Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 761 Europeans are too well protected!

Guo Kang once proposed a concept to Zhu Wenkui, saying that the development potential of different regions is different. Of course, with the changing times, this potential may fluctuate, but overall, there are certain patterns to follow.

Zhu Wenku asked him about the development potential of the regions where their Wu Prince's Mansion had significant influence. Guo Kang replied that the Rhine region, Bavaria, and Tyrol were all excellent locations. Even Bohemia, as a member, had great potential.

These places are now vastly different in wealth, but their potential was far greater than it is now. Even Tyrol, the poorest region, according to Guo Kang's recollection, later became the most agriculturally developed region in Italy. However, on the other hand, until the 19th century, this area was known for its poverty and harsh environment, which fostered unruly people.

The local mountain people have always been regarded as an excellent source of light infantry, and they are one of the few armies in Austria that can still fight. They have saved the Habsburg dynasty from Frederick and even Napoleon on more than one occasion.

Despite their poverty, the locals remained loyal to the Austrian Emperor. Compared to the Habsburgs, they were considered relatively benign rulers. Later, after the land was transferred to Bavaria, the locals revolted over taxation. It's baffling how the Holy Roman Empire's nobles managed to turn this otherwise decent land into such a wretched state…

Europeans of that era often described Seres as a vast and resource-rich land with a flourishing civilization. The more fervent ones almost considered it a paradise on earth; the more conservatives, however, believed it to be a land of unparalleled fertility. But in reality, only the Ming dynasty people themselves knew the immense price they had paid to manage and develop this land.

In Zhu Wenkui and others' eyes, the mountains of Tyrol were child's play compared to the mountains in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in this respect, he quite agreed with Guo Kang's "prophecy," feeling that the fact that the area had become "rotten land" was simply due to the rulers being too tyrannical.

In previous battles, the noble coalition's progress had been slow. This was because, at this time, even the only remaining Roman road was undergoing major reconstruction.

The location of this road is excellent, and most sections can still be used directly. However, the road itself is already overburdened. Previously, occasional temporary maintenance only involved cleaning the surface. Therefore, the amount of work required this time is quite substantial.

When the war broke out, the villagers in various settlements were, according to plan, tearing up the roads that had fallen into disrepair and were in terrible condition, preparing to rebuild them from the foundation. To save time, they divided the roads into many small sections, with each village or territory taking on a portion, and work began simultaneously.

As a result, when the noble coalition arrived, the road had already been dug into countless sections, except for the beginning and end which had not yet been started. Every now and then, they would encounter a large pit.

Many people began cursing Bernhard, saying he was out of his mind to choose this time to launch a military campaign. Even an earlier or later decision wouldn't have led to this. Of course, Bernhard had his own grievances, as he hadn't expected the project to begin so quickly. He wanted to postpone it, but his creditors wouldn't allow it…

And so, after half a month of arduous travel, they finally traversed the mountains and reached their designated location on the south side. Due to the rugged terrain and constant harassment, the team had suffered severe losses.

Because of losses in baggage from the very beginning, and insufficient supplies looted from villages along the way for the entire army, many soldiers were still hungry. Only the Hungarians were well-fed and their morale remained high.

After leaving the most difficult section of the mountainous area, their journey became much easier. However, they were surprised to find that the roads here were also under construction, with very fresh signs of activity on the construction site. The road construction was also progressing much faster than in the mountains, and some side paths had already been paved.

According to public information, this road construction project began with fundraising in Italy. The earliest construction sites were also these towns in Shannan, because their relatively convenient transportation and more developed economy made it easier to recruit craftsmen and transport materials. Therefore, it's not surprising that they started construction relatively early.

However, logically, these people would have been informing each other; it's impossible that they wouldn't know a war was about to break out. This means that after learning of the army's southward advance, this "Ming" organization decided to ignore the threat and continue its operations until recently when it withdrew.

This behavior infuriated the nobles, who felt humiliated.

