People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 876 The Arbitrator Who Everyone Awaits

"It's better to retreat. Just say that our troops are not acclimatized and unable to take on the main attack mission."

Leopold sneered.

Although the plan of working without putting in any effort was not planned by him, it also represents the resentment in the hearts of the vast majority of Germanic Crusaders.

After all, the three giants of the Military Council were too unfair. At first, they treated people differently in the distribution of materials, and later, in the allocation of combat missions, all the troops assigned to the Germanic Crusaders were hard bones with little benefits.

Later, even their mounts and horses were requisitioned, with priority given to the Gallic Crusaders.

Many Gallic knights also humiliated them by saying that they were poor riders and were only fit to fight on foot like civilians.

Leopold could understand the Military Council's approach. If he were in the Council's shoes, he would also give priority to taking care of his own people.

After all, supplies were not abundant, and the County of Tripoli was not as rich as Egypt. It was already stretched to the limit to supply an army of 70,000 people whose number was still growing day by day.

If they are treated fairly, no one will be pleased, and even their original supporters will be dissatisfied and alienated.

The Military Council was controlled by the "Triumvirate", which took both status and financial resources into consideration. Most of the impoverished German nobles obviously did not have the qualifications to stand in front of the Triumvirate and fight for their own interests.

But understanding does not mean acceptance. Leopold had long been resentful of the exclusion of the Triumvirate after arriving in the Holy Land.

If Leopold still hoped that Lothar would support him after his arrival, he would probably take the Germanic Crusaders to the north to work for the Eastern Empire in a fit of rage.

At this time, in the Crusader camp, next to the pillory used to punish prisoners.

The three Germanic commanders who were in charge of the garrison that night and were broken through by the Saracen reinforcements were all tied up.

This punishment, which was specifically designed to humiliate the prisoner, would bind the prisoner's hands and neck, forcing them to bend over, exposed to the wind and sun, and to be bitten by mosquitoes, while standing in the cangue for a whole day or even several days.

The physical pain is secondary; the insult to reputation is the most important.

After dinner, some drunken Gallic knights came to the pillory, rolled up balls of mud from the ground, and threw them at the prisoner in the pillory.

"Three damned Germanic pigs!"

"It's all the fault of these three cowards. If it weren't for them, we would have been sleeping in Holmes' castle long ago!"

"These bastards who insulted the name of the Crusaders, I think the three adults of the Military Council are too merciful, they should all be hanged on the gallows."

The three prisoners opened their eyes wide and started to curse loudly, but with their hands and feet tied, they could only serve as living targets for these Gallic knights. The harsher their curses, the heavier the attack would be.

"Hahaha, who can understand what shit these Germanic pigs are spewing?"

"Are you very angry? Do you have the guts to come down and beat me up?"

Soon, some Germanic Crusaders, who were fed up with what was happening, came and blocked the way of these Gallic knights.

"Ludwig is an upright and brave knight, but he has been treated unfairly. I will not allow anyone to humiliate him again!"

The Gallic knight sneered, "Bullshit! He was drunk on duty and caused the Saracens' reinforcements to enter Homs. For such a serious crime, the military council was merciful enough not to send him to the gallows."

His companion pushed the newcomer and said, "How dare you, a lowly German, speak to a noble like that?"

The visitor said calmly, "Germans are not lowly. His Majesty Lothar is also a German."

"Idiot, do you really think that nobles from your country of Germania are Germans? The bloodline of the Habsburg family can be traced back to the Capetian dynasty and even Charlemagne. He is a true Gallic noble!"

As more and more people from both sides gathered, the key issue they were struggling with at this point was no longer about right or wrong.

The two parties cursed at each other, pushed each other, and fought. If they hadn't still had a trace of rationality, a fight would have broken out directly.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, officers from both sides quickly rushed over and used whips to separate these energetic young soldiers, but this was of no avail.

The Germanic Crusaders, who felt they were being treated unfairly, gathered around the pillory to protect their three compatriots who were being tortured and to express their dissatisfaction.

"Saint Lothar, Lord of Jerusalem and Egypt, Protector of all Germans abroad, our Supreme Lord, please pray for us to God, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is above, God bless the world."

At some point, a knight from Bohemia began to sing loudly.

The tune is taken from the Bohemian hymn to St. Wenceslas.

Some Gallic clergy wanted to step forward to stop it. After all, a "canonized saint" must at least ascend to heaven, and canonizing a living person is simply ridiculous.

But their sparse voices were soon drowned out by people's chanting. There was more and more noise, and more and more Germanic soldiers, nobles, and even clergy gathered.

Many Germanic clergy even claimed that "Lothar is the second manifestation of the Lord's incarnation" and regarded him as the same person as Jesus Christ, that is, the "Son of God" in the Trinity theory.

This statement, which would have likely caused an uproar if it had been made in Europe, was actually recognized by a considerable number of Crusaders in the Holy Land.

This is also a very popular saying in the Holy Land today. Many pilgrims who originally sneered at it have gradually changed their views after witnessing a series of miracles such as the sacred tree, Siegfried Tower, and controlling the magic dragon.

His Holiness the Pope, who is far away in the Apennine Peninsula, has always maintained an indifferent attitude towards this fallacy, as if he was deaf and had never heard of it, and has never responded in public.

But in fact, the Pope has always been very vigilant against such fallacies. For example, the Cathars, which were popular in southern Gaul at that time, were declared heretics by Pope Alexander III shortly after they emerged and suffered brutal suppression.

In recent days, due to the great victories won by the Eastern Crusaders, the new Pope even intended to launch another crusade against the Cathar heretics in southern Gaul.

"Your Majesties, this has become a big deal."

At the military council, the triumvirate gathered again.

Raymond had a headache and said, "Why are things with the Germans always so bad? I really hope these guys get out of my territory immediately!"

Philip snorted and said, "Isn't this what we are doing? But now it seems that if we want to make these Germans leave, we have to fight a civil war among the Crusaders. By then, Lothar will come as an arbitrator, and what can our Triumvirate do to fight him?"

If a civil war really breaks out, it won’t matter who wins or loses.

This scandal, which would shock the entire Christian world, would instantly destroy the legitimacy of the Military Council. When Lothar arrived, they would have no tenable reason not to hand over power.

Richard seemed to have come to his senses at this moment. He frowned and asked, "Is this Saladin's evil plan?"

Raymond's expression was stern. As an old rival of Saladin, he was very familiar with the pagan monarch's style of doing things: "It is really possible that he deliberately provoked conflicts between the Germans and the Gauls, and then praised Lothar to the sky, forcing the three of us to fight him head-on."

Philip frowned. "Even if that's the case, what can we do? Reconcile with them? Submit to Lothar?"

He had paid a lot for the Crusade. Under the premise that it was almost impossible for Richard to stay in the Holy Land, if he only got a few rewards in the end and his reputation was completely overshadowed by Lothar, it would be a huge loss.

Richard snorted coldly: "Oh, the scheme is just dirty. No matter how cunning Saladin is, he will not be the winner in the end."

“But it doesn’t have to be us.”

Philip rubbed his brows and said, "Why don't we take this opportunity to appease those Germans? We must not give Lothar any excuse."

Philip really felt that Lothar was difficult to deal with. The most important thing was that this was his home ground, and it was difficult for these foreign monarchs to compete with him.