Chapter 2: The Knight from the East (I)

The Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, for both the British and French peoples, was a catastrophe and catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, and Western historians have pointed out that "the Hundred Years' War was a game of slaughter that lasted for a hundred years." While the royal families and nobles of the two countries celebrated for the benefits they had won, the innocent civilians who had lost their homes and loved ones could only weep silently. The war has been fought for a hundred years, and the people have cried for a hundred years. ”

But on the other hand, the war was fought against the backdrop of epochal changes - the Crusades failed, the Renaissance sprouted, the authority of the pope was in the process of dying, and the influence of the Holy Roman Empire was on the verge of annihilation; Kingdoms and republics began to rise and compete, and trade conflicts gradually became the main contradiction between kingdoms; The question of sea supremacy began to arise; The chivalry that had emerged from the Crusader era had evolved into a fierce and aggressive ethos; The most important and fundamental reason for the war was that the land of Western Europe was too small for the two great powers to exhibit. This qiē factor was superimposed, and it was finally detonated with a bang, appearing in the form of the so-called Hundred Years' War between Britain and France. It was one of the great catastrophes of the Middle Ages, and despite the countless foolish catastrophes it bringed, it also sowed the seeds of a new era for the birth of greater England and France.

Overall, the Hundred Years' War between England and France was both the highest tide of classic medieval warfare and the dawn of the end of the dark Middle Ages.

From the perspective of the French, the meaning of the Hundred Years War between Britain and France to them is very similar to the meaning of the War of Resistance against Japan for the Chinese.

- From a strategic point of view, this is a life-and-death duel between France and England, a big six maritime island nation, for hegemony in Western Europe, just as the fierce battle between China and Japan in modern times determines who can dominate East Asia;

Secondly, from a tactical point of view, the sea control of the two wars had changed hands at the beginning of the war, and the entire battlefield was basically on the big 6, which was an out-and-out defensive war, and there were a large number of traitors and traitors who defected to the invaders of the island country during the war, leading to the rapid decline of the country;

Third, from a psychological point of view, the invaders of the island countries who went to war against the big 6 countries were originally also vassal (the British king had always kept his territory in France before the war and was nominally subordinate to the French king), and the result of the war was that the island countries abandoned their awe of the big 6 mother country and developed an arrogant mentality of looking down on each other, while the big 6 countries provoked nationalism in the painful defeat and began to transform into a new country;

Fourth, in the invasion of the British army, France was bloodily torn off the skin of the invincible knight, and humiliatingly knocked off the laurels of the hegemon of Western Europe. Rich France, which had a population of more than 20 million before the war and only paid more taxes than England, was almost powerless in the face of the impoverished United Kingdom, which had a population of only 4 million, due to the backwardness of the political and military system, thus forcing the conservative and proud French knights to embark on a painful road of reform.

Fifth, but also because of the sheer size and strength of France, even though the British army once occupied Paris and conquered half of France, it was still unable to swallow the elephant and completely annex its own mother country - thus creating a national hatred and old enemy relationship between Britain and France that had been entangled for centuries.

In the end, the result of the war was also that the Big 6 countries completed the reunification, and the island countries were forced to withdraw from the Big 6, and from then on began a long confrontation across the sea.

Of course, after two groups of reincarnators driven by the main god system came to this time and space of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France to fight as a team, and joined the French army and the British army camp respectively, this cruel history full of iron and blood, sword and fire, death and slaughter, destruction and rebirth has since begun to deviate from the existing track, but it has also been given infinite possibilities - it seems to be like this.

It's a pity, in fact, fate has played a huge joke on these two confident visitors from the other world.

In the summer of the third year after the arrival of Lord Levi, and the ninth year of the Hundred Years' War between England and France, a new round of beacon fire began to ignite.

In July of that year, King Edward III grew tired of the never-ending and meagre border conflicts, even though the British had annihilated the French naval fleet at the Battle of Sluys and had taken full control of the English Channel. However, the French knights on the 6th ground were still relying on the fortress and the city, and resisted stubbornly - personally led 10,000 elite soldiers across the English Channel, forcibly ascended 6 Normandy, and advanced deep into France6, burning towns and slaughtering people along the way, and once came to the city of Paris and invited the proud French knights to fight.

Faced with such an obvious provocation, King Philip VI of France responded angrily, quickly gathered 35,000 French troops, and marched north. This number of troops seems to have greatly exceeded the expectations of King Edward III - in the face of the counterattacking French army, the British army turned around and crossed the Somme and retreated in a hurry. After several days of pursuit, the 10,000 British troops finally stopped at a small village called Cressy and turned to a decisive battle.

Behind the invaders of these island nations was a French army of 35,000 well-armed and high-morale.

