Chapter 37: Aid and Plans
Chapter 37: Aid and Plans
Lothar spoke bluntly, "His Majesty has entrusted me with a mission, but I have too few forces at my disposal. I need your help, Lord Godfrey." He then recounted in detail what Baldwin IV had assigned him.
"I have one hundred cavalry and twelve knights under my command. How many men do you wish to borrow?" Baron Godfrey asked, his expression serious.
’So many cavalry?’ Lothar was taken aback by the forces Baron Godfrey commanded. To maintain such a large standing armed force—even few Imperial Counts could compare. (Imperial Counts refer to those in Great Germania directly under the Emperor, not those enfeoffed under some Grand Duke. Werner was one such Imperial Count.) If conscripted peasant soldiers were included, Baron Godfrey alone could rally over a thousand men.
Lothar pondered for a moment and replied, "At least twenty men. As for knights... I need someone who knows how to adapt to circumstances and is familiar with the terrain and power distribution in the Holy Land."
Godfrey asked calmly, "What do you intend to do? If it’s just burning a few villages, plundering, and slaughtering a few hundred infidel civilians, then ten of my cavalrymen will suffice. Their combat skills are very adept."
Lothar frowned. "Burn villages? Slaughter civilians? I never intended to do such things." Although war always ended up harming civilians, he would never personally slaughter those who were unarmed. He couldn’t get past that hurdle in his own heart.
Lothar’s face was stern. "Justice, mercy, punishing evil and promoting good, not drawing one’s sword against the weak—this is the knight’s creed."
Godfrey said earnestly, "But His Holiness the Pope has said that killing infidels does not count as murder. Lothar, you must understand that a pedantic person, whether in the Holy Land or elsewhere, cannot achieve great deeds."
Lothar was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "My Lord, what you say may be right. But a man cannot ignore his own conscience. I cannot deceive myself and tell myself that doing so is right."
Godfrey didn’t speak for a long time. Lothar looked up and saw on the baron’s face expressions of gratification, admiration, and reminiscence.