Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 743 A peasant rebellion only requires hanging the master; the nobles, however, require much more caution. (Thanks for the donation)
For the next month or so, the Wu king's main force was "tourizing" in the heart of Alemanni. Sigismund's army could only follow them, constantly circling around their northern territories.

As expected, over time, the local lords grew increasingly dissatisfied with the "emperor."

After all, having Sigismund help suppress the riots was indeed in the interest of most lords. But when Sigismund led tens of thousands of fully armed soldiers to roam around their territories, things didn't look quite right.

The armies of that era had little awareness of protecting friendly territories and people—and indeed, neither did later generations. Since most of the army consisted of mercenaries from all over the country, and their supplies came almost entirely from plunder, they would suffer severe losses wherever they went, regardless of whose territory it was.

Now, Sigismund has accomplished nothing and has allowed his enemies to roam freely. This has not only made him a laughingstock among the anti-emperor nobles who already disliked him, but has also caused even the neutrals to waver.

Moreover, since the Frankish era, European monarchs had a tradition of "palace tours." A convenient tactic for dealing with disobedient vassals, but whom they couldn't openly confront, was to take the entire court and direct army, and even some other vassals, to the vassal's territory and begin exploiting them. Over time, even the wealthiest nobles couldn't withstand this and would have to submit to the king. Their power would also be weakened. In this way, the reduction of vassal power was effectively achieved.

Many lords, though not highly educated, were quite familiar with these simple and traditional political tactics. As time passed, Sigismund demanded and seized more and more money and provisions, yet he failed to eliminate his enemies. Naturally, people began to suspect who he was after.

In response, Sigismund convened several meetings with his vassals to explain and persuade them. He stated that he was indeed trying his best to catch up, but after so long, he still hadn't succeeded. However, he didn't blame them; the mob was simply moving too fast. In his current state, it was difficult for him to accelerate further. Otherwise, even with more money, his mercenaries would likely disobey orders and even mutiny, which would only worsen the situation.

Therefore, he has done everything he could. Currently, the most urgent problem to be solved lies with the nobles.

Sigismund declared that upon discovering the enemy was faster, he had already considered the possibility of not being able to catch up, and summoned his courtiers to devise alternative plans. They then promptly informed the local nobles of the plan, instructing them to deploy in advance to harass and hinder the enemy, thus slowing their advance.

To ensure everyone could keep up with the plan, he and his advisors had done their utmost. They had considered the wealth, troop strength, and combat capabilities of each territory in advance, and even calculated the time required to recruit enough troops. However, the nobles remained uncooperative, and even those who did obey were dull-witted, resulting in less than ideal outcomes. To this day, they still couldn't stop the enemy.

He believed there was nothing wrong with the plan itself—the fact that the enemy, despite their swift action, had not yet escaped showed that their actions were ultimately hampered and they could not go wherever they wanted.

However, this delay may take some time before more experience can be gained and greater results can be achieved. The nobles will also need to be more obedient to his orders. He specifically emphasized that this was not for his own personal gain, but because the current situation was not optimistic and needed to be dealt with seriously.

However, the nobles remained unconvinced. They felt that Sigismund's plan treated everyone else like fools. If he placed people here to block the road, the large number of people would severely hinder mobility and control of the area, allowing the enemy to easily bypass them; if there were too few people, they wouldn't dare to wander around, otherwise they might be quickly wiped out if they encountered the enemy.

Moreover, it wasn't that people were being unreasonable, hurling accusations at anyone who was the emperor. Two minor noble families had already heeded his advice, leading their troops away from the fortress to set up roadblocks, only to be wiped out in less than half a day. Sigismund's army, however, didn't arrive until the third day.