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1346 B, northern France, on the banks of the Somme, French camp

In the twilight of midsummer, countless spear tips flashed red, as if they were weeping blood. The tents of the nobles and knights were like silky mushrooms, all over the wilderness. Thousands of campfires filled the air with a pale mist. The neatly arranged horses stretch all the way to the end of the view. To make flagpoles and fences, and to light campfires, entire woods were cut down and the smoke could be seen an hour's walk away.

Beside the roaring bonfires, knights driving horses with long dyed feathers on their helmets and ornate embroidered capes draped over their shoulders. Nearly all the knights of France answered the call of King Philip VI of France, and gathered 35,000 men here—spearmen with spears, swordsmen with swords, heavy infantry with armor, prostitutes with heavy makeup and feathers, archers with feathers on their hats, handymen who drove wagons, swineherds who fed their livestock, messengers who delivered messages, squires who sharpened their swords, horsemen who scolded bad horses, and families who were busy with the army...... All kinds of noisy sounds, wafting over farms, fields, and fields, surging in all directions, hazy, like the call of the god of war.

The French army was confident in the coming decisive battle – more than three times the superiority in numbers, the high morale of defending their homeland, and the thousands of elite hoplites who concentrated the best of the entire French military force convinced them that there was absolutely no reason for them to lose.

The young and brave sons of the aristocracy are now all gearing up and in good spirits, ready to use the heads of the Englishmen in Cresy Village in front of them to wash away the shame of the defeat at the Battle of Chethrous, and show the glory and martial arts of their families.

The Battle of Ruiz, the first major battle of the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, was equivalent to the Battle of the Yellow Sea in the First Sino-Japanese War. It was inevitable that France would become a battlefield. ）

However, in a corner on the edge of the French camp, there were also a few fellows, full of despair and fear for the fate of the future.

It was a large and comfortable tent, larger than the halls of an ordinary inn, and abound with all sorts of luxuries: a feather mattress and fur coat, a large copper bathtub, a brass charcoal basin to dispel the cold of the cold night, a leather folding chair suspended from it, a desk with inkwells and quills, and a pile of elaborate armor and weapons, as well as a change of clothes, books, and battle charts in pine boxes. On the table in the center of the tent are large plates of sliced bread, plums and apples, golden and crispy roast chicken, and wine in silver kettles.

However, the three men and one woman sitting in this tent had no intention of enjoying the food and drink in front of them, and just stupidly stared at the pile of armor, clothes, sword ornaments and other bits and pieces that fell around them—they were the things that the veterans had left behind before they left this world.

“…… The main god is turned off, the scene is over, and all the reincarnators are forced to pop up? What the hell is this doing? ”

The little young man with the hedgehog head was the first to react, and slammed his fist on the table in a huff, "...... I've been preparing for a decisive battle for so long, but it's not over yet? What's even worse is that when these veterans left, why did they forget about us newcomers? ”

“…… Don't complain, the most important question now is, what to do next? Do you still have to fight with the French? ”

The bald man also spoke, looking at Levi at the same time, "...... Since the veterans of our handsome team have all run away, the fried chicken team on the opposite side of the British must be the same...... Brother Levi, you have to come up with an idea, and you're the only one left among us."

Hearing the argument between the two of them, the girl who was still in the middle of the game also came back to her senses and turned her expectant gaze to Levi.

“…… You're thinking too far, man, the biggest problem now is how to explain the disappearance of these people to the king and the soldiers below."

Dressed in a light chain mail with a tuft of mustache, Knight Levi smiled bitterly, bent down and found a few seals and other things from the veteran's clothes scattered on the ground, "...... If we are suspected of being murderers, it will be all over Fortunately, I am also a lord anyway, as long as I have the captain's token and pay, those miscellaneous soldiers recruited from Marseille should still be able to command......"

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Since coming to this world in the winter of the previous year, in order to increase the victory rate of the French army, the people of the Handsome Brigade began to recruit troops under the banner of the Knights Hospitaller, and established a small army of more than 200 people within the scope of financial resources; While trying to go up the upper echelons, he used spices and silk trafficked from the East by the Knights Hospitaller to make friends with the powerful and increase his influence in the French aristocratic circles.

So it didn't take long for them, the "knights from the East", to gain some fame in the south of France.

In addition, they did not forget the necessary fire-making skills of the traverser - in the Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, a very important reason why the French army was repeatedly defeated was the lack of long-range projection firepower, which could not suppress the British longbowmen at a long distance. In the later stages of the Hundred Years' War, the reason why the French army reversed its decline was because of the birth of early artillery, so that the French army finally had a way to disperse the phalanx of British archers.

Therefore, although due to the limitations of the main god's space, it is impossible to use the modern firearms that were exchanged for huàn here, but the reincarnators of the Handsome Dumb Team are still ready to drum out the artillery early in this time and space, and blast the bullish Welsh longbowmen into slag a century in advance.

