The Rise of the European Emperor

As the only emperor in Europe, Maximilian I was eager to strengthen the Habsburgs and actually unify Germany. Even unifying Western Europe and establishing a powerful empire like Charlemagne.

Therefore, the rivalry between West and France, whether France overwhelms Spain or Spain overwhelms France, is not what Maximilian I hoped to see. In his opinion, it would be better for both countries to lose out, and then let Austria take care of France and hold down Spain.

Of course, from the point of view of pure politicians, there is no problem with the choice of the emperor. This is the choice that an old and hot politician should have. After all, although Spain was an in-law ally of the Habsburgs, it was two families.

In the original history, Spain and Austria were able to hang France because the monarchs of both countries were Charles V. Since it is a family, it is natural to cooperate closely and work together to beat France.

But because of Marin's intervention, Juan III did not die and gave birth to a son. Then, the two families cannot be merged into one family. In this way, it is not surprising that each has his own thoughts.

In fact, in the current European competition, the Habsburgs have fallen behind. Because the Habsburgs are so poor...

Fighting for hegemony also requires capital. If nothing else, the money for the army to fight is a huge pit!

France is naturally not afraid. It is the largest agricultural country in the European continent and has a solid foundation. Therefore, Maximilian I and France have been at a disadvantage. Had it not been for the French against Spain at the same time, God knows whether the Habsburgs would have been able to keep the Netherlands and Franche-Comté.

And Spain, the ally of the Habsburg family, was not much better than Austria. But because of the great voyage, especially influenced by Marin, after gaining huge profits from India's spice trade, the country's strength rose sharply, and Austria was thrown away at once, reaching the level of being able to fight against France alone.

That is to say, the original competition for hegemony among the three heroes in Europe has now become a rivalry between Western and French. Austria, on the other hand, was reduced to a spectator, and could only be busy cleaning up the Swiss Resistance...

How could the arrogant Maximilian I bear it? Therefore, this time, even if Maximilian I knew that attacking Paris with England would be the best blow to France, he still chose to reject Marin's suggestion, and instead devoted himself to cleaning up the Swiss who seemed short-sighted...

And without the assistance of Austria, England alone would not be able to attack Paris at all. At most, they can only harass the coastal areas of northern and western France, like Japanese pirates, causing no pain or itch to France. At least, it won't hurt the French.

Therefore, the emperor's short-sighted behavior made Marin very angry!

Uncle Ma is very angry,

Very serious consequences!

Seeing that His Majesty the Emperor is so ignorant of praise, Malin also has bad thoughts in his heart...

"Hmph, you want to annex Switzerland, right? I won't let you do!" An angry Marin decided to make trouble for His Majesty the Emperor...

How to mess up? It's very simple, it is to secretly inform Zig, and tell Gudendorff the secret news of joining the emperor's side. At the same time, support Zig with a batch of arquebuses...

Obviously, with the addition of 16,000 new troops, the strength ratio on the Swiss battlefield has undergone tremendous changes. If it is just positive, the Swiss will lose!

But if it's not just positive...

Marin's trouble-making plan is simple - if it's head-on, the Swiss are certainly no match for the Habsburg army now. However, if you step back and stick to it, you can still...

However, in defending the city, the Swiss spearmen alone would have difficulty parrying the strength of the Habsburg family. In this way, the importance of the arquebus comes out...

The Habsburg family did not blast away the heavy artillery of the city wall, and such heavy artillery was difficult to transport on the Swiss plateau. And small-caliber infantry artillery, it is difficult to blast the city wall, or even the city gate.

As long as the Swiss retreat to the fortified city and cast iron on the gates. Then, prepare a batch of arquebuses on the city wall, then it will be extremely difficult for the Habsburg family to conquer the city.

In addition to sticking to the fortified city and fighting against the Habsburg family's superior forces, the Swiss Resistance Army can actually divide some of its troops and take advantage of the familiar terrain in the Swiss mountains to fight guerrillas with the Habsburg family.

The Swiss Resistance Army is composed of local mountain people who are most familiar with the local terrain. Moreover, the Swiss mercenaries have strong personal combat effectiveness. If you use the local complex mountainous terrain to fight guerrillas with the Habsburg family army, it's really not easy to mess with...

There are arquebus defenses on the top of the city, and there are also resistance troops composed of Swiss mountain people from time to time to sneak attacks on the sidewalks. Even if the Habsburg army is superior, it will be a headache.

If it were replaced by a plain area like the Netherlands, with more troops, it would naturally have an advantage. But Switzerland is different. Switzerland only has some plains in the northern region, while the western region is dominated by mountains, which is very suitable for guerrilla warfare.

If you can line up a small group of elites, go around from the path to the back of the Habsburg family army, and attack those food and grass supplies.

...

After the plan was finished, Marin asked Kohler to find an absolutely trustworthy spy who, in the name of "French spy", went to Switzerland to report to Ziger.

This is no joke. If the news to the Swiss leaked out, Marin would not be a human inside or outside. After all, it is very taboo to betray an ally. That's why Marin asked for an absolutely reliable spy who could speak French.

A few days later, the spy of Beihai Kingdom, who goes by the alias Giroud, kept changing horses along the way, finally arrived in Bern, and sent the information to Zig, who was planning an attack...

...

Zig, who received the secret guard, was shocked. He did not expect that the army of Gudendorf, who had previously said that he would return to his hometown in Germany, turned to the emperor. After all, with the financial resources of the Habsburg family, it should not be able to hire...

It's Marlin's fault for this. Before, in order to encourage the emperor to send this group to the Netherlands to participate in the attack on Paris, he provided the emperor with a loan in advance. Unexpectedly, after the emperor got the loan, he turned around and said that he wanted to win western Switzerland first...

Giving money but not doing anything, this is what irritates Marin...

In short, Uncle Ma is very angry, and the consequences are really serious!

...

Ziger, who received the secret report, was in a cold sweat because of the lack of intelligence sources (in the past, the Swiss Resistance Army mainly relied on the French for intelligence sharing, but the French sent intelligence personnel to Italy, and Ziger and the others lacked intelligence sources), Switzerland The Resistance Army did not know about the fact that the entire army of Gudendorff had surrendered to His Majesty the Emperor.

According to their usual speculation, the Habsburgs did not have the money to hire the army, and they paid little attention. If they attacked Frenzberg's army rashly without preparation, the opponent's army of 50,000 would suddenly be out, and the Swiss Resistance Army would be caught off guard.

It can be said that the information that Marin gave him when he was angry this time can be regarded as saving the Swiss Resistance Army. At the same time, it also pitted the emperor. Hmph, who told His Majesty the Emperor to not listen to Uncle Ma's persuasion, and even flicker away a loan. Uncle Ma gets angry, but the consequences are very serious!