The operation to recruit Italian mercenaries went smoothly, and at first, the commanders of 11 Italian mercenary groups, including Pargani, refused to surrender. However, Charles, Earl of Gelldon, did not expect them to surrender at all. As a result, the 11 leaders of the Italian mercenary group, including Pargani, were imprisoned.

Then, Count Charles ordered people to screen out a group of middle- and lower-level Italian mercenary officers who were afraid of death and pain through severe torture. Then, let these people persuade the Italian mercenaries. At the same time, Count Charles also casually formulated a timid Italian mercenary squad leader named Finnini, formed a mercenary group called the "Art Mercenary Group", as an empty shell, and arranged the Italian mercenaries who agreed to accept the mercenary into this empty shell mercenary group......

Moreover, Count Charles promised the Italian mercenaries that once the war was over, the "Art Mercenary Regiment", a group with a bad record, would be disbanded, and their future would not be affected. However, their commissions are no less.

This trick really worked, and the Italians were already more philistine, and they were relatively less courageous. Charles, Earl of Geldon, coerced and lured them, and even killed a number of Italian mercenaries who were unwilling to surrender in front of many Italian mercenaries, many Italian mercenaries chose to cooperate in the face of reasons and intimidation......

In this way, of the more than 8,000 Italian mercenaries who were captured, 6,000 of them finally chose to change their lives and serve the allied forces of the princes of the eight countries.

In this way, the allied army of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms, which lost two or three thousand men in the siege of Oldenburg, made up for the previous loss of troops at once. Even, more than 3,000 horses were added.

……

"I don't understand, why would we hire these Italian softdies? It's not a good deal to hire them! Magnus I, Duke of Saxony-Lauenburg, dissatisfied.

The Earl of Geldon gave him a blank look and said:

"Lord Magnus, I know German mercenaries are more useful. But can you still hire sophisticated German mercenaries? ”

Because the alliance of princes and the alliance of the princes of the eight countries are recruiting mercenaries at the same time, and many mercenaries have already signed long-term contracts with some princes, so there is a shortage of veterans among the German mercenaries at present, and it is difficult to hire them. Now, the German mercenaries who can still be hired are either new recruits or weak chickens with very poor combat effectiveness.

Magnus I was a little short of words, but he muttered anyway:

"Then you don't have to hire these Italian softasses......"

Charles, Earl of Geldon, had no choice but to explain:

"Don't look at our army, there are 40,000 troops, but half of them are conscripts, and their combat effectiveness is very weak. And although these Italian mercenaries were not brave enough, they were also professional soldiers, and their combat effectiveness was stronger than that of the captured farmers. ”

"Moreover, now there are two legions in the North Sea Country. Needless to say, the First Legion, which was made up of pure veterans, was entangled with 20,000 veterans. Even if you can't defeat the other party, you can drag them down. Then, the outcome of the war will be determined by the victory or defeat of our new Second Army, which is dominated by the other 20,000 levies and the opponent's recruits. ”

"Although the other party's new Second Legion is mainly recruited, there are also thousands of elite straw hat swordsmen. Although our 20,000 levies are more numerous, we must also guard against being defeated by the opponent's elite. Therefore, we hired these Italian mercenaries, who were at least stronger than the conscripts, to ensure victory! ”

When Magnus I heard this, he thought for a moment and said:

"But our 20,000 conscripts should be enough to fight the other party's 10,000 recruits......"

Count Charles shook his head repeatedly:

"Not enough! If it was before, maybe enough. But now that the commander has been replaced by Marin, it may not be. This man is scheming and good at using soldiers. So, it's better to bring six thousand Italian mercenaries. In this way, we will ensure that our levies, with the help of Italian mercenaries, will be able to defeat the new group of recruits of the Second Legion of the North Sea Country......"

Thinking of Marin's previous brilliant achievements, Magnus I thought about it, and then stopped talking, which can be regarded as agreeing with Count Charles's statement.

However, Count Charles, who had a good idea, did not know that the new Second Legion, which he thought was "mainly based on new soldiers", was actually basically composed of elite veterans of the original Second Legion......

……

It's just that things in this world are ever-changing. There are some things that even Marin can't expect. For example, after the coalition of the princes of the Eight Nations took the city of Oldenburg, they welcomed several uninvited guests......

Who are these people? They are the old aristocrats who were arranged by Marin to fend for themselves in Bremen......

The North Sea Kingdom of Marin consisted of the former East Friesian Counties, Oldenburg Counties, West Frisian Noble Republics, Münster Episcopal States, Osnabrück Episcopal States, Schleswig Duchy, Jutland Denmark, as well as the Archbishopric of Bremen and the Ruhr territories exchanged.

Among them, the old nobles of the former East Friesian Empire were basically killed by Marin, and the old nobles of the West Frisian Noble Republic were killed a lot by the Duchy of Saxony. Then, the Ruhr area was acquired relatively late, and Marin temporarily abandoned plans to develop there. Therefore, the old aristocrats of the Ruhr area did not move much. In addition, the original Danish nobles on Jutland in Denmark were all taken away by the Danish king Hans......

However, the fiefs of the former Earl of Oldenburg, the Duchy of Schleswig, and the northern region of Münster, including some of the surviving old nobles in West Friesland, were all replaced by the fiefs of most of the old nobles in Bremen, except for a few who were appreciated by Marin. Combined, these large and small nobles are estimated to have more than a hundred. Barons alone, there are dozens......

These old aristocrats, after the territory was replaced in the province of Bremen, although the land was not reduced, and it was fertile enough. However, they have since moved away from the circle of core power and have become empty shell aristocrats who can only eat and wait for death. Unlike before, there is still the right to show off your might......

Therefore, these politically frustrated old aristocratic families are very dissatisfied with Marin in their hearts. It's just that they didn't dare to make any moves because they were afraid of Marin's strong military strength.

……

However, with the invasion of the Northsea Kingdom by the coalition of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms, coupled with the betrayal of the Second, Third, and Sixth Legions, as well as the Fourth and Fifth Legions in England, the marginalized old nobles saw an opportunity......

As a result, in the past few months, the old aristocrats who have been replaced in the Bremen region have begun to engage in tandem frequently. Taking advantage of banquets and balls, they gather together and discuss privately.

After heated discussions, these old nobles agreed that if they did not change, their old aristocratic families would be reduced to small landlords who could only fight in Bremen, and there would be no future......

However, they also know that if they oppose the Beihai regime, the risks are also great. If it fails, there may be nothing.

Therefore, the heads of these old aristocratic families have met and quarreled many times in private, and only now have a consensus - that is, they must change......

For this reason, many veteran aristocrats who want to change their fate have begun to recruit and train soldiers. There are about 100 old aristocratic families, and a total of 7,000 soldiers and horses have gathered. Although most of them were conscripts, the nobles themselves had a martial tradition, and they were able to make up hundreds of plate knights.

But before, this group of old aristocrats in Bremen was also watching. It wasn't until the allied forces of the Eight-Nation Princes conquered the city of Oldenburg that they finally made up their minds to completely surrender to the Eight-Nation Princes' Alliance......

And those mysterious representatives, who represent most of the unwilling old nobles in the province of Bremen, came to negotiate with the princes of the Eight Kingdoms about the "joining......