Some say that the local monastery actually received a message the next day from someone claiming to be an "envoy of the Ming Dynasty," instructing them to quickly remove the bodies and properly bury them. Therefore, Sigismund didn't even have time to collect his comrades' corpses. There hadn't been many "Ming Dynasty" organized activities in the area before, so the monastery was very surprised, and the story spread everywhere, leading to constant ridicule of Sigismund. People said his organizational and military abilities seemed inferior to those of the peasants. His crusades also seemed less devout and merciful. It's unclear how this emperor became emperor.

Even worse, some nobles were secretly spreading conspiracy theories, saying that these "peasant armies" were probably raised by Sigismund himself.

They said that everyone attending the meeting was a prominent nobleman. They had heard of peasant uprisings, if not witnessed firsthand. They suggested that everyone calmly consider whether such a bizarre "peasant army" had ever existed before.

Even small peasant militias only have some advantages in terms of intelligence and mobility when they are in their own hometowns, thanks to their familiarity with the local area. However, the local nobles and knights are also familiar with the area. Therefore, even in this situation, peasant militias have no advantages to exploit and are mostly suppressed quickly, unable to cause any real trouble.

Now, you're saying this Bohemian peasant army has already reached Brandenburg, and they can still run so fast? Doesn't that seem very strange? Even if these people are naturally agile, don't they eat and sleep? Far from home, who guides them? Who provides them with supplies? Unless you say they are demons summoned by heretics, none of this makes sense.

Moreover, the Crusaders had inflicted far more bloodshed and destruction than the peasants along their journey. It's hard to say who the real devil is. Therefore, some nobles began to suspect that Sigismund had deliberately allowed the peasant army to run amok, or even secretly sent people to guide them and provide supplies.

It's hard to say who the Crusaders were targeting along the way. Perhaps Sigismund also wanted to weaken the power of the feudal lords.

So, in the end, the meeting devolved into mutual attacks. The local nobles accused Sigismund of being incompetent and foolish, saying he was less skilled in warfare than the peasants; Sigismund and his cronies, in turn, accused the nobles of shirking responsibility and enriching themselves at the expense of the public. Before the real battle even began, they were already arguing amongst themselves.

Left with no other option, Sigismund could only keep urging Friedrich of Brandenburg to act immediately. Among the local nobles, he was the one whose interests were most deeply intertwined with his own. If he didn't step in now, the other nobles would certainly become even more hesitant, and the battle would be impossible to win.

So, while other nobles and the church pressured Sigismund, Sigismund pressured Friedrich in return. They sent him numerous letters daily, urging him to act quickly and stop hesitating. Realizing the situation had changed, the nobles also began to shift their stance, either encouraging or provoking him—those who supported Sigismund hoped he would set an example, at least holding off the enemy for a while until the main army arrived, allowing for a swift victory and silencing the others; those who opposed Sigismund were happy to see him fight the peasants, hoping for a mutually destructive outcome. In short, they were all urging Friedrich to be more assertive and not tarnish his noble lineage. After all, a high-ranking border noble shouldn't be afraid of peasants.

After much arguing, a reluctant Friedrich discovered that the peasant army, which had been advancing northwest, had not gone to Magdeburg, but had suddenly turned around not far outside the city, crossed the Elbe River, and marched eastward toward him.

Now he couldn't hide any longer, so he could only gather his vassals and mercenaries, assembling a force of over ten thousand men, claiming to be thirty thousand, and set off from Brandenburg to intercept them to the west. On the other side, they also sent messengers to urge Sigismund, dispatching thirteen messengers in a single day, telling him not to dawdle and to hurry north to provide support, or the opportunity would be lost.

Urged on by each other, the Brandenburg army was the first to arrive at the designated battlefield.

Although the pressure was intense, Friedrich was actually quite confident.

He wrote to Sigismund and other nobles, complaining about his depleted military strength. His reasoning was indeed true: according to his plan, he intended to amass 30,000 troops, not only to crush the "Great Ming" peasant army head-on, but also to seize the opportunity to advance south, ideally pursuing the peasant army into Bohemia and destroying the Hussite stronghold. This would have brought him and the northern princes enormous benefits, both in terms of actual gains and in prestige and reputation.

