Although Combrigne had gone from a dead military town to a bustling city, there was a constant flow of immigrants, especially Ottoman Orthodox believers. But the manpower problem has not been alleviated by these changes.

"General Giovanni, how's it going?"

In order to prepare for the future war with the Ottomans, John had already given Giovanni an order to raise troops at the beginning of the year. Because John had already imposed restrictions on compulsory conscription, prohibiting local officials from enforcing conscription unless the war was exigential, the conscription process proceeded particularly slowly.

It was already February 1445, and there were only about 100 recruits who had signed up for the camp, and Giovanni had to weed out some of the homeless people who only wanted to mix up a military salary.

In this era, the productivity of the people is far inferior to that of later generations, whether it is compulsory conscription or military service, it is at the expense of development efficiency. John and Sophia, of course, would not make such a one-shot deal. But with the help of mercenaries, not to mention the quality of the soldiers, and the payment of a huge amount of mercenaries every month, even if Epirus enjoyed the hidden benefits of the gold mines, it would be dragged down in the long run.

"What to do? More than a hundred recruits simply cannot constitute an effective combat force...... It's enough to even make up for the Phoenix Legion. ”

"I'm not surprised at all......," John sighed, "I should have thought that this would be the case when the garrison of Constantinople was reduced to pieces...... No, when those nobles defected, the reserve soldiers of the empire were almost always one less. Truth be told, the nobles have more experience than us in recruiting troops, and although the methods may be a little difficult to accept, they always solve the problem as quickly as possible. ”

"Do you regret what kind of military reform?" Sophia looked at John as if she had discovered a new world, when the garrison was disbanded, John was in high spirits, but now he regrets it, which can be regarded as a strange story.

"I don't regret it, I just wonder how we can make our people replenish the Empire's depleted army more quickly without trusting the government. After all, we can't send the Phoenix Legion in every war, and their monthly maintenance fee is twice as much as that of the full Heavy Cavalry Regiment. Even though Constantine XI would still bear part of the Phoenix Legion's salary for John, John still felt uneasy every time he remembered Geoffrey's appearance of taking out a large amount of gold coins from the vault of Fort Combrine to pay for the military salary, "In addition to the Phoenix Legion, we still need a standing army to complete daily battles and defenses." They don't need to be unique, and therefore they don't need to be recruited according to the standards of the Phoenix Legion, but within two months, at least three thousand people will have to be recruited. In this way, through training, it will be possible to cooperate with the offensive that the Empire will launch after this summer. ”

"Your Majesty, is it too hasty...... In this way, we also cannot guarantee how much combat strength the new corps will have. Giovanni was a little embarrassed, "After all, the human resources of the empire are currently limited, and we need to try our best to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops, otherwise, sooner or later there will be a shortage of replenishment." Not to mention that in a relatively depopulated area like Epirus......"

Giovanni's worries were not unreasonable, by the end of the feudal era of the Middle Ages, the proportion of the army and the population was more than 1 to 3 percent, usually about 1 to 3 percent, due to the limitation of cultural popularization and productivity, most of the soldiers were also illiterate class farmers before joining the army, and it took a lot of time to popularize military discipline to them, and the faith required a lot of time, and the combat effectiveness was also seriously insufficient.

The reason why Sophia feels that John will regret the military reform is that so far, the nobles still have a large number of excellent soldiers. Moreover, the most important cavalry resources in the army, especially the heavy cavalry, were usually in the hands of the nobility. John regained most of the nobility's right to recruit private soldiers through military reform, but he did not transfer this lost human resources to the royal family. So much so that recruiting troops from the civilian sector is extremely inefficient.

"Either divide the new nobles loyal to the royal family and re-decentralize power, or reform the conscription system along with the military reform." Sophia gave two suggestions, "But brother, you also know that no matter which of these two you choose, it is almost impossible to implement them in a short period of time. ”

"We can't wait for Mehmed II to be completely freed from the aftermath of the rebellion, and then engage in a fair fight like a knight......" John rubbed his eyebrows. He is now extremely envious of Prince Thomas, who controls the Morea region, how can he raise tens of thousands of troops when he launches an attack on Greece, "Let the Phoenix Legion storm the city wall, and I can feel sorry for a day if I lose one, this problem must be solved." ”

"Then you have to ...... Go and ask the Patriarch to be crowned. ”

"Sophia, have you forgotten? Gregory III's control over part of the army has long been emasculated by his father, and at present, there are only a few dozen secular knights in Hagia Sophia who can be called combat effectiveness, so don't count on him. ”

"That's not what I meant!" Sophia laughed, "Didn't King Egrius III send us a diocesan bishop?" Since he is anxious to establish the absolute rule of faith in the region of Epirus, we can take advantage of the rare faith fanaticism of the moment to recruit troops. ”

Yes, the faith of the people is often the most devout and fanatical in the early days of successful evangelism, and in the ninth and tenth centuries, the Catholic Church frantically colonized Eastern Europe, in fact, taking advantage of the boundless zeal of the people on the borders of the Catholic-controlled areas.

That's probably what Epirus is in now. Countless churches, monasteries, and chapels have sprung up from the ground, all of which have given birth to the people's support for the Orthodox Church.

Then, if Gregorus III and even the young bishop Sextus preached that bathing the whole body with the blood of the pagans on the battlefield would bring the soul under the gaze of God and urge the people to fight for the faith, Epirus' army should have increased greatly. Even using religious fanaticism, it was possible to make Gregory III ascend to the heights and declare the holy conquest of the Ottomans!

Once this war is won, the coveted authority of the Patriarch will be quickly pushed to the highest point.

"So, brother, faith has always been the most important thing for rulers to take advantage of, even if you are not religious."