Chapter 229 The journey of collecting fragments is over
The difference from the stereotype of many people is that the emergence of firearms did not immediately eliminate the existence of knights as a military unit.
In the early days when firearms began to appear, it was almost impossible to say that artillery could directly destroy castles.
When firearms first appeared in the 13th and 14th centuries, and even the peak of the feudal era in Europe overlapped with the Renaissance, it was the glorious age of knights.
The emergence of giant stone-shooting cannons in the 15th century was essentially proof that mankind had once again taken a detour in the history of weapon development.
Take the cannon "Monsmeg" as an example. It was built in 1449 by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and was given as a gift to King James II of Scotland.
It has a caliber of nearly 500 mm, weighs 5,000 kilograms, and is capable of firing 250 kilogram shells.
The Urban Cannon is actually one of the representatives of this type of artillery
But this ancient cannon, which is about to catch up with the Urban Cannon, has undergone a series of modern changes. After restoring it, you will find that it is not as overwhelming as many people think.
Whether it is the Urban Cannon or the "Monsmeg", they are all wrought iron cannons with limited chamber pressure endurance, and at that time, even the "maroon gunpowder" used by the Garris Order was not available. exist.
Therefore, when the "Monsmeg" cannon is fired, this cannon, which can fire 250 kilograms of boulders, only has a charge of 34.5 kilograms of black powder.
According to computer simulation, it can be concluded that with this charge, the muzzle velocity is only 319 meters per second, which cannot even break through the speed of sound.
The final speed will be as low as only 209.2 meters per second.
The specific kinetic energy of artillery bombardment at this speed is obviously very limited, and it is not enough to directly destroy the city wall.
Back to the formula: Ek=1/2mv
Calculated purely based on the muzzle velocity, the actual kinetic energy of the "Monsmeg" that fires a 250-kilogram boulder is only Ek=1/2*250*319, which is about 12,720 kilojoules of kinetic energy.
But if you switch to a cast metal cannon with a smaller caliber, a larger magnification, and more charges, and fire metal shells, such as a 24-pound cannon.
The caliber of the 24-pound cannon is much smaller than that of the "Monsmeg". It fires 10.9 kilograms of metal shells, but the muzzle velocity can reach 512 meters per second.
This means that the kinetic energy of a 10.9 kilogram iron ball will reach 14,286 kilojoules.
The kinetic energy of a 10.9-kg projectile > the kinetic energy of a 250-kg projectile
Its metal material will be stronger than most city walls, and the pressure it causes per unit area is far greater than the "Monsmeg" that launches a 250-kilogram boulder.
In this case, artillery can effectively destroy the city wall, and by the time this era arrives, it will actually be after the 16th century.
Of course, because the ancients did not have a clear understanding of the kinetic energy formula, they often simply relied on experience and took it for granted.
In fact, the early super-large-caliber artillery was based on a continuation of experience and replaced the old trebuchet. For trebuchets that are difficult to increase their flight speed, firing heavier stones can indeed increase the lethality. The most direct means of force.
But artillery is not that simple.
The actual destructive effect of Urban's cannon was not even comparable to that of a 30-pound cannon in later generations, which was unimaginable in the eyes of the ancients.
But Garris succeeded in making people like Marwan understand the problem hundreds of years in advance.
This is the power of knowledge, which condenses rough experience into a short formula, and then uses the formula to guide technological development, thereby producing truly powerful artillery.
Knowledge is power, and that power condensed in front of Walter, creating this test object that is 30 times the diameter and can easily launch supersonic projectiles.
When the cannon roared, and when Walter saw the cannonball hitting the rock and destroying it, Walter couldn't help but ask himself.
"If this is not God's enlightenment, then what is God's enlightenment?"
......
In Walter, he took the bronze cannon from Cyprus and took a boat to Latakia. And when it was sent to the city of Antioch by land.
Lance realized that he had another opportunity.
Now is the best time for Lance to weaken the nobles in the Antioch region.
Although the noble lords in the Antioch region were not directly involved in the previous war with Saladin.
But Bohemond mobilized almost all of Antioch's troops and headed south to Tripoli.
The four thousand army was the main force of Antioch, and was directly destroyed by Bohemond at the hands of Leonard, and then was defeated by Garris's troops.
Nowadays, the number of manpower guarding the city walls in various Antioch castles is very limited.
Essentially, after the Battle of the Sea of Galilee, the original situation of the various castles in Jerusalem was the same. Although the castle was still dangerous, the number of guards guarding the castle was slightly insufficient.
