At Yu Eungbu’s question, Colleone couldn’t hide his confusion, and Lorenzo de’ Medici wore a similar expression.
Those who seemed to understand something from Yu Eungbu’s question were Giovanni who had come along and the mercenaries around him.
Seeing the divided reactions, Yu Eungbu asked Giovanni.
“Have Lord Lorenzo de’ Medici and that mercenary unit never seen or experienced the Suez War?”
Giovanni immediately answered Yu Eungbu’s question.
“Lorenzo was too young when the war broke out…”
“Then what about the mercenary unit?”
“They couldn’t move as they’re the core force defending Florence.”
“Was it similar for other cities?”
“About the same.”
“Ha!”
Yu Eungbu wore a dumbfounded expression while crying out internally.
‘They’re nothing but frogs in a well!’
However, this was partly due to the characteristics of Italian city-states.
As cities that had grown based on commerce, they had absolutely no intention of conducting siege warfare.
Therefore, most battles between cities took place in plains away from the cities, and most victories and defeats were decided by cavalry clashing with cavalry.
Given this situation, the city-states’ core forces were mercenary units composed of cavalry, and they couldn’t send these to Suez.
Thanks to this, while Italian city-states moved ahead of anyone in commerce, they were the most backward in military matters.
***
Yu Eungbu composed himself and continued his questions.
“Do you have cannons or arquebuses?”
“Of course we do!”
Colleone confidently showed the cannons his unit possessed. Looking at the cannons, Yu Eungbu nodded lightly.
“Appropriate cannons for cavalry operations. Don’t you have anything bigger?”
“These are the biggest cannons we have.”
“…Then how many more do you have?”
“These five here are all we have.”
“Only that?”
At Yu Eungbu’s words, Colleone flared up.
“Only? There’s no mercenary unit in Italy that has more cannons than us!”
Yu Eungbu, staring at the angry Colleone, asked about something else.
“Then how many arquebuses do you have?”
“Forty gunners, and considering spares, sixty guns.”
“…Do the cavalry also carry guns?”
“Of course! These days it’s standard for even cavalry to carry at least two pistols.”
“Let’s see the gunners’ arquebuses and the cavalry’s guns.”
“Yes!”
After a moment, looking at the arquebuses and pistols the mercenaries brought, Yu Eungbu turned to Giovanni.
“Didn’t the Empire purchase a considerable number of Type Eul arquebuses and pistols?”
At Yu Eungbu’s question, Giovanni answered with a troubled expression and voice.
“Most of those were allocated to the Suez garrison forces. At best, giving a few pistols to the guards was all that came into Italy.”
“Sigh…”
Yu Eungbu let out a sigh at Giovanni’s answer.
The arquebuses and pistols that Colleone’s mercenaries were now proudly showing were fired using flintlocks.
Giovanni, watching Yu Eungbu’s reaction, immediately explained the reason.
“Considering the interests at stake in Suez, we absolutely couldn’t fall behind in armaments. And since Italian mercenaries’ armaments are all much the same… Rather, there’s even talk that our mercenary unit having cannons is excessive.”
“Phew.”
When Yu Eungbu answered with a sigh, Giovanni immediately continued.
“Knowing that problem well is why we requested to directly produce the Empire’s firearms.”
“I see… Now I can see what needs to be done. Let’s return.”
***
After inspecting the mercenary unit that was the core—no, the entirety—of Florence’s military, Yu Eungbu began sketching how to create Florence’s standing army.
With instructors who had inspected the mercenary unit after Yu Eungbu joining the work, the shape of Florence’s newly born military was quickly drawn.
“Considering the number of troops Florence can operate, the main force will be infantry, and the primary weapon will be fire carts. Cannons will be strategic weapons.”
Lorenzo and Giovanni nodded while listening to Yu Eungbu’s explanation. In contrast, Colleone, who attended the meeting, asked Yu Eungbu with a face full of dissatisfaction.
“Shouldn’t the military’s main force be our cavalry no matter what anyone says?”
“Cavalry is auxiliary force. Cavalry’s main duties will be reconnaissance, communication, expanding victories, and cutting enemy supply lines.”
“I cannot accept this!”
At Colleone’s resistance, Yu Eungbu threw out a question with a calm face.
“Remember my previous question? The question ‘Can you keep that promise even before cannons, fire carts, and arquebuses?'”
“Of course I can keep it! I’ve only heard rumors about fire carts, but we also have cannons and arquebuses so we know their strengths and weaknesses well! They’re powerful, but reloading takes a long time! And they’re so expensive that even in units of over a thousand, the number of gunners is usually only dozens at most! If we just withstand the first strike, the gunners immediately become our cavalry’s prey!”
Yu Eungbu nodded at Colleone’s protest.
“Your words would be correct for wars up until now. But for future wars, your words are wrong.”
“Future wars? What sophistry is this!”
Though Colleone shouted angrily, Yu Eungbu ignored him and asked the instructors standing behind.
“The fire carts have arrived, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s give these friends a taste of bitterness.”
After giving the meaningful order, Yu Eungbu looked at Lorenzo and Colleone.
