Chapter 494 Battle of Munich (I)

The ships loaded with gold sailed into Constantinople, further stimulating the Romans' desire to explore the East. The lesson of the previous canal closure made Constantinople pay more attention to local defense. Not only did it build several new castles, but it also officially expanded the escort fleet of the East India Company. The company also received funding assistance from Rome.

The port cities on the peninsula were miserable. Since the important port of Jeddah was bombarded, the Arabs' trading capacity has declined significantly. At the same time, Persian Gulf towns such as Muscat also declined due to route problems. Arabs can maintain basic living, but Rome's invisible blockade is everywhere, which makes their quality not up to standard. This is very infuriating.

With the fall of Jerusalem, the original jihad army expanded further, with nearly 100,000 people at once, 90% of whom were civilians, who joined purely out of religious sentiment.

The logistics of this group of people can only be taken care of by themselves, because Mecca cannot afford the expenses of so many people. When conquering the Sassanid Dynasty and crippling the Roman Empire, one reason was that the two countries had just finished fighting and their strength had not recovered; the other reason was that their policies were very loose, and they could obtain large tracts of land as long as they converted.

But this glorious moment is gone forever, because the nobles occupied a large area of ​​arable land, but the population was growing, and only by continuous expansion could they obtain a steady stream of land. But after the Abbasid Dynasty, the expansion of the Arabs not only stopped, but also regressed. They could only hide in the desert and compete with other tribes for oases.

The army maintained its camp and finally arrived near the Jordan River, just in time to see a pair of patrolling soldiers. When they were about to rush over, the enemy's camels squatted directly, and the soldiers fired at them with the cannons on them. The Arabs in the desert had never seen this thing, and a large number of them fell down.

The remaining civilians had never seen this thing either. They usually just worked and chanted, and had no chance to contact Rome, so they naturally knew nothing about the power of the cannon.

Watching the gunner in front put the heavy stone bullet into the barrel, the commander looked at the Roman camp with expectation, and then he was surprised to see ten small black dots flying out of the enemy camp, and in an instant they whistled into the army formation...

The soldiers quickly rushed out of the camp gate.

Most of the fleeing soldiers were like headless flies. Driven intentionally by the Roman soldiers, they could not tell the directions and fled in the direction with the least pressure. At this time, the right-wing coalition forces were also bombarded by Rome without any preparation, but they quickly stabilized their position. After retreating for a distance, they began to fight back. The two sides were in a state of confrontation. Locri's fleeing soldiers rushed in like a tide, which immediately disrupted their camp.

But when the retreat bugle sounded, the Roman soldiers who had been prepared for a long time rushed out quickly and in an orderly manner. The cavalry charged in front, followed by the infantry. Although they were destined to be unable to catch up with the fleeing enemy, they could hold the front troops to prevent the opponent's counterattack.

Both sides started with artillery. The commander of Burgundy excitedly urged the soldiers to move the artillery forward, and the whole army was also moving forward for this. He wanted to make the artillery bombardment more accurate and leave the Romans nowhere to hide! He wanted to watch them hiding in panic under the impact of stone bullets.

Seeing that the situation was not good, John decisively ordered: retreat.

For the Jews, Peter mercifully allowed the synagogue to exist in Jerusalem. But in terms of language, Rome required all religions to use Romanian in ceremonies, and only the Armenian Church disagreed. They said that they could use Romanian in daily life, but still use the original language in religious ceremonies. For the Armenians, Peter temporarily agreed.

On the side of the allied forces, there were 62,000 soldiers and 20 artillery pieces, commanded by the Duke of Burgundy, and Sigismund was waiting for good news in Stuttgart; the Roman Empire had 68,000 soldiers and 110 artillery pieces, commanded by Peter.

On the battlefield in Central Europe, the army led by the Duke of Argau had broken through Parma and aimed directly at Milan. The defenders stationed in La Spezia had to withdraw their defense, and the Roman army led by Peter and the coalition forces in Stuttgart had also arrived at the city of Munich, and the two sides opened their battle lines outside the city.

The coalition forces retreated quickly, while trying to maintain a relatively complete formation, and roughly squeezed the scattered fleeing soldiers behind. The Roman cavalry continued to pursue for five or six miles until the enemy cavalry came up to attack, and Christian, who was fighting in the front, ordered the troops to return to the camp.

The coalition forces, which had been demoralized and shattered by the continuous bombardment of stone bullets, were retreating in a mess. Seeing the Roman army rushing towards them with all their might, even if they wanted to fight back, they had already lost control of the army, and the soldiers had no courage to fight, and rushed back one after another. The Roman cavalry did not use spears, but drove their horses straight, making the already scattered fleeing soldiers even more scattered and unable to reorganize.

In the first day of the battle, the coalition suffered more than 3,000 casualties, including more than 1,000 captured, mainly Bavarian soldiers, which was also a big victory for the Roman troops.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!!" Shells kept falling, and one landed near the commander, frightening him so much that he ignored the artillery in front and hurriedly gave orders.

————Dividing line————

How could Peter in the camp miss this great opportunity? He immediately ordered: All troops to attack!

At the same time, the transformation of the Jerusalem area also began. The Al-Aqsa Mosque was given to the Alawites by Peter, and a portion of the income was allocated every year as protection fees.

"Be careful!!" The commander's soul was trembling, and with his exclamation, countless screams broke out in the team.

When the team was panicking, the second wave of Roman artillery attacks came again. The soldiers of the coalition army panicked and dodged everywhere, and the whole formation became chaotic.

Such a big victory naturally boosted the morale of Rome. Before the battle on the second day, Peter sent someone to deliver a letter. As long as Munich surrendered, he would not embarrass the other party. He just wanted to have a break with Sigismund. For the sake of both sides, it is better not to fight.

This is really empty talk. What's the use of saying these now? It's not as convincing as a battle.

Fortunately, a total of 4,000 reinforcements from the Duchy of Hesse and other places joined the coalition, which made up for the original losses. John also felt that the worst thing was to hold on in Munich. As long as they could defeat the Roman army head-on, it would greatly shock Rome and force them to negotiate peace. If it doesn't work, then persuade more countries to join, and then march to Constantinople. Although it is a bit impossible, maybe it can be done?