Chapter 256 Combat Preparation
In the matter of desertion, Pierre did not engage in corporal punishment or disguised corporal punishment.
But for Roger's company, this attitude of holding it high and putting it down gently was almost a humiliation.
They cannot shirk the excuse that they have been punished and therefore have no psychological burden.
When they try to pursue honor, they have a completely different appearance from ordinary armies.
As the saying goes, know your shame and then be brave.
With Laurent leading the team, even without more training, Roger's company tried to pass the devil's mid-week assessment and wash away their shame.
"Hold on!" Laurent roared loudly, already carrying two supply bags on his body.
In fact, even he carries an extra set of weapons.
This was the last day of Devil's Week and the last 20-kilometer march. It only took them 4 hours to complete it with all members wearing armor, and no one was left behind.
However, just after they strode around a small hill, they saw a river suddenly appear.
At this moment when almost everyone is exhausted, swimming across the river becomes an extremely dangerous choice, even if the river is not actually that deep.
Laurent looked at Roger and shouted loudly.
"Roger!"
"Arrived!"
"Take off your equipment, tie a rope, and hammer nails after crossing! We need to build a simple bridge immediately!"
Laurent immediately realized that not only his company needed to cross the river, but he also needed to prepare for other companies behind.
As the vanguard, they must not just think about crossing the river on their own, but must consider the problem from a bigger picture perspective.
Although this river may not be deep, the deepest point should not be more than 1.3 meters. There should be no need to swim, but only need to wade through.
But if simple bridges are not built, the entire Antiochian army will be delayed in marching speed and face the possibility of non-combat attrition.
Since Roger had the best physical fitness, Laurent naturally ordered Roger to nail the first rope.
Just as Roger began to tie the rope and prepare to wade through the water, the footsteps of large troops marching were heard from the rear, and the troops who had originally lagged behind Laurent's company began to catch up.
Laurent also went over to discuss how to quickly build simple bridges and distribute work content.
The method they chose was to weave a rope bridge as quickly as possible and reinforce it repeatedly, preferably with some boats from around.
As for Roger on the other side, after taking off unnecessary equipment, he rushed into the river without any hesitation. When the water reached his waist, he began to fight hard.
When I first entered the water, I felt so relaxed. Now that it is May, the weather is no longer cold, and all the previous sweat has been washed away at this moment.
But after just a few hard swims, Roger felt that his body was reaching its limit. This intentional fatigue was not just accumulated from previous marches.
It was accumulated in the body from the entire Devil Week and even the previous additional training.
This is a feeling of physical and mental exhaustion. Every muscle in the body is telling Roger that he has been stuck at the limit. Roger understands that this is another time when his body has reached the "critical point".
But this time the critical point is not the "inertia" of the body's organs that cannot keep up with the movement system, but a physical warning from the inside out.
The short twenty-meter-wide river seemed to have become a chasm that Roger could not cross.
His perception of time became sharper, and each stroke seemed to last half a minute. His will urged the hormones in his body to explode, and a force was regenerated in this almost desperate situation.
Swimming in the water became a subconscious reaction to empty the mind. When Roger touched the river bed, he realized that he no longer needed to swim.
When he stood up shakily, his feet slipped again and he fell into the river again. Fortunately, he still had the strength to get up.
After struggling to nail the first rope, Roger completely lost his strength.
After getting the first auxiliary rope, then that rope, and then several soldiers crossed the river, nailed more and more ropes, tied up the wooden boards, knocked down the wooden piles in the river, and began to build a simple bridge.
In the end, with the hard work of nearly 300 people from two companies, it took only half an hour to build a simple bridge that could allow people, horses, and camels to pass quickly, and it could be reinforced later.
When this matter was reported to everyone, even Garris became slightly silent.
Judging from the current military quality of these armies, although they cannot be called iron armies, they are enough to cope with the cold weapon battles of this era.
Its terrain traffic ability, daily emergency march distance, and formation advancement when physical strength is insufficient should all be among the best infantry regiments in the Mediterranean.
……
After the Devil's Week, there was a week-long rest. The whole army got a rare rest and they had the opportunity to relax.
From your muscles to your mind, everything is soothed.
This kind of relief is enough for them to remember for a lifetime, and they can say a sentence about those days when they are old.
During this week, Garris also took Isabella and other important people to express condolences to the army.
Garris didn't make any grand spectacles. He just brought a lot of braised beef and a lot of candies.
Although Garris did not hold any official position in the Second Kingdom, his influence on junior officers is unquestionable.
At present, whether it is the Antioch army or the troops directly under the Second Kingdom, the company, platoon and battalion officers are all followers who joined the religious order when they were in the Arnon Valley.
I have witnessed with my own eyes the process of the religious order growing from small to large, from a village, to a town, to the entire Transjordan, and now it has unified the Christian countries of the Holy Land.
Of course, in addition to the continuous increase in strength, there are also the "miracles" that Garris has performed, as well as the many preachings that Garris has made.
These little bits and pieces bring together the trust that everyone has in Garris today.
Even if Garris is not with them, they are still willing to follow Garris to realize the "Kingdom of Heaven on Earth".
When Garris was walking in the camp, he would have cordial conversations with some soldiers from time to time, and even participated in a card game between soldiers and officers, engaging in the most common pastime.
Gambling is indeed prohibited in Garris's army, but bets are often made on some weird things or things, such as who does the laundry, who runs in circles, who cleans the toilet, and so on.
