eastern european eagle

Chapter 556: Confrontation Alliance
Michael now needed to take some actions to make Russia, which had just become the Tsardom, stronger, and the relationship with Rome became the top priority.

Vlad, who had just returned to Berlin, continued to pay attention to the developments in Bohemia. Now the scope of the Hussite uprising was getting bigger and bigger, and he also received a letter from Hussite asking for help, but he didn't know whether to go to rescue him.

After much thought, he decided to write a letter to his eldest brother to explain the situation. It was impossible for him not to know about such a big thing. But at the same time, he received a letter from his younger brother Stefan.

Stephen has basically taken control of the situation in England and has stabilized the northern border, but his ambitions do not stop there, he also wants to annex France in one go.

Stefan asked his brother in the Holy Roman Empire to form an alliance with him. If successful, they could divide France together.

Now Stephen began to re-implement Edward III's reform measures, encouraging foreign merchants to enter England to trade, and also signing trade treaties with other countries. The first English merchant ship has passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, heading for Constantinople.

After the Reformation and the Second Last Judgement, Stephen's finances were greatly enriched. He began to reorganize the army and built fortresses in Normandy and Calais, claiming that they were to protect the people from being plundered by bandits. This would also reduce the enemy's vigilance.

The first Orthodox missionaries had already taken root in Dublin. Compared with Catholics, they were able to adapt to local conditions better and adopt a moderate approach to missionary work.

Some Irish tribal chiefs found Dublin because Stephen made a solemn promise to them: as long as they joined England, he would not interfere with their management of their own tribes, and would give them priority to choose good settlements and pastures.

The chiefs were reassured and happily welcomed the missionaries, ready to help England stabilize local rule so that they could get Stefan's promise as soon as possible.

In Stefan's plan: Ireland will be an integral part of the future Kingdom of England, and Dublin will be its ruling center. But he knows very well that the biggest difference between the Irish and the English now is that the Irish have already broken away from tribal politics in England, and if the current situation continues, there will probably be several large Brutti tribes when conquering Ireland, which will be an unstable factor in the future ruling of the local area and will also increase the difficulty of governing the Irish region.

Therefore, Stefan tried to divide the tribes and prevent them from becoming a whole. He also stepped up the construction of Dublin to thoroughly consolidate the local rule.

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After the success of the chariot-fort tactics, Jandzeka made further configurations in Pilsen. The army began to attach importance to artillery, and their cavalry was lighter and more mobile than the knight cavalry. Their tasks were: reconnaissance, marching alert, counterattack and pursuit of the fleeing enemy. The cavalry was usually organized into a fast reserve directly under the command of the commander-in-chief. The artillery was divided into field artillery and siege artillery. Field artillery included short-barreled howitzers that fired stone bullets and long-barreled "long skeleton" guns fixed on wooden gun carriages that fired stone bullets and iron bullets. Five chariots were equipped with one field gun. The mortar with a range of 5-1 meters was the main siege firearm.

During the march, road-building and bridge-building teams were assigned to ensure the army's advance. When changing the battle formation according to the situation, various chariot fortifications could be used to connect the chariots. Artillery was deployed between the chariots, and infantry and cavalry were deployed inside the fortifications. The chariots protected the officers and soldiers from attacks by the heavy cavalry who dismounted to fight.

After the reorganization was completed, they continued to advance towards Brno. However, the First Crusade issued by the Pope was nearby and could attack at any time.

At this time, the Crusaders had 1.5 soldiers, which was the largest number they could muster. The opponents had 7000 soldiers, and although they were not many in number, they were all full of fighting spirit and fought for their beliefs.

Hus personally came to the battlefield, prayed for them, and called on the soldiers to fight for their beliefs, otherwise the forces that oppressed them would surely come back. "Are we going to allow these evil churches to occupy our land, destroy our beliefs, turn our children and grandchildren into slaves, lose their freedom, and live like cattle and sheep!!" Hus and the Orthodox Archbishop asked loudly.

"No!" The soldiers in front of him responded angrily, and this response gradually spread throughout the formation.

"No!!!" the soldiers shouted in unison.

"Defeat them and give us freedom!" A soldier raised his weapon high.

"Kill them!"

"Kill them!!!" Thousands of soldiers roared hysterically.

The trumpeter behind him blew the horn, and then trumpets sounded simultaneously in all parts of the army.

"The heretics are attacking, blow the defensive bugle!" The leader of the Crusaders heard the bugle from the opposite side and began to give orders. At the same time, he led his guards to quickly pass through the gaps in the small square formation and came to the rear of the formation.

A dozen bent copper trumpets blew out low commands. The soldiers who were sitting and resting immediately picked up their guns and shields, stood up, and stretched their numb hands and feet. The teammates moved closer to each other and arranged the loose formation more tightly to meet the upcoming battle.

At the sound of the trumpet, the long line of Hussite soldiers moved forward slowly without leaving any reserve troops. The Bu cavalry on the far right had already begun to speed up. When the battle began, according to tradition, the cavalry on both wings would always fight first because they were the fastest.

The cavalrymen shook the reins and squeezed the horses' bellies repeatedly, which increased the speed of the horses. The feeling of galloping at high speed made their blood boil. They could clearly see that the enemy cavalry was not far away.

The Crusader Cavalry was also carrying out their own plan, first dispersing the light infantry in front, and then attacking the enemy cavalry who were not moving. Their chances of winning were quite high. The cavalry captain who was charging at the front was calculating in his mind, and he saw a few dozen meters to the right, and a lot of figures appeared at some point, and they ran towards the cavalry quickly.

The captain immediately felt uneasy, and before he could react, countless arrows flew 30 meters and landed in the galloping cavalry. It turned out to be the reinforcements Hus had requested, the Hungarian cavalry. They were all supporters of Prince Bozzoni, and when they heard about the Crusaders, they all went to fight spontaneously, and Hungary did not stop them.

In an instant, people shouted and horses neighed. During a fast run, no matter if a person or a horse was hit by an arrow and fell to the ground, it would not only be difficult for them to survive, but also affect the surrounding charging cavalry.

The knights' forward speed slowed down, and once they stopped, they became easier targets for attack, because they not only had to guard against the javelins thrown by the enemy, but also had to be careful not to be tripped by their comrades who fell from time to time in front of them.

(End of this chapter)