King of German Mercenaries

The mercenaries that Sauer recruited in Württemberg arrived in Aurich one after another. These soldiers were all selected according to Marin's requirements. They are all simple mountain people, no gangsters in the city. The key is to be healthy and obedient.

In addition, Schwartz also sent people to the Alsace region and recruited a group of rural youth. Although Alsace is not as mountainous as Württemberg, the folk customs here are relatively simple and obedient.

5,000 mercenaries, in Marin's opinion, are relatively easy to recruit. Because, in this era, the population of Germany grew rapidly, and many manor houses had a population surplus. Being a soldier for food is not necessarily a way of life for the poor German youth.

All in all, the recruitment of mercenaries is basically relatively smooth. But on the contrary, the recruitment of mercenary officers has not been smooth.

Marin stipulated that the squad leader could be chosen from the army. For example, the squad leader of 5,000 recruits can choose outstanding ones from the veterans.

However, starting from the company captain, Marin demanded that he must have read a book, knew the words, and preferably a wandering knight who had just left the house.

Because, Marin's company, the number of up to 250 people. Controlling so many soldiers, in fact, can already perform some tasks independently. However, when assigning tasks, if the company captain is illiterate, it becomes a joke. Although it is also possible to let the messenger dictate the order, it is easy to cause errors in word of mouth. Once the wrong order is conveyed, it may affect the war situation. Therefore, Marin insisted that officers at the level of company captains must be literate. Even though Steindorf, the commander of the knight in black shirts, came from a civilian background, his ancestors were also rich, so he still knew how to read. Although not many, he could barely understand military orders. Moreover, at Marin's request, Steindorf is now making up for cultural knowledge at night.

Originally, after Marin became the new Count of East Frisland, there were indeed many young wandering knights who planned to go to Marin. However, the Duke of Saxony quickly spoke out, refusing to recognize Marin's status, and may also send troops to "get justice" for the dead Serksner family. This time, the young wandering knights who had planned to defect to Marin suddenly became hesitant. In the end, everyone chose to wait and see. If Marin can survive, there will naturally be someone to take refuge in. If you can't make it through, then there's nothing to talk about.

Although these young people from the knight family are immature, none of them are fools. Of course they want to build a career, but the premise is that the object they want to take refuge in can hold it. Therefore, under the circumstance that Marin's future is unclear, young people have chosen to wait and see.

After all, the Duke of Saxony is well known, and Saxony is even more revered in Germany. And Marin is just a young man who has just emerged. The two sides are fighting each other, and most of them must be on the side of the Duke of Saxony. At this time, if anyone dares to open the market, everyone will definitely bet on the Duke of Saxony to win.

Unfortunately, in everyone's opinion, no fool can open such a plate. Because, it's a simple fact...

Only Marin himself, and his subordinates, marveled at the miracles that Marin created. They are also even more effective than the East Frisian army in fighting other armies of this era. Therefore, Marin's generals are very confident. In particular, Marin told them that the army would be expanded by 5,000.

At the same time, the emperor also had more confidence in Marin. Confidence came from Marin's cunning mind. This time Marin gave the emperor an idea, so that the emperor effortlessly controlled the huge area of ​​Graubünden before the Swiss could react, and he was very happy. If it was a frontal battle, the emperor would not have the confidence to occupy Graubünden with the intervention of the Swiss.

Of course, whether it was the emperor or the knights under Marin, their ideas were relatively conservative. They all agreed that Marin had no problem holding East Friesland. But to defeat the Saxon army head-on,

Unlikely.

It is no wonder that Marin's Spanish phalanx has not really exerted its power after training. The only time they fought against the Frisian army was that the arquebus was extinguished by the rain, and the platoons of the phalanx lost their power.

Therefore, even the most optimistic East Frisian generals do not think that the Spanish phalanx can defeat the Saxon army head-on, or win more with less.

Only Marin, who knows the trend of history, knows how amazing the defensive power of the Spanish phalanx is.

Unlike the later film "The Legend of the Mercenaries" that described the Spanish phalanx, the real Spanish phalanx must have trenches dug in front of it. Marin played on this foundation, strengthening one ditch to two, and also used the slanted wooden pickets of the English army against the French knights. Under the three insurances, if the cavalry can break through the Spanish phalanx, there will be ghosts. Two trenches and a row of slanted wooden pickets will definitely make the cavalry rushing over.

The most powerful part of the Saxon army lies in its rich financial resources, equipped with thousands of plate armor knights. Thousands of plate armor knights rushed up, absolutely like a torrent of steel.

But warhorses are animals, not cold steel machines like tanks. If the war horse falls into the pit, the horse will overturn, jab on the sloping wooden pickets, and be injured. Therefore, no matter how many war horses, in front of two trenches and a row of inclined wooden pickets, it is very powerless. What's more, in addition to this, Marin had arquebuses lined up to be shot, professionally attacking knights in plate armor. Even if the opponent's plate armor knights choose to dismount and fight on foot and want to climb the pit and cross the line of defense, they have to ask the musketeers if they agree or not.

However, due to various reasons, no one has ever seen the scene of the Spanish phalanx brutalizing the knights. Therefore, except for Marin, no one is optimistic about the thousands of cavalry in front of the Spanish phalanx...

Even insiders think so, let alone those wandering knights who haven't come to defect yet?

Therefore, Marin once sent people to recruit wandering knights in various places, but they were all turned down. Although everyone is not optimistic about Marin, no one knows whether Marin will make a comeback after this failure. Therefore, although the wandering knights rejected Marin's solicitation, they didn't say anything to death. There are only a few people who think that Marin is bound to end, and they don't give face when they refuse.

This makes Marin very distressed. 5,000 recruits can't help but arrange literate officers, right? It is not very reliable to temporarily promote the subordinates to be the captain of the company.

In the end, Marin thought about it for a long time and decided to let the existing officers, each of them bear a little more burden...

Specifically, double the number of troops under the command of each officer. For example, Schwartz originally commanded a phalanx, but Marin let him command two phalanxes at once. When fighting, the veterans are placed in the front and the recruits are placed in the back as a reserve. At the same time, the recruits are more likely to undertake the task of digging trenches. To this end, Marin ordered the blacksmiths under his rule to build a lot of shovels.

Similarly, Frenzberg and others also commanded two phalanxes. Moreover, those company captains also commanded the troops of the two companies.

Although it is said that there are twice as many people in command, it is a test for them. But these young people actually have a hard-working heart. On the battlefield, being able to command more people is definitely a great personal affirmation.

Therefore, although it will be very tired in the future, these young people are very excited, even if they have to put in more effort, they don't care.

Moreover, Marin also said that if he can successfully defeat the Saxons this time, the reward will be huge. There can be an increase in the title, and an increase in the fief can also be...

In order to stimulate this group of men, Marin promised that this time, he would take out 10,000 Eugrams of land to reward all outstanding officers and soldiers. Moreover, these lands are considered fiefdoms, and they can be exempted from paying taxes in the future. Therefore, although Marin's soldiers were understaffed, their morale was quite high.