The year 1005 was still an eventful year. It is very powerful with Eastern Europe, and the Cuman and Centaur coalition is different from Norman + Grand Duchy of Moscow. Today's mainstream of the European continent, other countries are busy with the Nth Crusade announced by the Holy See, hoping to take this opportunity to defeat the Muslim heresy in Egypt and restore the Holy Land of Jerusalem.

Of course, such an act is very difficult for Egil. After all, Jerusalem is far away from thousands of mountains and rivers, and it is difficult to supply it. At the same time, Saladin, the king of the desert, was not a master to be messed with. The princes of the European continent have fought against each other so many times that they can never be called trusting each other. If such an army can win the battle, there will be ghosts. According to Egil's prediction, most of them were wiped out by Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean, and then reluctantly went ashore, and then hung up a group because of the unsuitability of the water and soil, and finally some people were led into the desert Gobi by the Egyptians because of unfamiliar roads, and the whole army was wiped out......

And even if the final result is very different from what Egir imagined, the entire continent worked together, and the 100,000-strong army arrived in the Crescent Zone intact, and inexplicably, as if writing a fantasy novel, ignoring the soil and water caused by intestinal dysbiosis, non-combat attrition. Even so, Egil was still bullish on Saladin.

According to the Norman spy network, Saladin today is not the most powerful of the four Islamic states (Ottoman Turkey, the Sultanate of Moldova, the Timurid Khanate, and the Fatimid State of Egypt). The complete occupation of the two river basins and the Arabian Peninsula, together with the vast chassis of Upper and Lower Egypt, and the fertile land of the two river basins, which are completely different from historical and not depleted, combined with the abundant irrigation water brought by the great power of the Nile, enabled the region to support a large agricultural population.

In addition to this, the sword of Damascus, the trade brought by the port of Alexandria, and the religious cohesion brought by the holy cities of Jerusalem, Mecca, Medina...... Saladin could have amassed more than 200,000 troops, not counting the soldiers he might have borrowed from other Islamic states, such as the Ottoman Turks in the north, the Barbary states in the west, and the Timurid Khanate in the east. In addition, in North Africa, in Ethiopia in the upper reaches of the Nile, a large number of warriors from black tribes in North Africa would also be happy to accept Saladin's employment.

Let's turn around and look at the European continent, excluding the Norman Empire, how many troops can they send?

In the Iberian Peninsula, the Triple Alliance, led by the Kingdom of Leon-Castil, was still engaged in an endless war with the Eastern Roman Empire. The Cid boss is currently kicked away by King Alfonso because of his high merits. So he went alone with his followers. After serving in the army of the Eastern Roman Empire for a while, Cid had a power of its own as well as an army. So he kicked the Eastern Roman Empire out of the way, and occupied the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula with a total of more than 4,000 soldiers, and the Valencian generation called himself the Duke of Valencia. At the same time, an olive branch was once again thrown to King Alfonso.

Today, the Eastern Roman Empire's military strength on the Iberian Peninsula is about 30,000, and the Iberian Triple Alliance is about the same number. Therefore, the two sides of the Shining God Bra provided that the two sides contained each other, and they could not free up their hands at all. In response to the Pope's call to the Holy See, several kings all expressed their intention to join the crusade, but they only meant it, waving their flags and shouting. There were no real plans to send troops.

In France, Philip was also a wise man, and after a period of détente, France's national strength once again surpassed that of the Kingdom of Burgundy, and Philip was able to send more than 30,000 troops. And the Kingdom of Burgundy should be able to send about 25,000.

The Holy Roman Empire, after the military reform of smashing the pot and selling iron, now Albert II of Austria has about 40,000 elite troops, plus other vassal states that are also reckless, as well as the north, trade with the Norman Empire, so it is very profitable Brandenburg and Hesse, the Holy Roman Empire can send 100,000 troops if it is mobilized.

In the Italian peninsula, the Papal States had 50,000 troops, and the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice were also able to send about 30,000 or 40,000 troops. In Eastern Europe, Hungary was barely able to dispatch about 10,000 troops......

