The Rise of the European Emperor

In central Switzerland, the tug-of-war between the Habsburg army and the French-backed Swiss resistance continues. Moreover, the Habsburg army under the command of Franzberg had a slight upper hand.

Because, the Bank of Siena, which was jointly opened by the Marin and Medici families, provided the emperor with a loan, so that the Habsburg family had enough military expenses to wage war in Switzerland.

However, the Swiss Resistance is not vegetarian either. Because King Louis XII of France would never allow the Habsburg family to annex Switzerland, he did his best to support the Swiss Resistance Army, and did not hesitate to send a large number of French elites to put on the clothes of Swiss mercenaries to fight against the Habsburg family, which made Switzerland. The battle situation is more intense.

But the problem is that it is not convenient for the French to directly send excellent generals to command the Swiss Resistance. The leaders of the Swiss Resistance Army are mostly mercenary leaders from mountain people, who are a bit like the bosses of the society and lack military literacy. So, despite the full support of France, the Swiss Resistance had a slight advantage. After all, Franz Berg is a famous general, and the training method also comes from Marin, a traveler. In this way, the Habsburgs can still have the upper hand with modest financial resources.

Specifically, the Habsburg family army has a strong commander and a good training method, but the soldiers themselves are of average quality; on the Swiss Resistance Army side, because France has provided a large number of elite soldiers, the situation is - soldiers Very strong, but the commander is the leader of a group of mercenaries similar to the boss of the society, and he has little ability...

Therefore, this battle has made France very unbearable. Because France has lost too many elite soldiers on the Swiss battlefield. But the Habsburgs are not afraid. Because, Frenzberg's tactical guiding ideology inherited from Marin is to rely on the whole, not on the individual capabilities of the soldiers. Therefore, in this tug-of-war and war of attrition, the Habsburg family would not feel distressed even if they lost a large number of soldiers. But France is very distressed, those are the elite veterans of France. For the more classical French army, elite veterans of hundreds of battles are invaluable...

...

In fact, Louis XII was not a fool. He had already invited the German princes who were against the Habsburg family to come to help in the war, in order to force the Habsburg family to truce.

However, the German princes who were anti-Habsburgs were not stupid. When the future is unclear, they are reluctant to send troops rashly. Besides, there is a powerful Beihai Kingdom on the side, making them undecided.

Originally, the two years when Marin came to the homeland was an excellent opportunity to resolve the battle for Switzerland. However, these princes were not united, and they quarreled with France. At the same time, some people worry that the Beihai Congress will be "behind by the mantis catching the cicada and the oriole", so they have been undecided. Then, time was delayed, and it has been waiting until now.

Until the "good news" that "Marin is probably dead" came, some German princes who were undecided were relieved.

Plan to deal with Maximilian I and the Habsburgs together. Because, Beihai Kingdom will definitely have a period of chaos after losing Marin. At this time, it is the most appropriate time to send troops.

To this end, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, made a secret trip to Paris and had a secret meeting with Louis XII.

Louis XII was overjoyed when he learned that the German princes were willing to help him deal with the attack of the Habsburgs. To this end, he very boldly expressed his willingness to bear part of the military expenses of the feudal alliance. This expenditure may seem large, but for France, it can save more by not continuing to fight the war of attrition with the Habsburg family.

...

However, as princes of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick III and the others did not have sufficient reason to directly challenge the emperor. They can't always say "Your Majesty, you can't expand your territory", right? This is morally untenable. Because, indeed, Switzerland was once the fiefdom of the Habsburg family.

How to force the Habsburgs to retreat? The German princes who were against the Habsburgs were also at a loss. They gathered in secret for a meeting to discuss countermeasures.

After a long discussion, Anthony, Duke of Lorraine, suddenly said:

"I have an idea. Just recently, our Principality of Lorraine had some territorial disputes with our neighbor, the Earl of Baden. The Earl of Baden belongs to the Swabian League and is part of the Habsburg family. We might as well take this opportunity and form The coalition forces invaded the territory of the Counties of Baden, especially in the south of the Counties of Baden..."

With that said, Anthony, Duke of Lorraine, took out the map and pointed it out to everyone:

"Everyone, please see that the southernmost point of the Counties of Baden is close to the northern Swiss city of Basel. We can take the opportunity to attack the Counties of Baden and form tens of thousands of troops to enter the southern part of the Counties of Baden and station near the Swiss border."

"In this way, His Majesty the Emperor will definitely be frightened. After all, he has less than 20,000 troops in Switzerland. At that time, we will have more choices. We can choose to pick things up on the border and fight with the Habsburg army. , or, armed mediation, to force the Habsburgs to sign an armistice to maintain the status quo in Switzerland…”

"Also, Baden counts as a prince on the Habsburg family's side. When we invaded Baden, the Habsburgs had to react. If we can fight each other, that would be the best. of……"

...

After listening to Duke Anthony's words, everyone fell into deep thought...

"That's a good idea!" After a while, Frederick III stood up, feeling that Duke Anthony's approach was very good.

Because, as Duke Anthony said, the county of Baden is next to Basel in Switzerland. The Habsburgs had to react if the vassals were overwhelmed. Even the county of Baden belongs to the Habsburg family. The younger brother was surrounded and beaten, and as the emperor, Maximilian I had to express it.

Moreover, the Principality of Lorraine is close to France, and it is very convenient to obtain sufficient supplies from France. Louis XII promised to provide a large amount of grain and armaments, which could just be transported to the front through the Principality of Lorraine. The vassal states only need to send their troops to the Principality of Lorraine and bring some food supplies.

...

Of course, before sending troops, they must also build up momentum in advance...

Therefore, at the same time as the various vassal states rallied their troops, a diplomatic conspiracy against the Counties of Baden also began...

...

In fact, this border conflict was first provoked by the Principality of Lorraine in order to snatch the ownership of a border town called Umm in the County of Baden, and it belongs to the party who finds fault.

However, in order to find an excuse to send troops, Frederick III united with a group of German anti-Habsburg princes, reversed black and white, and insisted that the weak county of Baden "snatched" the small "originally belonging to the Principality of Lorraine". Town Umm, and urged the county of Baden to "return" the town of Umm to the Principality of Lorraine as soon as possible.

Facing such accusations that turned black and white, the Earl of Baden, Christopher I, was so angry that he directly replied - let your daughter's dog P... Then, because of this angry remark, the Alliance of Princes directly declared war...