing the Greater Caucasus Mountains through Georgia.

But why bother?

Is there any reason to come here?

The problem is that you can't figure out the motive.

However, there is no need to worry too much. A small group of Cumans will not have any impact on the overall situation.

Considering that there were no outsiders here, Garys held a weekly meeting here. Everyone in charge of different directions reported on the progress on their side.

Hearing the news that the village had successfully resisted the Cumans' attack, Gairis was also very excited.

As for Paul's faction on Zoe's side, it is understandable that they are unwilling to organize themselves.

Then he fell into thought, thinking about how to use this information.

After thinking for a while, Gairis said to Arslan, "Go back to Bey State and ask your father to organize an army. Since there are already Turks looting everywhere in Trebizond, I think it won't be a problem to add a few more." Then Gairis said to Zoe, "Although they are unwilling to organize themselves to fight against the empire directly, what if I tell them that the Cardia Military District is just a broken house that will collapse if kicked? Do you think they will stand up?"

Zoe looked a little hesitant, but finally nodded vigorously.

Garys looked at Mohammed again.

"There will be some changes in Trebizond. Are the scouts I asked you to contact already in place?"

Mohammed replied, "Sir, everything has been arranged. No matter who you want to kill, there is someone willing to sacrifice his life for you."

"I don't need their lives. I just need to know the movements around here."

The Hassashin do have unique assassination skills, but those assassination skills are based on the person's exquisite disguise, which allows them to lurk in various environments.

Therefore, it is far more cost-effective to treat the Hassashin as an intelligence organization rather than a killer organization.

Finally, Gellis looked at Alexandros.

"Although this place is quite far from Jerusalem, and a large number of troops cannot come here for an expedition, but according to my suggestion, a brigade of imperial knights has already arrived in Erzurum."

A brigade of Imperial Order Knights has a full complement of only 320 people, which is indeed not a large-scale army.

But Alexandros was still excited when he heard the news.

The Paladins only practiced martial arts and were not real professional soldiers, but the Imperial Knights were different.

In Alexandros's opinion, the Knights of the Imperial Order may be the most powerful and tenacious professional army of this era, with solid cavalry assault, professional infantry, field artillery...

It is easy for a battalion of 320 people to defeat an enemy army of thousands of people on the battlefield.

Their arrival means that Garys will have a real core military force under his command.

"The Imperial Order Knights have just arrived and are not familiar with the situation here. You will be responsible for connecting them and helping them get familiar with the climate and terrain here as quickly as possible."

"Also, the caravan you were in charge of previously will temporarily suspend its commercial activities and switch to collecting supplies."

"For every 1 dinar worth of supplies provided by the caravan within the Cardia Military District, they can obtain 2 dinars worth of goods in Erzurum, or 4 dinars worth of goods in Antioch."

"understand!"

The importance of logistics supply has been listed as a top priority in the current Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Within the territory, the General Staff coordinates all logistical matters, and the chief officers of the various military forces do not need to worry about it.

If a large-scale war is to be launched, there will be coordination arrangements from all aspects.

But this operation was actually a military adventure. It was to deploy a small number of troops to a foreign country hundreds of kilometers away. There was no way to establish a supply line from Antioch to here.

If the knights were ordered to collect supplies on their own, it would be possible, but it would obviously affect their combat effectiveness and force them to focus their energy on unnecessary aspects.

At this time, the caravans previously organized by the Turks and local Greeks became very useful.

By establishing good relations with the locals, they can easily purchase food from the farmers and rent livestock. With mature trade routes, they can take on the task of transporting gunpowder and weapons from Erzurum.

(End of this chapter)