A Guide to Becoming a God Starting from a Monastery

"So what's our plan to capture Rhodes Island?"

"It's certainly much more difficult," Ferdinand replied. "I even think that flag is one of Rome's most important trump cards. But that's not a bad thing. As each trump card is revealed, one is missing. It's better to reveal it now than at a more crucial time later."

"Then why... did the Pope choose to use this trump card?" The Grand Master asked unwillingly. "Wouldn't a divine revelation spell be better?"

"I'm afraid the situation is too dire. We've dealt too much damage to the Knights," Ferdinand said. "He's afraid of our... surprise attack."

"They're afraid we'll launch a surprise attack when we're short on warships, food, equipment, and even soldiers. A frontal attack with a good chance of success naturally requires a lot of time to prepare and plan, but a surprise attack won't take much time."

Of course, the risks of the two are completely different.

From the perspective of war, a surprise attack is opportunistic and a gamble, and the probability of failure is very high.

On the contrary, although the momentum of the regular army requires a lot of time and experience to make various preparations in the early stage, the probability of failure is much smaller.

A true general never gambles.

However, even if you don’t gamble, you still have to be on guard against others gambling!

From the Pope's perspective, the complete annihilation of the Knights' fleet (in fact, worse than annihilation, as they became enemy warships) would mean a one-sided attack, which was extremely risky. A mere Protector of the Nation as Grand Master was probably not enough.

He only took out the treasured treasure when he had no choice.

"The Pope is preventing this worst-case scenario," Ferdinand said eloquently. "And I believe that using this magical banner is not without cost."

"If it didn't cost anything, they would have used it long ago. They would have used it during the Crusades!"

"I suspect it's because of this flag that the Holy See is unable to hold divine revelation ceremonies for a short period of time."

The Grand Master fell into deep thought, and the others fell silent as well, carefully pondering Ferdinand's words.

"Then... what about our losses?" The Fatimids jumped up. "Those three lost warships were ours. Ferdinand, you are responsible for this."

"It was not my idea to send a small number of warships to blockade Rhodes Island." Ferdinand shrugged.

In fact, this approach is really stupid.

It can only be said that it had some insignificant deterrent effect, but it increased the vigilance of Rhodes Island and the Church.

Chapter 76 Dispute 2

So Ferdinand was opposed to this blockade.

But then again, this matter is not important, so it would be more precise to say that Ferdinand did not "oppose" but "abstain".

The final result was that action was finally taken after everyone voted.

Ferdinand also remembered that the Fatimid representative was the most active among them.

As for the reason - it's obvious, he just wants to take advantage!

Rhodes Island has completely lost its navy and doesn't even have a single battleship... In this case, there is naturally no risk in cruising at sea to deter the enemy.

There is no risk, but you can get credit.

When it comes time to distribute the spoils, or when it comes time to recommend dangerous missions, you can use this as a bargaining chip to get more or avoid danger.

If you happen to hit a merchant ship or something, you might win the jackpot and make a fortune.

The risk is small and the reward is great, which is why the Fatimids are so actively promoting this matter.

Now that you've hit a wall, you want others to take responsibility. How can such a good thing come from this?

"But you're the commander!" The Fatimid refused to give in. "Besides, the arrival of that Grand Commander Thomas at Rhodes Island was entirely your fault."

"I simply decided to intercept the Grand Master!" Ferdinand glanced at the Grand Master beside him. As usual, the Grand Master acted like a clay puppet, seemingly listening to the debate, yet also dozing off. "Furthermore, the three elite warriors you promised weren't there in this matter. If we had included three more elite warriors in the Byzantine team that intercepted the Grand Master, things might have turned out very differently."

Ferdinand had nothing to worry about.

Because even though we failed to kill the commander-in-chief...we didn't suffer any major losses.

In addition, there were indeed special circumstances that were not planned.

Failure is annoying, but it's nothing.

