The Rise of the European Emperor

After making up his plan, Alsace led 5,000 Cossack cavalry to go southeast to Hamburg from the east bank of the Elbe River. All in all, it was the Cossack cavalry who most needed to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river. Because, the Cossack cavalry is often one man and three horses. If transported by boat, horses take up a lot of space on the boat, which is very inconvenient. Often, the space occupied by a horse can squeeze several people.

As for the Third Legion, there are also 2,000 black shirt knights, and 4,000 horses need to cross the river. Steindorff was originally the first Musketeer Commander of the North Sea Army, and the 2000 Black Shirt Knights have always belonged to his leader. When he was transferred to be the commander of the Third Army, the 2,000 black-shirted knights who used carbines were also transferred to the Third Army.

In total, the Third Army and the Cossack Army, with as many as 7,000 cavalry, can hardly cross the river without a pontoon bridge. If it is purely infantry, just wait for Marin's transport fleet to pull people. But with 7,000 cavalry and as many as 19,000 horses, it would be very terrifying. No fleet can transport so many horses for long-distance sea maneuvering, and even if there is, it must be divided into many batches.

Therefore, this army cannot go on the pontoon bridge. Otherwise, it needs to be transported in many batches, and the pontoon bridge is relatively simple. Just line up the horses to cross the river...

Alsace took 5,000 Cossack cavalry and entered the city of Hamburg under the guidance of Durm, the black shirt knight commander under Steindorf.

In Hamburg at this time, the Speaker of the Great Council is no longer Heisenberg. Three years ago, Heisenberg had passed away, and the current speaker, Bernard, was a shrewd middle-aged man.

The people of Hamburg have never seen Cossack cavalry, but they have seen the black shirt knight, and even fought side by side with the black shirt knight. Therefore, under the leadership of Durm, Alsace successfully entered Hamburg, and discussed with Bernard the Great Speaker about borrowing a ship.

The people of Hamburg are still very face-saving, and the Great Speaker Bernard quickly approved that the inland watercraft in Hamburg's own port should be mainly located in Cuxhaven on the west bank of the Elbe Estuary, but the construction of pontoon bridges inland watercraft is enough to lend to the North Sea country. Moreover, it was agreed to let those ships go south quietly at night, and build a pontoon bridge after entering the territory of the Principality of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

In fact, there was a heated debate within the city of Hamburg as to whether to support the North Sea State. But Speaker Bernard is very clear that the North Sea State is a big customer of Hamburg. Marin has money in his hands, and he often goes to Hamburg to purchase materials such as masonry, beeswax, and minerals for domestic construction, making Hamburg businessmen a lot of money.

Moreover, it is also very good for Hamburg to have a powerful ally. Although Hamburg has a well-developed sea trade and good sea strength, it is weak on land. With the protection of Marin's North Sea Police Force, Hamburg's land safety is also guaranteed.

And if the Beihai Kingdom was swallowed by the princes of the Eight Kingdoms, then maybe. Bernard couldn't guarantee that if the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms wiped out the Beihai Kingdom, would they swallow Hamburg further. At least, Marin's North Sea State has no plans to annex Hamburg. On the contrary, it is very close to the Hanseatic League. As for the eight princes, it is hard to say. As far as Grand Speaker Bernard knew, the Duke of Saxony Lauenburg, Magnus I, was very greedy for the wealth of the nearby Hamburg.

Therefore, the Great Speaker Bernard went all out to cooperate with the army of the North Sea State unconditionally. Moreover, he believed that if the 15,000 troops including thousands of cavalry rushed to the front line, it would be very difficult for the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms not to fail...

...

That night, under the starry sky, hundreds of large and small inland ships in Hamburg's harbor, under the guidance of the Hamburg sailors, carefully left the harbor and sailed slowly south along the Elbe River.

Because it was night, it was difficult to control the sails. Therefore, Chairman Bernard dispatched 5,000 trackers to pull the inland river boats south with ropes on the shore. In this way, there is no need to experience the risk that the sailboat may run aground at night due to manipulation of the sails. Moreover, because the trackers are pulling empty boats, it is not so laborious. If the cargo ship is fully loaded, the trackers will suffer. Moreover, oarsmen are also arranged on board, further reducing the burden on the trackers.

After dawn, the fleet left the part across the river from Bremen Province and entered the opposite bank of the Principality of Lüneburg.

Seeing that it was almost done, Alsace and the black shirt knight commander Durm began to arrange for the Hamburg sailors to start building the pontoon bridge.

