"If there is anyone who is short of quartermasters, I will order the quartermaster to fill it for you as much as possible."

No one came forward to ask for supplies anymore.

The vast majority of the Germanic aristocracy were already Lothar's hardcore henchmen.

And the nobles of the Gallic family, in addition to those who also fell to the side of Lothar, some lords also wanted to take the opportunity to ask for some supplies, but when they saw the disdain in the eyes of the others, they swallowed back the words when they came to their mouths.

You can't let these vulgar, poor Germanic barbarians look down on you, can you?

At this time, the Germanic people had not yet developed, the Apennine states were rich, but they were scattered, Gaul was the core of the entire European continent, and the nobles of Gaul also regarded themselves as superior.

"Okay, since there isn't, please return to the territory this time, hurry up and prepare for the war, at the latest half a month later, we will have another big battle with the Saracens."

Lothar looked solemn.

"Obey your orders, my lord."

"Follow your will."

A group of crusader nobles spoke out one after another.

Lothar bowed slightly, although this military discussion paid an additional amount of materials, but it was a good thing for him to hold the right to speak in this army.

At a time when the price of food in the Kingdom of Jerusalem was soaring, and even with the execution of some Jewish merchants who had inflated prices, and the generosity of the monasteries, the supply problem for the crusaders was still quite serious.

However, after taking the city of Damietta, Lothar and his army immediately sent people to check the grain depots in the city, and the governor of Ibn originally intended to use it as a forage for the fortification, he occupied all of them.

This makes him the only one who can come up with a large number of materials and ordnance in the short term.

The supplies promised by the Lionheart will not arrive until a month later.

To be honest, if the Lionheart King arrived in the Holy Land with an elite crusader from the continent, Lothar was really worried that he would take away most of the right to speak, but it was only him and a personal guard, and it was still far from it.

Richard frowned, he still couldn't hold it back after all, and said bluntly: "Your Excellency Marquis, I still have a question. ”

He was not very good at trickery, scheming, etc., so he reluctantly tried it, and found that it was neither pleasant nor effective, so he simply stood up: "You must not ask a king to obey your orders." ”

The captain of his Earlguard, who was also a member of the staff, couldn't help but be speechless, it stands to reason that at this time, Richard had completely fallen into the upper hand, and he should not speak again, because there was no possibility of turning the tables around.

But he also knows that his own lord is such a character.

Just like before, if you want the throne, you will directly put up an anti-flag and fight against your own father, once you lose, you will come twice, and if you can't do it twice, you will come for the third time!

Like now, knowing that his brother hooked up with the cunning fox Philip next door and tried to rebel, he still contacted Sebastian, constructed a teleportation array, and left his kingdom without hesitation and went to the Holy Land alone.

"Of course I don't dare to expect so much, my honorable majesty."

Lothar bowed his head and saluted: "But Your Majesty has been in battle for a long time, and must know that if each lord goes his own way when fighting, it will inevitably cause a devastating blow to the whole battle. ”

He said solemnly: "Our opponents are not the scattered Saracens of the Eastern Crusade, they have carefully trained Mamluk cavalry in their hands, and their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of our Frankish knights. ”

"While we rejoiced in the easy taking of the anointed land of the province of Damietta, Saladin's brother, who had personally appointed governor of Egypt, Adil, rejoiced in the fact that the pagan princes, who were usually self-righteous and disregarded his orders, were forced to bow down to him."

Lothar's tone paused slightly, and he raised his tone: "Ladies and gentlemen, a few big victories in a row cannot blind us. ”

"We must realize that we are not facing an enemy who is already vulnerable. Indeed, every day the Crusaders who we have captured Damietta are inspired to embark on their journey to the Holy Land.

But in the same way, the whole Saracen world, under the name of Jihad, sent to Saladin's command Ghazi warriors with their own armed and even food, from Iberia, Africa, Asia Minor, the Fertile Crescent, and Arabia. In addition, the Saracens have far more military strength than they do away from home. If we take it lightly, we are very likely to suffer a crushing defeat here, as the previous king Amarric did. ”

A strange nobleman from Gaul sneered: "Lord Marquis said so much, is it because he is afraid?" ”

His voice was harsh.

