18th century total war

Chapter 32 Mercenaries

Li Wei, who plundered the city of Vannes, did not attack other cities in the Morbihan province.

First, Li Wei's Black Dragon Legion was severely damaged and could no longer withstand the consumption of the war.

Secondly, what happened to the city of Vannes made other cities in the Morbihan province very vigilant. Once Li Wei sent troops, he was likely to encounter two extremes.

Take the initiative to surrender and resist to the end!
Now that Li Wei's military strength is not rich, the possibility of encountering the second extreme is still very high.

Thirdly, Li Wei had plundered so many trophies and naturally had to digest them, especially the glory points and those young and strong prisoners of war. If they were not converted into loyal and reliable line infantry, not only would they waste food, but they would also need to send a large number of additional soldiers to guard them.

All in all, now Li Wei does not have enough strength to provoke a new war.

This is the flaw of insufficient foundation.

Of course, compared to the vast majority of traditional feudal nobles in the Kingdom of France, Li Wei is already considered good. At any rate, he has formed an army of thousands of people. Many fief nobles in the Kingdom of France had no time to react, and were mobilized by a declaration of human rights Riot Farmer bulldozed...

The nobles of the Kingdom of France did not expect that the Paris government would abolish their privileges and fiefdoms before King Louis XVI was deposed!
In fact, the launch of the Declaration of Human Rights, King Louis XVI refused, but unfortunately it was useless...

The result was that the Declaration of the Rights of Man suddenly dealt a heavy blow to the traditional conservative forces supporting King Louis XVI and suffered heavy losses!
At this time in Paris, many traditional feudal nobles began to flee the city of Paris.

"In three months, the Black Dragon Legion under my command will expand to more than 4000 people. At the same time, the overseas mercenaries I contacted should also arrive. By then, I can try to attack Rennes, the capital of Brittany. !

According to my speculation, building points will definitely be credited for completing system tasks, and then I won't have to rely on a Charles town training camp to accumulate strength. "

Under Livy's auspices, Charles Town and surrounding areas entered a period of peaceful development. At the same time, some "war intermediaries" took high commissions and went to Central Europe to recruit mercenaries.

Li Wei does not intend to hire local mercenary troops in France, because he knows how popular the Declaration of Human Rights is in the Kingdom of France, and the places where he will fight in the future will be in mainland France. Are you willing to sacrifice your life for him?
If they hit the hometown of those French mercenaries, will these mercenaries fight back?
Li Wei didn't want to take the gamble, not to mention that the French mercenaries were not very famous among the ranks of mercenaries in the current world.

The most famous mercenaries today are the Swiss mercenaries and the German mercenaries.

The outstanding feature of Swiss mercenaries lies in their loyalty, and there is almost no act of fighting back against their employers or reneging on their debts.

Swiss mercenaries can be said to be the most reputable mercenaries in this era!
German mercenaries are stronger in combat effectiveness.

Because the Holy Roman Empire at this time was neither holy nor Roman, it was just an empty empire, and the states below would conduct "friendship discussions" from time to time, and the German area was very chaotic!
The ambitious Prussia has always wanted to replace the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, the leader of the Holy Roman Empire. Other countries ranked second, third, fourth, etc., are swinging back and forth between Austria and Prussia, waiting for a price!

Even those small countries that are not on the stage are unwilling to be annexed by big countries, and have been working hard to maintain their independence.

Therefore, the states in the German region basically follow the militaristic route!

It’s not enough to be militaristic, what if a war breaks out one day and it is annexed?

Fortunately, big countries like Prussia and Austria have a large population, a large land area and rich resources, so there is not much pressure on them to invade.

But for those small countries or even those with only a few small cities, if they want to maintain their independent status, it is really reckless for all the people to be soldiers!

Prussia has made a good start in the German region-the universal compulsory military service system!
As a result, in order to save the dog's life... oh no, it's the life of the country, all those small countries followed suit and played the compulsory military service system for all.

Almost all young men of the right age need to join the army!
Then, there is a very common problem, military spending exceeds fiscal revenue!
Make every country miserable.

As a result, these German states came up with a solution to their financial difficulties-renting out their own standing army!
Why are the combat effectiveness of the mercenaries in the German region famous in the European mercenary circle?

Because [-] to [-]% of the mercenaries in the German region are the standing army trained by the various states themselves, which is the standard regular army of this era!

How could a mercenary with the combat effectiveness of a regular army be weak!

Now that there is no major war in China and Europe, it is impossible for the standing armies of those countries to spend money there, but they dare not disband them. What if an annexation war suddenly breaks out after the disbandment?

As a result, external rental has become the norm.

And the combat effectiveness of the regular armies of these states is also there. European countries also know the details, and it is more reliable to hire them as thugs.

Those state governments also know that leasing their own standing army can effectively relieve financial pressure, and they dare not let the leased standing army be put in a waterhole employer. Even if the reputation is not as good as Swiss mercenaries, it is acceptable.

The only downside is that the hiring price of German mercenaries is high...

At least, the price of mercenaries in Italy is much higher!
However, as long as Li Wei is not out of his mind, he will not hire mercenaries in Italy!
Going further east, that is the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Even if there are mercenaries, it is impossible to fight for Europe.

In fact, the range of mercenaries that Levi could choose was very small.

Excluding those no-name mercenaries with little reputation and reputation, there are only three options.

Mercenaries from the German region, Swiss mercenaries, and Italian regions.

The mercenary industry in Italy can be regarded as a well-established business, but the combat effectiveness of mercenaries in Italy is getting worse every year, and there is no big problem with their reputation, but they always pull their hips on the battlefield!

Therefore, now mainstream European bosses hire Swiss and German mercenaries.

Especially Britain, which has developed colonies all over the world and has a small native population, has even maintained a battle order of German mercenaries all year round!
So Li Wei's options are only Swiss mercenaries and German mercenaries, but he is more inclined to German mercenaries, because the price of Swiss mercenaries is the highest in Europe!

Levi didn't need Swiss mercenaries to serve as the main force on the battlefield, so he couldn't afford to pay such a high price.

(End of this chapter)