Alsace has little experience in this, but Durm is a veteran of the North Sea country, and has experience in building pontoon bridges. So, under his command, hundreds of Hamburg's large and small inland watercraft were lined up on the Elbe River. Then, the Hamburg sailors took out the ropes on the boat, tied the boat further, and laid spare wooden boards on some small boats to make the pontoon bridge more level and facilitate the passage of carriages.

By noon, the pontoon bridge was basically built. Then the Cossack cavalry began to line up across the bridge. Alsace was worried that there would be an enemy attack from the north, so he asked the Cossack cavalry to ignore the transfer horses, but let two thousand Cossack cavalry cross the pontoon bridge with only their horses. Then, take charge of keeping the pontoon safe from damage...

Sure enough, Alsace was right to worry. When two thousand Cossack cavalry passed the pontoon bridge, soldiers from the coalition forces of the princes of three or four thousand countries came from the north. Obviously, the opponent is here to seize and destroy the pontoon...

In fact, in the morning, the people of the Principality of Lüneburg discovered the North Sea Fleet and the Hamburg Fleet who were building the pontoon bridge. Then, someone specially sent someone to report to the north.

However, the local horses were forcibly taken away by their lord, Henry, Duke of Brunswick, Lüneburg. Therefore, the messenger could not report on horseback, but could only report on foot.

Although the messenger ran fast, comparable to a marathon runner. However, when he ran to the coalition camp, it was already around 9 o'clock in the morning.

Then, the generals of the defenders of the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms began to gather troops and march south. It's a pity that they are also infantry and cannot run very fast. It wasn't until after one o'clock in the afternoon that the soldiers of the coalition forces of the princes of the three or four thousand countries arrived near the pontoon bridge. At this time, two thousand vanguard troops of the Cossack cavalry had already crossed the river and guarded the pontoon bridge...

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" shouted the Cossack scout.

Then, the scout was slapped...

Cossack commander Jurgen roared:

"What are you panicking about? It's only three or four thousand infantry. Look, it scares you! The army is crossing the river. If you shout so anxiously, it will easily lead to confusion, understand?"

The cute new Cossack scout nodded aggrievedly while covering his face, and stopped talking nonsense.

In fact, Captain Jurgen's slap was timely. If this guy is allowed to yell in such a panic, it will really affect the army's ability to cross the river.

If the infantry crosses the pontoon, that's all right. But the cavalry all carried horses. Once the cavalry became flustered, and this emotion was transmitted to the horses, something serious might happen. Therefore, Captain Jurgen's slap was very decisive and timely.

"Next, it's up to us!" Captain Jurgen got on his horse, drew out a Type 65 cavalry knife, and ordered all the Cossacks guarding the pontoon bridge to get on their horses.

As the most senior commander of the bridge guard on the west bank, the head of the 1st Cossack Cavalry Regiment, Jurgen ordered:

"The 4th Cavalry Regiment continues to guard the bridgehead, blocking all enemies who dare to approach. Regiment 1, Regiment 2 and Regiment 3, all follow me!"

A total of 1,500 members of the three Cossack cavalry regiments responded loudly, and then they picked up their spears one after another...

Yes, not a saber, but a spear...

Cossack cavalry not only use sabers, but also spears. Of course, the spears they use are not lances that can charge at high speed, but the most common infantry spears.

As for the saber, it will only be pulled out after the spear is out of hand...

For the Cossack cavalry, the spear is a weapon for the first charge. After the spear pierces the enemy's body, it is often too late to pull it out. Therefore, after stabbing the enemy with their spears in the first round of charge, the Cossack cavalry often discarded their spears decisively, and then quickly drew out their sabers to continue slashing.

Sometimes, in order to break the enemy's formation, the spear is often used as a javelin by the Cossack cavalry, thrown into the enemy's formation, causing damage to the enemy...

For example, in this first round of charge, except for the commander, every Cossack cavalry held a most common slender spear more than three meters long.

Moreover, in this era, the Cossack cavalry with spears was very important. Because the European infantry they face are often good at spear formation. If you rush up with a saber in hand, you will easily be stabbed into a hornet's nest by the enemy. Therefore, Cossacks often choose to use spears to deal with infantry phalanx...

"Come on!" 1,500 Cossack cavalry rushed up wielding "disposable" inferior spears. The commander of the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms was also shocked when he saw so many cavalry rushing over. So he cried out:

"Array! Array! Spearmen rush forward, raise their spears obliquely, and block the enemy cavalry!"

Then, a group of conscripts panicked into a phalanx. The spearman in the front row tilted the spear forward at 45 degrees, and the end of the spear touched the ground to transmit the impact of the enemy cavalry to the ground...