If they want to temporarily replenish their troops, the noble lords of Antioch cannot trust the indigenous people around their territory.
Using the assassination of Garris, he forced Bohemond to write a confession, and then relied on the name on the confession.
It is difficult for any of the existing Norman nobles in Antioch to prove their innocence.
Lance is going to call those little lords to the city of Antioch to question them. Will they come or not?
“I’m not saying that we have to kill them all.”
"But if I refuse to be loyal to the kingdom, refuse to hand over power, and refuse to die, it will be very difficult for me..."
Lance said calmly at the regular meeting , said this.
Many people attending the meeting held an attitude of neither supporting nor opposing Lance's speech.
Even the nobles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem did not feel that something was wrong when they listened to Lance's words.
First of all, Bohemond indeed conspired to pay for the murder, and secondly, the nobles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem themselves are not in the same pot as Antioch.
In any case, most of the nobles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem are Franks of orthodox origin. Many family ancestors can trace back to the era of Charlemagne, having entered the country with Charlemagne.
Let alone those whose ancestors can trace back to the Merovingian Dynasty!
What is Antioch? A group of Norman descendants...
The ancestors were Nordics, Vikings, and pirates who robbed homes and homes.
The Scandinavian bandits are coming to our Frankish territory to beg for food!
Then the Principality of Normandy, isn't it the territory given to you by the Vikings?
Putting aside the issue of this chain of aristocratic discrimination, the Principality of Antioch has played a very disgusting role in the Kingdom of Jerusalem because of its long-term alignment issues.
Multiple attempts were made to interfere with the succession of the throne within the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
As a "subordinate country", interfere in the internal politics of the "sovereign country".
In addition, he went to tease the Eastern Empire from time to time, which brought unnecessary diplomatic and military pressure to the Crusader countries.
As a result, the image of the Principality of Antioch was very bad in the eyes of the Jerusalem nobles
So much so that the attitude of many Jerusalem nobles towards the Principality of Antioch was actually: It should have been taken care of long ago!
“I’m not saying that it’s all about these Antioch nobles. As long as they can join our Kingdom’s House of Lords like everyone else, then everything can be discussed!”
While speaking, Lance turned his attention to some Tripoli nobles standing aside.
Now that the overall situation in Antioch has been decided, the nobles in Tripoli, after seeing the power of Garis, could not help but work hard with their legs and sweat on their backs.
Many of them have also made overtures to Garris and expressed their desire to get closer to the [Holy One of Jerusalem].
But when Gairis clearly told them that the County of Tripoli would be merged into the Kingdom of Jerusalem, many of them seemed very hesitant.
Because the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Tripoli and Antioch are really different.
Although the Kingdom of Jerusalem seems to be dominated by Frankish nobles.
But in terms of political structure, it is closer to the English.
A large amount of land was concentrated in the hands of the royal family for various reasons. A considerable number of nobles actually only held office with the annuity provided by the manor.
The overall power of the Kingdom Council is higher than that of the lords.
Except for the fact that Transjordan is too remote, it is rarely said that "the vassals I vassal are not my vassals" really exist. On the contrary, a bill was passed more than 20 years ago, explicitly stipulating all The fact that nobles were all vassals of the king.
After the news came from the city of Tire, the nobles in Tripoli became even more difficult to accept.
In the "Etiquette Plan for the Kingdom's Nobles" that has not yet been implemented, Isabella still divides the nobility into two major categories, one is the group of landless aristocrats, and the other is the group of landless aristocrats.
They are all nobles. They have the same management system and the same noble level, which will be a symbol of honor.
And are eligible to participate in kingdom politics through the House of Lords.
But the difference between the two is that the land-based nobles need to bear the obligation to pay taxes and provide military service, while the landless nobles do not need to bear those obligations and are eligible to receive a generous annuity from the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
And different from the past, in the "Etiquette Act", the management method of the manor by the noble lords was strictly stipulated.
There are detailed regulations on how much tax is collected every year, how to provide conscripts, and how tax profits are divided. If you violate the law, you will be fined.
At the same time, for underage lords and female lords, the kingdom will also send corresponding "guardians" to "assist" in managing the manors to prevent those properties from being occupied by certain people.
As soon as the words "guardian" and "assistance" came out, among the lords present, which one is not a human spirit, and which one does not know what will happen?
