The Rise of the European Emperor

The war in West Frisland has been going on for several months, affecting local farming and autumn harvests. Fortunately, both sides of the war did not rely on local agricultural production, otherwise the army would starve and disperse.

After the autumn harvest began, both sides suspended military operations. At present, the West Frisian Resistance Army, led by Seevag, occupied Leeuwarden, the largest city in the west of West Frisland, and resisted the attack of the Saxon army based on the strong city wall.

As for the areas east of Leeuwarden, they are all under the control of Duke George. However, due to lack of food, the two sides are currently in a truce. Duke George left a large army stationed in the east of Leeuwarden, while he himself took some people back to the Duchy of Saxony to supervise the autumn harvest and collect military provisions. After all, there are tens of thousands of troops and many cavalry, and the consumption of food is very large.

The Frisian Resistance Army also sent people to the Principality of Gede to ask for help. As a country in the lower Rhine plain, the Principality of Gede is naturally rich in grain. Therefore, the armies of both sides will not be short of food.

It's just that the local people in Friesland suffered. Because of the war, it brought a devastating blow to the local agricultural production. West Friesland, with a population of 200,000, has lost 20,000 people. And, because of this year's war, 40,000 refugees have been created. Without food, most of the 40,000 refugees would starve to death.

Marin regarded these Frisian people as his own people, and naturally he could not sit idly by and watch them starve to death. So, Marin ordered the sentry under Sauer to enter Friesland quietly, mix with the local disaster victims, and spread the news that East Friesland has food. If you flee to the past and are willing to accept the employment of the manor (becoming a serf), you will get enough food.

So, the refugees are boiling...

Under the guidance of Sauer's sentry, the refugees avoided the battlefield area and rushed eastward from the southern border...

Duke George's men also discovered this, but they wanted to monitor the Frisian resistance army in Leeuwarden, and they couldn't stop it. Besides, why stop it? The army itself is short of food, so is it still giving food to the refugees? So, in the end, they also turned a blind eye.

During the truce, the Frisian Resistance Army was not idle either. At present, the area controlled by the Frisian resistance army is not large, only the area west of Leeuwarden. However, the section from Leeuwarden to the western fishing port of Harlingen was the most important supply route for the Frisian Resistance Army.

Today, the Saxon army is standing by and has stopped attacking, and this supply line is very smooth. So, the commander-in-chief of the Frisian resistance army, Siwager, quietly left Leeuwarden through this supply line and boarded the ship to Emden in Harlingen...

On the third day, Sivager arrived at Aurich, the capital of Marin, and met Marin...

"Sivag, you're not commanding the army at the front, why are you running here? Are you planning to give up over there and come to mess with me?" Marin joked. Siwager had stayed here for a long time at Marin, and he had some friendship with Marin.

"Lord Count, I am here to ask you for help!" Sivag said with a wry smile.

"Ask for help? What do you want? Say it first, I can't borrow troops, this is too sensitive!" Marin said sternly.

"I'm not borrowing soldiers, I want to... borrow guns!"

"What?" Marin was taken aback - it's not good for you to borrow a gun, you insist on borrowing a gun, are you trying to violate the gun control regulations? However, Marin quickly reacted - he is no longer in China in his previous life...

"Yes, borrow a gun! Lord Count, before, our army fought a battle with the Saxon army outside Leeuwarden. As a result, we lost..."

"It's not normal..." Marin pouted. Saxony's heritage is still very strong. Speaking of which, in the Battle of Lyle County, although he defeated the Saxon army, he did not kill many people, and most of them were prisoners. After all, I didn't have the courage to kill 400,000 people in vain... After these captives were redeemed by the Principality of Saxony,

It's fighting power again. Therefore, except for some knights who were hammered and killed on the spot, most of the Saxon regular army was still there. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of Saxony's army did not drop much, but it was financially ruined because of reparations.

"The strength of our infantry is actually not bad. After all, I have also learned some methods of training infantry from you. However, we can't stop the impact of the Saxon knights... If we hadn't used the digging method we learned from you, Perhaps our army was overrun by the Saxon knights..." Sivag said with lingering fears.

The defensive method of Marin Erdaokeng and slanted wooden pickets is very capable of resisting the charge of the knights. During that battle, Siwager commanded his Frisian resistance army, dug two pits and inserted sloping wooden pickets.

However, the command of the 5,000 soldiers and horses sent by the Principality of Gedes was not in his hands. The Gedes did not dig pits like Siwager, so their army was washed away by the Saxon knights and almost destroyed.

Fortunately, Sivag and his men fought desperately to save him, and finally protected Gerdes' troops. But in the process of being hit, Geddes lost 800 people with 5,000 troops...

Fortunately, they were not far from Leeuwarden. Then, with the army, Sivag quickly fled back to Leeuwarden and began to defend against the strong city...

However, the defense is not easy, the Saxon knights are too brave. They climbed the city walls, and they were also fierce. Rushing to the head of the city will also bring great casualties to the defenders.

Coincidentally, during this time, Siwager heard from the Danish merchants who stopped at Harlingen that the Swedes had caused huge casualties to the Danish army besieging Stockholm with 1,000 muskets. So he was moved...

Sivag knew that muskets were generally installed in Marin's army. Among the 10,000 army, there are at least 2,000 musketeers. So, he also wanted to borrow a gun to attack the Saxon knights in plate armor...

Therefore, Siwager personally rushed to East Frisian, hoping to borrow 1,000 arquebuses from Marin, or a few hundred would become...

Marin thought for a long time, weighing the pros and cons in his heart...

However, he ultimately refused an offer to loan the active-duty Mushket musket to the Frisian resistance. Because, this is too East Frisian. At that time, the Duchy of Saxony could tell at a glance that it was Marin's gun. After all, the Saxon army suffered a lot from the Mushkert musket before.

At that time, if George, Duke of Saxony, makes trouble at the Imperial Parliament, he will not be able to eat and walk around. Maybe he will be impeached by the Saxons and lose his position as a member of the imperial parliament...

Therefore, Marin could not lend the muskets of active musketeers to the Frisian resistance. However, it is possible to build a batch of muskets of different calibers for the Frisian resistance army, just like the muskets that supported the Swedes...

However, this batch of muskets can't just pop up for no reason. After all, West Friesland is on the edge of East Friesland, too sensitive.

Therefore, Marin requested that Sivag send some representatives to go to the big cities in the south, such as Cologne and Nuremberg where excellent craftsmen gather, to openly ask for arquebuses, gunpowder and lead... This money, Marin will help out. To this end, Marin directly sponsored 30,000 gold coins...

In fact, when Marin asked Siwager to do this, he was completely clearing his suspicions - you see, people bought muskets in Cologne and Nuremberg, etc., and it has nothing to do with me...

Moreover, Nuremberg in this era was indeed a gathering place for skilled craftsmen. It is said that the world's first practical rifled gun was born in Nuremberg in 1520...

Therefore, it is not surprising to buy a batch of arquebuses in Nuremberg and Cologne, where there are also many great craftsmen...

Now, there are nearly a thousand craftsmen in the musket workshop under Marin. They were all musketeers, producing hundreds of them a day. Even if you help the Frisian Resistance Army to design and produce a new caliber arquebus, the manufacturing speed will drop, and there will be no problem in producing one or two hundred guns a day.

In the end, Siwager left contentedly, and immediately dispatched men to places like Nuremberg and Cologne to openly buy muskets and cover for Marin's support.

On Marin's side, he also ordered the craftsmen of the musket workshop to engrave fake craftsmen's logos from Nuremberg and Cologne on the barrel when making muskets, indicating that it was produced there...