King of German Mercenaries

Marin's challenge this time seems very "cavalier". In this way, the Duke of Saxony can't do any worse, or it will lose face.

Then, after negotiation, the two sides finally agreed on a specific battle time and place - on December 15th, in the south of Lier County, a major battle will be held.

Even the Duke of Saxony arrogantly announced that he would completely defeat Marin just before Christmas, and then go to Emden for Christmas...

The Duke of Saxony was undoubtedly very excited, and he was not afraid of anyone in the decisive battle in the wilderness. You know, he has a heavy cavalry composed of thousands of wandering knights. Under the charge of thousands of plate armor knights, who can resist? Well...probably...the Swiss can resist...

As for Marin, he did not respond to the clamor of the Duke of Saxony. He wished that the Duke of Saxony would look down on him, so that he would have a better chance of winning.

Now the technical and tactical training of the army is almost the same. The only troublesome thing is the problem of digging trenches. Marin thought that if the soldiers were to dig holes, they might not have the strength to fight when the enemy came. Therefore, a large number of civilians mobilized by Marin dug two trenches in advance at the predetermined location. However, the trenches were covered with branches and hay so that they could not be seen beforehand. Because, before the battle begins, the Saxon scouts will definitely come to the scene to investigate. If they found two ditches, they might have responded in advance. Therefore, Marin planned to cover the trench first so that the enemy would not find it, so that they could be caught off guard.

Then, considering that the Saxon army was coming from the southeast, Marin must have taken a few avenues south of Lyle County. Therefore, Marin simply evacuated all the serfs from the manor near the South Avenue to the north. And several fertilizer manufacturing sites in Lyle County were all set on fire without leaving any traces. This is the current core secret of East Frisian, and it cannot be known to the Saxons.

In addition, on the river, Marin also made corresponding arrangements. For example, the Leda, the river that the Saxons will cross, is no laughing matter. Of course, nothing compares to the Ems River.

Such a river, the situation is a bit troublesome for boats over 200 tons. However, a ship with a situation of more than 100 tons is still no problem. Marin had planned for a long time. Before the war, he would ambush three more than 100-ton warships captured from the former Frisian Republic in the Ames River to the west. When the battle begins, the three warships, loaded with artillery, will enter the Leda River, cutting off the Saxon army's retreat. A large ship of more than 100 tons enters the Leda River, let alone shelling it, even if it hits it, it can knock over the infantry boats crossing the river. After the three warships entered the Leda River, they would collide and bang, completely blocking the retreat of the Saxon army, so that Marin could fight the annihilation battle.

Moreover, the appearance of three warships in the rear can not only block the opponent's retreat, but also use the artillery on the ship to bombard the enemy's rear, causing chaos for the enemy...

While Marin was preparing, the Saxons were not idle either. In order to gather the troops, after the autumn harvest, the Duke of Saxony urgently mobilized the whole country, and even went to his nephew to seek assistance.

The Duke of Saxony originally had 3,000 plate armor knights, which can be described as strong. But he didn't think it was enough, so he ran to his nephew again, borrowed two thousand plate armor knights, and collected five thousand plate armor knights. After that, he recruited 15,000 infantrymen throughout the country. Of these, 5,000 infantrymen are still veterans. The other 10,000 people were all levies brought from the various knight manors, with average combat effectiveness.

In this way, the Duke of Saxony, with an army of 20,000, intends to confront Marin. That's not all, in order to serve the 20,000 army, the Duke of Saxony also recruited 15,000 people to deliver supplies and food. At the same time, he sent a number of envoys to borrow from the princes along the way.

Not only that, but Albrecht, Duke of Saxony, had his son George stationed in Groningen,

Prepare 4,000 troops and place them close to the East Frisian border. Once he himself has defeated Marin's main force on the frontal battlefield, George's 4,000 men will take the opportunity to cross the Ems River and approach Emden, the former capital of East Frisian, to fight for control of the city.

Of course, this action must be after the results of the main battlefield in Lyle County. Otherwise, this behavior is not a knight. Because, after making an appointment with someone for a head-to-head confrontation, but sending the army to attack the capital first, was despised by the nobles of the Middle Ages. This kind of behavior, probably only a modern pragmatist like Marin can do it. And the people of this era, influenced by the spirit of chivalry, are generally unable to show their faces.

