King of German Mercenaries

In the small town of Gelden in northwestern Germany, the capital of the Geddes duchy, Duke Charles II is looking at the map and thinking. Looking at the map, Charles II, Duke of Geddes, is not concerned with the Duchy of Geddes itself, but West Friesland in the north.

Charles II, Duke of Guedes, was an ambitious prince who wanted to expand the territory of the Duchy of Guedes and enhance his own strength.

But unfortunately, his neighbors are not easy to mess with. For example, his neighbors to the west are the Counties of Holland and the Duchy of Brabant, both of which belonged to Philip, son of Emperor Maximilian I.

In fact, the Principality of Gedes was annexed by the daring Charles, the father-in-law of Maximilian I, before this. It was not until 1492 that Charles II took advantage of the riots in Flanders to let Mark, who was too busy, take advantage of the riots in Flanders. Similian I agreed with him to restore the duchy of Geddes.

Obviously, the Principality of Gedes could not fight against the Emperor's forces. So, westward expansion is not going to work. The neighboring countries to the south are mainly the Bishopric of Ringe, the Duchy of Clifford, the Archbishopric of Cologne and the Duchy of Jülich.

Needless to say, the Archbishop of Cologne, one of the seven great emperors, Charles II did not dare to give birth to the heart of confrontation. And even the weakest Bishopric of Ringo in the south is covered by the Archbishopric of Cologne, so it's hard to do it.

As for the Principality of Clifford and the Principality of Jülich, they are both powerful opponents and are not easy to deal with. If war really started, Charles II was not sure that he could defeat both countries.

As for the eastern part of the Principality of Gedes, it is mainly the Bishopric of Münster, which is also covered by the Archbishop of Cologne, so he cannot do anything. The two neighboring countries to the north are mainly the Archbishopric of Utrecht and West Frisian.

Needless to say, the Archbishopric of Utrecht is the power of the Holy See in the Netherlands. Charles II was not so bold and dared to challenge the Holy See. So, after thinking about it, only West Frisian is the best to seize.

In fact, from the restoration of the Duchy of Geddes in 1492, Charles II had the idea of ​​annexing West Frisian and made a lot of preparations.

But the plan couldn't keep up with the changes. Before he started, the Principality of Saxony made the first move and occupied West Frisland, making Charles II's plan unsuccessful.

Charles II was not reconciled, so he secretly supported the nine nobles of the original West Frisian, agreeing with them to settle in the northern part of the Geddes duchy, and encouraged them to gather troops and return to West Frisian territory to harass the Saxons.

However, this is the limit of what Charles II can do. Because, Charles II did not dare to publicly offend Albrecht, Duke of Saxony.

Among them, in addition to the fact that the Duchy of Saxony is relatively powerful, the ability and prestige of the Duke of Albrecht himself are also very important.

Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, was a cunning old fox and greedy. But its capabilities are strong, both diplomatic and military.

Although, the Duchy of Saxony was split from the Electoral State of Saxony. However, because Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, was the uncle of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, the nominal leader of the Saxon family. Therefore, the Duke of Saxony has a high prestige among the Saxon nobles and is the true leader of the Saxon nobles.

And this is what makes Charles II, Duke of Geddes, the most fearful. Because, as the leader of the Saxon nobles, Duke Albrecht of Saxony could easily persuade more than a dozen Saxon nobles to send troops to support him.

Just like the Duchy of Saxony's invasion of East Frisland, many of the 20,000-strong army were borrowed from other princes. The most obvious is the 3000 plate armor cavalry lent to him by the Elector Frederick III of Saxony.

Therefore, facing the cunning and prestigious Duke Albrecht of Saxony, Charles II, who is also very cunning, did not go far to confront him, but instigated the original 9 nobles of West Frisian with rogue-like gangsters. Soldiers and horses, from time to time, swept back into West Frisian territory to make trouble,

Deplete the strength of the Saxons.

Originally, Charles II, Duke of Geddes had no idea of ​​taking West Friesland. Because he lacks enough confidence. After all, the strength of the Saxon nobles is too powerful.

However, the battle of the county of Leir in East Friesland made Charles II, Duke of Geddes, see great hope. Although Marin defeated the Allied Saxons at the Battle of Lyle County. But the subsequent intervention of various forces forced the strong Marin to give up the annexation of West Frisland, which gave Charles II hope.

Charles II knew very well that no matter how strong the Marin army was, he could not turn against all the princes. Because Marin was the emperor's public enemy, it was destined that most of the princes would not agree to Marin's annexation of West Frisland. Therefore, Marin, who has a strong military strength, is temporarily unable to annex West Frisland due to diplomatic reasons.

However, in the case of his Gedde company annexing West Frisian, there would not be as many opponents as Marin. Because, in the final analysis, the Principality of Gedes was also one of the princes who stood on the opposite side of the Emperor.

The princes are not united in peacetime, only when facing the emperor who wants to centralize power, will they unite. Therefore, if the Principality of Geddes was like annexing West Frisland, it would probably only be the Saxon nobles who belonged to the Duchy of Saxony.

However, although the Saxon nobles are powerful, they are far away in the eastern region of Germany and are not strong in the northwestern part of Germany. Moreover, through the battle of Lyle County, Marin lost a lot of the strength of the Saxony system, which greatly damaged the vitality of the Duchy of Saxony, and it could not be recovered within a few decades.

So Marin's weakening of the Duchy of Saxony gave the Duchy of Gede more opportunities. Since the end of the Battle of Lyle County, the Principality of Geddes has been secretly recruiting troops, actively preparing, and preparing to take advantage of the weak period of the Duchy of Saxony to provoke a war and win West Frisian.

Moreover, recently, Charles II, Duke of Geddes, sent back important information from the eyeliner in Dresden, the capital of the Duchy of Saxony—Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, is ill, and is very ill, can he survive? This year has been a problem...

This suddenly shocked Charles II's spirit. He knew very well that Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, was an old fox with great ability, but his eldest son, George, was a scumbag.

If George becomes the Duke of Saxony, then the strength of the Duchy of Saxony will decline. The most important thing is that the nobles of the Saxon family will not follow George's lead.

When Albrecht, Duke of Saxony dies, the most prestigious nobleman in Saxony will be Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, the nephew of Duke Albrecht. At that time, other Saxon nobles will only give the face of Frederick III, the elector of Saxony, and not necessarily the face of George.

At that time, if there is a conflict between the Principality of Gedes and George, other Saxon nobles may not be willing to send troops to help. What's more, because after the Battle of Lyle County, the Principality of Saxony compensated 1 million Gulden gold coins, and now it is too poor and owes a lot of foreign debts. If you want to send troops, you don't have enough money and food.

If the Duke of Albrecht was alive, he would still be able to borrow some food, grass and soldiers from each family with the old face of the Saxon leader. But George has no such face. Once the Duke of Saxony dies, the strength of the Duchy of Saxony led by George will be greatly reduced.

And recently, what made Charles II, Duke of Geddes even more ecstatic, was that his biggest rival, Marin, was confusedly involved in the war in the Swiss region.

Charles II knew that the Swiss side was a sinkhole. Marin fell into that big hole and couldn't get out of it for a few years. In addition, as Malin's status as the emperor's lackey, he was naturally resisted by most of the princes and nobles. Therefore, in real terms, in terms of diplomatic environment, the Principality of Gede is better.

Therefore, recently, the soldiers and horses of the Principality of Gede have been trained more diligently. Charles II, Duke of Geddes, also began to study the map of West Friesland all day long, and began to prepare for the deployment of West Friesland...