eastern european eagle

Chapter 500 Internal strife
The joining of the Swiss Confederation made Sigismund very anxious. As the king of the Roman people and a quasi-HRE emperor, not only could he not go south to be crowned in the HRE, but the original HRE Empire was abruptly cut in half by the Alliance of Rome and Berlin. The territory is getting smaller and smaller.

In addition, there are many hilltops within the anti-Romanian alliance. After the disastrous defeat in Munich, there were disputes within the army. Some wanted to run away, some wanted to negotiate for peace, but they just refused to stay and fight for the empire.

Moreover, the Duke of Orleans suddenly went back, saying that he was going to take over the Gascon region. John was dumbfounded. This must be a trick of the Duke of Normandy to make the Duke of Orleans leave the Allied forces and create opportunities for the Roman army.

"Damn it, the current situation is beyond our control."

John said angrily that in his opinion, the failure of all the princes to unite and only have their own small world was the main reason for the failure.

Then they divided their troops. Together, they had much more troops than Rome, but they were too scattered, which gave them a chance.

There are too many problems. The anti-Romanian alliance seems to be powerful, but it has no lethality at all. If it cannot be solved, it will be a matter of time before it is annihilated by Rome.

"Sir, don't worry about this now. The Duke of Orleans has already obtained Gascony, and their strength will soon catch up with ours. Moreover, Stefan has obtained the throne of England, which will have a negative impact on our trade. A big impact.”

What William said was so serious, but in fact the last sentence was the key point. Their Flanders region was mainly supported by the textile industry, whose raw materials included cotton from Genoa and Venice, and wool from Castile and England.

But in the past few years, first Rome occupied Venice, which almost cut off Flanders' cotton, and then Stefan occupied England, cutting off the supply of wool to Flanders. Their economy is in trouble.

But Peter would not give them a chance. After Stuttgart, Peter attacked northward, and the Allied forces continued to retreat, from Mainz to Cologne. Cities such as Nuremberg had to either defend themselves or surrender to the Roman Empire.

John sent letters to Toledo and Barcelona, ​​asking them to arrive quickly, filled with demands and threats. Hope they can know.

Moreover, even if Castilian wool could be transported, it would still pass through the English Channel. England would definitely send its navy to intercept it, and the fleet would have to go in a circle and go around Scotland. This is unacceptable in terms of time and cost.

The good intentions of the Duke of Burgundy are all to keep them alive. Who makes the three Iberians have no enemies. Naturally, I have to put in more effort.

John also had a headache at this time. He already regretted joining this war. He hooked up with the army soldiers without getting anything. Can they still succeed?
"We need the assistance of Castile and Aragon. No matter how far away they are, we must let them come, otherwise when Rome solves us, they will be next."

----split line----

At this time, citizens in Brussels, Antwerp and other cities were protesting and demanding peace talks with Rome in exchange for smooth trade routes. Otherwise they will protest by not paying taxes.

On Ukrainian soil, the Roman army assembled its troops with extremely high efficiency and soon arrived at the gates of Kiev. As the former capital of Russia, Kiev has a very important position in terms of geographical location, economy and politics, so it has also become Rome's goal in Ukraine.

This time the lord of Kiev was a tough guy, but he was willing to defend the city. The Roman army said nothing and directly ordered the attack.

People in Kiev were awakened by the continuous sound of military bugles outside the city. "What happened?"

"I'm afraid the Romans are about to attack the city!"

The people looked at the city in the distance where soldiers were standing in fear. Suddenly, a black spot passed over the city wall.

"Get out of here!" the people reminded each other, looked at the direction in which the shells were coming, and ran away. They are already familiar with this terrible weapon of Rome, which has not stopped attacking Kiev in the past few days.

But today's situation was obviously different from the previous two days. The artillery shells flew over the city one after another and hit the blocks in the city close to the city wall. Soon, houses were broken and rubble was everywhere. People supported their injured relatives and fled in all directions...

The lord who was watching all this from the top of the city became anxious: "Why hasn't our army fought back and allowed the enemy to fire stone bullets so unscrupulously?"

This is all in vain. They have no artillery, so naturally they cannot fight back. Even if they build a catapult, they will be smashed by the opponent.

Artillery shells kept whizzing over the city of Kiev, and the dark enemy below the city slowly came in like a tide...the sound of bugles, drums, shouts, footsteps...mixed together, hitting the eardrums of the soldiers defending the city, causing them to Shortness of breath.

The Romans braved the javelins dropped by the defenders and put up the ladders they carried on the city wall. The ladders specially made by Rome after many experiences in sieges have two curved iron hooks at the head, which can be hooked on the battlements to prevent the ladder from easily slipping or being pushed down.

Roman cannonballs continued to fall around it, splashing mud flowers one after another. The splashed mud hit people, causing pain. The death of those hit by the shells was even more horrific, scaring the surrounding soldiers into hiding. With the city surrounded by advancing siege soldiers, only a large area of ​​​​space was left near the siege tower.

Of course, the commander of the siege tower also felt a bit of danger. He urged the laborers behind the tower to push the siege tower forward faster. As long as they reached the city wall, nothing could threaten the siege tower.

"Crack!!!...Boom!!!..." A dazzling light flashed in the sky, followed by rumbling thunder, which overshadowed all the noise on the battlefield, startling many soldiers on both sides, and raised their heads. Look up to the sky.

The wind picked up... the rain got heavier and soon turned into a downpour...

Lightning, thunder, strong wind, and heavy rain have become the protagonists of this world.

The defenders no longer fought, but hid under the city wall or in the tower in fear, because just now a bolt of lightning struck the ground and hit the cathedral in the city center!
Everyone who saw this tragic scene was shocked. This is God being angry! Soldiers on both sides trembled in their hearts and began to pray.

It was Calderon who spoke first: "This is God's punishment for Kiev, to punish those heretics who trample on the Bible. Fight in and let those heretics suffer God's punishment."

When the soldiers heard this, they continued the attack in the heavy rain. Since the artillery could not be used due to the rain, close combat began. However, the defenders still had the courage to guard the gate and fled directly. Rome made an effort to capture Kiev.

(End of this chapter)