The Rise of the European Emperor

The combat effectiveness of professional knights is very strong. After all, people have been practicing martial arts since childhood, and they have been practicing for more than ten years. In the face of conscripts, it is no problem to play ten with one.

But the problem is that it has now transitioned from the era of cold weapons to the era of hot weapons. Facing the musket, the knight was sad. And, most importantly, professional knights cost too much.

In the mercenary sequence, an infantryman is paid 3 pfennig per day. And a wandering knight from a knight family earns as much as 2 shillings a day, which is equivalent to 24 pfennigs, 8 times that of an infantryman. This is still the lowest level of wandering knights, those with titles, as well as high-ranking officers, are paid more.

Moreover, if a professional knight died in battle, the loss would be too great. After more than ten years of hard training and the accumulation of a large amount of resources, he died in battle, and the loss is difficult to measure in money.

Therefore, Marin has always been reluctant to form a large-scale plate armor knight army. In addition to the cost issue, there are some losses that cannot be afforded. You know, these professional knights come from noble families and generally have read books. Not to mention how smart he is, but at least literate, he is more suitable to be a grass-roots officer. Instead of letting those professional knights charge as cannon fodder, it is better to arrange for officers to be infantrymen.

As for the cavalry, Marin has long thought about it - he intends to recruit civilians to serve as the main force of the cavalry...

Europe is different from East Asia. In East Asia, except for the northern grasslands, several countries in East Asia are mainly farming, and mainly cattle farming. Although the cost is low, the problem is - it's hard to find someone who can ride a horse.

In ancient Europe, it was different. Because of the popularity of horse farming, many farmers in Europe knew how to raise and ride horses. Therefore, it is much easier to find a farmer who can ride horses in Europe than in China.

As long as they can ride horses, be brave and obey their commands, Marin can completely make them wear breastplates, control the reins in their left hand, and hold a spring lance in their right hand, in a dense wall formation, attacking the enemy formation.

Unlike the traditional crude benzene lance, which requires the knight to have the "unicorn arm" that he has trained since childhood, the spring lance does not require high strength on the right arm of the cavalry, as long as it can be grasped. As for the recoil, there are springs that remove most of the recoil. Therefore, ordinary and stronger civilians can also hold the new spring lance. Unlike traditional heavy lances, professional knights who have practiced "unicorn arms" cannot control them.

Moreover, cavalrymen who came from civilians did not have the courage to ask for such a high salary. Although the salary is definitely higher than that of the infantry, it is definitely not more than eight times the level of professional knights.

In this way, Marin has the conditions to form a large-scale cavalry. The main force of the cavalry in the tens of thousands of people came out. Who can stop it in Europe? Uh... that's not right, it seems that Poland in the 16th century was able to gather 10,000 or 20,000 winged cavalry... This also makes Poland, which has winged cavalry, was hanged by the Grand Duchy of Moscow in the 15th century, and later became a hanged by Russia. Hundred years, until Russia came out with Peter I...

The reason why the Poles can explode so many winged cavalry is because Poland is a country with many feudal nobles, and the knight class is very large. Therefore, there are many children of knights to form a large-scale winged cavalry.

Marin's country obviously doesn't have so many knight families, and doesn't need so many knights who break the ground. The cuirassiers composed of peasants who can ride horses, although their personal combat effectiveness is far less than that of the winged cavalry, but because they have spring lances suitable for high-speed charges, and wall-type charges that are more suitable for decisive battles, they may not be unable to confront the Polish winged cavalry.

Moreover, with the spring lances that can be used repeatedly, these peasant cavalry do not need to be familiar with the use of sabres like the Polish lancers. Because the Polish lancers had no springs as buffers, the lances often fell out of hand, so they needed to be proficient in the use of sabres. And the peasant cuirassiers under Marin's command, because the spring lances are not easy to let go, and they do not necessarily need to be proficient in the use of sabres...

What's more, this kind of cuirassiers composed of peasants who can ride horses, even if they die in battle, Marin is not very distressed. The big deal, go recruit another batch.