However, in practice, it wasn't so smooth.

Based on the current situation, the intelligence Sigismund gave about the "Ming" peasant army being supported by foreign forces such as France and Mongolia should be beyond doubt.

After Friedrich issued the call to arms, the Teutonic Knights, who had always maintained close ties with them, unusually claimed that they still had to fight the Poles and could not spare troops to support them. The courtiers speculated that this was because the Knights had been receiving aid from the Purple Horde, and everyone knew that this "Great Ming" was actually supported by the Mongols of the Purple Horde. Therefore, the Knights were hesitant and unwilling to offend them.

On the other hand, he originally planned to hire another 12,000 northern mercenaries through Hanseatic League merchants, but the mercenary managers made excuses and only a little over 3,000 came in the end.

Considering the situation at the foot of Magdeburg, it's not hard to deduce the truth: the Hanseatic League had long traded with the Purple Horde, even partnering in piracy. This time, it was undoubtedly these same unscrupulous merchants who colluded with the peasant army beforehand, bribing them to travel east to avoid trouble. This also explains where the peasant army obtained the route maps and supplies.

Of course, failing to gather the planned troop strength was common in this era and was expected. Therefore, although dissatisfied with their unreliability, the Brandenburg court was not particularly surprised.

According to current intelligence, after being defeated by Sigismund, the peasant army dared not launch another major battle. Although they managed to regroup with French assistance, their numbers dwindled due to prolonged rapid marches. There were frequent sightings of peasant soldiers leaving their ranks, sometimes even in entire groups, under cover of night. The area they left behind was also shrinking.

Although the peasant army and the city council colluded to obtain supplies outside Magdeburg, the Hohenzollern family had long been operating in the area and had spies in the city.

According to scouts, the peasant army now numbers only four or five thousand, but the ranks are quite well-organized. Friedrich judged that these were regular troops sent by the French and die-hard Hussein followers, which explained their ability to hold out for so long. Therefore, their apparent discipline and stability were to be expected. However, after such a long march, the army's strength had been severely depleted, and these few men alone were probably insufficient.

Moreover, the Brandenburg army not only outnumbered the enemy significantly this time but was also on the defensive, giving them a natural strategic advantage. Roads within the empire were already in poor condition, and in the north, where there were no remnants of the ancient Romans, the situation was even worse. From Magdeburg to this point, there was only one trade route through the forest, which was relatively suitable for marching. Therefore, they only needed to block key positions and wait for the enemy to come to them. Even if they suffered setbacks in battle, they could switch to a defensive posture. At worst, they could simply lie in wait and see how Sigismund arrived; after all, they weren't the ones in a real hurry right now.

Friedrich also remarked to his vassals that, in retrospect, it was not difficult to see that the whole affair was not actually a problem of the peasants, but rather a result of the nobles using the opportunity to sabotage each other.

Based on his experience, peasants lived very simple lives, and their living conditions were quite similar across most of the empire. Therefore, a peasant uprising in one place could easily resonate with peasants in other places—they didn't have any complicated goals; at most, they would hang their lord and vent their anger.

Fortunately, transportation here is inconvenient, and the languages ​​and customs vary from region to region. Furthermore, there are numerous local lords overseeing different areas, which is why such a large-scale incident didn't occur before. But now, some evil priests are spreading heretical beliefs everywhere, inadvertently giving these farmers the opportunity to communicate across regions. Thinking about it carefully, it's truly wicked; perhaps this is Satan's conspiracy.

The nobles, however, have too many things to consider, constantly guarding against this and watching that, so despite their strength, they often can't utilize it effectively. Ultimately, it's their own problem. Once this war is over, they'll need to elect a strong leader to unify the people; otherwise, they might truly be worse off than peasants.

With these considerations in mind, the Brandenburg army began its operation.

(End of this chapter)