Unfortunately, due to lack of financial resources, they really couldn't afford to buy so much bronze, so they had to find hoop coopers to try to build dozens of pine cannons, that is, cut out the middle of pine wood, and fix it with iron hoops, and after several tests and improvements, the firing range also reached 1780 meters. Although the wooden barrel is not durable enough to blow up with just a few shots, it is still no problem to survive a battle. In several artillery bombardment exercises, this relatively cheap new Ming has also attracted the attention of many soldiers.

As a result of all these efforts, before the Battle of Crécy, their captain finally gained the favor of several nobles, and mixed up with the provisional title of commander of an artillery unit in the army - although most French knights still did not pay much attention to the novelty of artillery, and only saw it as a fun toy that could make a loud noise, but did not mind seeing it in action on the battlefield.

In this way, when the king's conscription order was issued, all the members of the handsome team pushed more than 20 pine cannons and embarked on the journey with more than 100 miscellaneous soldiers. Then, about five days earlier, news had been received that the fried chicken team had descended on the British camp.

But the problem is that this evening, while they were eating a fairly sumptuous dinner, they were discussing how to advise the King on the battlefield, how to use the little force at hand, and how to deal with the high-end force that the fried chicken team might have (the stronger the individual team, the later the team enters, which is the general rule of team battles), a sudden upheaval brought the whole process to an abrupt halt.

“…… The main god is turned off, the scene is over, and all the reincarnators are forced to pop up"

With this monotonous and mechanical voice, under the jaw-dropping gaze of the three newcomers, all the veterans disappeared without a trace in an instant, and went home so easily, making these newcomers fall into extreme shock and panic

Fortunately, when these veterans disappeared, they walked naked, leaving behind all their belongings. It allowed Levi to take the captain's seal and forge a document and take over their small unit - he originally had the title of deputy commander of artillery, and the pine cannons in the team were also made by Levi with a few hoop coopers, and even most of the gunners and infantry were recruited by him, so when the soldiers learned that it was Levi who took over the command, everyone took it for granted and did not cause any trouble.

Then, Lord Levi went on a hard note, and explained and reported to the herald sent by the royal family on the absurd grounds that "His Excellency the Artillery Commander and his staff officers and personal guards suddenly fell ill with a sudden illness, fearing contagion, and had to be sent back to the rear for treatment, and their wives also returned with them" - they were only a small unit that was not very valued, and the temporary replacement of the commander did not seem to affect the artillery, so for the sake of Levi's filial piety of a small bag of silver coins, In the end, no one pursued the crime of escaping from the battle of those veterans.

However, as the looming crisis was resolved, the question of what to do next was put before them.

“…… Indeed, with the shutdown of the main god system, the team battle is gone, and even if you escape, you will not face the punishment of the main god - but you will face the wrath of the French royal family and the Rhodes Island, don't forget that we can't get out of this world now."

Facing the bald man who wanted to retreat, Lord Levi spread his hands helplessly, "... That's right, the French barracks are very chaotic, we can get a few horses at any time, and run all the way back to the port of Marseille, but the problem is that the paper can't hold the fire. Captain, they suddenly disappeared without a trace, and it was hard enough. If a few of our backbones follow suit, then this army will immediately collapse and fall into such a scandal, and leave a reputation as a coward, by the way, after smashing the brand of the Knights Hospitaller of Rhode Island, do you think the royal family and the Knights Hospitaller will spare us? I'm afraid that even confiscating property and throwing it into a prison is considered light, and it is not impossible to be hung on the gallows

Therefore, if we do not want to be vagabonds, if we want to return to the estate in the port of Marseille, to enjoy the wealth of the captains in the past few years, and to live a life of food and clothing in this world, we must fight this battle to the end anyway

What's more, it's not that we don't have the capital to fight, these pine cannons are all built by us with hard work, and everyone knows how much power they can have. If you can make a good name on the battlefield, are you afraid that you will have no status and no future in the future?

Moreover, I am already a knight in this world, and the estate of the port of Marseille will be in my name in the order of succession. But you still don't have any identity, you want to have your own land and home, and if you want to live like yourself, you should fight hard at this time, otherwise, what do you plan to live on in the future? Farming? To be a sailor? Do small crafts? You don't seem to know any of these things."

- Considering the consequences of the king's anger on the battlefield, as well as the cruel reality that he had no other skills to make a living and could only starve to death after becoming a vagabond, the traversers decided to fight to the end...... But the question is, can you win?

“…… Hey, there's no guarantee of victory - after all, we're just a bunch of minions, and without the captain, we're not even qualified to speak at military meetings...... But as long as you pay attention after the fight, it shouldn't be a problem to save your life."

Facing the two companions with gloomy expressions, Lord Li Wei had to cheer them up optimistically, "Don't worry, no one wants to die, I'm still waiting for this battle to go back and marry my dear Miss Zhao Na."

The knight from the East rubbed his face with his girlfriend around him, and unconsciously uttered some kind of forbidden language that was said to bring bad luck.

Then, they experienced first-hand the impermanence of fate, the cruelty of the battlefield, and ...... Death is hard to break free

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