Chapter 195 Pirates on the Red Sea

The weather is clear and clear.

The moist sea breeze from the Mediterranean blows away the sand and dust brought from the inland deserts.

Lothar wore a black cloak, rode on a mount, and walked at the front of the team.

Next to him was Ned Stark, who had just joined his command and had not yet undergone a job transfer. He bumped into a character from A Song of Winter and Fire, but it was not unusual.

Queen Mother Agnes's husband and lover also had the same name.

However, this did not affect Lothar's interception of a batch of well-fitting plate armor that was being sold by the armor workshop in Jerusalem, and he changed the clothes of the knights who had recently joined his command in advance.

"Ned, what happened to you and that noble girl from Austria?"

Ned forced a smile and said, "My lord, do you still remember this matter?"

Lothar smiled and said: "Of course, the way you were flirting with each other on the fighting field made me very envious. A pure love is so rare among nobles."

Ned lowered his eyelids and said with some frustration: "Scarlett was betrothed to a powerful baron. You also know that for a poor knight like me, her father will not agree to betroth her to me."

Lothar was silent for a moment, feeling that her talent in chatting was really limited.

You know the outcome of that matter just thinking about it.

But he just didn't think about it and just opened his mouth.

"Born is not everything, Ned."

Lothar showed an encouraging smile: "I believe that even people with ordinary backgrounds without prominent ancestors and bloodlines can do great things."

Ned was stunned for a moment. He took this as Lothar's comfort to him and said gratefully, "I'm very grateful that you can say that."

Because what Lothar said is contrary to the mainstream views in Europe.

After the later generations of the Habsburg family became prosperous, they also desperately tried to trace their less prominent bloodline back to a source - just as unreliable as the Li family of the Tang Dynasty who recognized Lao Tzu as their ancestor.

Later generations of Haburg even linked their ancestors to the Julius family where Caesar belonged.

Can HRE and Rome be the same thing?

"To be honest, Ned, I rarely see any North Germans in the Holy Land."

Ned came from Holstein, which was almost the closest border of Germania Magna to Northern Europe.

Ned explained: "Just like in the Holy Land, you rarely see the Iberian Crusade. We would rather participate in the Northern Crusade than the Eastern Crusade because it is closer to our hometown."

The targets of the Northern Crusade were the Baltic countries. The later famous Kingdom of Prussia and its predecessor, the Kingdom of the Teutonic Knights, were the products of the Northern Crusade.

"I see."

The two chatted. Ned was a very smart knight, with both courage and intelligence. Among the newly recruited Knights of the Order who were preparing to change their profession, he was considered the most outstanding one.

Beside the road were criss-crossed fields and grape plantations, and carriages carrying oak barrels were driving on a simple dirt road toward Jerusalem.

Villages and manor properties of nobles were distributed in an orderly manner throughout the country.

Some wealthy knights even built castles in their own territories. They stood on high ground, with various coats of arms and flags flying at the top.

"Losa, do all these lands belong to you?"

Otto rode up to Lothar and asked in surprise.

Lothar stretched out his hand, pointed to a grape plantation and said: "From there, except for some manor properties that are entrusted to the knights, they are all mine."

Otto suddenly showed an envious look: "Father in heaven, don't you have endless wine?"

Lothar snorted softly: "Hmm, not only that, Hebron's wine is famous throughout Jerusalem. I can support an army of hundreds of people just by relying on the wine industry."

The land in the Earl of Allgäu is actually quite fertile, but due to transportation and other problems, the crops produced cannot be sold for currency, and the grain in the warehouse obviously cannot be converted into various consumer goods.

The truly wealthy nobles on the European continent must be those who occupy large gold and silver mines and can exercise the right to mint coins.

For example, Emperor Henry, who owned the Gosra silver mine, and Duke Otuka I of Bohemia, who controlled the major gold and silver mines in Bohemia.

The famous silver mines in Tyrol under the control of Count Leopold of the Austrian Marches are still unexplored.

Lothar did have the idea of ​​​​purchasing this territory from Leopold if he returned to Europe one day.

