Leonardo leaned down to squint at his presbyopia, picking at the hairballs on the blanket, and creating a peaceful picture against the light.

"As for His Majesty the Pope, there should be a backhand that we can't guess, this time the Italian delegation, except for Pisa and Bologna, who clearly stand on the side of the Holy See, the rest of the states have said that they will strictly maintain neutrality, and Venice is the same, they are not interested in putting their precious infantry into the war of the Franks, even if they finally intervene, they will have to wait for the situation to become clear."

"The attitude of the puppet king is ambiguous, I'm afraid he still wants to wait for the price and sell, in a wait-and-see situation, the Eastern Romans entrenched in Bari and Catanzaro, the last 6 have increased a lot, even Basil II, who is far away in Constantinople, also feels the clouds of war over the German Empire, it is still difficult to say whether they want to protect themselves or take the opportunity, and the only variable that can pry the situation is the Normans of ****** and Reggio Calabria, and the Duke of Richard and Nijmegen are currently allied, However, the world is unpredictable, and we must be prepared for both changes. ”

"You're saying Normandy will betray us?"

I cried out in surprise, and then remembered that Kohler was there, and hurriedly covered my mouth and peeked at him, who was deaf to the shaft of his arrow, as if what we were saying had nothing to do with me.

"The two sides have just completed the marriage to consolidate the covenant not long ago, and besides, we are still entangled in thousands of interests, I don't believe that Duke Richard will take a risk, you must know that his main force is still in the south, and the empty Normandy has almost no ability to defend against the enemy, once we unite with Flanders, Caen Castle will be in the bag in a moment!"

"Who can tell what is going on between people?" Leonardo closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and said this slowly.

The matter between people is really not clear, and the Emperor Henry does not know whether he is too eager or completely insane, and the Empress Kunigund has just left, and here he has a grand wedding in the palace in Dresden.

The archbishop refused to marry him, and fled over the back wall of the church overnight, and the next day the knights who had been ordered to arrest him could not find him, so he tied up a priest and went back on an errand......

The high-spirited emperor and the obviously unhappy princess Figura attended in full costume surrounded by attendants and female officials, and a little-known priest officiated at their wedding, the funny thing is that His Majesty Henry's original marriage contract has not been dissolved, and Kunigund, who is far away in Luxembourg, is still the orthodox queen of the empire, and Figura has only come to the stage from behind the scenes and has become a legitimate junior!

Sensitive parties fryer immediately!

The Count of Luxembourg thought that the emperor divorced his wife and married a Polish ** was a humiliation to his entire family, and remarried before the dissolution of the holy marriage, which was a contempt for God and the Holy See, and he was not allowed to endure it in public or private, so he recruited all the vassals to crusade, and forced His Majesty Henry to give himself a reasonable explanation and a satisfactory answer by force, and the civil war finally broke out.

The nobles who had already decided to stand in line, and it was not surprising that Dietrich, Duke of Lorraine, was the first to announce that in order to maintain the authority of the Holy See and the tradition of Lorraine and Luxembourg, he would send troops to participate in the crusade and jointly seek the final result of the problem from Emperor Henry.

This guy was born with a traitorous face, and he wanted to write on his face that I wanted to rebel, and of course some advocates couldn't wait to jump out and respond.

The Duke of Franconia, who did not have a good relationship with the royal family, also announced that he would join the crusade, and he and Otto, the Duke of Carinthia, were cousins, and they had always been angry about the Otto dynasty's seizure of the throne, and vowed to regain their own crown.

The vassal of Verona, near Venice in northern Italy, was co-opted by the Pope to side with the anti-Henry Emperor Alliance, and with the addition of Bologna and Pisa, which were connected in a line, the German Empire was in fact equivalent to losing all of Italy, and the neutral city-states did not help the rebels, but it did not mean that they would move towards the Empire, and the situation took a turn for the worse, and it seemed to be more favorable to the rebels.

His Majesty Henry, who had married a coquettish wife, was not too intoxicated with gentleness, and on the day the news of the rebellion of the Count of Luxembourg came, the emperor issued an emergency ****** that Hanover and Nijmegen, as vassals of the House of Saxony, had to respond to the call.

The Count of Meissen, the Lords of Ostmarck, Zeitzmarc, Nordmark, and the Archduke of Bohemia all said that they would lead the king.

The daughter was pressed to the bed and cooked with raw rice, Rao did not want to offend the Holy See Archduke Mieszko had no choice, the Polish advance was said to have crossed the Elbe, and the Magyar Grand Duke Stephen was undecided, temporarily severed ties with the warring parties, declared strict neutrality, but the hesitant Duke of Swabia, Hermann II, became the only nobleman who did not take a stand.

He himself hoped to be protected by Nijmegen, but unfortunately the vassals tended to obey the Holy See and joined the rebels of the Count of Luxembourg, but the lord and slave could not reach an agreement until the end, and the cowardly duke was placed under house arrest by the vassals, and under his banner he announced that he would raise troops and send troops to Augsburg on the Bavarian border.