If the "Etiquette Act" is really implemented, they, the field lords of Tripoli, will, in a sense, become subordinate puppets of the royal power, and cannot really act arbitrarily in their own territories.
Normally, this kind of "Etiquette Bill" that clearly infringes on the power of local nobles would be impossible to pass at the Noble Assembly in Jerusalem.
But now, does the Kingdom of Jerusalem have a real noble?
With Saladin's army occupying most of the kingdom's land, every one of the nobles in the city of Tire was a landless noble.
The possibility of passing this bill, which obviously benefits the landless nobles, is very high.
Not to mention the nobles of Antioch, even the nobles of Tripoli, if it weren't for Gairis being too cruel.
Perhaps they are all starting to conspire to raise the flag of rebellion, and are preparing to lead troops to Tire City to clear the emperor's side, rescue Guysibilla and his wife, and eliminate the cancer of Isabella's chaos.
Seeing that the group of Tripoli nobles didn't speak, Lance was quite sorry, even though Garris did not attend this meeting.
But the power that Garris showed still left an unforgettable mark in the hearts of these people.
It would be too troublesome for this group of people to directly come out to oppose.
This is the disadvantage of having [Prophet] as an ally. Before I even exert any force on my side, the other party has already surrendered and expressed regret.
Even if Garris did not claim to be a [prophet], his Samson-like force alone was enough to make many people surrender. "Since my colleagues in Tripoli understand justice so well, I think the nobles in Antioch also need to prove their attitude."
...
Altaïr's departure did not take long. When he returned to Antioch again, he brought the goodwill of Sinan, the old man in the mountains.
Of course, it is not so much goodwill as it is an agreement not to offend the river.
As long as Garris does not pursue Altaïr's previous assassination and continues to regard Masyaf Fort as a non-existent invisible force, then Masyaf Fort will ignore Garris.
Ignore Gairis's act of calling himself "Imam".
There will be no assassinations against military and political officials in the Second Kingdom.
At the same time, Sinan, the old man in the mountain, also appointed Altaïr to take charge of the business in Antioch and understand what was happening in the Second Kingdom.
Regarding this kind of "goodwill", Garris did not forcefully expel all members of the other sect.
Instead, it requires a list of its members and tells them that if there are any activities, remember to report them and they can only proceed with approval.
Is there any activity that needs to be reported by the Nithari Ismailis?
Altaïr thought for a while, maybe assassination counts as one? In other words, if you want to carry out an assassination in the country of Antioch, you have to go to Garris and others to report and get approval?
This felt very wrong, but considering the various "miracles" performed by Gareth, Altaïr chose to respect Gareth.
"Imam" Hmm, I have doubts...
Anyway, Altaïr did not intend to carry out another assassination operation against Garris.
Today, Altaïr is just an ordinary resident of Antioch.
His appearance was slightly different, not like a typical Armenian, and that was, he explained, because he was one-eighth Turkic.
This is not surprising, so Altaïr is like an ordinary Antioch resident, living in this city, working from sunrise to sunset, rushing to the craft workshop every day, earning Withdraw living expenses.
Like other Antiochians, he was delighted when he heard that poll taxes and other exorbitant taxes were no longer levied here.
"Graffa, do you know any Frankish friends?" While he was working, the owner of the workshop suddenly walked in and called out Altaïr's new name.
Altaïr thought for a while and felt that he probably didn't know any Franks. Just when he was about to deny it, the boss continued: "There is a man at the door who calls himself Jos. He says he is your friend and wants to see you. ”
"Boss, I'm taking half a day off, so today's wages will be deducted." Altaïr said to his boss.
The boss was a little unhappy when he heard the first half of the sentence, but he was relieved when he noticed the second part. He just thought that Grafa had worked for him for half a day in vain.
After Altaïr changed into his daily clothes, he saw that Jos had been waiting at the door for a long time.
Jos said hello to Altaïr, and then took him around the city and straight to the nearby military camp.
After sitting down in Jos’ office, Jos poured a glass of water for Altaïr.
"What's the matter?" Altaïr asked.
"I have a commission and want to contact you." Jos said bluntly.
Altaïr frowned and did not respond immediately, but remained silent.
“There are two people, we hope you can pay attention to them.”
“Pay attention?”
"Yes, it's not an assassination. We just want to confirm their whereabouts. There are rumors that they have returned to Antioch, but we are not sure where they are now." Jos said calmly.
“Who are they?”
“Bohemond’s two children.”
