The Eagle of Eastern Europe

Sigismund was right, and the Roman army soon captured Florence and Siena. The local mercenaries didn't have any belief in protecting their home and country, so they just said they would be offered double their salary and voted.

"John, what are you going to do? Are you happy to dedicate your hometown to others?"

Maso Obic was kneeling on the ground and roaring at John, but John just smiled and said to him.

"I didn't want to do it right at first, but I didn't expect you guys to still refuse to behave. You can't blame me for that."

John quickly changed his face and said seriously.

"By order of the Roman Emperor, the Council of Florence was dissolved, and the property of all members was confiscated pending His Majesty's decision."

Obiang almost rushed over to hit John when he heard this, but luckily the soldier stopped him, otherwise he would have gone crazy.

"John, you will have your comeuppance one day. God will punish you."

John sneered at this. You use the Catholic God to punish the Orthodox believers. What a great official authority.

"The only one to blame is you. It's your short-sightedness that ruined everything."

The Republics of Florence and Siena were occupied by Rome. Today, only the three countries of Milan, Genoa and Savoy are still independent countries on the Italian peninsula. They also knew Rome's ambitions, so they hugged each other tightly, and Establish a defensive line in the Parma-La Spezia zone. Austria also stationed troops in Innsbruck to prevent the Roman army from moving north.

Peter also sailed to Dalmatia, where troops from the Balkans were already on the move. Intelligence from Suceava and Kharkov showed that Poland and Lithuania were beginning to take action, but the local nobles would definitely prevent them from sending troops, and with Moscow on guard there would be no problem.

The pressure on Vlad's side is a bit high. The enemies of Burgundy and Orleans have actually united. The current Berlin Alliance can be said to be surrounded on all sides, and Rome must break the situation.

The Aragonese army never broke through Sardinia, but instead allowed the Roman army to gain experience. The plundering of Sicily did not have much effect, so the Council of Regents came up with a large-scale plan: to seize Malta on the Mediterranean and open the way to the Eastern Mediterranean.

This plan is actually very risky, because taking the initiative is not a good option based on the current situation in Rome. In addition, if the navy is transferred out, Barcelona will have no barrier. What will happen when Rome attacks? So they still have to discuss this plan.

I thought that a multi-line attack would catch the opponent off guard, but I didn't expect that they would be caught off guard. The other party has no problem with hitting N, but they are still arguing about who to listen to. How stupid.

----Dividing line----

The news of Stefan's landing in England also spread to the other three brothers, with Vlad being the first to get the news. Since the younger brother has such great ambitions, he, as the older brother, will naturally support him.

Soon, the Berlin Union announced sanctions against Henry IV of England, and routes from London to Hamburg and other cities were interrupted. England's exports suffered a major crisis.

Facing the problem of the Berlin Union, Vlad also used all his brain cells to solve it. Poland and Lithuania have the second brother to attract attention, France and the two vassals are attracted by the fourth brother, and the eldest brother scares the southern HRE princes, so now the only one that does not attract the attention of others is the Kalmar Alliance in the north.

Queen Margaret was old and frail and did not have many days left. After being taken away from Finland by Mihai, she had been lying in bed resting, and her nephew Eric handled daily affairs.

At this time, the Kalmar League and England were in an alliance. However, because it was a defensive alliance, the League had the right not to send troops to help. However, Eric's wife, Philippa of England, the daughter of Henry IV, kept persuading. Eric sent troops to England. This made Vlad feel in crisis, and he wanted to create time for his fourth brother to capture England.

The Elector of Pomerania led his army to the border between the two countries, and Vlad asked Eric to negotiate the ownership of Schleswig-Holstein. He believed that these two places spoke the HRE language and were inhabited by HRE residents, and should be under the jurisdiction of the HRE, not Denmark.

Eric issued a series of counterattacks. Schleswig and Holstein had been part of Denmark since the Viking period and became Danish principalities in the 12th century. It is legitimate and legal for him to inherit this place, why does he need to hand it over? It's simply strong words.

Vlad said, I'm just being unreasonable. So they kept arguing, and Denmark also realized that something was wrong, so it summoned its troops and headed to the border. To maintain funding, Eric introduced a levy for passage through the Channel, a levy that enriched Denmark's finances. However, it also significantly worsened relations with the Hanseatic League. Cities such as Hamburg and Lübeck demanded that Denmark be exempted, otherwise they would attack Copenhagen.

Within the alliance, Vlad began to integrate the economic situation. He began to require the members of the alliance to unify the currency. All currencies were changed to the uniformly issued Berlin Leu. In order to distinguish it from the Roman Leu, the pattern behind it was an eagle looking eastward. .

In addition to currency, the alliance began to negotiate on tariff issues and strive for unified tariffs. The parliament was already quarreling over this matter, but fortunately, there was no quarrel in the military, and everything was left to Vlad's command.

With external help, Stefan won the support of businessmen and farmers, and even some members of the parliament supported him. Because exports were cut off, many people's living standards dropped, and the market was in panic. Henry IV could only take King James of Scotland north to Lancaster, leaving his son Henry to defend in London. Young Henry attacked again, with the two sides facing off at Aldershot, southwest London.

The battle begins with a volley of fire from Stefan's archers and crossbowmen. However, because Stefan's bow was not powerful, it could not penetrate the British shield, and most of the bow and arrows flew to the ground behind the British army.

Then the infantry and cavalry charged, led by Thomas, an officer who had defected to Stephen and had just been canonized as Earl of Somerset, and Montagu, Baron of Hastings. Both of them had served as low-level officers, and later gained this title after joining Stefan. They had to win, otherwise they would lose what they had finally obtained.

On the forward line, the infantry and cavalry had a head-on confrontation with the defending British army, but at this time they also realized that this was a life and death situation and were determined not to retreat even half a step. As a result, the British shield wall remained impenetrable, and the British soldiers began to Chanting "Holy Cross" and "Get out, get out".

Based on the experience of the previous Norman conquest, Stefan began to order the few cavalry to repeatedly use the "fake defeat" tactic. During this day, they performed many attacks and retreats in front of the British defensive line. Each time a portion of the British army would pursue the enemy who seemed to be in retreat, but each time they would be turned back and annihilated by the cavalry. By the end of the day, the British defenses were nearly broken. Repeated charges by the army's infantry and cavalry had made the British defense line extremely weak.

Stefan realized that the time was right and prepared to launch a final charge. The archers and crossbowmen once again stood at the front, this time with artillery. The archers adjusted their shooting angles, and most of the bows and arrows fell on the heads of the rear troops, causing a large number of casualties. As the infantry and cavalry approached, Henry and several of his lords were hit by cannon and mortally wounded. Under this situation, they hurriedly organized a retreat. Only a small part of the British army successfully retreated into the forest. It didn't take long for them to receive news of Henry's death. The English army began to collapse, and Stefan once again won the battle and opened the way to London.

One month after Stefan landed in England, the Duke of Normandy officially led his army into London. He came to Westminster Abbey and formally sat on the throne of St. Edward. The accompanying bishop crowned him Stephen I.