The Rise of the European Emperor

Because there is no concept of "nationality" in this era, the name of Marin sounds like "Foreign Legion" to others.

"Foreign Legion? Brother, what do you mean? Why do you have such a strange name?" Simon's brain was not enough.

Can Marin tell him that he referred to the French Foreign Legion in later generations? Therefore, there is no way to explain it, so I can only kick Simon and get away with it.

But the old Hoffmans had the same problem, so he couldn't just fool around. So, he made up an excuse:

"If it is called the Seventh Legion, it will frighten all countries. I already have 6 legions and an unannounced Cossack Cavalry Legion. If European countries know that I have such strength, they will be united against them. So , this newly formed Legion cannot be called the Seventh Legion. Calling it the 'Foreign Legion' can greatly reduce the worries of other countries..."

Such nonsense seems to be quite credible. Then the old Hoffmans believed it. This statement then became the official explanation.

In fact, this foreign legion was only temporarily lent to Simon by Marin. Usually, this legion will help Simon guard Kiev. But when there is a large-scale national war in Beihai, this legion will come back to help. As for Simon's Ukrainian country's own soldiers and horses? The Polish knights he recruits in the future will be regarded as his own subordinates...

In this way, in the future Ukrainian country, the army is divided into two parts-the first part is the foreign legion formed by Marin; the second part is the feudal lord composed of Polish and Lithuanian knights recruited by Simon himself in the future army.

According to the ownership system, the Foreign Legion belongs to Marin, and the military expenses are also borne by Marin. Simon is mainly responsible for the residence and food and drink of the Foreign Legion when they are stationed in Ukraine, and he does not care about the rest. Simon's own feudal lord's army is usually scattered in their respective manors. Only when there is a war, or when the foreign legion leaves, will they gather to fight.

To put it bluntly, this foreign legion is just a reserve army secretly raised by Marin in Ukraine. But it was not officially announced as the Seventh Army because it was afraid of scaring other countries.

Moreover, this foreign legion has a very important task-to recruit a group of Polish hussars...

For this 10,000-strong army, Marin gave the establishment of 4 cavalry regiments, with a total of 2,000 wing cavalry. In times of war, these 2,000 hussars will become sharp knives that will ruthlessly penetrate the enemy's formation and tear apart the opponent's defense line. In addition, this cavalry regiment will recruit 3,000 Ukrainian Cossacks as light cavalry to fight with the wing cavalry. In this way, only half of the foreign legion is infantry, and the other half is a combination of 2,000 wing cavalry and 3,000 Cossack cavalry. If you take it out to fight, the combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of ordinary legions.

As for feed for the horses? Marin also thought about it, 5,000 war horses and 5,000 transfer horses, of which 3,000 Cossack war horses and transfer horses all use Eastern European Mongolian horses that usually graze, which is the predecessor of the Don Horse. As for the 2,000 winged cavalry, the war horses used typical European war horses. For the transfer of horses, Eastern European Mongolian horses are also used. After all, Eastern European Mongolian horses save feed.

As for the feed, in fact, there is no need to worry too much. Because there is so much black land around Kiev along the Dnieper River. At that time, as long as there are more soybeans on the banks of the Dnieper River, it will be enough for the war horses to eat. Just plant some soybeans on the fat black land in Ukraine, which is definitely enough for horses to eat. Moreover, raising 5,000 cavalry on the Eastern European prairie is not noticeable at all.

...

To be honest, this time Louis XII's attention made Marin feel a little nervous. Marin would not care too much about the German princes or France alone. Even if you can't beat your opponent, you can still hold on to the basic set. However, if the two are combined, Marin will definitely not be able to beat it.

Moreover, don't look at Marin now has 6 legions and a hidden Cossack cavalry legion with a scale of 5,000 cavalry. But, as both legions were permanently stationed in England,

What he can really use is only 45,000 people. Moreover, because at least 10,000 soldiers and horses must be left to defend the capital of Aurich, the actual number of soldiers and horses he can use during the war is only 35,000.

In fact, France is similar. In real terms, the French national army probably exceeds 100,000. However, the eastern border and the southwest border with Spain need to retain a large number of frontier troops for a long time. Therefore, the French are almost at their limit when they can dispatch an army of 60,000 to fight.

