After discussing the artillery business, Lev, the envoy of the Teutonic Kingdom, suddenly asked to order another 50,000 sets of swords and armor, which surprised Marin.
"50,000 sets?" Marin was very confused. Because, as far as he knew, since the defeat of the Thirteen Years' War, the strength of the Teutonic Knights was greatly damaged. Even if a lot of strength was restored through trade with the North Sea Kingdom, according to cousin Peter, the Teutonic Kingdom can currently gather up to 7,200 heavy cavalry corps composed of heavy cavalrymen from knights and knights, with a total of 60 cavalry flag teams (one flag team of 120 people).
In addition, because of the rich trade income over the years, the Teutonic Kingdom could also hire 20,000 mercenaries. These mercenaries mainly came from Germany, including 8,000 Swiss people, which are currently in Germany. In addition, there are French and British mercenaries, which have very strong combat power.
However, these people combined only 28,000 people. Even if they temporarily recruit peasants as militias during war, they would recruit at most more than 10,000 troops, mainly responsible for guarding the rear cities. Therefore, there were less than 50,000 sets of weapons and armor. Besides, the army of the Teutonic Kingdom was not without weapons and equipment. 5,000 sets of new sword armor, which meant that the Teutonic Kingdom would expand its army by 50,000...
But that is impossible!
Because the Teutonic Kingdom does not have so many strong men to be recruited at all! The Teutonic Kingdom currently has only 300,000 to 400,000, and the number of strong men is at most 60,000 to 70,000. However, even if there are 60,000 to 70,000 strong men, it is impossible to arrest them all to join the army. Because if all strong men are taken to join the army, the entire country's economy will stop, and even the food supply chain will collapse. Therefore, even if the Teutonic Kingdom fights the national war, it would be good to recruit half of the strong men, that is, 30,000 to 40,000.
In addition, due to the provocation of Poland and Lithuania, the nobles and citizens in Teutonic did not really support the rule of the Teutonic Knights, but had a faint confrontation with the Knights. In recent years, Chief Philip had been busy rectifying the country and suppressing the nobles and citizens. Although he has basically controlled the resistance trend of the nobles and citizens in China, it is impossible to rely on them to help him fight for his own war...
In other words, this batch of weapons and armor is probably not just for the Teutonic army. Because Peter's cousin came to Orich three months ago, saying that the Teutonic weapon and equipment have been updated and eliminated a large number of old weapons and armor...
Considering the recent various intelligence in Eastern Europe, Marin suddenly realized:
"Mr. Lev, are you weapons and armor purchased by the Moscows?"
Lev's face suddenly froze, and then he smiled again and said:
"Your Majesty's eyes are really like a torch. Yes, we are the ones who purchased the Moscows. I heard that the Moscows were going to send troops to attack the Kazan Khanate, so I entrusted us to help purchase 50,000 sets of swords and armor to conquer those Tatar pagans who did not believe in God..."
As a diplomat, Lev's lies came out as soon as he opened his mouth. Moreover, with the serious expression on his face, he said the same thing as the truth. If Marin hadn't had found out about the Moscow's plans, he might have believed it. Because the Moscows did have the idea of ​​taking action against the other three Khanates, except for the powerful Crimean Khanate, which had Turkey backing, the Kazan Khanate, the Astrakhan Khanate and the Siberian Khanate.
Moreover, because Lithuania and Crimea formed an alliance, the cost of expanding westward was too high, and it was more feasible to annex the three small Khanate eastwards. Therefore, Lev's lies looked like they were real.
Because he was an ally, Marin was too lazy to expose it, so he said bluntly:
"It is impossible to provide weapons and armor to the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Because, I need to consider the feelings of the Lithuanians. Uncle Yule is my uncle, but Anne, the grand duke of Lithuanians, is also my sister."
"So, I can provide weapons and armor to the Teutonic Kingdom, but I cannot provide weapons and armor to the Moscow people. After all, they have no relatives and I have no reason, so I care about them to die!"
Lev blushed, but he quickly recovered. He smiled and said:
"Your Majesty, please don't worry. It is our Teutonic business for us. After we take action, it is not considered to be sold to the Moscows."
Marin shook his head:
"It's inappropriate. The weapons and armor produced by the Beihai Kingdom are made of stainless steel, and the quality is very different from other countries. If it falls into the hands of the Moscows, it will definitely be used to deal with Lithuania and Poland. At that time, I will not be able to explain to my sister and brother-in-law."
"So, I don't care if you buy weapons and armor from others and sell them to Moscows, but I can't sell them to you. Of course, as a neutral person, I just pretend that you have never heard of the fact that you helped Moscows purchase weapons and armor...
...
In fact, Marin is suggesting that I will not interfere in your assistance to the Moscow people.
So, after Lev understood what Marin meant, he turned to go south and went to Nuremberg to purchase weapons and armor. Even a coercion and artillery.
Nuremberg was an important handicraft center in southern Germany in this era, with a very developed manufacturing industry. Marin took away the craftsmen who made the world's first rifled gun from here. There were many craftsmen and rich products. Because of the endless wars in this era, as a handicraft center, Nuremberg's weapon and armor manufacturing industry was also very developed. The envoys of the Teutonic Kingdom could definitely buy the weapons and armor they needed.
Although Nuremberg's weapons and armor are basically made of iron and cannot keep up with the steel products of the Beihai Kingdom. However, for Eastern Europe, which has a backward forging level, they are definitely extremely exquisite weapons and armor. With these weapons and armor, the combat effectiveness of the army of the Grand Duchy of Moscow will definitely reach a higher level, and then complete the equipment crushing of the Lithuanian army... Because the equipment and technical level of the Lithuanian army is lower than that of the German region.
In this era, except for the North Sea countries that had cheated, the most developed handicraft technology in Europe were probably Venice and Milan in northern Italy. Secondly, it was the southern German region close to northern Italy. Even France, the largest cavalier country in Europe, often sent people to Nuremberg in southern Germany to purchase excellent equipment such as Gothic plate armor.
Therefore, after possessing 50,000 new sets of weapons and armor produced in southern Germany, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which already has the advantage in military strength, will definitely push the Lithuanians to the ground and rub them.
And this is exactly what the Teutonics are happy to see. Because if Lithuania was defeated by the Moscows, the gay friends of Poland and Lithuania would not have time to control the affairs of the Teutonic countries. When they launched an attack on Livonia, the Poles and Lithuanians must be busy resisting the Moscows' attacks...
Maybe, if Poland and Lithuania were both defeated by the Moscows, the Teutonics could take the opportunity to regain a large area of ​​territory that had been cut off by Poland and Lithuania...
Chapter completed!