The Rise of the European Emperor

To be honest, Marin despised Maximilian I quite a bit. You are not strong enough, why pretend to be a big boss? If he hadn't said that he wanted to unify Germany when he was young, Maximilian I would not be resisted by the whole of Germany.

Although he became mature and wise when he was old, if he was frivolous when he was young, he had to pay for it himself. Since he expressed his desire to unify Germany, most of the princes have been wary of him except for the Swabian Alliance who hugged him to keep warm. Even Lei went to Marin. After all, Marin started his career by relying on Maximilian I. However, everyone was afraid that Marin would become the thug and vanguard of Maximilian I's unification of Germany, so they also made things difficult for Marin.

If it weren't for this unlucky reason, Marin would have been in the German region long ago, so why should he bear it? Look at the expansion of Beihai Kingdom, almost all Marin lured the opponent to attack him first, and then he dared to counter-kill the opponent, and then annexed.

If he hadn't been implicated by the emperor, Marin wouldn't need to go to such trouble at all, he would just be angry. The big deal is to engage in vertical and horizontal alliances and pull a group of people to expand together.

But there is no if in history, and Marin cannot be re-elected. At the beginning, when he just crossed over, he was overwhelmed by the emperor's name, so he foolishly turned to the past instead of studying the emperor's bad diplomatic situation. If he could do it all over again, he wouldn't want to take refuge in the emperor who is the enemy of the whole world.

But now that it's come to this point, it's too late to repent. Therefore, Marin can only remedy as much as possible, and also help the unlucky emperor...

Of course, what Marin did was not authentic. Because, he ruined the chance of the Habsburg family to unite Spain. So, he and the emperor, the eldest brother doesn't talk about the second brother, don't say who cheated the other, they just cheated each other...

...

Since it is not possible to send troops directly, then we can only find ways to support the emperor from other aspects. Marin opened the map and analyzed the situation in the Swiss battlefield in detail. After thinking for a long time, he still planned to support the Emperor Musket...

After all, the army of the Habsburg family is now at a disadvantage and is on the defensive. When defending, muskets are very useful. Especially when defending the city, there are a group of musketeers on the top of the city, which can make the attacking party lose their temper.

No matter how fierce the Swiss mercenaries are, they have to retreat when encountering intensive musket fire, otherwise they will suffer heavy casualties. Originally in history, Frundsberg, known as the "father of German mercenaries", broke the myth of Swiss mercenaries by using a large number of musketeers among German mercenaries.

Right now, Frundsberg's army is relying on the Spanish phalanx they learned from themselves and using their musket advantage to fight on par with the ferocious Swiss veterans. If it was pure hand-to-hand combat, the group of fierce Swiss veterans could make the group of soldiers under Frundsberg kneel down and call Dad. Even if Marin himself took the veterans of the North Sea country, he dared not say that pure hand-to-hand combat could defeat those Swiss veterans.

Therefore, providing enough guns and ammunition to the Habsburg family army is a very good means of support.

Not only to provide muskets and ammunition to the Swiss garrison in Frundsberg, but also to provide muskets and ammunition to Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan and his thousands of men hiding in the Mistel Valley.

After all, the Mistel Valley is also a dangerous place. If a strong fortress is built and equipped with enough matchlock guns and ammunition, even if Gudendorf's troops are superior, it will be difficult to break through here...

...

Thinking of this, Marin immediately arranged to prepare enough matchlock guns and ammunition to support the emperor.

Matchlock guns and so on, it happens that the Beihai National Military Factory is currently in full production. Originally, this was prepared for the colonial militia. After all, Marin originally planned to let the militiamen in the colony learn to shoot with matchlock guns. Therefore, he prepared a lot of matchlock guns, with a total of 8,000 matchlock guns ready, and planned to ship them to the colony.

But considering the needs of the emperor, Marin temporarily withheld the batch of matchlock guns, and instead sent someone to quietly transport them to Basel, which was controlled by the emperor's army (Basel happened to be the navigable uppermost end of the Rhine).

At the same time, Marin will also provide dozens of tons of saltpeter to the emperor, which will also be shipped to Basel. In fact, Maximilian I was not ignorant of the benefits of guns, but that he lacked saltpeter now...

The current saltpeter in Europe is basically taken out by saltpeter officials from the toilets and stables of ordinary people's homes. The amount is very small and not enough. Only Spain, Portugal and the North Sea countries of Marin can buy saltpeter from India.

However, the Spanish and Portuguese seem to have reached a tacit understanding in recent years. They divided up most of the Indian saltpeter, leaving only a small share for Marin.

Fortunately, Marin has opened up the Huaxia route, and has also begun to develop Chilean saltpeter. Otherwise, the guns in Beihai would not have enough gunpowder.

For example, this time, it was Kong Tai who purchased 100,000 catties of saltpeter from China and shipped them back to Beihai. 100,000 catties of saltpeter is 50 tons, just in time, Marin brought it to Maximilian I. With these 50 tons of saltpeter, three-quarters of an ounce (21.2 grams) of powder is charged per bullet, and the content of saltpeter in the gunpowder is 75%... Each time you shoot a shot, you only need 15.9 grams of saltpeter... Then, 50 tons of saltpeter is enough to start a fire 3.144 million times... Enough to beat the crap out of the attacker...

As for sulfur, charcoal, and lead bullets, Marin doesn't need to support them. Because these things are everywhere in Europe, there is no shortage.

...

Of course, Marin could not openly support the emperor's arquebus and saltpeter. Therefore, when transporting matchlock guns and saltpeter to Basel, Marin would send grain ships over in the name of selling grain. Then, the matchlock guns and saltpetre were all hidden in the bottom of the bilge, and grain was piled up on it. In this way, the eyes and ears of the princes along the way can be hidden.

Of course, these things are not lost, but borrowed. But Marin didn't ask for interest, which was enough to give the emperor face. However, His Majesty the Emperor has now signed a debt, whether he can repay it is a question mark. But Marin is not short of that money, and will not pursue it. After all, the emperor is his shield, and it is very useful to keep it.

...

In addition, Marin also intends to support His Majesty the Emperor and the Duke of Milan with a group of cement and construction personnel. Because, Marin learned from the intelligence of his subordinates that the fortifications near Mistel Valley and Lucerne do not seem to be so strong.

Therefore, Marin will send people to support a batch of cement and steel bars, and send a team of engineers to the Mistel Valley and Lucerne to help build a batch of reinforced concrete fortifications to strengthen the defense capabilities of allies.

The reason why Marin sent engineers there was not only worrying that his allies would not know how to use cement, but he also wanted to keep it secret. After all, cement is also one of Beihai's secrets.

With reinforced concrete fortifications, plus arquebuses and sufficient ammunition, even if the enemy army is strong, it will be difficult to break through the defense lines of Frundsberg's army in Switzerland and Ludovico, Duke of Milan in the Mistel Valley...