The Rise of the European Emperor

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Poland is an aristocratic parliamentary country dominated by knights. Although there is also a king, the nobles are very powerful. Therefore, although Poland has a large population, it has a strong national strength. However, due to the weakening of the royal power and the excessive dispersion of power, Poland's national strength has been unable to be fully utilized.

People in later generations often debate whether it is better to centralize power or local self-government. Marin feels that this depends on the situation. If it is a peaceful age, both are fine. However, if there is a war, it must be that centralization is far better than local autonomy.

Because centralization can mobilize the power of the whole country to the maximum extent to compete with the enemy. However, if the local power is too large, it is easy to hinder one's own people at critical times.

Moreover, it is more convenient for a centralized country to do big things. For example, building a high-speed rail or digging a canal can be easily solved. But if the power is dispersed, it will be difficult to handle. What? Province A wants to dig a canal? But, that canal doesn’t pass through our province B, it’s not good for us...so, veto...disagree, strongly oppose...we’re going to make trouble...

So if you want to do big things, you still have to concentrate power, so that you can concentrate a lot of resources and do several things with all your strength. If power is dispersed, there will be endless quarrels...

Of course, there is no future problem with the decentralization of power in Poland, and Marin doesn't care. Even, he really wanted to see this. Otherwise, Poland would become a threat to Germany. And a wave of decentralization can reassure Germany a lot.

As a result of the decentralization of power, Poland, a feudal country, has many traditional knight families. In Poland, if you want to form cavalry, as long as you have money and food, you can still recruit many people. Because the number of wandering knights in Poland is also huge...

In Poland's foreign wars, the size of the cavalry was very large. The friends of Poland and Lithuania dispatched 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry-based troops at every turn. Even a cavalry power like the Teutonic Knights was defeated by the army formed by Poland and Lithuania. In the Battle of Greenwald, which decided the fate of the two sides, Poland and Lithuania dispatched 39,000 people to fight against the 27,000 Teutonic Knights.

At that time, Poland dispatched 42 squadrons of plate knights, while Lithuania dispatched 40 squadrons of knights. In Poland and Lithuania, the size of a knight squadron is generally 180 men. It can be seen that in the Battle of Greenwald, Poland and Lithuania dispatched approximately 7,560 and 7,200 armored knights respectively...

But under normal circumstances, it is unlikely that all domestic knights will be recruited in each war. It’s not that they can’t be recruited, but it’s that they don’t have enough food to feed all the knights... Moreover, each knight family can produce at most one knight in each war, which is considered to have fulfilled the obligation of a courtier...

Therefore, whether it is Poland or Lithuania, the respective knight families should be over ten thousand. Otherwise, the two countries would not be able to produce so many plate armor knights to participate in the war.

During the Siege of Vienna in 1683, King Sobieski of Poland brought an army of 27,000 men, mainly cavalry. At that time, Sobieski only brought Polish soldiers and horses, and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had not yet had time to mobilize the whole country.

In this decisive battle, the Polish hussars took the lead. With a coalition force of more than 70,000 people, they defeated more than 200,000 Turkish troops and kept the safety of the Christian world.

Therefore, let Simon choose knight children without inheritance rights as vassals from the knight families in Poland and Lithuania, the number is not worrying. After all, the knight families of the two countries may both be over ten thousand. And it is impossible for each knight family to have only one male, as long as there are more people, they can be recruited. Those knight children who have no inheritance rights are also happy to find a lord to serve them. If you can get a knight fief, you can make a lot of money... After all, for those traditional knights, serving a certain monarch and obtaining a knight fief is their lifelong goal...

Of course, except for the noble children of Italy. The commercial atmosphere in that place was too thick, and the children of the nobles all went to become merchants, and no one was willing to fight.

The reason why Italian mercenaries developed was that those knights who were doing business were unwilling to fight, and spent money to hire someone to serve the king instead of themselves... Then, the profession of Italian mercenaries developed...

But Germany is not the same, Germany is because there are too many wars here, and the cannon fodder soldiers are not enough to consume. Then, there were people who were not afraid of death to earn this money, and then German mercenaries were developed... In addition, the German princes were poor and could not afford fiefdoms, so they liked to use mercenary regiments that did not require fiefdoms. You only need to pay a few commissions, which is much more cost-effective than giving a fief...

But that was only the case of Germany. After all, Germany was divided into two or three hundred vassal states, and the feudal lands of the vassals were already very small. How could there be any extra land to be entrusted to their subordinates? So, I have to hire those mercenaries who only need a salary...

But Simon is different here. Because of the harassment of the Crimean Khanate and Cossack bandits, no one has developed the vast Ukrainian black land. Want to fief? There are many, as long as you can hold it, you are not afraid of the enemy's harassment...

...