After leaving the mountain pass, the first city of any decent size on the road was Bolzano to the south. They decided to start there, looting and destroying the city, partly to recoup their losses, and partly to establish their authority and show others what they were made of.

However, the city seemed to be prepared. They fortified the city walls and erected defensive structures. Perhaps knowing that a fall would mean certain doom, the city's citizens fought desperately, and some road workers even retreated into the city to help with the defense. The Hungarians led the attack, but after a day of fighting, they made little progress.

Seeing that the element of surprise had disappeared, the noble coalition had no choice but to prepare for the assault, starting to build siege equipment and mobilizing manpower to dig tunnels.

Meanwhile, enemy mobile forces began to operate more frequently, harassing their rear more vigorously. Large numbers of enemy troops were also moving in, presumably to reinforce the city.

Bernhard and others judged that the enemy did not know where they planned to go first, because after leaving the mountain pass, they could go west to Merano, the former capital and the current headquarters of the Road Construction Union, which had a more important position; or they could go south to Bolzano, which was more economically developed and closer to the heart of Italy.

This "Great Ming" alliance was essentially a makeshift force of local people banding together for self-defense. Although it appeared large in number, the troops capable of long marches and field battles required significantly higher levels of skill; they couldn't simply be a bunch of villagers. Therefore, the enemy's mobile forces were actually quite limited, unable to defend every inch of the city. Even if it meant exposing the city to the danger of a siege, they had to concede the initiative to the noble coalition. Only after the nobles had begun their battle and were no longer easily shifting positions could they dare to send their own mobile forces to the rescue.

This line of thinking aligns with common military knowledge. According to Bernhard and others, the main force of these "Ming troops" was composed of Mongols, who were inherently more adept at mobile warfare than conventional battle formations. This arrangement also better suited their tactical habits.

Judging from previous encounters, these Mongols actually lacked the ability to launch direct assaults. Throughout their campaign, they mainly engaged in harassment, targeting only the weaker members of the group.

Upon reaching the plains, the number of Mongols increased. Not only that, their weaponry had been upgraded, and they were now riding horses. In skirmishes at the outposts, the Hungarian light cavalry captured several of these horses, discovering they were from Italy. They were likely supplied by their backers, such as merchants from Venice and Florence.

Bernhard's primary concern was whether the Venetians, having invested so much effort and resources in roads, would also resort to armed intervention if faced with the risk of armed conflict. Historically, Venetians did not participate in many land battles. Their most famous wars were almost all fought at sea. If necessary, they preferred to encourage or hire others to fight on land through diplomatic and economic means. However, this does not mean that Venice lacked a land army.

Conversely, Venice maintained a highly professional army. Many of these soldiers were stationed in various colonies to guard trading posts and outposts. This was a risky job, as the guards could not be too large, and were highly likely to be plundered by local opportunists and attacked by "friendly" merchants. However, due to the high profits from commerce, the Republic could afford to pay sufficient salaries to hire the most skilled warriors from all over Europe to carry out these tasks.

Venice itself also possessed a sufficient armed force. Due to their advanced technology and wealth, they were actually among the first forces in Europe to organize fully armored cavalry. While knights across Europe were still fighting in their ancestral chainmail, the Venetian city militia had already begun to widely adopt heavy iron armor.

Venice's unique terrain, coupled with its small but highly elite professional soldiers, meant that the city rarely faced attacks for a long time. However, perhaps also due to cost considerations, Venice seldom deployed its army to actively expand its territory.

But the Italians have always been very sensitive about the Holy Roman Empire's southward advance. This time, the Venetians have invested so much money, and the battlefield has even moved here. If the Venetians feel threatened and begin to prepare for intervention, it will be quite troublesome. For now, they've only been given warhorses, which is fine, but if the situation escalates, he'll have to be more careful.

Therefore, Count Bernhard quickly wrote to the Duke again, warning of the possibility of Venetian intervention. Meanwhile, more troops were deployed to search for the enemy, hoping to resolve the battle as soon as possible to avoid further complications.

