John I, Earl of Rietberg, was very accurate in his guesses, and it was true that John II, Duke of Cleaver, was mobilizing his troops and planning to march into the Ruhr region and seize territory.

Unfortunately, because of the large-scale recruitment of mercenaries by the alliance of princes and the alliance of the seven nations, it was difficult for the poorly prepared mercenary army of the Duchy of Clive, and for a while, they could not recruit enough mercenaries, which delayed the operation.

In this era, due to financial difficulties, most of the princes would not raise too many troops in peacetime to save military expenses. Only in wartime will a group of mercenaries be hired temporarily to fight for themselves.

Therefore, there were very few vassal states in this era with a standing German army of more than 10,000. It's not that they can't afford it, it's that they don't want to raise so many soldiers. Under normal circumstances, a principality will only prepare three or four thousand standing troops to garrison key areas such as the capital. When the war begins, a group of German mercenaries will be temporarily hired to participate in the war.

Because the Duchy of Cripple is late, there are no large-scale mercenary groups in the market that can be hired immediately. Therefore, he had to openly recruit stragglers, but the speed was relatively slow, so he lost the lead.

John II's target was the land on the east bank of the Rhine, which had been returned to Marin, as well as the kingdom of Mackber......

"Father, isn't it unkind for us to do this?" In the royal palace of Cleaver, John Jr. (John III), who had become Duke of Hulich-Berg by marriage, questioned.

You know, the North Sea Kingdom and the Principality of Cleaver were allies before, but now it seems to be very immoral to attack the allies......

"Petropolitan! What is a little fame for the sake of land? John II, Duke of Cleaver, reprimanded.

"Seeing that Marin can't come back, Beihai Country is estimated to be finished this time. Even if it is not destroyed, it will not be able to keep the territory outside of East Friesland. Rather than let the land on the east bank of the Rhine be taken away by someone else, it is better to cheapen our Lamarck family! ”

Little John nodded, thoughtful. But suddenly he asked:

"What if Marin returns? Father, you know, maybe he was in a storm at sea, and the boat broke down, and he stopped somewhere. This man is very good at fighting, if he comes back, it is estimated that it will be time to liquidate! ”

John II was stunned, uncertain:

"I shouldn't be back, Beihai doesn't count on it itself...... However, you're right, maybe Marin will make it back alive...... So ......"

After thinking for a long time, John II said:

"If he comes back alive, we will return the land we occupy. The reason is that we will help with the trusteeship first, so as not to be snatched away by the enemy......"

"If you can't come back...... These lands are our ......"

"Father Takami!" Little John patted his ass.

……

However, it didn't take long for the father and son to be happy when they learned that the Eight-Nation Coalition had crossed the Lipper River and headed south. Moreover, the Eight-Nation Coalition went straight to the area east of the Rhine and fortified along the river to guard against the armies of the Duchy of Clifer.

"Oops, we're late!" John II was extremely remorseful.

If he had started early, although he only had 10,000 or 20,000 men in his hands, as long as he fortified along the Lipper River and other major rivers, he would still be able to block the advance of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

However, now that the Eight-Nation Alliance, which has a large number of troops, has the upper hand, there is no need for them to send troops......

There are many people on the other side, and now they still have a geographical advantage, so this battle can't be fought......

……

Just as the Eight-Nation Coalition was marching into the western Ruhr area, the annual meeting of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire was held in the small town of Worms, the Archbishopate of Mainz......

By this time, Emperor Maximilian I had gathered many nobles from the Swabian League to gather in Worms. And the alliance of princes did not show weakness, and many princes, led by Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, had been waiting for Worms for a long time.

When the two sides entered the venue, the two leading brothers, Maximilian I and Frederick III, glared at each other, and there were electric sparks in their eyes......

In fact, Maximilian I and Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, were still relatives. Frederick III's grandmother, Margaret, was the sister of Maximilian I's father, Frederick III (Emperor), and the Emperor's aunt. So, strictly speaking, Maximilian I was still the cousin of Frederick III. Frederick III's dead father, Elector Ernst, was the cousin of Emperor Maximilian I......

