In the Middle Ages, people drew cards to be promoted to nobility.

Early morning in Limassol.

People have not yet recovered from the devastation of the war.

Groups of black crows flew across the sky. They stood in an orderly manner on the treetops, looking at the funeral procession below.

Corpses covered with white linen were carried on stretchers to the square for family members to identify and bury them.

Naturally, the enemy's corpses could only be hastily transported out of the city on carts, dug into a large pit and piled up, poured with tinder to burn, and then buried to avoid possible plague.

This is one of the post-war matters that Lothar is most concerned about.

Whether it was the Justinian Plague that cut off the revival of the Eastern Empire, or the Black Death that should have ravaged Europe more than a century later according to the original historical trajectory.

Both plagues reduced the population of Europe by half, which can be called apocalyptic natural disasters.

However, people in Limassol will probably not be willing to eat fish for a long time, because too many enemy corpses were buried in the belly of the fish last night.

Prajna walked among the people carrying the corpse. His long black hair was tied up with a white turban, and he wore a veil with only his eyes exposed. He looked very much like a nun in a convent.

People subconsciously avoided this strange-looking woman.

The black ghost-faced shield shrunk into a necklace-like pendant. If someone looked at it with spiritual vision, they would find that this pendant looked like the center of a black storm.

Countless dead souls are being absorbed into the hangings.

It can enhance its own defense by extracting part of the tolls from the souls of the deceased to hell.

But this is obviously not as comfortable as chewing up the soul directly and swallowing it into your stomach, just like King Seleucid, who was chewed up and swallowed by it.

She finally stopped in the square in front of St. Paul's Cathedral.

This place has become a large morgue, with hundreds of corpses displayed here.

In this battle, the number of casualties among Guanglotha's peasants and soldiers exceeded 300. Although most of the urban militias only needed long-range support operations, their equipment was too crude and they suffered heavy losses under the fire of the Turks and Cumans. .

Some town militias even came into close combat with the enemy. However, these irregular troops had almost no combat experience, so they were no match for the blood-licking mercenaries.

However, their will to fight was very tenacious, probably because Limassol City was their home, and even though they lost more than half, they were still not defeated.

There were cries everywhere in the square.

Families of the town militiamen gathered around the corpses with sad expressions.

Some young widows carried young babies on their backs with numb expressions, and put bread, kettles, salt, knives, plates and other daily necessities in simple coffins.

Some wealthy families would also put some gold and silver coins inside.

Grave robbers are often very profitable.

This is also the reason why many cemeteries in this era had gravekeepers, and even many of the dead were buried in church cemeteries.

They have to wait for the orthodox black-robed priests or nuns to finish singing hymns before placing the deceased into the coffin. They cannot close the coffin lid until the end of the funeral.

The knights of the religious order and the priests accompanying the army have begun to play requiem for the peasants and soldiers, which is a Catholic custom.

The monks and knights with white crosses on black background and the local monks in black robes in Cyprus are distinct from each other, and each presides over their own burial ceremony.

Renault put the old peasant soldier into the simple coffin, thought for a moment, and then put a silver cross on his chest into the old peasant soldier's stiff hands.

May the Father bless you, Father.

Reno, my condolences.

Old Nock was a crusader who fought for the Lord. He died for glory and will surely ascend to heaven.

The peasants and soldiers in the same camp gave Renault a few words of comfort. This guy, who had never been very likable, had become a reserve knight because he inherited the legacy of the old peasants and soldiers.

The comrades would inevitably mutter a few sour words like What a lucky guy in their hearts, but they would not say it in front of Renault.

Old Nock was a brave warrior, I've heard his name.

Renault raised his head and saw the commander of the Teutonic Knights, the knight named Heberland.

He stood up quickly, patted his sore legs, and said awkwardly: Good morning, sir.

Good morning.

Heberland also returned the salute to Renault.

This flattered him a little.

Heberland led a group of monastic knights to a round platform that looked like the usual venue for city magistrates to give speeches, and said to everyone: Lord Jesus, you once wept for the death of Lazarus, please also pray that you can Comfort those who weep in sorrow for their comrades who died in the great cause of fighting the infidels.

The solemn atmosphere also infected many Orthodox believers.

They looked at Hebland, and some of them prayed: Lord, please hear us.

this

How can you allow Catholics to celebrate the requiem mass?

The orthodox monks looked at these monastic knights who believed in the Catholic Church with repulsion and whispered.

They were worried that these heretical clerics would just stay in Cyprus.

Peers are enemies.

The church on each piece of land has a limited portion of the cake. Every time an extra hand reaches in, they get one less piece.

However, the sword is in the hands of the Franks.

These Crusader knights who are good at fighting are obviously not something orthodox monks like them can afford to offend.

Should we have to deal with these Frankish barbarians in the future?

Thinking of the terrifying fighting prowess of these Frankish barbarians, and their leader, Count Lothar of Transjordan, who possessed great power either from the devil or from Heavenly Father.

These Orthodox priests have an idea that the future is dark.

…

Inside the mansion.

After sending Turiados away, Lothar was listening to Ned's report.

Sir, since Limassol City has been included in your rule, should we use those Frank immigrants to form a local garrison company?

The Crusades were both a military operation and a population migration event. If 100,000 people set out, only 10,000 or 20,000 people might reach the Holy Land, and the rest could not all die.

It is normal to settle down there if you encounter a livable place along the way or meet someone of the opposite sex there.

Cyprus is a very wealthy transit point on the pilgrimage road, and naturally many pilgrims have settled here. These people are the source of troops Ned plans to recruit.

Lothar carefully considered Ned's suggestion, thought about it again and again, and still refused: I haven't officially assumed the post of general of the Limassol Military District yet. This place is still under the management of Turiados and his guards.

A new, heretical alien lord is likely to arouse the common hatred of the local forces.

He had no intention of revealing to the locals his ambition to stay in Limassol until Turriados was stripped of his title and territory and pledged allegiance to him.

But those Greeks were not reliable in their fighting ability.

When talking about the fighting power of the Greeks, Ned couldn't help but reveal a little disdain in his tone.

He felt that the Greeks alone could not handle even a slightly larger pirate group landing here.

After all, today is different from the past. The Eastern Empire's fleet that dominated the Mediterranean has suffered heavy losses.

These prosperous coastal cities are like the tender meat of a hard clam shell.

Lothar shook his head and said: It's not that the Greeks are unreliable.

The Greeks were once considered a fighting nation and had a great reputation in Asia Minor. The farthest Hellenistic country, the Kingdom of Bactria, had even penetrated into Central Asia. It is called Daxia by the Han people.

This is like the saying that circulated on the Internet in the previous life: The Ming army is not satisfied with its pay, but it is invincible if it is fully paid.

In fact, how can there be so many fighting nations? No matter how strong the warriors are, they are treated like slaves, pigs and dogs, and they have no interest in defending the property of noble gentlemen.

In short, you don't need to worry about the security issues in Limassol City. Have you counted the ships captured last night?

During the landing battle last night, many ships were stranded on the Coast Mountain. Although they were all transport ships, whether they were sold or kept for personal use, they were still a huge fortune.

Last night we captured twelve intact medium-sized rowing transport ships and more than twenty small sailing warships. Most of the remaining ships escaped.

not bad.

Lothar nodded slightly. It was imperative to form a Mediterranean fleet, but there were many business crises in the Mediterranean. If he got involved rashly, he would only be chewed to the bone.

This matter needs to be considered in the long term.