Although the Boya Empire had a large population, the various lords, both large and small, were not united.
The emperor of the Boya Empire recruited them under the guise of land and wealth. However, their flaws as a profit-driven group became apparent in their first battle against the Papal State.
Faced with the Papal State' massive army of 200,000, the Boya Empire and its allied forces surprisingly had no one willing to engage them?
"How ridiculous! Who can defeat the Papal State' 200,000 soldiers and 8,000 Church knights? They actually want us to lead our troops into battle! If they exhaust our forces, how can we possibly get a share of the subsequent loot?"
Lord Meiers of the Boya Empire sneered disdainfully, glancing sideways at Crown Prince Yalian III of the Boya Empire, who sat in the highest position.
Since the emperor could not come in person during a war, the person representing the royal family was Prince Yalian III of the Boya Empire.
The current emperor of the Boya Empire is Yalian II. Why has the royal family of this nearly thousand-year-old Boya Empire only lasted for two generations? This is a question that the old Pope needs to explain.
When the old pope first ascended the throne, whether he harbored the same thoughts as His Holiness Adam or simply wanted to prove himself, he launched a great war and dispatched the Holy Judgment Order to slaughter the royal families of the Boya Empire and the surrounding small countries, killing so many nations that they dared not harbor any dissent for a hundred years.
Therefore, the royal family members here today are either the newly born third or IV; there are no older ones.
Hearing Lord Meiers's disdainful snort, the surrounding high lords immediately echoed, "That's right, Lord Meiers. Besides, the infighting among the lords is endless. If we exhaust our forces here, the enemies that will follow will not only be the Papal State, but even the Yalian Imperial Family might ruthlessly seize our territory!"
The minor lords are not qualified to participate in such high-level discussions. Although the king does not have absolute control over them, the threat of force will still make these minor lords obey the king's words.
But these great lords might not listen.
Even before the war began, both sides were already mired in suspicion.
Although the nobles' conversation was not loud enough for Yalian III to hear, the whispers below and the lords' expressions of sneer or disdain made it clear to him what was going on.
The reason why the Holy Judgment Order of the Papal State was destroyed some time ago and why the Boya Empire remains unresolved lies precisely in this.
Most of the military force of the Boya Empire was controlled by various lords. The king controlled the major lords, who in turn wanted to seize the minor lords. The minor lords banded together to resist the major lords, creating a situation akin to raising poisonous insects. This made it impossible for their ideas to align with those of the royal family.
Since we can't reach a consensus, we're forced to!
Yalian III's expression was inscrutable. His somewhat slender fingers tapped lightly on the handle of the throne as his gaze swept across the faces of the great lords below.
"Everyone!"
Despite his words, the restless lords below seemed to disregard him and remained silent.
Yalian III paid no attention to the reactions of the various lords below, and continued loudly, "I know that you have different opinions and many concerns. But with the Papal State' Holy Judgment Order completely annihilated, this is truly a once-in-a-millennium opportunity."
For thousands of years, the Papal State has frequently sent Holy Judgment Order to suppress us, wantonly slaughtering royal families and nobles of various countries. It is truly cruel, tyrannical, and disrespectful of imperial authority! Now, we finally see an opportunity to uproot the Papal State. This is our common good fortune!
Therefore, we should unite as one to condemn the Pope, destroy the Holy Church, and completely end the sword hanging over our necks!
This opportunity is a blessing from God, and I will absolutely not allow anyone to slack off or undermine morale during this campaign!
So, I'm sorry to trouble you all.
Do it!
Yalian III spoke grandly, displaying the demeanor of a monarch, but as soon as he finished speaking, with the last two words uttered, the military tent was violently torn open, and then axemen in steel armor, wielding large axes, rushed into the tent.
Besides the swordsmen and axemen who rushed in, one could even see crossbowmen armed with powerful crossbows surrounding the tents from the outside, each one eyeing the tents menacingly with their crossbow bolts aimed at them.
Almost instantly, chaos erupted in the camp, with the various lords in a state of panic.
" Yalian III, you are making enemies of all the lords..." Lord Meiers' eyes widened in fury. He was about to utter a harsh remark when, in the next moment, the handle of an axe slammed into his forehead, silencing him.
Yalian III rose from his throne, looking expressionlessly at the various lords who had been subdued by axemen, and coldly snorted, "Everyone knows that this is the best time for our kingdoms, large and small, to end the Church. However, you damned things are all suspicious of each other, confused and foolish, utterly stupid!"
Since none of you want to cooperate or unite, then I'll take the initiative and force you all to merge together!
Take him away!
Yalian III watched with a gloomy gaze as the various lords were dragged away one by one by the executioners, listening to their curses, but his face remained expressionless.
This war is indeed the best opportunity to annihilate the Papal State, but it is also the best opportunity to weaken the power of these major and minor lords.
Yalian III had long been dissatisfied with the feudal system of the Boya Empire. These feudal lords of Biyang were scheming against each other every day, wasting the country's resources, and they were also disobedient.
Since that's the case, why not take advantage of this war to completely destroy the Papal State, wipe out all the power of these lords, transform the entire Boya Empire into a new system, and thus win a new life!
With the stabilization of power within the Boya Empire, the great war commenced in earnest.
Although the Church had eight thousand Church knights in command, this did not mean that the opposing side did not have heavily armored knights.
When both sides are evenly matched, the war becomes extremely brutal.
In just half a month, the Boya Empire, controlling its military forces, officially met the Papal State ' attack.
In this era, there were no stirrups or horseshoes, and no one consciously trained warhorses. Therefore, cavalry units had not yet appeared, and both sides were composed entirely of infantry, at most equipped with some rudimentary battering rams or catapults.
If the situation within the Boya Empire's army is still unstable, then it's highly likely they will fight and retreat while engaging in small-scale raids.
However, now both sides are united in purpose, which has brought the war to a fever pitch from the very beginning.
In just three months, the number of dead and injured on both sides has reached tens of thousands, with corpses littering the ground and the north wind carrying a strong stench of blood.
The Papal State and the Boya Empire are ultimately different. As a religious state, its people are not overly afraid of death, especially the lower-ranking soldiers who are fighting in the war.
In their belief, God exists, and Heaven exists.
Under the indoctrination of the Church, they believe that death is not the end, but rather that they will Ascension for fighting for the Church and for God.
This made the Papal State army fearless, and their willingness to trade wounds for wounds and lives for lives became extremely frenzied!
The soldiers of the Boya Empire were terrified by this brutal offensive, and at their worst, they were even unable to form ranks under the urging of Yalian III.
Left with no other option, the Boya Empire had to shift its offensive, employing guerrilla tactics such as small-scale harassment and raids on supply lines to temporarily slow the pace of fighting between the two sides.
They even sometimes issued ceasefire orders to the Papal State, ostensibly to allow both sides to take a temporary break.
Although the Boya Empire Boya Empire so badly defeated on the battlefield that it was almost unable to organize its manpower effectively, its domestic prestige was rising.
One historian even wrote, "Three generations of strategists, leading a million-strong army, were invincible, conquering fifteen cities in three months, causing the Holy Lord Empire to tremble with fear, and even sending envoys day and night to sue for peace..."