Otto is not overconfident, but he is really confident.
When he made money, he did not indulge in enjoyment or save it like the nobles of his generation, but instead converted the money into real territorial strength.
Especially in terms of military strength, Otto was extremely satisfied.
After nearly two years of recruitment, the number of "quasi-knights" under Otto has exceeded the one hundred mark.
These people basically come from baron or knight families. They have received strict military education since they were young. They are impeccable in both riding, archery and martial arts.
Due to the primogeniture system unique to the Middle Ages, basically none of these people could inherit the title of their family. Generally, after they reached adulthood, their fathers would let them travel around to seek opportunities.
Wealthier families can prepare a fairly complete set of equipment for them, including war horses, weapons and armor. Generally speaking, such wealthy "quasi-knights" can find jobs easily, that is, working for the great lords.
After all, the big lords naturally welcomed the free instant combat power.
Generally speaking, after serving the great lord for ten years or more, if they are still alive, these "quasi-knights" who bring their own equipment can often obtain a piece of land of their own based on their "loyalty" or "war merits" , or become a real knight. If you are lucky, it is possible to become a baron or even an earl.
But those "quasi-knights" who couldn't even get the weapons and equipment together were not so lucky. Regardless of whether it is a big lord or a small lord, the value of a "quasi-knight" cannot match the value of his complete set of equipment.
Since nobles usually have no other hobbies except eating, drinking, having fun and women, there are many "quasi-knights" even in the territories of small lords.
A complete set of valuable equipment should be given to one of our own people who have grown up in the territory since childhood, or given to an outsider whose loyalty is questionable. Any fool knows how to choose.
Therefore, except for a few guys with particularly powerful martial arts who are favored by the lords, the way out for most "quasi-knights" is either to become mercenaries to earn a set of equipment for themselves, or to rely on their martial arts to become bandits who harm one party.
But no matter what, it is the pursuit of the entire "quasi-knight" class to be able to own a complete set of equipment and eventually serve a lord and gain the ladder to become a noble.
Therefore, when Otto spread the news through businessmen that Argolan was recruiting a large number of "quasi-knights" and would give them a full set of equipment after serving for a certain period of time, it was not surprising that a large number of "quasi-knights" flocked to Otto.
The joining of these people directly increased the military strength of Argaoling by several levels. This group of people, in this era, are completely the elite among the elite.
If we make an analogy, the guards who are constantly trained are almost equivalent to the regular army in the previous life, while the "quasi-knights" are at the level of special forces.
He started learning combat skills when he was young, and started short-term training when he grew up, so his combat effectiveness is naturally incomparable.
Pulling out hundreds of knights without titles at once, this strength is probably not inferior to that of some dukes.
As for other cavalry in the territory, instead of calling them cavalry, it is more appropriate to call them mounted infantry. The training of cavalry never happens overnight. Otto's nearly two years of investment only ensured that these people could bully the infantry when fighting on horseback.
If you really compete with the Cavaliers, I'm afraid ten or eight of them won't be able to defeat even one of them.
In addition to cavalry, the successful construction of infantry was the reason why Otto was so confident.
The stability improvement of the crossbow has been completed. Although it still has a limited service life, it will not fall apart after firing more than a dozen rounds.
Today, the craftsmen in Aargaoling are working overtime to make crossbows, and the daily output barely exceeds ten. In order to make crossbows and build Eagle Fort, several mountains near Eagle Fort were almost cut down.
At the same time, training on how to control crossbows is also in progress. As long as the number of crossbows is in place, Otto can pull out a huge crossbow unit in an instant. Give each of these crossbowmen a spear, and an infantry unit with melee and long-range output capabilities is completed.
It can be said that with the current military strength of Argauland, Otto is confident that if he is not fighting a duke or a powerful count family, his winning rate will be at least 80%.
The two percent depends on the other party being very lucky.
Therefore, after the Grodunning family in Bern began to gather troops, Otto also summoned vassals in the name of Alahorf to gather troops.
Such a high-profile move to summon the army was naturally impossible to hide from other surrounding lords. While everyone was waiting to see the show, they also sent messengers to communicate with both parties to express goodwill and support.
Unfortunately, Otto did not receive much support.
Except for Count Bresgau, who initially expressed his desire for marriage, saying that he could send a small force to assist Otto, most of the other nobles just touted in their hearts and expressed that they would provide all help except support.
Otto specially wrote a letter to express his gratitude to Count Bresgau and declined his help. As for the attitudes of other nobles around him, Otto didn't care at all. The purpose this time was to scare the monkeys. The church is the monkey king, and aren't the other lords also monkeys?
As both sides gathered their armies to prepare for a big war, Otto did not forget to inquire about King Lothair II. He did not want this sudden war with the Bernese Territory to affect his capture of Basel. regional plans.
If time waits for nothing, Otto will be too lazy to play house with the Grodunning family in Bern, but will first take over the Basel area. He didn't believe that the Groduning family would really go to war with him.
The news that Lothair II was seriously ill soon spread to Switzerland and was officially confirmed by the kingdom. Also coming was the news that Lothair II's eldest son Hugues was officially established as the crown prince and would succeed the king, and that Duke Recker of the Netherlands became the regent of the kingdom.
This news instantly plunged the entire Lotharingia Kingdom into turmoil.
The brothers of the Carolingian dynasty are already fighting among themselves. Now that Lothair II is seriously ill and the heir is underage, it may not be that easy to hold on to the kingdom, even if I heard that the great nobles in the kingdom have announced their support. Prince Yug.
But with such a good opportunity, would the kings of the Carolingian family in East and West Frankia watch it helplessly?
When the news reached Paris and Baden, the two kings were already gathering their vassals and preparing their armies. A kingdom-level war was inevitable.
For a time, people in the Kingdom of Lotharingia were panicked, and many nobles had begun to contact the kings of East and West Frank privately.
At this time, the order of the Duke of Holland, the regent of the Kingdom of Lotharingia, also spread throughout the kingdom, requiring all vassals of the kingdom to start recruiting troops and gather in the Bar area and the Netherlands area.
At this time, the Aargau and Berne territories, which had received the order, had basically completed the assembly of their troops and were in a very embarrassing state.
In the face of foreign enemies, the war in front of us is still going to be fought.
Just when Otto was considering whether to put aside the dispute with the Grotonning family first, Bern sent a messenger to make their choice.
That is - fight!