This can be regarded as one of the few "foresights" he can use.

Arrive in Hebron.

This city, which was the capital of King David in the early days of his kingdom and the holy site of Zoroastrianism and Judaism, once again gave Otto an unimaginable shock.

Look at the beautiful buildings, the magnificent mansions with gardens.

Otto felt like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

That's what makes him worthy of being called a "Prince", right?

In comparison, Algao, who was also a count, looked like a country rich man.

"Losa, is this city your fiefdom?"

Otto was sighing rather than asking questions.

"certainly."

"Father in heaven, His Majesty the King is really generous. Although you have made such outstanding achievements, such a rich city is just granted to you?"

Lothar nodded slightly: "Well, I have to thank His Majesty for your generosity."

In addition to the city-states on the Apennine Peninsula in Europe, many cities in the Germanic region with a population of five to six thousand people already fall into the category of "big cities."

Paris, with nearly 50,000 people, and London, with 20,000 to 30,000 people, are two of the largest cities.

The total population of Albion, including Gaelic and Irish, is just over three million.

"In Europe, even some grand dukes don't have such a large and rich city. Even if they do, they have been divided into free cities and city-states."

The rise of cities led to the rise of craftsmen, guilds, and citizen representatives. The nobles needed them to make money for themselves. During the struggle between the two parties, they compromised with each other, which gave birth to the rise of free cities.

"Of course, this is a holy land flowing with milk and honey."

Lothar said with a smile.

In fact, the population of the Kingdom of Jerusalem is not large, but a few large cities appear to be more developed due to commercial or religious reasons.

Hebron has a permanent population of more than 10,000 people, but if you include pilgrims, it can easily double that number.

Lothar returned to the inner fort of Hebron. He just took a short rest, prepared a glass of wine chilled in the well for each of the knights he led, and then began to ask Coors about the recent situation in Hebron.

The answer can be summed up in four words: "well-organized".

Since that night's attack.

The traitors and traitors left behind by Lothar's purge of the local chieftains were severely hit by Coors' thunderous methods, and many of them disappeared without a trace.

There was no public trial or mass arrests, but their shops, mansions, and fields all quietly changed owners.

This royal butler who was once a vampire guard and specialized in protecting the superior blood nobles had dealt with too many assassinations and was very good at them.

The unpredictable shadow magic cannot be countered by ordinary extraordinary people.

Coors is such a talent!

Lothar sighed inwardly and said to Coors: "Coors, are you too humble to be my housekeeper and financial officer?"

Coors shook his head and said respectfully: "Serving you is the duty of a servant."

Lothar said simply: "Let's do this, Coors, I authorize you to form a secret agent force directly under me, responsible for intelligence gathering, assassination, and security work. The manpower will consist of retained veterans, the Varangian Guard and Choose among the hussars, their loyalty is guaranteed."

"I see."

"You don't need to have too many people in the early stages. Let's tentatively decide on ten people. I know this is a small number, but we need to set up a framework first."

Lothar actually has a lot of military power now. As long as he recruits the full amount, he will basically be able to touch the upper limit of his existing direct territory and population.

But what is missing is time.

"Oh, by the way, where's Julia?"

Julia was the vampire that Fringilla subdued. After completing the mission of assassinating Countess Stephanie, she was forgotten by Lothar.

"Are you talking about the local vampire?"

Kors frowned slightly: "I'm sorry, sir, because I was short of manpower some time ago, I took it upon myself to send her to gather information for me."

Lothar couldn't help but sigh, as expected of a vampire, how could anyone be allowed to be lazy?

"Well, that's good. Hebron doesn't support freeloaders."

Coors felt the same way, so he said: "Sir, after recovering from his injury, Baron Fulk was arranged by me to be a city guard officer. Do you think that is right?"

Lothar understood what Coors meant, shook his head and said: "Coors, the number of knights of the Order I have is very short. Even if this Fulk has any outstanding talents, let's talk about it later."

To be honest, even without job transfer, the loyalty of many subjects under Lothar is guaranteed.

