That's it, the second line of defense of the Third Army of the Hereford family, after losing more than a third of its troops, also began to retreat on its own initiative. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Although General Franz and most of the Imperial officers thought they could hold on, they chose to retreat without hesitation, which was a testament to the fighting spirit of the Hereford family's army, that is, the low morale, and further inspired most of the Imperial officers.

Their theory is that, yes, the enemy's tactics are more advanced than ours, and the enemy's weapons and equipment are no less cash than ours. But the enemy's will to fight is inferior to ours. Because of this, the Imperial Army can still have the upper hand. The Imperial Army will advance with great fearlessness, crushing any enemy that stands in its way. No matter what his identity is.

However, General Franz was still not happy.

His ideas are completely different from those of the vast majority of Imperial Army generals. He didn't see any sense of panic, panic, or fear on the part of the Hereford family army. These guys seem very calm, and they are retreating, not routing. Moreover, before retreating, they had already inflicted extremely serious casualties on the Imperial army. Today, the Imperial Army has lost nearly 10,000 soldiers. It occupies one-tenth of the total number of imperial armies and one-seventh of the number of battles.

General Franz was worried, and the officers around him discussed that his own morale was stronger than that of the other side, and that he could win by will...... Such arguments scoffed.

Regardless of whether the will and morale are enough to sustain a war. Even if we take a step back and say that this is really the case, then this premise and assumption are obviously not valid.

Because in General Franz's opinion, the morale of the Hereford family's army is much stronger than his own. It is only natural to think of it - although the nobles and officers of the empire think the opposite - because they are traitors, they are traitors, rebellious, and they are not tolerated by the empire and the aristocracy.

The Hereford family had no nobility honor. The Herefords betrayed the Emperor to whom they were rightfully allegiated. So it stands to reason that the Hereford family's army will be demoralized because of this.

General Franz could only sigh that these nobles were too well protected. They're just like a bunch of kids. Live in a fairy tale.

Their assumptions and assumptions are wrong. General Franz, a knight-born knight at the bottom, understands the psychology of soldiers better than those nobles who live in fairy tales.

For the soldiers, it didn't matter who was right, or who was right and who was wrong within the empire. Who's the emperor, who's rebellious or who's the good guy, who's the bad guy or something.

All this had little effect on the Imperial soldiers.

There are only three types that really have an impact, the first is foreign wars...... Although nationalism has only just taken on in this era. But if the enemy is the aggressor, then there will be a little resistance in the territory...... If there is a strange thing like Joan of Arc, then it is not impossible to turn the tide of the war by her own will.

Then there is faith.

Although, in reality, this war has long surpassed the dispute between the old and new sects. But faith did affect the empire as a whole, and at the same time it divided the empire.

In the North, Protestants rightly supported the Protestant Union. In the South, those who believe in traditional sects take it for granted that they believe in traditional sects. Mercenaries of different faiths, soldiers are naturally willing to fight for generals, kings, emperors, or any other ruler who share their beliefs. On the contrary, they do not want to cooperate......

This is one of the reasons why the empire is currently having difficulty recruiting soldiers.

Originally, after occupying a large number of new territories and receiving funding from the Lombards, the empire could have easily expanded its army by 100,000. But what about actually...... In fact, the Imperial Army had a very, very difficult time recruiting troops. It took a lot of effort, and even had to recruit some southern Lombards, who had always been known for their inability to fight. That's what held up the army.

The reason for this lies in the armies of the northern part of the empire, and the mercenaries are reluctant to accept the signs of the empire - because of the religious influence of the northern part of the empire. These northern mercenaries were mostly Protestants. It would have been somewhat awkward to hire them to fight against monarchs who were also Protestant......

If the Empire is the only option for these mercenaries, then that's fine. The problem is that they are not. Rather than the Empire, they could also take refuge with the Protestants, or the Protestant princes under the patronage of the Britons...... Although at present, the Protestant princes are left with only one Archduke Christian. But many of the nobles who fled to Frisia, as well as John, another prince of Franconia, were also constantly recruiting troops with the help of the Britons. They have so many options. So why work for the Empire?

That's basically it. If the Emperor had been able to recruit these Northland mercenaries, they would have attacked a month earlier. However, no. This is the power of religion...... Or the power of religion.

Of course, there is another thing that is more important than religion.

Money.