But if George's army had crossed the river after the outcome of the Lyle County battle, there would have been none of those problems. Anyway, this happened after the decisive battle. As the wily Duke of Albrecht, he took advantage of the loophole in the rules.

Under normal circumstances, when Marin's army could not defeat the Duke of Saxony head-on, this series of arrangements by the Duke of Saxony was really very clever.

It is a pity that the Duke of Saxony did not know that Marin had recruited another 5,000 troops due to inaccurate intelligence. In his intelligence, Marin later seems to have recruited a thousand or two new recruits. Then, adding the original nearly 10,000 people, about 11,000 or 2,000 people. Only, only 5,000 of them are veterans.

Saxon tools are completely disdainful of those conscripts and recruits in the Marin army. Even if those recruits had been training for a few months, he didn't think they would be better than his knights. Under the torrent-like impact of the 5000 plate armor knights, what can't be broken?

In theory, the Duke of Saxony is also right. However, this is only theoretical. Because, Marin is not a person of this era, and the methods he came up with are smarter than those of this era. As it happens, the Spanish phalanx is to prevent the charge of the Knights. Therefore, the Duke of Saxony is doomed to suffer.

After considering it for a long time, Marin added another measure-that is, inserting pickets under the two trenches...

Even, Marin planned, after the war began, still not untangle the branches and weeds that covered the trench, so that the Saxon knights mistakenly thought it was flat ground. When they fell into the trench, right on the picket...

This practice also caused discomfort among the knight officers in the Marin Army. Because, this method is too sinister, and it completely kills the opponent's knight... However, out of good discipline, despite some dissatisfaction, they still did not object.

In fact, Marin wanted to kill the opponent's plate knights. Because, killing the opponent's knight is equivalent to killing the opponent's reserve officers and grassroots backbone.

Every knight is an existence that can be trained as an officer. As long as there are knights, just recruit some infantry, you can form a small army. Because, the knights not only practiced martial arts since childhood, but also read and received some basic military command education at the same time. Therefore, every knight has the ability to become a junior officer, no matter how big or small this ability is.

Every time a knight is killed, the opponent's possibility of rebuilding an army is weakened. To this end, Marin also quietly prepared long-handled hammers for those musketeers. Once the opposing knights have stopped charging, these musketeers can lay down their muskets and use their long-handled hammers to hit the plate knights in the pit through the slanted wooden pickets, trying to kill them before they surrender... …

You know, knights are wearing full plate armor. Falling into a pit full of wooden pickets will not necessarily kill you. On the other hand, those war horses were easily stabbed to death because they had no armor on their abdomens. However, falling into the pit and falling heavily can easily cause those plate armor knights to fall and lose their combat effectiveness temporarily. Therefore, the musketeers can use the long-handled war hammer to take the opportunity to hammer to death all the opposing plate knights who are still lying down in the pit...

Of course, if the other party saw the opportunity quickly and surrendered early, they could spare their lives. Because this is the unspoken rule of the battlefield in Europe. If Marin doesn't obey, he will be hated by all the nobles.

However, with the urination of those knights seeking glory, they generally do not surrender immediately. Even if they surrender, they will only surrender after they are bound and find a step down. Otherwise, if the reputation of being cowardly falls, no nobles will hire them.

But Marin didn't plan to give them time to find the steps. Whenever there is a chance, the musketeers who have freed up their hands will be smashed with warhammers, lest these people become the backbone of the Saxon army again after being redeemed by the Duke of Saxony...

Even Marin allowed those musketeers to waste gunpowder and lead bullets and shoot the Saxon knights who were struggling in the first pit with muskets, trying to kill them directly...

After all, there are two tunnels, and the warhammer can only hammer the second tunnel on the side of the Marin battle formation. Another plate knight struggling in the ditch was a little further away, and it was better to shoot it with a musket. At such a close distance, even if the opponent is wrapped in a tin can, the musketeers can completely target the opponent's weakness. Even if you can't kill the opponent, it's enough to maim the opponent, such as breaking the bones or internal organs, so that he can't enter the battlefield...

In short, in this war, Marin not only wanted to defeat the Duke of Saxony's army, but also tried to kill the other's plate knights to weaken the core military strength of the Duke of Saxony...