Holy Roman Empire, Aachen.

News of another defeat of his army in Vienna soon reached Aachen with a speed far beyond most imagination, but it may not have been a good thing.

At the very least, the current Aachen has been filled with this kind of negative news, which makes both nobles and ordinary people have a sense of rumour.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, what do you mean by this!?"

Inside the palace, Leopold and Sigismund are in a-for-tat confrontation.

"Oh?" In the face of Leopold's aggressiveness, Sigismund only smiled faintly, looking confident.

"Honorable Duke Leopold, instead of asking me what I mean, ask yourself what you mean?"

Leopold was speechless, and for a moment he was speechless, not knowing what to say.

It may seem like a simple war, but in fact it is not as simple as it seems.

On the surface, the Luxembourg and Habsburg monarchs seemed to be forced to temporarily unite due to the strong pressure of the Ming army, but in fact they were only superficially united, and in fact they were still making small calculations for their own interests.

Sigismund, who represented the Luxembourg dynasty, mobilized troops as Holy Roman Emperor and used his control of the Holy See to rally a large number of Catholics in the name of jihad.

The Luxembourg dynasty took a stand, and the Habsburgs did not drop the chain.

Duke Albert personally led his troops, and at the same time, the Habsburgs also contributed part of their forces to Vienna.

This is a union on the surface, but it is only on the surface, and secretly there is an undercurrent surging.

As the first commander of the front, Albert did not directly take advantage of his own strength over the defenders of Vienna, but instead sent people to death in waves, hoping to consume the power of the Luxembourg Dynasty and prepare for the seizure of control of the Holy Roman Empire in advance.

But as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, how could Sigismund allow the Habsburgs to ride and on his face?

Zhu Zhan led his troops back to defend Vienna, and joined forces with Liu Qingwen and Xing Kun in Vienna, dismantling the Holy Roman Empire's plan to recapture Vienna in one fell swoop, and completely annihilating the army of the Holy Roman Empire.

After receiving the news, Sigismund immediately spread the news to the whole of Aachen.

It can be said that it was the strongest offensive of the Holy Roman Empire since the invasion of the Ming army, but it failed in this way, not only was the army completely annihilated, but even the commander Albert was beheaded by the Ming army.

Spreading the news damaged Sigismund's already shaky reputation, but his losses were almost negligible compared to those of the Habsburgs.

Because of the successive defeats in the face of the Ming army, Sigismund's prestige fell again and again, while the prestige of the Habsburgs, as an enemy of the Luxembourg Dynasty, rose.

However, the defeat of this offensive made the Habsburgs' previous advantages disappear in an instant, although it is not worse than the Luxembourg Dynasty, but it is not much better.

This time, the Holy Roman Empire suffered heavy losses, and the Luxembourg and Habsburg empires were both defeated, and the only possible benefit was the Ming army.

So, on the surface, the defeat was the fault of Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, but the Habsburgs were also an important driver of this defeat, and neither side could say anything about the other.

It is precisely because of this that Leopold was speechless when faced with Sigismund's rhetorical questioning.

"What's the matter, is Duke Leopold going to keep fighting?" Sigismund looked at the speechless Leopold and asked with a smile.

It seems that the defeat of this war, the heavy losses of the Holy Roman Empire, can be ignored by him.

Now he is like a gambler who has lost red-eyed, he doesn't care what his result is at all, and all he wants is to lose the dealer opposite him to ruin.

In fact, that's exactly what Sigismund had in mind.

"Duke Leopold, in fact, you should know that you and I have nothing to fight about." Sigismund stood up and walked to the window, his tone indifferent, not at all like the words of a man who had reached a desperate point.

"I have no son, only a daughter, and I don't have time to plan for me in the face of the oppression of the enemy...... and even the future of the entire Luxembourg dynasty. ”

"The throne of the Holy Roman Empire will eventually fall to Albrecht, and the Luxembourg dynasty will eventually become extinct to me."

"Whether it is the invasion of the Ming army or the loss of the throne by your Habsburgs, the result is actually the same for me."

"I know that Albrecht will not be your opponent, that you Habsburgs will eventually take the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, and that at that time, my daughter Elizabeth will not be too well."

"So, if you are willing to play, I am willing to play with you."

"Anyway, for me, the end result will definitely be the destruction of the family, as for the existence of the Holy Roman Empire, that is something you need to consider, not me."

Looking at Sigismund's back, Leopold only felt a chill rise from the soles of his feet, all the way up to his celestial spirit cover, making him feel like an ice cave.

In fact, no matter what kind of enemy you are facing, there is no need to be afraid, because as long as it is a human being, there will be weaknesses, and there will be enemies without weaknesses...... Theoretically non-existent.

But!

Today, Sigismund has reached the realm of a theoretically weak-minded enemy.

Clarify the end of yourself, the end of your relatives, and the end of your family......

After understanding all this, Sigismund no longer cares, if the Habsburgs fully cooperate, then he does not mind going all out, but if the Habsburgs still want to make small moves, he is not afraid of dying together.

Even...... He could take the entire Holy Roman Empire with him.

Anyway...... In the near future, he has nothing to lose.

"I see......" Leopold took a deep breath and dropped a sentence before turning to leave.

The world is unpredictable, the situation is unpredictable, and no one knows what the outcome will be until the end.

Who would have thought that Sigismund, who was originally at a disadvantage, would go against the norm and weigh on the head of the Habsburgs when he had nothing to lose.

The Habsburgs, who were originally in an advantageous position, were restrained everywhere in front of Sigismund because of their own family and the control of the Holy Roman Empire.

Perhaps, the Catholics who have been called up in the name of jihad could not have imagined that what they consider to be fighting for their faith is merely a means of gaining profit in the eyes of those careerists.

If they can get considerable benefits, they will be abandoned without hesitation.

In the eyes of these careerists, what they care about most is what they can get, not the so-called big picture.

In their view, if you take care of the overall situation, but it leads to the loss of self-interest, then there is no need to take care of the overall situation.

(End of chapter)