Under normal circumstances, a lowest-level knight family also has at least two knights, father and son. Then, each of them will have about 5 attendants. And the Baron family is even more, there may be several knights, and several times as many squires.

These attendants, generally one or two out of five people play the role of servants, taking care of the master's daily life, similar to orderlies. Then, there will be two or three battle squires. Their duty is to follow the knight lord to charge and cover the lord's flanks.

Therefore, in each knight's manor, there are at least seven or eight strong men with combat effectiveness. With hundreds of nobles gathered together, and many barons, the number of combatants was even more impressive.

In addition, each knight can also recruit 25 farmers from his own manor (the number is uncertain, depending on the number of strong men in the knight's manor) to accompany him in battle, which is the legendary levy.

Levies were peasants with simple basic training and had very poor combat effectiveness. However, it is better than a pure farmer. After all, the knights would teach these levies the simplest martial arts when they were not farming, and they would use them in battlefield combat.

However, in general, knights do not teach much. One is that the peasants usually have to help the knights with their work, and they don't have time to practice martial arts. What's more, knights have to take care of food during training, and ordinary knights can't stand it...... Therefore, the levy will generally only have simple basic movements such as chopping, slashing, and stabbing, and there will be no more and no time to practice......

Of course, some knights or barons will be more martial, and at the same time, they will have more financial resources and can afford the food during the training camp. In this way, the time for intensive training will be more, and the conscripts in their territory will often be more combative.

Moreover, the role of the conscripts in this kind of feudal army, which has feudal knights and knight squires as the core combat effectiveness, is actually not very important. The main task of the levies is actually to charge with their own knights. The knights rushed ahead with armed squires, and the levies followed with their rudimentary weapons. If the knight lord in front of them wins, their morale will be boosted, and they will follow the harvesting of the heads of the opponent's levies. If your own master dies or is defeated...... Then run for your life......

Therefore, in ancient Europe, the role of conscription was to strengthen the momentum and mend the sword. Can fight against the wind, but can't fight against the wind independently......

……

Previously, when Marin was in China, the old aristocrats who were "assigned" to Bremen did not dare to say anything despite their inner dissatisfaction with being expelled from the circle of power. Because, at that time, Marin's soldiers were in their prime, and they had won many wars, and no one dared to blow up the thorns. Because, the whole family of those who dare to blow up the stab is doomed......

Under the pressure of Marin, those old nobles did not even dare to organize the farmers in the manor to train in their spare time. Because, Marin has openly stated that the North Sea State does not allow private troops. Obviously, conscripts are also private armies and fall into the category of prohibited.

Therefore, in those old-school aristocratic families, only the nobles themselves and their sons can practice martial arts in ordinary times. Then, each with a few attendants - this Marin still allowed.

But the format changed after the rumors of Marin's death came out, and the old nobles of Bremen began to meet in secret to discuss future plans after the news of Marin's "death" broke.

And after the princes of the Seven Kingdoms formed an alliance to invade the North Münster region, these veteran princes finally saw an opportunity......

So they asked Aurich to train their serfs to protect their estates from looting, as in the case of the North Münster estates.

This reason is quite reasonable, and in the beginning, the families trained serfs and did not work together, but fought separately. So, even the intelligence agents under Kohler were deceived.

Then, in order to purge the Third and Sixth Army Corps of traitors, Kohler's intelligence personnel were insufficient, so most of the intelligence personnel in Bremen Province were transferred to help...... As a result, there was an omission in the intelligence of the province of Bremen......

……

"What? The old nobles in Bremen gathered 7,000 soldiers and horses, and also took refuge in the alliance of the princes of the eight countries? When he received this information, Marin was shocked and angry.

He wasn't worried about how strong the combat effectiveness of the 7,000 noble private army alliance was, even if the alliance of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms plus the 7,000 noble private army was not the opponent of the Beihai Army.

But the problem was that the territory controlled by this gang of nobles was very sensitive - the province of Bremen was the only way for the Third Army and the Cossack Corps to advance westward......

It's going to die......

