flstandardbreds Chapter 159 Apostle Elimination Plan
Chapter 159 Apostle Elimination Plan
The appointment letter from the Royal Court was issued very quickly, even faster than the notification from the Archbishop of Midland, which shows that the Royal Court of France is in great need of a pro-Royal Court military leader in Midland.
"Pros Hohenzollern is now appointed as the Inquisitor of the Mitland Diocese. He is responsible for arresting and eliminating the heretics and pagans in the Mitland Kingdom. All of us believers must give priority to the Inquisitor to eliminate the growing evil."
After handing the letter to Pross, John smiled and congratulated:
"Congratulations, you are now the only Inquisitor in Mitlan. Now the entire armed forces of the Mitlan Church are under your control."
"What's good about that? I'm even busier now." Pros complained. He came here just to kill time, but now he not only has to deal with various religious affairs in the territory, but also has to deal with the problem of cultists in the entire Midland. This is contrary to Pros' original intention of coming here.
Seeing his cousin resisting and being reluctant like a child who didn't get his toy, John could only comfort him:
"Okay, okay, just take care of the things you have now, and leave the rest to me."
John also knew that his cousin would never do this job. It would be better to expect the God of Light to slap these cultists to death with a slap than to let a bishop who had never killed anyone or been on the battlefield deal with thousands of cultists in the country. As long as he was a normal person, he would not be willing to stay in a life full of killing. John wanted to use the name of the King's Office to make his army act reasonably in various places, kill the apostles for himself and obtain the Behelet among them.
Now that the goal has been achieved, there is nothing left for Pros to do. After letting Pros go back to his small castle to rest, John also began to plan the next elimination plan for the entire Midland apostles.
Although Pros is currently the only inquisitor in Midland and is in charge of all the military forces that the Midland Church can mobilize, since the Midland Church only has John's Crusaders, in the end it is still John who commands his own army to fight against the apostles. Of course, this is just the data given by the Midland Church on the surface. John just doesn't believe that you, a national-level religious leader, would not have armed forces?
After thinking about it carefully, John felt that this was a good idea. He was not without an army. Although the current number of the Crusader Knights was only 200, John could recruit, hire, or even merge the troops of some regions into the Crusader Knights to form a mixed force. The coordination of multiple arms could improve the combat effectiveness of the entire army.
Moreover, after several years of training by John, the Black Watch mercenary companies have taken root all over Midland, most of which are in some territories directly under the royal family, free cities, and some territories of court lords.
Relying on the intelligence provided by these mercenary companies in various places, the Knights can quickly find out whether there are cult activities in their territory, as well as the scale, number and strongholds of the cultists. When necessary, those mercenary companies can also send mercenaries to assist the Knights in fighting. John did not expect that the mercenary company he founded could actually help him do so many things in the future, and he could not help but feel secretly proud.
However, there was still a problem facing John, which was how to get the lords to agree to allow this religious army to enter their territories.
The King would certainly agree because John is his subject, and the Free Cities might also agree if they paid some money, but those nobles who own vast territories might have a hard time.
The nobles allowed the mercenaries to enter their territories because, first, they needed them to fight for their own interests, and second, they did not belong to any faction. They were armed gangs that would work for whoever paid them. The nobles did not have to worry about the mercenaries causing any losses to them after they came to their territories. Even if some mercenaries wanted to take the opportunity to become bandits and plunder their territories, the surrounding nobles would come to help. After all, if he could plunder this territory today, he could plunder that territory tomorrow.
However, for the religious knights of the French King's Hall, no matter which noble they are, it is highly likely that they will not agree to let them enter their territory. Even if they agree openly, they will put obstacles in secret.
As the French King's Hall was a new force joining the political struggle in Midland, it encountered double hostility from both the court faction and the local faction. Except for Windham and some cities with a strong religious atmosphere, the church was basically in the dark about other places and could not do anything about them. After much difficulty, they cultivated Count Waze, but he was beheaded by the natives during the uprising. As a result, the church now has basically no figures to show off.
Although John was a rising star among the court nobles, and a key member of his faction, Count Milo, also gave John strong support, this did not mean that he and other nobles would allow the church's army to enter their territory, even openly.
Because this is a matter of nature, you, John, are leading the army through my territory, and as a noble of the same faction, of course I should give you some convenience. But if you are arresting heretics in someone else's territory under the banner of the French King's Office, then firstly, you are violating the nobles' territorial sovereignty, and secondly, you will be mocked by other nobles for being weak and incompetent, and the knights under your command and his direct lords will not treat you well.
After thinking about it, John didn't know how to deal with this problem and could only wait for the next move of the Midland Church.
In the next few days, John wrote a letter to Charlie in Saint-Remy, asking all the Black Watch mercenary companies in Midland to pay attention to whether there are any cultists entrenched in their area. If so, they should write to him directly to report.
At the same time, John also expanded the size of the Crusader Knights. On the basis of the original two centuries of knights, he added five centuries of infantry, two centuries of crossbowmen, an artillery team composed of various artillery, a musket team, and a scout team for reconnaissance.
As for the transportation problem, John plans to hand it over to the local mercenary company and Simon Chamber of Commerce. After all, they are the best at transporting supplies and traveling.
At this time, John had almost prepared everything he could and was just waiting for Midland to give him a task.
However, a letter brought some changes to the peaceful time.
"Huh? You want me to go to Windham again?" Looking at the letter from the king, John was very confused. He should not have done anything politically related in recent months, otherwise why would he be summoned for no reason?
However, the king's order could not be neglected, so John immediately ordered his men to prepare the carriage and rushed to Wendam with a team of White Wolf Knights.
After several days of bumpy ride, the convoy arrived in Wyndam again. Looking at the familiar streets, John suddenly remembered the girl named Matilda. Since he returned to the territory and ordered people to send her back to Wyndam, there has been no contact between the two. This is the first time John has spoken so much to a woman he didn't know, and he didn't know what status her family had in Wyndam.
As they had been notified in advance, when the soldiers guarding the palace saw the family crest with a black eagle on a white background, they immediately opened the gate and looked at John with respect as he got off the car and walked into the palace. Soon, a servant said to John:
"My Lord, His Majesty would like you to come to the drawing room to discuss something."
"Then take me there quickly. We can't keep His Majesty the King waiting."
John followed the servant to the end of the corridor. The servant knocked on the door first, and after confirming with the people inside, he opened the door and signaled John to enter. John walked into the reception room and saw the king sitting on the throne.
"Your Majesty, John Hohenzollern has come to see you at your summons." John knelt on one knee not far from the king.
"Get up, my earl, find a place to sit down and rest for a while." The king first asked John to get up and sit down, and then ordered someone to put a cup of red liquid on the table in front of John. John took a sip, and a rich fruity aroma filled John's nose and mouth.
"This stuff tastes the same as Fruity, and it's pretty good."
After seeing that John was very satisfied with the drink, His Majesty the King smiled and said, "How about it, Earl John? This is made with the recipe my wife researched. It tastes good, right?"
Hearing this, John paused for a moment, then said flatteredly:
"As expected of you, Your Highness. This juice is the best I've ever tasted. But Your Majesty, I'm afraid you made me come all the way from the border just to drink tea."
The king laughed at first, then put on a serious face and said to John:
"Count John, I want to know something about the mercenary group you lead..."