In this way, the whole continent can muster more than 200,000 troops -- the question is, will these countries really go on a thankless expedition for the sake of a so-called holy place thousands of miles away, and take all their armies?...,

"There shouldn't be such a fool in the world. Eigil lay in his large, somewhat exaggerated palanquin, enjoying the extravagance and depravity of an exclusive emperor, and at the same time thought: "The crusading holy war against Jerusalem should have ended in a farce in the end." As a result, the authority of the Church will be doubled and weakened, making it easier for me to proceed next...... Of course, I wouldn't mind getting some advantage from such a war. On the islands of the Mediterranean, what do I need...... It seems to have been delivered to the door. Hehe, hehehahaha......haha

Preparations for the Black Sea Fleet are now well underway, and Egil can deploy more transports and warships from the Baltic Sea further north if the situation warrants, or he can order the Norman Offshore Fleet stationed on the island of Malta to cooperate and fight.

This time, Egil's chosen target is Cyprus, which has not yet received a naval attack from the desert lord Attila after the fall of the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The throat of the Mediterranean, the razor-sharp dagger of Catholic power extending beyond the sphere of influence of the Arab heresy. Controlling this place is equivalent to having the best springboard for attacking the Golden Crescent Zone. One of the most important large islands in the entire Mediterranean, Cyprus!

This place is not as overlooked as the island of Malta. Therefore, he can be picked up by Egil for a great bargain. In fact, thousands of years ago, the civilization of the two river basins began to develop, and adventurers set off from various ports to explore, colonize, and develop colonies along the contours of the Mediterranean, and it was at that time that Cyprus began to develop. With the boom in trade in the Mediterranean, the importance of Cyprus has become more apparent. For thousands of years, with the rise and fall of dynasties, this mountainous, material-poor island has almost never been in control of its own destiny, and has been conquered countless times, and then replaced by a conqueror......

Now, as if now, Egil was convinced that the Fatimid Empire of Egypt, the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and the Eastern Roman Empire, the three mighty empires of the Eastern Mediterranean, must have drawn the attention of this geographically important island after the fall of Jerusalem. Plus the crusaders who rushed over in high spirits. That's not going to be easy......

Egil had a slight headache. Immediately afterwards, I felt that the wound was itchy and unbearable. Although knowing that it is the feeling of wound healing. But I still can't help but want to catch it.

"It's likely to be infected, my lord. ”

However, before Egil could get there, his hand was caught by Nightingale. Although this nurse is a little unaccustomed to Egil's poor and extravagant appearance, the nurse's work ethic still makes her take care of Egil very dedicatedly. Although many times, this kind of care can be annoying to Egil.

Of course, this may be the reason why Nightingale is such a lovely girl - if it was a four-hundred-year-old aunt who was preaching to Egil, Egil would not have even thought about it, just punched her, and then gave an order, and the knights of the guards who were guarding outside ran in and dragged her out to round the rice--if anyone wanted to, of course. Considering that the military prostitute camp was now well built, thousands of healthy women of all races served there through the slave trade to satisfy the desires of the energetic Norman warriors. So Egil felt that they were more likely to kill that guy.

However, if it's a cute girl, then everything is different. For what Nightingale said, Egil was at best a little irritable, complaining and complaining. After that, it will do as Nightingale tells you to do.

"But it's very itchy. Egil grumbled.

"Bear with me, my lord. Nightingale took the trouble to dissuade him, as if he didn't feel the guy's bad intentions at all.

"But I can't help it. Egil tricked: "Otherwise, you can rub it for me." ”

"Hmm......" Nightingale frowned, not as if she didn't feel it, it was actually Egil playing hooligan, and her slender fingers reached over and pressed lightly on Egil's wound. Then he let go and said in a completely businesslike tone, "It's safer this way." However, there is still a certain risk of rupturing wounds...... Otherwise, can I blow it on the lord?"

"Absolutely. Egil watched in disgust as Nightingale, dressed in a nurse's outfit, leaned over, her cherry mouth pursed and she blew on his wounds. It feels very cool. in every sense of the word.

"Ahem, ahem...... Master. New intelligence arrived. ”

"Master, master, please take a closer look at this document. ”

The two girls next to Egil couldn't stand it. He hurriedly said this, hoping to attract Egil's attention.

"Uh-huh, ahhhh Egil replied casually. After that, it was like a faint king in the general sense, and he directly ignored these "serious things".

In this way, just as Egil was secretly cool, and Nurse Nightingale was inexplicably natural, and the other two Loli gritted their teeth with hatred, a panicked roar suddenly came from ahead......

========================= [provided by the Shining God Bra] ==================================