Chapter 273 Heading to Croatia

Anna used Ukraine's geographical location to constantly win over the bureaucratic nobles in Moscow, promising them more land and honor.

According to the current order of succession, if Vasily has no offspring, his younger brother Yuri will succeed him after his death. Anna was excluded. How could women have the right of inheritance?

This is like the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Women have no right of inheritance, but it does not say whether women's descendants have the right of inheritance. Western European laws do not apply to Eastern Europe, which gives opportunities to exploit loopholes.

Anna actively strives for Moscow's power for her husband, and Mihaly continues to train troops. He needs an army to ensure the safety of Ukraine.

After a period of rest, Peter resumed military operations. Since the next journey is mainly plains, the Cossack cavalry will set off first as pioneers and looters.

Local nobles can only hide in manors or castles in the countryside, preparing to rely on fortress defense. Peter did not want to pull them out one by one. Except for some who insisted on fighting, all others would be settled later. The goal is very clear, which is the capital Salageb.

Louis learned the news and assembled all the troops to fight to the death. In addition to the local army, there were also some mercenaries sent by Venice and knights from Styria. The total number reached 16,000.

Louis showed courage that he did not usually have. He knew that if he failed, the Serbian would be his fate.

So he was ready to lead the army in person and lead these people to revenge the Roman army. He also found a priest to pray and bless Croatia for all the best.

However, the army was not ready yet. A large number of refugees came from the east. The Cossacks were very efficient. Soon there were no people in dozens of villages in the east. They all ran to the west. They asked the city governor to open the door, but the city could not accommodate so many people, so they had to refuse.

The outbreak of refugees delayed Louis' plan for some days, but it didn't matter, because Peter was also going to postpone it.

Who would have thought that the Bosnian mountains were so difficult to walk? I originally thought that I could go out and walk along the plains. People, horses, and cars could barely do it, but the most critical artillery fell down the mountain and fell apart. There must be five or six artillery pieces in this situation.

Peter had to let the troops be cautious so that they could be transported smoothly. Some small artillery pieces can be recast on the battlefield, which also takes time. Now the most important thing is time, and the speed must be fast.

"It seems that I have to ask His Excellency for help."

Peter looked at the slow progress and decided to let the Hungarian part go. He wrote a letter to Hungarian Chief Minister Pinsk, and he knew what to do.

"Send someone to Belgrade to transfer a batch of artillery and transport it from the Danube."

The Serbian region has entered a semi-assimilated state. Those who made trouble have been exiled and beheaded. In addition, they are not bad here, so the enthusiasm for joining the army is also high. The conscription and mobilization from here were all sent to the west, about 10,000 people.

"Sir, Venice has sent reinforcements to help Croatia."

"How many people?"

"3,000 people"

3,000 people, the Venetians are really willing to spend a lot of money. Croatia doesn't have to pay now, and all the mercenaries are paid by the Venetians first. It seems that they are also afraid that they will capture this place in one go and then attack along the land route. After all, without Croatia, there is only one country between the two countries, Austria.

"The smaller artillery goes first, and the heavy ones come slowly behind."

Peter can only do this. He can't delay the journey because of the artillery. This is also his inconsideration. He needs to improve it next time.

The legion led by Peter quickly took down those disobedient fortresses in the siege. Those with less threat were directly skipped, but the surrounding villages and population had to be transferred. I hope the lord doesn't mind. This is just normal population movement.

In the third month of the war, Rome not only defeated Venice in naval battles, but also forced Manuel III of Trebizond in the east to contribute a large amount of gold, silver and food, and promised not to join this war.

In the Aegean Sea, the Chios uprising led by members of the Andrei Society successfully wiped out the Genoese leadership. The Dragon Knights also landed on Rhodes and set up camp not far from the city, preparing for a long-term confrontation with the Hospital Knights.

I don’t know if the new dynasty awakened the fighting genes of the Romans. The army and the people swept away the previous decadence and became invincible. Even experienced mercenaries were at a disadvantage.

Eight days later, Peter’s army encountered the first battle in Reboga. The opponent was a relatively famous mercenary in Italy. And they were not hired, but served the King of Croatia, and the king didn’t have to pay them. They just went to the door to get it.

What’s the difference between this and the Cossacks? The only difference is that the Cossacks still obey Peter, and these people are robbers.

Their equipment is okay, most of them are cavalry, but the armor is not very good. The better ones have armor, but there is a hole here and there, or simply only helmets, and some people don’t have helmets.

As soon as they saw the enemy, they all rushed over, thinking that they could tear apart the enemy's formation with the impact of the cavalry, but they were dumbfounded when they arrived at the other side. What kind of formation was this? It was square and there were spearmen. They couldn't get close at all.

Moreover, the soldiers behind them were holding something, and after a sound, they felt a pain in their chest or head, and the horses directly threw them to the ground.

In a two-hour battle, all 1,000 mercenaries were wiped out. It was a free gift to the other side.

Even the king's army was only slightly better than the mercenaries, at least they had leather armor and chain mail in their equipment. Moreover, the propaganda for this battle was also very good, and the big land nobles arrived with their own private armies. This was not only a battle of life and death, but also a battle for their own power, so naturally they had to do their best.

Like those conquered areas, Croatia was divided into two factions, those who supported and those who opposed Rome. The small nobles basically stood on the side of Rome, while the big nobles stood on the side of Croatia. This was also easy to understand. The small nobles were the first and fastest to feel the changes, and they had long been dissatisfied with the oppression of the big nobles. As long as they could make a name for themselves, it was not impossible to change their families.

Rome's friendly policies towards the middle and lower classes made them yearn for it. Although they had to change their beliefs and language, they still felt that it was better to join Rome as long as they worked hard to enter the upper class. Even if they had to pay taxes, this was nothing compared to the benefits they were about to gain.