"The wind and clouds will meet, and from now on, there will be no peace in the country and no time for the people to live."

Leonardo stood up on crutches, the sun cast a faint light with all his strength, but it still sank helplessly into the horizon, the dreary darkness finally fell, the torches in the streets of the city gradually lit up, and the people began to burn the dial and begin the colorful nightlife.

"Lord Duke, isn't this the time you've been waiting for for a long time?"

I didn't answer, but silently stood up and walked to the window, looked at the bustling street market, and asked myself in disbelief:

"Is this my time?"

——————————

——————————

His Majesty's Herald arrived in Nijmegen faster than expected.

I really don't know how hard he walked down this way.

The royal high-ranking attendants, dressed in splendid court dresses, never had time to get down from their horses to salute, so they shouted without hesitation:

"Your Majesty's edict that troops must be sent immediately! On my way, the Lorraine advance has already swept the farmsteads on the Saxon border, without further ado! ”

I hurriedly asked the herald to be dragged off his horse, and at the same time nervously observed the idle people who were all around, and I was distressed about the bad effect of the herald's words, which had just been frightened by the enemy:

"Utterly stupid!" I cursed in my heart.

The news of the enemy's attack on the Earldom of Hesse had been transmitted back to Nijmegen by flying pigeons two days earlier, and the long-established Lorraine had broken through the border in a hurry, swept along the valleys of the Westerling Mountains, all the way to the banks of the Eder River, and destructively plundered all the farms and territories in their path, playing the strategy of war to the extreme.

In fact, this is an extremely short-sighted and narrow-minded view of territory, whether you win or lose after the battle, yours is still yours, mine is still mine, if you don't take the opportunity to make a profit, how can you be worthy of the bumpy labor of the aristocratic lords on horseback?

In a conspicuous position on the map, Rollo placed a few wooden figures representing the rebels, so that the situation of the enemy and the enemy on the entire battlefield was clear at a glance, and the aggressive soldiers approached Nijmegen, like jackals with their claws exposed.

I pinched the knight-shaped wooden model in my hand and looked at the few henchmen gathered around the table, all sitting there with different expressions, each with an intriguing expression revealing a different reaction to the battle.

Leonardo was as silent as ever, as if everything was in his expectation, victory was already in the bag with a handle in hand, Kohler held a knife and tirelessly cut the shaft, and the quiver box at his feet was full of well-made finished products.

He was the calmest person outside of Leonardo, the bull's eyes swept excitedly from one end of the map to the other, constantly rubbing his hands, as if he couldn't wait to rush to the battlefield to make a contribution, Jensen and Hans sat in the corner in a proper manner, peeking at others from time to time, they were obedient subordinates, following the crowd in everything, and only carrying out orders to the letter, Yaroslav yawned and had little interest in the dull pre-war meeting.

"How's the build-up going?" I put down the soldier model I was playing with and asked Kohler and Bull, who were in charge of the matter, that the big war was imminent, and it was always good to know who was going to know each other.

The two looked at each other, and Kohler replied first:

"The knights have all rushed here in 6 consecutive years, and now there are three hundred people, plus their squires and trainee knights, there are definitely more than six hundred people, and the blacksmith shops in the city have been busy these days, repairing armor and sharpening swords day and night, and the furnace is so light that half of the sky in Nijmegen is bright, and the horses and forage are also ready, and there will be three more days at most, to ensure that they can be fully equipped, and as for the concentration of other troops, the bull knows better than me, so he will report to you!"

The bull nodded at Kohler and took over the conversation:

"In addition to the tenant farmers who are willing to arm, the soldiers and the army directly under the duke in various places have also been reorganized!"

"A thousand cavalry, all elite who have just been called back from Neustadt."

"There are 1,000 hoplites, 7,000 ordinary infantry and peasant soldiers, and they are organized into different camps according to the strength of their combat effectiveness."

He paused to swallow and foam, looked at Kohler, who was busy with his own work, and then continued:

"There are five hundred elite archers, armed with the finest composite bows and armor, and there are about six or seven hundred other miscellaneous archers, but the combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced, as for the tenant farmers who are willing to arm and the mercenaries who spend a lot of money to raise are even more numerous, all in all, we have enough troops to fight the enemy this time."

I turned my face to Yaroslav, who retracted his legs, patted his chest and shouted: "Although there are not many Lyutichs, there are still dozens of strong men, and I add the Danes and other Slavs of other tribes who have been recruited, and my men are almost seven or eight hundred, all of whom are hard bones who dare to fight and rush, and they are ready to obey orders!" ”

He was full of confidence with his head held high, and the comfortable life in the castle made this proud barbarian breathless, and his palms were itchy for a long time, and he was naturally unwilling to give in to others when he fought, and he was eager to rush to the front.

(End of chapter)

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