As the saying goes, "more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, boundless", 40,000 troops marching, how amazing is the might? Not to mention that Archbishop Uriel of Mainz was shocked when he saw it, even Marin himself was shocked when he saw it.

The army of the North Sea State learned the most standard PLA queue in later generations, and the requirements for discipline were extremely high. Basically, when the army marches, the soldiers of each team march in the same order on their left and right legs.

If a few people go like this, it's nothing. But 40,000 people acted in unison, and everyone who saw that scene was shocked. Not to mention fighting, scaring can scare people.

What's more, Marin also brought more than 20,000 people to help transport food and ammunition supplies. The lineup of wheelbarrows transporting supplies was also far in sight.

After leaving Mainz, Marin led a large army south and headed straight for Worms. Worms was the meeting place of the Reichstag, 40 km south of Mainz, also on the west bank of the Rhine.

After the extraordinary meeting of the Imperial Diet, Marin will definitely come here as well. However, the main reason why he went south along the Rhine was the problem of supply. This is because it is much more convenient to transport supplies by ship via the Rhine than by land. Therefore, Marin only brought 20,000 people this time, which was enough.

Moreover, the destination of Marin's army this time is also on the banks of the Rhine, but on the banks of the upper Rhine in the south. Marin led his army up the west bank of the Rhine and was sure to reach Basel. Moreover, the terrain is relatively flat along the way. Even the Rhine in the Basel area is a navigable stretch. A little further upstream from Basel, to Rheinfelden, east of Basel, you reach the point where the Rhine is navigable.

Therefore, this march was very pleasant for the army of the Beihai Kingdom. Because, the heavier artillery and other baggage were mainly transported on ships. Only when grain is afraid of moisture is it transported mainly by land. After all, the Rhine, further south of Mainz, is navigable, but it can't take a big ship with a deep draft. If it is a small boat, the draft is too shallow, and it is easy to get damp. If the grain is damp, it is easy to mildew.

Of course, the reason why Marin took 20,000 people with the army was not only to transport grain and baggage, but also to act as an engineering team. After all, the construction of military camps or something cannot be done by combat troops. If the combat troops have spent too much physical strength building barracks, they will not be safe against the enemy.

……

The words are divided into two ends, saying that after Emperor Maximilian I returned to Innsbruck, he also ordered Frenzberg to send 20,000 troops to the city of Basel, and put on an offensive posture, which surprised the princes' coalition army.

Today, Basel is still under the control of the coalition of princes. However, Frenzberg had already completed the reorganization of the 15,000 mercenaries who had surrendered. Later, according to Kohler's suggestion, Maximilian I quietly snatched food from the alliance of princes, and forcibly poached seven or eight thousand veteran mercenaries, making the total number of troops skyrocket to 35,000.

Moreover, in terms of combat effectiveness, the 35,000 troops of Frentzberg are actually capable of beating the 37,000 troops of the princes' coalition army. However, because the "Swiss Resistance", mainly French, had more than 20,000 elite soldiers on the sidelines, Frentzberg did not dare to act rashly.

Therefore, this time, Frentzberg dispatched 20,000 troops from Aarau in the north. As for the 15,000 men in Lucerne to the south, they stood still to guard against the combined forces of the Swiss and French.

Of course, 20,000 people alone against 35,000 people are not safe. After all, the 20,000 men under Frenzberg were not ten-year veterans like the First and Second Legions of the North Sea State.

Therefore, when Frenzberg personally arrived at Basel with an army of 20,000 men, the first thing he did was not to attack the city, but to immediately build a strong earthen city. Moreover, several trenches were dug outside the earthen city, and the trenches were filled with sharp piles......

Frenzberg was a man who followed Marin very early, and he learned a lot of Marin's methods. For example, when building a camp, Marin prefers to use rammed earth to build earthen walls. Because, the earthen wall is much stronger than the wooden fence. The earthen wall with thatch as the "bones" is still very strong, somewhat like a weakened version of concrete. Although it was difficult to resist heavy artillery, the general European armies in this era did not have heavy artillery, and light artillery such as three-pounder guns could not blast through the earthen walls with thatched bones.

Moreover, soldiers can stand on earthen walls and guard the barracks as if they were guarding a city. It's much easier and safer than guarding a wooden fence. Because, there are also simple battlements on the earthen walls, which can withstand bows and arrows and bullets.

……

As for the coalition of princes in Basel, they did not dare to go out of the city to attack the army of Frentzberg. Why? Because the total strength of the alliance of princes is 37,000 men. But at this time, only 20,000 people remained in Basel. Another 17,000 people were scattered between Bezançon, the capital of Franche-Comté, and Baden-Baden, the capital of the Metropolitan State of Baden (the aforementioned Karlsruhe is wrong, the capital of the Metropolitan Kingdom of Baden was not moved to Karlsruhe until 1715).

Why? Because, the alliance of the princes sent troops to Franche-Comté and Baden to collect grain......

Right now, it happens to be the end of the autumn harvest, and it is also the best time for the monarch and the princes to collect grain. The total number of soldiers and horses of the princes' coalition reached 37,000, plus 40,000 people, and the food consumption was very amazing.

It was no longer possible to rely on the financial support of the vassal states and the private subsidies of the church princes, so as soon as the autumn harvest was over, the princes' coalition army divided their troops and went to Franche-Comté and Baden to collect grain.

Of course, saying that it is "requisitioning grain" is actually similar to the devil going to the countryside to grab grain. The alliance of princes was an out-and-out invading army for Franche-Comté and the Baden kingdom under the Habsburgs. Therefore, the alliance of princes will not care about the life or death of the locals. They can collect as much food as they can, and if the soldiers see the chickens, ducks and geese raised in the manor, they will also catch those chickens, ducks and geese like devils, tie them with ropes and tie them to their spears......

Therefore, the defenders of Basel at this time were only 20,000 men. Faced with the army of Frentzberg, which also numbered 20,000 men, they had no chance of winning and did not dare to go out of the city to fight. Of course, they had the walls of Basel as their backing, and they were not afraid of the soldiers of Frenzberg.

As for Frenzberg, it was also clear - it was not cost-effective to storm the city, and the emperor did not ask him to do so. And when the other 17,000 enemy troops arrived, he might not be able to beat it......

Therefore, when the enemy's forces are scattered, it is the best choice to build a strong camp in the style of an earthen city......

……

The coalition of princes was indeed frightened by the inexplicable actions of the Habsburgs, and then the army that was still "collecting grain" in the countryside of Franche-Comté and Baden was urgently recalled, and then gathered in Basel to guard against further moves by the Habsburg army.

But they don't know that they are just trying to scare them. But on the contrary, the coalition of princes was frightened and had to gather in the city of Basel, but they did not dare to act rashly......