With the assistance of these local snakes, not to mention the Third Army, it was still possible to use the Elbe River to block the Westward Advance of the Third Army and the Cossack cavalry.

And the core part of Marin's elimination of the coalition army of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms was to use the Third Army Corps and Cossack cavalry to outflank the back of the coalition army of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms. Even, using the Cossack cavalry to harass the allied food transport team......

But now, most of the old nobles who had been placed on the west bank of the Elbe by Marin had mutinied en masse and assisted the coalition of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms in blocking the westward advance of the Third Army and the Cossack cavalry......

The Third Army and the Cossack cavalry were certainly strong, and if they were on the plains, a single charge would probably be able to crush the private armies of the nobility. However, those nobles controlled the land on the west bank of the Elbe. With the width of the lower Elbe, which was often several hundred meters, the Third Army and the Cossack cavalry could not fly across the river. The difference in combat effectiveness was instantly smoothed out by natural hazards......

In general, when a large army crosses the river, pontoon bridges are preferred. Although the Elbe River is wide, the downstream water is not turbulent, and it is possible to build a pontoon bridge smoothly with more boats. The premise is - no one destroys......

Now, most of the nobles on the west bank of the Elbe have taken refuge in the alliance of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms, so it will be very difficult to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river...... What's more, it is said that the old aristocrats on the west bank of the Elbe confiscated most of the river boats used to build pontoon bridges. Even if you want to build a pontoon bridge, the materials are insufficient......

As for transporting troops by sea ships? That's fine. But the problem is that Marin specially sent a fleet of 5,000 recruits to Jutland under the leadership of Wagner to pretend to be the Second Army. Those ships did not come back so quickly, and even if they did, it would take a long time to send them to transport the 3rd Army and Cossack cavalry on the east bank of the Elbe......

Marin was worried that it would not be possible to transport the Third Army and the Cossack cavalry to the battlefield within the stipulated time. Once the fighter is delayed, the previous plan will be in vain......

……

"These damn bastards, you've missed my big deal! When the war is over, I'm going to guillotine them all! Marin roared angrily.

He especially wanted to kill people now, to kill the old nobles who had betrayed. However, that's not the most important thing. Right now, the most important thing is that the plan is going to be revised......

……

Originally, Marin's plan was - he led two legions to face the alliance of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms head-on, but not to defeat the opponent, but to hold the opponent back. Then, let Steindorff suddenly fight out from the rear with the Third Army and 5,000 Cossack cavalry, completely annihilating the combined forces of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms......

But now it seems that the Third Army and 5,000 Cossack cavalry will not be able to reach the battlefield in time, so Marin must revise the battle plan......

"Why don't we bring the Sixth Army on the East Frisian Islands together?" Kohler suggested.

The two legions faced each other's 50,000 troops, which was indeed not very safe. Even if you can win, you can't keep the other party. With the addition of 10,000 men of the Sixth Legion, it is relatively safe. Heynckes and 10,000 men of the Sixth Army were on the East Frisian Islands, and the East Frisian Islands were also very close to the land, so sending more small fishing boats could be transported to land to support the battlefield.

"No way!" Marin shook his head and said:

"My goal is to annex the Eight Kingdoms, not to defeat them. So, there can be no legal problems! ”

"It stands to reason that the Sixth Legion, which is dominated by Scots, should return to their hometown in Scotland. Even if I 'persuad' it back, it is impossible for it to appear so soon. It's okay for the officers of the Second Army to pretend to be the new Second Army, after all, they are all Germans. But the Scots of the Sixth Army have a Scottish accent as soon as they open their mouths, and many of them still wear skirts, so they can't hide it. If the Sixth Legion had appeared too soon, everyone would have figured out that this was a trap. At that time, even if I annex 8 vassal states, others will seize this point and force me to give up annexing 8 vassal states! ”

This is the most troublesome part of Marin at the moment - both to plot against his opponent and to ensure that he cannot be caught by others. Otherwise, his plans would be in vain. Therefore, it is imperative to change the battle plan......