A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

This is not just true now, it has been true since classical times.

Apart from anything else, both the history books of the previous life and the history books of this life record the story of the statue of the sun god of Rhodes Island.

As early as the ancient Greek era, Rhodes established its own nation, with the ancient Greek sun god as its patron deity. Later, during the Macedonian Wars of the Diadochi, the Antigonid dynasty invaded Rhodes with an army of 100,000 and hundreds of ships. The war lasted a year, but the Rhodians persevered, forcing the enemy to retreat. To express their gratitude for the sun god's protection, after their victory, the islanders used discarded enemy weapons to cast a 33-meter-tall colossal statue of the sun god, which stood in the harbor.

This statue of the sun god was later named one of the "Seven Wonders of the World".

Sadly, the statue collapsed in an earthquake. Then the Arabs invaded and took the fragments away as trophies. This remarkable wonder was lost.

So it can be clearly said that even if this island cannot be called impregnable, it is not far from it.

It was difficult to fight before, and it is still difficult to fight now.

During this period, the temperature has been rising steadily, and you can see that the island is lush and green with many farmlands.

In addition to farmland, you can also see woods.

The ship gradually sailed into the harbor of Rhodes Island. The harbor was shaped like a gourd with a very narrow entrance. However, the inside and outside of the harbor were extremely spacious, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. The statue of the sun god once stood with his legs apart and a torch held high on the stone pillars on both sides of the harbor entrance.

There were not many ships in the harbor, so Thomas still saw two brand new warships with the flags of the Knights flying on them.

From this we can see that Demetrios has returned.

In addition to these two warships, there were also Byzantine warships.

There are not many of them, only about five or six ships, probably just a small patrol fleet.

Thanks to the traveling prince, Thomas arrived in Rhodes Island much earlier than expected.

After getting off the boat, they soon arrived in Rhodes City under the leadership of Andrea.

Rhodes was circular in layout, like an apple, but where the fortified harbor joined the town, the curve of the apple seemed to have been bitten off.

Over the decades, under the construction of the church (Knights), the city has become a real fortress.

Huge city walls, corner bastions with extremely thick walls and wider firing ranges, inclined breastworks to deflect artillery shells, bases for long-range artillery, trumpet-shaped firing ports, an inner defensive circle with hidden gun platforms, double trenches as deep as canyons, and outer trench walls that expose the enemy to a torrential fire.

Thomas spent some time outside the city admiring the walls.

From the perspective of someone who has lived two lives, it's easy to see that the city walls were built on a different principle than those of the classical era. Their defensive principles were based on defense in depth and crossfire. Every advance by the enemy would be attacked from multiple angles, and there might even be traps ahead.

The situation in the city was also very good. The Knights had already transformed the entire city into a Gothic urban complex.

Even from Thomas's perspective, it was considered outstanding.

There are many large Gothic houses, palaces and churches, and in the center of these huge buildings is the headquarters of the Knights.

Although he knew this beforehand, Thomas still felt very proud when he actually arrived at the headquarters of the Knights Templar.

This commander is indeed worthy of his title.

Unlike the Sunflower Knights, who were controlled by their own parents... they didn't even have an independent territory. It can only be said that heresy is heresy, and they are not as free and easy as the legitimate knights.

Thomas quickly entered the Knights' headquarters fortress.

The news of the arrival of the new Grand Master has not yet spread, but the most important people in the highest level of the Knights Templar have already received the news and are waiting for the Grand Master in the lobby of the headquarters.

Thomas didn't rush to meet them, but instead took a quick look around the entire headquarters.

His living quarters—the area for daily living—were well-maintained. The previous Grand Master had left behind not only a luxurious and ornate living space, but also three mute servants.

One of them was a eunuch.

It is said that these three were rescued by the Knights from the Crescent Moon Cultists and had nowhere to go, so they were loyal to the Knights and were responsible for taking care of the Grand Master's food and daily life.

Only after understanding his living environment did he come to the hall.

Meet with several surviving senior and middle-level members of the Knights.

Thomas had previously heard that the Knights had suffered a crushing defeat and suffered heavy losses, but hearing what others said and seeing it in reality were two different things.

The foundation of the entire Knights' Order was the navy. Therefore, according to the original structure, the navy should have three squadrons, with three squadron leaders serving as fleet commanders.

The army, on the other hand, is defensive in nature, with two division commanders, one responsible for city defense and the other the Marine Corps.

The city defense force was composed of locals, with some officers being members of the Order. The Marines were the true army. However, the navy and army were practically indistinguishable, and could be interchanged at any time. If there was a difference, it was that the army included cavalry, while the fleet was entirely infantry.

In addition, there are also clerks, financial officers, civil affairs officers, logistics officers, etc.

It is worth noting that the secretary has a very high status in the Knights Templar, basically equivalent to the deputy of the Grand Master, and is responsible for handling almost all trivial matters.

If the Grand Commander leads the army on a long expedition, the secretary will stay behind.

But last time, the clerk also went with the army and died.

The three squadron commanders were either killed or mutinied.

Not to mention the commander, even the fleet is gone! The Knights now only have two newly purchased warships left.

The situation in other areas is not very optimistic.

In terms of numbers, at its peak, the Order boasted approximately 300 to 400 knights, a city defense force of around 5,000 (though these were only used for defense), a navy of around 2,000, and another 1,000 marines. Adding mercenaries and hired sailors, the force was considerable. Now, only 200 knights and 600 marines remain in the navy. The city defense force and marines are relatively intact, but the city defense force is adequate for defending a city, not for field battles, let alone naval engagements.

The same is true in finance.

