Guo Kang was also prepared for this problem.
"We will recruit some people." He said: "After the fighting in Egypt is over, we will recruit a group of combatants and logistics personnel as permanent troops stationed in Andalucia and Morocco. Camels are also an important transportation in those places. Tools, bring more camel workers over, it will be helpful to the war."
"Then this part of the funds..." Cao Xun hesitated, feeling that they must be ready, but still asked.
"The emirs of Andalucia and Morocco will pay for this part of the money." Guo Kang explained: "It is the same as the previous funds to maintain the canal. As long as we expel the Portuguese army and help them defend, they will pay for recruitment And all the expenses of maintaining the army. In this way, we don’t need to pay for it either.”
"Is this all okay?" Mrs. Elena could no longer keep up with his train of thought: "That means that in this battle, we only need to be responsible for sending troops? As long as we win, not only can we expand our territory, but also the follow-up People pay for it? Isn’t that just making money in vain..."
"Have you forgotten? When we fought against Illyria before, it was paid for by the Venetians." Cao Xun turned around and said to her, "It's just that we didn't pay all in cash that time. We ceded the land and provided a fleet."
"When the Khan was fighting on our side, I heard Maimaitinicus complaining every day that he was losing money." Mrs. Elena said doubtfully: "Anyway, I always feel that fighting is losing money... "
"It depends on where the war is fought." Cao Xun shook his head and said: "The Poles are a group of religious fools. Unless we are heretics, we will not pay compensation if we lose. Moreover, Smolensk was about to give Poland money at that time. The land has been robbed, and if we go to fight, of course we have to pay for it ourselves."
"That's it..." After listening to her husband's words, Mrs. Elena looked at Theodora with some embarrassment: "It's just that I don't know enough. Your plan seems to be quite powerful..."
"He hasn't finished speaking yet." Theodora interjected: "We don't have to pay all the money for sending troops. We can go to Syria to gather first, and then go south. From there, let Hafez take care of the food. "
"As for the money for gathering and sending troops, let the Caliph and the Alexandrian merchants who support him pay for it. Look, you really don't need to pay a copper coin yourself."
"My Heavenly Father." The old lady turned to look at the Queen Mother: "Your granddaughters are so smart. Today's children are really becoming more and more capable."
"Not married yet." The Queen Mother said modestly with a smile.
Guo Kang felt that her modesty was not in the right direction. However, Theodora sat up straighter, with her chest raised and her head raised, looking very useful.
However, Cao Xun was still thinking about the details of the plan.
"If you are going to recruit local people..." His title also changed subconsciously, and while thinking, he asked: "What are you going to do if someone refuses? If there is a conflict, will the Caliphate and the others also pay for it?"
"Okay." Guo Kang nodded: "We can get the caliphate's notice and the righteousness of the jihad."
"If they agree, that's better; if they insist on confronting us, it will be tantamount to openly defying the caliphate's call. Our crusaders can use the name of eliminating heretics to launch a holy war against them and eliminate those who are stubborn."
Cao Xun thought for a while, but Mrs. Elena was a little dazed and didn't seem to have reacted yet.
"Similar to the strategy for Egypt, when dealing with the camel forces, what we have to do is not start a war first, but try to disintegrate them first." Guo Kang explained.
"The local camel team has its own gang, which has a large number of people and is organized. However, within the camel team, the interests of different people are not consistent."
"The top level of the camel gang is the guild leader and the owner of the camel fleet. Basically, as General Cao said, they are local powerful people, together with Mamluk officials, local Egyptian rich people, and Bedouins from the south The tribes are all connected.”
"These people earn more than just hard-earned money from transporting goods. Monopolizing trade routes is the biggest source of wealth. Even if we let them participate in the construction of the canal and get dividends from it in the future, many people will lose their monopoly status. And feel dissatisfied."
"These people are our most determined enemies." Guo Kang concluded: "Of course, they are not only in conflict with us - so we can recruit a lot of people to deal with them together. For example, the Venetians are the most convenient. "
"They will steal business, right?" Mrs. Elena understood.
"Venetians also like monopolies very much." Cao Xun nodded: "The so-called 'people in the same industry are enemies'. These two groups of profiteers are each other's biggest enemies. They will definitely fight."
"Then we can indeed ask the Venetians to pay more, even if they don't agree."
"Yes. Moreover, we are not afraid if someone resolutely resists." Guo Kang said: "If they resist with force, we will confiscate their property and distribute it to ordinary camel workers as compensation and let them work for us. This is the same as Granting land to citizens is the same, it can easily stabilize people's hearts."
"Moreover, we are robbing the rich and giving to the poor in the name of jihad. No matter how we look at it, we are not afraid of what others will say. If any rich man cannot accept it, let him go to Hu Dali."
"This does make sense..." Cao Xun nodded.
"Except for these people, everything else can be easily dispatched." Guo Kang continued: "Our construction site also requires camel transportation, so it is impossible to eliminate all of them. As for the truly redundant parts, we can also use the method mentioned before to remove them. They were shipped to Andalusia."
"The place is very empty now, and the number of men is seriously insufficient. I talked with their envoys, and the local emir was happy to grant fiefdoms to the Mamluks and lands or bonuses to other skilled people. Settling these people, It’s not a big problem.”
"In this way, what appears to be a camel gang actually has at least three forces. We formulate targeted policies based on their positions and needs."
"The Art of War says that the best strategy is strategy, the second is diplomacy, and the third is mobilizing troops on the battlefield. I think it is in line with the military philosophy to use strategy to further disintegrate the enemy and reduce the strength of the resisters."
"We can study the ideas of the Egyptian warlords separately to win over and suppress them; of course, we can also study the ideas of different people in the Camel Gang and adopt different strategies. In fact, these are similar ideas."
"You're right, this idea is very insightful." Cao Xun nodded repeatedly: "I finally know why the Queen Mother recommends you with so much confidence."
"This is not my credit." Guo Kang said modestly: "The 'king's spirit' and so on that I just mentioned are actually just the surface of Seris culture. The real wisdom of the ancients lies in these strategies. "
(End of chapter)
