Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 763 The Soldiers and the Stoves

The outcome of the subsequent battle was largely predictable.

The Hungarian exiles were indeed formidable fighters, but the main body of their army had now disintegrated, and the "rights-of-way protectors" had completed their mobilization.

Before the battle, the Ming army had already formulated a plan. They learned that these Hungarians had retreated from the eastern front and should be very familiar with the various tactics used there.

Unlike the local nobles who were still in a state of confusion, these people were highly vigilant, attached great importance to reconnaissance, and were constantly concerned about counter-ambushes. Moreover, their combat capabilities were not bad either. This meant that they were among the most difficult enemies to deal with using the "Mangudai" tactics.

Moreover, the plains south of the mountains are well-developed. Unlike the Alemanni region, the forests here were largely cleared during the Roman era, leaving little space to hide large armies.

This makes it difficult to lure the enemy into an ambush; moreover, unlike the Germans and Rus', the Magyars also possessed strong light cavalry, making it much more difficult to use them to wear them down. Finally, even if they were surrounded, it might not be possible to eliminate them in time. At that point, they would be in the same predicament as Subutai, who retreated to the valley. Therefore, traditional approaches are probably not very effective.

However, everyone quickly came up with a solution.

Since the goal is to divide and encircle the enemy, the weakest link should be attacked first. Given that the Hungarian cavalry is stronger, it would be better to attack the local lords' German armies first.

Unlike the Hungarian exiles, the noble army led by Bernhard was quite disorganized. They came from different territories; some were conscripted civilians, while others were mercenaries hastily recruited. They had little experience cooperating with each other, and due to the hasty departure, they couldn't even coordinate their commands in terms of language.

This seemingly large but actually very loosely organized "piecemeal army" is the enemy's weakest link. Clearly, they are the best target.

Traditionally, Mongol armies were adept at exploiting the speed differences among enemy units, separating them, eliminating the cavalry that first broke through the encirclement, and then gradually dismantling the infantry formation. However, this tactic was based on experience gained from the specific circumstances of the time and wasn't necessarily applicable in all situations. The core of this tactic was simply "divide and conquer," without needing to worry about who to attack first.

Similarly, isn't the city the most suitable place in this region to hide troops?

In the past, the Mongols were almost always the aggressors. Even after the collapse of the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde, and the various khans fought amongst themselves, their armies were generally recruited from nomadic tribes in the wild. This was because people generally believed that settled people were weak and incapable of fighting, whether they were city dwellers doing business or farmers cultivating the land outside the city.

Therefore, cities were generally considered "outsiders," targets for extortion or plunder. Even cities belonging to one's own side were hardly considered reliable "one of their own." Even for these Mongol slaves, the idea of ​​a city standing on their side and providing effective military support was somewhat unimaginable. But since it was feasible, it could certainly be used.

This means that heavy cavalry isn't always necessary to deliver the final blow. Well-trained infantry can achieve the same result, and perhaps even more efficiently.

To mitigate the disadvantage of infantry mobility, one can try to bring the target as close as possible to the ambush site. If the starting point is inside the city, the closest point is outside the city walls. Therefore, it's better to let the enemy attack the city first. In this way, it appears as if they are besieging the city, but in reality, they are automatically walking into an ambush.

As for the various seemingly traditional "Mangudai" arrangements along the way, they were actually meant to mislead the enemy, preventing them from realizing that a completely opposite approach had been taken. And judging from the results, it was quite successful.

Even the Hungarians, seasoned by numerous battles, found themselves dealing with traditional nomadic tactics using traditional methods. And because the outcome was so predictable and expected, they were naturally bound by conventional thinking, failing to consider other possibilities.

Meanwhile, while formulating plans, the Ming army also began training its soldiers.

Besides the Mongols and local mountain people, the citizens of Shannan were also mobilized. Although their fighting spirit was not usually strong, everyone had heard Bernhard and others' clamor and knew that if the city fell, they would be massacred. Therefore, the citizens of several cities also began to actively prepare for war and defend their cities.

As expected, the Mongols and mountain people would continuously harass the enemy, both to slow their advance and to sabotage their supplies. The Almani had never placed much importance on logistics, and this march was not too long, so the probability of success was still quite high.

Once their scarce supplies are exhausted, the enemy will inevitably fall into a state of hunger. They will then intensify their looting, no longer being selective, but instead seizing the opportunity to storm the nearest city and plunder it thoroughly. Therefore, they will go to the nearest city, Bolzano, first—this is not a strategic issue, but a choice that starving people will inevitably make.

Therefore, the city of Bolzano began preparations well in advance. Under the cover of road construction, the Ming army mobilized a large number of soldiers—of course, this was also because their elite soldiers were originally road construction workers, so they probably didn't even need to disguise themselves…

Moreover, they also hired a group of instructors from various places.

Everyone had heard that the Swiss were very skilled in combat, especially adept at dealing with Holy Roman aristocrats. Some members of the road construction committee had close ties with the Swiss and used their connections to hire two companies of veteran Swiss soldiers to train everyone daily.

In addition, they purchased a batch of armor and weapons from the Italians and selected their most skilled soldiers to form a heavy cavalry force. Their plan was to blend in with the infantry when they launched an attack, heading out of the city to strike the enemy's weak points. Based on experience, this kind of charge was more effective than a pure cavalry charge.

Italy has no shortage of armor and weapons; as long as you're willing to pay, there are plenty of people who can instantly assemble a heavy cavalry force for you—of course, many of these heavy cavalrymen are therefore rather incompetent. And this time, they also have the Venetians backing them up.