“You’ve never seen fire carts, have you? I’ll show you what fire carts are.”
In the demonstration that followed, the fire carts proved that their infamy from Suez was no idle rumor.
Standing before armor riddled with bullet holes, Yu Eungbu looked at Colleone and Lorenzo who had followed and asked.
“Just withstand the first strike? In my opinion, that strike will be the last strike.”
“…”
Looking at the hole-filled plate armor, Colleone shut his mouth, and Lorenzo’s eyes began to gleam.
‘Fire carts! If we can have such powerful fire carts, the dream will become reality!’
Whether he knew Lorenzo’s inner thoughts or not, Yu Eungbu continued.
“As you can see, fire carts are large and heavy. And the ammunition consumption is tremendous. Therefore, infantry will move centered around fire carts. And the cavalry’s duties will be reconnaissance to prepare for enemy movements in advance and pursuing fleeing enemies to expand victories.”
“…I understand.”
Seeing Colleone convinced, Yu Eungbu turned to Lorenzo.
“What does Lord Medici think of the army building plan our Empire’s instructors have conceived?”
At Yu Eungbu’s question, Lorenzo nodded so vigorously his neck might break.
“Excellent! Truly excellent! As Florence’s ruler, I will actively embrace the proposals of your country and your country’s instructors!”
“Then let’s begin implementation based on this.”
Thus, the work of building Florence’s army began in earnest.
However, the building of Florence’s army creaked from the start.
***
The first creaking was the desertion of mercenaries.
“Handle odd jobs? What dishonor is this?”
Among those who couldn’t bear hearing they would fall from the battlefield’s main force to auxiliary force, many quit the Florentine mercenary unit and left to find other mercenary units.
And there were those who left the mercenary unit for other reasons.
“Did you see that fire cart demonstration? That’s completely a devil’s weapon!”
“There’s no guarantee only our Florence will have it! Charge in front of enemy fire carts? That’s a dog’s death! I’m getting out of here!”
Among those who had clearly seen the fire carts’ power with their own eyes, many also quit and left the mercenary unit.
“Is that so? I see. I hope you can preserve that honor elsewhere.”
Those quitting for the first reason left the unit receiving somewhat positive evaluations and farewells.
However, those leaving for the second reason did not.
“Bah! Cowards!”
“Cut off what’s dangling between your legs first!”
“Cowards with no pride!”
“Mercenaries are those who always live with death as a companion! Don’t go around calling yourself a mercenary anywhere!”
They had to leave the unit hearing all manner of mockery, jeers, and curses as those without even a mercenary’s pride.
“I’m ashamed.”
Reporting the mass desertions, Colleone couldn’t hide his embarrassment. And Lorenzo, receiving this report, also wore a similar expression as he spoke to Yu Eungbu.
“I’m truly ashamed.”
At Lorenzo’s words, Yu Eungbu answered with an expression suggesting it was nothing.
“It’s fine, Lord Medici. Rather, it’s better that we’ve filtered them out once.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Having evaluated positively, Yu Eungbu didn’t forget the carrot either.
“However, it’s true that morale has fallen. Something is needed to boost the fallen morale.”
“Should we raise their pay?”
“That’s good too, but…”
What Yu Eungbu proposed was unified uniforms and armor. At this time, the armor mercenaries wore was purchased at their own expense, so the shapes were all different.
“Excellent.”
Lorenzo accepted Yu Eungbu’s proposal. Thus, black tunics and black plate armor were distributed to the remaining mercenaries.
This was the beginning of what would later become the famous ‘Black Legion.’
***
The second creaking was conscription.
Thanks to the bribes Lorenzo spread at the Vatican, the instructors came to know with some certainty the number of residents in Florence and its territories.
Additionally, through the moneylending ledgers obtained from the Medici family, the instructors who grasped even the number of city residents could calculate how large they could grow the military based on this.
- Appropriate standing army size: 20,000, with 3,000 for the navy, the rest for the army.
- If all available manpower is conscripted, up to 80,000 possible.
“80,000? Is this really possible?”
At the Florentine officials’ question, the instructors immediately answered.
“It’s possible if we gather all males of age who can go to battle. Ah! We excluded slaves.”
“Gathering everyone means gathering everyone from farmers to merchants and craftsmen?”
“Yes. Therefore, this is a figure to use only in the worst case.”
“Then you’re saying 20,000… Isn’t that too many? No, it’s definitely too many!”
At the Florentine officials’ words, the instructors wore expressions of incomprehension.
“Pardon?”
At the Imperial Army instructors’ reaction, the Florentine officials explained the reason.
“Even France can only mobilize about 30,000 at once at best! Even France! But 20,000? Do you think it’s possible?”
“It’s possible, that’s why we came up with that number.”
“Impossible! Impossible! 10,000 at best!”
“10,000 is too few…”
“You said standing army, right? Standing army! We have to think about our finances too!”
“Right! Why else would we use mercenaries?”
“…”
It was creaking brought about by differences in thinking about military and military service.
“For a country operating finances of this scale, up to 20,000 wouldn’t be unreasonable…”
“I’ll say it again, up to 10,000 is possible! A standing army of 20,000, what nonsense!”