After all, he is not some rebellious tyrant who ignores rewards and punishments.

Therefore, Lothar usually does not have the idea of ​​unnecessary or postponement of the transfer of some knights and troops that do not involve his core secrets.

"Okay, I won't stay here any longer, Kurs. I'm relieved that Hebron is in your hands."

He also told Andreas to study hard with Coors and be able to stand alone as soon as possible.

Lothar then left Hebron with his people and continued to the Port of Ella.

…

Red Sea.

The earth-red cliffs on both sides reflect a dark red color under the sunlight. Coupled with the dense algae in the shallow sea, the ocean looks really bright red at first glance from a height.

Two three-story galleys moving side by side were cutting through the waves.

They are a pirate group from Yemen. Most of these pirates were originally fishermen near the Gulf of Aden. They have nominally surrendered to Ayyubid with King Shemur of Yemen, but they often flirt with Sasanian Persia, who they were loyal to in the past. .

In the Indian Ocean, even flying the sacred flag of Ayub will not exempt them from paying a toll. If they see that you are weak and can be bullied, it is common for them to swallow you up.

The two galleys were currently sailing leisurely on the sea with their only main sails raised.

One of them has a giant horn in front, which is made from the horn on the head of a narwhal, a ferocious ocean beast.

When approaching the enemy, you can use blood sacrifice to awaken the evil whale spirit in it, increase your speed, and drive the sharp ramming horn straight into the belly of the enemy ship.

Relying on this collision horn, this pirate group from Yemen has made a huge name in the Western Indian Ocean (obviously the Western Indian Ocean in this era is not called the Western Indian Ocean, it is only called this in the article for ease of reading).

A penetrating eagle call suddenly sounded.

A very tall falcon pierced through the clouds like a sharp arrow and swooped down.

The sailor, whose arms were covered with calfskin, stretched out his arms to catch the swooping falcon. Its sharp claws even penetrated the calfskin on the sailor's arm.

The sailor, grinning in pain, cursed and said: "You damn flat-haired beast, aren't you satisfied if you don't make blood spots all over my arm every time?"

He took off the parchment tied to the falcon's legs, took a rough look at it, and then said excitedly: "Boss, here comes the work!"

Amid the cheers of the pirates, he quickly walked towards the captain who was standing on the bow of the ship wearing a white turban, and said respectfully: "Boss, the 'Impaller' of Dahab has given us a reward and asked us to Surprise attack on Port Ella - all the plunder belongs to us, all we are asked to do is kill and injure as many defenders as possible."

"Isn't Port Ella his brother's territory?"

The captain frowned.

"It has fallen. The current owner there is a Crusader prince named 'Losadin'."

"Losadin?"

The captain frowned.

"never heard of that."

"Is he a subordinate of that arrogant Leonard?"

He had not paid attention to the situation of the Crusader countries along the Mediterranean for a long time. They were too far away. Before the Suez Canal was opened, the distance between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean was simply a gap.

Unless, like the arrogant Crusader prince Leonard, he transported the ship to the land and then sent it into the sea - and then really sank into the sea.

"Maybe. The Impaler didn't mention these details, but the conditions he gave are indeed very generous. You must know that it is the Port of Ella, the pearl of the Red Sea!"

The sailor's face beamed with joy.

The captain hummed softly: "The Port of Ella, which has experienced the baptism of war, and was ruined by that stupid brother of the Impaler, is no longer worthy of this title."

The sailor smiled and said: "Captain, there is a saying in our hometown that a skinny Bactrian camel is bigger than a horse."

The captain nodded slightly: "Indeed - inform us, target the Red Sea, and move forward at full speed. We will launch a surprise attack on Ella Port early tomorrow morning with the first ray of rising sun!"

The Crusader princes were nothing to worry about in the eyes of these Yemeni pirates.

Because they are in the Indian Ocean and do not have any sea power at all.

No matter how powerful the Crusader fleet was in the Mediterranean, it was beyond its reach and could not control the big pirates like them across the Indian Ocean.