Continental Warriors Yoo Ma

Under the bombardment of the prism magic cannon, he also lost one eye, and it is completely normal to have resentment in his heart.

However, the intelligence of the Eastern Crusaders was wrong and missed. Is it just that "the enemy has not been found to have a prism magic cannon"?

The next morning, while the Eastern Crusaders still hadn't recovered from the chaos in which a large number of middle and high-level officers died and the command system was almost paralyzed, the Mulhollans launched a counterattack.

The first to attack was a mysterious army that appeared from the direction of Lake Bizerte and attacked from the northwest.

When the two sides got closer and saw their respective flags, the Crusaders knew that the army that suddenly appeared on the opposite side was the Mamluks and Ottomans who had previously marched westward to stop Mayouf.

After Prince Muhammad ran out of the Taylor Atlas Mountains with the remnant soldiers, he took away the defenders who had stayed in Muhammadia and Mustaganem, and finally appeared behind the Eastern Crusaders. There are also [-] people.

Although in this army, the Mamluks just lost their target for a while after losing Mustaine, they just followed Muhammad blindly.The morale of the Ottoman army was also very low because of heavy losses when attacking the bastion.

But even such an army still has the power to fight against the chaotic Eastern Crusaders without a leader.

The Eastern Crusaders have always been building fortifications around the city of Tunisia and the fortress of New Carthage. They never expected that there would be enemies behind them, so they could only turn around and face them hastily.

However, Uzun Hassan in Tunisia is not an idiot who doesn't know soldiers.Seeing how such an opportunity could be missed, he immediately assembled [-] Aries jihadists and [-] Tunisian troops to launch an active attack out of the city.

Relying on the camp fortifications built before, the Crusaders resisted tenaciously.With the support of faith, ordinary crusaders can still fight against heretics spontaneously even without the command of an officer.

But morale is not the only factor that determines the outcome of a war.

In the absence of command, the Eastern Crusaders could only fight on their own, passively resisting the attack of the Mulhollans, unable to organize an effective counterattack.Moreover, although this army is large in scale, many of them are ordinary civilians who participated in the Crusades with a jihad loan and a mentality of "making war fortune".Even if they have the spirit of not fearing death and willing to dedicate themselves to the Seven Saints, but no officer tells them what to do and what not to do, they are just a mess.These people acted on their own on the battlefield, not only did not help, but also further exacerbated the chaotic situation, which eventually led to the failure of the Eastern Crusade.

Pig teammates are not scary.The most frightening thing is that this pig teammate is also active and diligent.

At the most critical moment, Emperor Sigismund finally woke up under the rescue of several priests.He made the decision to cut off the wrists of a strong man, and together with Alfonso V and other nobles who survived the bombardment of the prism magic cannon, they retreated south with all the cavalry.

However, the Diocesan Crusaders from the three dioceses of Trier, Mainz, and Cologne rejected His Majesty's order and chose to stay and fight to the end, dedicating their lives to the faith.

Had it not been for their spirit of sacrifice, or fanatical brains, that had delayed the Mulhollan's offensive, it is still uncertain whether Sigismund could have successfully escaped.

There were about 1 Eastern Crusaders who were able to withdraw from the battlefield in an organized manner from this defeat that would later be called the "Battle of Tunisia".

This crusader hurried south along the coastline, aimlessly, just thinking about getting as far away from Tunisia as possible.

Wolves rushed all the way, and within five days, the crusaders fled to Wozreif, a small village [-] kilometers south of Tunisia.

It was here at the beginning that the Eastern Crusaders won an inexplicable victory, which blinded Sigismund and other high-level officials by the victory.

Seeing the familiar scene of the gurgling river in front of him, the wind-stained Emperor Shenluo couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "After the great victory of Wozreif, we should act cautiously instead of blindly advancing north. If we choose to attack Mulholland St. Mountains, luring the enemy to leave the strong city, if they fight with us in the field, maybe the result today will be different."

After hearing Sigismund's words, the Crusader nobles next to them couldn't help but sigh.

But just when everyone was deeply moved, there was a deafening roar from the upper reaches of the Xiaoenci River that crossed the village of Wozreif!

A torrent with a height of six meters rushed downstream like an indestructible wall of water.

It turned out that when the Crusaders went north, the defenders of the holy mountain had already received the order of Uzun Hassan to build dams to stop the water, and planned to use floods to stop the European invaders.

Although at that time, because the dam was not completed on schedule, this tactic was not implemented.But for now, it still works.

This wave of floods drowned at least 4000 crusaders. The remaining people marched hard in the muddy floodplain, experienced hunger and disease, and finally reached Tripoli, with only [-] people left.

Losing control of the sea, the road traffic was blocked by floods, and the towns and strongholds occupied by the Crusaders north of Tripoli were all isolated and helpless. I am afraid that they will be taken back one by one by the Mulholrans soon.