Or a little more broadly, interests.

Money & Benefits.

Again, take mercenaries as an example. It says that mercenaries will choose employers selectively because of their beliefs. And here is another point to emphasize, and that is if money.

Money, money, money.

If you don't give the mercenaries the corresponding commission, they won't fight for you. If you don't give the mercenaries double the commission, they won't work hard. All in all, the soldiers of this era fought for money. More broadly, it's for profit.

The Imperial Janissaries were better. But they also need benefits. It's not like a mercenary, you just have to climb up. Praetorian soldiers also needed social status and a way to rise. And these guys are standing armies. These guys are not like mercenaries, they give money when they fight, and they can be thrown away like garbage when they are not fighting. They ask for money every year, every month, every week.

And they are not like the scum of mercenaries, who are drunk today and drunk today.

Soldiers and officers in the Standing Army usually have a relatively stable family. Or even say it's a child. They need a pension if they hang up. If wages are not paid, there will be riots.

Of course, this is only the lower echelons of the Praetorian Guard. And the upper echelons of the Praetorian Guard were even more pleasant. They will find a way to climb up, and even say that they will play some bad tricks behind their backs...... In the imperial court, Franz had to face many challenges as a confidant of the emperor. There are almost as many of them as from their own people as from the enemy......

Or even a little more.

The Hereford family, however, is different.

The Hereford family, who practiced the professional soldier system, adopted the Praetorian Guard system that was not different from the nations of the human world on the surface. But in reality, there has been significant progress.

In an era of expansion and financial improvement, the Hereford family's Praetorian Guard treatment gradually increased. From the beginning inferior to mercenaries. By now there are slightly more than mercenaries, and Praetorian Guard soldiers have become a veritable high-paying profession.

In addition to the basic salary, William's policy of higher social status and honor policy of soldiers has also had a certain effect. In a situation where the people of most countries regard soldiers as a concentration camp of scoundrels, scoundrels, and loafers, the territory controlled by the Hereford family has regarded soldiers as superior beings.

All these benefits, combined with the latest land policy, were enough for the Janissaries of the Hereford family to be unreservedly loyal to the Hereford family and willing to die for them.

The second is the professional officer system.

Officers don't pay attention to their background and family background, and of course they don't look at sycophants or tricks. The first thing that determines the position of junior officer is the test score. A good junior officer will have a higher path to promotion. And in the camp of middle-ranking officers, they were constantly promoted through the actual combat achievements of the war.

Then there is the complete separation of officers from administrative officials.

Professional officers. Transparent upward channels, coupled with the separation of military and government. This series of measures has created the most professional officer group in the world. Although, now it seems, these new, young officers are still very immature. It's even very dogmatic. But Franz saw amazing potential in them.

He once suggested to the Emperor that the Heriford family should follow the example of the Hereford family in opening a professional non-commissioned officer academy and an officer academy. Train professional army officers to replace the increasingly corrupt aristocratic officer system.

It's just that within the Empire, the resistance to his proposal is too great. A large number of noble officers frantically attacked Franz. In the end, Franz almost retired dishonorably, and the matter was over.

In this way, at present, among the countries of the human world, there are probably only two reformed Britons and the new country Hereford, which have relatively easy tactical measures to implement a series of reforms.

"So, whether it's a soldier or an officer. The Hereford Army's army has presented the best they can. Why would anyone be so stupid as to think that the Hereford family's army would collapse because of morale, and that the Hereford family's army would be inferior to ours?"

Franz pondered this question in his heart. At the same time, he resisted the urge to sigh leisurely - otherwise, maybe after the war, some people would spread his gossip, saying that he sighed like this or something, **** capitulationism or something......

All in all, Franz knew very well in his heart that the Imperial Army did not win. In the face of the Janissaries of the Hereford family, if the Imperial Army can gain anything, it is by no means won by the Imperial Army itself, there is only one possibility, that is, the Hereford Family Army took the initiative to give it to them.

"They are trying to weaken us as much as they can while protecting themselves. General Franz immediately had an answer: "In such a case...... It's ...... It's just ......."

He tried his best to find an adjective to describe it, and he tried his best to find another way to crack the tactics of the Hereford army - but unfortunately, no, not at all. While the Hereford family's Third Army calmly retreated, giving them a position of tens of thousands of corpses, the general Franz could not find a tactic to stop them from doing so.