"This is the first time I have seen such a huge army."
Gregor put his hands on his forehead as a pergola and looked at the crowd gathering.
What appeared in front of the Russian people was a picture that was extremely life-like. There were people and animals scattered among the chaotic and densely packed tents. Wisps of smoke continued to rise into the sky, and different things were roasting on the fire.
Now everyone in this camp was not too surprised when they saw Constantinople. When they first came to Constantinople, they looked at this city which can be called the most prosperous existence in the whole of Constantinople. These
Residents from remote areas of the Latin world often caused trouble.
People were discussing the price for the prey collected by the hunter. The hunter obviously had an advantage and still insisted on his price in the face of so many people's persuasion. And those people had no choice but to agree to the hunter's request.
The children's laughter kept ringing. For them, this was just a big stage for fun, which added a sense of life to the "military camp".
The Crusader battle flag hung weakly on the flagpole, just like the current army that was temporarily resting.
The citizens of Constantinople had a good impression of the Crusaders. Although these people caused some trouble, they were still very grateful that such an army was going to recover the Holy Land. For this reason, they sent the Crusaders
A lot of supplies were purchased - among them the nobles and businessmen of the imperial capital were the major contributors. These people would not let go of the opportunity to earn fame.
"Watch the road." Vasiliko reined in his horse and let the children run past him in groups. "I don't think you want to bump into the children here. Then there will be big trouble."
"Yes, if I bump into a child in a place like this, I don't want to talk nonsense with a group of parents who don't understand the language." Gregor agreed, and he was indeed more focused on riding horses.
Fortunately, only the children here were ignorant. When the adults saw Vasiliko and Grigory wearing armor inlaid with gold and silver and riding tall horses eating grain, they all stood aside and bowed down humbly, using their
These two gentlemen were addressed in their own language.
"To be honest, I'm not optimistic about this army. It's too bad." Vasiliko commented ruthlessly. These people couldn't understand his language anyway. "Such an army is going to the territory of the Turks. Tsk, I
It’s hard to imagine what will happen, and what’s worse is that we have to be their nannies, and damn, we have to besiege Konya with them.”
In the agreement reached between Emperor Alexios and the hermit Peter, capturing Konya was the most important part of the cooperation and an important condition for the Eastern Empire to provide supplies to the Crusaders.
And Konya did block a road for the Eastern Expedition Army to go to the Holy Land, so Peter readily agreed to the emperor's request.
However, Vasiliko suspected that it was mainly due to the gold and silver presented by the emperor. Emperor Alexios gave gifts to not every named leader of the 40,000 civilian crusaders. It was these gifts that made all
Everyone agreed to the emperor's request.
"In this army, only the five thousand people in the hands of Walter and Peter are considered soldiers. The rest are all rubbish that only perform on the battlefield. I have never encountered such a bad friendly army. God, why do you treat me like this.
Vasiliko continued his ruthless evaluation, and then the evaluation almost turned into a wail, "If the citizens of the Imperial City hadn't seen these people as too shabby and pitiful, and pooled their money to provide them with a lot of weapons and armor, most of the people here wouldn't have even a decent piece of equipment.
None, damn, it’s really damning, I spent a good time in the library, why should I have to suffer this kind of punishment?”
In the agreement reached between Alexios and the civilian Crusaders, a very important one was that Alexios would provide guides and reinforcements to the Crusaders. Naturally, the emperor's chosen guides were the Turkic mercenaries, and the reinforcements were the Varangians.
guard,
When he received this order, Vasiliko felt as if he had swallowed a fly. On the first day he saw these so-called Crusaders, he understood what they were. How could he fight with such an army?
It's better to kill him directly.
He didn't want to be involved with these wastes and become a prisoner of the Turks, but now he had to go.
"Master Vasilko, don't be too depressed. It's hard to say what will happen next."
Grigory comforted Vasiliko, but his calmness here was more because he did not have much experience in war.
For a veteran like Vasiliko who has been fighting for countless years, his understanding of the war could not be clearer, especially regarding the Turks' combat capabilities in the interior of Asia Minor, which is why he is so disappointed.
.
Grigory had a completely different idea. He had participated in the battle with the Sultanate of Roma under the command of Vasilko, and the Turks did not seem to be too difficult to deal with. He felt pretty good.
Vasiliko didn't talk to him next. He didn't want to say anything more. Some things can only be realized after real experience, so there is no need to waste words here.
The goal of the two men was the camp of the civilian Crusaders. As they got closer to the center of the Crusaders, the scenes they saw became more fanatical. There were fanatical believers with the bones of so-called saints hanging all over their bodies;
The monastic soldiers who were beaten to a bloody pulp; and the missionaries who shouted, "Killing infidels is not killing people, but sending them to heaven"...
There are also normal soldiers, but these warriors dressed as tough guys now mostly confess to a priest who comes from God knows where, or they just hang out with women in the camp.
This scene made both of them feel a little suffocated, even Gregorius, who had always been optimistic, because they found that what they saw in front of them was really a chaotic dance of demons, and it didn't look like an army fighting a serious war.
Before arriving at the camp, the two couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Under the bright red flag, the Crusader knights stood there solemnly, their faces hidden behind their helmets. Outsiders could only see their iron faces. At least here,
It looks pretty normal.
Walking into the tent, the two also met the hermit Peter, the supreme commander of the army, and Walter, who had an elite army of his own. The temperaments of these two people were very different. The building standing there reflected the word "clear distinction".
Peter is the kind of person who exudes a strong friendly temperament. When he speaks, people will involuntarily want to surrender in front of him. Vasiliko can't help but take a serious look at this person and take a good look at this father.
An important founder of the Crusades mentioned in the letter.
As for Walter, in Grigory's opinion, he was no different from the desperadoes under his father-in-law who came to take risks for gold, silver and status. As for Vasiliko, he saw through this man at a glance. Yes, he had faith.
But at the same time, he also had ambitions to establish a kingdom overseas.
These two people are also like the epitome of this army, an army where the pious and the ambitious march side by side.
After a brief exchange of greetings, Peter was quite candid about the situation of his army, directly admitting the vulnerability of this army. This surprised Vasiliko, an important promoter of the Crusade movement.
Trust the crusaders he summons.
Regarding this question, Peter's answer was even more calm. He was just a pawn of God. All he had to do was to provoke this movement. As for this movement and where this army would go next, that was not something he could do at all.
Something to control.
Yes, it is not something that can be controlled at all. The only thing they can do next is to move forward. They will not stop temporarily until they hit their head and bleed.
Peter's frankness only made Vasiliko feel more headache. Well, I can only hope that the number of troops will not be reduced too much on the way to Konya. I hope that the Khan will be confused by the number of crusaders.
Next, Vasiliko put all these headaches behind him and started discussing the upcoming march. There were many things to discuss about how to cross the sea, how to obtain resources in the imperial territory of Asia Minor, how to build camps...
, and during this process Vasiliko determined one thing. Peter really didn’t know anything about military matters. No matter how strong his preaching ability was, they would be more capable of war. However, from the beginning, Vasiliko did not count on these people.