The action to recruit Italian mercenaries was very smooth. At the beginning, the commanders of 11 Italian mercenary groups including Pargani refused to surrender. However, Charlie, Earl of Gelden, did not expect them to surrender at all. So, the commanders of 11 Italian mercenary groups, including Pargani, were all imprisoned.
Then, Count Charles ordered people to screen out a group of middle and lower-level Italian mercenaries who were afraid of death and pain through Yan Xin torture. Then, they asked these people to persuade the Italian mercenaries. At the same time, Count Charles casually formulated a timid Italian mercenary team leader named Fenini and formed a mercenary group called the "Art Mercenary Group" as an empty shell, and arranged the Italian mercenaries who agreed to accept employment into this empty shell mercenary group...
Moreover, Count Charles promised the Italian mercenaries that once the war ended, the group with a bad record of the "Art Mercenary Group" would dissolve and not affect their future. However, their commissions would not be less.
This trick was indeed effective. The Italians were already merciless and had relatively less courage. Charlie, Earl of Gelden, threatened and tempted them, and even killed many Italian mercenaries who were unwilling to surrender in front of many Italian mercenaries. Many Italian mercenaries chose to cooperate in the face of reasons and intimidation...
In this way, more than 8,000 Italian mercenaries captured, and finally 6,000 people chose to change their appearance and serve as the coalition of princes of the eight countries.
In this way, the coalition of eight-nation princes, which lost two or three thousand men in the siege of Oldenburg, made up for the previous loss of troops. Even more than three thousand men were added.
...
"I don't understand why we hire these Italian softies? Hiring them is not a good deal!" Magnus I, Duke of Saxony-Lauenburg, said dissatisfied.
Earl Galden gave him a blank look and said:
"Mr. Magnus, I know German mercenaries are better. But can you still hire experienced German mercenaries now?"
Because the Alliance of Princes and the Alliance of Eight Kingdoms are recruiting mercenaries at the same time, and many mercenaries have long signed long-term contracts with some princes, so there are currently very few veterans among German mercenaries, and it is difficult to hire them. Now, the German mercenaries that can still be hired are either new recruits or weak people with poor combat effectiveness.
Magnus I was a little exhausted, but he muttered:
"There's no need to hire these Italian softies..."
Charlie, Earl of Gelden, had to explain:
"Although our army has a 40,000 army, half of them are recruiting soldiers and their combat effectiveness is very weak. Although these Italian mercenaries are not brave enough, they are all professional soldiers after all, and their combat effectiveness is stronger than those caught farmers."
"And, there are two legions in the North Sea State now. Needless to say, the first legion composed of pure veterans is entangled with them with 20,000 veterans. Even if we cannot defeat the opponent, we can hold them back. Then, the outcome of the war will be determined by the victory or defeat of the new Second Legion, which is mainly recruited by 20,000 soldiers and the opponent's new recruits."
"Although the opponent's new Second Legion is mainly recruited, there are also elite soldiers like the Straw Hat Swordsman with thousands of people. Although we recruited 20,000 soldiers, we must also beware of being defeated by the opponent's elite. Therefore, we hired these Italian mercenaries with at least combat effectiveness than recruited soldiers to ensure victory!"
After hearing this, Magnus I thought about it and said:
"But we recruited 20,000 troops and attacked 10,000 new soldiers on the other side, which should be enough..."
Earl Charlie shook his head repeatedly:
"Not enough! If it were before, it might be enough. But now the commander has been replaced by Marin, it may not be possible. This person is very scheming and good at using troops. Therefore, it is better to bring six thousand Italian mercenaries. This will ensure that our recruits can defeat the new recruits of the new Second Legion of the Beihai Kingdom with the help of Italian mercenaries..."
Thinking of Marin's previous brilliant record, Magnus I thought about it and stopped talking, which was considered to be acknowledging Count Charlie's statement.
However, the idea was very beautiful. Earl Charlie didn't know that the new Second Legion, which he believed to be "mainly recruits", was actually basically composed of elite veterans of the original Second Legion...
...
However, things in this world are ever-changing. Some things even Marin could not have expected. For example, after the Eight-National Princes coalition captured Oldenburg City, they welcomed several uninvited guests...
Who are these people? They are old nobles who were arranged by Marin to fend for themselves...
The North Sea Kingdom of Marin is composed of the original East Friesland, Oldenburg Kingdom, West Friesland Noble Republic, Bishop Munster, Bishop Osnabrück, Duchy of Schleswig, Jutland, and the archbishop Bremen and Ruhr districts that were exchanged.
Among them, the old nobles of the former East Frisland State were basically killed by Marin, while the old nobles of the West Frisland Republic were killed by the Duchy of Saxony. Then, the territory of the Ruhr area was late, and Marin temporarily gave up the plan to develop there. Therefore, the old nobles of the Ruhr area did not move much. Also, the former Danish nobles on the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark were all taken away by the Danish King Hans...
However, the former Oldenburg State, Schleswig State, northern Munster, and some surviving old aristocrats, including West Friesland, except for a few of which were appreciated by Marin, the fiefs of most of the old aristocrats were concentrated and replaced in Bremen. Together, there are estimated to be more than 100 of these large and small aristocrats. There are dozens of barons alone...
After these old nobles were replaced by Bremen, although their land had not decreased and were fertile enough, they had since been far away from the circle of core power and became empty nobles who could only live in a life of life. Unlike before, they could still have the power to show off their power...
Therefore, these old aristocratic families who were politically frustrated were very dissatisfied with Marin. However, because they were afraid of Marin's strong military strength, they did not dare to take any action.
...
However, with the allied forces of the eight-nation princes invading the territory of the North Sea, coupled with the betrayal of the Second Corps, the Third Corps, the Sixth Corps, and the Fourth and Fifth Corps in England, the marginalized old nobles saw the opportunity...
So, in the past few months, the old nobles who have been replaced in Bremen have begun to frequently connect. Taking advantage of the opportunity of holding banquets and dances, they kept gathering together and discussing privately.
After fierce discussion, these old nobles unanimously agreed that if they did not change, their old noble families would become small landlords who could only hang out in Bremen and would not have any future...
However, they also know that if they oppose the Beihai regime, there will be great risks. If they fail, there may be nothing left.
Therefore, the heads of these old nobles gathered and quarreled many times in private, and until now, they had a consensus that they had to change...
For this reason, many old nobles who wanted to change their destiny began to recruit soldiers and train soldiers. About hundreds of old noble families gathered a total of 7,000 soldiers. Although most of them were recruiting soldiers, the nobles themselves had a tradition of martial arts, and they could bring in hundreds of plate-armored knights.
But before, these old nobles from Bremen were also watching. It was not until the Eight-National Princes conquered Oldenburg that they finally made up their minds to completely surrender to the Eight-National Princes coalition...
Chapter completed!