The same is true of the Ming Dynasty, despite the fact that there were more than 2 million people in the country (almost half empty, but actually only a million), but because of its large territory, only a few hundred or two million people could be dispatched in general wars. For example, in the Battle of Salhu, only 110,000 people were mobilized. Of course, the financial difficulties of the imperial court in the late Ming Dynasty were also an important reason for the small scale of troops dispatched.

The situation in Europe is better, because European countries are generally small in size, unlike the Ming Dynasty, which needed too many frontier troops and garrisons because of its large area. Therefore, on the European side, half of the army can be used in peacetime wars. If it is a small vassal state, the proportion that can be used is higher.

The Beihai Kingdom is neither big nor small. After annexing 8 vassal states, its land area is almost as large as that of the Kingdom of Portugal. Therefore, the proportion of soldiers and horses that can be used here is also declining.

However, Marin only attaches importance to the security of the East Frisian region, or the security of Aurich. Therefore, the proportion of mobilizing troops is even higher.

But even with the 10,000 troops hidden in Ukraine, the upper limit of the number of troops Marin can use is only 45,000. For the religious wars that will take place in the future, this number of troops is not enough.

Marin's goal is to annex northern Germany and establish a powerful kingdom similar to Prussia. At that time, there will be many countries that Marin will annex. And the forces that hate Marin will also become many.

Religious wars are not about princes fighting for hegemony, and there are not many princes participating in it. For example, of the 300 princes of Germany, only a few dozen participated in the previous actions of the Earl of Baden. Most of the princes are actually watching. Because it's none of your business...

But once a religious war breaks out, Europeans will fight desperately for their faith. At that time, the war potential will be fully tapped.

Also, when Marin began to annex countries on a large scale, it would definitely attract the hostility and fear of most of the German princes. At that time, it will be very difficult for the princes to unite and work hard. If France intervenes again at that time, the consequences will be unpredictable.

Just like the "Thirty Years' War" in the original history, the most brutal part of the religious wars, most of Germany's population died. And France also took the opportunity to take away Alsace and Lorraine.

As long as the French are not fools, once a religious war breaks out in Germany, they will definitely participate and fish in troubled waters.

Therefore, Marin threw out a bait early, attracting France and Spain to tear each other away. After they finish fighting, France has no ability to intervene in German affairs. After all, Spain is not easy to mess with.

...

But even if he secretly hid a legion in Ukraine, Marin still felt that the army was not enough. When the religious war breaks out, the size of the army will definitely exceed 100,000. Originally, in history, even Charles V, the overlord who owned two empires, was forced to sign the "Augsburg Religious Agreement" by the Protestant Schmalkalden League. It can be seen that the cruelty of religious wars far exceeds that of feudal hegemony.

"Where else can I raise soldiers?" Marin spread out the map...

As a result, Marin determined the plan to raise troops in the North American continent colonies in minutes...

In fact, the Argentine region of South America is also suitable for raising soldiers. The local conditions are more suitable for cultivation than those in North America. Because, the pampas grasslands don't have so many nasty forests to work hard to cut down. Therefore, the difficulty of reclaiming farmland is much easier than that of North American forests.

However, the purpose of Marin raising soldiers is to participate in the European hegemony, not for purely raising soldiers. Therefore, the colonies on the east coast of North America, which are close to the mainland of Europe and can be transported back to the mainland to participate in the war in a few months, became the only choice. Otherwise, in Argentina, it will take more than half a year to be shipped back to China. In addition to the time for sending people to notify, maybe the battle is over, and the soldiers and horses are still floating in the sea...

Therefore, Marin quickly decided to form a legion in the New York colony. Once something happened in the country, the legion quickly boarded the ship from New York Harbor and returned to the country to participate in the war.

As for the name of the Legion, Marin decided not to call it the Seventh Legion, but the American Legion. It is stationed in the colony of New York, and can not only rely on the food produced by the locally developed farmland, but also the catches from the Newfoundland fishing grounds. Moreover, this legion can also rely on its superiority in strength to aggressively attack the inland areas of North America, gain more control areas, and carry out further development...

And the battle with Native American Indians can also make a recruit egg quickly grow into a veteran who has seen blood. This effect cannot be achieved by training...