King of German Mercenaries

Before Marin set off, he received a very special news-the Swiss expanded eastward...

To be precise, the most powerful state of Zurich in the Swiss Confederation expanded eastward...

The state of Zurich is the most populous and powerful state in the Swiss Confederation. Under normal circumstances, Zurich State maintains a standing army of 8,000 people (Zurich Corps), which is very powerful. And the general small Swiss state, some only have a standing army of 1,000 people.

In this era, a European superpower like France only had a standing army of more than 20,000 people. The Habsburg dynasty had only a standing army of 16,500 people. A small country like Zurich can maintain the scale of 8,000 Swiss mercenaries, which is definitely considered a powerful combat force.

This strong, Zurich people are dissatisfied with their small territory. You must know that not only Zurich, but even the whole of Switzerland is dominated by plateaus, with very little flat land.

But in the German Swabian region not far from Zurich, there are a lot of fertile plains...

Moreover, the Swabian Alliance is only a loose alliance, and in terms of individual forces, it is actually not strong. Especially some princes close to Zurich state are relatively weak.

Right now, the Zurich people seem to be very cautious and conduct a tentative attack. Of course, before attacking, they will find some excuses or something, at least they have to stand up in reason.

In fact, in the original history, the Zurichs began to expand northeast to the Swabian region in 1496. However, that was mainly because the conflict between Austria and Hungary broke out in 1496, and there was no time to look west. Moreover, Shinra did not appear in the war in Italy, and there is no deterrent at all.

But this time and space are different. Because of the appearance of Marin, the Holy Roman Empire made a lot of limelight in the first Italian war and made a lot of money. Therefore, Hungary was too frightened to move. Austria and Hungary did not fight, and Zurich did not dare to move for a while. But after a year or two, the people of Zurich gradually recovered from the pressure caused by the victory of the Holy Roman Empire in Italy.

Afterwards, the Zurich parliamentarians believed that the German army might be strong on the plains (they also frightened themselves), but in the Swiss Plateau, the Swiss were not afraid of anyone.

So, during the period from the end of 1497 to the beginning of 1498, the Zurichs began to provocate the lords of the Swabian region frequently, in order to find an excuse to attack.

Even, Zurich has already fought with the lords of the Singen area to the northeast, and has occupied several towns including Gailingen and Gott Martingen at once.

So the news reached the Wadden Islands through merchants who had gone to the south to do business. Moreover, it is strange that although the Swabian League has begun to mobilize to fight the Swiss together, Maximilian I, the biggest patron of the Swabian League, is still silent and has not clearly stood up to support Swabian alliance.

Of course, Marin could guess what the emperor was thinking. He was still not giving up on the Swiss, and he also thought that he might hire Swiss mercenaries in the future. However, Marin felt that the emperor was taking it too much for granted. Because the Swiss occupied the territory of the original Habsburg family, which was naturally in conflict with the emperor.

If the Swiss join the emperor's army and help the emperor fight. Maybe one day, the emperor will become powerful and will come to recover the former ancestral land...

In the face of such an irreconcilable contradiction of land ownership, it was difficult for the emperor and the Swiss to come together. Therefore, the emperor is too taken for granted.

It is precisely because the most powerful emperor in the alliance did not act and allowed the Swiss to act indiscriminately, which led to the continuous expansion of the results of the Zurich State. Later, the Zurich people have occupied more than 200 towns of the Swabian League, almost crippling the Swabian League. At this time, the emperor finally realized that something was wrong, and only stood up and spoke for the Swabian Alliance.

But it was too late for the emperor to stand up,

The Swiss have played with a strong self-confidence and are still reluctant to stop. So at the beginning of 1499, the emperor finally dispatched troops to fight with the Swiss. Thus, the "Swabian War" broke out...

However, in the face of the high morale of the Swiss army, the emperor's army also retreated steadily, and the top general was killed. In the end, in desperation, the emperor had to sign a contract with the Swiss, indirectly acknowledging the independent status of the Swiss, in exchange for the Swiss returning the occupied territories of the Swabian League. Since then, the Swiss have become de facto independent and no longer accept imperial administration. By the end of the "Thirty Years' War" in 1648, the Swiss saw the weakness of the empire and simply declared complete independence...

After receiving the news that the Zurichs were starting to expand, Marin realized that the prelude to the "Swabian War" had begun...

Historically, this war had a very significant impact on the emperor, because he lost in this war, the emperor's prestige dropped greatly, and he was almost conspired to abolish it by the big bosses of the imperial parliament.

Of course, in this time and space, because of the arrival of Marin, the emperor may not necessarily lose in the Swabian War. Because, the emperor still has the trump card of Marin. The Spanish phalanx created by Marin is very restrained against the Swiss spear formation. Even if the mercenaries in the front row of the Swiss wore chest plate armor, they could not resist the powerful impact of the powerful Mushkert musket. Moreover, Marin also placed special emphasis on digging trenches to stop the Swiss spear charge.

As long as his own army is on the move, it is difficult for the emperor to lose. However, for his own sake, Marin would not respond to the emperor's call from the very beginning. Because if Marin sent troops too early and successfully helped the emperor defeat the Swiss, then there might not be any benefits in exchange.

Only when the emperor and the Swabian Alliance were all defeated, Marin appeared at this most difficult time, collided with the Swiss spear array as a striker, and defeated the Swiss in an upright manner, in order to exchange the greatest benefits with the emperor.

Moreover, if Marin can defeat the Swiss, he can also make a name for himself and become a popular fried chicken in the mercenary world...

All in all, Marin's plan was to let the emperor and the Swiss fight first. When the emperor was beaten by the Swiss until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, he would appear again, and in the attitude of a savior, he charged forward and repulsed the Swiss. At that time, not only will you be able to get the greatest benefit from the crisis, but you will also be able to gain a huge reputation.

However, according to history, the Swiss and Swabian fought for more than two years before the emperor finally intervened. Even if history changes, it is unlikely that the emperor will intervene in the first place. So, Marin doesn't need to worry too much. When it happened, God knew it was the year of the monkey and the month of the horse.

In the time before it happened, there was enough time for Marin to prepare and train. At least, Marin can take East Friesland and consolidate his rule during the previous period...

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