Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

I don't know who it is, but the news that the Seris Fleet will serve the Mulhollan Crusaders spread throughout Italy.It is said that Princess Seris, who is as beautiful as a goddess, owns three warships as huge as a city.Each warship is loaded with mountains of oriental treasures, more precious than gold.

It is said that Princess Seris was coerced by the evil Mulhollan and had to serve her.If a crusader warrior rescues the princess, she will give her body as a promise, and present the three warships with all the goods to her future husband.

The goods on one treasure ship are worth 100 million livres, and three ships are worth 300 million livres!Can this astronomical wealth not make people jealous?

Although this rumor is full of Europeans' fantasies about the mysterious East, and it is also mixed with obscenity elements of a dick's counterattack to marry Bai Fumei, but the Seris Fleet does have a lot of money, enough for the crusaders and Italian bankers to eat well Yes, indeed.

And, with the conquest of Tunisia, did the Crusades end?

The Ottomans and Mamluks in the east, the two major Mulholland powers, are still there.

There used to be five patriarchal districts, but now there is only one Rome in the hands of the Seven Saints.Why don't you go all the way to restore the glory of the Roman Empire?

These people only tasted the sweetness from the war, but did not experience the destruction and suffering that came with it.For them, expanding the war and profiting from it is the best choice.

Although the bearded Louis doesn't understand any profound truths, he still understands the simple logic of "the more wars are fought, the more benefits will be gained, and the more people will want to participate in them".

After explaining to Martino, he patted him on the shoulder and said: "This war is the only chance for people like us to turn around and live a good life. We must seize it! Introduce a few more relatives and friends to take loans to participate in it." If the Crusaders are assigned to our subordinates, both of us will be promoted in official positions, and we will be assigned more spoils."

The young Martino was also said to be tempted.He nodded fiercely: "Okay, then I will write a few more letters and try my best to convince everyone in my hometown to join the Crusaders!"

The two soldiers were illiterate, so they had to find ghostwriters from vendors who followed the army to write letters.Those untrustworthy peddlers who make a living by doing military business have made a small fortune because of the increasing letter writing business recently, just like hyenas picking up dead bodies to eat after lions.

A crusade war also formed a top-down diversified interest chain.

Louis and Martino sent a letter, and after coming out of the rear baggage camp, they found that there was a commotion in the camp, and it seemed that something big was about to happen.

While rushing to their own team, the two grabbed a passing soldier from time to time to ask about the situation.

It's just that after asking for a long time, I didn't get any exact information. I only knew that a war was about to start.

In fact, the [-] crusaders stationed on the front line of Wozreif at this time, from the Supreme Commander Emperor Sigismund to the Duke of Milan and the Florentine general Adriano as deputy, have not fully grasped the battle situation. .

All they knew was that a Mulholland army of about 5000 men was heading towards Wozreif.

Sigismund wanted to focus on stability, and first relied on the small gift to hold on, and after finding out the specific situation of the enemy, he made plans.

But the two Italian lieutenants, as well as the other small princes of Shenluo, clamored to attack immediately to show the pagans a good look!

Only by fighting more and killing more enemies can you earn more loot.Because the battle has been so smooth so far, many nobles participating in the Crusades have developed an arrogant attitude, thinking that the enemy is vulnerable and our side is invincible. As long as the Crusaders charge, all problems will be solved.

They are not rushing to fight on the front line now, but rushing to make money.

In Sigismund's main tent, when the generals were quarreling, a cavalry suddenly sent a message: the troops of the three major dioceses of Trier, Mainz, and Cologne had already taken the lead in attacking. We have crossed the Little Gift River!

The German Crusaders were headed by Emperor Sigismund, and all the princes in the empire, except Bohemia, which was troubled by Hussite heresy, more or less participated in this grand meeting of the Southern Expedition.

Among them, the three major electorate dioceses of Trier, Mainz, and Cologne are the most active.

After all, it is a diocese, and the bishops must be more enthusiastic about this kind of thing than the secular nobles.

The diocesan crusaders are very different from the secular crusaders. They don't have the mobs of loan jihads. They are all composed of apologist knights and well-equipped senior sergeants.Moreover, the proportion of priests accompanying the army is much higher than that of ordinary crusaders.

This is a small, but very powerful force.

"How did they cross the Little Gift River?" Sigismund asked in surprise.

Although the Xiaoenci River is not particularly wide, about 30 meters, the current is so fast that it is impossible to wade directly across it.

"It is said that the Archbishop of Trier organized twelve apologists to cast spells, using sand condensation and stone shaping, and instantly built a bridge."

After hearing this, Sigismund stayed for a moment before recovering, and said angrily, "A group of reckless idiots! People who don't know think that my subordinates are all a group of trolls who have no brains and only know how to kill!"

Launching an attack without knowing the enemy's situation is no different from suicide.

But the medieval army had such virtues.It is too common for subordinates to walk alone.

