Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

The Duke of Milan hated Ma Youfu deeply because of this, but at this time he had no ability or energy to take revenge on him.The Duke of Bar, who is becoming more and more powerful, is not something the Duchy of Milan can deal with on its own, and the most important task for Philippo at present is to give birth to an heir for the family.

For this reason, he sought medical advice everywhere.Herbalists, alchemists, magicians, shamans, druids, wild witch doctors... Filippo is willing to try as long as there is a way to make his wife conceive a child.

Filippo, who was full of heir problems, was very enthusiastic about the Crusades.He hoped to please the seven saints by conquering the land of the pagans, so that the gods would give him a healthy and lively boy.

Compared with the Duke of Milan who wished to bite Mayouf to death one by one, and the Governor of Genoa Rinaldo who had a very respectful attitude towards Mayouf, the Governor of Venice, Francesco, had the most common neutral attitude towards Mayouf. At most, he looked at him. There is some curiosity and exploration in it.

The Venetian, who is full of money, is very curious about Ma Youfu's various means of making money.Especially the "jihadi loan" that has recently become popular in Italy and has begun to spread to southern Germany, Francesco suspected that it was also written by Ma Youfu.

"Good morning, Your Excellency the Duke of Baal. As early as two years ago, when you drifted to Venice due to a shipwreck, I wanted to meet you. Unfortunately, my wish has not come true until today. I hope that in this Crusade South During the expedition, the navies of our two sides can cooperate sincerely to control the entire western Mediterranean and cut off the possibility of those heretics supporting the Maghreb by sea.”

"Of course. Looking forward to working with you."

The two sides greeted each other and took their seats.

But what puzzled Francesco was why the Siris always glanced at his neck from time to time?It's a pity that he doesn't understand the stalk of "hanging the Doge of Venice", so he can only keep this question in his heart.

As for another important Italian monarch, the Governor of the Republic of Florence, the "Banner Bearer of Justice" Cosimo de' Medici, he just greeted Mayouf in a normal way.

Through Vera's father's matchmaking, Ma Youfu established a relationship with the famous Florentine ruler not long after he arrived in Provence. The "Jihad loan" was Ma Youfu's idea, which was issued through the Medici Bank, and was quickly followed by other Italian banks.And after the "Jihad loan", there are still a series of "financial innovation" methods that Ma Youfu learned from Wall Street and Fu Bao Ma, waiting to be used.

The two parties will work together to reap the wealth of affluent Italy.

After greeting Cosimo and exchanging a tacit look of "I understand", Ma Youfu sat down safely.

After the earls and dukes arrived, the kings also arrived one after another.

Philip III, Duke of Burgundy, who was not a king but was more than a king, entered the tent first.He walked with the wind, greeted other monarchs with a smile on his face, and sat next to Ma Youfu.

"My friend, the crusade is about to begin, and a great adventure awaits on the other side of the sea! Do you know how excited I am?" Philip III laughed.

Among the various monarchs who participated in the Crusades, perhaps his purpose was the simplest, that is, to kill a few pagans, conquer new lands, and have an ancient Greek heroic adventure in a strange distance.

"Victory and glory are waiting for us in the distance." Ma Youfu also said good things for the occasion.

Then, the four kings of the Iberian Peninsula entered the tent one after another.

Walking in the front was King Navarra, who was ignored by most of the people including Ma Youfu.

King Alfonso V of Aragon, who followed him, was a tall man with a tall and big nose. Although he had a mushroom head that made people complain, his overall bearing was extraordinary and he looked like a wise king.

Ma Youfu noticed that when he walked into the tent, he had a close relationship with a beautiful boy accompanying him.It is said that the young man is the most beloved illegitimate son of Alfonso V, Fernando.The magic fluctuations emanating from the other party were very similar to those Iberian fishermen with Naga blood that Ma Youfu had seen.

Then in came Juan II, King of Castile.According to the rules, when the monarchs entered the meeting tent, they could not take any entourage with them, but Juan II was an exception. He was accompanied by a tall, handsome and elegant knight.