Of course, it’s impossible to just play cards and do nothing else during vacation. In addition to pure relaxation, Garris also organized some sports within the army to enhance the soldiers' sense of honor, teamwork, and obedience to instructions.
The most classic thing here is football.
In every civilization, there were early ball games.
But it was not until the 19th century that modern football began to be born.
During the European Middle Ages, football emerged as various forms of street football or village football, often without clear rules.
During the game, groups of people carry the ball from one location to another, often causing chaos and sometimes even social unrest.
In the 13th century, some British towns tried to restrict this "football game" because it was too intense and even affected urban order.
It was not until the end of the 19th century or the beginning of the 20th century that football was promoted to the world.
The company-based army football match is scheduled to start on the fourth day of the holiday. The first three days are mainly about organizing some non-sports entertainment activities for everyone.
A total of 32 companies started the knockout round.
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Because it is an entertainment competition, there are 32 teams, and each elimination is directly determined by one game.
Even Garris, in the process, personally returned to the exhibition game.
Successfully used the football to leave a dark mark on the goal post.
The simple and simple emotions between men are freely displayed on and off the court.
However, due to their identities and the level of strength between them, Garris never played in the knockout rounds in person.
He could only sit in the audience and chat with the nobles or parliamentarians who were invited by Isabella to watch the game from time to time about things related to football or the army, which was a way to get to know each other better.
When the nobles or congressmen heard that the Balian faction already had an army of more than 5,000 people, they couldn't help but fell silent.
If we only count the direct troops that the royal family can mobilize, the size of five thousand people is actually the number of troops at the peak of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Moreover, the spirit of the five thousand soldiers was even more outrageous.
As for a nobleman like Balian who knew how to fight, he could tell that the physical limits of these soldiers were no less than those of the knights who had been training for a long time after watching the soldiers chasing after them on the field for an hour and a half.
In a siege battle, if these soldiers are not riding horses, they will not be much inferior to knights if they are fully armed and armored.
"Leper King, have you ever thought that the fall of Jerusalem was the rebirth of your own kingdom." Balian spoke softly.
"Never."
Next to Balian, the young king with an iron mask who was two years younger than Garris answered Balian's question.
"And... Balian, you also have to... prepare and join the war. Just... such a small territory... cannot maintain such a large... strong army."
The Leper King continued to say something to Balian, and then his figure disappeared under the blazing sun.
Balian understood what that person meant. He knew exactly how much they invested in soldiers. It can be said that in order to support such an army of five thousand people, the annual military expenditure of the Kingdom of Jerusalem would almost certainly exceed 300,000. dinar.
And you must know that even in the early 14th century, England's real estate income was only five tons of silver per year. In terms of value, it was not even one-third of 300,000 dinars.
The false promise made by the Fatimid Dynasty to deceive Amory I into withdrawing his troops was only 600,000 dinars.
In other words, if the Fatimid dynasty really honored the compensation of 600,000 dinars, it would only be enough for the current Kingdom of Jerusalem to support two years of troops.
Balian actually knows something about Garris's financial resources.
It started from the sales of some luxury goods, such as soaps, perfumes, steel weapons and the like.
The second was the rectification of the tax system. The original group of tax collectors was jointly replaced by the Ministry of Taxation and the Ministry of Police. A group of second-rate dealers were eliminated and partial centralization was completed. Although taxes were reduced, the total amount collected by the kingdom was not much. decline.
Secondly, they went to the Venetians and the Knights Templar to obtain a large amount of loans by mortgaging Acre's customs.
Among the above three funds, the huge profits from luxury goods trade are not sustainable. As the sales volume of goods increases, prices will almost inevitably fall, and even the market will be saturated.
As for the loans from the Venetians and the Knights Templar, they are non-renewable in a short period of time, and they still need to be repaid. Considering their international reputation, even Garris did not actually borrow too much.
The current kingdom may be able to build an army of five thousand people with these two sums of money, but it cannot sustain it for a long time.
If you want to maintain an army of 5,000 people, continue to maintain the current training intensity, and maintain their high morale, you will inevitably need to expand financial resources through other methods.
The simplest method among them is actually to expand the territory and occupy those rich towns.
Moreover, among these 5,000-man army, there are more than 250 officers who receive salaries and are loyal to Garis...
Whether it is following the feudal system, canonizing some of them as lords, or appointing them as officials in Antioch, it means that the Kingdom of Jerusalem is already capable of preliminary governance of the newly recovered land.
"So, the time to regain the country has come, hasn't it?" Balian looked at Garris who was sitting with Isabella and chatting with others from time to time. He had already realized that the time for war has come. Mature.
The dispatch of such an army was inevitable.
Balian's standing army of five thousand, plus a total of two thousand vassal levies, and the German Crusaders of about six thousand people were assembled.
In addition, when the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar heard that they would besiege Acre again, they also regrouped an army to respond to Balian's call. The total number of cavalry and infantry of the two knights was about A thousand people.
The total army of 14,000 was much smaller in size than previous armies.
Even the total number of cavalry may not exceed 2,500.
But now, Saladin's army around Acre has always maintained a size of close to 30,000, and the difference in numbers between the two sides is nearly double.
With this disparity in numbers, even the nobles in the House of Lords could not help but question the outcome of this battle.
After all, although the troops under Balian's command are indeed excellent, they are basically infantry-based and naturally lack sufficient mobility to control the initiative on the battlefield.
(End of chapter)