And Sigismund couldn't let these parish crusaders go.

The three Elector Archbishops are all targets that Sigismund needs to win over.If the other party labels him as fearful of the enemy and will not save him, and the emperor's authority is damaged, it will be difficult for his son-in-law to succeed to the throne.

Thinking of this, Sigismund immediately ordered: transport timber from the baggage barge, start building bridges immediately, and cross the river to support!

This time the Crusade, even if Ma Youfu's road is not counted, the preparations for the war are relatively sufficient.Sigismund and others learned the lessons of the failures of the previous Crusades: North Africa lacked timber, so that when the Crusaders attacked the city, they could not make siege equipment on the spot, which made the siege unfavorable and eventually led to a full-scale attack. fail.

Sufficient material reserves are also a major reason why the Eastern Crusades were able to progress smoothly.

After more than an hour of chaotic preparations, [-] German and Italian crusaders came out in full force, and it took another two hours to cross the Xiaoenci River, form a majestic formation, and advance northward.

In the vast desert five kilometers north of Wozreif, the Crusaders and Mulholland's army encountered unexpectedly.

At this time, the parish crusaders, with a total number of only about 1000 people, were under the blessing of various divine arts, braving brilliant aura, and repeatedly attacked the Mulholland army formation.

The army on the opposite side is a typical Maghreb style, consisting of light infantry as cannon fodder and a large number of cavalry.

Even if the Mulholland infantry with wooden shields and spears formed a tight formation, they were quickly dispersed by the heavy armored knights of the Crusaders.However, while the momentum of the opponent's attack was blocked, the Berber light cavalry who were as good at javelins as the Iberians surrounded them. After a pass of harassment was exhausted, the heavy-armored Mulholland elite cavalry launched an attack.

If the battle is unfavorable, let the elite cavalry retreat, and there will be another round of delay, harassment, and attack.

Although the equipment of the Maghreb army is a little behind that of the Europeans, and there are no firearms, but because of its nomadic tradition, the use of cavalry is still very good.

Sigismund looked at the place where the two sides fought fiercely, the yellow sand was rolling, the flags were fluttering, and there was chaos, and he couldn't grasp the situation of the battle for a while.He could only see clearly that the pattern of the Sultanate of White Sheep was not found in the flag of Mulholland's army on the opposite side.

"The army ahead is just Tunisians? Where is Uzun Hassan? Where is he? Did he want to take a sneak attack while we were advancing?"

While Sigismund was thinking about these issues, the nobleman beside him couldn't help it.

His Majesty the Emperor was an experienced military commander who fought in both the South and the North, but the German and Italian princes under his command had many idiots who knew nothing but fanaticism.

A count from Mantua rushed forward and shouted: "The evil heretics are ahead, fighting fiercely with our brothers. What are we waiting for? Your Majesty, let's do it!"

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Sigismund's answer, he rode his beloved Frisian warhorse, wearing a luxurious Milanese plate armor with colorful peacock feathers on his head, and rushed out with a few attendants.

Immediately afterwards, several nobles charged along with the Earl of Mantua.

Then there were a dozen, dozens, hundreds... Finally, an accidental Showa act by the subordinate nobles turned into an army charge of [-] crusaders.

After about an hour, the fight was over.

After losing one-third of its strength, the Tunisian army began to disintegrate. In the end, another 2000 people were killed or injured during the retreat, leaving only 5000 people to flee to the north.

Among them, the Tunisian general Ibrahim Hashemi, who led the army, was also captured.

This victory, which wiped out [-] enemies and completely lost the combat effectiveness of [-] Tunisian troops, fell into the hands of Sigismund in such a muddle.

When His Majesty the Emperor was inspecting the battlefield, his mind was still a little confused, not knowing how he won the victory.

Chapter 460 Three Bankers

The Crusaders won inexplicably, and the Mulholland army lost inexplicably.

General Ibrahim, who led the Tunisian army, was planning to arrive at a desert oasis north of Woz Raif, and then set up camp, waiting for the follow-up Aries army to arrive before making plans.

The proportion of Berber cavalry in the Tunisian army is very high, and the marching speed is fast.The Aries Sultanate has been fighting in the Caucasus and Persian mountains all year round, and its infantry is extremely powerful.

Ibrahim planned to wait for Uzun Hassan to join up, lure the crusaders to attack, and then use the expertise of Berber light cavalry to harass, consume the enemy's strength along the way, and launch a decisive battle when the time is almost right.Just like Saladin's strategy of defeating the Crusaders in the Battle of Harding.

To this end, he also specifically ordered the defenders guarding the holy mountain to start building dams to reduce the water volume of the river, so as to reduce the water sources that the Crusaders could obtain.

But what I didn't expect was that Ibrahim was attacked by the Crusaders as soon as he started camping near the oasis.

The opponent's scale is small, only about a thousand people, flying cross flags of various colors, and every soldier is very fanatical.

