As the archers of the main long-range strike force, they also became professional soldiers, completely out of production and service, but there was no land as a status symbol, and there were 300 archers and 50 crossbowmen on stand, all of whom were carefully selected by Kohler, and they were outstanding in both archery and hit rate, and they were also quite good at hand-to-hand combat.

They also receive monthly salaries from the castle, have special barracks, and train day after day, and model a complete set of archery movements to the point where tens of millions of people are like one person, greatly improving the efficiency and accuracy of command, and can instantly form a deadly rain of arrows, which can lightly pour onto the top of the enemy's head, covering all directions.

The main force of the count's army, which is also the largest infantry, with a number of nearly five hundred, is divided into two types: hoplite and light infantry, according to the difference in equipment.

The standard equipment of the hoplites consisted of chain mail inlaid with iron plates in the vital parts, heavy infantry shields and spears, and the phalanx composed of the Ravenna militia as the main body was as solid as a city wall, enough to withstand the frontal impact of ordinary cavalry or a small number of knights.

The light infantry was mainly spearmen without shields, supplemented by shieldmen with knives, and only the upper body was covered with chain mail, and the light equipment allowed them to withstand long detours and treks, and they could recruit a considerable number at a low price, which was really the best choice to fill the tactical loopholes.

"Accurate intelligence and a flawless battle plan are the key to determining the success or failure of a war, and the formulation of an operational plan is based on intelligence to predict the enemy's situation."

After discussing the affairs of the government, the little attendant cleaned up the paper and pen that I had thrown everywhere on the table, spread a map on the table, and I pointed to the area on which it represented Friesland, and commanded Leonardo and Kohler, who were sitting beside me:

"This is the main responsibility of the two of you, this accurate map, proof of your ability to complete the mission, now you must continue to increase the detection efforts, find out the personality and preferences of each lord, even including whether their wife is a tigress, whether they can influence the behavior of their husbands, etc., this is the key to judging whether the enemy has any exploitable flaws, a valuable piece of information can save the lives of at least ten soldiers! Later, I will make a detailed list of relevant items, and you will follow the map and investigate them for me one by one. ”

"My insiders can go deep into the lord's court to listen to the news, and Kohler's nightingales are everywhere to investigate the three sects and nine streams, and I believe that with the tacit cooperation between us, we will definitely be able to successfully complete the mission."

Leonardo replied before Kohler, the overlap of the two secret fronts caused a secret contest under the cover of sincere unity, and the spies on both sides racked their brains to grasp accurate information faster than the other side, I turned a blind eye and did not speak, happy to use reasonable competition to improve the efficiency of the intelligence front.

I followed the map to find the place where the city was marked, and my eyes narrowed into a slit, this is the most important decisive factor in the war: "The Bishopric of Utrecht is the ruling center of Friesland, its authority is far greater than that of the counts, and the big and small lords are all bowing down, in fact, the last sneak attack on Nijmegen definitely has the bishop of Utrecht behind it, and the real mediator of the protagonist is the Pope Ni in the Vatican." ”

"It is conceivable that the Holy See must inform the Bishop of Utrecht in its own way that there is no absolute secrecy between the two sides, and now it is necessary to see if our noble neon has the determination of a strong man to break his wrist, and is willing to spit out a piece of fat in exchange for Nijmegen's allegiance."

Leonardo nodded, rubbing the map thoughtfully, then stopped in one place, his brow furrowed, and I leaned over to look at the place he was staring at, which was marked with beautiful flowers: Normandy

When I came back from the knight game, I deliberately learned new words.

"It allows me to know myself and my opponent, and then I can win all battles."

That's what I said to Leonardo in Normandy, who was full of suspicion.

"Luckily, Flender was in the middle, so they couldn't attack our weak flanks and didn't have room to make a detour."

Everyone kept looking at the map with sad faces, which made the bull staring at him in a hurry, and in order to show that he also saw something from the map, he hurriedly said:

"Limburg and Brabant are also Flender's spheres of influence, and the Normans simply can't pass through."

Koller rubbed his chin silently, picked up the wooden soldiers who had deduced tactics, placed them on the coastline of Friesland, and looked up at me: "If they choose to support by sea, we will face an opponent that is even stronger than we imagined, and the Norman heavy infantry is not at the same level as our soldiers in terms of combat effectiveness, and they have an advantage in numbers." ”

His assumptions keep us all in deep thought......

The Pope moved faster than we thought, perhaps the growing tensions forced him to judge and wait.

Intelligence showed that a dark cloud of intrigue hung over Rome, and all the nobles either chose to take sides with trepidation, or simply remained neutral behind closed doors, hoping to wait for the victor to appear before jumping out to pledge allegiance, and could not afford to gamble their lives.