How big is Ukraine? Ukraine in later generations covers 600,000 square kilometers. Moreover, most of them are fertile black land, which is extremely suitable for agriculture. Once, it was the largest granary of the Red Empire Soviet Union. Not only that, Ukraine also has extremely rich coal and iron resources, and it is properly a country with the potential to become a world power.

However, after independence, the Ukrainian leaders were determined to be the licking dogs of the West. They challenged Maozi every day, but did not develop the economy well. Therefore, such a good condition was in vain. Director Zhang Da of the Bureau of War and Negligence once felt very sorry for this. If the leader is reliable, it must be another big country with well-developed industry and agriculture...

But now, weeds are growing everywhere on the black land of Ukraine, and it is also part of the Eastern European prairie where the grass is blowing and the cattle and sheep are low. It is probably because the weeds turn into withered grass every winter, fall into the soil and rot, and accumulate for generations, so that the fertile black soil of Ukraine is formed...

To be honest, if Ukraine's access to the sea is not good and it is easy to be blocked by the Turkish Strait, Marin would like to go to Ukraine to develop.

Like the Maozi of later generations, does the Black Sea Fleet have any use? Even the Turkish Straits were blocked. Even if there is an aircraft carrier in the Black Sea, they can only enjoy themselves in the "huge inland lake" of the Black Sea...

Therefore, Ukraine in later generations will sell the Varyag to China. Because they know that aircraft carriers are useless in the Black Sea, and they cannot just sail out of the Turkish Strait. Just like Huaxia bought the Varyag, and it was blocked in the Turkish Strait for two years before it was allowed to pass...

...

It is precisely because Ukraine does not have a good outlet to the sea, and Marin, who is devoted to great voyages, did not think about the development in the past. However, it would be a pity to waste such a good land there. Therefore, Marin operated Simon as a lord in the past to develop the local area. Of course, they also provide themselves with population, cattle and sheep. After all, the conditions for raising livestock in the Ukrainian prairie are too good...

But it's obviously not easy to mess with over there, not to mention the brutal Crimean Khanate in the south. Even those Ukrainian Cossacks on the grassland are not good stubble. In this chaotic and disorderly era, those who can hang out on the grassland are not good people. Otherwise, sooner or later there will be no bones left to be eaten.

In later generations, in a society ruled by law, when people went to the grassland, they met enthusiastic herdsmen, delicious roasted whole sheep, and kumiss... But in this day and age, why don't you just go to the grassland to try it? Come, come, eat me with a saber... Roast whole lamb? It's almost like killing you and roasting you...

...

However, Marin asked Simon to form several Polish hussars, which is currently only a plan. Even Sigismund I, the pioneer of the Polish hussars, is still trying to figure out the construction of the Polish hussars, and the scale is not large.

Therefore, Simon has to have his own power first. As for the hussars, they have to be formed slowly. After all, as a child of a knight, he is not a fool, and he will not be fooled by you with a few words and just accept his head.

Adler went to County Wicklow in Ireland. The reason why so many wandering knights came to vote was because everyone knew that there were no opponents to fight on the island of Ireland, so they enthusiastically signed up. But the Ukrainian prairie is different, that is the world of ruthless people. It is dangerous to go there.

Therefore, Simon first needs to prove that he can gain a foothold in Ukraine, where ruthless people are everywhere, before he can recruit people.

For this reason, Marin had to first provide Simon with an army to allow him to gain a foothold on the Ukrainian prairie. Wait until Simon has a firm foothold there, and then recruit heroes from all walks of life to serve him...

...

According to Simon's current situation, Marin believes that his primary goal is to complete the defense of Kiev City so that it will not fall easily. Therefore, this first requires a force that is good at defending the city.

And if you talk about the experience of defending the city... Marin thought for a while, and found that the most experienced ones were actually Italian mercenaries...

why? Because Italian mercenaries are weak...

If it is strong, it will fight the enemy directly in the wild. Only a weak army will shrink in the city and rely on the city wall to defend...

Therefore, looking across Europe, the most experienced city defenders are Italian mercenaries... It seems that the bastion against shelling was made by the Italians...

And Simon is in urgent need of an army that is good at defending the city. Marin is unwilling to give it to the several legions of the Beihai Kingdom. They are all veterans who have experienced the baptism of war and are too precious. Moreover, Marin is also worried that the princes or France will attack the North Sea country...

So, after much deliberation, Marin decided to spend money to hire a group of Italian mercenaries to help guard Kiev first. They have rich experience in defending the city and can help Simon a lot in the early stage.

But it is not enough to just count on Italian mercenaries, because they have rich experience in defending the city, and nothing else. Therefore, Marin also plans to equip Simon with some German mercenaries. In addition, there will be Polish mercenaries in the future, and even Polish wandering knights...

Such a complex ethnic composition is comparable to the French Foreign Legion in later generations...

Therefore, Marin decided to name this newly established legion to protect Kiev "Foreign Legion"...

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