Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 247 The Legion Recruit Who Trained for Two and a Half Years

Several people came to the camp, Cao Jian said that he would bring them in, while Guo Kang and others waited at the same place - after all, this is a military camp, Guo Kang brought the order written by his adoptive father to let them in temporarily.

"Do you think his soldiers are reliable?" Joanna asked in a low voice.

"It must be practiced from scratch." Guo Kang didn't care much about it: "If he recruited ordinary people with no combat experience, no matter what, we would definitely have to break up and reorganize."

"If you have combat experience..." He hesitated, "Then you have to break up and practice from scratch."

"Huh? Why is that?" Joanna was a little surprised.

"There are not many Ross people in our regular army." Guo Kang explained: "As for the auxiliary army... To be honest, their 'combat experience' is often a side effect."

"Why?" Joanna still didn't quite understand.

"It's a long story to talk about." Guo Kang actually didn't plan to talk too deeply with her, so he prevaricated: "If you don't understand the art of war, it's not easy to talk about it."

"I really know a little bit." Joanna insisted.

"Oh?" This time it was Guo Kang's turn to be surprised: "I know the art of war in Rome, and people in the west have been spreading and learning it. But aren't you in business, have you learned this too?"

"That's a long enough story." Joanna imitated Guo Kang's serious expression, answered in his own words, and smiled again: "Of course, the length and the art of war are definitely incomparable. It's just because of myself. A little persistence."

"When we talked last time, you should have known it. My mother has a great influence on me, and I even blindly overestimate her influence." Joanna admitted: "In hindsight, she and father The two of you may see clearly."

"Their marriage is a very conventional kind of marriage. My father wanted to marry her mainly because of this sign - although my mother lost in the competition for the throne, she has since left politics and has not pursued power anymore, but her blood And the reputation is still there after all.”

"The great Hungarian nobles who expelled her at the beginning have almost been wiped out by the two generations of Basil III and John IX. On the contrary, some small nobles and businessmen in Italy and Hungary have benefited from their grandfather's policies and are still willing to respect them. She. Although these people don't have much political and military power and cannot form a decent force, this network is obviously helpful to the family's business."

"In Italy, the newly emerging minor nobles and businessmen often try to improve their family's status and influence by marrying with the down-and-out nobles. My father obviously intends to do the same."

"Different from the other families, he has always only cared about business. At most, he was only involved in the activities of the city-states. He didn't even participate in many official diplomatic activities between the city-states. But I think it is difficult to achieve anything like this. "

"So you just invest, visit, and learn the art of war?" Guo Kang asked.

"Yeah, maybe it's because I have more contact with my mother. I have always felt that it is necessary to learn some military knowledge." Joanna nodded.

"Of course, I also know that this is not the main business of our family. It is impossible to become a mercenary leader like Muzio Sforza's family." She shrugged: "But look, my mother and Grandma lost her throne back then, wasn’t it because she didn’t know anything about military affairs, she had the support of her natal family and the support of the people, but she didn’t even fight a single speculator? When they were in dire straits, they immediately reneged on their original vow to support their mother."

"So I always feel that even if we are not professional, we should at least understand some knowledge about war and have some basic judgment, so that we can make friends trust and enemies worry. After that, we should find suitable professionals and get help."

"Before, Florence's military commissions have always been... hard to describe." She shook her head and said, "For example, in the early years, our contractor was John Hawkwood from England. This guy is simply the most typical mercenary villain— — I think we would rather seek the support of a great power like Rome than allow this kind of people to blackmail us any longer.”

"It may be difficult for you to understand our situation. Let me give you an example." She said: "Siena in the south of us, from 1342 to 1399, was forced to pay 37 times to bribe mercenaries. It cost nearly 30 florins, and the city was nearly bankrupt."

"Many of them are not particularly powerful mercenaries, but they can blackmail back and forth. Bribing them is not a long-term solution, because these people do not abide by the contract at all. Moreover, even if you bribe one, they will come again one."

"Anyway, we are looking for foreigners, why not find someone more reliable? Even paying a fixed amount of tribute is better than having a bunch of mercenary groups take turns to rob them."

"So you came to me?" Guo Kang pointed to himself, and then explained: "However, I have to tell you, this is a misunderstanding. I am not a professional military talent, and my performance in previous exercises was average. .You got the wrong guy."

"I think you are very suitable..." Joanna muttered, "I heard from my mother that both of you father and son are kind and trustworthy people..."

"Where am I suitable? I am in charge of making ideas here. I am a civil servant now." Guo Kang emphasized: "And it's another matter to be kind or not. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you find a Is there a person with a simple mind but more talent for war? This way, it will be convenient for you to control and play a role."

"But these two points are not suitable for me." He spread his hands: "Why don't you feel wronged and propose marriage to Shi Huizhen. She can match these two points—as long as you can stand her."

"I care about what other people do." Joanna was obviously a little unhappy: "Forget it, tell me about the difference in combat experience."

"We have been saying over there that your art of war is the most valuable. People still have to spend money on this course. Just treat it as a return for my investment, okay?"

"Is there such a saying?" Guo Kang was a little surprised.

"Yes, we are different from the barbarians in the north. We can understand the art of war-in fact, the term 'art of war' was first proposed by the mercenary leader Babiano. His mercenary group only recruits Italians. people," Joanna explained.

"Before, there were mainly two schools of 'art of war'." She said in a familiar way: "One is the Sforza I mentioned just now. Their school emphasizes discipline, and pays attention to the timely dispatch and concentration of troops. The representative of the other school It is a mercenary leader named Brajo, they value surprise in war, and especially favor the use of cavalry."

"Sforza and Braccio were both Babiano's subordinates back then, so the relationship between them is relatively clear."

"However, at the end of the last century, Basil III conquered Naples. King Ladislaus hired a large number of troops to try to resist, and both Sforza and Braccio were hired as Sima of the kingdom. However, in the ensuing battles, the Naples army was defeated one after another. "

"If it's just because the soldiers are not tenacious and brave enough, you can still find a reason. But the problem is that those few battles were completely defeated in terms of strategy. The exquisite command skills that were once admired, in front of real military strategists, seem like Children's tricks. This incident caused a great shock to people who study theories. After that, learning the art of war in the East has become a trend."

"You can say that you are a civil servant. That means that you are the most orthodox oriental strategist." Joanna pestered him and said, "Tell me, what is the difference?"

"If you have to tell the difference..." Guo Kang had to think about it carefully, and then said: "The most basic thing is the quality of the soldiers. The recruits of our army have been trained for two years plus six months. I think those strategies and tactics are just icing on the cake as a whole. These places are the most basic differences."

(End of this chapter)