However, the Ming army soon began to actively approach the area. Early in the morning, the outposts of both sides clashed again.

In various popular European stories, the Mongols are portrayed as terrifying figures, much like Attila. Many accounts describe how they swiftly and overwhelmingly destroyed Eastern Europe.

However, the Hungarians in the group didn't take these claims seriously, believing them to be mere fantasies about the enemy from those who were too well protected.

They believed that the Mongol victories of that time were largely due to problems on their side. For one thing, they were well aware of the situation in Hungary at the time: the relationship between the king and the nobles was extremely tense, and war preparations were severely inadequate. Under such circumstances, any external enemy could inflict significant damage on the country. Attributing the success to the Mongols' superior fighting prowess was, in effect, blaming them.

Moreover, the Mongols of today are far less powerful than before. Relying solely on cavalry harassment tactics is insufficient to defeat a well-prepared regular army. However, many Mongols and Cumans who have migrated to Europe now only know this one tactic. In the past two hundred years, they have not only failed to improve but have become inferior to their ancestors, therefore, they are not a major concern. Although some still employ them, they are primarily used as supplementary troops, and are not truly of significant use; their biggest advantage is their low cost.

Therefore, at least these Hungarians are not afraid of them.

As for the army of the Purple Horde, whether it was the Hungarians or the Holy Roman nobles, although they claimed to be Mongols and not true Roman legitimacy, they subconsciously did not regard them as a Mongol-affiliated army when discussing military matters. Therefore, they did not specifically mention this issue.

Based on this understanding, everyone decided not to stop the siege. However, in the next few days, the Hungarians were rotated out for rest and recuperation, and were replaced by mercenaries led by Bernhard.

If the enemy's field troops come in small numbers, simply ignore them and guard the camp; if they come in large numbers, send the Hungarians to drive them away. Because in terms of combat experience against steppe cavalry, and even skills like mounted archery, they are definitely the most suitable.

The very next day, another large group of Mongols, carrying a banner with strange symbols, came running from behind. They outnumbered the previous ones, forming a long arc as they surged toward the besieging positions.

Those who had fought against the Purple Horde recognized the Chinese character "明" (Ming). It seemed this was the main force of the Ming army that had appeared several times before. The Hungarians in the allied forces immediately mobilized, mounted their horses, and drove them away.

These Mongols were better equipped, possessing a considerable amount of Italian-style iron armor. Perhaps because of this, they were more confident and did not retreat immediately. Instead, they charged back and forth, exchanging fire with the Hungarians while hurling insults.

The Hungarian language is quite unique; it's neither the language of the Greeks, Latins, or Germans commonly found in Europe, nor the language of the Mongols or Turks prevalent on the steppes today. However, some of these Mongols seem to have had contact with them and know their language.

From the outset, they deliberately insulted them in a language they could understand, saying they were nothing more than a bunch of slaves who raised horses for the Germans, pretending to be nobles.

If it were just ordinary profanity, it wouldn't be so bad; after all, you can't expect everyone to be completely clean-mouthed on the battlefield. But the Mongols don't follow martial ethics; they speak bluntly to your face, which easily breaks your guard.

In a direct, unorthodox form of combat, if one side is highly undisciplined and weak, the exchange of arrows usually ends with them being scared off. However, often, firing a few arrows from a distance is not enough to frighten the enemy. If both sides have above-average morale and discipline, such harassment is insufficient to defeat either side; instead, it can fuel tensions and build up resentment.

In order to gain an advantage, the mounted archers will move closer and closer to improve their accuracy and lethality. Of course, this will also increase the casualty rate of their own side, making the side with unstable morale more likely to give up and retreat.

If neither side can gain the upper hand this time, they will get even closer. This cycle of chasing and maneuvering will continue until they begin close-quarters combat.

This time, however, the Mongols did not hold out and turned to flee. The Hungarian cavalry immediately gave chase and began to attempt to divide them up.

(End of this chapter)