Inside the Hall of Lords.

The jumping candlelight reflects the faces of everyone who is eligible to sit here, and the benches behind them cast elongated, distorted shadows.

In the middle of the hall, a long bar table was already filled with delicious food and wine.

Lothar sat on the throne in the center, with a large single-headed eagle coat of arms above his head, and the wings of the eagle spread out just right behind Lothar.

The aromas of barbecue, cheese and wine are breathtaking, but no one dares to touch the knife and fork.

Lothar held up a piece of paper with a red wax seal on it: "The king's summoning order has been issued, and all must arrive in Jerusalem within the appointed time." ”

Hans's expression was a little gloomy: "My lord, during this period of time, the development of the territory has been on the right track, and our strength is growing every day, but this is obviously not enough... As far as I know, Saladin's army is numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and with our current strength, it is difficult to play a role in this battle. ”

Lothar shook his head and said: "It's not as exaggerated as hundreds of thousands, although there are many troops under Saladin's command, most of them are untrained conscripts, and the elite headquarters army is only one or two thousand. ”

"He couldn't really go out to attack Jerusalem, and the climate of the Holy Land couldn't accommodate an army of this size."

As it turned out, he had the right idea in his initial choice to train armored sergeants.

If you really train cavalry from scratch, it will cost you more money and useless to train a group of mounted infantry at most in two weeks.

Although this line of thinking is correct, it doesn't make much sense.

His strength is still too weak now.

Ryan spoke: "My lord, Yogrusburg is not a frontier, and it will not be easily threatened by the enemy, so I suggest that you bring all the soldiers you can bring, which is also a lot of strength, even if you lose the battle, you can cover you from the battlefield." ”

Leonard hurriedly agreed: "That's right, my lord, you need a strong army to support you in Jerusalem, so that you won't let those nobles with their nostrils turn down on you!" ”

Lothar thought for a moment, then shook her head and said:

"A professional army of hundreds of people is indeed not weak for a lord, but it is as small as a grain of sand in the Jordan River on a battlefield of tens of thousands."

"Once the battle is lost, the rout will come in and it will be easily dispersed. So it doesn't make much sense to bring them or not, staying in the territory can ensure the safety here. ”

After a little thought, Lothar clapped his hands and said, "All the armored sergeants will stay at Fort Jogrüs, and I will only bring ten axe guards and hussars. ”

The Axe Guard is the name of the "Varangian Guard" in the territory, because the Eastern Empire still has a genuine Varangian Guard, and it is not good to call it this name.

"Moder, you stay in charge of the overall situation, including the daily recruitment of the hussars and axe guards, and the original plan to recruit only ten people has been canceled."

"Yes, sir."

"Leonard, how are things going? Is Saladin sending men to assassinate the Sassanid king's vassals? ”

Leonard lowered his head and said:

"It is said that Saladin recently met with the Sassanid King of Kings on the border, and he admitted that his subordinates had killed Coqb by acting privately, and offered to pay reparations for this."

"He also acknowledged the sacredness of the Sassanid king as the patriarch of Zoroastrianism, and carried many carts of gold and silver treasures, beautiful women and good horses, and the Sassanid king withdrew from his army."

"Saladin... What a great character. ”

Lothar let out a long sigh.

If Saladin did not admit this, he would give the Sassanid king an opportunity to play and mess around.

On the contrary, Saladin admitted, and lowered his posture by offering a gift to the Sassanid king as compensation, but the Sassanid king was denied the opportunity to play on the issue due to the Zoroastrian world's desire for internal unity.

Moreover, this does not detract from Saladin's majesty.

On the contrary, it greatly shocked those who originally believed that "Saladin is a man of chivalry and integrity, and will not do anything to himself".

"Malles, you also stay in the fort and step up the production of ordnance and improve the crafting process of armor and weapons."

Marles nodded, "Understood." In addition, my lord, the armor made for you has been made, and the special armed sword is almost the final quenching. ”

"Good, good!"

Lothar nodded and said, "Let's eat, after this meal, we will leave tomorrow morning and leave for Jerusalem." ”

The new armor that Marles had created for him was a brand new set of half-body plate armor.

Wearing a special part of the armor with chain mail on the inside, although the defense is only slightly better than the previous chain mail, the flexibility has skyrocketed.

Wearing this half-body plate armor, Lothar can complete the action of getting on the horse on his own.

The helmet is a Bassanette helmet that resembles a bird's beak.

This helmet has a vent in the mouth, making it more suitable for fighting in the scorching heat of the Holy Land than a sweltering barrel helmet.

