OBS Chapter 720 The Urgency of the Code
Chapter 720 The Urgency of the Code
Chapter 720 The Urgency of the Code
Lothar learned the method of meditation from the Knights - but it was not much different from what Jeanne taught him. Many parts were even more obscure and difficult to understand, not as easy to understand as what Jeanne taught him.
After all, the Knights of the Holy Church, to which Jeanne belonged, was considered the number one knightly order in Europe at that time. It rose to power by stepping on the corpses of the Knights Templar that were wiped out by the King of France. It is understandable that meditation method could be further improved.
Therefore, the key to why his soldiers could not learn the Holy Light was definitely not the meditation method.
After leaving the Knights' camp, Lothar went straight to the Flemish Pikemen camp and the Swiss Halberdiers camp on the outskirts of the city to inspect them.
Both are equipped with breastplates, elbow pads, and knee pads common in the Renaissance era, and wear pot-lid helmets, as well as short swords and daggers for close combat.
The most distinctive weapon used by the Swiss halberdiers is a halberd that combines an axe and a spear, so it is also called an axe spear.
There is a hook on the back of the axe. The axe blade is used for chopping, the spear head is used for stabbing, and the back of the axe is used to pull the knights off their mounts. It is quite versatile.
The Flemish spearmen used an extra-long spear that was four to six meters long. There was nothing much to say about it. The forest of spears was enough to scare away any knight.
Among them, the reputation of the Swiss mercenaries is needless to mention. They are composed of brave Swiss mountain people and are rare elite infantry who can perform duties other than "holding the line" on the battlefield.
Lothar played the good nephew of Charles VII, Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who was the first stepping stone to establish the reputation of the Swiss Halberdiers.
During the Battle of Nancy, he watched helplessly as this group of spearmen charged forward with an invincible momentum, only to have his head split open by a halberd. He became the "Head-Splitting Man" that later generations talked about with relish.
Poor Charles the Bold, he had hoped to carve out his own Lotharingian Kingdom between France and Germany, but his dream was abruptly interrupted by a group of Swiss peasants.
This also triggered the famous "Burgundy Succession Crisis" in history. In the end, Prince Maximilian of Austria won the beauty. It was also thanks to the endless wealth from the rich Burgundy territory that the Habsburg family finally secured the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.
Later, during the Siege of Rome, the "Pontifical Guard" composed of Swiss mercenaries escorted the Pope out of the siege at the cost of 80% loss. From then on, the Swiss mercenaries' great reputation was completely established.
In comparison, the Flemish Pikemen have a much less impressive reputation, but they also have had impressive battle records. They can be combined with the Swiss Halberdiers to develop tactics similar to the Swiss Pike Phalanx.
There are also examples in history of Swiss halberdiers breaking away from the pike phalanx to fight on their own, and the results were even more disastrous.
The only thing that made Losa feel sorry was that their numbers were still too small.
As a supporting force, even if their number is more than twice that of the cavalry, and with the bonus of large-scale conscription, they can have 700 people, the total number is only 1,400.
Compared to cavalry, the biggest advantage of infantry is that they are cheap and numerous.
In the battles of the time, the Flemish lancers and Swiss halberdiers often numbered in the thousands or even tens of thousands. In the final analysis, both were nothing more than a kind of "urban militia" and "mercenaries."
They are not the Varangian Guards, which are equipped with multiple layers of heavy armor and can launch violent charges on the battlefield and can be regarded as heavy cavalry on land. After the number of these two armies was limited, the importance of these two military camps was greatly reduced.
However, after watching the drills of the two infantry phalanxes, Lothar came up with an idea, which was to form a phalanx of 6,000 spearmen with these 1,400 people as the core, as the backbone of the future battlefield.
...
After returning to the Governor's Mansion, before he had time to sit down and take a sip of Adil's treasured hot tea from the East, Lothar heard a guard coming to report: "Your Majesty, Sir Dosores is here to visit you again."
"Again?"
Lothar became a little annoyed. This Sir Dosores was really annoying, even though he had made many contributions on the battlefield and swore allegiance to Lothar.
But I always wondered if I could use some backdoor access to him so that I could get a more fertile fiefdom.
To this end, he proposed several times to increase the amount of vassal taxes in exchange for paying more wealth to Lothar in exchange for a rich fiefdom like the city of Damietta.
Loyalty cannot change a person's greedy nature. If Losa really agrees to this person's request, he can indeed gain more benefits, but he will not tighten his belt because of this. He will only intensify his exploitation of the local people.
"No, no, let him take the gifts he brought and go to the church to confess!"
Losa waved his hand in annoyance and asked, "Did you take the money from that guy?"
The Winged Hussar who reported the incident nodded awkwardly and took off the purse tied behind his waist: "I'm sorry, Your Majesty."
"Get out of here and go to church with Dosores to confess!"
Lothar pointed at the door and cursed, if he really did get what Dosores wanted, what difference would his feudal system have with the Saracens' tax farming system?
By then, the local area will be filled with resentment and chaos. It would be better to let the Saracens continue to rule this land.
That's why Lothar hoped that Lavinia could help him perfect a written law as soon as possible, and regulate the behavior of his subordinates through the code, just like the Imperial Cavalry Company that did a good job in the Transjordan territory.
The Winged Hussar who reported the incident nodded hurriedly and left, but was stopped by Lothar again: "Take the money bag with you. Remember what I said, there is no such thing as free wealth. It is normal for you to think that Dosoles just wants to see me, but greed will corrode your soul sooner or later!"
Only after driving this man away did Losa feel relieved.
He decided to spend most of his time on drafting a code of law recently. In addition, he also planned to issue a code of conduct for lords. In his opinion, there is no such thing as a vassal's vassal not being my vassal.
In the evening, an exciting news came.
A knight of the Knights Templar successfully displayed the Holy Light. Although it was only a ray of it, it was the real Holy Light!
Losa hurried to the monastery and saw that Jeanne had been waiting there for a long time.
"I've analyzed it. It should be that they obtained a 'seed' of Holy Light when they changed their jobs. Let's call it that. With this thing as a foundation, they can gradually cultivate Holy Light through meditation."
Losa couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard this: "In other words, it is still impossible to fully promote the Holy Light?"
Jeanna said unhappily, “What are you thinking about? Even in the Holy Knights, not just anyone can use the Holy Light. It requires a long ascetic life, constant tempering of will, and meditation.
Even if you are a member of the Knights Order, and you already have a ray of Holy Light Seed, I don’t think they can master the power of Holy Light.”
"So I suggest that these three knight orders should not recruit people casually, otherwise they will just take up empty positions."
Losa nodded and said, "Of course I know that."
Even if there were not 1,200 extraordinary knights who could use Holy Light, but only half of that number, Lothar felt that it was still a remarkable thing. Moreover, even if they could not use Holy Light, it did not mean that their combat effectiveness was not strong.
"Speaking of which, meditation may not be useful to others, but their methods of training the body and honing martial arts are still worth spreading."
When he thought of this, Losa felt his scalp tingling - he still lacked internal affairs talents. There were so many things he wanted to do and had to do.
Even if Coors had three heads and six arms, it would be impossible for him to sort out everything by himself.
(End of this chapter)