Because of the silence in the field, he was the only one who made a mockery, and he immediately ushered in a sharp look like a knife.

Lothar chuckled and said, "Tell this strange aristocratic gentleman, half a year ago, when I led the royal knights to capture Saladin's favorite youngest son, when I led the Crusader cavalry to storm the camp of tens of thousands of pagan armies, when I led inferior troops to scuttle the elite of the Mamluks several times my size, when I faced the pagan devil who controlled the fire-breathing dragon, did I be afraid?" ”

Immediately, the crusader nobles replied, "No! ”

"And you also led us to victory!"

"You are the guardian of the holy spear, and the miracle itself!"

"Praise Lothar!"

Lothar's tone paused slightly, looked at the stunned Gallic nobles, and asked with a sneer: "May I ask where you were at that time, this fearless noble gentleman?" ”

Richard frowned: "Please don't blame this poor man who is uninformed and blind and deaf, Your Excellency the Marquis. I understand your concerns, but I still demand the same command as you, because you have no right to command a king, and I will bring new victories to the Father. ”

Lothar was silent for a moment, then spoke:

"Your Majesty, you need to know that as the commander of the Crusaders, my legitimacy comes not only from the nomination of the lords of all sides, but also from the appointment of Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty Baldwin IV."

King Amarric was the father of Baldwin IV, and his father was Fulke V, Count of Anjou and Count of Mann, and Fulk V, who passed the domain to his eldest son, Jofrois, and went to the Holy Land alone, inaugurating the reign of the royal family of Anjou in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

And the son of Jofroy was Henry II, the father of Richard the Lionheart, the predecessor king of Albion.

In other words, Richard the Lionheart was actually Baldwin IV's nephew, even though he was much older than Baldwin IV.

Richard was momentarily speechless.

Although as the patriarch of the main branch of the Anjou family, his status will not be lower than that of Baldwin IV of the Anjou branch of Jerusalem, but as a junior, it is not appropriate to speak out and ignore Baldwin IV's orders.

Lothar said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I have no intention of pointing fingers at a noble king, let alone a noble monarch whose military achievements and bravery have spread throughout the continent, but what I want to say is that if we can't work together, the fiasco of the last crusade may be repeated in front of us." ”

Lothar's tone paused slightly, and he added: "Your Majesty, if you have any opinion on the situation of the war, you can put it forward and discuss it with me, and in wartime you and I will share the same army, and cooperate with each other, but in terms of the overall strategy of the army, it must be formulated by me, which is beyond doubt, and it is related to the success or failure of this crusade against Egypt!" ”

Richard was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Well, you managed to convince me." ”

It wasn't so much that Lothar persuaded him, but that Richard realized that with the chips he had now, it was no use in trying to seize military power, and that the position of this country knight-turned-marquis in the crusaders was not at all as vain as Sebastian had told him before.

He had truly earned the allegiance of a large number of vassals, and as long as this group was closely rally around him, unless Richard's Albion crusade arrived in the Holy Land, Lothar's position would be unassailable.

This can be seen from the fact that the crusaders from all walks of life hurried back to the meeting at the order of Lothar.

You know, he began to prepare for the crusade more than half a year ago, and recently, the army of more than 10,000 people has just embarked on the road to the Mediterranean, and it is not known how long it will take to go around Iberia and enter the Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar.

But Richard didn't just bow his head.

On the contrary, he was confident that although he only had his own Praetorian Guard at his disposal for the time being, and the defection of two Crusader lords from Aquitaine, it added up to less than a thousand troops, and he felt that he could make a name for himself in the Holy Land.

After all, although his record is brilliant, it is mostly a record of counterinsurgency, lord infighting, or his own cavalry rebellion, while Lothar's record is real, and most of the crusader nobles have experienced it firsthand.

As long as he also won the battles that Lothar had won by magic, wouldn't he be able to gain a higher prestige than Lothar?

After the military meeting, Lothar held another banquet here, but he himself was too lazy to attend such an occasion.

He and his vassals did not need such an occasion to communicate with each other, and those who did not want to join him would not change their minds and join him because they had eaten his feast.

