The Rise of the European Emperor

But what the princes of the Eight Kingdoms did not expect was that Marin actually appeared on the top of the city gate and admitted that he had no arrows...

"That's right, our stock of arrows is indeed running low!"

Munster, the military officer of the Earl of Gelden, who was in charge of the test, was also a little dumbfounded:

"Then why do you let people scold a few adults? Are you full?"

Marin didn't hide from him either:

"Because I want to ask you to help fill up these kangs!"

"Fill the hole? What do you want to do?" Munster was a little confused.

"I have no arrows, so it is inconvenient to defend the city. Therefore, I plan to lead troops out of the city to fight you. However, these pits not only stop you, but also prevent our army from going out of the city to fight. So, I simply let you send People filled the hole..." Marin replied half-truthfully.

"Are you going out of the city for a decisive battle? Seriously?" Munster's eyes lit up immediately.

The officers of the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms are already tired of this tough battle like biting a tortoise shell. If the opponent can come out of the Tucheng for a decisive battle, then with their superior force, wouldn't they be able to decide the outcome soon? In this way, they can also have time to rush back to their hometown to participate in the autumn harvest...

Now it has entered the beginning of October, and the autumn harvest in other countries has gradually begun. If the war can be quickly decided, then the soldiers of the Eight Kingdoms Allied Forces can rush back to participate in the wheat harvesting. After all, there is no harvester now, and a strong young man's labor is very important for the autumn harvest.

Looking at the excited enemy officer Munster, Marin deliberately pretended to be embarrassed and said:

"We want to go out of the city for a decisive battle, but the problem is that there is not enough space to deploy troops. Or, you can go back and report that we will leave the city in three days, but we need enough space. Therefore, I would like to ask your army to retreat 1 mile Grid (the old unit of length, divided into two types: the grid used on the sea and the grid on land. On the sea, a grid is equivalent to 3.18 nautical miles, which is approximately equal to 5.56 kilometers. On land, it is equivalent to 3 miles. It is about 4.83 kilometers. Here we use land Rige, which is 4.83 kilometers), to leave space for our army to go out of the city and form arrays."

This is also what Marin came up with just now. Although blowing down the earth wall is also a way, it would be a waste of gunpowder. Moreover, the ground will not be too smooth after the earth wall is blown up, which will affect the army's excavation of the city.

Therefore, it is a good choice to let the opponent retreat and make room.

in history,

There is such an example as the "Battle of Feishui" before. It's just that there is no surrender like Zhu Xu in the enemy army, and he can't take the opportunity to shout "The coalition army is defeated" when the enemy army retreats. Therefore, Marin can only choose to confront his opponent head-on.

Fortunately, the Third Army and the Cossack Army were ambushing in a forest to the southeast of the battlefield. As long as the battle starts here, with the sound of artillery as a signal, the Third Army and Cossack cavalry will rush out to attack the enemy's rear. In this way, don't worry about the enemy being undefeated...

...

"What? That fellow Marin is really going out of the city to fight us? It shouldn't be, is he confident to fight against our 40,000 army?" Earl Geldon Charlie was very puzzled after hearing this.

You know, the current 40,000 army is different from the previous 40,000 army. Before, the 40,000-strong coalition of the princes of the eight countries was mainly composed of 20,000 veterans and 20,000 conscripts.

But after the capture of Oldenburg, the situation changed. After absorbing 6,000 Italian mercenaries, the Allied Forces of the Eight Kingdoms also accepted 7,000 noble private troops from the province of Bremen.

Whether it's Italian mercenaries or aristocratic private troops, their combat effectiveness is stronger than that of levies composed of pure farmers. Therefore, although the number of people has not changed much, the combat effectiveness of this army has been greatly improved.

Today, although there are still more than 40,000 coalition forces of the eight princes attacking East Frisia, there are only 7,000 conscripts left. The newly added 6,000 Italian mercenaries and 7,000 noble private troops, although not very strong, are much stronger than the levies composed of farmers.

Now, if it is a head-on battle, the princes of the Eight Kingdoms will have confidence in their hearts. The eight princes believed that even if the 20,000 people in Marin's hands were all veterans of the Beihai Kingdom, they could still win...

"Could it be that he really sought a decisive battle because he ran out of arrows?" Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, was very puzzled.

Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Duke Henry rolled his eyes and said:

"Can't defend the city without bows and arrows? How stupid! I think there must be other reasons. Maybe he is afraid of delaying the harvest?"

"Autumn harvest? If he was worried about the autumn harvest, why did he send someone to burn the wheat fields in Oldenburg? It shouldn't be..." retorted Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

"If you say you are stupid, don't believe it. Oldenburg Province has been occupied by us. Even if the wheat is harvested, it will be cheaper for us. That's why he sent people to burn the wheat fields. But now he still has East Frisia and Sieve The large wheat fields in Risland can be harvested, and those harvested are his own." Henry, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, said contemptuously.

Although the two Dukes of Henry belonged to the Welf family and both were called Henry, they didn't like each other. No, the two started arguing...

"My lords Henry, stop arguing. I think what the two lords said makes sense..." Earl Geldon Charlie hurried out to make peace.

"I think what he said is out of arrows, so it may be true. And the autumn harvest, I'm afraid he is also concerned about it. After all, I heard that the most wheat fields in the North Sea are in the local province of East Frisia. And Sever In Rislan, there are also many wheat fields that belong to Marin himself."

"It is said that Marin's most important territory is in East Frisia. As for Oldenburg, in fact, many manors belong to some old nobles in Bremen Province, and Marin is just in charge. I heard that Marin After taking over the management of those manors, he only gave those old nobles who were sent to Bremen Province the original production, and he took all the extra production after using the fertilizer. Later, he also changed the territories of those people to Bremen. Moreover, the old nobles in Bremen are not given fertilizer. The betrayal of Marin by the old nobles in Bremen is said to have a lot to do with the lack of fertilizer..."

On this last point Charlie, Earl of Geldon, was right. Those veteran nobles whose territories were transferred to the province of Bremen not only lost their political rights, but also, Marin did not provide them with fertilizer, so that they could not make a fortune. And this is also the key reason for the betrayal of most of the veteran nobles in Bremen Province - they didn't take us with them when they got rich, because they didn't treat us as their own...

Speaking of which, Baron Ginter, the veteran noble representative of Bremen Province who accompanied the last seat in the big tent, was full of anger:

"That's right, Marin, he refuses to use high-yield fertilizers for us, and doesn't treat us as his own. Since he doesn't treat us as his own, don't blame us for abandoning him!"

In fact, Marin was only worried that these people would not be able to help but speak out after using the fertilizer, leading to leaks. After all, these people have a wide range of contacts and a huge network of relationships. It would be bad if the secret was leaked. Therefore, Marin not only did not give them fertilizer, but also did not tell them the actual output after using the fertilizer, and only vaguely told them to double the yield per mu. However, this is enough to make those veteran nobles go crazy with jealousy-why do you eat meat and I can't even drink soup, so I can only watch?

Afterwards, several representatives of the veteran aristocrats from the province of Bremen, who accompanied the last seat, accused Marin of injustice, and turned the military meeting into a "complaint conference"...

...

Seeing that the meeting was going awry, Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg coughed and said:

"Guys, let's discuss whether to agree to retreat 1 league first!"

"I agree, let Marin take people out of the city quickly, and we will go back to the country to harvest the wheat after we finish hunting. If we don't harvest any more, if it rains, the wheat will rot!" said Antonios, Earl of Schaumburg and Earl of Ravensburg.

"But if we conquer the North Sea country, won't we be able to get more wheat?" John I, Earl of Rietberg, was puzzled.

Count Antonios rolled his eyes and said:

"Even if you grab the wheat from Beihai, how much can you share?" After finishing speaking, he also looked at the two Duke Henrys sitting up front.

John I suddenly understood—these little earls came to drink soup, and the two Dukes of Henry were the ones who could really eat meat. Therefore, their domestic autumn harvest cannot be given up. After all, that's who they are.

I probably figured it out, and several other earls, including Magnus I, Duke of Saxony-Lauenburg, agreed to retreat so that Marin's army could come out of the "tortoise shell" in Tucheng and fight them decisively. If the fight is over early, they will be able to return to China for the autumn harvest. As for the autumn harvest in Beihai? Let them harvest by themselves, and when they finish harvesting, they will bring an army over to snatch the harvested wheat...

In the end, after much thought, the two Dukes of Henry agreed to retreat 1 league. Because they thought that if the war was not ended, the autumn harvests in East Frisia and West Frisia would be seriously affected. After the victory of the war, most of the food belongs to them...