Just as Marin began to gather a large army and prepare to march eastward, the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg were in chaos......

After all, who can not panic when they suddenly receive news that they are going to be attacked? What made Lübeck and the Hamburgers even more nervous was that 20,000 of the troops attacking them were famous Swiss mercenaries!

The name of a man, the shadow of a tree. The famous Swiss mercenary who rose to prominence in Europe through battles such as the Battle of Nancy, where Charles the Bold was killed.

It's not that other countries haven't thought about hiring Swiss mercenaries for a long time, but France interferes more. Therefore, the main force of Swiss mercenaries generally served France.

For example, Marin had suggested that the Teutonic Nation recruit a large number of Swiss mercenaries after Prince Philip, who supported the Duchy of Cleave, became Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, but the French prevented him.

Because, at that time, the French were fighting Italian mercenaries, and the main force of Swiss mercenaries needed to give priority to serving France, the largest customer, and Philip did not hire many Swiss mercenaries.

This time, Denmark was able to invite Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, and Joakim I, Elector of Brandenburg, to hire 20,000 Swiss mercenaries, which was also a rare opportunity.

Because, since the last defeat to the Spaniards in Italy, France has been recuperating and has no intention of raising troops to return to Italy for the time being.

In addition, the prestige of Frederick III, the Elector of Saxony, was also very high in the HRE, and the Swiss also sold him face. In fact, Frederick III was not only the Elector of Saxony, but also the leader of the great nobles who united against the de facto unification of Germany by Maximilian I. The Swiss, on the other hand, were mortal enemies with the Habsburgs, and in the face of the enemies of their enemies, they regarded the Elector of Saxony as friends. Moreover, Frederick III also told them that their main opponent this time was the Habsburg family's number one "dogleg" Marin...... So, the Swiss made this big deal......

The city of Lübeck was very close to the north-western corner of Brandenburg, as the messenger sent by Marin, so the speaker of the Lübeck Parliament, Tagfacht, immediately sent men to cross the Duchy of Mecklenburg and rush to the border area to reconnoitre. Then, sure enough, they saw large areas of military camps, hidden in the middle of nowhere......

Obviously, Marin's warning was correct, and he didn't talk nonsense. At this moment, the Lübeck people immediately panicked......

Why? The main reason is that there is not enough time. If they had received the news earlier, the Lübecks would have had enough time to send people with money to the southern part of Germany to hire those old mercenary groups. As long as there are enough people and it is a defensive battle, the Lübecks can hold it.

However, according to Marin's intelligence, the enemy's army has already begun to assemble, and it may be launched in ten or twenty days. In such a short time, where to find mercenaries? You know, it takes at least two or three months to send people to the south to hire those mercenaries. After all, in addition to the rush time of the personnel sent by Lübeck, the hired mercenary group also needs a lot of time to assemble and hurry. Especially in a hurry, it took at least two months to get from the south to Lübeck. Mainly because, the army of this era marched too slowly. After all, everyone marches on foot, and they have to carry heavy loads.

However, according to intelligence, the Electors of Brandenburg and Saxony, as well as the 20,000 terrible Swiss mercenaries, would inevitably attack Lübeck in as little as one or twenty days or more than a month as slow. So, Lübeck couldn't hold up the mercenaries......

It was precisely because of this realization that the magnates in Lübeck City suddenly panicked, and they suddenly jumped up and down, not knowing how to deal with it.

At present, there are only about 3,000 mercenaries in the city of Lübeck, who are hired by the Lübeck people to guard the city of Lübeck and the eastern half of the Duchy of Holstein, which are assigned to Lübeck.

However, according to intelligence, the number of enemy troops was very large. In addition to the 20,000 Swiss mercenaries, it is estimated that there are 10,000 or 20,000 local troops. That is to say, the total number of troops on the opposite side adds up to at least 30,000 or 40,000 people.......

Three thousand against thirty or forty thousand, and even if the Lübeck people were fools, they knew that the situation was not good. That's why they seemed panicked, and the whole city was jumping.

In addition, the Speaker of the Tagfacht Parliament believed that the enemy army would gather so many troops that it would definitely bring a lot of artillery for the siege.

However, the city of Lübeck has not yet been replaced by an all-iron large city gate, and it is difficult to withstand the shelling. However, it seems that it is too late to cast a few all-iron gates now. Therefore, after careful consideration, the Grand Speaker of Tagfacht decided to cover the outside of the Lübeck gate with two or three layers of iron sheets to prevent shelling.

This time, the iron sheet used by the Lübeck people was the most ordinary iron sheet, which was neither galvanized white iron sheet nor tinplate iron sheet. In other words, the corrosion resistance of these iron sheets is definitely not good, even if they are covered by the city gates, they will not last long. In the long rainy season, the iron sheet is very easy to rust and break.

However, now the Lübecks can't control so much. Although, it is true that the bare iron sheet is not resistant to rust. However, it will be a long time before the iron sheets will rust and rot.

However, after covering the city gate with iron sheets, it was enough to resist enemy shelling in a short time. After all, the Speaker of the Tagfacht Parliament believes that the war will not last long. At least, during the siege of Lübeck, these ordinary iron sheets would not rust and break. With the iron cover on the outside, and the enemy lacking enough heavy artillery, it must not be so easy for the enemy to break the city gate......

As for the serious shortage of soldiers defending the city, the Lübeck Council had little choice but to mobilize among the citizens. In the city of Lübeck, there are also many strong people. In face-to-face battles, they are certainly no match for the regular army. But relying on the city walls, it can also take on some defensive work.

In addition, the city of Lübeck, although the army is not good, relies heavily on mercenaries. However, the navy is still very strong......

The young sailors on Lübeck's 1,000 ocean-going merchant ships alone numbered in the tens of thousands......

Therefore, the parliaments of Tagfacht and Lübeck finally made a decision to suspend the sailing of any merchant ships, and the young sailors on board were to go ashore and carry weapons to assist in the defense of Lübeck......

In this way, Lübeck was able to increase his youth by tens of thousands in an instant. Moreover, many of these young men had participated in the war against Denmark and could be regarded as half a sailor. It is also good to give them weapons to defend the city.

It's just that this decision has been strongly opposed by many ship owners. After all, it's affecting their business. However, the Grand Speaker of Tagfacht and the Lübeck Council thought that if Lübeck was broken, the consequences would be terrible. After all, there is too much wealth in the city of Lübeck. Therefore, they would rather sacrifice some of their immediate trade interests to protect the safety of Lübeck. Compared to the safety of Lübeck, that little trade benefit was nothing compared to the safety of Lübeck...... Even if he breaches the contract commercially, Lübeck can afford to pay for that money......