Tripoli became the only foothold of the Eastern Crusaders in Tunisia.

Chapter 490

Sigismund, who was in a desperate situation, ushered in a support army after three days of being trapped in Tripoli.This supporting force does not come from land, but from sea.

Ten ships with golden iris flags on a blue background brought the most needed food supplies.

It turned out that since the Great Battle of Pellaj, although on the surface, the situation of the Crusaders is still very good.The Western Crusaders occupied most of the Maghreb, and the Eastern Crusaders had already approached the city of Tunisia, but Pope Enren IV was still worried after hearing the bad news one after another from the survivors of the naval battle.

In the end, he still wrote a letter to Ma Youfu, hoping that for the sake of fellow Crusaders, if Sigismund's Eastern Crusaders were in trouble, he would try to provide help.

Ma Youfu graciously agreed to the Pope's request.

Unlike the Europeans whose eyes are darkened, Ma Youfu is well aware of the changes in the war situation in Tunisia.

After Sigismund suffered a big defeat in Tunisia, he knew that the only choice for the opponent now was to return to Europe in despair.The city of Tunisia has become its own pocket.

Now that the Eastern Crusaders have been wiped out and no longer pose a threat to him, Ma Youfu might as well sell his favor and help the remnants trapped in Tripoli to withdraw to Italy.

There is only one premise that Sigismund must unconditionally transfer all the various noble titles previously created on the newly occupied land to Ma Youfu.

Although these titles are just nominal things, after getting them, Ma Youfu will be rewarded for his merits in the future, and when he canonize his subordinates, it will be more justifiable.

In addition, if you can save the remaining Italian nobles in the Crusades and win a good reputation, it will also be beneficial when you enter Italy in the future.

Sigismund reluctantly agreed to all of Ma Youfu's requests.

Then, Ma Youfu immediately ordered the Rouen Navy to attack and seize the sea dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Rouen Navy and the Mulholland Fleet led by Ismaili fought against each other several times, all of which were small-scale battles. The Rouen Navy, which had an overwhelming firepower advantage, ended in a complete victory.

I don't know that Ismail's ability has reached the limit, and he can no longer use the power of the prophet frequently, or he knows that no matter how hard he thinks, he will not be able to defeat the opponent who is inferior in technology. The Rouen Navy's idea of ​​a decisive battle was just to fight the Crusaders at sea while ensuring their own transportation lines.

Today, on the coastline in the eastern Maghreb, the power ratio between the Crusader fleet and the Mulholland fleet is about seven to three.In addition to maintaining the supply line, the Mulhollans had only enough strength left to attack key targets of the Crusaders, such as the Seagull.

Thanks to the Rouen Navy, the Seagull, loaded with letters from the Eastern Crusades, was able to reach Italy smoothly.

And these letters will also become the pair of butterfly wings that set off the Italian financial turmoil.

After reading Raniero's letter, Luca broke out in a cold sweat, his fat body trembled uncontrollably, his hands almost couldn't hold the letter paper steadily, as if it was not light paper, but a guillotine weighing ten thousand catties.

"Master Giovanni... what should we do?" Luca, who used to be arrogant in front of bank customers, was completely panicked at this moment.He looked at Giovanni with pleading eyes, at a loss.

"Trash, why did I marry my cousin to you?" Giovanni, who was agitated by the gout, cursed fiercely.

He also knew that scolding alone could not solve the problem. After a while, he calmed down and said: "On the Seagull, except for our Medici messenger, I have placed everyone under house arrest. This will give us three About a day."

When Sigismund retreated, he lost a lot of personnel and supplies, so that after arriving in Tripoli, he wanted to find a mage who could cast the message spell, and then gathered enough magic materials to rebuild the message circle. less than.That's why I had to take the stupid way of sending letters to get in touch with Europe.

He did ask Ma Youfu for help.However, Ma Youfu wished that the news of the defeat of the Eastern Crusade would be delayed for a while, so that he could sell more "Hermosa Gifts" in order to get more collateral from those financial speculators.

But this delay is not indefinite.When the Seagull full of messengers departed from Tripoli, Ma Youfu generously provided Sigismund with materials capable of building a large-scale communication spell circle.

After Giovanni learned the news from Raniero's letter, it is estimated that in three to five days, the news of the defeat of the Eastern Crusaders will be known to the whole of Italy through communication techniques.

At that time, those jihadi loan contracts will be worthless.

Most of the lenders died in the Tunisian desert, so how could they ever pay back the money?

And the various jihadi bonds based on the high yields of these jihadi loan contracts will also plummet in value.

The black market formed by trading jihadi bonds of all kinds would collapse in an instant.In addition, various sub-prime financial products derived from the rise and fall of jihad bonds will also collapse...

Giovanni was chilled and dizzy at the thought of this terrible future.

