Chapter 682 The Prelude to the Counterattack
Neues Schontsch, a city on the northeastern border of Austria.
Nearly a thousand citizens gathered in the square of the cathedral in the city center, looking piously at Archbishop Mallu, Mr. Mesmer, standing on the stone steps of the church.
"The new Crusade has begun!" Mesmer exuded the brilliance of holiness and raised his hands. "All Christians should respond to His Majesty the Pope's call and head east to the sacred battlefield!
"The evil heretics will be judged there, and you will also use this to atone for all your sins!"
Although the onlookers were not as enthusiastic as the Poles, they also made signs of the cross and shouted:
"Judge heretics!"
"Response to Jihad!"
Standing behind "Archbishop Mallu", Bishop Borowski of the New Sonchi Diocese turned pale. Previously, the papal envoy only said that he wanted to convey the pope's instructions, but he did not expect such intense content.
He wanted to step forward to stop it, but in front of everyone, he didn't know how to end it.
Mesmer continued: "If the Russian heretics defeat Poland, they will definitely cross the Carpathians and take this place as their own!
"And you will be forced to pray with funny three fingers. Your children will be thrown into a vat of water for baptism. There will never even be a chance to escape the torture of purgatory!
"Are you willing to do this?"
As a professional liar, he naturally knows the importance of exaggeration.
Orthodox prayer gestures are not compulsory. Baptism only involves immersing the child in holy water, and no water tank is used. As for purgatory, there is no such thing in Orthodox Christianity, and there is no need for atonement to avoid suffering in purgatory.
But the crowd in the square broke out into a roar like a tsunami:
"No, never!"
"The heretics can't even come here!"
"Holy war! Holy war!"
Mesmer nodded with satisfaction: "Then, use your piety to support the warriors fighting the heretics!"
Bishop Borowski almost fainted, rubbing his forehead desperately, thinking about how to eliminate the influence he caused after the special envoy left.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.
No, for such a big thing as calling for jihad, why didn’t the Holy See issue instructions in advance, but directly sent an envoy?
At this moment, Mesmer finished his speech and walked towards him.
Bishop Borowski had a sullen face and hurriedly pulled him into the church and said:
"What do you want to do? This is not what the Pope wants!"
Mesmer was not nervous at all.
He was prepared to be exposed before he came, and the other party didn't even doubt his identity, just his behavior. This was much easier to solve than the previous times.
He said calmly: "Although it is not yet, it will be soon."
Bishop Borowski said angrily: "How is that possible? I will expose you to the Holy See!"
"This is your right." Mesmer smiled, "By the way, you should have heard that Russia has issued an ultimatum to Poland and war will begin soon."
"So?"
"European countries will soon learn that the Pope is going to launch a jihad. If Poland does not fight well, the Pope will certainly not deny the existence of jihad, because that will make the world think that the Holy See is afraid of the Orthodox Church.
< br>
"And if the Poles defeat Russia, then the Pope will have a great increase in prestige for 'leading' this holy war. In that case, His Majesty the Pope will even personally come to Novosunci and call for the Crusaders to go to the East."
Borowski was startled, it seemed that was indeed the case. Everything this papal envoy did was to expand the influence of the Holy See.
Mesmer continued: "If you can promote jihad in the diocese, I will definitely praise you well from the Holy See."
The reason why he is so calm is because even if there is an accident, the people from the Intelligence Bureau will rescue him immediately. Oh, and the Polish Council of Freedom and Security is here to help.
In the afternoon of the same day, Mesmer, with the gift of Bishop Borowski, left Novosundi and rushed to Belz, Austria, to continue his jihad speech.
It wasn’t long before pamphlets about the pope’s call for jihad began to appear in large numbers in New Sonchi. Citizens everywhere are discussing this matter. Then, religious fanatics actually went to Poland to join the Crusades.
Although there are not many people, only about a hundred people, they basically provide their own weapons and do not need to be paid. Mesmer passed through several cities on the Austrian border, adding seven to eight hundred soldiers to Poland for nothing.
Of course, what was more important than the strength of the troops was that the news quickly spread to Vienna, and everyone in Austria knew that the Poles were carrying out a crusade against the Russians as the "Spear of God".
As a Catholic country in Austria, people naturally believe that they should side with Poland.
……
The town of Marice.
Yannick wiped the flintlock gun with a rag, silently calculated in his mind, and said to himself:
"Seven days."
This is his seventh day here.
In other words, the Russian army was kept out of the town for a week.
Although news of the danger of the defense line came every day, and the casualties of soldiers were also very serious-the casualties of his company were close to one-third-the defense line was never breached by the enemy.
A little boy came over carrying a bucket and began to wash the rags on the floor.
Yannick looked at him and said:
"Kac, there will be a carriage transporting the wounded back to Warsaw tomorrow. You can go with it."
The little boy was startled and shook his head.
Yannick said:
"Obey, it's dangerous here."
Kachi still shook his head.
"Do you want to avenge your sister?"
Kachi nodded.
Yannick reached out and rubbed his head, which made the wound hurt terribly:
"Hiss - I know, but you are not as tall as a flintlock gun."
"I can fire!" The little boy rarely spoke, but he said these words very forcefully.
Yannick smiled: "Then you have to go back to Warsaw to study mathematics first, and then you can become a qualified artilleryman. The enemy will not always get to the muzzle of the gun by himself."
He has decided to adopt the child, even though he is only 19 years old.
However, he was officially promoted to sergeant three days ago, and the allowance is almost enough for Kaqi to attend ordinary school, while military school is said to be free.
Kaqi looked at him again, thought for a while, and nodded seriously:
"Okay then. I'll be back soon!"
Yannick subconsciously wanted to rub his head, but suddenly remembered the wound, quickly retracted his hand, and pointed to his feet:
"I will guard this place until you learn how to fire.
"Just like Mr. Drasovitz and the others."
The sound of military drums coming from behind interrupted his words.
He turned around and saw a Polish army appearing on the road in the distance.
The soldiers lined up in an extremely orderly queue and walked south to the beat of drums. The number of soldiers was so large that it stretched to the end of sight.
Kachi gave him a questioning look.
Yannick shook his head: "Maybe he came to assist the town's defense, I don't know."
It happened that the second lieutenant from the company came to check the condition of the firearms. Hearing this, he raised his head and pointed to the military flag at the front of the queue:
"That's the King's 3rd Infantry Division, and the one behind seems to be the King's 2nd Cavalry Battalion."
(End of chapter)