The lift-up design gives Lothar a wider field of vision when falling into hand-to-hand combat or foot combat, and the rounded face armor is also more conducive to cushioning.

…

Early the next morning.

At this time, a grand event was being held in the royal palace of Jerusalem.

The banquet was to welcome the Count Thierry from Flanders, who was related to the Baldwin family, both of whom belonged to the House of Anjou, a branch of the Plantagenet dynasty.

The atmosphere was warm.

The Count of Thierrier was also a little amazed and envied as he enjoyed the extravagant life of the East.

He brought with him thirty knights, and hundreds of sergeants and servants, some of whom were his vassals, but many more were landless knights and mercenaries who volunteered to serve and live with them.

At this moment, a handsome and tall knight stepped forward.

His face flushed with excessive drinking: "Count Thierrier, His Majesty's crusaders, when will they arrive in the Holy Land?" ”

The volume around him immediately went down.

Obviously, everyone is paying attention to this issue, but because of the dignity of the aristocracy, they are embarrassed to get straight to the point.

"Who are you?"

The drunken knight was not afraid of him at all, and the smell of wine from his mouth almost jumped into the face of the Count of Thierrier: "Guy of Lusignan! ”

Count Thierrier's face was a little gloomy, he hesitated for a moment, but still said bluntly: "Sorry everyone, His Majesty the King is still mobilizing. ”

"Mobilize, mobilize!"

"As early as the time I came, I had heard that the army was ready to go, but there was still no news! Has Philip II, the bastard, forgotten his sacred duty as the Father's chosen king? ”

Guy of Lusignan shouted a little irritably.

Count Thierier's face turned red and he said angrily: "Daring, you dare to insult my lord, the great Augustus, the king of the Gauls!" ”

In fact, you can scold it, but don't scold it in front of me!

The Count of Thierrier knew that Guy of Lusignnan was a knight with great swordsmanship, and he was no match for him.

According to the process, he should now take the initiative to propose a duel to the other party, but the problem is that Count Thierier does not dare.

Guy sneered, "When I attacked and killed Enoli in Aquitaine with my brother for the sake of the freedom of the Gauls, you were still praising the stinky feet of the Germanic emperors. ”

The conflict is about to escalate.

Count Raymond, who had been silent, said angrily: "Stand down, for whatever reason, you must not slander the piety of a king. ”

Guy snorted and sat back in his seat.

Leaving the Count of Thierrier behind was both awkward and a little helpless.

The nobles present looked gloomy.

It's all to blame on the damned Apennines, they have nothing to resist taxes, which gives Emperor Henry a reason to use the topic to play and march on the Apennines.

How could the already weak king of Gaul, Philip II, be willing to watch Emperor Henry take the rich North Apennines so easily?

Philip II did not move, and occupied a large part of Gallic territory, and in Gaul, Richard the Lionheart, who was even more prominent than Philip II, who could not leave the Île-de-France.

In this era, Albion was developed limitedly, and the core territory of Richard the Lionheart was still on the mainland.

Even if Philip II and Richard are in their honeymoon period at this moment, Richard, as the second son of the family, can ascend to the throne, and Philip II is indispensable for him.

But in the game of thrones, no one is infallible as far as the king is concerned.

"Philip Augustus, the reason why he suspended the crusade was naturally his own considerations, and as a courtier, or as a Gaul, we should not question his actions."

(Augustus was an honorific title for the French king, not a "surname", and Philip II's surname was "Capet.") ）

Count Thierrier's face was a little embarrassed.

In fact, he had little loyalty to Philip II.

De jure of all, although he was subordinate to Philip II, he was often at odds with the emperor of Greater Germania because of his geographical location.

But in terms of kinship, Count Thierrier is clearly closer to Richard the Lionheart of Albion.

The originally warm welcome party has fallen into a series of dead silences, and Thirier's sense of existence has quickly fallen from "the stars holding the moon" to the bottom.

Years ago, in the Battle of the Springs, the Crusader states were defeated at the hands of Saladin.

Most of the crusader nobles had realized that Saladin was no match for them without aid from the Continent.

Even the Lord of Transjord, Count Renard, who had been clamoring for war with Saladin, and the militant Templar Commander Gerald offered to fight Saladin on the premise that they could receive a steady stream of Crusader support from the European continent.