"My lord, there are many Latin merchants who want to see you."

Moder took the eclipse by the hand and walked up to Lothar and asked, "They have given you a very valuable gift, do you think you would like to find a time to meet these people?" ”

"Don't worry, just say I'm busy, and I'll talk about it later."

Lothar patted the old fellow in front of her on the shoulder.

Moder was one of the first attendants to follow him, serving in the Varangian Guard (i.e., the Duke's Guard), and after many battles, he was awarded the title of knight for his merits, and this thing designed a boar coat of arms for himself, which was printed on the shield behind his back.

And his good partner "Ryan", after the last battle with Saladin, was transferred to "Dark Shadows" by Kurs, citing a lack of manpower, and the coat of arms that this guy designed for himself was a stallion.

It's all quite exquisite.

The most common coats of arms on the continent are eagles, lions, and crosses, but among the lower nobility, wild boars, horses, bears, wolves, and even sheep were not uncommon.

For example, the courage of wild boars to cope with desperate situations is indomitable, and in many fishing and hunting tribes, there is a tradition of worshipping wild boars.

The war horse represents obedience and loyalty to the lord, and generally the courtier family as a lord prefers to use this coat of arms to show their loyalty and identity.

As for the Latin merchant visiting him, it was nothing more than seeing that even Richard the Lionheart could not defend his position, he gave up his speculative psychology and obediently came to Lothar, the crusader commander who could really "be the master of the house".

What are you looking for, what commercial privileges, tax-free concessions, renting the city as a commercial inn, etc.

Although he can definitely exchange a lot of wealth and materials in the short term, Lothar is allergic to the word "concession", and the appearance of the concession of the Apennine city-state republic in his territory is like a black spot on a white jade plate, even if it is definitely a thing that has more advantages than disadvantages in the short term, he still won't consider it.

Anyway, the financial problems that need to be solved urgently at the moment, because of the recovery of the crusader booty, coupled with the several industries under Lothar's hands, as well as the commercial taxes collected by the port of Ella, in the short term, although his finances are relatively tight, he can still persevere.

…

Ride on the eclipse, with the guards.

Lothar didn't plan to just go back to the mansion, but was in the mood to look around the territory of Damietta.

Look at the attitude of the Copts towards his rule, although every day after he defeated Damietta, the local leaders, wealthy merchants, and nobles of Coptic origin wanted to meet him.

But he didn't believe that these people, because of his status as a "brother of Christ", really regarded him as a liberator - that was internal propaganda!

Thinking that after the fall of the Great Yuan Dynasty, there were still countless Han ministers who cried and died for the tomb of the Yuan, although the rule of the Saracens was certainly not as easy as the Yuan Dynasty's control of the local gate lords, but so far, there has not been a single Coptic rebellion, which makes Lothar feel quite magical.

Of course, it may also be that his record is too frightening, and he has not made drastic reforms to the various institutions of Damietta for the time being, and has not touched their core interests too much.

So these people are still hibernating, waiting and seeing.

Once Lothar was defeated, he dared to guarantee that this group of Copts Christ brothers, including the Coptic archbishops, who had now been bought by him, would have to draw a line with him as soon as possible, and would have to actively attack him.

The duke's new gun shows that the condition is much better than before, at least his legitimacy has increased a lot, and he is no longer in a "very low" state, but has reached a "low" level.

This is due to the fact that most of the territories of the province of Damietta have been incorporated into his jurisdiction.

But Damietta was the duke of Lower Egypt, which was part of the Nile Delta.

As for the loyalty of the country and the people's living standards, they are still the same, the former is an undercurrent, the latter is a struggle, it has only been a few days, and nothing has changed at all.

He opened his hand, and the silver light converged, turning into an unpretentious silver spear in his hand, waving it, the wind howling, and its evaluation had changed from the original "unbearable" to "useless".

The description is: You've reclaimed some of the de jure territory, which makes your new gun the equivalent of a broken iron spear that will be reforged, but don't expect it to work any way.

Lothar couldn't help but smile and said, "It's not bad, at least you don't need to use ordinary riding guns anymore." ”