eastern european eagle

Chapter 624 The trapped beast still fights
Sigismund had always wanted to turn the Holy Roman Empire into the world of his Luxembourg family, but now that his family was about to become extinct, he tried his best to make his son-in-law, the Habsburg, hereditary.

Although Austria suffered heavy losses, Albrecht also began to centralize local power. With the endorsement of his father-in-law, he invited family members from Upper Austria and Tyrol to Vienna and imprisoned them at a banquet. At the same time, through military suppression, he successfully completed the unification of Austria.

At present, as long as the Bohemian uprising is suppressed, their position in the Holy Roman Empire can be stabilized. However, the northern princes headed by Brandenburg will definitely intervene, otherwise why would the representative of the Hanseatic League challenge him in parliament?

"These damn upstarts!"

Sigismund was a little angry, but now was not the time to separate from them. After all, the North was responsible for 50% of the trade of the Holy Roman Empire. If he confronted them, he would suffer heavy losses.

"Your Majesty, the Pope has agreed to your request for coronation, but he wants you to be crowned in Toledo."

He was originally going to go to Rome, but Rome was occupied by Romania, so he couldn't let the Orthodox Patriarch crown him, right?
“It’s just what I want.”

Sigismund ordered his son-in-law Albrecht to take charge of affairs in his absence, and at the same time persuaded the principalities that supported him to provide 22 gold coins for his expenses and military expenses.

In recent years, the economy of the Holy Roman Empire has recovered, and the Hanseatic League has gradually changed from a resale trade to a production and sales alliance. Brandenburg provides them with luxury goods such as spices, and they become Berlin's money bag.

The Danube and the Rhine became important places for their activities. As Brandenburg expanded within the Holy Roman Empire, their trade increased. Coupled with the unified tariffs in the Berlin Union, a unified northern market gradually took shape.

Even if the Holy Roman Emperor wanted to stop it, he was powerless. The only chance was to unite other principalities and fight against the north. And now Sigismund did just that.

In order to improve the status of the Habsburgs, Sigismund promoted Austria to a Grand Duchy. He also took advantage of Burgundy's desire to improve its status to win over the Duke of Burgundy, and established good relations with the remaining countries in Italy to preserve the Mediterranean outlet.

But this is all he can do. The interests within Shinra are complicated and further centralization can only wait until the next generation.

----------

Władysław was now unable to do anything despite his willingness. He then received news that the Brandenburg army had already captured the headquarters of the Teutonic Knights and would soon reach Warsaw.

This forced the king who was preparing to resist Romania in Krakow to move again, preparing to use the time difference to resolve the threat from the north and then return. But unexpectedly, the defenders of Krakow saw that the king had left and directly surrendered to Romania.

The nobles who had previously shouted the most joyous were now standing respectfully on both sides. They had also heard how Lviv was destroyed, and now they only hoped that His Majesty the Emperor would show mercy. "The scenery here is really beautiful," Peter said casually.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Successive Polish kings have expanded here, so they paid special attention to the urban layout."

This place is indeed nice, and with the Vistula River, it can become an important local capital.

"From here on out I think that's the limit of the Empire's rule in the north. If it gets bigger, it won't work."

Even so, Peter was not sure whether he could rule directly for a long time. He just decided to establish the Duchy of Krakow and let his son become the duke.

Peter ordered all the local nobles to move to Constantinople and Mircea Fortress, and half of their land was forced to be sold to Romanian nobles at market prices. His Majesty the Emperor promoted Orthodox Christianity and Romanian culture in the local area, and at the same time lured the nobles to follow their example, and tried to reduce the local resistance as much as possible.

The Duchy of Galicia was re-established, and there was little resistance there. Peter began to order the Polish people to move to Ruthenia and Anatolia, which would also stabilize the area.

"Now, I wonder what Wladyslaw is doing?"

Władysław, whom Peter was talking about, was returning to defend Warsaw. He said anxiously during the combat meeting: "We will go out immediately, repel the Brandenburg army, and then lead the army back to support Krakow."

Zajmoski certainly disagreed with this proposal. He patiently persuaded him, "Your Majesty, Warsaw is a strong city with a large number of defenders. The enemy cannot capture it in a short time. You don't have to be too anxious.

Moreover, Romania has such a large army coming from a long distance, so the supply of food becomes a big problem. We only need to send several troops to bypass their camp and attack the road between Lviv and their camp to cut off their food transportation. They will be hungry and panic, and then it will be time for us to attack. Once the Romanian army is defeated, our situation will be much better. "

"I agree with Zajmoski's opinion. We have few soldiers now, so we should be cautious!" said another general. After all, Brandenburg's troops could not threaten Warsaw, and he certainly did not want to run back and forth blindly.

Władysław was angry, thinking he was being sidelined. But these generals were all important nobles, so he could not object. The next day, they received the Brandenburg army's attack on Wola Castle. They all knew in their hearts that without reinforcements, Wola would fall quickly.

They continued to hold meetings to discuss rescue methods. If they were left alone, Warsaw would soon fall. The king, who was anxious about the current war situation, received another request for help from the messenger: Brandenburg was in a hurry to attack the city. They built a dirt hill higher than the city wall and made a lot of artillery, which posed a great threat to the defense of the city wall. If they could not get reinforcements immediately, there was a danger of the city being broken!
This made Władysław anxious, and after consideration, he decided to rescue Warsaw, while leaving 4000 men to watch Romania, hoping that Krakow could hold out for three months, so that he would have time to maneuver.

(End of this chapter)