Because there was no concept of "nationality" in this era, the name of Marin sounded like "foreign legion" to others.

"Foreign Legion? Dude, what do you mean by that? Why such a strange name? "Simon's brain is a little inadequate.

Can Marin tell him that he is a reference to the later French Foreign Legion? So, there is no way to explain it, so I can only kick Simon and fool him around.

But the same problem of the old Hoffmans, he is not easy to fool around. So, he made up an excuse:

"If you call the Seventh Legion, it will frighten the nations. I already have 6 corps and an unannounced Cossack cavalry corps. If the European countries knew that I had such strength, they would be united against me. Therefore, this newly formed legion cannot be called the Seventh Legion. If you call it a 'Foreign Legion', it can greatly reduce the worries of other countries......"

Such nonsense seems to be quite credible. Then the old Hoffmans believed. Then, this statement became the official explanation.

In fact, this Foreign Legion was only temporarily loaned to Simon by Marin. In normal times, this regiment would help Simon defend Kyiv. But when there is a large-scale national war in the North Sea Country, this legion is going to come back to help. As for Simon's own soldiers and horses of the Ukrainian Earl? The Polish knights recruited in the future are considered his own subordinates......

In this way, the army of the future Ukrainian state will be divided into two major parts - the first part is the Foreign Legion formed by Marin for him; The second part is the army of feudal lords composed of Polish and Lithuanian knights recruited by Simon himself in the future.

According to the ownership system, the Foreign Legion belongs to Marin, and the military expenses are also borne by Marin, and Simon is mainly responsible for the residence, food and drink of the Foreign Legion when it is stationed in Ukraine, and he does not have to take care of the rest. Simon's own army of feudal lords, on the other hand, was mainly scattered in their respective estates in peacetime. In the event of war, or when the Foreign Legion leaves, they will gather to fight.

To put it bluntly, this Foreign Legion is nothing more than a reserve army secretly raised by Marin in Ukraine. It's just that it was afraid of scaring other countries, so it was not officially declared the Seventh Legion.

Moreover, this foreign legion also had a very important task - to recruit a group of Polish hussars......

For this 10,000-strong legion, Marin gave the establishment of 4 cavalry regiments, a total of 2,000 winged cavalry. In wartime, these 2,000 winged cavalry will become a sharp knife, fiercely inserting into the enemy's position and tearing through the opponent's defense. In addition, this cavalry regiment will recruit 3,000 Ukrainian Cossacks as light cavalry to fight with hussars. As a result, only half of the foreign legion was infantry, and the other half was a mix of 2,000 hussars and 3,000 Cossack cavalry. If you take it out to fight, its combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of ordinary legions.

As for the feed for horses? Marin also thought about it, 5,000 war horses and 5,000 transfer horses, of which 3,000 Cossack war horses and transfer horses all used Eastern European Mongolian horses that usually graze, that is, the predecessor of the Don hippopotamus. And the 2,000 hussars, the war horses used typical European war horses. As for the transfer horses, the Eastern European Mongolian horses are also used. After all, Mongolian horses in Eastern Europe save feed.

As for feed, don't worry too much. Because, around Kyiv there is a lot of black land along the Dnieper. At that time, as long as there are many kinds of soybeans on the banks of the Dnieper River, it will be enough for war horses. In the fertile black soil of Ukraine, planting some soybeans is definitely enough for horses to eat openly. Moreover, raising 5000 cavalry on the steppes of Eastern Europe is not at all noticeable.

……

To be honest, Louis XII's attention this time made Marin feel a little nervous. The German princes alone or the French, Marin didn't care too much. Even if you can't beat your opponent, you can still hold the basics. However, if the two are combined, Marin will definitely not be able to defeat them.

And, don't look at the fact that Marin now has 6 regiments and a regiment of hidden Cossack cavalry with a size of 5000 cavalry. However, because the two legions were stationed in England, he could only use 45,000 men. Moreover, because at least 10,000 soldiers and horses had to be left to defend the capital of Orrich, he could only use 35,000 soldiers and horses during the war.

France is actually similar, really counted, the whole army of France, probably more than 100,000. However, the eastern frontier and the southwestern border with Spain will have to retain a large number of frontier troops for a long time. Therefore, the French can send 60,000 troops to fight, which is almost to the limit.