"Juan II and his wife are really in love, they stay together wherever they go." Philip III on the side sarcastically said.

It is estimated that Enren IV knew that the King of Castile himself had no decisive power, and that the Crusaders had to rely on the decision of his "lover" Alvaro for everything, so he made an exception.

It seems that Enren IV made a lot of compromises for the victory of the Crusades by actually allowing the founders to enter this sacred space for discussion.

After Juan II, King Joao I of Portugal walked in slowly with the help of a young man.

He was too old to be supported, and, like Juan II, he was a special exception.

Ma Youfu remembers that this king who can be evaluated as "great" in Portuguese history died this year.If the other party hadn't insisted on being hostile to him, maybe when the time came to hold the funeral, he would go with someone else.

Chapter 420 The Elephant in the Eighth Room

The most surprising thing is that the last two Western European monarchs, Charles VII, King of France, and Sigismund, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, walked into the room with a friendly gesture of talking and laughing side by side. tent.

Seeing this scene, the one who reacted most violently was Philip III next to Ma Youfu.

The Duke of Burgundy, who was smiling at first, immediately turned cold, and let out a "hum" from his nasal cavity.

Although Burgundy and France are now allies in name, there is still a deep-rooted gap between Philip III and Charles VII because of the vendetta of their parents.It's just that because of Ma Youfu's existence, the two sides maintain a superficially friendly relationship.

Philip III was overjoyed, and his desire to expand his territory was deeply embedded in his genes.Unable to expand into France, he can only look to the west and erode into the Holy Roman Empire step by step.

This naturally annoyed Emperor Sigismund.

Because the empire was too loose and there were problems such as the Hussites, it was impossible for Sigismund to use all his strength to fight against Burgundy in order to protect the disloyal vassals, but he still had to do something.

On this occasion where many European monarchs gathered, showing a close personal relationship with Charles VII was the message Sigismund sent to Philip III: If you don't restrain your ambitions and still expand into Shinra, I will Allied with France!At that time, Burgundy, whose land is long and narrow, will face the situation of being sandwiched between two sides, and will fall into an extremely passive situation militarily.

"Pretentious! How could the arrogant French unite with the rude Germans?" Philip III dismissed.

It's just that even though he said so, he was still very vigilant in his heart.In addition to deciding to suspend the offensive momentum on the interior of Shinra and invest resources in the Crusades to obtain new lands, he is also thinking about Burgundy's diplomatic response strategy.

"England has gradually recovered from the chaotic political situation of the failure of the Hundred Years War. Perhaps the Anglo-Bober alliance can be re-established to fight against France. Savoy is also a worthy target. In the future, if Burgundy is in Mag Ribou occupied the territory, and the materials produced by it were transported to the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, entered the territory of Savoy, and then transported to the mainland of Burgundy through the Senney Pass in the Alps, which was much safer than going directly through France.

Savoy and Burgundy are already related by marriage, if we can form an alliance with each other, it will open up the situation for the principality in the direction of the southern Mediterranean..."

In this post-Hundred Years' War era, Philip III realized that he needed to start adjusting his diplomatic strategy.In addition to attracting as many allies as possible, the interior of France is also where he focuses.

Although Charles VII weakened the power of the nobles by dealing with the wool soldiers rampaging across the French countryside, the dukes of France still had strong strength.

In addition, don't forget that there is Ma Youfu among them.

The people of Siris still maintain a good relationship with Charles VII, but with the rapid expansion of the power of the Duke of Bar, the relationship between the two parties will one day crack.

Thinking of this, Philip III looked at Ma Youfu who was sitting next to him, and said in a low voice, "Ma Youfu, after the victory of the Crusades is over, you will marry Mary, how about it?"

The relationship between the two parties will only be called by their first names when they are quite close.Seeing Philip III addressing himself in this way, Ma Youfu also understood, and replied: "Of course, Philip, it is my wish to marry the princess of Burgundy who is like a little angel."

Although Philip III's proposal is a bit like setting the flag of "After this battle, I will go back to my hometown to get married", but the real strong can break all spells.