After all, this is an assassination, which involves sending experts and strong men into the enemy's territory to carry out a mission. In the absence of sufficient time, it is normal for failure to occur due to lack of manpower.

"More than that, after learning that the new Grand Commander was merely a mid-level warrior, I think everyone lost their sense of urgency. So, while we didn't abort the operation, we were clearly slacking off." Ferdinand had been prepared. In fact, he had anticipated the situation where people would be held responsible and blamed for this kind of failure.

If you don’t want to be the scapegoat, you must plan ahead.

"I have a report here. The original plan was to send a total of 85 people over in three months. In the first two months, we sent 42 warriors into enemy territory. But at this time, intelligence about the new Grand Master arrived. We still had about a month to prepare. But in the last month, we only sent two people. Even when the Grand Master acted together with the Byzantines, we still had the opportunity to reinforce. But unfortunately, my reinforcement proposal was canceled on the grounds that it was too risky."

The Fatima representative immediately fell silent.

Indeed, when everyone knew that the enemy was just a core force (elite at most), they all felt that it would be better not to kill them.

After all, a captain with only middle-class combat capability is much stronger than a national defender.

If a bad teammate appears in the opposing team, you should take good care of him instead of killing him directly.

If a bad teammate dies and is replaced by a great one... then we'll be in trouble.

However, he did not expect that although the opponent was not as threatening as Huguo, the threat posed by him was no less than that of Huguo.

"Ferdinand," the Grand Master finally spoke, "Now that this has happened, what should we do?"

"Our plan doesn't need to change..." Ferdinand bowed, but his words were interrupted by a messenger who suddenly rushed into the meeting room.

The soldier obviously didn't know that an important meeting was being held here. He rushed into the door and stopped unconsciously.

Everyone's eyes were focused on him.

"Grand...Grandmaster..." The soldier swallowed hard. "The latest...information."

The Grand Master opened his half-closed eyes and looked at the other person sternly. "What happened?"

"The Rhodes Island Knights' fleet... launched a surprise attack, intercepting two of our transport ships... The weapons and supplies on board..." He swallowed hard again. "The Knights seized them all!"

"Impossible!" someone couldn't help but stand up from their seat. "The Knights just fought a battle. Although they captured three of our warships, the battle damage hasn't been repaired yet. How can they set sail right away?"

Not to mention that they have spies on the island, how can they conceal the warships going out to sea?

"Give me the information." The Grand Master ordered.

The soldier presented a document. The Grand Master glanced through it briefly before handing it to Ferdinand.

After Ferdinand read it, he circulated it among others.

The situation was simple. Although everyone knew that the Knights' warships (five in total) would take a week or two to repair...

But if you only repair one or two warships, it won't take that long.

So Thomas spent two days repairing the two ships in the best condition and set out to sea immediately.

And they went out to sea secretly at night.

This time they were not patrolling around Rhodes Island, but heading straight for the route of the Crescent Moon Cultists.

Because the Knights had suffered repeated heavy losses, the Crescent Moon Cult's shipping lanes had become quite safe. Everyone assumed they wouldn't attack until the Knights had recovered some of their strength (meaning they had at least one squadron of troops). No one anticipated Thomas's unpredictable behavior.

The two transport ships were intercepted.

It's important to note that this transport fleet actually consisted of more than two ships, but Thomas only had two warships and was only able to intercept two of them in time. The rest of the ships fled in all directions.

The captured transport ship naturally could not compete with the warship, so there was no suspense at all in this battle.

After a fierce battle, the two ships and everything on board became Thomas's spoils and were taken back to Rhode Island.

"We should take counterattack measures immediately!" Someone stood up and waved his fist.

"What do you think?" The Grand Master looked at Ferdinand.

"Grandmaster," Ferdinand replied respectfully. "Regardless, I believe our current goal is the most important."

"Byzantines?"

"No matter how rampant the Knights are, they're still toothless dogs! They're nothing to be feared," Ferdinand said. "They only have a handful of warships now... not even half a squadron!"

