The Rise of the European Emperor

As the saying goes, "There are more than ten thousand soldiers and horses, and there is no limit." How amazing is the power of the 40,000 troops marching? Not to mention that Archbishop Uriel of Mainz was shocked when he saw it, even Marin himself was shocked when he saw it.

The Beihai National Army has learned the most standard PLA formation in later generations, which has extremely high requirements for discipline. Basically, when the army is marching, the order of the left and right legs of the soldiers of each team is similar.

It's okay if a few people go like this. But the 40,000 people acted in unison, and everyone who saw that scene was shocked. Let alone beating, scaring can scare people.

What's more, Marin also brought more than 20,000 civilians to help transport food and ammunition supplies. The line of wheelbarrows transporting supplies was also out of sight.

After leaving Mainz, Marin led the army south and went straight to Worms. Worms, the meeting place of the Reichstag, is 40 kilometers south of Mainz, also on the west bank of the Rhine.

After the interim meeting of the Imperial Parliament is held, Marin will definitely come here too. However, the main reason why he went south along the Rhine was the supply problem. Because it is much more convenient to transport supplies by boat through the Rhine than by land. Therefore, Marin only brought 20,000 people this time, which was enough.

Moreover, the destination of the Marin army, Basel, is also on the banks of the Rhine, but on the banks of the upper Rhine in the south. Marin led the army upstream along the west bank of the Rhine and would definitely reach Basel. Moreover, the terrain along this road is relatively flat. Even the Rhine River around Basel is also a navigable river section. If you go a little further upstream from Basel and reach Rheinfelden on the east side of Basel, you will reach the border point where the Rhine is navigable.

Therefore, this march was very comfortable for the Beihai army. Because, relatively heavy artillery and other luggage are mainly transported on ships. Only food is mainly transported on land because it is afraid of getting wet. After all, although the Rhine River south of Mainz is navigable, it cannot be used by large ships with a deep draft. If it is a small boat, the draft is too shallow and it is easy to get wet. If the food is damp, it is easy to go moldy.

Of course, the reason why Marin brought 20,000 strong people with the army was not only to transport food and supplies, but also to serve as an engineering team. After all, the construction of barracks and the like cannot be done by combat troops. If the combat troops expend too much physical strength to build the barracks, they will not be safe against the enemy.

...

The story is divided into two parts. It is said that after Emperor Maximilian I returned to Innsbruck, he also ordered Frundsberg to dispatch an army of 20,000 troops to the city of Basel, as agreed, and surprised the coalition forces of the princes. .

Today, the city of Basel is still under the control of the coalition of princes. However, Frundsberg has completed the reorganization of the 15,000 surrendered mercenaries.

Later, according to Kohler's suggestion, Maximilian I quietly snatched food from the alliance of princes, and forced seven to eight thousand veteran mercenaries, so that the total force soared to 35,000.

Moreover, in terms of combat effectiveness, Frundsberg's 35,000 troops are actually capable of defeating the 37,000 princes' coalition forces. However, because the French-dominated "Swiss Resistance Army" had more than 20,000 elite soldiers watching, Frundsberg did not dare to act rashly.

Therefore, in this shot, Frundsberg dispatched the 20,000 army from Aarau in the north. As for the 15,000 people in Lucerne in the south, they stood still to guard against the coalition forces of the Swiss and the French.

Of course, 20,000 people singled out 35,000 people is not safe. After all, the 20,000 people under Frundsberg are not ten-year veterans like the First and Second Army of the North Sea State.

Therefore, after Frundsberg arrived at Basel with an army of 20,000, the first thing he did was not to attack the city, but to immediately build a solid earthen city. Moreover, several trenches were dug outside the Tucheng, and the trenches were filled with pickets...

Frundsberg followed Marin very early on, and he learned a lot about Marin's methods. For example, when building a camp, Marin prefers to use rammed earth to build earth walls. Because earth walls are much stronger than wooden fences. The earth wall with thatch as "bones" is still very strong, somewhat like a weakened version of concrete. Although it is difficult to resist heavy artillery, the average European army in this era did not have heavy artillery, and light artillery such as the three-pound gun cannot blast through the earth wall with thatched bones.

Moreover, soldiers can stand on the earth wall and guard the barracks like guarding a city. This is much easier and safer than guarding a wooden fence. Because there are also simple battlements on the earthen walls, which can resist bows and bullets.

...

As for the allied forces of the princes in Basel, they did not dare to go out of the city to attack Frundsberg's army. Why? Because although the coalition forces of the princes have a total strength of 37,000 people. But at this time, only 20,000 people stayed in Basel. The other 17,000 people are scattered in Besançon, the capital of Franche-Comté, and Baden-Baden, the capital of Baden County (Karlsruhe mentioned earlier is wrong, and the capital of Baden County will not be moved to until 1715 Karlsruhe).

why? Because, the allied forces of the princes sent troops to Franche-Comté and the Earl of Baden to collect food...

Right now, it happens to be the end of the autumn harvest, and it is also the best time for the monarchs and princes to collect grain. The total number of troops of the coalition forces of the princes reached 37,000, plus 40,000 civilians, and the food consumption was astonishing.

Relying solely on the financial support of the vassal states and the private subsidies of the church vassals was already difficult to maintain. Therefore, as soon as the autumn harvest was over, the coalition forces of the vassals went to Franche-Comté and Baden to collect food.

Of course, talking about "requisitioning grain" is actually similar to devils going to the countryside to grab grain. For Franche-Comté and the Earl of Baden under the rule of the Habsburg family, the coalition forces of the princes were out-and-out invading forces. Therefore, the coalition forces of the princes will not care about the life and death of the local people. They can collect as much food as they can. If soldiers see chickens, ducks and geese raised in the manor, they will catch those chickens, ducks and geese like devils, tie them with ropes and tie them to spears...

Therefore, at this time, there were only 20,000 defenders in Basel. Facing Frundsberg's army of 20,000 people, they had no chance of winning and did not dare to go out of the city to fight. Of course, they have the walls of Basel as their backing, and they will not be afraid of Frundsberg's soldiers.

As for Frundsberg, it is also very clear-it is not worthwhile to attack the city, and the emperor did not ask him to attack the city. And when the other 17,000 enemy troops arrive, he may not be able to fight...

Therefore, when the enemy's forces are scattered, building a strong camp in the style of an earthen city has become the best choice...

...

The coalition forces of the princes were really frightened by the inexplicable actions of the Habsburg family. Then, the army that was still "collecting grain" in the countryside of Franche-Comté and Baden was urgently recalled, and then gathered in Basel to guard against Habsburg. A further move by Bootsberg's army.

But they don't know that they just want to scare them. However, the allied forces of the princes were frightened and had to gather in the city of Basel, but they did not dare to act rashly...