Unlike the winged cavalry, they were all from Polish noble families, the kind who practiced martial arts since childhood. The death of the last batch is absolutely distressing, and it is very painful, and it is difficult to replenish in time.

Sometimes, cost issues can determine the future. Are English longbowmen worse than musketeers? Obviously not. But the training cost of longbowmen is not much cheaper than that of knights. As for the musketeers, just grab a batch from the farmers and train them, and then they can be sent to the battlefield as cannon fodder—this is how the bow and crossbow were replaced by the muskete... The training cost of the two sides is completely incomparable...

...

While Marin was racking his brains to plan the future cavalry, far away in Worms, southwest Germany, a large group of German nobles, under the guidance of Frederick III, convened an imperial meeting against Marin.

It was an informal imperial meeting, as it lacked remnants of nobles such as Austria and the pro-Austrian Swabian League, and pro-Marin forces such as Marin's East Frisian and the Duchy of Clifford. Of course, there is also a lack of the Electorate of Brandenburg where the boss was captured.

Frederick III was worthy of being a cunning old politician. In his speech at the temporary meeting, he desperately put Marin and Maximilian I together, trying to prove that Marin was Maximilian I's hard-core lackey. Lin's strength is equal to the strength of Maximilian I...

In order to resonate with the princes, Frederick III also listed the current tragic situation of the great French nobles-empty position, but no power, everything depends on the mood and face of King Louis XII...

Sure enough, the German princes who were instigated by Frederick III had a lot of heart. In order to prevent themselves from becoming a figurehead like a French aristocrat in the future, they began to hate Marin like Maximilian I, who was trying to unify Germany. A good temporary imperial meeting was held as an "anti-horse meeting"... Frederick III even suggested that we should send troops to attack Marin together...

Of course, not everyone of the German princes who were called up listened to Frederick III's deceit. At least, Hermann IV, Archbishop of Cologne, was not fooled by Frederick III.

This is because Hermann IV, from the previous incident when the Bishopric of Münster was ceded to Marin, deeply felt His Majesty's preference for Marin.

Perhaps, secular aristocrats like Frederick III don't care so much about the influence of the Pope. But as a religious man, Herman IV had to consider the reaction of the Holy See. Therefore, he refused to support the formation of a coalition to conquer Marin...

Hermann IV's remarks represent the attitudes of the bishops in the northwestern region of Germany. Soon, the bishops of the Northwest Territories rejected the coalition's proposal to use troops against Marin.

After the bishops of the Archbishop of Cologne rejected the proposal to use troops for Marin, the religious princes who had calmed down remembered that it seems that Marin has a close relationship with the Pope, the leader of European Catholicism...

If I support the whole Germany to form a group to beat Marin, I might offend His Excellency the Pope...

The Pope may not have many ways to take those secular princes, but there are ways to take religious princes. Just one excommunication can bring the religious princes to an end. Without the identity of Christians, secular princes are big nobles with noble blood. As a religious prince, you may fall from heaven to hell in an instant...

As a result, even the Archbishop of Mainz, Jacob, and the Archbishop of Trier, Jacob (both named Jacob, but not the same person), gave up the proposal to support the group beating Marin...

Relying on the influence of the Pope's father-in-law, Marin unknowingly escaped the fate of being beaten by all the German princes...

The number of religious princes was very large, and after they all opposed the use of troops against Marin, this matter naturally came to an end.

But, as we all know - Marin can't be allowed to expand. Otherwise, the alliance of the princes against the emperor may be broken by Marin individually.

So, though not going to gang up on Marin. However, it is still necessary to put pressure on Marin. In addition, the Electoral State of Saxony and the Electoral State of Brandenburg, which were important members of the opposition to the unification of Germany by the emperor, must also be preserved.

Then, the princes, had repeated consultations on how to exert political pressure on Marin to force Marin to give up the occupation of Saxony and Brandenburg. . . .

And all this, Marin in Denmark doesn't know... He doesn't know, because of the relationship of the Pope's father-in-law, those religious princes gave up the terrible plan to use Marin's collective army...