eastern european eagle

Chapter 616 Brandenburg Joins
War broke out again in Eastern Europe, and Władysław was going to Lviv to fight Romania. The Russian direction was left to Lithuania and Livonia, and they just had to hold on.

But Lithuania would not be able to comply with such a request. Russia did everything it could to win, destroying local churches and villages on a large scale, harvesting a large amount of crops, and burning the unharvested crops.

Under such circumstances, many Livonian cities could not hold out for long. They either surrendered or were conquered. Now only Riga and the surrounding areas were not occupied.

Vytautas was ready to lead the army to rescue, but Michael led the army northward, forcing them to stay in Samogitia. Vytautas was a little anxious, but the army was too small, and if they were divided, they would be surrounded.

Michael led his elite troops out of Minsk, quickly moved north, and soon entered Samogitia. In order to maintain his strength, Vytautas took the initiative to abandon Vilnius and retreat to Kaunas.

Kaunas built a stone wall in the 13th century to resist the constant attacks of the Teutonic Knights. In 1362, the city was captured by the Teutonic Knights and the Kaunas Castle was destroyed and rebuilt. Because it is located at the crossroads of trade routes and is a river port, its importance has continued to grow.

Due to its excellent geographical location and environment, Vytautas decided to use it as the rear base of his troops based on the advice of people around him. He built it over the past year and completely completed the city. The stored food and supplies could last for half a year.

Of course, giving up Vilnius was not giving up completely. He left 10000 defenders in the area, which had been built as hard as stone. If they could hold out for a long time, Vytautas would have time to deal with the Russian army in Livonia. Therefore, the only suspense was whether Vilnius could hold out for more than three months.

Michael ordered the army to line up in front of Vilnius, stretching for miles, blowing trumpets, thundering drums, and the soldiers roaring in unison, and then he sent his men to the city to persuade them to surrender, otherwise he threatened to massacre the city, but was sternly rejected.

So he ordered his troops to retreat one mile, and while building a temporary camp, he began to prepare siege equipment.

The soldiers began to transport artillery, cut down trees to make ladders and siege vehicles, and surrounded the city tightly, fearing that no one would come out.

The people of the city had been reminded by the Grand Duke two months ago and had re-strengthened the city's defenses under the guidance of Poland. At this time, there were still 20000 residents in the Lithuanian city. They had nowhere to go and could only wait here for the final judgment.

Mihaly had no sympathy for the Lithuanians and directly ordered the killing of men, the selling of women and children, and the destruction of everything with Lithuanian culture. A large number of books were burned, and at the same time, Orthodox missionaries entered the local church and announced that they were taking over. The culture that had finally emerged seemed to be about to disappear.

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While the Russian army was besieging Lithuania, Władysław led the Polish army from Warsaw and marched eastward along the road. Just a few days ago, the Romanian army had already advanced towards Lviv. According to the time, the enemy had already arrived at the gates of Lviv. Time was running out, and they had to set off quickly.

The army marched quickly towards Lviv, fearing that they would fail if they were late. But they did not expect that Brandenburg also marched quickly.

The Hanseatic League was divided because of Brandenburg's declaration of war on Poland, but Vlad still united most of the people and assembled an army to attack Pomerania. Their goal was clear, which was the current headquarters of the Teutonic Empire - Königsberg.

The castle was built by the Teutonic Knights and was named Königsberg in honor of King Przemysl Ottokar II of Bohemia, who participated in the Crusades with the Knights.

But before Königsberg, Vlad had to take Chojnice. The city was not big, nor was it populated. There were less than 4000 residents in the city who could fight. There was no moat in front of the city, and the hill on which it was located was less than meters high and had a gentle slope. However, the defenders not only set up a large number of traps, but also cut down all the trees on the hill, and even dug up the rocks that could be used as cover for attack, and used them as stones for defense and injury to the enemy.

However, because of the existence of the hills, the large siege equipment made by Brandenburg would not only require more manpower to be pushed to the front of the city, but its movement would also be extremely slow. Therefore, the soldiers carried ladders and rushed to the front, but they were deeply troubled by traps.

For several days, Brandenburg launched a fierce attack on Chojnice, using artillery, tunnels, and gunpowder to blow up the city. But the city was still not captured.

During the siege, some guerrillas wandered around the edge of the battlefield, harassing from time to time, and once they almost burned down Brandenburg's camp. Although Vlad had been prepared for this, the damage caused was not great, but they did take up a lot of energy.

Just as he was thinking hard, he suddenly remembered that he had hired a Bavarian mercenary group when he set out. They had rich guerrilla experience, so he asked them to go and wipe out the local guerrillas.

The Brandenburg army continued to attack Chojnice. They cut off all communications outside the city and bombarded it continuously with artillery. As a result, four artillery barrels exploded, but a section of the opposite city wall also collapsed.

"Charge! Attack!" The soldiers near the gap were so excited that they stepped on the bricks and rammed earth on the ground, ignoring the risk of falling, and rushed towards the gap quickly. The defenders also came to their senses and ran to the top of the gap, throwing stones and wood down to prevent them from entering the city.

Even so, it was of no avail. They could not prevent the Brandenburg army from entering, and could only try to shrink the front line and return to the castle in the center of the city to fight back.

(End of this chapter)