However, these two real relatives have become mortal enemies because of their different political positions......

……

This is also a very helpless thing, Maximilian I's dream when he was young was to deprive the princes of the Holy Roman Empire of their autonomy, so that the Holy Roman Empire would become a centralized empire like France.

But this violates the rights of the princes, after all, no prince wants to be a mascot nobleman with no real power. Look at France, those dukes and counts, because they have no real power, they have to curry favor with the French king in order to gain power. Unlike the German princes, because they had autonomy, they were born with all rights. Comparing the two, a fool would be happy to be a duke and count like France.

Therefore, even if he was a real relative, for the sake of his own interests, Frederick III had to stand on the opposite side of his cousin and become the leading eldest brother among the princes......

……

At the same time, Johnny, the miserable-looking envoy who had been specially trained by Marin's guide, was finally trained and sent by Marin to Worms to attend the regular meeting of the Imperial Council. His task is mainly to sell miserably......

However, while heading south to Worms, Johnny had to bypass the war zone to avoid misfortune due to the chaos along the way. As a result, Johnny was not able to arrive in time for the opening of the first day of the meeting.

Then, the theme of the first day, of course, was the Swiss problem......

……

"Elector Frederick, why did your army invade my realm of Franche-Comté for no reason? As far as I know, your army burned, killed, plundered, and did all kinds of evil in my Franche-Comté. But the question is, I didn't offend you, did I? Why are you attacking my territory for no reason? "Maximilian I preempted with menace.

"Your Majesty, don't blame us for this, you have to ask your general, Baron Frenzberg. As you know, our army went south in pursuit of Christopher I, Count of Baden, who innocently invaded the Duchy of Lorraine. However, your generals did not know what was going on, and suddenly sent troops to ambush our army in the Kostar Valley, causing heavy losses to our army, more than half of the 60,000 horses. Moreover, most of the grain ...... was discarded," said Frederick III, who continued with anger on his face:

"What's even worse is that the immoral Vrenzberg, after capturing our 40,000 people, was afraid that the food consumption would be too large, so he actually sent back 40,000 people!"

"40,000 people! That's 40,000 strong men who can eat! Most of our food was snatched away by the despicable Frenzberg sneak attack, what can we do? Could it be that more than 60,000 people are waiting to starve to death? Therefore, we can only go to the nearby Bezangsong to 'collect grain'! ”

"Here I would like to complain to the Reichstag about the Austrian General Frenzberg, who innocently attacked our army and caused more than half of our army to lose! This is a serious provocation, Your Majesty, are you going to declare war on the German princes? Frederick III said a lot of things and pushed the blame back......

"How do I remember that it was your army that laid siege to my city of Basel first, and attacked the defenders under the command of Frenzberg first? You should say that you attacked first, right? As for the ambush of you by Frentzberg, it is a counterattack to your siege of Basel, right? Speaking of which, it was you who attacked our army first, and you belong to the provocative side. The responsibility for this conflict lies with you, not us! Naturally, Maximilian I refused to show weakness and began to lay out the facts and reason.

Frederick III had expected this, and asked unhurriedly:

"Your Majesty, is Basel the territory of the Habsburgs?"

"Of course!" Maximilian I began to feel bad.

"Oh? How come I don't remember any instrument or resolution of the Reichstag recognizing Basel as a Habsburg fiefdom? As I recall, Baselstadt belongs to the canton of Basel. Therefore, our army is only besieging the city of an autonomous region, so how can it be said that it is attacking the territory of the Habsburgs? ”

"In addition, we passed through Basel when we were chasing Christopher I, Count of Baden, and saw Christopher I hiding in the city of Basel, so we had to attack Basel. So, we are not to blame for this, who told the city of Basel to take in our enemy, Count Christopher? ”

"And we didn't know that the defenders of the city were your Majesty's men......" Frederick III said with an innocent look on his face, his eyes full of cunning......

"You ......" Maximilian I was so angry that he almost vomited blood, so he simply pretended to be unwell, asked for a temporary adjournment, and then went down to think of countermeasures......

https:

Genius one second to remember the address of this site:. Mobile version reading URL: m.