After conquering the Maghreb, Ma Youfu believed that even if Charles VII was afraid of his marriage with Burgundy, there was no need to worry about it.Because at that time, no matter how low-key he was, he became an elephant in the room, and it was impossible for Charles VII to ignore him.

After all the monarchs invited by Enren IV arrived, the meeting officially began.

Powerful kings and dukes sat at the big round table in the middle of the tent.The other little princes sat on a circle of benches with their backs against the tent.Enren IV first preached the seven holy books, emphasizing the necessity and legitimacy of launching the Southern Crusade, and then asked his followers to hang up a map around the Mediterranean Sea.

There are three bright red arrows on the map, starting from Lisbon, Marseille, and Palermo, pointing to the three Maghreb sultanates of Morocco, Tlemcen, and Tunisia.

"Gentlemen, this is the route for the Southern Expedition formulated by me and the monarchs through letters. But now it seems that this is not realistic and cannot take care of the interests of everyone. Therefore, I hope that at today's meeting, All devout crusaders can reach an agreement, and then work together to complete this great conquest!"

Enren IV was hoarse and performed sensationally, but it is a pity that the monarchs are not fools who are easily incited by religion, and they pay more attention to practical benefits rather than slogans.

Enren IV, who received little response, stepped aside, and the first to speak was Henry XVI, Duke of Bavaria.

To be precise, it should be the Duke of Bavaria-Landshut.

In the duchy of Bavaria that is now split into three parts, the Duke of Bavaria who participated in the Crusades and Albert, the heir to the Duke of Bavaria that Mayouf had befriended when he was in Ghent before, are not from the same family, but belong to the same family. The two branches of Munich and Landshut.

Since he only owns about one-third of the dukedom, and his strength is weak, Henry XVI is only a small role in this meeting where many powerful monarchs gather.He stood up at this time, apparently at the behest of his lord Sigismund.

"Everyone, it is the most stupid strategy to attack three pagan countries in three directions! Why did the previous Crusades fail? It is because the European monarchs are doing their own thing and cannot unite to defeat the enemy! This time, we cannot repeat Such a mistake!"

He pointed at the map with spit, and finally landed on the city of Tunis: "We should gather all our troops to fight the heathen army in Tunis!"

"Sigismund wanted to muddy the water." Philip III said to Ma Youfu.

Today, the Mulholland coalition forces have completed their assembly ahead of schedule, taking advantage of the fact that the countries of the Seven Sages were being harassed by undead pirates.A total of [-] troops were assembled in the Tunisian Sultanate.

In this army, there are about [-] Ottoman troops, [-] Mamluk troops, [-] Aries Sultanate troops, and the rest are Tunisian Sultanate troops. Volunteers from Helan Country.

As for the Seven Saints camp, the number of troops mobilized this time is astonishingly large.

In the Western Crusade, Portugal mobilized 7000 people, and Castile and Aragon each mobilized 1 people.

In the Central Crusade, France and Burgundy each mobilized 2 people, plus the troops of Provence and Brittany, the total number reached [-].

And the scale of the Eastern Crusade was unprecedented.Sigismund's German Crusaders numbered 3 men.And the crusaders gathered together by the Italian states actually had 3 people!

It's just that a considerable part of the Eastern Crusaders borrowed money to buy weapons and equipment, and the "loan crusaders" who expected to make a fortune through the war were very doubtful about their combat effectiveness.

Sigismund obviously also saw this, so he didn't want to face the Mulholland coalition forces who were waiting for work with an army that was not superior in quantity and quality in a situation where the offensive side had a huge disadvantage in landing operations.

Philip III, who was so overjoyed and eager to perform, decided to stand up and refute Sigismund himself after seeing through Sigismund's plot.

On this occasion where the monarchs of all countries gathered together, it was time for him to show Burgundy's "great country style".

"Duke Louis, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the Crusades, but your suggestion is so stupid that it will make even goblins laugh!"

"What did you say?!"