At this time, the regent, Prince Tiberias (i.e., Tiberias), Count of Tripoli, spoke: "Your Majesty has something else to announce at this banquet. ”

Raymond glanced at what was written on the paper, his expression changed slightly, and he said in a loud voice: "In the name of the King of Jerusalem, I will appoint Baron Jorgles, Lothar, as the Grand Master of the Royal Knights of Jerusalem, and Baron Gofrey of Ibelin, as the commander of the Knights of Jerusalem, and assist the regent Count Raymond in handling the affairs of the whole regiment. ”

The voice just fell.

A nobleman in a red robe raised his hand and shouted, "I veto!" ”

Raymond shouted, "Baron Regina, tell me why you vetoed!" ”

Baron Regina, from Sidon, opened his hands and looked around: "This Baron of Lothar, I have to admit that he is an excellent knight and has a good training skill. ”

He changed his words and shouted, "But he is by no means a good cavalry commander, because he has no cavalry under his command at all!" ”

After speaking, there was a burst of laughter in the hall.

Cavalry is not raised by everyone.

For an elite cavalryman, the training cycle needs to be measured in years, and how long has it been since Lothar arrived in the Holy Land?

It was unknown whether the barren fiefdom of Jogrisburg would be able to feed his armoured sergeants.

Someone at the bottom immediately responded: "That's right, he is just a nouveau riche who has just obtained a fief, how can he entrust such a heavy task to him?" ”

Gao Frey's expression was slightly cold, he coughed heavily, and said: "If even the son of Count Werner is an upstart, who are you lying in the shadow of your ancestors and have no military exploits?" ”

Count Reginald de Grinier, lord of Gilberitus, said in a loud voice:

"Baron Goldfrey, I have no intention of disparaging this Baron of Lothar in terms of status, but in the Knights Templar, even a member of the royal family with a prominent family can only start as a sergeant major at best. The position of Grand Master can only be elected from among the most respected masters. ”

Someone below immediately responded: "That's right, the position of Grand Master should be elected by the royal knights. ”

At this time, the members of both the Queen Mother and the Jue Party rarely shared the same hatred, and they did not want these outsiders to easily seize one of the most powerful positions in the whole of Jerusalem.

Baron Godfrey shouted, "Count Gilberit, I must remind you that the Royal Knights are His Majesty's personal armed forces, and they are worldly, not spiritual, and cannot be generalized with the Knights Templar. ”

"As for your statement that Baron Lothar has no experience commanding cavalry..."

Baron Goldfrey turned his words and looked at Count Renard, who was rarely silent.

The Transjordan lord, known as the "King of the Dead Sea," was distraught at the sight of Godfrey.

Sure enough, Baron Gofrey said bluntly: "Count Renard, I heard that there is a desert bandit in your territory, who has been ravaging for years, and the wealth they have plundered can fill an entire castle, and you have repeatedly attacked, but you have not been able to exterminate it. ”

Count Renard's face turned blue and white: "A mere robber is not worth my attention, so they can barely survive." ”

A hearty smile appeared on Baron Gofrey's face, and he politely came to the center of the hall:

"Count Renard, you need not prevaricate with such words, we all know how difficult it is for a light cavalry to and fro in the desert, and this does not detract from your prestige."

"That's right."

"That's right."

Some of the nobles who didn't know why nodded in agreement.

Here, the vast majority of people are no longer paying attention to the follow-up of the remote fiefdom of Jörügrusburg, and it is not clear what has happened here not long ago.

But they have all been more or less troubled by desert bandits who come and go.

Baron Gofrey raised an index finger and said in a loud voice, "It only took one day!" According to some people, it took only one day for Lothar, who could not command the cavalry to fight, to lead his cavalry to defeat the bandits in the front, and then to breach the wooden fort where they were hiding. ”

"I must tell you that Lothar not only has cavalry, but is also an elite cavalry capable of fighting well, at least no worse than the knights under the command of Count Renard!"

Gofrey looked at Renard with a mocking look in his eyes, which immediately angered the irascible Count of Transjordan.

He almost broke out.

The Count of Transjordan, who is known as the "Covenant Breaker", although he is usually polite, will never consider the decency of the so-called nobles when he is angry.

Then.

The heavy sound of horses' hooves sounded outside the palace gate.

"Someone, who's making a noise outside?"

Someone shouted angrily.

The next moment.

A group of elite cavalrymen dressed in bright plate armor walked into the palace with a young knight in their arms.

The knight took off his helmet and revealed a heroic face: "Good morning, everyone. I heard that you were talking about me in the main hall, so I came uninvited. ”

"I ask you, when did the king have to agree with his subordinates in Jerusalem?"