The Ming Dynasty is the same, don't look at the establishment of more than 2 million people in the country (there are nearly half vacancies, but in fact there are only one million), but because the territory is too large, only ten or two hundred thousand people can be dispatched in general wars. For example, in the battle of Salhu, only 110,000 people were dispatched. Of course, the financial difficulties of the imperial court at the end of the Ming Dynasty were also an important reason for the small scale of the army.

The situation in Europe is better, because the area of European countries is generally small, unlike the Ming Dynasty, because the area is too large, and there are too many border troops and garrisons from all over the country. Therefore, on the European side, half of the army can be used to fight a war in peacetime. If it is a small vassal state, the proportion that can be used is higher.

The Beihai Kingdom is not big or small, and after annexing 8 vassal states, the mainland area is almost as large as the mainland of the Kingdom of Portugal. Therefore, the proportion of troops and horses that can be used here is also decreasing.

However, Marin only cares about the security of the East Friesland region, or the safety of Aurich. Therefore, the proportion of troops used is even higher.

But even with the 10,000 troops hidden in Ukraine, the upper limit of Marin's troops and horses is only 45,000. And the religious wars that are about to take place in the future, this will not be enough.

Marin's goal was to annex northern Germany and form a separate Prussian-like kingdom. When the time comes, there will be many countries to be annexed by Marin. And the forces that hate Marin will also become many.

Religious wars are not princes fighting for hegemony, princes are fighting for hegemony, and there are not many princes involved. For example, the 300 German princes participated in the previous actions of the Baden Empire, but only a few dozen. Most of the princes, in fact, are waiting and watching. Because, it's none of my business......

But once there is a religious war, the Europeans will fight hard for the sake of faith. When the time comes, the war potential will be fully tapped.

Moreover, when Marin began to annex the countries on a large scale, it would certainly attract the hostility and fear of most of the German princes. When the time comes, the princes will unite and fight hard, and it will be very difficult. If France intervenes again at that time, the consequences are difficult to predict.

Just like the "Thirty Years' War" in the original history, the most brutal part of the War of Religion, Germany lost most of its population. France, on the other hand, took the opportunity to take away Alsace and Lorraine.

As long as the French are not stupid, in the event of a religious war in Germany, they will definitely get involved and fish in troubled waters.

Therefore, Marin threw a bait early to entice France and Spain to tear up. When they were done, France would have little ability to intervene in German affairs. After all, Spain is not to be messed with.

……

But even if he quietly hid a legion in Ukraine, Marin still felt that the army was not enough. When the war of religion was fought, the size of the army was bound to exceed 100,000. Originally, even the overlords of the two empires, such as Charles V, were forced to sign the Treaty of the Augsburg Religious Concord by the Protestant Schmarkär Den League. It can be seen that the cruelty of religious wars far exceeds the struggle for hegemony among princes.

"Where else can we raise soldiers?" Marin spread out the map......

As a result, Marin decided in minutes on a plan to raise troops in the colonies of the North American continent......

In fact, the Argentine region of South America is also suitable for raising soldiers. The local conditions are more suitable for reclamation than in North America. Because, the Pampas steppe does not have so many abominable forests to be cut down with great pain. As a result, it is much easier to clear farmland than it is to reclaim it in North American forests.

However, the purpose of Marin's army raising is to participate in the struggle for hegemony in Europe, not to raise troops purely for the sake of raising troops. Therefore, the East Coast colonies of North America, which were close to the European mainland and could be transported back to the mainland for a few months by ship to participate in the war, became the only option. Otherwise, on the Argentine side, it will take more than half a year to ship back to China. Coupled with the time sent over to inform you, maybe, the battle is over, and the soldiers and horses are still floating on the sea......

Therefore, Marin quickly decided - to form a regiment in the New York colony. As soon as there was trouble at home, the legion quickly boarded the ship from New York Harbor and returned home to fight in the war.

As for the name of this legion, Marin decided not to call it the Seventh Legion, but the Legion of the Americas. Based in the New York colony, they can live on food from locally developed farmland and fish from Newfoundland's fishing grounds. Moreover, this legion can also rely on the superiority of its strength to attack the interior of North America, gain more control areas, and carry out further development......

And fighting with the Native American Indians can also make a recruit quickly grow into a veteran who has seen blood. This effect cannot be achieved by training......