Ignoring the Duke of Bavaria who was glaring at him, Philip III got up and said: "This Southern Expedition, if counted, should be the tenth Crusade in history, which has special significance. And it is also unprecedented in terms of scale. Those who believe in the Seven Saints The kings and lords mobilized a huge force of more than 10 people and vowed to conquer the land across the sea. You are full of ambitions, and your hearts are full of longing for glory, but have you really thought about how to win?"

"Our numbers are twice the number of the enemy, and you actually ask how to win? Do you have to doubt such a simple thing? I think you Burgundians have not seen the pagans, and you have been frightened!" The Duke of Bavaria said loudly. laugh at.

"Soldiers, the important affairs of the country, the place of life and death, the way of survival, must be observed!" Philip III suddenly read a strange Huaxia dialect.He pointed to Ma Youfu and said, "This is the oriental wisdom I learned from my friend Seris. Translated into French, it means that war is a national event, a matter of life and death, and existence must be taken seriously. Investigation and research!

Mr. Henry, do you know how big the landing field is on the coast near the city of Venice?How big is the battlefield space?If a quick battle is not possible and 10,000+ army hedgehogs gather in a small area, can the local area provide enough supplies?If not, if you need to rely on sea transportation, is the transportation capacity enough?Will our grain ship be attacked by Mulholland pirates?You don't know anything, so don't expose your ignorance with words here! "

Philip III's continuous inquiries made Henry XVI completely dumbfounded.

The duke of Bavaria was nicknamed "the rich man". What he is best at is exploiting the peasants under his rule, amassing money, and being a Grandet-style lord.

This time, in response to the Pope's call, I went to North Africa with the Emperor, and I just wanted to find a new life goal besides the boring life of earning money.

He's really not good at fighting.

Chapter 420 IX

Seeing that the Duke of Bavaria was rendered speechless by his refutation, Philip III felt a sense of joy in his heart.

He recalled the first time he met Youfu Ma, the other party "combat all the Confucians" in the banquet hall, refuted one English faction after another, and finally impressed him with his heroic demeanor.

It turns out that it's so cool to retreat from the enemy!

Philip III gave Ma Youfu a grateful look.

The military ability of the Duke of Burgundy is not outstanding, at least it is weaker than his iron son who will carry out profound modernization military reforms to the Burgundian army in the future and influence the armies of Western European countries.

What he said to the Duke of Bavaria just now was actually in the previous correspondence with Ma Youfu, who refuted the various reasons he listed.

When the Crusade was launched, the overjoyed Philip III also advocated gathering all his troops and landing directly in Tunisia.A decisive battle will determine the outcome.After capturing the city of Tunisia, they then attacked to the southwest, occupying the "holy mountain" that gurgled and gushed out and changed the geographical environment of the entire Maghreb.

However, Ma Youfu directly denied this battle plan.And Philip III also learned some useful military common sense.

The monarchs present at the meeting were first stunned by Philip III's Chinese language, and all of them showed unclear expressions.Even Charles VII, who was still yawning with sore backs and legs because he "discussed drama" with several Italian actresses so deeply last night, rarely showed a serious expression.

Afterwards, Philip III gave another analysis of the battle situation, and the monarchs nodded again and again.

The duke, who thought he had the upper hand, couldn't help but mocked again: "Your Excellency Henry, I think your blood lacks the qualities of a general, so it's best to follow the emperor and just make some military exploits. Strategizing and battling heretics is not for a 'rich man' like you."

Amidst a burst of laughter, the Duke of Bavaria sat back with a blushing face.

However, although Philip III's ridicule relieved his anger, he also offended another person.

That is Filippo, Duke of Milan.

Henry XVI's mother was from the Visconti family, and he had Latin black hair instead of the common blond hair of the Germans.

Didn't Philip III mock the blood of Henry XVI as well as the Visconti family?

The dictator of Milan stood up and said to Philip III: "Your Excellency, Duke of Burgundy, it is really not a good idea to gather all the crusaders to land in Tunisia. But the previous method of dividing the army into three groups is also a bad idea." Plan. The Mulhollans are not stupid, don’t they just stay in the city of Tunisia? What if they take the initiative to attack while our troops are scattered in the vast Maghreb desert and mountains?”