You know, most of the cash in the Medici Bank has now been exchanged for jihadi loan contracts!A day ago, these contracts were still cash cows capable of regularly producing stable income, but now, they have all become waste paper, and it is too rough to wipe their buttocks.

The only way he could think of was to suppress the news first, and try to sell all the jihadist loan contracts held by the Medici Bank and the various jihadist bonds purchased from other banks to recover blood.

Fortunately, the seagull chose to call at the port of Pisa.And it was conquered by Florence as early as 30 years ago.The Medici family's business in Pisa was impeccable, so they could dispatch manpower in time to control the Seagull and block the news.

It's just that the sale of a large number of loan contracts and bonds must be done secretly and skillfully.Otherwise, once this matter is brought to light and triggers panic selling, all previous efforts will be wasted.

Giovanni knew that the fat man in front of him who married his cousin was greedy and corrupt. Since the sale of the Victory Bonds, he had done a lot of bad things with the power at hand.But when it comes to banking, he's a real adept.It is very appropriate to leave this matter to Luka.

After listening to Giovanni's instructions, Luca left the Medici Palace with erratic footsteps.He stayed up all night, preoccupied with the news that the jihad bonds were about to explode.

He didn't have time to think about the loss of hundreds of thousands of florins to the Medici Bank.Luca was just worried about how to sell the 21 Victory Bonds he bought with a loan as soon as possible.

If time is delayed and those bonds become waste paper, then his happy life as a manor owner will be gone forever.

Luka was full of worries, tossing and turning on the bed until he fell asleep vaguely in the early morning.

It was almost noon when he woke up.

After scolding the servant who didn't wake him up in time, Luca hurriedly boarded the carriage and headed for the famous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in the city, regardless of eating.

The square in front of the church is the bond trading market that everyone agrees on.

It has to be said that it is also a kind of irony to carry out financial speculation activities that are clearly prohibited in the Seven Holy Books.What is even more ironic is that the Archbishop of Tuscany, who manages the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, not only does not prohibit these illegal financial activities, but also participates in them.

When the carriage drove into the city and walked onto the bridge across the Arno River, Luca suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the street scene in Florence today.

The streets are full of people in a hurry with gloomy faces.And these people are usually well-dressed and recognizable at a glance, at least the well-to-do bourgeoisie.

And this kind of people with spare money is also the main force participating in the jihadi bond speculation.

Suddenly, Luca saw an old man in a silk robe tremblingly climbing up the railing of the bridge, threw all the stack of papers in his hand, and then jumped deeply.

Pfft!

The sound of a heavy object falling into the water meant that a life was lost.

Luca's eyelids twitched, and he quickly told the coachman to stop.He jumped out of the carriage, ran to the crowd who were still watching the jumper, and asked, "Gentlemen, do you know why this man committed suicide? Why don't you stop this behavior that obviously violates the teachings of the Seven Sages?"

The onlookers were all shabby-dressed, weather-stained low-level people.They obviously couldn't empathize with Luca, and they burst out laughing.

"He violated the Church of the Seven Saints and embarked on the evil way of relying on money to make money. He is no different from those unbelievers. He deserves his death!"

"Haha, I know that old man who committed suicide. He owns a huge vineyard in the east of the city, and the gold coins he earns every year are as high as a mountain! But even so, he still tries his best to exploit us poor people who exchange their strength for coins. People, picking a basket of grapes will do everything possible to deduct your income! He is dead, and I will just drink an extra glass of ale to celebrate at night, why stop it?"

"The Crusaders failed, the old men jumped into the river!"

The crowd chattered, and naughty children sang gleeful nursery rhymes.

Only then did Luka gradually understand what had happened.

Giovanni said that he could block the news of the defeat of the Eastern Crusade for three to five days.But obviously, he couldn't do it.

Since this morning, the news that the Eastern Crusaders were defeated in Tunisia and almost wiped out spread throughout Florence.

At first, some people didn't believe it, but one after another, families who participated in the Southern Expedition came out to confirm the news, and the news was confirmed and quickly spread throughout the city.

Giovanni's predictions from last night are being realized one by one.Investors whose jihadist bonds had plummeted in value began flocking to banks to demand justice.

But the Medici Bank was closed for business, and investors had nowhere to ask.

Panic is spreading rapidly.

Chapter 490 The Three Fathers and Sons on the Bed (Third Watch)

One bad news after another made Luka almost unable to think.He stood by the bridge in a daze, letting the conversation beside him reach his ears.

"Do you know that the old man who jumped into the river just now mortgaged his property worth [-] florins, including a vineyard and three textile workshops, to St. George's Bank in exchange for [-] florins, and then all Bought Victory Bonds of the Medici Bank."

"Victory bonds? Those pieces of paper that the old man threw before jumping into the river?"

"Don't underestimate those pieces of paper. The old man who jumped into the river bought them from the Medici Bank for fifty florins a piece. And within two days after buying them, they were sold on the black market. It went up to one hundred and three florins."

"So expensive?"