A simple description is: maintaining the current situation is no problem, but restoring the fleet is beyond our capabilities.

After all, ships cost money, and a single ship could cost tens of thousands of florins.

In other words, the Knights Templar that Thomas inherited was a mess. It wasn't hopelessly rotten, but it was certainly a mess.

But then again, if it wasn't bad, it wouldn't be Thomas' turn.

Wanting to resist the upcoming Star-Moon Cult coalition... well, it's still a bit risky.

Chapter 68 First Battle 1

Everyone explained the details to the new leader one by one.

Thomas also slowly formed an impression.

The two biggest problems in dealing with this wave of ascension tribulation are: lack of money and lack of people.

Needless to say, we are short of money.

Since ancient times, the navy has been a money-burning military force. Without money, there will be no ships and no navy.

If you want to rebuild the fleet and restore the three squadrons of its heyday, the price you have to pay will be high.

Lack of manpower is another issue.

It is difficult to recruit full members to the Order because almost all the knights are of noble status.

There was a complete bug when Thomas went to Kiev. A normal person would not be qualified to become a formal member of the Knights Templar.

In addition, there are a lot of rules and regulations that must be followed.

Of course, many knightly orders do not strictly enforce the rules, but such things can be discussed in private, but cannot be spoken about publicly.

After all, that's what a religious order is.

However, it is not difficult to recruit informal members, that is, lower-level sergeants or soldiers.

Just recruit.

It is possible in the Christian world.

However, the new recruits are basically at the "novice" level, and there are few even at the "ordinary" level.

In other words, without three to five years of training, it would be difficult to go to the battlefield. This was a far cry from the nobles. Nobles willing to join the Knights Templar were generally only the core members, and there were many elite members.

In this regard, the Knights of Rhodes Island are at a great disadvantage.

Because true fanatics will not come here - after all, there are two knight orders in the Holy Land.

Rhodes Island was an island after all, and there was always an ocean between it and the pagans. The Holy Land, on the other hand, faced the pagans directly.

If you want to fight for the glory of Christ, the Holy Land is obviously a better choice.

There is no doubt that if the current situation continues, even without the previous disastrous defeat, the Knights will only become weaker and weaker.

"When I came in," Thomas said, "there were very few ships in the harbor."

It’s more than just “very few”, half of them are warships.

There should be very few true statements.

"You're right," the clerk, Demetrios, replied immediately. "There have been very few ships arriving lately. This has further reduced our income."

In this era, ships had poor seakeeping capabilities, so waterways were limited, and Rhodes Island became a very critical node and transit station on the waterway.

Other surrounding islands either lack suitable ports or do not have sufficient resources.

As for the land, needless to say, Asia Minor had already been almost completely conquered by the Crescent Cult. The entire continent opposite Rhodes Island was Crescent Cult territory.

It must be said that although the Crescent Moon Cultists and Christians were fighting, this did not affect their trade. Therefore, there were still many merchant ships traveling back and forth.

And Rhodes Island is a very important node in the trade route.

The lack of a navy resulted in civilian and merchant ships being afraid to come due to the risks.

Without civilian and merchant ships, it would mean less tax revenue and more difficulty in restoring the navy.

This really is... a vicious cycle.

"That is to say, the Crescent Moon Cult has intensified their harassment here... Is the situation serious?" Thomas sighed.

"It's very serious. Ships departing from Rhodes Island can encounter Crescent Moon Cult warships within half a day of setting sail."

"What? But there are Byzantine warships over there, right?"

"When the Byzantine warships are here, things will be better. Once the Byzantine warships leave, things will be very bad."

“Do we have a mole?” Thomas asked.

"We don't need a traitor within the Knights. Any civilian who chooses a position with a better view can see the fleet depart."

Thomas was silent for a moment.

That's right. A few gold coins... no, a few silver coins, are enough to bribe a suburban farmer to act as a spy.

With current technology, there is no way to check. Because there are too many suspicious objects, it is difficult to prevent them.

"Then how do they pass on the message?"

"There are plenty of seabirds," Demetrios replied. "They say it's possible to tame them and use them as messengers."

Damn, there's really no way to find out.

"So... they're taking advantage of the Byzantine fleet's departure?"

Although the Byzantines agreed to help, they did not actually leave their entire fleet on Rhodes. They only patrolled the waters between Constantinople and Rhodes.

Basically, we will stay in Rhode Island for a while and then return.

The kind that has loopholes to exploit.

"This time, when our two warships returned, we happened to encounter the Byzantine Navy here. If it weren't for them, I think there is a high probability that we would be intercepted midway." Demetrios sighed.

"Do they dare to intercept the warship?"

"We only have two!"

"The Crescent Moon Cultists, it seems they really don't want to give us any chance," Thomas said. "When will the Byzantines leave?"

"I'll leave tomorrow morning."

"So, tomorrow, we will have no naval protection—except for our two ships?"

"Yes."

Tsk, what the Star-Moon Cultists did was too blatant. They didn't understand the concept of "taking the enemy by surprise and attacking them when they are unprepared" at all.

"The Byzantines are unreliable. Can we find other allies?"

"Although the Byzantines are unreliable," Demetrios sighed again, "they are the best allies we can find. After all, they are the closest to us."

"Among all the countries, the only ones that possess truly powerful navies and are not too far away to support us are Genoa and Venice."

"But both of them ignored our requests for help. There is news that the Crescent Moon Cult is negotiating with Genoa and Venice."

"That's impossible, isn't it?" Thomas said, knowing he was wrong. It was possible.

It happened in the history of the previous life (and it is definitely happening in this life).

Venetian and Genoese ships could freely enter and exit Ottoman ports and trade.