“Raymond and Bohemond Jr.?” Altaïr Realizing who the other party was referring to, he then said: "Are you sure you don't need us to help you eradicate the roots?"
"No need." Joss replied decisively.
Unlike those who hope to achieve some dark ends through the Nichari Ismailis, Gairis and others do not need to resort to shady means.
What they value more is the intelligence network controlled by Nichari Ismailis.
The Nichari Ismailis control a vast intelligence network throughout the Middle East, and to many they seem to be everywhere.
The lords do not know who the Nichari Ismailis are, nor when their poisonous blades will appear.
This fear is a weapon in the hands of the Nichari Ismailis, but it also means that they can collect intelligence efficiently.
And this is exactly what Gehrys and others currently lack.
If information can only be obtained through the circulation of merchants, it is often easy to be exploited by Leonard, or the information lags behind and the authenticity is doubtful.
Therefore, Gareth planned to seek help from his new friends.
"It seems that you are very confident." Altaïr scratched his hair. Although selling information can be considered profitable, compared to assassination, the income is still slightly lower, but at least it is better than safety.
……
The further away from Transjordan, the more Gaelis felt uncomfortable.
The longer he lives in this era, the more Garris feels that he is being assimilated by this era.
A feeling of having no roots or roots often appears in Garris's heart.
He knew what was going on.
Because when he was in Transjordan, he led the Franks and Saracens at the bottom, overthrew the old ruling class from the bottom up, and completely rebuilt a political order.
But it was different outside Transjordan. In order to quickly integrate the surrounding forces, the forces on the religious order made a lot of compromises.
By absorbing the old aristocratic groups of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the territories near Tire were integrated and the central power of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was obtained.
By transforming the church in Cyprus, he gained the status of the head of Cyprus and was able to mobilize Cyprus' resources.
Through the will of Raymond, Earl of Tripoli, and by winning over the local nobles, he quickly controlled Tripoli.
When they arrived in Antioch, they directly led their troops to conquer without having any contact with the local people in Antioch.
I am being changed.
There is no doubt about it.
“Aren’t you going to go to trial?”
Gairis asked himself.
“Is it necessary to go to trial? Or can I hold a trial? In fact, I can only announce the evidence to the citizens of Antioch, but I cannot allow witnesses to attend. After all, witnesses Altaïr is Assassin..."
The meaning of the word Assassin means a derogation for most people in this era.
In fact, in the Crusader countries, it is difficult for the Saracens’ testimony to have legal effect. However, for factions like Assassins who walk in the shadows, their words are more direct. It's a negative effect.
Let Assassin's assassins testify against the victims? That's really a joke.
From another perspective, the victim is Garris, Bohemond's superior.
And the judge must be Garis or someone else under Garis' command.
If a trial is organized, will Garris sit on the judge's bench or on the plaintiff's bench?
Instead of holding a nondescript trial destined to be criticized, it would be better to directly use the blood of certain people to forge the authority of Antioch's rule.
This is not Transjordan, and there is no school cultivating talents. This is Antioch, and Garis only has two companies of cronies, which in total is less than 300 people.
Even including volunteers from Cyprus, there will not be more than 800 people.
In these days, the various masses, sermons, and sacraments that Garris held... only meant to bring himself closer to the residents here, and were far from mobilizing the citizens.
Those eight hundred people cannot be used as a basic administrative force, they can only be used as a military deterrent.
In Antioch, Galis was not destined to be a revolutionary, so he actually had very few choices to make. At least for now, he could not do anything to punish the people.
Even if a public trial is held in a hurry, it will not achieve the effect of Transjordan.
The reason for dealing with the Antioch nobles was that Bohemond rebelled against the kingdom, and it was Gareth who acquiesced to Lance's involvement.
Instead of anything else.
"Sure enough, it's time to go back, and it's time to walk again."
Gairis thought of the countryside of Transjordan, of the plateau, and didn't know that the canal in front of the village of Skal, for that What changes have the village brought?
I don’t know how Alhadi School is doing now...
Immediately afterwards, Garris thought of Isabella. The current situation in Tire is actually not optimistic.
Although with the help of Balian and the Venetians, and the support of Sibylla, Isabella usurped the kingship, she never completed the coronation.
Because the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Irakli, firmly stood on the hostile side, Guy is now also regaining strength.
Isabella needs help of her own.
The journey of collecting the fragments is over, now it’s time to complete the puzzle.
(End of this chapter)