The Rise of the European Emperor

"Stop loss? Our priority now is to curb the expansion of the Habsburg family, right?" Anthony, Duke of Lorraine complained.

"That's right, it's okay for us to lose a little bit, at least we are still the masters of the countries. If the Habsburg family becomes stronger, we will be wiped out, let alone be the masters of the country!" Joachim I echoed.

"Why don't we ask the princes of the church for help?" At this time, the Earl of Hessen Kassel, who suffered a large loss in the ambush, suggested.

Speaking of this, the princes present frowned...

This action, although most church princes are supportive. However, when it comes to sending troops, it is mainly the secular princes who contribute. As for those church princes, most of them only expressed verbal support and provided some financial support, and were not keen on sending troops. Otherwise, if the coalition forces exceed 100,000, it would be flimsy.

This is mainly because the church princes are not hereditary. Every church prince is desperately busy making money instead of working hard to govern. Because the church princes have no heirs, and the church princes cannot pass on their families, so why bother?

Moreover, it would cost a lot of money and food to dispatch a large army. For the church princes who want to make money, they are very unhappy.

Only the secular princes, the feudal state can be passed on to future generations, and they are even more worried that the Habsburg family will unify Germany and take back the autonomy of the princely states, so they spare no effort in sending troops.

In addition, apart from the fact that the church princes did not contribute much, King Vladislas II of Bohemia also remained neutral on this operation. It seems that he did not want to offend the emperor.

"Ask them for help? Are they willing to give up the money?" Joachim I sneered.

Philip I, Earl of Kassel, Hesse, said sternly:

"Lord Joachim, although those church princes are stingy, most of them also come from secular prince families. As long as we tell them——If the Habsburg family is strong, their respective families will also suffer. I think, They should support us with more money and food. At least, we won’t be short of food!”

After hearing these words, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, nodded and said:

"That's right, finding someone to share is also a way to stop losses!"

Before, the situation was good, and those church princes might not be willing to spend too much money. But now the situation is critical, and the Habsburg family may really sit big. Therefore, Frederick III was sure to persuade most religious princes to support him. Especially those church lords who came from secular lord families, they don't want their families to decline...

...

At this moment, the young Marquis of Anhalt (also known as Prince or Prince) Wolfgang suddenly said:

"My lords, what you said is very reasonable. However, asking for money and food from those church princes requires a long meeting and discussion to get it. Now, we have more than 60,000 mouths, and we can't wait for that day!"

At this time, the princes present suddenly remembered that Frundsberg released nearly 40,000 people, which suddenly made the food supply in Basel extremely tense...

Previously, in the ambush in the Costal Valley, the coalition forces lost most of their food. But at the beginning, only 25,000 soldiers ran back, and the remaining small part of the food could still last. But when the 40,000 people were released, there was not enough food for them...

...

"or,

Shall we send someone to the Earl of Baden to grab some more? "Antony, Duke of Lorraine suggested.

"That's not right. Our army basically robbed Baden of all the food along the road. If we try to rob it now, there won't be much..." Frederick III shook his head.

As for grabbing food locally in Basel? Don't be funny, the mountains in northern Switzerland don't produce food, okay? Basel is on the banks of the Rhine, and there are also some grain fields and narrow valley bottoms. The grain production is very limited. For an army of 65,000 people, it is not enough.

...

At this time, Philip I, Earl of Kassel, Hesse, did not speak, but picked up the map on the table and began to look through it. After watching for a while, Philip I's eyes lit up and said:

"I have a solution!"

Everyone immediately turned their attention to him, only to see Philip I, Earl of Kassel, Hesse pointing to the marching map and saying to everyone:

"My lords, please look—this is Basel, which is the location of our army. Look, where is the west of Basel?"

"Franche Comte?" Several princes asked without thinking.

Franche-Comté was once part of the native region of the Duchy of Burgundy. Later, the most elite part of the Duchy of Burgundy (that is, the later French Burgundy region), including the capital Dijon, was taken over by the French. Snatched away, only the relatively barren Franche-Comté region was left to Maximilian I's son Philip the Handsome.

"Yes, Franche-Comté is the territory of the Habsburg family. Although it is not an important place, it is not rich in food. However, Besançon is also a relatively rich city. We will send troops to Franche-Conté now Tai, go grab food!" Philip I, Earl of Kassel, Hesse, said excitedly.

"However, going to the emperor's territory to grab food... I feel like it's not right..." Joachim I hesitated.

Philip I, Earl of Hesse-Kassel excitedly said:

"Lord Joachim, that was before. Before, we were still racking our brains to find excuses to attack the Habsburgs. Now, we don't have to find excuses. Frundsberg of the Habsburgs has taken the initiative to ambush We are the ones who took the right. He robbed most of our food, which is equivalent to the Habsburg family robbing our army food. In order to get back the army food, we went to Besançon in Franche-Comté to "forcibly confiscate" the food. ah!"

"Okay! Count Philip's idea is very good!" Frederick III excitedly slapped the table and stood up, supporting the idea of ​​Count Philip I of Kassel, Hesse.

Frederick III has already reacted - now, they are the first party to be attacked, and they have changed from the unreasonable party to the reasonable victim's party.

Therefore, the next action does not need to be secretive anymore. Go to Franche-Comté to grab food, and the excuse is ready-your Frundsberg robbed our food, we went to Franche-Comté to get it back...By the way, grab some property to compensate for the loss of the army... …

"Hey..." Many princes laughed knowingly...

The Franche-Comté area is not large, but it also has tens of thousands of square kilometers. Besançon is not a big city, but it is also an important capital city. Taking this city is definitely bigger than Basel, Switzerland. After all, taxes in the Franche-Comté region are basically concentrated in Besançon first. Wine and dairy products from the Franche-Comté region are also traded in Besançon. As long as you occupy there, you can get a lot of benefits.

Moreover, the Habsburg family is now short of troops, and they mainly use them to compete with the French for territory in Switzerland. It is said that in Franche-Comté, only the capital Besançon has two or three thousand garrisons...

Therefore, as long as the coalition of princes marches into Franche-Comté, there will be almost no resistance...

...

"Okay, then it's settled, let's march into Franche-Comté! Loot all the food and treasure there!" Frederick III said vigorously.

"But, don't we send troops to join the French?" Anthony, Duke of Lorraine asked. The Principality of Lorraine is close to France and has a relatively close relationship with France. It has always united France against the Habsburg family. But the Lorraine family did not expect that after the end of the "Thirty Years War" more than a hundred years later, the French, as allies, cut off a large area of ​​​​the Principality of Lorraine (who said that Lorraine has a large iron mine). Then, the Principality of Lorraine became a staunch anti-French faction again...

"It's okay, it won't be too late to support the French after we have grabbed enough food. In this way, you send someone to inform the French and tell them to be careful. After we have enough food, we will join forces with them and attack together That bastard Frundsberg!"

After finishing speaking, Frederick III took the princes out to reorganize the army, took away a total of 20,000 troops and all the civilians, and went to the Franche-Comté area under the Habsburg family to grab food. The next 5,000 soldiers are stationed in Basel to prevent Frundsberg from counterattacking...

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