The emperor's army was stationed on the Palatine Hill on the outskirts of Rome, and a small number of aristocratic armed forces and mercenaries loyal to the Pope also stayed on the other side of the Tiber River on the Giaccolo Hill, setting up camp like a demonstration.

The time has entered the busiest September, the season of God's mercy, the farmers began to harvest the oats and miscellaneous grains that were planted, the whole field was full of intoxicating wheat waves with the aroma of harvest, and the crowd of people who bent down to harvest flashed from time to time, and the eyes were full of hot labor as far as the eye could see, and the farmers' smiling eyes were filled with indescribable happiness.

Wangcai was in charge of the peasants to help each other, organizing the distribution of iron scythes to each family according to the population, an adult man got one, and there was no charge for the first three days of renting, and if you wanted to have it, you had to pay the corresponding ransom with the harvested grain, most of the peasants who earned enough food on the construction site of the castle chose to pay a part of the family's stock in exchange for the precious iron sickle, anyway, if the food was insufficient, you could go to the castle to work, and there was no need to worry about the family not being able to eat.

In this way, the territory not only popularized iron farming tools, but also promoted the timely harvesting of grain, and also recovered some of the surplus grain in the hands of farmers, so as to reserve workers in advance for the next project.

In the past, when harvesting, farmers used to use a long-handled sickle to cut as close to the ears as possible, so that most of the wheat stalks could be left behind, and the speed was faster without bending over.

The men were the ones who harvested in the front, and the mothers led the children, who were responsible for baling and picking the remaining ears of wheat in the back, and then transported them to the open threshing floor to thresh the wheat with flails, and waited in line for the lord's wind-powered mill to grind the wheat grains into flour, and the bran was collected for the next year's rations, while the straw left in the fields was used to graze livestock, mainly sheep and cattle, to accumulate the last layer of oil before winter.

"Despite the heavy blows, this year is still a good year, and you don't have to worry about famine in the winter, thanks to your centralization."

Recently, I may have been in a good mood to look at the golden wheat waves, as long as I have time, I will sit on the balcony while sipping wine, looking down on the farmers working hard in the fields in the distance, and by the way, I will hide out before Serena gets up, and the two people in the province are embarrassed to meet, and now she has heard more or less about the gossip about the two of us, and the eyes that look at me have changed from silent to sympathetic, making me seem to really not lift.

Leonardo stood in the room, a little tired of the scorching sun of the autumn tiger outside, which would make him feel like a stinking salted fish.

In this paragraph, he grabbed production and intelligence, and at the same time had to keep an eye on Serena to prevent her from asking her about any useful information to her mother's family, which made him feel haggard and looked a lot thinner, and his originally well-maintained and round face was cut down at a speed visible to the naked eye, coupled with the white hair that could not be hidden, an old man who was half cut into the ground alive and alive, and he couldn't even walk frivolously and crumbling.

"If you really pity me, I hope to work hard for God's sake to give birth to a healthy little master for us, otherwise everyone will always be in fear, and as you get deeper and deeper into the power struggle, I am afraid that one day you will encounter an accident, and then Nijmegen will be leaderless." Leonardo instructed the little attendant to bring a chair, rubbed his tired waist and sat down, and said to me with a sad face.

If you have an heir, it doesn't matter if you live or die, right?

Hearing what he said, I was so angry that I was looking forward to my death one by one, chattering and chattering every day, annoyed to death and treating me as a man-making machine!

I drank all the wine in the cup in one gulp, and replied to him with a bad face: "Don't worry, I'm not incapable, but I can't pass the level in my heart, Serena is not the woman I like, and I can't accept having that kind of relationship with her." ”

Speaking of this, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration and wanted to make a joke: "It's very good for you to prepare my long-lost sister, and it's not my kind to be pregnant with a child, do you say I'm hard or not?" I didn't cuckold others, I don't know how much ...... I put on my head."

"So you're still thinking about it?"

Leonardo made a look of abrupt realization, and the look in my eyes completely changed, making goosebumps stand all over my body.

"That woman and child are destined to be sacrificed, and don't you want to inherit the throne of Lorraine through your nephew? It's not your own bloodline, so you don't have so much care when you operate, and you can throw it away as a pawn at any time. ”

"Besides, that woman was carefully selected by me, suffering from a family genetic disease, although she is fair and beautiful, but her life span will not be too long, and his children should be the same."

"After the old duke Bintian, the little duke, who is not yet an adult, needs a strong relative to oversee the country, Nijmegen is the best choice, and when the time comes, the little duke will gradually take control of Lorraine, and the little duke will die again, won't the entire duchy become your bag? As for those distant relatives who have the right to inherit, I have long been ready to pack up their means, and either choose to remain silent or disappear from this world. As I spoke, I could see a flash of hideousness on his face.

(End of chapter)