Even if there are some pirate activities, there is nothing to worry about.

If you are not prepared to lose a ship every now and then, there is no point in doing business at sea.

"But the Byzantines have the combat power of at least four squadrons!" Ferdinand said firmly.

Attacking Rhodes before completely defeating the Byzantine navy... is too risky.

"Of course, if everyone here can convince the monarch to send out a separate navy to attack the Knights... I have no objection at all. But at the moment our combat power is insufficient, and we must take care of the main target first." Ferdinand turned around, looked around, and said.

"But...if we just wait like this, will the Byzantines take the bait?" The Grand Master was a little doubtful.

"Yes! They will definitely take the bait!" Ferdinand said firmly.

"The Byzantines are very cautious now. They can no longer afford heavy losses. We have been waiting for a while, but they don't seem to be taking the bait."

"As long as the bait is fragrant enough, the fish will take the bait sooner or later!" Ferdinand said firmly.

Section 77 Financial Issues 1

The meeting ended and everyone dispersed.

Judging from the outcome of this meeting, the Grand Master finally used his status to temporarily suppress everyone's dissatisfaction.

Of course, from another perspective, the previous dividends were too much. Although some are being lost now, it is only slightly unsatisfactory, but it is not to the point of collapse.

The meeting ended and everyone dispersed.

There were only two people left in the huge conference room.

Grand Master and Ferdinand.

"That magic flag must be a rare treasure," said the Grand Master. "If we want to obtain it, what should we do?"

"Conquer Rhodes Island and the treasure will naturally be yours."

"What if...we do it another way?"

"I heard that the treasure is in Thomas's possession. According to intelligence, Grand Master Thomas guards it very closely, never leaving his magical banner. Unless... what I'm trying to say, Grand Master, is that killing the Grand Master on the battlefield is difficult, and assassinating him is even more difficult. As far as I know, there are at least thirty or forty elite members of the Knights Templar. The Vatican will certainly provide additional personnel in the near future."

The Grand Master nodded. "I understand."

Ferdinand curled his lips quietly - it was obvious that the old man was unwilling to accept this.

There's no way around it. With small capital and big profits, anyone would naturally want to take a gamble.

Only two or three elite soldiers, coordinated with an insider, are needed to launch an assassination.

Although the Star-Moon Sword is not a very large organization, two or three elite members are still enough.

Not to mention two or three, even ten or eight would be no problem.

"Do you have anything else to say?" The Grand Master asked when he saw that the other party had no intention of leaving.

"Grandmaster, I wonder if, if I act according to the plan, I can..."

He only spoke half of his words, but the Grand Master understood his meaning completely.

"Do you want to become a protector of the country? But, isn't the agreement to take over Rhodes Island after that?"

"How could I have known that you would not take action at that time, but just drive the fleet away!" Ferdinand secretly complained.

Of course, from an objective point of view, the decision to move the fleet was correct because it was risk-free.

On the contrary, it would be difficult to seize Rhodes Island because the garrison troops of Rhodes Island were intact, and the number of Crescent Cultists who had sneaked in was not large enough. Even if the liberated Crescent Cult slaves were included, the number was still not enough.

Although it may be possible to capture Rhodes City directly by surprise.

But the more likely possibility is that although the Knights will be caught off guard at first, they will launch a counterattack once they come to their senses.

Of course, I may criticize it in my heart, but I dare not say it out loud.

"Grandmaster, if I can become a protector of the country, I will be able to fight for God better." He changed his reason.

"Kill one or half a Christian who is a protector of the nation," the Grand Master said. "I will submit a petition to the Council of Elders on your behalf."

The Grand Master is only one of the elders of the Star-Moon Sword, so he can only submit an application.

"I understand."

This is an added bonus!

When the two sides reached a secret agreement, they said it very nicely. But now, Xiao Tiantian has become Mrs. Niu.

Ferdinand knew it in his heart, but he knew that he could only accept this condition.