"Stop loss? Our first priority now is to curb the expansion of the Habsburgs, right? Anthony, Duke of Lorraine, complained.

"That's right, it's okay for us to lose a little, at least we're still the masters of the nations. If the Habsburgs were strong, we would be wiped out, let alone in charge! Joakim I chimed in.

"Shall we ask the princes of the Church for help?" At this time, the Count of Hesse Kassel, who had suffered a large loss in this ambush, proposed.

Speaking of this, the princes present frowned......

This action, although most of the ecclesiastical princes were supportive. However, when it came to sending troops, it was mainly the secular princes who contributed. As for the princes of the church, most of them only expressed verbal support and provided some financial support, and were not enthusiastic about sending troops. Otherwise, the coalition army exceeds 100,000, which is frivolous.

This is mainly due to the fact that the church princes are not hereditary. Every prince of the church is desperately busy making money, not trying to make money. Because, if the princes of the church have no heirs, and the princely states of the church cannot pass on the family, why bother?

Besides, if you send a large army, it will cost a lot of money and food. For the princes of the church who are determined to make money, they are very unhappy.

Only the secular princes, who could pass on the feudal state to their descendants, were more worried about the Habsburgs unifying Germany and recovering the autonomy of the vassal states, so they spared no effort in sending troops.

In addition, in addition to the modest contribution of the church princes, King Vladislas II of Bohemia also remained neutral on the operation. It seems that he did not want to offend the emperor.

"Ask them for help? Are they willing to give up their money? Joakim I said with a mocking face.

Philip I, Count of Hesse-Kassel:

"Lord Jokim, the princes of the Church are stingy. However, most of them also came from secular princely families. If only we tell them that if the Habsburgs are strong, their respective families will be unlucky. I think they will support us a little more. At least, it won't leave us short of food! ”

Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, nodded when he heard this:

"That's right, finding someone to share it is also a way to stop losses!"

Before, the situation was very good, and those church princes might not be willing to give too much money. But now that the situation is critical, the Habsburgs may really be sitting on the throne. Thus, Frederick III was confident in convincing most of the religious princes to support him. Especially those church princes who came from secular princely families, they also did not want their families to decline......

……

At this time, the young Marquis of Anhalt (also called Prince or Prince) Wolfgang suddenly said:

"Your Excellency, you have a point. However, asking for money and food from those church princes required a long meeting and discussion before they could get it. Now, we have more than 60,000 mouths, and we can't wait for that day! ”

At this time, the princes present suddenly remembered that Frenzberg had released nearly 40,000 people, which suddenly made the food supply in Basel extremely tight......

Previously, during the ambush in the Kostar Valley, the coalition forces lost most of their food. But only 25,000 soldiers ran back at the beginning, and the few remaining grains could still hold on. But when the 40,000 people were released, the food was suddenly not enough......

……

"Why don't we send someone to Baden to grab a little more?" Anthony, Duke of Lorraine, proposed.

"No, the food of Baden along the road has basically been robbed by our army, and now there is not much to rob again......" Frederick III shook his head.

As for grabbing food locally in Basel? Don't be funny, the mountains of northern Switzerland don't produce food. Basel is on the banks of the Rhine, and there are some grain fields, and narrow valley bottoms, and the grain production is very limited, which is a drop in the bucket for an army of 65,000 people.

……

At this time, Philip I, Count of Hesse Kassel, did not speak, but picked up the map on the table and began to look through it. After looking at it for a while, Philip I's eyes lit up and said:

"I've got a way!"

The crowd immediately turned their eyes to him, and saw Philip I, Count of Hesse-Kassel, pointing to the marching map and saying:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please see - this is Basel, which is where our army is located. Look, where is the west side of Basel? ”

"Franche Comté?" Several princes said without thinking.

Later, the most elite part of the Duchy of Burgundy (that is, the later French Burgundy region), including the capital Dijon, was robbed by the French, leaving only the relatively barren Franche-Comté region to the handsome king Philip of Maximilian I.

"Yes, Franche-Comté is the domain of the Habsburgs. Although it is not an important place, it is not rich in food. However, Bezangçon is also a relatively wealthy city. We're going to send Franche-Comté now to grab food! Philip I, Count of Hesse Kassel, excited.

"However, go to the emperor's territory to grab grain...... I don't think it's a loss......" Joakim I hesitated.

Philip I, Count of Hesse-Kassel, excitedly:

"Master Jokim, that was before. Before, we were racking our brains to make excuses for attacking the Habsburgs. Now, we don't have to make excuses. The Habsburg family of Frenzberg has already taken the initiative to ambush us, and it is we who are in charge. He robbed us of most of our rations, which is equivalent to the Habsburgs robbing us of our military rations. In order to recapture the military rations, we went to Bezangçon in Franche-Comté to 'forcibly collect' the grain. ”

"Good! , Count Philip's idea is very good! Frederick III excitedly slapped the table and stood up, supporting the idea of Philip I, Count of Hesse-Kassel.

Frederick III had already reacted - and now they were the first to be attacked, and they had gone from being unreasonable to being rightly victimized.

Therefore, the next action does not need to be concealed anymore. Go to Franche-Comté to grab food, the excuse is also ready-made - your Frenzberg robbed us of our grain, and we will go to Franche-Comté to get it back...... By the way, grab some more money to subsidize the losses of the army......

"Hehe...... many of the princes laughed knowingly......

The Franche-Comté region is not large, but it also has 10,000 square kilometers. Bezangçon is not a big city, but it is also an important capital city. Taking this city is definitely bigger than the oil and water of Basel, Switzerland. After all, the taxes in the Franche-Comté region were basically concentrated in Bezançon first. The wines and dairy products of the Franche-Comté region are also traded in Bezangçon. As long as you occupy it, you can reap a lot of benefits.

Moreover, now the Habsburgs are short of troops, and they are mainly used to compete with the French for territory in Switzerland. It is said that in Franche-Comté, only the capital city of Bezangçon had two or three thousand garrisons......

Therefore, as long as the allied forces of the princes marched into Franche-Comté, there was little resistance......

……

"Alright, then it's decided, let's march to Franche-Comté! Loot all the food and treasure there! Frederick III said in high spirits.

"But won't we send troops to join the French?" Anthony, Duke of Lorraine, asked. The Duchy of Lorraine was close to France and had a close relationship with France, and had always united France against the Habsburgs. But the Lorraine family did not expect that after the end of the "Thirty Years' War" more than 100 years later, the French, as allies, cut off a large area of land in the Duchy of Lorraine (who called Lorraine a large iron mine). Then the Duchy of Lorraine became a staunch anti-French again......

"It's okay, it's not too late to go to the aid of the French when we've got enough food. In this case, you send someone to inform the French and tell them to be careful. When we've got enough food, we'll go and join them in attacking that bastard in Frenzberg! ”

After saying that, Frederick III took the princes out to reorganize the army, took a total of 20,000 troops and all the people, and went to the Franche-Comté area under the Habsburg family to grab food, leaving only 5,000 soldiers to garrison Basel to prevent the counterattack of Frenzberg......

https:

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