Ibrahim was going to quickly eat up this small group of troops. Who knew that the opponent's fighting power was amazing, especially those battle priests who wore chain mail, had seven bible scriptures in one hand, and a morning star hammer in one hand. , It is very difficult to treat the injury of the same robe.

As a result, before Ibrahim devoured this small army, he did not wait for the Aries reinforcements, but instead waited for the main force of the Crusaders to come out, and just lost the battle like this.

Just five kilometers away, Uzun Hassan decisively ordered to retreat and move towards Sfax after encountering the defeated Tunisian soldiers.

From the beginning to the end, from victory to defeat, both parties involved in this battle felt inexplicable. After continuous packaging, it became the "Wozreff Victory".

This was the first time that the Eastern Crusaders had defeated the main force of Mulholland's army in the wild, so it was naturally worthy of special mention.Although there are also clear-headed people in the Crusades, they know that the victory of annihilating five thousand enemies cannot determine the outcome of the entire war.But under the rendering of blind optimism, there are more and more people who think that victory is like getting something out of a bag.

By the time news of the "Wozreif Victory" reached Italy, it had become "annihilating [-] enemies, achieving a decisive victory, and will soon encircle Tunisia and win a complete victory."

This great news has further stimulated many Italian people, from bankers to poor people.Business related to "jihad loans" is even more in full swing.

One night in late August, the city of Genoa was very lively.Top bankers from all over Italy gathered in Venus Club, the highest-end and most respectable entertainment club in the eyes of the world.

Invited by the hostess of the club, Antoinette Menelles, the financiers came here for a meeting to discuss how to solve a common problem facing Italian banks today: lack of money!

Because they have taken a fancy to the huge profits brought by "jihadi loans", various Italian banks now impose almost no restrictions on loan applicants, do not conduct review, and generally issue loans one by one.

These mountains of loan contracts are the most important assets of Italian banks today.

However, even so, the greedy financiers are still not satisfied, hoping to continue to issue "jihad loans" and make a fortune in war.

When Antoinette passed the situation to Mayouf, the latter just shook his head and gave an evaluation: crazy.

In this era when the financial industry was just in its infancy, even the greedy and cunning financiers did not realize the magnitude of the hidden risks behind this craze.

Not to mention how Ma Youfu lamented the greed of human nature, and then prepared to harvest Italian leeks with a stomach full of bad water.

Let's talk about the lack of money in the bank.

In this era, there are no banknotes, and all currencies are made of real gold and silver.The gold, silver and precious metals mined in Europe every year, as well as the precious metals flowing in from outside, are all rationed. Banks that are short of money can't print money like the Federal Reserve in later generations when the money printing machine is running at full capacity.

Bankers are scrambling to raise funds to continue their lending business.While luring other wealthy people to deposit in the bank, they looked around Italy to see if they could find other ways to make money.

As a result, the bankers were pleasantly surprised to find that, as the oldest bank in Europe, the San Giorgio Bank of Genoa, established in 1407, did not issue a "jihadi loan".

This is strange.

Since Ma Youfu moved to Genoa, the North and South French Trading Company has purchased a total of 50% of the shares from the St. George Bank.After receiving large sums of money from France and the Lowlands, the vaults of the St. George's Bank were said to be bursting with crates of Rifle gold coins.

With so much money in hand, it is really puzzling that St. George Bank never thought of joining this feast of war fortunes.

fair enough.Other Italian banks also have one less strong competitor.

However, St. George Bank does not issue "jihad loans" by itself, but it can lend money to other banks to issue "jihad loans".

The president of St. George Bank, Domenico Negroni, has been in trouble recently. Every day, colleagues come to him, hoping that he can lend him money.

He was so annoyed that he finally consulted Mayouf through Antoinette, and decided to hold a meeting of Italian bankers at the Venus Club in Genoa to point out a way for his colleagues.

At noon, after enjoying the Seris-themed pasta banquet, the Italian bankers gathered in the conference room and sat down around the round table while picking their teeth and expressing, "Pasta is a piece of crap, the authentic Seris pasta is delicious". Be ready to discuss big issues involving money.

After Domenic sat down, not long after, a limping middle-aged man came to his left.

"Hello, Mr. Domenic. Do you mind if I sit here?" asked the elegant middle-aged man in a silk jacket with a red background and black border.

"Of course, Mr. Giovanni." Domenique nodded.

The middle-aged man's full name is Giovanni di Cosimo de' Medici, the second son of Cosimo, the current dictator of Florence.Now he is solely responsible for the banking business of the Medici family.

According to seniority, Vera is his niece.It's just that Giovanni's dark elf blood is not strong, only [-]%.In appearance, except for a pair of pointed ears and slightly handsome facial features, he didn't show obvious dark elf features.

Therefore, he didn't have any achievements on the path of transcendence, and he is only a first-ring mage up to now.