Limassol early in the morning.

People have not yet recovered from the devastation of war.

Flocks of black crows flew across the sky, standing in a staggered manner on the treetops, surveying the funeral procession below.

The corpse, covered in white linen, was carried to the square on a stretcher for identification and burial by the family.

Naturally, the corpses of the enemy had to be hastily transported out of the city by cart, dug a large pit and piled up, poured on fire and burned before being buried to avoid a possible plague.

This was one of Lothar's top concerns about the aftermath of the war.

Whether it was the Great Plague of Justinian, which cut off the revival of the Eastern Empire, or the Black Death, which should have ravaged Europe more than a century later, according to the original historical trajectory.

The two plagues, both of which halved the population of the European continent, can be called an apocalyptic natural disaster.

However, the people of Limassol will not be willing to eat fish for a long time, because last night there were so many enemy corpses buried in the belly of the fish.

Prajna walked in the crowd of corpses, with long black and silky hair, tied up with a white turban, wearing a veil, and only her eyes were exposed, like a nun in a monastery.

People subconsciously bypassed this strange-looking woman.

The black ghost-faced shield has shrunk into a necklace-like ornament, and if someone looks at it with a spiritual vision, they can find that this pendant is like the center of a black storm.

Countless souls are being absorbed into the ornaments.

It can take a portion of the "toll" by sending the souls of the dead to hell to strengthen its own defenses.

But this is obviously more comfortable than chewing the soul directly and swallowing it into your stomach, just like the Seleucid king, who was chewed and devoured by it.

She ended up in the square in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.

It has become a large morgue with hundreds of corpses on display.

In this battle, the number of casualties among the peasant soldiers under Guangluosa exceeded 300, and although most of the urban militia only needed long-range support, their equipment was too rudimentary, and they suffered heavy losses under the fire of the Turks and Cumans.

Some of the town militias are still in close contact with the enemy, but these irregular troops, with almost no combat experience, are the opponents of the mercenaries who lick the blood with knives.

However, their will to fight is very tenacious, probably because the city of Limassol is their homeland, and more than half of them have been lost, and they have not yet collapsed.

The square was full of cries.

The families of the town militia gathered around the corpses, their expressions in mourning.

Some young widows, who were widowed, carried their young babies on their backs numbly, and placed bread, kettles, salt, knives, plates, and other necessities in their humble coffins.

Some wealthy families will also put some gold and silver coins in it.

Tomb robbers are often profitable.

This is also the reason why many cemeteries in this era had grave keepers, and even many of the dead would be buried in church cemeteries.

They had to wait for the black-robed priests or nuns of the Orthodox Church to finish chanting hymns before placing the deceased in the coffin and closing the lid at the end of the funeral.

The knights of the Religious Order and the priests of the army had already begun to replay requiems for the peasants, a Catholic custom.

The monks and knights of the black and white crosses, as well as the black-robed monks of Cyprus, are distinct from the local monks in Cyprus, and each presides over his own burial ceremony.

Renaud placed the old peasant soldier in a simple coffin, pondered for a moment, and then shoved a silver cross pinned to his chest into the old peasant soldier's stiff hand.

"May the Father bless you, Father."

"Renault, condolences."

"Old Nock is a crusader who fought for the Lord, and he died for glory and will surely ascend to heaven."

The peasants and soldiers in the same battalion comforted Renault a few words, this guy who has never been very likable, because he inherited the legacy of the old peasant soldiers, turned over and became a knight master in the reserves.

Colleagues inevitably muttered a few sour words like "what a lucky guy" in their hearts, but they didn't say it in front of Renault.

"Old Nock is a brave warrior, I've heard his name."

Renaud looked up and saw that it was the commander of the Teutonic Knights, the knight lord named Heberland.

He hurriedly stood up, patted his legs that were a little sore, and said a little crampedly, "Good morning, my lord." ”

"Good morning."

Heberland also returned the salute to Renault.

This flattered him a little.

Hebland led a group of religious knights to a round platform that resembles the one in which the magistrate gives a speech, and said to the people: "Lord Jesus, you wept over the death of Lazarus, and comfort those who wept for your comrades who died in the great cause of the struggle against the heathen."

The solemn atmosphere also infected many Orthodox Christians.

They looked at Heberland, and some prayed: "Hear us." ”

"This"

"How can a Catholic be allowed to preside over Requiem Mass?"

The Orthodox monks looked at the knights of the Catholic Church with repulsion on their faces, and whispered.

They were worried that the heretical clergy would stay in Cyprus.

Peers are enemies.

The church on each piece of land has a limited amount of cake, and every extra hand that comes in gives them a less.

It's just that the sword is in the hands of the Franks.

These crusader knights, who were good at fighting, were obviously not something that they Orthodox monks could afford to provoke.

"In the future, we should have to deal with these Frankish barbarians, right?"

Thinking of the terrifying fighting power of these Frankish barbarians, and their leader, the Count of Outer Jordan, Lothar, who had the power of the devil or the Father.

These Orthodox priests have a vague idea of a future that will be bleak.

…

Inside the mansion.

Sent away from Turiados, Lothar was listening to Ned's report.

"My lord, now that the city of Limassol has been incorporated into your rule, should we use those Frankish immigrants to form a local garrison company?"

The Crusades were both a military operation and a migration of people, and if 100,000 people set out, only 10,000 or 20,000 people could arrive in the Holy Land, and the rest could not have died.

It's normal to settle down in a place where you can live along the way, or if you meet the opposite sex in the local area.

Cyprus was a wealthy transit point on the pilgrimage route, and naturally many pilgrims settled here, and these people were the source of the soldiers that Ned intended to recruit.

Lothar carefully considered Ned's suggestion, thought about it for a while, and still refused: "I am not officially appointed as the general of the Limassol Military Region now, and this place is still under the management of Turiados and his guards. ”

A new, heretical alien lord is likely to stir up the hatred of the native powers.

Before Turiados was stripped of his title and domain and pledged his allegiance to him, he had no intention of revealing to the locals that he wanted to stay in Limassol.

"But the fighting power of those Greeks is not reliable."

Speaking of the fighting power of the Greeks, Ned couldn't help but show a little disdain in his tone.

He felt that the Greeks alone would not be able to cope with the landing of even a slightly larger group of pirates.

After all, today is different from the past, and the fleet of the Eastern Empire, which dominates the Mediterranean, has suffered heavy losses.

This rich coastal city is like tender meat that has been crushed into a hard mussel shell.

Lothar shook his head and said, "It's not that the Greeks are unreliable"

The Greeks were also a fighting people, making a name for themselves in Asia Minor, and the farthest Hellenistic state, the Kingdom of Bactria, even penetrated deep into Central Asia. It is called Great Xia by the Han Chinese.

This is like the sentence that circulated on the Internet in the previous life: The Ming army is not satisfied with the salary, and the full salary is invincible.

In fact, how can there be so many fighting nations, no matter how strong the warriors are, they are treated like slaves, pigs and dogs, and they can't raise the interest in defending the property of the "noble lords".

"In short, you don't have to worry about law and order in Limassol. Have the ships captured last night been counted? ”

In the landing battle last night, a number of ships were stranded on the coastal hills, and although they were all transport ships, they were a lot of money whether they were sold or kept for their own use.

"Last night we captured twelve intact medium-sized paddle transports, more than twenty small galleys, and most of the remaining ships escaped."

"Not bad."

Lothar nodded slightly, it is imperative to form a Mediterranean fleet, but the trade in the Mediterranean is full of crises, and if he rushes into it, he can only be chewed to the point that there is no bone residue left.

This matter has to be considered in the long run.