In the days that followed, the defeated Marin was downcast, always looking worried and depressed.
His attendants didn’t know how to console him.
For example, Kahn, in his attempts to comfort Marin, only ended up rubbing salt in his wounds:
“Young master, it’s alright. So, what if you’re short and not very strong? Just eat more, and you’ll get stronger and taller…”
Hearing this, Marin almost wanted to strangle the fool.
He really knew how to hit where it hurt…
But then, Marin started drinking milk and bone broth with every meal…
Since he had been eliminated, Marin felt there was no need to stay in Vienna any longer.
After all, the cost of living in Vienna was high, especially after thousands of knights and their attendants flooded into the city, causing many merchants to raise their prices significantly.
Marin wasn’t alone; he had six attendants and seven animals to feed, so the food consumption was substantial.
So, Marin and his six attendants left the bustling city of Vienna after settling the rent and set off on horseback and by carriage.
After leaving Vienna, they arrived at a small town west of the city, where Marin noticed a recruitment post for pike infantry set up by the emperor.
Out of his innate Chinese curiosity, Marin decided to stay in the town for a while and, along with his attendants, watch the infantry recruitment process with great interest.
The mercenaries of the Holy Roman Empire were a new unit established by Maximilian I after the Battle of Nancy, modeled after the Swiss mercenaries.
As a result, pikemen became the most important part of the infantry.
Although the Swiss Confederation was legally part of the Holy Roman Empire, the Swiss began to defy the orders of the Habsburgs after becoming famous for producing mercenaries.
They even occupied the traditional Habsburg territories in Switzerland.
During the Battle of Nancy, Maximilian I’s father-in-law, Charles the Bold, was killed by Swiss mercenaries.
Afterward, Maximilian I began to emulate the Swiss mercenaries by recruiting a large number of civilians willing to serve as soldiers and forming pike regiments.
However, since the Germans had traditionally relied on knights and were unfamiliar with pike infantry, Maximilian I’s force of 15,000 pikemen and 1,500 knights, led by Frederick II, Count of Hohenzollern (from the Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern family, not the Franconian branch in Brandenburg), included many instructors from Switzerland.
Although the Swiss resisted the empire, many Swiss mercenaries were still willing to serve the emperor, as he could grant them European noble status.
Therefore, Maximilian I recruited some Swiss mercenary officers to train the new German mercenaries using Swiss pike formations, which were adapted from the Macedonian phalanx.
The Swiss pike formation was based on the Macedonian phalanx, but unlike the Macedonian phalanx, where soldiers carried small round shields for defense, Swiss pikemen held their pikes with both hands.
During the recruitment process, one of the officers in charge was Swiss.
Whether a recruit was accepted depended on this Swiss “expert’s” approval.
According to the Swiss officer’s criteria, a qualified mercenary needed to be strong, which was a basic requirement for a soldier. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Secondly, they had to “travel light.”
What did “travel light” mean?
It essentially meant not bringing family members along.
For instance, many mercenaries and prospective mercenaries who came to Vienna for recruitment brought their families.
How could they fight or march with such burdens?
Some newlyweds didn’t want to be separated, so the men brought their wives to enlist.
This was considered a minor issue; some even brought their elderly parents along…
Bringing elderly parents along—how could they march?
The Swiss officer’s solution was simple: anyone who brought their family was rejected, no matter how outstanding they were.
After all, bringing family members would make marching impossible.
This was characteristic of early recruitment, though, by the 16th century, it became common for mercenaries to march with their families…
Because there were many applicants, the Swiss officer also required them to fight with long sticks.
Whoever struck the opponent first with the stick would win and be accepted, while the loser was eliminated.
Due to time constraints, the recruiting officers didn’t even offer a second chance to those who lost.
There were plenty of candidates for the empire’s infantry, so they didn’t need to be too picky.
The recruitment process aimed to select 5,000 infantrymen, and each candidate had to undergo background checks (such as whether they brought family members), register, and then be grouped for combat drills, so the process took a long time.
Marin watched the spectacle for quite a while.
One day, Kahn suddenly suggested:
“Young master, why don’t we enlist as pikemen?”
“Get lost!” Marin replied irritably.
As a knight (though not officially titled, just an apprentice), joining the infantry would be a disgrace.
Besides, pikemen were standard cannon fodder.
As someone who had traveled through time, how could he become cannon fodder?
Forget about cannon-fodder infantry like pikemen; Marin wasn’t even interested in irregular cavalry (such as scouts, messengers, or patrols).
Of course, this was also partly because Marin wasn’t skilled in those areas.
After all, irregular cavalry primarily used sabers, and Marin wasn’t proficient with sabers; he only excelled at using the lance.
“How about this, young master? Why don’t you recruit a company of pikemen and become an officer yourself? I noticed that you trained the five of us with a lot of skill. And didn’t you mention that the emperor would continue recruiting soldiers soon?” suggested Kohler.
“Recruit soldiers myself?” Marin hesitated.
Previously, his strong attachment to the knightly ideal had made him determined to become a gallant knight and reluctant to consider becoming cannon fodder.
So, he hadn’t thought about it much.
In fact, he had considered forming his own mercenary group.
But organizing a mercenary group was incredibly expensive—astronomically so, even for an infantry mercenary group.
So, he hadn’t pursued the idea yet.
“Yes, young master! You have a few hundred marks now, so you could recruit around a hundred men and start training them. By the time they’re well-trained, the emperor will probably start a second round of recruitment. Then you could lead your well-trained soldiers to join the army, and you’d surely be appointed as an officer. Just remember to make me the quartermaster!” Kohler said ingratiatingly.
“A hundred men… Could that work?” Marin hesitated.
He had originally planned to recruit thousands of men when he had enough money, forming a large mercenary group.
At the very least, he wanted to form several large phalanxes.
But now he only had 750 marks and couldn’t afford to maintain too many soldiers.
After thinking it over, he realized that Kohler’s suggestion had merit.
He could recruit around a hundred mercenaries, train them, and maintain them for a while.
He wouldn’t have to support them long-term, just until the emperor’s second round of recruitment.
The emperor would probably receive a second batch of funds early next year.
By then, his troops would be well-trained.
Leading a hundred well-trained soldiers to join the army, he’d surely earn a position as a company commander…
“Hahaha…” Caught up in his fantasies, Marin burst into laughter, leaving his attendants puzzled…