Considering the war and its implications for their own interests, the Venetians, for the first time ever, didn't quote exorbitant prices to the warring parties. The merchants who came to handle the transactions told them that normally, such wartime orders would cost at least three to five times the normal price. This time, because the Republic had also invested, they reluctantly agreed to only ask for 50% more, essentially giving them aid at a loss. Everyone must remember this kindness!
It's a bit strange, but there's no other way at the moment. And this way, the last piece of the puzzle is complete. In fact, according to Louis and Adil's calculations, with the Ming army's current strength and resources, they could wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop. However, unlike their opponents, they also have to consider losses and the aftermath.

The biggest advantage of the aristocratic coalition was that it was cheap; while the Ming army did not spend much money to assemble soldiers, and some mountain people even brought their own food and weapons to join the army, but their soldiers were actually very expensive.

This is because noble armies primarily recruit serfs and mercenaries, whose deaths are of little consequence. In fact, the deaths of many mercenaries can save a significant amount of money and even improve the security of the territory, which is considered a good thing. As a result, some lords will deliberately try to send away some of their mercenaries, and mercenary groups will specifically guard against this and engage in bargaining with their employers.

The core of the Ming army consisted of artisans who had participated in road construction, as well as mountain farmers who had previously joined the agricultural cooperative and were now organizing water conservancy projects and promoting improved crop varieties. These same people were also the backbone of the government's large-scale projects and its efforts to maintain order. In short, although they outnumbered the enemy soldiers, they were not facing the enemy's regular knights and minor lords.

Moreover, those who are most loyal to the court and willing to fight are generally the most actively involved in production, because they do indeed reap significant rewards. If these people suffer serious losses, not only will subsequent defense be affected, but production in the controlled areas will also be severely impacted. Even if the war is won, the court will suffer a devastating loss.

Therefore, even if it takes more effort and time, they decided to play it safe. They wanted to weaken the enemy to their limit before launching a full-scale attack.

After the collapse of the noble alliance, they quickly began their next move, just as they had planned.

The Hungarians were still looting in the camp. To ensure they would stay put a little longer, the Ming army had specially designed this area of ​​camp and left behind another batch of spoils for them to collect.

They tried this several times along the way. By leaving different items in different villages and observing the reactions of the enemies who raided the villages, they could roughly determine which items the enemy valued more.

Of course, if the goal is to delay the enemy for a longer period, the bait must be valuable but not too lightweight. If it's worthless, the enemy isn't stupid and won't try to carry it away; if it's too lightweight, the enemy can simply take it and run, making it impossible to achieve the objective. And after much thought, the only thing that meets both conditions is a large iron pot.

To make cooking easier on the construction site, the road construction project team specially purchased dozens of large iron pots from the Purple Horde and distributed them to everyone. These pots were quite high-end, all originally imported from Seris, with a diameter of about half a meter and weighing several hundred kilograms. One pot was enough to cook for everyone on the entire construction site.

The iron from Seres was of unparalleled quality, renowned since ancient Roman times. Even today, the finest iron imported from places like the Ming Dynasty and Java during the Yuan Dynasty cannot be replicated by the locals.

The Purple Horde brought some Eastern technologies, which enabled them to overwhelmingly surpass other countries in ironware production. However, their techniques were actually old technologies from the early Yuan Dynasty. Moreover, their artisans were mostly folk craftsmen making a living, lacking experience in producing "heavyweight" equipment, and many techniques were still gradually developed through trial and error.

Therefore, Europeans were well aware that even the Romans couldn't compete with Eastern ironware. Especially high-end ironware, which was almost entirely dependent on imports. For example, even if Javanese merchants transported such large iron pots from afar, the cost of shipping and other expenses along the way was still significantly lower than locally available prices. Considering the transportation capabilities of that era, this cost advantage was quite formidable.

Later, with the support of the church, Guo Kang presided over the "Holy Light's Wish" monastery and organized a group of people to conduct mechanical research and development, attempting to improve mining and smelting efficiency, and even applying steam technology to the iron smelting industry. In the experiments, these machines played a certain role, giving everyone great confidence, and they also put forward the grand slogan of "surpassing the Yuan Dynasty in thirty years and the Ming Dynasty in fifty years".

Around this time, some people in the West dared to explicitly propose such a benchmark, but even so, it was generally considered too arrogant, and thought to be just young people talking nonsense, and not worth paying attention to.

If even the Romans did this, others were even more so. Using it for cooking was considered a luxury, something other nobles would likely deem wasteful. This was because such pots were extremely rare and expensive in Europe. In reality, the vast majority of these large iron pots that entered the market were recast by their buyers to produce important weapons like cannons and muskets.

So this bait is certainly substantial enough—both in terms of value and weight.

Sure enough, after ransacking the camp, the Hungarians quickly found the three large cauldrons they had deliberately left behind. Everyone was overjoyed at their size. However, they had serious disagreements about what to do with them.

Some people hoped to break the pot in half, each taking a piece to go. They envisioned selling the iron pieces as a way of distributing the spoils. However, many others thought this was pure nonsense, as the pot would be far more valuable in its intact state. Even if many people did acquire it, they would likely break it up and remelt it, and the price of selling the original pot versus selling the fragments would be completely different.

Therefore, this pot must be moved as a whole. Otherwise, it would be like ruining everyone's spoils.

Based on current discoveries, the enemy has always been quite poor; they fought a long war to capture these few valuable items. It seems they were aid from the Purple Horde, and probably there weren't many more. If these were also destroyed, it would be a huge loss, so they must be preserved at all costs.

Anyway, Bernhard probably won't be breached anytime soon; they'll have to go themselves in the end. They can loot the city and sell the spoils, so the trip won't be a complete waste. They can just drag the pots back slowly.

So they gathered some horses, cut down trees to make a support frame, tied several large pots together, and then began to head back.

However, halfway there, they encountered some refugees. They brought astonishing news—Bernhard had been completely defeated.

(End of this chapter)